Cruelty of Fate Read online

  Cruelty of Fate

  The Fight for Khambula

  Book Four of the Anglo-Zulu War

  James Mace

  Electronic Edition Copyright © 2019 by James Mace

  All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher.

  Characters and events portrayed in this book are based on actual persons and events, but are used fictitiously.

  Legionary Books

  Meridian, Idaho 83642, USA

  http://www.legionarybooks.net

  First eBook Edition: 2019

  Published in the United States of America

  Legionary Books

  Cover Images by Radoslav Javor, copyright © 2019 by Radoslav Javor and Legionary Books

  All photography and maps are used with generous permission from the collection of Ian Knight

  Thou great and mighty chief,

  Thou who has an army

  The son of Shepstone sent his forces,

  We destroyed them!

  The red soldiers came,

  We destroyed them!

  The mounted soldiers came,

  We destroyed them!

  The mounted police came,

  We destroyed them!

  The volunteers came,

  We destroyed them!

  The mounted police came,

  We destroyed them!

  Thou the Great Chief!

  Thou who hast an army,

  When will they dare to repeat their attack?

  - Translation of a Zulu war chant, following the Battle of Isandlwana

  The Works of James Mace

  Note: In each series or combination of series’, all works are listed in chronological sequence

  The Artorian Chronicles

  Soldier of Rome: The Legionary

  Soldier of Rome: The Sacrovir Revolt

  Soldier of Rome: Heir to Rebellion

  Soldier of Rome: The Centurion

  *Empire Betrayed: The Fall of Sejanus

  Soldier of Rome: Journey to Judea

  Soldier of Rome: The Last Campaign

  *Centurion Valens and the Empress of Death

  *Slaves of Fear: A Land Unconquered

  The Great Jewish Revolt and Year of the Four Emperors

  Soldier of Rome: Rebellion in Judea

  Soldier of Rome: Vespasian’s Fury

  Soldier of Rome: Reign of the Tyrants

  Soldier of Rome: Rise of the Flavians

  Soldier of Rome: The Fall of Jerusalem

  Napoleonic Era

  Forlorn Hope: The Storming of Badajoz

  I Stood with Wellington

  Courage, Marshal Ney

  The Anglo-Zulu War

  Brutal Valour: The Tragedy of Isandlwana

  Crucible of Honour: The Battle of Rorke’s Drift

  Lost Souls: The Forgotten Heroes of Eshowe

  Cruelty of Fate: The Fight for Khambula

  * Stand-alone novel or novella

  Table of Contents

  Preface

  Cast of Characters

  Prologue: A Prince in Exile

  Chapter I: The Red Soldiers Came

  Chapter II: Time for Initiative

  Chapter III: A Banker’s Son in Zululand

  Chapter IV: A Complicated Situation

  Chapter V: Coordinating the Columns

  Chapter VI: The abaQulusi Problem

  Chapter VII: The Sound of the Guns

  Chapter VIII: Our Greatest Victory

  Chapter IX: Take the Fight to Them

  Chapter X: Disastrous Despatches

  Chapter XI: The Shattered Column

  Chapter XII: Pull Me Out of My Difficulties

  Chapter XIII: A Painful Lull

  Chapter XIV: The Empire’s Resolve

  Chapter XV: Spiritual Purging

  Chapter XVI: Futile Retribution

  Chapter XVII: The Prince’s Treason

  Chapter XVIII: Sons of Zulu

  Chapter XIX: Charlie Harford’s Next Adventure

  Chapter XX: The Mounted Troops Return

  Chapter XXI: A Staffordshire Regiment in Zululand

  Chapter XXII: Flight of the Prince

  Chapter XXIII: A Bitter Slog

  Chapter XXIV: Crush Them in the Open

  Chapter XXV: Traitors to Their King

  Chapter XXVI: The Hyena Hunts

  Chapter XXVII: The Hyena Feasts

  Chapter XXVIII: A Day of Humiliation and Prayer

  Chapter XXIX: Salvage from the Dead

  Chapter XXX: Why We Fight

  Chapter XXXI: Burn them out!

  Chapter XXXII: Blind to Our Enemy’s Intentions

  Chapter XXXIII: Under the Shadow of Death

  Chapter XXXIV: The Vast Plateau

  Chapter XXXV: Chaos Atop the Painted Mountain

  Chapter XXXVI: Nothing Remains but to Die

  Chapter XXXVII: An Ignominious Retreat

  Chapter XXXVIII: It is My Unpleasant Duty

  Chapter XXXIX: We are the Boys of Isandlwana!

  Chapter XL: A Pitiful Foe

  Chapter XLI: Retreat from the Kraal

  Chapter XLII: A Desperate Counterattack

  Chapter XLIII: One Final Push

  Chapter XLIV: A Rough and Tumble

  Chapter XLV: The Butcher’s Bill

  Chapter XLVI: Trail of the Dead

  Epilogue: Hunting the Hyena

  Historical Afterward

  Appendix A: Historical Requiem – The Survivors of Ntombe, Hlobane, and Khambula

  Appendix B: A Zulu Account of the Battle of Khambula

  Appendix C: Historical Accounts of a Turncoat Zulu

  Appendix D: Glossary of Terms

  Further Reading / Bibliography

  Preface

  In late January 1879, following news of the terrible disaster to befall British forces at Isandlwana, Colonel Henry Evelyn Wood, commanding officer of the northern No. 4 Column, withdraws his forces to Khambula, near the Natal and Transvaal borders. Adding to their woes, the southern No. 1 Column finds itself trapped under siege at the abandoned mission station of Eshowe. The General Officer Commanding, Lord Chelmsford, orders Wood to continue harassing the Zulus, keeping the pressure off their central and southern forces while he rallies reinforcements to relieve Eshowe. In light of the disaster at Isandlwana, Wood knows he must temper aggression with caution, as he does not have the numbers necessary to face the entire Zulu amabutho.

  Facing the British in the north are the semi-autonomous abaQulusi tribe and their venerable ally, an exiled Swazi prince named Mbilini. A master of guerrilla warfare, Mbilini harries the British invaders relentlessly while awaiting reinforcements from the Zulu king, Cetshwayo. Fifty miles to the east, at the royal kraal of Ulundi, Cetshwayo’s triumphant albeit terribly bloodied regiments return home to take in the harvest following their victory at Isandlwana. The king’s subsequent overtures of peace are soundly rebuffed by Lord Chelmsford, and he knows he must soon summon his regiments once again. With shouts of ‘We are the boys of Isandlwana!’ the Zulus turn their attention north, seeking to join with Mbilini and send another British invasion column to oblivion.

  Cast of Characters

  The British

  Colonel Henry Evelyn Wood, VC – Commanding Officer, No. 4 Column. A highly experienced officer, having fought in both the Crimea War as well as the Indian Rebellion, where he earned the Victoria Cross in 1858

  Lieutenant Colonel Redvers Buller – A regular army officer from the 60th Regiment, given command of the Frontier Light Horse

  Lieutenant Colonel Philip Gilbert – Commanding
Officer, 1st Battalion, 13th Somerset Light Infantry

  Major Robert Rogers, VC – Commanding Officer, 90th Regiment, who earned the Victoria Cross during the Second China War in 1861

  Major Edward Tremlett – Office Commanding, 11/7 Battery, Royal Artillery

  Major Robert Hackett – Battalion Major with the 90th Regiment

  Major William Knox Leet – An officer from 2/13th Light Infantry, now assigned to command the indigenous warriors known as ‘Wood’s Irregulars’

  Captain the Honourable Robert Campbell – Wood’s principle staff officer, detached from the Coldstream Guards

  Captain Edward Woodgate – Staff Officer, detached from the 4th Regiment

  Captain Henry Vaughan – Transportation Officer, detached from the Royal Artillery

  Commissary Edward Hughes – Commissary Officer

  Second Lieutenant Henry Lysons – A young officer from the 1st Staffordshire Militia, now serving as Wood’s orderly

  Surgeon Major Charles Cuffe – Senior Medical Officer

  Soldiers of C Company, 1/13th Light Infantry

  Captain George Thurlow – Officer Commanding

  Lieutenant George Pardoe – Subaltern

  Colour Sergeant Arthur Fricker – Senior Non-Commissioned Officer

  Sergeant Lewis Walker – A section leader and career soldier whose seventeen-year-old son is a bandsman serving with the Regiment

  Sergeants Michael Ring, Richard Evans – Section leaders

  Corporal Harry Davies – An assistant section leader under Sergeant Walker, who joined the Army when prospects proved scarce despite his being the son of a prominent banker

  Corporal James Shepard – A friend of Davies and another assistant section leader

  Privates William Grosvenor, Albert Page, George Hill, Jonathan Allen – Enlisted men

  The Garrison at Luneburg

  Major Charles Tucker – Commanding Officer, 80th Staffordshire Regiment

  Captain David Moriarty – Officer Commanding, E Company, 80th Regiment

  Lieutenant Henry Harward – Subaltern, E Company, 80th Regiment

  Colour Sergeant Henry Fredericks – Senior NCO of A Company, 80th Regiment

  Sergeant Anthony Clarke Booth – The former colour sergeant of A Company, recently reverted back to a section leader with E Company

  Lance Corporal William Burgess – Assistant section leader under Sergeant Booth

  Privates John Dodd, William Farrell, John Mace, James Taylor – Enlisted men

  The Zulus

  King Cetshwayo kaMpande – King of the Zulus

  Prince Hamu kaNzibe – Elder brother of the king and one of his chief rivals

  Ntshingwayo kaMahole – Senior inkosi within the Zulu amabutho, and architect of their victory at Isandlwana

  Mandlenkosi kaSiyanda – An induna with the uThulwana Regiment who was wounded during the battle of Rorke’s Drift and whose son was killed at Isandlwana

  Mehlokazulu kaSihayo – An induna with the iNgobamakhosi Regiment and survivor of the Battle of Isandlwana

  Mbilini waMswati – An exiled Swazi prince who allies himself with the Zulus in hopes of gaining their support in his claim to the Swazi throne

  Tshwane kaSihayo – Brother of Mehlokazulu and follower of Mbilini

  The strategic situation at the end of January, 1879, from the collection of Ian Knight

  The events in this story take place simultaneously as those in the third volume of this series, Lost Souls: The Forgotten Heroes of Eshowe

  Prologue: A Prince in Exile

  The Pongola Valley, Southern Africa

  9 October 1878

  Prince Mbilini waMswati (right)

  The sun slowly set in the west, casting its glow upon the idyllic Valley. Lying within the heart of the disputed territories in northern Zululand, ownership was bitterly contested by the Zulu Kingdom and the Dutch Transvaal, which had been recently annexed by the British Empire. The indigenous peoples living within the valley cared little for the perpetual disputes between the white settlers and the Zulu King. Most were descended from migrant cattle farmers from the nearby Swazi Kingdom. These people, who lived scattered about the region in small homesteads, were only concerned about raising their families and tending to their cattle and mealie crops. A group of thatched huts encircled a modest-sized cattle kraal belonging to one such family.

  An older woman stoked the cooking fire as she and her daughters prepared supper. A second, much younger woman carried a large basket full of cabbage and other vegetables. All the while, her toddler son played near her feet. The patriarch of this homestead, accompanied by his elder sons, guided the family’s cattle in from the grazing fields and into the dusty kraal; twenty-two head in all. There was much singing and chanting as they finished their day’s work and looked forward to a hearty supper.

  Watching all of this from a nearby hill was a man who was also of Swazi descent, yet he shared no affinity with the farmer and his family. He knelt behind a large rock outcropping, wearing only his loin covering, while his iklwa spear and knobkerrie club rested easily in his lap. Though a short man of slight build, his eyes told of an inner strength, shrewd intellect, and ruthless ambition.

  His name was Mbilini, eldest son of the late Swazi king, Mswati. Mbilini lived in exile, having been denied what he felt was his birth right. Like their southern neighbours, the Zulus, the Swazi line-of-succession was often convoluted. The heir to the throne was not necessarily the eldest son, but rather the eldest son of the chief wife. The king could change who his chief wife was at his leisure, as King Cetshwayo’s father, Mpande, had been notorious for doing. And while Mbilini was Mswati’s eldest son and a personal favourite, he had two younger brothers from his father’s chief wife, Queen Nandzi. The two young princes, Ludvonga and Mbandzeni, lost their mother when still toddlers and were boys of ten and eleven when their father died.

  At twenty-two, Mbilini was the only potential heir to the Swazi throne who was of age and political strife ensued. Prince Ludvonga was murdered with poison, with many placing the blame on Mbilini. The elder prince subsequently accused another of his father’s wives, Queen Tsandzile, of murdering the boy. Whatever the truth, Tsandzile was a favourite of the people, with a natural charisma that overshadowed Mbilini’s. Stating that Prince Mbandzeni was the sole surviving son of the chief wife, she asserted that this made him the rightful heir to Mswati. With both the people and the royal regiments coming out in support, Mbilini was cast aside, with Queen Tsandzile ruling the kingdom as regent until Mbandzeni came of age.

  Like Cetshwayo of the Zulus, Mbilini had hoped to claim his right as King of Swaziland by force or coercion. However, when it became clear that he lacked the necessary support, Mbilini fled south with most of his followers, subsequently pledging his allegiance to King Cetshwayo.

  “I would rather serve a warrior king than bow before that useless boy who sits upon my throne,” he often said.

  Fourteen years had since passed, with Mbilini now in his mid-thirties, yet no closer to laying claim to the Swazi Kingdom. However, his number of followers and cattle had grown considerably. With Cetshwayo’s blessing, he established his kraal in the northern Ntombe valley near his ancestral homeland. He further managed to align himself with the semi-autonomous abaQulusi and Khubeka tribes, whose formidable strongholds lay near the ominous mountain of Hlobane. Their chief inkosi, Manyanyoba, was fiercely loyal to King Cetshwayo and had forged a long-lasting friendship with Mbilini.

  Though Mbilini remained unmarried, he wore a polished gum ring woven into his hair. His reason for wearing the head ring of a married man was because he considered himself ‘master of his own estates’. He took his wealth building a step further by continuously raiding into the Transvaal and disputed territories to increase his fortunes in cattle. In 1877, just prior to their annexation by the British Empire, the Transvaal Boers complained to King Cetshwayo about the raids. While the king gave the white settlers permission to punish Mbilini, provided they could find
him, he personally did nothing to stop the Swazi prince from destroying farms and stealing cattle. Secretly, the Zulu king had gone so far as to warn Mbilini of the danger, while encouraging him to continue his efforts to blunt white encroachment into Zulu lands. Ironically, most of the raiding done by Mbilini was against homesteads and kraals belonging to fellow Swazis rather than against the white settlers.

  The sky grew a deep red as Mbilini continued to watch the family go about their supper, complete with singing and dancing. He was joined by one of his youngest followers, who also wore just a loin covering and wielded an iklwa spear.

  “Almost time for the hyena to hunt,” Mbilini said quietly to the young warrior who knelt next to him.

  “Your family calls you ‘hyena’,” the lad, whose name was Tshwane kaSihayo, observed. “They mean it as an insult, yet you wear the name like a crown,”

  “The hyena is a predator who hunts his prey at night,” Mbilini remarked. “He hunts in packs, inflicting terror upon his victims before devouring them. Those that call me ‘hyena’ think they insult me, yet they simply affirm that I am a predator who hunts them in the night, bringing dread just before death.”

  That the Swazi prince was such a small man only made his visage seem fiercer. Rather than being self-conscious about his height and slender build, he used his stature as a weapon, one which allowed him to remain hidden in the shadows until he was ready to strike.

  For this particular foray, he brought with him around fifty warriors, including the young Zulu. As was often the case, he ordered his men to leave their shields and any firearms behind, which he felt were too cumbersome and impractical for this style of warfare. Instead, each warrior carried his iklwa stabbing spear and either a knobkerrie club or a pair of throwing assegai.