British Forts Zulu war

Posts : 1862 Join date : 2009-03-25

Hi all. There seems to have been a lot of fort's build by the British during the Zulu War, How many were there exactly.

For instance there is Fort Ekowe ,Fort Newdigate, Fort Helpmakaar. Were they spead across the country or were they with-in signalling range of each other.

Posts : 1603 Join date : 2009-09-21

Fort Pearson was constructed to replace Fort Williamson, abandoned in 1870.and

Captain WRC Wynne was in charge of building Fort Tenedos to protect stores on the banks of the Thukela River. .

Captain Wynne as this to say about fort Helpmakaar.

"Fort Helpmakaar is to a great extent my baby. The site is vile. I did not choose it but was ordered by the General ... However, a strong earthwork with three guns mounted, a big ditch encircling makes us very strong. I have dodged up a drawbridge out of the picked bits of firewood. It pulls up and forms a shot-proof barrier across the entrance by night or during attack. I fear I have made the place so strong the Zulus will never attack us."

There was also a Fort Crealock and fort Chelmsford.

Subject: zulu war fortifications Thu Nov 19, 2009 11:59 pm

hi 24th.
I have actually posted a listing somewhere on the site , maybe under ebay or publications about a couple of
books which are about the forts used during the zulu war , I have " BRITISH FORTIFICATIONS IN ZULULAND 1879
by Ian Knight which is published by OSPREY. Excellent colour plates and detailed sketches of the forts. And
" FIELD GUIDE TO THE WAR IN ZULULAND AND THE DEFENCE OF NATAL 1879 by J.P.C. LABAND and P.S. THOMPSON.
black and white sketches of the forts , also a very informative publication . LABAND and THOMPSON"S book is about 25 - 30
quid , the other you can be lucky and pay about 5 quid!!.
cheers 90th.

these are good.
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Both excellent value .
cheers 90th.

Posts : 747 Join date : 2009-10-18

British Fortifications in Zululand 1879

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Posts : 1603 Join date : 2009-09-21

24th Thought you might find this Interesting

C Troop, commanded by Major A C Hamilton, comprised 5 officers, 172 men, 109 horses and 13 wagons and carriages. Part of C Troop were involved in laying telegraph cables on the line of advance of Maj-General H Crealock's First Division. By 30th May, they had completed a telegraph line, which connected Fort Pearson with Forts Crealock and Chelmsford. The whole troop seems to have split into small detachments and distributed over a wide area.
Assuming each Lieutenant was responsible for one heliograph, the positions of the instruments during the later stage of the campaign were as follows:

Lieutenant J Hare - In charge of Southern line of telegraphs to St Paul's and then to Ulundi.
Lieutenant J C MacGregor - In charge of Northern line of telegraphs to Ulundi.
Lieutenant H B Rich - Employed on the Southern line of telegraphs.
Lieutenant F G Bond - Served on the lines of communication of the Headquarters Column.

Encouraged by the successful use of heliographs in southern Africa, a further 12 were despatched from the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. The introduction of heliographs did provide a relatively simple and easy to transport communication system which could operate effectively in the field.

Dave.

Last edited by littlehand on Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:32 pm; edited 2 times in total

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Nice image of Isandlwana hill key no 3
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Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:42 pm

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Fort Dundee.

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:48 pm

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Fort Ekowe!

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Sun Jun 30, 2013 10:56 pm

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1879 Zulu War Fort Laurence.
1879 Zulu War Fort Laurence.

Subject: British Forts Zulu War Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:39 pm

In regard to Fort Lawrence ( In Laband's ' The Field Guide to the war in zululand and the defence of Natal 1879 ' ) .
It was situated in the Transvaal district , built in 1879 , manned by Imperial Troops , and still has existing remains at the date of Publication 1983 .
90th.

Subject: British Forts in the zulu war Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:45 pm

Cant find Fort Dundee in Laband's book , ' The field guide to the war in zululand and the defence of Natal . Cant find a mention of it in Ian Knight's publication ' British Fortifications In Zululand 1879 ' .
90th

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:50 pm

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Subject: British Forts Zulu War Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:54 pm

Although Littlehand hasnt said , I think these may be some of the prints that are for sale on ebay ? .
90th.

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Sun Jun 30, 2013 11:59 pm

Not cheap!

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

Hi 90th,
Is not Fort Dundee= Dundee laager = Fort Pine. Of the latter, see my recent post. I think these could be one and the same.

regards

barry

Guest

Hi Marsupial

The whole history of each fort in Zululand is in "IN BRITISH FORTIFICATIONS ZULULAND 1879" by IK !

PTR

Guest

or rather in "BRITISH FORTIFICATIONS IN ZULULAND 1879 " by IK Very Happy

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:00 pm

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Another scene from Fort Ekowe 1879 Zulu War.

Subject: British Forts Zulu War Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:55 am

Hi Rascal .
Yes , I do know about IK's book on the fortifications of the zulu war , I did mention it in one of my posts !
I said there was no mention of Fort Dundee in Ian Knight's book .

Barry.
I'll have a look tomorrow , you may be correct . As I said , when I checked the Laband and Knight books there was no mention
of a Ft Dundee , so therefore it was probably known as something else .
90th

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

Hi 90th,
Out of interest I have checked further vis-a-vis forts in the Dundee area, and found this;

Fort Jones : built in May 1879 for the protection of the 2/24th Rgmt and the small Britsh depot in the town by Lt Col Degacher , but no longer exists as it was swallowed up in the developement of the town.
Fort Agnew ( 6 km NE of town near Malonjeni) : probably never built as there is no present evidence of structure on it's supposed site.
Fort Pine : ( 12km SE of town ) Exists today and is covered in my post few weeks ago. It was once, before being properly built, referred to as "the Dundee Laager". See a nice picture of this stone strcuture posted on the forum by Springbok9 recently.

regards,

barry

Guest

To enlighten you all Very Happy

, Fort Dundee is the name sometimes given to the laager DundeeTo enlighten you all, Fort Dundee is the name sometimes given to the laager Dundee Salute

Subject: British Forts Zulu War Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:35 am

Rascal , Barry did think that was the case , so it seems he was correct , thanks for the reply .
Cheers 90th

Guest

But I asked the question to someone who knows better the Zulu war that anyone Very Happy

Posts : 558 Join date : 2012-05-05

Never heard of this fort before, can anyone shed some light please!

"Fort Yollon 30 Miles [This is the Fort Yolland of Zulu War days. It was an earthworks capable of holding 250 men. It is about 13 miles north-west of Eshowe"

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Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Sun Apr 27, 2014 10:39 pm

Ulundi,

It was a fort from the 1884 Zulu Civil War period named after Lieutenant William Yolland, Royal Engineers. Yolland was commissioned in the Corps on 9th October 1877.

Yolland was the engineer behind the design of Fort Curtis, near to Eshowe during the same period.

John Y.

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Sun Apr 27, 2014 11:37 pm

A Sharp Engagement.
Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8183, 8 May 1906, Page 5

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I see our man "Mansell" was there. He had some adventures in his life!

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Mon Apr 28, 2014 12:52 am

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Arriving at Fort Yolland
Bambatha Rebellion 1906/1907 arriving at Fort Yolland from Nkandhla.

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The Marching to the Ukomo Fight from Fort Yolland
Bambatha Rebelion

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

Hi Littlehand,
Thanks for the nice Fort Yolland pictures and the news article taken from the Manawatu Standard.
According to the maps in Stuart's "A History of the Zulu Rebellion 1906", this hilltop redoubt was at grid loc 28 deg 45'31.19" S / 31deg 22' 56.27" E and overlooked the Mhlatuze River from the north. The NMP/NP garrisoned it at various times
However , the Manawatu news article needs correction as Col Mansel never commanded the Durban Light Infantry. He did command the Natal Police in 1906, taking over from Maj Gen Dartnell for a very short period. Thus, he commanded during the '06 Rebellion , shortly before his demise in the latter half of that year.
.

regards ,

barry

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:43 pm

Hi Barry.

There was a Fort constructed on the Itelezi Ridge, which Major-General Marshall named Fort Warwick in honour of the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) regiment, do you know if anything remains of this Fort or are there any pictures/illustrations of it known to exist that you know of?

Hope you are keeping well Barry.

Salute

Posts : 627 Join date : 2009-01-20 Age : 46

Martin. The ground on which the fort was build, was turned into agriculture land becoming one of the largest Leek farms in SA back in 1927.

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Tue Apr 29, 2014 2:01 am

LOL, nice try sas1. (is your real name Max Boyce) scratch

I suppose that they also grow daffodils there as well, look you, isn't it, wasn't it boyo! Very Happy

Could it be a result of all them folk from,,,,
Wait for it,,,,

Llanfairpwllgwingyllgogerychwyrndrnbwlllantysiliogogogoch Shocked

settling there back in 1927 I wonder? Rolling Eyes

They must like a lot of 'Cream of Leek and Daffodil' soup in SA, that'll put hairs on their chests owd lad agree

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

Hi Martin,
Yes, all well here. The onset of winter is to hand and it has become quite cold quickly here. Thus a prognosis for a bad one coming.
To answer your question ;
Fort Warwick was built in 1879 about 15kms wnw of the site where the Prince Imperial met his demise on the Ityotyosi River. In Laband's "War In Zululand", it is listed as no 25 , and as a redoubt , and remains of the earthworks are still visible. To try and pin down the location more precisely note that it bears 312 deg from Koppie Alleen.
Judging by the ground plan drawings the whole layout of the earth redoubt covered some 130x 80m while the longer axis lay on an east/west orientation.

regards

barry

Posts : 705 Join date : 2012-05-05

Build June 1879. By the 2nd division South African field force, line of communication back to fort Whitehead.

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Tue Apr 29, 2014 1:07 pm

Thanks Barry/Ray.

Barry, we are getting some better weather at the moment, but it may well be the calm before the storm, so I have been very busy out in the garden repairing all the damage done over the winter period by the very high winds we had, it played havoc with fences and outbuildings, so I have a lot to do.

I have google earth, so I will try to find the remains of the fort on there, it may not be visible on there though, but worth a try.

Thanks again for the information.

Salute

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

Hi Martin.
I think the following lat/long are close to the fort. 28deg 03' 08.49" S / 30deg 39' 44.99" E .

regards

barry

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Tue Apr 29, 2014 10:12 pm

Great stuff Barry, I found it, it's roughly about 9 1/2 miles (as the crow flies), from The Prince Imperial's memorial. There are what look like some other earthworks close by, of course, they could be Kraals or something similar.

Many thanks Barry, much appreciated.

Salute

Posts : 947 Join date : 2011-10-21 Location : Algoa Bay

Hi Martin,
Whilst trying to cross reference the position quoted by me above I picked up Ken Gilling's latest Field Guide and find that he quotes something different for Fort Warwick, ie 28 deg 05.230' S / 30 deg 39.738'E .
Now, that position is exactly 4 kms due south of the high commanding position, on the ridge, first quoted above and is located in low lying plowed mielie land not too far from St Pauls.
I will open official records to see if lat/longs are quoted there on this one.

regards

barry

Subject: Re: British Forts Zulu war Thu May 01, 2014 11:34 am

Hi Barry.

Well there is something in the shape of a square at (or very close to) the lat/long you gave, and also something else nearby that could be some other sort of earthworks or even kraals. I will also look at the new coordinates you have provided via Ken, one thing for sure Barry, the fort is in that area alright.

Thanks again mate, very good of you.

Salute

Posts : 1862 Join date : 2009-03-25

"FORT MTHONJANENI
During the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 no major action took place in the Melmoth area but it is interesting to note that the Zulu Army, on it`s way to Isandlwana passed through the area on 17 and 18 January 1879. When the British forces under Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand for the second time in June 1879 several small fortifications were constructed. Upon reaching the Mthonjaneni ridge a circular earthwork was constructed. This became known as Fort Mthonjaneni and lies opposite the Trading Store at Mthonjaneni which is now a Craft Centre.There are 3 forts situated at Mtonjaneni. The main fort (A), was built in 1879 during the Anglo Zulu War as a supply and wagon depot. The other 2, B+C twin too Fort Mtonjaneni were also built by British Forces as Headquarters during this period"

Posts : 2558 Join date : 2009-04-06 Age : 62 Location : UK

Posts : 1603 Join date : 2009-09-21

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