Fort Armstrong was constructed in 1836 to act as an important military outpost of the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

during the

Cape Frontier Wars The Xhosa Wars (also known as the Cape Frontier Wars or the Kaffir Wars) were a series of nine wars (from 1779 to 1879) between the Xhosa Kingdom and the British Empire as well as Trekboers in what is now the Eastern Cape in South Africa. The ...

. It has been under attack multiple times and served as a safe haven for the early pioneers of the Kat river area.

History

Fort Armstrong was constructed in 1836 to protect the Kat rivers valuable source of water. It was named after Captain Armstrong who fought in the area alongside the

Cape Mounted Rifles The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units. There were two separate successive regiments of that name. To distinguish them, some military historians describe the first as the "imperial" Cape Mounted Riflemen (originally the ' ...

during the 6th War of Land Dispossession. Because of its relative isolation, the fort was designed to operate independently if need be. It had wattle and daub barracks that could accommodate up to 30 mounted men with ordnance stores, a powder magazine, officers quarters, kitchen stables and cells. A few meters away was a cattle kraal. The forts first test came when forces led by Maqoma and Kona took possession of it for about a month. On 22 February 1851, Major-General Henry Somerset, son of the

Governor of the Cape A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

, Charles Somerset, reclaimed it – killing 46 people and taking 560 prisoners including 400 women and children. Six male settlers were killed and 25 sustained injuries. During the 8th war of land dispossession of 1853, William Uithaalder a Khoi who had served in the Cape Corps, led an attack on and took over control of the Fort. Colonial forces consisting of 200 British soldiers, 400 Burghers, 200 Fingoes and volunteers from

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

under Commandant Currie regrouped and launched two howitzer attacks against the fort, partially destroying what they built to protect themselves in order to oust Uithaalder.

References

{{Castles and fortifications in South Africa Castles in South Africa

Armstrong Armstrong may refer to: Places * Armstrong Creek (disambiguation), various places Antarctica * Armstrong Reef, Biscoe Islands Argentina * Armstrong, Santa Fe Australia * Armstrong, Victoria Canada * Armstrong, British Columbia * Armstrong ...

History

See also

References