Lieut. R. F. Dixon NMR

Does anyone have any info on Lieut. R. F. Dixon, the junior subaltern in the Newcastle Mounted Rifles?
I believe he crossed into Zululand and was with Chelmsford on his Reconnaissance but I can't find any proof of it.
He is on the medal roll.

Julian

A relative of Lt Dixon, Trooper Arthur Edward Dixon ; drowned in the Buffalo River on Jan 17th , the Burial service was performed by the Rev Smith at RD . One account states that Lt Dixon received permission to take the body back to Newcastle for Burial . He was therefore away from Isandlwana on Jan 22nd , an act which possibly saved his life . This from Terry Sole's ' For God , Queen & Colony ' .
90th

Julian,

Peter Quantrill mentions him in a posting regarding Bradstreet on RDVC.

Oddly Dixon’s name does not appear in the official Army List covering January to March 1879.

JY

90th
I think Sole is wrong. I don't know of the account (the permission to take Trooper Dixon's body to Newcastle). Trooper Dixon was buried at RD with the band playing and his comrades firing a volley over his grave, certainly not in Newcastle. In fact, I can't find any evidence that Trooper and Lieut. Dixon were related at all.
Lieut. Dixon was certainly with the Column on the 12th at the time of the Sihayo Kraal fight and he came back with the Column when the Volunteers moved into Fort Pine.
I think Lieut. Dixon can only have remained with the Column from the 12th to the 24th Jany. and must have been with Dartnell's men on the Mangeni.
Many thanks to all who responded, especially Fred (privately) with some very useful info.

Julian ,
Unfortunately... Sole doesn't mention the whereabouts of the ' Account ' stating.. Lt Dixon received permission to take Trp Dixon's body to Newcastle for Burial . Trp Symons of the NC mentions the drowning , he also states Dixon's body wasn't recovered until 3 days later and a '' long way down '' which would've made it's discovery Jan 20th . As the drowning occurred Jan 17th there's no doubt that both Dixon's were still alive and well on the day of the Sihayo affair , I don't remember ever seeing the Grave of Trp Dixon at RD , then again , who knows where he may've been buried . I see Lt Dixon was one of three who went down with Fever at Ft Pine , The Nat Merc has these 3 being sent to Newcastle to recover , Sole's Roll has them going to Ladysmith ! . Well , what we do know is Lt Dixon was with the Column until at least the 20th ( if indeed he did leave , that has him away from Isandlwana and the Mangeni patrol on the 21st / 22nd ) , but , as is most of the material re Isandlwana , nothing is ever clear cut .
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90th
Many thanks for the additional info.
Trooper Arthur Edward Dixon drowned on Thursday 16th January (Report dtd. 18.1.79, Natal Mercury, 24th January).
Thanks to Fred's researches I can tell you (1) of a letter written to Trooper Dixon's uncle on 3rd March from Fort Pine:
“One of our comrades got drowned in the Buffalo River four days after we crossed...I went down to the river to wash , and on my return was told Dixon had gone down to the river to bathe and was drowned. We did not find his body until two days afterwards; we buried him in his blanket, and I was one of the firing party; twelve of us fired three volleys over his grave. The band played the “Dead March” as we proceeded in slow marching order (arms reversed) taking his body to his last long home.”
Two days later meant that the body was buried on 18.1.79. Unfortunately I am missing the relevant page for Symons diary to check 'three days' but he could be referring to the 16th, 17th and 18th (it was the early morning of the 16th when Dixon drowned). Perhaps you can check the date of the entry in Symons's account if given?
Clearly the band and a firing party of 12 means that the body was not taken to Newcastle but was buried on the spot. As evidence of this I quote from Lieut. Vause’s diary:
“Young D[ixon], one of the Newcastle volunteers was drowned here whilst bathing…The Revd. Mr. Smith read the funeral service.”

In addition (2) Lieut. Dixon wrote a reply to a letter from a relative of McAlister on 7th February expressing condolences and relating his last actions as told to him by the fugitive Berning. He describes how the relative’s letter had arrived two days previously but because the unit had to move to Fort Pine he had not time to reply to it till the 7th.
Thus, Lieut. Dixon took evidence from Trpr. Berning post-Isandhlwana, was hale and available for duty on the 5th and while the move took place to Ft. Pine, and was still so on the 7th.

I think Sole must have been in error but I still have an open-mind and am always willing to accept evidence contrary to the above.

Julian

There is another burial site at RD. Plus there is always the story of the burial that was outside the compound. That burial has always been assumed to be of somebody who died after the battle. Its also a possibility that a funeral took place before the battle and then the dead from the battle buried further away.
Just a thought.

Hi Julian.
Sole has him listed as Lt Robert Dixon, but Dutton’s medal roll has him as (RF) in brackets, which implies some doubt. Just wondered if you agree his name is definitely Robert F Dixon?

PS I haven’t been able to trace a Christian name for Lt CJ Jones or his younger brother Tpr SB Jones either. Any idea on that?

Regards Phil

Phil - it's Charles James Jones and his brother Samuel. I have Charles's ABW medal to the Ladysmith Town Guard and have done extensive research on him. The Zulu Medal to SB is extant in a private collection

Great thanks for that Rory
Regards Phil

Herbie
The CC has Samuel as his forename in its indexing.
The letter I alluded to earlier has Lieut. Robert F. Dixon.

Frank
That was my thought too or perhaps even on the left bank of the Buffalo near Durnford's camp.

Hi Frank
Are you referring to the cemetery not very far from the RD Hotel ? , I'm certain they are all post AZW Graves according to the Grave Markers , they seem to be markers that were used in the 2nd Boer War 1899 - 1902 ( ? ) . Hook , I'm certain ,  states Louis Byrne ( shot in the head , whilst passing water to the wounded Cpl Scammel at RD )was buried outside the Graveyard , I even think Anderson ( shot before the battle as he was deserting , is buried inside the cemetery walls ) .
Julian
Thanks , Unfortunately the incident isn't mentioned in ' AZW Diaries ; Trooper Fred Symons Natal Carbineers : Enthusiasm & Misgivings , 1879 .
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Hi Gary
The old graveyard on the zulu bank dates back to the Smiths Hotel days I believe. It has been speculated that some of the steel cross marked graves are AZW but it is just that. Charles had a list of names from a local at one point that I tried to chase down but couldnt find a single known person. So that blew that myth ( mythtake )
Quite honestly though there could be graves all over that area, and probably are.
Hope life in the other colony is all good, you do realise we should have ll been meeting up at iSandlwana around about now!

Cheers mate

Hi Frank
I think some of those Graves are named on the zulu bank , I checked them out during the 140th , but I may be in error ? , I'm sure there are graves scattered all through Zululand. Actually we would've met up earlier , I was arriving back in Melbourne today ....would've left Durbs about 3.30 pm Wed , onto J'burg then Perth followed by Melbourne.
Hope all's well with you as it is here ?
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Frank/90th
I live on a battlefield.  The last stand of the Peasants' Revolt by the men of Essex took place in 1381 in the fields where my house is built - the Battle of Norsey Wood.  A few years ago in my garden I found a C14 buckle, from a strap used to hold a dagger or pouch.  Two years later at a spot not a yard distant I found a Richard II half groat dating from the same period and both pre-1381.
It is a constant reminder to me that the past is everywhere underneath our feet including the bones of our ancestors.  I am sure you are both right about the Buffalo bank graves.  A grave need not have been marked and even if it was simply marked, over time, that could have crumbled, been removed, fallen over and kicked.  Dixon is there, I'm sure of it, somewhere.  What we'll need is a medium!

Thanks for the confirmation Julian
Phil

I have Trooper Dixon's SAGS Medal in my collection. I found Julian's post above particularly interesting as it adds some additional research I didn't have. Thanks for that.

A pleasure, Sergio!

As a thought 90th, Ian K has some paintings he bought, from under my nose, last year. One of them I seem to recall shows the rear of RD and the grave yard with some digging taking place to its North. Obviously long after the drowning but it does seem to show that other graves were dug in the area. Makes sense really that as the 'cemetery' wall wasnt then built the whole area could have been construed as a possible graveyard.

As they say Frank... we'll never know one way or the other , it's all speculation , unless something one day pops up in the Archives .
90th

Wont you have a word with Ian, Im just going on memory for the paintings. At the 140th he was still trying to date them.
Cheers

Hi Frank
Sent you an email , one painting says Sept , so I'd imagine it's Sept 79 .
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By the by, just discovered it was Robert Felstead Dixon.