Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1900-03-15


The Tugela river in South Africa, |
where Butler and Joubert were con-
testing for the mastery, is called the
river Of blood by the Zulus, and
frequently, too, by the Beers.
The first known battle to have oc-
CURED on Its banks took place dur
ing the early '30s, between the Zulus
and Kafirs, not far from the modern
town OF Weenan. The Kafirs were
utterly routed, the bulk of them being
killed, and the remainder were reduced
to slavery.
!! In G8s7 another bloody battle was
fought along the Tugela between the
paramount chief of the Zulus and
sub-chief, Sibayo. The latter and his
followers made stubborn stand, 3ut
were .massacred to a man. The trav-
eler who visits the scene OF this bat
tie will be shown large tree, where
tradition says Ditawayo, the last man
/; left alive, fought single-handed
against his foes, like the heroes in me-
dieval romances, Staying over a score
, of warriors before he was finally
hacked the the ground.
In 1888 a$party of seventy Beers I'M
der Piet Retief were massacred by the
Zulus little west of where Butler
and Joubert have been struggling for
many weary weeks. The Beers then
swept along the Tugela, killing off
Beers wherever they could, until the
number mounted into the hundreds A
relief expedition, partly English and
partly Dutch, was sent from Cape Col
'ony against the Zulus.
This force defeated the latter in two
battles, but finally ran into an ambus-
cade and was exterminated. The Zu-
lus, then led by the chief, Dingaan,
fell upon Boer lager of 400 men
with a force estimated at 10000. The
Beers, however, defeated them and
killed 5000 of the dusky warriors.
Save for innumerable small fights,
peace now reigned along the Tugela
until Cetewayo and Umbulazi, the two
sons of Pande, king of the Zulus, be-
gan to quarrel over their right of sue
cession to the throne. So fierce did
their quarrel become that it finally led
to a civil. war. The nation was divid-
ed over the claims of the brothers, and
their forces met on the Tugela within
sight of the Draakensburgs, in Deem
Der, 1859. All day the struggle con-
tinued The ground trembled with the
rush of fighting men, and the hills
echoed the shouts and the roar of bat
tie. For hours the struggle continued
without an apparent advantage on
either side, when Cetewayo and Umbu-
lazi, who had been fighting in the
front ranks of their respective armies,
finally came face to face, and terri
BILE duel ensued between them. Might
lily did these brothers, giants in
strength, battle together, but Umbu-
lazi was at last dispatched by an as
segai thrust, and his army, disheart-
eued at the loss of their leader, fled
from the field. This was one of the
mightiest battles in the history of
South Africa, and if the ghosts of war;
riors linger about the field of their
death, over 10000 who died in that
struggle are now watching the opera
tions along the Tugela.
Although Umbulazi's followers were
defeated, they did not abandon the
cause, but carried on guerrilla war
until 1861. During that time fifteen
fights, in which enough warriors were
engaged to warrant calling them bat
ties, took place, and in one, which oc-
Cured during the latter part of 1860,
at spot about one hundred miles
from the mouth of the Tugela, nearly
10000 warriors were slain, including
several of Cetewayo's most prominent
partisans.
The last great native battle along the
Tugela took place between the Zulus
and the Basutos, in which the former
were defeated. Thousands lost their
lives in the defiles of the Draakens-
burg mountains, among which the bat