| Fort Cox | |
|---|---|
| South Africa | |
| Type | Block house |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |  South Africa |
| Open to the public | Yes |
| Condition | Ruins |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1835 |
| Battles/wars | Cape Frontier Wars |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | 6 Royal Artillery, British infantry, 160 Hottentots |
Fort Cox near Middledrift in the Eastern Cape, South Africa was a frontier fort in the Amatola Mountains on a loop of the Keiskamma River.
Dating back to 1835, it was named after Major William Cox of the 75th Regiment and accommodated a garrison of six Royal Artillery, one company of British Infantry and 160 Hottentots. Like many fortifications of its time, it was simply an earth redoubt reinforced with stone and consisting of a quadrangle of strong stone cottages and walls. Surrounded by high hills, Mount MacDonald and Seven Kloof Mountain towering beyond, it was well situated as a base for patrols of the valleys and ravines of the Amatola and Keiskamma Mountains during the frequent wars and unrest of the period. The ruins of the fort are still to be seen. [1] Fort White, situated on the Debe Flats, was its nearest neighbour on the way to King William’s Town. [2] The site was abandoned in 1836 when the British left the region, and was rebuilt in 1846 to deal with the Seventh Xhosa War.
On 29 December 1850, during the Eighth Frontier War with the Xhosas, some 220 British troops were forced to retreat to Fort Hare after an unsuccessful attempt to relieve Sir Harry Smith, besieged at Fort Cox. [3]
The site currently houses the Fort Cox College of Agriculture & Forestry. [4]
The history of the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1870 spans the period of the history of the Cape Colony during the Cape Frontier Wars, which lasted from 1779 to 1879. The wars were fought between the European colonists and the native Xhosa who, defending their land, fought against European rule.
The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha.
Fort Hare was an 1835 British-built fort on a rocky outcrop at the foothills of the Amatola Mountains; close to the present day town of Alice, Eastern Cape in South Africa.
British Kaffraria was a British colony/subordinate administrative entity in present-day South Africa, consisting of the districts now known as Qonce and East London. It was also called Queen Adelaide's Province.
Fort Beaufort is a town in the Amatole District of South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, and had a population of 25,668 in 2011. The town was established in 1837 and became a municipality in 1883. The town lies at the confluence of the Kat River and Brak River between the Keiskamma and Great Fish Rivers. Fort Beaufort serves as a mini-'dormitory' for academic staff and students of Fort Hare University, based in the nearby town of Alice, and is also close to Sulphur Springs.
Hogsback is a village in the Amathole Mountains in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa.
Amatola, Amatole or Amathole are a range of densely forested mountains, situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The word Amathole means ‘calves’ in Xhosa, and Amathole District Municipality, which lies to the south, is named after these mountains.
Sir Andries Stockenström, 1st Baronet, was lieutenant governor of British Kaffraria from 13 September 1836 to 9 August 1838.
South African Bantu-speaking peoples are the majority of black South Africans. Occasionally grouped as Bantu, the term itself is derived from the word for "people" common to many of the Bantu languages. The Oxford Dictionary of South African English describes its contemporary usage in a racial context as "obsolescent and offensive" because of its strong association with white minority rule with their apartheid system. However, Bantu is used without pejorative connotations in other parts of Africa and is still used in South Africa as the group term for the language family.
The Xhosa Wars were a series of nine wars between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. These events were the longest-running military action in the history of European colonialism in Africa.
The Diocese of Grahamstown is a diocese of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. It is centred on the historic city of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The diocese extends to East London, in the east and Port Alfred to the south.
The Stormberg is a range of mountains situated in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, are an easterly extension of the Bamboesberge and form an outlier of the greater Drakensberg mountain range. They form part of the 'Amatola and Stormberg' region which includes major towns like Grahamstown, East London and Port Alfred. Towns in the Stormberg Mountains include Sterkstroom, Jamestown, Molteno, Dordrecht, Barkly East, Rhodes and Steynsburg. South Africa's only ski resort, Tiffindell, is also situated in these mountains.
Mgolombane Sandile (1820–1878) was a ruler of the Right Hand House of the Xhosa Kingdom. A dynamic leader, he led the Xhosa armies in several of the Xhosa-British Wars.
Peddie is a town in the Ngqushwa Local Municipality within the Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.
Field Commandant Christian Jacobus Groepe (1789–1886) was a military leader of the Khoi people of Kat River, Cape Colony, in the nineteenth century.
The Tyhume River is a river in Amathole District Municipality in the central part of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It springs in the forested mountains of Hogsback, part of the Amatola Mountains, and runs down the Tyhume River Valley and through the eastern verge of the small town of Alice, Eastern Cape, bordering most of the Fort Hare University grounds.
Jongumsobomvu Maqoma (1798–1873) was a Xhosa chief and a commander of the Xhosa forces during the Cape Frontier Wars. Born in the Right Hand House of the Xhosa Kingdom, he was the older brother of Chief Mgolombane Sandile and nephew to King Hintsa. In 1818, he commanded the forces of his father, Ngqika, who seemingly was trying to overthrow the government and become the king of the Xhosa nation. In 1822, he moved to the so-called neutral zone to take land but was expelled by the British troops.
In the Colonies and former Boer Republics which became the Union of South Africa in 1910, several unofficial military decorations and medals were instituted and awarded during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Sir Harry Smith's Medal for Gallantry is an unofficial military decoration for bravery, awarded for actions following the siege of Fort Cox in December 1850, at the beginning of the 8th Cape Frontier War. The medal was privately instituted in 1851 by Major General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith Bt GCB, at the time the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope.
Fort White was established in 1835 as a base for the British army during the Xhosa Wars. It is the Eastern Cape province of South Africa, near King William's Town. It was named after Major TC White, Assistant Quarter-Master General of the Burgher Force and military land-surveyor and topographer, who was killed near the Mbashe River.
The Eighth Xhosa War was a war between the British Empire and Xhosa as well as Khoikhoi forces, between 1850 and 1853. It was the eighth of nine Xhosa Wars.
Coordinates: 32°43′48″S27°1′32″E / 32.73000°S 27.02556°E
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