Battle of Centane

Battle of Centane
Part of the Ninth Xhosa War
Battle of Centane ( The Illustrated London News , 1878)
Date 7 February 1878 Location Centane 28°19′01″S32°30′25″E / 28.317000°S 32.506870°E / -28.317000; 32.506870 Result British victory
Belligerents
British Empire	Xhosa Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Captain Russell Upcher	?
Casualties and losses
10 killed	c. 300 killed
class=notpageimage| Location in present-day South Africa

The battle of Centane, also the battle of Kentani or the battle of Quintana, was fought on 7 February 1878 near Kentani ("Centane") in South Africa's Cape Province during the Ninth Xhosa War between 1877 and 1879. A Xhosa forces, composed of Gcalaka and Rharhabe warriors, attacked a British camp in the Centane Mountains and suffered a severe defeat.

Battle

Clash occurred a few weeks after the forces of British General Henry Bartle Frere led a successful campaign against the Gcaleka forces, who joined the Xhosha resistance against the British rule. Bartle's forces, under their commander Veldman Bikitsha, managed to engage and finally defeat the Gcaleka on 13 January (near Nyumaxa).The imperial troops assisted, but were tired, short of rations and unable to follow up on the victory.

At morning of 7 February 1878 a combined force of 1,500 Gcalaka and Rharhabe attacked the British camp near Centane (Kentani) ^[1] in an attempt to secure food and ammunition. Imperial forces consisting of about 400 British soldiers, mainly of the 67th Regiment of Foot of the Durham Light Infantry, commanded by Captain Russell Upcher were supported by approximately 560 Fengu warriors and the local Frontier Light Horse militia, ^[2] who fought mostly unhorsed, led by F. Carrington. ^[3] A subsequent attack was barely repelled, but outnumbered British were able to defend their posts with very low losses.

About 300 Gcalaka and Rharhabe warriors were killed for the loss of only two British soldiers and 8 Mfengu warriors.

See also

• Xhosa Wars

Citations

1. Miller, Stephen M., ed. (2009). Soldiers and Settlers in Africa, 1850–1918. Brill. p. 40. ISBN   9789047444794. OCLC   695990151.
2. Neil Parsons. "Investigating the Origins of The Rose of Rhodesia, Part II: Harold Shaw Film Productions Ltd". Latrobe.edu.au. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
3. Wright, William (2014). Warriors of the Queen: Fighting Generals of the Victorian Age. Spellmount. ISBN   978-0752493176.

Bibliography

• Featherstone, Donald (1993). Victorian Colonial Warfare: Africa. United Kingdom: Blandford. ISBN   978-0-7137-2256-7.
• "The Kaffir War". The Illustrated London News . 72: 355. 20 April 1878. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
• Philip Gon, The Last Frontier War. The South African Military History Society, Military History Journal, Vol. 5, No 6, December 1982. Online