Xhosa Wars

Insurgents defend a stronghold in the forested Water Kloof during the 8th Xhosa war of 1851. Mostly naked amaXhosa, Kat River Khoi-khoi and some army deserters are depicted.

The Xhosa Wars, also known as the Kaffir Wars or Cape Frontier Wars, were a series of nine wars between the amaXhosa people and European settlers from 1779 to 1879 in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The wars were responsible for the amaXhosa people's loss of most of their land, and the incorporation of its people.

The first wars, causes and developments

The competition between the Boers and the amaXhosa over good grazing land was intense, and skirmishes became wars. Though the Boers had guns and therefore an advantage, they could not fully capitalize on their superior firepower. Chasing the highly mobile Xhosa meant the Boers had to leave their own homes and families undefended, so the local militia strategy was severely limited. Professional troops however were not burdened by such considerations. So, when the British entered the Cape in 1806, British troops under Harry Smith were sent to help the Boer settlers. The balance of power changed and in 1811 British and Boer operations began to clear the land of the amaXhosa people. About four thousand British colonists were stationed on the Great Fish River.

The Xhosa had been expelled from the district between the Great Fish River and the Sundays river known as the Zuurveld, which became a sort of neutral ground. For some time previous to 1811 the amaXhosa, however, had taken control of the neutral ground and committed depredations of the colonists. In order to expel them from the Zuurveld, Colonel John Graham took the field with a mixed force in 1811 for a campaign in which the Governor of the Cape Colony, Lt-General John Cradock, said no more blood had been shed "than was necessary to impress on the minds of these savages a proper degree of terror and respect". The the amaXhosa were driven beyond the Great Fish River. On the site of Colonel Graham's headquarters arose the town which bears his name.

A difficulty between the Cape Colony government and the amaXhosa arose in 1817, the immediate cause of which was an attempt by the colonial authorities to enforce the restitution of some stolen cattle. On 22 April 1817, led by a prophet-chief named Makana, they attacked Graham’s Town, then held by a handful of white troops. Help arrived in time and the Xhosa were beaten back. It was then agreed that the land between the Fish and the Keiskamma rivers should be neutral territory.

After first war (1779-1781), the border was established between the Fish and Sundays Rivers. After the second war (1789-1793), the boundary was moved west to Sundays River. The third war (1799-1803) established the Sundays River boundary. The fourth war (1811-1812) was the first war that featured professional British soldiers who could pursue the enemy with single-minded intensity, and in the fourth Xhosa War they drove the Xhosa back to the east of the Fish River.

The 4th Xhosa War, 1811-1812

The first wars of several with the Xhosa had already been fought by the time that the Cape Colony had been ceded to the United Kingdom. The Xhosa that crossed the colonial frontier had been expelled from the district between the Sundays River and Great Fish River known as the Zuurveld, which became a neutral ground of sorts. For some time before 1811, the Xhosa had taken possession of the neutral ground and attacked the colonists. In order to expel them from the Zuurveld, Colonel John Graham took the area with a mixed-race army in December 1811, and finally the Xhosa were driven beyond the Fish River. On the site of Colonel Graham’s headquarters arose a town bearing his name: Graham's Town, subsequently becoming Grahamstown.

The 5th Xhosa War, 1818-1819

A difficulty between the Cape Colony government and the Xhosa arose in 1817, the immediate cause of which was an attempt by the colonial authorities to enforce the restitution of some stolen cattle. When overcrowding among the Xhosa east of the Fish River led to civil war, the British intervened. The Xhosa prophet-chief Maqana Nxele (or Makana) emerged at this time and promised “to turn bullets into water.” He led the Xhosa armies in several attacks. On 22 April 1819, Maqana with 10,000 amaXhosa attacked Graham’s Town, then held by a garrison of 350 troops. The garrison was able to repulse the attack only after timely support was received from a Khoi-khoi group led by Jan Boesak. Maqana suffered the loss of 1,000 soldiers.

Maqana was eventually captured and imprisoned on Robben Island. This time, the British pushed the Xhosa even further east, beyond the Keiskama River. The land between the Fish and the Keiskamma rivers became a neutral buffer zone, which the British tried to populate with loyal Africans. The Albany district was established in 1820 and populated with some 5,000 Britons. The Grahamstown battle site is still known as Egazini, or Place of Blood, and a monument was erected here for fallen amaXhosa soldiers.

The 6th Xhosa War, 1834-1836

The Eastern Frontier, ca 1835

On the eastern border, further trouble arose between the government and the Xhosa, towards whom the policy of the Cape government was marked by much vacillation. On 11 December 1834, a government commando party killed a chief of high rank, incensing the Xhosa: an army of 10,000 men, led by Maqoma, a brother of the chief who had been killed, swept across the frontier, pillaged and burned the homesteads and killed all who resisted. Among the worst sufferers was a colony of freed Khoikhoi who, in 1829, had been settled in the Kat River valley by the British authorities. Inhabitants of the farms and villages took to the safety of Graham's Town, where women and children found refuge in the church.

There were few available soldiers in the colony, but the governor, Sir Benjamin d'Urban acted quickly and all available forces were mustered under Colonel Sir Harry Smith, who reached Graham’s Town on 6 January 1835, six days after news of the uprising had reached Cape Town. Retaliatory attacks against the amaXhosa were launched from the town, and hostilities continued for nine months until 17 September 1836 with the signing of a new peace treaty. All the country as far as the River Kei was acknowledged to be British, and its inhabitants declared British subjects. A site for the seat of government was selected and named King William’s Town.

The conflict was the catalyst for Piet Retief's manifesto and the Great Trek. In total 40 farmers (Boers) were killed and 416 farmhouses were burnt down. In addition 5,700 horses, 115,000 head of cattle and 162,000 sheep were plundered by amaXhosa tribes people. In retaliation sixty thousand amaXhosa cattle were taken or retaken by colonists.

By the end of the war 7,000 people of all races were left homeless. Cape governor Benjamin d'Urban took far-reaching steps to prevent similar conflict in the future. These were however not to the liking of the British minister of colonies, Lord Glenelg, who revoked all the measures and accused the Boers of instigating the conflict. As a result, the Boer community lost faith in the British justice system and often took the law into their own hands when cattle rustlers were caught.

The 7th Xhosa War, 1846-1847

Known as the "War of the Axe", the seventh war began with a pre-emptive strike by the colonists on the Xhosa. Tension continued to simmer between farmers and marauders. A Khoikhoi escort, manacled to an amaXhosa thief, was murdered while transporting the man to Grahamstown to be tried for stealing an axe. A party of amaXhosa attacked and killed the escort. The surrender of the murderer was refused and war was declared in March 1846. The Ngqikas were the chief tribe engaged in the war, assisted by portions of the Ndlambe and the Thembu. A British column sent to attack the Ngqika chief, Sandile, was defeated in the Amathole Mountains (the attacking amaXhosa were able to capture the undefended center of the three mile long wagon train, carrying away, among other important supplies, the British officer's supplies of wine). On the 28th May, a force of 8000 amaXhosa attacked the British Garrison at Fort Peddie, the assault was unsuccessful, but did result in the loss of nearly 4,000 cattle (which were stampeded by the noise of the British rockets and artillery).

A sizable group of Ndlambe amaXhosa were defeated on June 7, 1846 by General Somerset on the Gwangu, a few miles from Fort Peddie. By early 1847, most of the major Xhosa clans were at peace with the colony. However, violence flared up again after members of Sandile's tribe stole a small number of goats from the neighbouring Kat River Settlement. The war continued until Sandile was captured (he was arrested and sent to Grahamstown after entering a British camp to seek terms). The other chiefs gradually followed suit, and by the end of 1847 the amaXhosa had been completely subdued after twenty-one months of fighting. On 23rd December 1847, the Keiskamma to upper Kei region was annexed as the British Kaffraria Colony with King William's Town as capital.

The 8th Xhosa War, 1850-1853

Also known as Mlanjeni's War. Prophet Mlanjeni predicted that the amaXhosa would be unaffected by the colonists' bullets. Believing that the chiefs were responsible for the unrest caused by Mlanjeni's preaching, Governor Sir Harry Smith travelled in British Kafraria to meet with the prominent chiefs. When the Ngqika chief Sandile refused to attend a meeting outside Fort Cox, Governor Smith deposed him and declared him a fugitive. On 24 December, a British detachment of 650 men under Colonel Mackinnon was ambushed by amaXhosa warriors in the Boomah Pass. The party was forced to retreat to Fort White under heavy fire, having sustained forty-two casualties.

With the Governor cut off at Fort Cox, the Xhosa forces advanced on the colony. British military villages along the frontier were burned, and the post at Line Drift captured. Meanwhile, the Khoi of the Blinkwater River Valley and Kat River Settlement revolted, under the leadership of a half-Khoi, half-Xhosa chief Hermanus Matroos, and managed to capture Fort Armstrong. Large numbers of the "Kafir Police" - a paramilitary police force established by the British to combat cattle theft - also deserted their posts and joined Xhosa war parties. For a moment, it appeared that all of the coloured people of the eastern Cape were taking up arms against the British.

After these initial successes, however, the Xhosa experienced a series of setbacks. Xhosa forces were repulsed in separate attacks on Fort White and Fort Hare. Similarly, on January 7th, Hermanus and his supporters launched an offensive on the town of of Fort Beaufort, which was defended by a small detachment of troops and local volunteers. The attack failed, however, and Hermanus was killed. By the end of January, the British had received reinforcements from Cape Town and a force under Colonel Mackinnon was able to successfully drive north from King William's Town to resupply the beleaguered garrisons at Fort White, Fort Cox and Fort Hare. With fresh men and supplies, the British expelled the remainder of Hermanus' rebel forces (now under the command of Willem Uithaalder) from Fort Armstrong and drove them west toward the Amatola Mountains.

Insurgents led by Maqoma established themselves in the forested Water Kloof. From this base they managed to plunder surrounding farms and torch the homesteads. Maqoma's stronghold was situated on Mount Misery, a natural fortress on a narrow neck wedged between the Water Kloof and Harry's Kloof. The Water Kloof conflicts lasted two years. Maqoma also led an attack on Fort Fordyce and inflicted heavy losses on the forces of Sir Harry Smith.

In 1852, HMS Birkenhead was wrecked at Gansbaai while bringing reinforcements to the war at the request of Sir Harry Smith. Of the 450 people who perished in the incident, most of these were soldiers of the 73rd Regiment of Foot.

• Prophet Mlanjeni apparently started this war
• Thomas Baines became South Africa’s first official war artist and recorded the Eighth Frontier War (1850-1853).

Cattle Killings, 1856-1858

In April 1856 the sixteen-year-old amaXhosa prophetess Nongqawuse believed she had received a message from her ancestors that promised deliverance from their hardships such as horses, sheep, goats, dogs and fowls, all kinds of clothing, and everything you wish to eat will come in great amounts. The old will become young and the settlers will be driven into the sea if they destroyed their cattle. This was a big sacrifice for their ancestors. At first no one believed Nongquwuse's prophecy and the Xhosa nation ignored her prophecy. But when Chief Sarhili killed his cattle, more and more people began to believe that Nongquwuse was an igqirha (diviner) who could communicate with the ancestors. They too killed their cattle and destroyed their crops. The Xhosa nation waited for the old to become young again and the settlers to be driven in the sea. They waited for clothes, crops and cattle but nothing happened.The return of the ancestors was predicted to occur on 18 February, 1857. The amaXhosa, mainly chief Kreli of the Gcalekas, heeded the demand and enforced it on others, only to be disappointed on the destined day. The cattle killings continued into 1858, leading to the starvation of thousands. Disease was also spread from the cattle killings. This gave the settlers power over the remainder of the Xhosa nation. [1]

The 9th Xhosa War, 1877-1879

This 9th War started after the harassing of the Mfengu by Kreli's Gcalekas and when summoned to meet Frere at King William's Town, the Gcaleka chief refused.

The last war was a feeble attempt by the amaXhosa returning from diamond fields to regain control of their land. All amaXhosa territory then became part of the Cape Colony.

References

• List of wars
• Irregular units of the 7th Xhosa War
• Burgher Commandos of the 7th Xhosa War
• HIS 311 Lecture on Southern Africa 1800-1875
• Fifth Kaffir War 1818-1819
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Nxele, Xhosa prophet who predicted that Xhosa ancestors would rise from the dead and win the battle

See also

Albany, South Africa Hintsa ka Khawuta History of Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870 Kaffir (Historical usage in southern Africa)

Kaffraria, and British Kaffraria Military history of South Africa amaXhosa Zulu War