CONFLICT AT PORT NATAL 1842: THE BATTLE OF CONGELLA

Most military historians would describe the Battle of Congella as a minor skirmish. Nevertheless, it is an interesting piece of military action as well as being historically important.

It's an early example of the hostility which existed between the Boers (Voortrekkers or emigrant Dutch farmers) and the British Government at the Cape, and which later in the century escalated, leading to the Anglo-Boer War. Also, some of the inadequacies of the British military system and tactics in South Africa became evident: their uniforms, both in colour and weight, were unsuited to the climate, and British troops were not experienced in the type of warfare (basically guerilla) in which they became involved in this region.

EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE BATTLE OF CONGELLA

When the Voortrekkers left the Cape Colony in the late 1830s, in the mass emigration now known as the Great Trek, some of the trekker parties crossed the Drakensberg into Natal and decided to settle. Despite the murder of Retief by Dingaan in 1838 and the massacre of many of their people the trekboers hoped to remain in Natal and establish their own way of life beyond the rule of the British Government at the Cape.

The trekkers were still regarded by the Cape Government as British subjects, but this didn't deter them from founding a new town about 50 miles inland from Port Natal, calling it Pietermaritzburg and declaring their own Republic of Natalia. At that stage, there had been no official annexation of Natal by the British Government. British troops previously stationed in Natal had been withdrawn when it appeared that the conflict between the trekkers and the local tribes had ended. As soon as the troops left Natal, the trekkers hoisted their new Republican flag at the Port. However, disturbances between the Dutch and the tribes flared up again. The Volksraad announced their intention of removing compulsorily all Natal's indigenous inhabitants to the district between the Umtamvuna and the Umzimvimbu rivers. Since this location was also claimed by the Amapondo chief, Faku, further bloodshed seemed likely to result. The Governor of the Cape decided it was time to assert British authority by resuming the military occupation of Natal.

CAPTAIN SMITH'S JOURNEY

The troops which Cape Governor Sir George Napier sent to deal with the situation at Port Natal had been stationed about 170 miles south at a fortified post on the Umgazi River (near the present Port St Johns), under Captain Thomas Charlton Smith.

Smith was an experienced soldier, a veteran of the Peninsular War and Waterloo. The force under his command in May 1842 consisted of two companies of the 27th Regiment, eight men of the Royal Artillery, a detachment (4 men) of the Royal Engineers and about 50 members of the Cape Mounted Rifles, about 263 men in all. Bringing this expeditionary force to Natal was an enormous undertaking. It meant moving not only the troops but their wives and families, their servants, 60 wagons, 600 oxen, stores and armaments. They had to hack their way through impenetrable coastal bush, cross over a hundred swollen rivers (it was the rainy season), often travelling upstream for several miles to find fordable drifts, through wild and unfriendly terrain, and at the end of the arduous march lay a confrontation with the Boers.

Captain Smith's column arrived at Port Natal on 4 May. At Sea View (Umbilo) he was met by some of the British settlers, who expressed surprise at the limited strength of his force and no little doubt as to their efficacy against 1500 armed trekboers. Passing through the almost deserted Boer encampment of Congella on the shores of the Bay, Smith marched on to the northern shore and erected a camp. On the site of what is now called the Old Fort, his troops built a triangular earthen fort with a stockade. The sole howitzer and two field guns were placed in the corners, and the camp was further protected by a laager of wagons. The Republican colours flying from the blockhouse at the Point were hauled down and the British ensign raised in its place.

Captain Smith's sketch of the British camp

As soon as it became evident that the British had no intention of leaving, the Boers under their commander Pretorius re-occupied Congella. Smith made it clear that he regarded the Boers as British subjects. Pretorius gradually received reinforcements, and found it difficult to control his troops. Armed Boers rode through the British camp, jeering at the soldiers, and Smith threatened to burn the Boer camp at Congella. At this juncture, the trekkers made off with most of the British oxen, an action which infuriated Smith and was the signal for the onset of open hostilities. He planned a surprise attack on Congella, lying three miles from the British position.

CONGELLA

Late on the night of 23 May, in brilliant moonlight, Smith led his troops south, down what would later be Aliwal Street, towards the Bay and then along the shore on the sandy flats between the water and the mangroves clustered around its edge. They were marching along the area more recently known as the Victoria Embankment. At high tide these low-lying flats became covered with water, and when the water receded a strongly-smelling acreage of mud, with scuttling crabs, was left exposed. The ebb and flow along the shoreline would play an important part in the military action of that night.

Captain Smith had given instructions that a boat carrying a howitzer was to be sent 'to within 500 yards of Congella and await the troops, in order that they might form under cover of its fire'. The boat was duly embarked but grounded too far offshore for the fire from the howitzer to have any effect. After the incident Smith emphasised that this failed manoeuvre contributed greatly to the British disaster.

He described the action as follows:

'As the road leading to the Congella ... lies for the most part through thick bush, I thought it best to cross the sands at low water, as by this means I could avoid annoyance from the farmers till within a short distance of their station. Having previously sent out a picquet to feel the skirts of the wood in front of our position, in order to prevent our movements being discovered, I put the whole party in motion at 11 p.m. ... and arrived without molestation within nearly 800 yards of the place I proposed to attack..'

He then found that the howitzer boat had not arrived and he had to continue the attack without covering fire.

'Giving the order to advance ... the troops had just moved to where a range of mangrove bush opened to a level space in front of the Congella, when a heavy and well-directed fire from the bush was poured on them; upon which they immediately formed and commenced a fire in return, while the two six-pounders were loading.'

Unfortunately, some of the draught oxen were wounded and they stampeded, causing confusion in the British ranks. The Boers took advantage of this and several of the British fell under heavy fire from the enemy's long rifles - much more efficient weapons than the British muskets. Disorder followed and Smith 'thought it expedient to retire' but his men were hampered in their retreat by the tide, which had risen. Some soldiers were drowned. The survivors returned to the British camp, but were forced to leave behind the guns, which couldn't be moved without oxen. There wasn't time to spike the guns to prevent them falling into the hands of the enemy.

It's clear that in the 'surprise' attack, the most surprised person was Captain Smith. The trekboers had several advantages, one being the moonlight. They were, in any case, expecting some sort of reprisal from the British after the theft of the oxen, and had carefully placed sentries in the area between the British camp and Congella. As the traveller Adolphe Delagorgue remarked, '25 Boer marksmen posted themselves along the beach behind mangrove trees waiting in the attitude of hunters on the watch for a leopard'. There was no chance of a force such as Smith's, with gun-wagons drawn by oxen, approaching silently.

Boer marksmen awaiting Capt Smith's troops

AFTERMATH

By about 2 a.m. on the morning of 24 May, the remnants of Smith's troops were back in their camp, with the Boers on three sides of the perimeter. Firing continued until 4 a.m. but the trekkers made no attempt to storm the position.

Pretorius sent many of the wounded and dead from Congella to Smith's camp. It is recorded that the Boers had treated the wounded with humanity, and in some cases had rescued British soldiers in danger of being drowned by the rising tide. Captain Smith refused Pretorius's demand for surrender, but asked for and was granted a 24 hour truce to bury the dead.

From then on, the British camp was in a state of siege. There was no immediate prospect of relief.

ROLL OF KILLED, WOUNDED AND MISSING BELONGING TO THE DETACHMENT UNDER COMMAND OF CAPTAIN T CHARLTON SMITH, 27TH REGIMENT, ON THE NIGHT OF 23 AND MORNING OF 24 MAY 1842

Royal Artillery
Killed:
WYATT, Lieutenant George Wyatt
SPRINGHOLL gunner
SPEED gunner
HAWKES gunner
Severely wounded:
SADBROK bombardier
Slightly wounded
STUBBS gunner

Royal Engineers
Slightly wounded:
BURRIDGE Pte
SEBBS Pte

27th Regiment (Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers)
Killed:
CALLAGHAN, A Pte
FITZPATRICK, J Pte
GREESON, S Pte
GRIFFIN, J Pte
GRIME, W Pte
KERR, Robert Pte
BOWLES, W Pte
BROWNE, J Pte

1st & 2nd Companies
Dangerously wounded:
HAYCOCK
FITZPATRICK, J
FITZPATRICK, James [repeat of above?]
Slightly wounded:
STUART, H
BAKER, J
GLANEY, J
GALLAGHAN, W
Severely wounded:
DONOHOE, D
KELLY, James
SULLIVAN, J

3rd and 4th Companies
Severely wounded:
LONSDALE, Captain
CLYNN, Sergeant
CARROLL, J Pte
FORD, J Pte
KANE, J Pte
DOHERTY Pte
Dangerously wounded:
KERBERRY, Pte
COYNE, H Pte
HIGGIN, T Pte
MULVEY, J
Slightly wounded:
ARMSTRONG, Sergeant
COGAN
REAVES, J

Missing:
BRESLEN, J 2nd Company

This roll is based on Captain T C Smith's letter of 25 May 1842 to the British Governor, but is not all-inclusive. For example, Lieutenant Lunnard of the 27th Regiment is not mentioned in the roll, but in Smith's letter it's stated that Lunnard rendered 'zealous service' and was severely wounded at Congella. Lieutenant Wyatt of the Royal Artillery, who fell early in the action, is mentioned in both the roll and in Captain Smith's letter. (Wyatt Road near Ordinance Road, Durban, is named in memory of this British officer.) It is recorded that of the 138 men who marched to Congella on the night of 24th May, 17 men were killed, 31 wounded and 3 missing (51 in total); 87 survivors returned to camp

The 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1689. In 1881 the Regiment was amalgamated into The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Badge of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

FURTHER READING:
Bird, J: Annals of Natal Vol I & II
Russell, R: Natal, The Land & Its Story
Bulpin, T V.: Natal & The Zulu Country
Holden, Rev W: History of the Colony of Natal
Smail, J L: With Shield & Assegai

© Rosemary Dixon-Smith October 2007