The Natal Native Pioneer Corps, commonly referred to as the Natal Pioneers, was a unit of the British Colonial Auxiliary Forces which served in Anglo-Zulu War. Raised by levy in November 1878, the unit consisted of three companies of around 100 men who worked on engineering tasks such as the repair of tracks and construction of entrenchments. The men were issued with old British Army jackets, white short trousers and a blue pillbox hat. The non-commissioned officers of the unit were armed with a rifle, the other men were issued only with tools.
Detachments of the Natal Native Pioneer Corps fought at the battles of Inyezane, Isandlwana, Eshowe and Ulundi. They remained in service for some months after the war ended in July 1879. This led to some disgruntlement and two men of No. 1 Company were flogged for insubordination; the Corps was finally disbanded in October 1879.
Background
In the late 1870s the British High Commissioner for Southern Africa Sir Henry Bartle Frere was attempting to form a confederation of British possessions in Southern Africa. As part of this ambition, the annexation of Zululand was planned, this led to the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.[1] The senior British military commander in the region Frederic Thesiger (later and more commonly known as Lord Chelmsford) began gathering forces in the Colony of Natal for an invasion of Zululand.[2] Chelmsford's plan called for an invasion by five columns of troops, though manpower shortages required him to reduce this to three. The Right Column (formerly No. 1 Column) under Charles Pearson was to advance on the eastern coast, the Left Column (formerly No. 4 Column) under Evelyn Wood was to launch a feint on the west flank and Chelmsford's Centre Column (comprising the combined Nos. 2 & 3 Columns) was to strike for the Zulu capital at Ulundi. The former No. 5 Column under Hugh Rowlands was assigned to defend the border of Transvaal with the Zulu kingdom.[3]
The columns would need to march along existing tracks in Zululand and all supplies would need to follow them by wagon. These tracks were ill-formed and only used occasionally by traders; they turned to quagmires in the rain and were occasionally broken by steep-sided dongas (dry river beds). River fords (locally known as drifts) were impassable in high water and quickly ruined when trafficked heavily.[4]
Places mentioned in the text, borders are those of the modern-day province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Chelmsford, guided by the commander of No. 2 Column Lieutenant-Colonel Anthony Durnford — a seasoned South African campaigner — raised a force of pioneers from the black subjects of Natal.[5][6] This was a development of the Natal government's long-established isiBhalo levy system by which men were pressed into duty to carry out road repairs.[5][7] Durnford had formed similar forces during the 1873 rebellion of Langalibalele in Natal.[8]
Three companies were raised, with a nominal strength of 5 white officers (one captain and four lieutenants), 4 black officers and 96 men (though in practice only No. 2 Company reached this strength).[8][5] It had originally been intended that each company would be commanded by a regular British Army officer of the Royal Engineers, but there were too few to spare, so Durnford had to turn to the Natal government to supply suitable men.[5] The colony's Acting Secretary for Native Affairs selected the three chiefs who would be responsible for providing the men for the unit.[8] Levies were also being taken for men to form the Natal Native Contingent (NNC), which had been raised as an auxiliary fighting force, and Durnford instructed that the best men from these levies be sent to the Natal Pioneers.[6][9]
The Natal Colony also supplied the equipment for the troops: each man was provided with a pickaxe, shovel or crowbar and the non-commissioned officers were issued with a rifle. The men were issued uniforms of cast-off pre-1872 British Army issue red frock jackets; these were the traditional red coats but with the cuff facings and collar removed (these were coloured to identify different British Army regiments). The Natal Pioneers were also issued knee-length white canvas trousers, a blue pillbox hat with a yellow band and a British Army greatcoat.[5] Durnford had intended that the NNC would be similarly uniformed but a lack of supply left them to make do with only a red rag tied around the head as means of distinguishing them from their Zulu adversaries.[10] The Pioneers were issued a 22-pound (10.0kg) cooking pot for every ten men and supplied with a daily ration of a 1 pound (0.45kg) of maize meal, 1.5 pounds (0.68kg) of fresh meat and 2 ounces (57g) of salt. Their pay was twenty shillings a month, with NCOs receiving an additional five shillings.[11][12]
The Natal Pioneers were raised from November 1878 and ordered to assemble at Fort Napier in Pietermaritzburg in early December.[8][13] They served throughout the war of the following year and were disbanded in October 1879, after the Zulu capitulation.[14]
No. 1 Company
No. 1 Company was commanded by Lieutenant W. J. Nolan and numbered 80 men.[13][15] The company was formed of men supplied by Chief Mbozana of the amaNgangoma from the Verulam district. With a detachment of the amaNgcolosi, they were the first men to report for duty with the pioneers and arrived at Fort Napier on 23 December. They spent around a week being drilled by Nolan in the town engineer's yard.[8] The pioneers of this company were generally older, married men. [16]
Depiction of a corduroy road
No. 1 Company was inspected by Frere and Chelmsford on 6 January 1879 and were afterwards assigned to No. 3 Column. They left Pietermaritzburg for the front on 11 January, the same day the column crossed the Buffalo River into Zululand at Rorke's Drift.[6][8] No. 1 Company was put to use almost immediately as the marshy ground in the vicinity of the Bashee River proved impassable to Chelmsford's wagon train. The company worked from 14 to 19 January in constructing a corduroy road, assisted by men of the NNC and some British infantry.[17][18]
At the camp at Isandlwana the company occupied a position adjacent to the road that ran through the southern portion of the British position; at night they mounted a special guard detail over the road.[19] Chelmsford left the camp with around half his troops on the morning of 22 January 1879 to conduct a reconnaissance in force around the Mangeni Falls, where elements of the Zulu army had been spotted. Nolan and the majority of No. 1 Company joined the vanguard of this force to help clear the road for the artillery and assist in the crossing of several dongas on the route.[20][21][22] A small detail of one officer and ten men was left behind at the camp where it was caught up in the disastrous British defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana later the same day.[15][23]
The burning of Ulundi. Two black men are depicted in the foreground wearing red coats.
The remainder of Nolan's company returned from the Mangeni expedition and later served with Wood's Left Column. During the second invasion of Zululand, which began in May, No. 1 Company was assigned to Wood's Flying Column.[7] The company participated in the British victory at the Battle of Ulundi on 4 July, the final pitched battle of the war. Nolan had by then been promoted to captain and commanded 4 officers and 46 men, together with 4 horses, during the battle.[24] The company was positioned in the centre of the British square and helped to entrench the position while under Zulu fire, raising an embankment 3-foot (0.91m) high. They suffered no losses, though Lieutenants Hickley and Andrews were wounded in action, one of them was struck by a bullet on the head.[25][26][27]
There was some discontent in No. 1 Company later in July as the Natal Native Horse and Wood's Irregulars (Swazi levies) were disbanded following the victory and the pioneers also wanted to return home. The explanation that they were being kept because they were so useful to the British only partially mollified the men but there was no serious disobedience .[16] The company accompanied British patrols across Zululand in the aftermath of victory, searching for the Zulu king Cetshwayo who was eventually captured on 28 August.[28] On 2 September No. 1 Company was reviewed by Frere at Ulundi and complimented on its discipline and "workmanlike appearance". On 6 September Nolan reported to his superiors that the men wanted to go home and had said they would refuse orders that would taken them via the Middle Drift as they would have to repair the track on this route. Colonel Charles Clarke, Nolan's superior, ordered the company to be arrested by British infantry and had two men flogged for insubordination and others fined, which ended the disobedience. No. 1 Company continued to be deployed with Clarke's column for the remainder of its existence, improving tracks as it marched back to Natal via Eshowe and the Middle Drift.[29]
No. 2 Company
The crossing of the Amatikulu river
No. 2 Company was commanded by Captain G. K. E. Beddoes and comprised 104 men, being the only company of the Natal Pioneers to ever reach full strength.[5][13] It was formed of men supplied by Chief Mahoyiza of the amaQanya. Mahoyiza's levies were slow to arrive as he was not popular among his people and three of his five headmen refused to send any men. A white settler, unwilling to lose his labour force, also interfered to prevent men from being sent away. The resident magistrate of the area called on other chiefs to provide labour but, before this could be done, Mahoyiza succeeded in raising the men required of him.[8]
No. 2 Company was assigned to Pearson's Right Column and worked in the vanguard, preparing the road ahead of the column's advance.[30] They were the second unit of the column (after the naval brigade) to cross the Tugela River into Zululand on 12 January and went on to loot nearby Zulu homesteads, for which they were punished.[31]
Pearson split his column into two divisions, the advanced division of faster troops to prepare the way, and a second division which contained much of the slower logistical train. During the advance on Eshowe half of No.2 Company, commanded by Lieutenant Main, worked at the front of the first division with some Royal Engineers to improve the track ahead of the column. For superintending this work, Main was mentioned in despatches made by Pearson to the British House of Commons.[32][33] A detachment of 20 men of No. 2 Company operated further back along the column to make repairs to the track.[33] On 20 January 1879 the company, together with two companies of The Buffs, worked to create a crossing of the Amatikulu River.[34] On 22 January the Zulu ambushed the first division of the column soon after it had crossed the Inyezane river, leading to the Battle of Inyezane. Main's half company was on a knoll in the centre of the British position and, unnerved by the Zulu attack which threatened to envelop the British force, his men fired away erratically until a Royal Engineers officer threatened to shoot them if they did not cease fire and lie down. The Pioneers complied and British and NNC volleys led the Zulu to retreat.[35]
The fort at Eshowe. Natal Native Contingent and white Natal mounted volunteers in the foreground
Half of No. 2 Company was besieged at the mission station of Eshowe from late January to early April 1879.[5][36] The men of the company distinguished themselves in the siege, carrying out scouting work as well as their regular engineering duties.[5] The pioneers were renowned for venturing out of the settlement to gather mealie (maize) and pumpkins which they sold to the other defenders. Despite being fired upon repeatedly by the besieging Zulu none of the pioneers were killed.[37] In March, Captain Warren Richard Colvin Wynne of the Royal Engineers was successful in rigging a make-shift heliograph for communicating with Chelmford's relief column. Beddoes greatly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the device by making a pivot for the signalling mirror and constructing a sighting system.[38] The relief column arrived on 3 April and raised the siege; the reunited No. 2 Company participated in the capture and burning of a nearby Zulu homestead on 4 April.[39]
No. 2 Company formed part of the 1st Division operating on the coast during the second invasion of Zululand; it was employed in escorting wagons along the lines of communication.[40]
No. 3 Company
No. 3 Company was commanded by Captain William Allen and initially numbered around 89 men.[13] Around half of the initial complement were drawn from Chief Hlokolo's amaNgcolosi of the Inanda region. These men had reported for service at Fort Napier on 23 December. The remainder came from part of the levy provided by Chief Mahoyiza of the amaQanya. No.3 Company had a larger proportion of rifles than the others, with around one in every five men armed. The company left Pietermaritzburg on 3 or 4 January to report to Kranskop for service with Durnford's Column.[8]
No. 3 Company did not join Durnford's march to Isandlwana and so escaped the massacre at the camp. It remained with two battalions of the NNC at a camp in Umvoti County, just outside Kranskop, and they became the only British troops available to defend the most likely axis of any Zulu counter-invasion of Natal. No. 3 Company and the NNC were put to work entrenching the camp, which became Fort Cherry.[41] On 20 March the company reported a total strength of 96 enlisted men (50 men of the amaQanya, 40 of the amaNgcolosi and 6 of the amaNgwi).[42] In late March and early April the company helped prepare a track for wagons supporting a series of British raids into Zululand.[43]
On 20 May No.3 Company deployed to support a British raid carried out as a distraction from Chelmsford's second invasion. The pioneers were in the vanguard of the crossing of the Thukela. When they were halfway across, on a sandy island, they were fired upon by 8-10 Zulu and the company returned fire which caused the Zulu to withdraw. The raid was a success with thirteen Zulu homesteads burnt for no loss and the party returned to Fort Cherry on 21 May.[44] The company was moved to Rorke's Drift on 4 July, the same day as the victory at Ulundi.[45]
Rothwell, Captain J.S. (1989) [1881]. Narrative of the Field Operations Connected with the Zulu War of 1879. London: Greenhill Books. ISBN1-85367-041-3. OL8980321M– via Quartermaster General's Department, Intelligence Branch, War Office.
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