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This page contains a description of the medal
and
its history.
Description
The medal
instituted for this campaign and issued in 1880, was similar in design to
the South Africa Medal of 1853, but without the reverse date and instead a
trophy of shields and weapons. The ribbon too is similar but with differing
shades of colour and stripes. Twenty men are known to have served in both
the campaigns of 1853 and 1879.
The medal
could be awarded alone or with one of the following seven clasps along with
numbers awarded:
No Bar
5,600
‘1877’ 150
‘1877-8’ 5,820
‘1877-8-9’ 3,520
‘1877-9’ 8
‘1878’ 2,000
‘1878-9’ 1,180
‘1879’ 18,330
A total of
36,608 medals were issued to British and Colonial troops, which included
1,829 medals awarded to the following RN ship’s, HMSs ‘Active’, ‘Boadicea’,
‘Euphrates’, ‘Himalaya’, ‘Orontes’, ‘Shah’, ‘Tamar’ and ‘Tenedos’. An
undetermined number of medals were unclaimed and were returned to Woolwich.
History
This campaign
in South Africa was fought against a variety of African tribes and across
Southern Africa, but is more usually referred to as the Zulu War in the UK.
In fact the fighting involved tribes in Cape Colony two years before the
Zulus became involved. It was an extremely bloody and at times brutal
campaign and it marked the end of the military might of the formidable
Southern African tribes. The campaign holds a special place in the annals
of the history of South Africa, the British Army and the expanding British
Empire.
The trouble
began in 1877 when inter-tribal animosity between the Fingoes and the
Galekas flared into open conflict which involved colonial troops. The
Fingoes, who bore long standing ill will for the Galekas, had been
encouraged to settle in Galekaland under British protection. A minor
squabble soon erupted into a series of large scale attacks by Galeka forces
and so the Colonial Government decided to act and sent a large contingent of
7,500 men into Galekaland to quell the unrest.
At this point
the intervention calmed the situation somewhat until fighting again flared
in December 1878 and now the Gaikas and the Tambookies joined forces.
General Sir A. Cunynghame, with a mainly colonial force with few Imperial
troops, moved against the insurgents. At an engagement in the Cetane
Mountains in February 1878, the Galekas suffered such heavy casualties they
did not take to the battlefield again. The Gaikas now took the field
against a reinforced British force under Lt General Sir F. Thesinger, who
had relieved General Cunynghame. During April and May 1878, General
Thesinger pursued the Gaikas relentlessly and ruthlessly until the Cape
Assembly offered an amnesty to the tribes in July.
In 1878 The
Griquas, a tribe of mixed race settled close to the Boers in East and West
Griqualaland in the Cape revolted and established themselves in a mountain
stronghold. A Colonial force and without Imperial troop assistance,
inflicted defeat on the tribe in June 1878 after a brisk fight lasting some
six hours. Smaller skirmishes ensued throughout the year until the Cape
Administration issued an amnesty.
In 1878-9 a
Basuto tribe under Chief Sekukuni caused a disturbance in the Transvaal and
attacked the surrounding countryside at will from their strong position.
The Colonial government wary of unrest in Zululand suspended operations
against them until the following year. On the 28 November 1879 a large
force drove the Basutos from their mountain base, inflicting heavy loss on
the tribe and resulting in the surrender of Chief Sekukuni.
In 1879 a
revolt flared after the Cape Government ordered the removal of firearms from
the tribes fearing a combined inter-tribal uprising. This mountain
engagement was between the Basutos under their Witch Doctor Moirosi,
ensconced in a highly precipitous and well defended stronghold. The
defenders were extremely well protected in their eagle’s eyrie but the Cape
Mounted Rifles scaled the extremely difficult slopes and inflicted a defeat
on the rebels, succeeded in killing Moirosi and earned three Victoria
Crosses during this operation.
The Zulu
tribes were precipitated into a war with the Colonial authorities in 1879
under the administration of the High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere in
Natal. Despite living peacefully under King Cetshwayo, the Colonial
authorities had long feared the reputation of their neighbouring disciplined
Zulu warriors, formed during King Shaka’s reforms, which had a standing army
of 40,000 men and the construed threat they posed. On the pretext of an
unacceptable ultimatum to the King, Frere brought about his intended war in
January 1879 when British forces crossed into Zululand under General
Thesinger, now Lord Chelmsford.
After
crossing the Buffalo River, Chelmsford with three columns, left one column
under the command of Lt Colonel Henry Pulleine under the Sphinx-like
precipice at Isandhlwana on the 22 January 1879. Shortly after breakfast
the camp was attacked and overwhelmed by a large Zulu impi, inflicting over
1300 deaths on the British column. Three Victoria Crosses were awarded in
what was an unmitigated disaster for the British Army. Chelmsford returned
with the remainder of his force that same evening and despite his close
proximity to the camp, the battlefield was found to be deserted, except for
the carnage and the dead.
The camp at
Rorke’s Drift, manned by 139 men under Lieutenant’s Chard and Bromhead,
meanwhile gallantly withstood a concerted attack by a superior Zulu force on
the 23 January, earning 11 VC’s and in many ways restoring the British
Army’s tarnished honour following the debacle the day before at Isandhlwana.
The plan for
the campaign underwent immediate revision and Chelmsford withdrew into Natal
to await major reinforcements, meanwhile Colonel Wood’s column undertook
operations around the Hlobane mountains in March before Chelmsford relieved
Colonel Pearson’s column at the mission station at Eshowe in April, 1879.
These two successes weakened the Zulu army and emboldened Chelmsford to then
plan the attack on the King’s kraal at Ulundi.
The kraal
fell on the 4 July after an open-square advance by the British against
determined opposition of between 12-15,000 men. The Zulus are believed to
have lost 10 men for each British soldier killed, due to their superior
firepower and the use of machine guns. The king was captured on the 28
August 1879 and deposed, bringing the campaign to an end. The remaining Zulu
chiefs gave their submission and the once mighty Zululand was divided among
pro-British chiefs and which ultimately led to years of bitter internecine
rivalry. Zulu casualties were very high and the legendary army King Shaka
had created entered the history books and posterity, but was now broken and
spent force.
Of note
during this campaign was the tragic death on the 1 June of the exiled heir
to the French throne, Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial, who was ambushed
and killed by a Zulu skirmishing patrol thereby ending royalist dreams of a
restoration of the monarchy in France.
Frere, whose
actions had instigated the war was demoted to a minor post in the Cape and
Chelmsford returned home to a major controversy over his handling of the
campaign and to widespread criticism and disapproval. Queen Victoria
however failed to condemn him.
In all, 29
VC’s were awarded for the campaign.
