The British, a alarmed by a Boer proposal to resettle Natal’s
surplus African population to the South of the Republic, reoccupy
Port Natal with 237 men of the 27th Regiment and Royal Artillery
under Captain Thomas Charlton Smith. The British arrive on May 4th,
set up a camp [on the site of the present-day Old Fort](
The Old Fort), occupy Fort Victoria on the end of the
Point, and haul down the Republic of Natalia flag.
The Boers then seize 700 cattle belonging to the British and
Captain Smith decides to attack the Boers in their encampment at
Congella. The attack rakes place in bright moonlight on the night
of May 23rd with the British advancing form their camp down to the
bay [along the line where Aliwal Street is today] and then along
the beach in the direction of the Boer Camp at Congella.
The Boer marksmen are hidden in the mangroves fringing the bay
and have no trouble inflicting heavy casualties on the exposed
British who retire to their camp which is promptly besieged by the
Boers. The British suffer over 50 casualties, including 16 killed,
while the Boers have one killed and two injured, one of whom one
dies later. [A memorial to the Boer dead in Maydon Road (on the
corner of Mathven Road) marks the area where the battle took
place.]
On May 25th, Dick King, his helper Ndongeni, and their horses
are ferried across the bay and begin the 600-mile ride to
Grahamstown to fetch help. In an epic 10-day ride Dick King reach
Grahamstown and alerts the force Fort Victoria to surrender and
make life very uncomfortable for the occupants of the main British
camp.
The cache is inside a locked up area / parking lot with easy
access. Just mention to the guard that you are going to the
monument.
The women and children are allowed by the Boers to leave the
camp on June 2nd and they take refuge on the ship Mazeppa in the
bay. On June 10th, under the leadership of Joseph Cato, the Mazeppa
manages to escape from the bay in the face of Boer fire and sets
sail for Delagoa Bay t seek help.
The Boers had captured an 18-pounder artillery piece from Fort
Victoria and they use it to shell the camp. On running out of
ammunition they retrieve the cannon balls fired at them from an
identical gun inside the ditches shaded by horse hides and eating
biscuit dust, horse biltong [dried horsemeat], the occasional crow,
and ground-up mealie [corn] horse-feed. The schooner Conch and the
frigate HMS Southampton arrive on June 25th, carrying the Grenadier
Company of the 27th Regiment and five companies of the 25th Foot
under Colonel Cloete, and lift the siege the following day.