Battle of the Ntombe

Battle of the Ntombe

Part of: Zulu War

Illustration of the fight at the Ntombe; Front page of The Illustrated London News, May 10, 1879 (detail)

date	March 12, 1879
place	Ntombe River, present-day South Africa
output	Victory of the Zulu

Parties to the conflict
United Kingdom	Zululand
Commander
David Moriarty †	Mbilini waMswati
Troop strength
104 men	around 800 men
losses
79 dead	30 dead

The Battle of the Ntombe (also: Battle of the Intombe or Intombi ), a river in what is now South Africa , was fought on March 12, 1879 as part of the Zulu War . A detachment of the British Army, commanded by Captain David Moriarty (1837–1879) and accompanying a supply convoy, suffered a defeat against a force of irregulars of the Zulu Kingdom led by the Swazi Prince Mbilini waMswati (* around 1843, † 1879) .

Starting position

During the Zulu War was the supply for the British garrison of Luneburg (also: Luneberg ), one of the German missionaries established small settlement in one of Zulu , Swazi and Boers alike claimed area northwest of Zulukönigreichs from which in Transvaal situated Derby introduced. Captain David Moriarty of the 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) received on March 7, 1879 from his superior, the commander of the garrison in Luneburg, Major Charles Tucker, the command of a company-strong detachment, the 18 wagons with ammunition and other supplies as well as cattle should be escorted for Luneburg.

On March 9, the convoy had reached the north bank of the rain-swollen Ntombe River near a ford known as M (e) yer's Drift . Two wagons were able to cross the river before this venture had to be abandoned. Moriarty now had the rest of the wagons form a V-shaped warehouse , a wagon castle built on the Boer model , but this was only carried out very carelessly. Lieutenant Henry Hollingworth Harward and 35 men were posted to the south bank of the river to secure the two wagons that had already crossed over there. The troops spent the following days waiting for the water level of the Ntombe River to drop. In order not to have to remain completely inactive, the men had built a raft, but the loading capacity of the raft was too small to be able to provide any effective remedy.

What the British did not know was that not too far away the Swazi prince Mbilini waMswati, who in 1865 lost the battle for the succession in his father's kingdom and placed himself under the protection of the Zulu king Cetshwayo kaMpande (1826-1884), with stopped around 800 irregular members of the Zulu Army. Mbilini's base was on a hill called Table Mountain , about three miles to the northeast from the British. After Mbilini had personally inspected the British wagon castle on March 11th, he decided to attack.

The battle

Protected by thick fog, Mbilini's warriors approached the British, who were asleep or resting, apart from a few guard posts, at dawn on March 12, 1879, around 5:00 a.m. From a distance of about 70 yards , the warriors, some of whom also had firearms, fired a volley and then stormed the British laager , whose crew no longer had time for organized counter- resistance in view of the surprisingly quick attack. The British were downright slaughtered within a very short time, only about a dozen of them made it to the river, where they received fire protection from the department posted on the south bank when they tried to cross . Their commander had left his troops when the Zulu attacked to get help from the Luneburg garrison, which he reached around 6:30 a.m.

Since Moriarty had fallen in the meantime, Sergeant Anthony Clarke Booth (1846-1899) had now taken over the command of the surviving members of the British troops and their escorts. Booth, who wanted to avoid being encircled by the outnumbered enemies who were now also crossing the river, gave the order to retreat, which was done in good order. Mbilini's warriors pursued the British for more than three miles. To keep the pursuers at a distance, Booth ordered his men to stop twice during the escape and fire targeted volleys at the pursuers. It was only when the British reached an estate known as Raby's or Rahbe's Farm that Mbilini's warriors gave up the pursuit.

Garrison commander Major Tucker, who was meanwhile informed about the situation on the river, was only subordinate to infantry, which is why he first had to get all available horses from the officers of the regiment before he could take the initiative. After he had ordered 150 men from his regiment to follow him as quickly as possible, he set off with his improvised cavalry force. When Tucker's men had reached M (e) yer's Mission Station (= mission station), they saw in the distance the retreating warriors of Mbilini, whose number they estimated at no less than 4,000. In view of the small number of cavalrymen available, the pursuit of the Zulu was out of the question. They therefore reached their base on Table Mountain undisturbed with their booty - around 250 head of cattle and the contents of the wagons . When they arrived at the river, Tucker's men found only one field of bodies, apart from two seriously injured Mbilini warriors. After the warriors had been interrogated and the water level in the river had dropped around noon, the parts of the ammunition and equipment left behind by the Zulu as well as the rockets, which they had also not taken with them, were recovered. Together with the surviving British soldiers and their civilian escorts, the return journey to the base was started.

losses

On the British side, in addition to Moriarty, another 60 men had died. Fifteen African wagon drivers and three white non-combatants (one civil surgeon and two wagon conductors ) were also killed in the Mbilini attack. In contrast, the losses on the Zulu side were relatively small: only 25 dead and two seriously injured warriors were found on the banks of the Ntombe after the battle, according to the official report Major Tuckers. It is not known how many of them were otherwise wounded and taken away by their own comrades, but possibly later succumbed to their injuries.

consequences

The outcome of the battle clearly showed how vulnerable the British supply routes were during the Zulu War. It had also become clear that the northwest of Zululand could by no means be considered pacified. The largest part of the British defeat, however, had certainly the negligence on the British side, which manifested itself not only in the sloppily laid out camp , which offered only inadequate protection, but also in the apparently poorly pursued intelligence. At the latest after Moriarty and his men had been warned by a shot fired nearby, the British should have taken precautions for a possible fight. In this context, references were repeatedly made to the Battle of Rorke's Drift in January 1879, in which a British force not significantly larger than those commanded by Moriarty had managed to repel a force of regular Zulu warriors that were around five times larger was when that of Mbilini commanded.

As a result of this successful military campaign, Mbilini had once again proven to be a talented guerrilla leader among his relatives . Anthony Clarke Booth was promoted to Color Sergeant for his courageous and prudent leadership and was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest distinction bestowed in Great Britain for superior bravery in the face of the enemy. In contrast, Henry Hollingworth Harward had to appear before a military tribunal in February 1880 for abandoning his men during the Battle of Ntombe. This military trial also marked the end of his military career.

literature

• John Laband : The A to Z of the Zulu Wars (= The A to Z Guide Series, No. 202). The Scarecrow Press, Inc., Lanham-Toronto-Plymouth 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-7631-6 , pp. 203f. (Keyword: NTOMBE, ACTION AT (1879) ).

References and comments

1. ↑ The original caption read: " The Zulu War: Attack on an Escort of the 80th Regiment at the Intombi River. See Page 434. From a sketch by Lieutenant Beverley WR Ussher, 80th Regiment. "Source: http://www.old-print.com/cgi-bin/item/P1740879429/search/18-1879-Zulu-War-Attack-Escort-80Th-Regiment-Intombi-River# , accessed on 4. September 2011.
2. ↑ Information based on the report of the commander of the Luneburg garrison, Major Charles Tucker, printed in Charles L. Norris-Newman: In Zululand with the British Army. The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 through the First-Hand Experiences of a Special Correspondent (= Eyewitness to War Series), Leonaur Ltd., 2006, ISBN 978-1846771217 , pp. 293-297. The same number is given by Frances E. Colenso: History of the Zulu War and its Origin. Assisted in those Portions of the Work which touch upon military Matters by Lieut.-Colonel Edward Durnford. Chapman & Hall, London 1880 (PDF file; 35.3 MB), p. 348. Laband (2010), p. 203, on the other hand, it can be seen that the British troops comprised 108 men, civilians accompanying them in military service not included.
3. ↑ According to Laband (2010), p. 203. - In some other publications there is talk of around 1,000 warriors.
4. ↑ ^{a b A} total of 18 charioteers and civilian escorts were added to the dead on the British side. According to Laband (2010), p. 204.
5. ↑ Unless otherwise stated, the presentation of this article is based on Laband (2010), pp. 203f., Norris-Newman (2006), pp. 114–117 and Colenso (1880), pp. 348f.
6. ↑ As irregulars of the Zulu army are usually all those warriors who were not part of the regimental system of the Zulu. H. those who did not belong to one of the Zulu regiments ( amabutho ) organized by age group. These irregulars generally supported the regular Zulu army, but occasionally took part in major battles. See Laband (2010), p. 121 (keyword: IRREGULARS, ZULU ).
7. ↑ According to Norris-Newman (2006), p. 114, Lieutenant Harward later stated that he had woken up about an hour earlier due to a shot fired in the distance, then alerted Moriarty's men on the other side of the river and informed Moriarty of this have let. This then had the men take up battle position. Colenso (1880), p. 348f., Writes that the men went back to sleep when nothing was noticeable. According to him, the shot was caused by the fact that the guards who had been set up had been surprised and killed by the Zulu warriors. From other representations it can be inferred that by no means all the guards were dead when the Zulu attacked. The question of whether Harwards statements were possibly purely protective claims is not raised anywhere in the literature used here.
8. ↑ During the Zulu War, the Hale's rockets introduced in 1867 , named after their designer William Hale (1797–1870), but also much older rocket types were used by the British Army . See also Laband (2010), p. 241 (keyword: ROCKETS ).
9. ↑ As almost always in connection with the number of people killed in a battle, there are also slightly different information in the literature on the British victims of this battle. The information given here is based on Laband (2010), p. 204. In the official report Major Tuckers printed in Norris-Newman (2006), pp. 115–117, there is talk of a total of 40 British soldiers (including Moriarty) killed and to 20 people were still missing at this point in time, most of whom it was assumed that the majority of them might have died. A civil surgeon named Cobbin, a wagon conductor named Whittington, a volunteer named Campbell, and an African charioteer were also listed as killed. A total of 44 soldiers escaped the slaughter. Colenso (1880), p. 348f. Mentions the same number of survivors. After George McCall Theal: History of South Africa, from 1873 to 1884. Twelve eventful years. With Continuation of the History of Galekaland, Tembuland, Pondoland, and Bethshuanaland until the Annexation of those Territories to the Cape Colony, and of Zululand until its Annexation to Natal. Vol. II. George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London 1919 (PDF file; 16.1 MB), p. 305, again, in addition to Moriarty, 62 men were killed. The latter two do not report anything about the casualties among the civilians accompanying the British troops (drivers, etc.).
10. ↑ Laband (2010), p. 204, writes that 30 dead Zulu were found on the river bank. It is not clear where this number comes from.
11. ↑ It is interesting in this context that neither Norris-Newman nor Major Tucker accuse Lieutenant Harward of any serious misconduct and do not mention Sergeant Booth at all. Major Tucker even expressed himself as follows in his report already mentioned and printed in Norris-Newman (2006), pp. 115–117 (here p. 117): “ The small party under Lieutenant Harward ... rendered to a hopeless cause valuable assistance, in covering the retreat across the river of such men as were able to reach it; and I am of opinion that but for those on this side of the Intombi River, not one man would have escaped, and that had the escort been double its number, the result would have been the same. "