Historians have called the Burnshill Wagon Disaster one of the
most inglorious episodes in the history of the British army in the
nineteenth century.
This disaster occurred while moving a huge convoy of 125 slow
supply wagons drawn by 1750 oxen fully laden with rations and
ammunition between the Amatoles and Burnshill. Once the wagons had
reached their destination at Burnshill, they were left to a guard
of about 90 men, while the rest went off to look for the Xhosa. In
the camp, officers undertook saddle and kit inspection and men of
the guard went down to the Keiskamma to wash – creating a generally
relaxed atmosphere and leaving the camp in a state of
unreadiness.
Early on the afternoon of 17 April 1846 the wagons began moving
out again, down towards the colonial boundary. They formed a line
three miles long. One hour of travelling time lay between the first
and the last. The force defending it was so small that there was
sufficient only for an escort at the head of the train and another
at the rear, each with a field gun. The rest was unprotected. Just
below Fort Cox, the wagon train was attacked, initiating a fierce
running battle over the last four ammunition wagons – which, in the
end, were able to get away and connect with the front wagons. But
the rest were lost to the Xhosa, who plundered them and then set
them on fire.
This was a triumph for the Xhosa who, in one stoke, had stripped
the invading army of the bulk of its supplies, including hospital
and veterinary supplies – as well as the means to convey supplies.
It was by far the worst humiliation the British army had yet
suffered in its campaigns in South Africa. After the Burnshill
disaster, there was no longer any pretence of Hare’s punitive
expedition being a lighthearted jaunt that offered the prospect of
tented dinners and picnics in the bush.
You will be searching for a 1.2 litre LNL container in a Camo
bag.