FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE of SEPTEMBER 12, 1851. Downing-Street, September 12, 1851. THE Queen has been pleased to appoint William Reid, Esq. Lieutenant-Colonel in the Corps of Royal Engineers, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, to be Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the Island of Malta and its dependencies. Her Majesty has also been pleased to appoint John Joseph Esdaile, Esq. to be Provost Marshal for the Island of Nevis. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE of SEPTEMBER 16, 1851. THIS Gazette commences with the Addresses, presented to the Queen in person, on her route to Scotland, and which Addresess were very graciously received From the Mayor, Aldermen and Citizens of the city of Lincoln. From the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the ancient borough of Boston, in the county of Lincoln. From the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of the borough of Doncaster. Downing-Street, September 15, 1851. THE following Dispatches, addressed to the Right Honourable Earl Grey, have been received from Lieutenant-General Sir Henry G. W. Smith, Bart. K.G.C.B. Governor of the Cape of Good Hope. No. 116. King William's Town, 3rd July, 1851. THE general and combined movement into the Amatola Mountains which I have long had in contemplation has been effected with the success I anticipated, and which I have now the honour to lay before your Lordship. I directed the 1st Division, under MajorGeneral Somerset, the 2nd Division, under Colonel Mackinnon, and a force of 500 men from Whittlesea, under Captain Tylden, so to post themselves, that these mountain-ranges might be penetrated by four distinct columns converging to a centre, and which was carried out much to my satisfaction; the operations commencing on the 26th and continuing until the 30th ultimo. The combinations were skilfully effected; each column was at its post as directed; mutual support was thus given, and signal success was in consequence the result. I inclose the reports of Major-General Somerset, and of Colonel Mackinnon, who was unfortunately indisposed after the first day's operations, and his valuable services thus lost. This able officer, however, communicated his instructions to Lieutenant-Colonel Michel, upon whom the command devolved, and whose judgment and energy became conspicuous. His report, with those of Lieutenant-Colonels Eyre and Cooper, are annexed, together with the General Order and Government Notice which I issued on the achievement of this important success. They so fully demonstrate the peculiar difficulties and arduous character of this mountain service, that I beg to draw your Lordship's attention to their perusal; and I, at the same time, desire to attract your notice to the marked eulogium passed upon Ensign Robertson, of the Cape Mounted Rifles, captain in command of a detachment of Armstrong's Horse. The success of every patrol invariably involves the gallant conduct of this young and most intrepid officer, in whose rising judgment I place every confidence. Major-General Somerset speaks in the highest terms of Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce and the 74th Regiment, recently arrived from England, upon whom the brunt of these operations fell in the 1st Division; and I also desire to draw your Lordship's attention to the ability displayed in command by Lieutenant-Colonel Michel, of the 6th Royal Regiment; to the usual conspicuous gallantry of Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre and the 73rd; and to the conduct of the Royal Marines of Her Majesty's ship "Castor," under their officer, Lieutenant Harris, and attached to the 73rd, which equally merits my commendation. LieutenantColonel Cooper, 45th Regiment, commanded with much ability the column of troops from Fort Cox. Fifteen hundred head of cattle, 42 horses, and nearly 1000 goats were captured by the 2nd Division, 350 head of cattle by the 1st, and 300 by the force under Captain Tylden; while large stores of corn were destroyed, as well as numerous recently constructed huts. To be compelled thus barbarously to prosecute war, ever cruel in even its most mitigated form, is revolting to the Christian mind. But no other course is open. The feeling with which the European regards his country and his home is, in the case of the Kafir, centered in his herds and flocks, for which he will fight to the last; and the only means of opening a prospect of bringing to a close this harassing and distressing war is to wrest his much-prized cattle from him in the heart of his fastnesses and almost impenetrable forests, into which he drives them for concealment and security. In the midst of these scenes of desolation I am consoled by the fact, that the people are aware that the war was commenced by their chief Sandili; that every prisoner is set at liberty and told that peace and the former harmony which prevailed are our only objects after the due punishment of the war party and their rebellious chiefs; and, more than all, by the gratifying reflection that our troops can be charged with no act of wanton cruelty. Not one instance has been brought to my notice of any outrage having been perpetrated by the everhumane British soldier, or even by the excited Hottentot or exasperated Fingoe; and this is the more commendable when it is borne in mind that the atrocities committed by the Kafirs at the commencement of the war are fresh in the recollection of our soldiery. Avoiding, on their own part, all wanton excess, they, at the same time, cannot forget the cold-blooded murder of our military villagers, perpetrated under the guise of friendship, or the massacre on the Debe Flats of the seventeen soldiers of the 45th Regiment, who had given no provocation, and with whom their murderers had, for three years, been on terms of the most friendly intercourse. The success in the Amatolas which I have now reported has, however, had no perceptible effect as regards the termination of hostilities. The people indeed declare, as I learn from information which reaches me from various sources, that they are tired of the struggle, and that our patroles keep them in a state of constant alarm; while the chief Sandili asserts and gives out "that an agent has gone on his account to England, who will procure the restoration of the land which he forfeited in the previous war;" such forfeiture having been the condition on which he obtained his own liberty and that of his "Great Men," who were in confinement with him when I assumed the administration of this Government, and on which peace and tranquillity were given to his people. In proof that an assertion of this kind has been made by Sandili, I annex the copy of a deposition formally made by the chief Toise before the T'Slambie Commissioner, the purport of which is corroborated by various spies in my employ. My next patrol will be directed against the chiefs Stock and Tola, and the renegade rebel Hottentots, who have located themselves in the Fish River Bush, to intercept my communication with Graham's Town, and to spoil the cattle of the Fingoes around Fort Peddie. I have, &c. The Right Honourable Earl Grey. H. G. SMITH. P.S. Since this despatch was closed, I have received a report from Major-General Somerset, that he had continued for some days his operations on the north side of the Amatolas, -another proof of the activity and energy of this experienced officer. I inclose his report in the shape in which I have given it publicity in a General Order. H. G. SMITH. Schedule of Enclosures in Governor Sir H. Smith's Dispatch to Earl Grey, No. 116, dated 3rd July, 1851. 1. Major-General Somerset's report, dated 28th June, 1851. |