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Chapter 17 THE RETURN OF PEACE Pacification The war formally came to an end when the great chiefs of the Zulu kingdom agreed to British terms at Ulundi on September 1st. The Zulu monarchy was abolished. The King left the country for foreign exile on September 4th. The Special High Commissioner left Ulundi with a small force on the 4th for the Transvaal. The flying columns were assigned the task of pacifying certain areas where chiefs and people so far had avoided or refused submitting to British terms. All British forces – the flying columns and the garrisons on the lines of communication – withdrew from the Zulu country during September.1 Baker Russell’s column, having pacified the region on the upper Black Mfolozi and not found the King in the vicinity, had been ordered to pacify the country about Zungwini and Hlobane, where the abaQulusi remained staunch supporters of the monarch. A company of British infantry, a company of Bengough’s Battalion and a dozen mounted mercenaries were left to garrison Fort George on August 25th, when the column marched. The column moved to Nseke mountain on the 26th and remained there a day, drawing in detachments. Teteleku’s troops reconnoitred the White Mfolozi valley and protected a small wagon train returning to Fort Cambridge on the 27th. The column moved to near Zungwini on the 28th and to near Hlobane on the 29th. The mounted troops patrolled around the mountain. They met no enemy, but reports indicated the people still intended to fight. News that the Zulu King had been captured occasioned rejoicing in camp and local submission followed. The column moved on. Fort George was abandoned. The next objective was a base of Swazi renegades on the Transvaal border. They had posed as supporters of the Zulu King and raided settlements near by. Their stronghold was a mountain riddled with caves. British mounted infantry and Teteleku’s troops reconnoitred the position on September 4th. The British officer commanding the reconnaissance persuaded seven of the renegades to surrender, promising their lives would be spared. They were then given over to Teteleku’s men for safekeeping. The officer went up the mountain to persuade other renegades to surrender. One fired at him and Teteleku’s men promptly speared every one of the prisoners. For some reason Mr. Beachcroft, their European leader, was not there to stop them. The renegades on the mountain saw this and refused to parlay. The reconnoitring party returned to camp, Teteleku’s men singing of victory. Next day, the 5th, Colonel Baker Russell brought infantry and cavalry to storm the mountain. Teteleku’s troops were sent behind it to cut off any retreat. The attack was not a great success. Some homesteads were burnt and livestock captured, but most of the people had fled before the attack and those who remained could not be winkled out of the caves. The column returned to the mountain on the 8th, but again had no success. But, as in Zululand, the British presence had an attritive effect and the renegade chief surrendered on September 22nd.2 Clarke’s column left Ulundi on September 2nd. It was directed to march to St. Paul’s and then return to Natal by way of the Middle Drift of the Thukela. It was to pass through a border region where Zulu chiefs remained hostile. Clarke’s mission was to force their submission, to arrest Natal renegades who had been involved in the Zulu raid into the Colony, and to recover the cattle they had taken.3 Jantze’s Horse and the Mafunzi Corps either left the column at Ulundi or accompanied it only as far as St. Paul’s before being sent to the lower Thukela. Information is wanting. They were not needed any longer, and probably both units were worn out by the king chase and no longer deemed serviceable.4 No. 1 Pioneer Company, which had been unhappy at being detained in service in July, was even more so at being detained now. The Special High Commissioner had complimented the company for its ‘workmanlike appearance’ and steadiness in the march-past at the final review on September 2nd. Four days later, on the road to St. Paul’s, Captain Nolan, in command of the company, reported to Colonel Clarke that his men were saying they wanted to go home at once and would not go by the road to the Middle Drift 166 The Natal Native Contingent in the Anglo-Zulu...

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