, 1879-03-12
THE CAPE DISASTER.
"Details Df tho a1nA.ncro OF llr1tFsh Troops
tr XliluA nt 1santlu1u.


CnrrtAtna1.nre Lsndan At,rs.
1IHrEnM Anrzuu1u. Fcb. 3 ty!a MAnginA),-
| sctd you the following detailed account Of The
terrible disaster at isar.ltltn:
The day before the aclIon topk place Col.
Glyt, III command Of tie third column, actfn,
under tile direct orders Of Lord Chelmsford,
scs,t nwny this advn,lce guard iidcr command
OF Mai. Dartnnll. This ntvaneo gunril sent 10
say It WIS engaged With tlc Zulus. Lord
Chelmsford himself md Col. GIsn pushed for
ward the main force, consisting o! scrcn cofll-
,Mncs uf The 9-2itt, ttnslcr Leut.Col. Dcgacl,cr,
1o,stlac's Native Contingent. under Mai.
D.ack, 2-oith, anil other troops, leaving behind
us III rear g,lar,1, five conpantes OF the 19jtl,,
Under Lcut.-Cpl rullciuc, one company
oi tic a.n4tt,, under Lieut.. Pope,
arMl portion Of the Firat Regiment OF the
Natal Native Contingent, under Lieut.. .-Col,
thirty Naval 'Carbtnrcrs, the buffalo border
t;,arl, a,l,l about twenty-five Newcastle Mount
cd Rncmen. In ntltlltion, Col. Dlfrnfora had
sll;alt's Horoc md two guns, tndfr Capt. lsus.
sell, Il. A. There were a few nrttllerynen.
The Army Hospital Corps, the Colnm[ssariAt,
With column Of Lord CEclmstord's, moved
forward wth the matt body either OIL The cycn-
luz of the alst or the morning of TIC 22d.
The rear gl,artl had finished ts us,,al morning
march md outspanncd when Zulu sk!rlulshcrs
were observed surrounding tite hills. 1i'csc
sikIr,,slters u.lynt,ccd towards the camp, Keep
Ing up dcsu!tory fire. ..-.....,
The ca,np WIS pitched IN broken country In
n sort III wiley, with distant surrounding lIl!ls
Cnl. pulltino sent akfrulishcrs. who responded
to the tlru of tilr XulH. 1t tcGs TINT tho hutIi-
her Of Iulns was moi estimated. It being Con-
stdrrct d slight demonstration VI II few fncn.
AZ tlIc .enemy's scouts were snon Joined hy
1F ii In afF Il tH(S
skls.nistcrs we're recnllcd attl thu camp hastily
put upon the defensive.
fhn Zlln army then came on ,apidly i1 reen-
lar bAttalions, eight deep, kecr!!.E up n heavy,
steady tire, until within asKcgal dtstnrcr. I'iey
then ccascA their Tire an,l hurled asscras. Our
men kept hp very 6tcady, telling tlrc, nnl
great numbers Of them dRropped. R but without
sssk ,,elr prngresi , ns pleess hp o ~, men
Whttu this attaci Wns going on in thu rear
double faux movement WAS executed, by Which
the hDrns Of 1hu Zulu aFiny surrounded the
camp. Tile disadvantage Of tut wn.uns not
led 10 thu disaster.
Our tucn lad ompticA their pouches, mud
found ittnupossiblc to rcplenish them. as the
Xls aa obaed , nGssessa sa1,1 o. M ; n,'nG ~
eBnlutc butchcry. Our. officers Anh men were
nsse.nied as they stood: rlHv made no Charge:
The Xln host carnc down will the weight ot
rs bnttnon, ,', a Sa,ly ;, 1fssl 'a ;, s' ha
hnynnct, md very soon It llcd not even room TO
,lsu that. The Xulus picked tip the dead bodies
Ut their comrades untl hnrlcd them OIL tile
bayuuct points Of our soldiers. thus simply
bcatfng down nil defense. Jllewurk Of dcs,rac-
tion was complete.
skiriniaters wcrc seen there was not llvln:,
wlalts nun In tic camp. Tlc ammunition. the
guns, tic cotn1ntssarlat suppiics, tiiu wagons,
tho p1usl, all The material Of tAE c0lluN, ltll
iuto the hnlltis uf tlie cutlny.
Fortunately twn cannon wero Spilled BY Capt.
Smith, II. A., who Wns Assegaied whilst III tile
art of splklnE. rs far US could ha ascGrtuned
The Xulus carried away all thu ammunition aud
soma wagons, antl dtstroycd whatever was lett
bchind.
Young, MI officer belonging to l.onstute's con-
tingcnt, who hatl bccn wounded IN tue skrtnisl
with S}rayo's men Bolno lats previously, hap
pcned to bB nt tho ctnsp OF 1sandnla, ~heFc hts
brother was supcsintenlng ih return Of the
Twrnty.third 10 pleterIr,urizbnrg. Hell,g in
yuIhlc1, md not being cDnncclcl with any rcgi-
Mrnt, llc fired rifle trot the corner oF L wagon
until he hull exhausted his ammunition. being
unable to obtain II further supply, and having
10 weapon whatever, he aaw 1t WIS useless Tor
him tu rcil!nin any l0igcr.
Happily for him h. Ind rot a good horse, and
tcaperatu dash rnrrctl lin through wrns
nont In tho encs1y's Gordon just In time lie
wus chased oy, tho ZnlHs, who were swift ran-
ncTs, but could nut get up with lin.
Looking bark, lio saw our lnc'l, cpnplctcly
surrouune.1, 1l"Hl rs rock, falling, rapidly, hut
lighting to the Inst. TIss ou'lyesis of the Zu!us
their lenlonlac silrelts, as tho awful work WAS
donu with tlG short sta1htnE asacg,lf.
llu Faw Lieut.. cosl!tll trying to fight bis way
through. as nlso Adjutant Melville, who had
,ias' s ies2 se se1oFi aI Mis S % %e% Z 9o
lint day us stntf ut!ecr to Col. Pullclue. both
Coshill and Mclyllc wcre spcnAiu lurscmen,
aud were we'll inuunset. They were hot, how
fnlnGr. t1iYr u1o,R II, Nq-
caprl through WIS, minute alter he passed 1t,
completely bloskctl.
He sas il w2s lplnssihle, M to-; to pierce the ilenso
asa H. naao fo1 % po'at On lis lssr W lower @ , down. H.
where hu found NO ztllua. lie l,ad, however, to
jump the cIiir happily only ten feet high. II it
had becn hundred he must linva jumped 1t, rs
his pursucrs were not far hehlnd, llls llurse,
having suum few ynEtls, was able to ford the
rest uf thu river. Ila then rode 10 [IelpnAkaar.
A. few OF Tho Natal native contingent nllI
others wcro drowned In nttemptlns to smitn, but
It may Le seen frnla this short narrative that
the zltiII ar1nv was completely orgat1izrd. It
atyHHccl, irst THROWN. nut skIrntstlers; then,
ns the hattatos cat,t down In tHass, used their
rltlcs whilst ut long rahgr with naderab!a RI
feet. When near enough to Hao thetr own lnorU
familiar Weapon, asscsaI. they threw In tw6or
three sawcrs. al this tna they wrru u.,ynllc-
snE steadily auss ratidy, u1'd tho stahb!ng asse.
ills impression III Nata, is That this erssase-
mont OH tn uurt Of tho Zulus is not altF,l,I,t-
ala to gencralsllip, but that thn nrlny Ut inra-
sion was mak!ng for Satal, nnt! accidentally
| ra,nu acruss llsc rcar.yuard Of Col. Glyn'a col
| UNA. Our. troops wrra al1owrA to cross tho
river ut Various ps,lnts. Col. Glyns main body
was cl.tlecd by fciut Advancc nway from It's
material. Then the Wnn body Ut tho ss,csny,
supposed to bo under sirayu, tho fayorito lii
duna OF Cetywayo, swept down On the baggage
srYyfS. anil ,ro,,,sr ,.ho ,v,ra .avo .,o,. IN
the higlust terms of il.s war III which The gal
| liant iorcu sustained tho assault Of tho over
| wbGln,tng hurdles of the enemy. Our naslse
allies fought brascly, too, md II the camp l,ad
hcen formed III LaaleT, and our men could llayG
been fnrnlsl,e0 with the ammunition with which
t!,u camp was 80 generously supplied, II would
! have given different ACCOUNT Of tho enemy.
Young saw nothing Ut barbatlt!es. Tho way
In Which thu men were silrTounlod md crushed
down by weight Ut numbers proves tlat utter
n,nihItatlon t6ok plarc, but II Is hoped tlat tbs
horrlb!e stories III clreagntio" have no founda-
! ton IN faet.
All ll.at aro left Of the Twcnty.fourth Kcgi-
n,cDt aro Capt. I1arrist,n's company, stationed
! ut st. Joln's River; Capt. upcllcrs and Capt.
Ruinforth who were ut that tEne On their march
! to iuiu their battalion: alai. Much anl Dr..
$..h.. -,