11th January 1879. War has just broken out between the Zulu Kingdom under King Cetshwayo and the British Empire of Queen Victoria. A British army sits on the doorsteps of the Zulu Kingdom, battalions and detachments having been called in from all over South Africa for this campaign which has not yet been approved by the British parliament. One unit that was called in, the Frontier Light Horse, had just travelled through Kaffraria, across Natal to Pietermaritzburg and across the transvaal to Pretoria, and finally on to Lydenburgh where they were employed against the chief Sekokuni. This was the longest cavalry march ever conducted and not a single horse failed the regiment. Prior to the outbreak of the war the regiment was attached to Evelyn Woods column which would find the Zulu a tricky opponent at Hlobane and Khambula.
It was indeed at Hlobane that the Frontier Light Horse carved it's bloody slice in history. Upon hearing of the defeat of the no.3 column at Isandlwana whilst Colonel Charles Knight Pearson with the no.1 column dug in at Eshowe, Wood similarly took a position at Khambula. After about two months at Khambula, in which time Lord Chelmsford ,the Officer commanding the campaign, had transferred most of the cavalry that had been with the central column to Wood, Chelmsford finally requested for Wood to stage a diversion by attacking the Abaqalusi encamped there. The abaqalusi had also been reinforced by some renegade Amaswazi, whilst most were loyal to Natal a pretender by the name of Prince Mbelini kaMswati had split off from the tribe with his followers and allied with Cetshwayo. On the 12th of March Mbelini and his eight hundred followers ambushed a company of the 80th Staffordshire and slaughtered them almost to a man. Looting their wagons of rifles, ammo and other provisions they set off for Hlobane.
After a thorough reconnoiter of Hlobane Wood released that Hlobane would not be an easy nut to crack, Wood knew his men would have difficulty scaling the steep cliffs but there were two narrow paths to the lower plateau.
At the Eastern end of the mountain lay Ityenka Nek, a high saddle of ground that gave way to steep cliffs and a high rocky terrace, notched and honeycombed with caves.
About five days prior to the attack on Hlobane a messenger reached Cetshwayo boasting of Mbelini's successes whilst more humbly requesting reinforcements before Woods assault. On March the 24th Cetshwayo dispatched his main impi, some 20,000 Zulu warriors to Hlobane.
Wood heard of the incoming reinforcements but realising they would have to come via Hlobane, did not judge his attack as a risk to his main camp at Khambula. And so it was that on March the 27th a long column of horsemen rode out of Khambula for Hlobane. The lions share of the force was 156 men of the Frontier Light Horse led by Captain Robert Barton of the Guards, The colonel Redvers Buller was in charge of the assault on Hlobane. 40 scouts led by a Boer by the name of Petrus Lafrus (and two of his sons),70 Transvaal rangers and 80 Cape colony volunteers as well as the Border Horse. Also accompanying the expedition was 277 mounted men of the Natal Native Contingent. About 700 mounted men in all, very few of whom were career soldiers like those of the Frontier Light Horse.
It was at 3pm, despite a blinding thunderstorm the following morning that Buller began the assault. The ascent however revealed another surprise, the Zulu had erected barricades at many of the entrances to the caves from where now they opened fire, Lieutenants Stietencrom and Williams along with two troopers were cut down by the opening shots. Wood could just see Buller's column ascending from the bottom of the trail and so now ordered the Border Horse to follow up the attack. It wasn't long before Abaqalusi marksmen began taking potshots at the Border Horse and just as Wood himself was remarking what terrible sharpshooters the Zulu made, his friend Llewellyn Lloyd was shot dead. A short while later another man of Wood's staff Captain Campbell, his ADC, was shot in the head. Being deeply fond of these two Wood descended to the bottom of the mountain to give his two friends a burial. As Wood now headed to the Western side of Hlobane one of his native retainers beckoned to the plain below where Wood had the shock of seeing a 20,000 strong Zulu impi assuming it's Buffalo formation. Wood could only hope that Buller too had seen the massive army.
The morning had however gone well for Buller who was just rounding up the captured cattle and was about to meet Russel's column on the lower plateau, all was going to plan until Buller came up to a steep drop of at least 130 feet, studded with rocks and boulders. And so Buller dispatched Captain Barton of the FLH to descend the terrace on the southeastern trail and find and bury the men who had been killed in the earlier skirmishes there. Barton was then to locate Weatherley and tell him to make his way back to Khambula by the preceding day's route. It was just after Barton's departure that Buller spotted the approaching Impi. Buller now realised there could be no turning back, the way they had come would soon be seeming with thousands of very hostile Zulu. A trooper was thus dispatched to Barton telling him to retire again North. It was now, with reinforcements in sight that the Zulu in sight finally became hostile, deploying in true force.
Meanwhile, Weatherley's Border Horse had reached the top of the plateau, skirmishing with the abaQulusi as they made their way upward. As the abaQulusi reinforcements arrived, Weatherley had taken his men along the northern cliffs looking for a place to descend, finding the sides of the cliffs very steep. Crossing the plateau, Weatherley encountered Barton. The Border Horse then fell in behind the FLH, and together they made their way along the plateau and started to descend along the eastern trail. Halfway down, they met the impi coming up. The lower slopes of Hlobane seemed to have turned into a seething mass of black fury.
They tried to flee via Ityenka Nek but once again found themselves cut off by the abaQulusi. Trapped the small cavalry force had no choice but to charge, but the abaQulusi stood fast and but twenty horsemen made it through the forest of Assegai. Barton and Weatherley were amongst the survivors but Weatherley had lost his son, turning around he saw Rupert lieing dazed or unconscious on some open ground. He hoisted the boy onto his horse but once again found himself confronted by the abaQulusi, he clutched the boy to his chest and bravely charged his native foes. The two were swiftly cut apart by the swift blades.
The remaining survivors with Captain Barton soon came across some mounted skirmishers of the Umcijo Amabutho who attacked and killed most of Barton's party. Barton once again survived and ran with one other but it was not long until his wounded horse fell beneath him as the UmCijo fell above him.
And so it was that Buller found himself holding a rearguard action against the Zulu horde...
|  |
