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A Note on Firearms in the Zulu Kingdom with special reference to the Anglo-Zulu War, 1879

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 January 2009

J. J. Guy
J. J. Guy
Affiliation:
University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland
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Extract

The earliest substantial references we have to the reaction of Zulu to firearms date from the 1820s and they show that any previous contact with such weapons must have been slight. The diaries of the English traders who arrived in the kingdom in the latter part of the 1820s point to a widespread fear of firearms on the part of Shaka's subjects—a fear not necessarily related to the missiles the guns discharged, but to the noise and smoke they emitted when fired. Dingane, in a discussion on strategy with his councillors which Isaacs overheard in 1830, said that:

if the white people were to come here to fight us, they need not fire at us, as the report from their pieces would strike you with terror, and while you ran one way, the Malongoes (whites) would drive off your cattle the other.

Type
Papers on Firearms in Sub-Saharan Africa, II
Information
The Journal of African History , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , October 1971 , pp. 557 - 570
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1971

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References

1 See Isaacs, N., Travels and adventures in eastern Africa, ed. Hermann, L. (Cape Town, 1936–7), 1, 146.Google Scholar

2 Isaacs, , Travels, II, 46.Google Scholar

3 The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn, 1803–1861, eds. Stuart, J. and Malcolm, D. (Pietermaritzburg, 1950), 81–2.Google Scholar

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16 Dunn was held responsible for arming the Zulu by T. Shepstone and by the Zulu themselves. See C.O. 879/204, no. 168, Shepstone, T., Memo on Wolseley's scheme for settlement, 23 08 1879:Google ScholarColenso, J. W., Extracts from the Blue Books (Bishopstowe, 1878–1881), 736:Google Scholar and Vijn, C., Cetshwayo's Dutchman (London, 1880), 58.Google Scholar

17 See the letter from one of Dunn's agents reproduced in C.O. 879; 15/173, no. 10, Frere, to Hicks, Beach, 24 02 1879.Google Scholar

18 C.O. 879; 17/208, no. 4, Foreign Office to Colonial Office, Report by Vice-Consul, Mozambique, 22 09 1879, 6.Google Scholar

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20 Original Correspondence (Natal), C.O. 179/135, no. 389, Minutes.

21 Colenso, , Extracts, 736.Google Scholar See also Vijn, , Cetshwayo's Dutchman, 58.Google Scholar

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24 Journal of SirGarnet, Wolseley (Public Record Office), W.O. 147/7, 107.Google Scholar

25 Original Correspondence (Natal), C.O. 179/132, 3882, Hutton & Co. to Hicks, Beach, 11 03 1879, ‘The powder shipped is only the ordinary African trade gunpowder which contains under 70 per cent of Saltpetre…. (and is) exclusively for the African trade and blasting purposes…. and a very different article to military powder.’Google Scholar

26 C.O. 179/132, 9733, Memo by Fairfield on information given by C. H. Weheusen.

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28 The Zulu Army…. (Pietermaritzburg, 1879), 6.Google Scholar

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34 ‘The Zulus used to drive a herd of cattle (say 20–40, but nearer 40) and these would be left intact until those of the enemy had been captured when the latter would be taken as food and the others driven back to the King's kraal once more. But if food ran short the induna (officer) was allowed to kill and eat this herd, but care was taken that (the) induna only and his immediate coterie got any of this meat. It was not eaten by anyone…. I don't know if any of these cattle were driven along in (the) Zulu war.’ James Stuart papers (Killie Campbell Africans Library), Native habits and customs in war, 30055, evidence by Socwatsha, , 4 06, 1912.Google Scholar

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38 C. 2695, no. 43, Colley, to Kimberley, , 9 08 1880, Enclosure, British Resident's report, 4 Aug. 1880, 85.Google Scholar

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40 See A Zulu Boy's recollections of the Zulu War …., translated by Seinny, G. H. (London, 1884) and see above, n. 38.Google Scholar

41 In the Ngome forest, along the Lebombo mountains, in the ravines running down into the Buffalo river, and, the best known of all, the Nkandla forest. Some Zulu did make some use of strongholds during the invasion, particularly in the north western districts, where, however, they had experienced considerable encroachment from the Transvaal in the decades preceding the war. Cetshwayo built some homesteads in broken ground in the thornveld between the Black and White Mfolsi; he seems to have used them to store powder and lead and housed his Sotho gunsmiths there. See Wolseley's Journal, W.O. 747/7, 116. Nevertheless strongholds were only used in emergency and there was no attempt to incorporate them in general strategy, which was based on traditional forms of attack.

42 Evelyn Wood Collection (Natal Archives) 2/11/2, Chelmsford, to Wood, , 10 12 1878.Google Scholar

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48 For a graphic account of the transport problems faced by the British see Morris, , Washing, 311–16.Google Scholar

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51 Wolseley wrote after Ulundi: ‘If Chelmsford had remained at Ulundi and pursued with cavalry and native troops, he might easily have turned the occasion into a final victory.’ But Chelmsford did not have the supplies to stay at Ulundi. Disraeli wrote to the Queen: ‘Had he not been furtively apprised by telegraph that he was to be superseded, Lord Chelmsford would probably never have advanced to Ulundi. His retreat from that post was his last and crowning mistake….’ Both letters are quoted in Maurice, F. and Arthur, G., The Life of Lord Wolseley (London, 1924), 119.Google Scholar

52 Those who actually participated at Ulundi had obvious motives for doing this. Wolseley's attitude was rather ambiguous, but in July, under instructions to terminate the war as quickly as possible, it suited his plans to accept this interpretation of the battle of Ulundi. ‘I have …. every reason’, he wrote, ‘to believe that this war is virtually ended, and I am now turning my attention to the means of securing a complete and formal establishment of tranquility throughout the country.’ C. 2453, no. 62, Wolseley, to Hicks, Beach, 10 07 1879. But see below, p. 569, for his interpretation when it seemed as if the part he played in Zululand was not going to be recognized.Google Scholar

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