Fort Cox near

Middledrift Ixesi (also Middeldrift or Middledrift) is a small town located north-west of East London in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated in Raymond Mhlaba Municipality in Amathole District in an area that was formerly part of the ...

in the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

was a frontier fort in the Amatola Mountains on a loop of the

Keiskamma River The Keiskamma River ( af, Keiskammarivier) is a river in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The river flows into the Indian Ocean in the Keiskamma Estuary, located by Hamburg Nature Reserve, near Hamburg, midway between East London and Po ...

History

Dating back to 1835, it was named after Major William Cox of the 75th Regiment and accommodated a garrison of six

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, one company of British Infantry and 160 Hottentots. Like many fortifications of its time, it was simply an earth

redoubt A redoubt (historically redout) is a fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on earthworks, although some are constructed of stone or brick. It is meant to protect soldi ...

reinforced with stone and consisting of a quadrangle of strong stone cottages and walls. Surrounded by high hills, Mount MacDonald and Seven Kloof Mountain towering beyond, it was well situated as a base for patrols of the valleys and ravines of the Amatola and Keiskamma Mountains during the frequent wars and unrest of the period. The ruins of the fort are still to be seen. Fort White, situated on the Debe Flats, was its nearest neighbour on the way to

King William’s Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London. Qonce, with a population of around ...

. The site was abandoned in 1836 when the British left the region, and was rebuilt in 1846 to deal with the Seventh Xhosa War. On 29 December 1850, during the Eighth Frontier War with the Xhosas, some 220 British troops were forced to retreat to

Fort Hare Fort Hare was an 1835 British-built fort on a rocky outcrop at the foothills of the Amatola Mountains; close to the present day town of Alice, Eastern Cape in South Africa. History Originally, Fort Hare was a British fort in the wars between ...

after an unsuccessful attempt to relieve

Sir Harry Smith Lieutenant-General Sir Henry George Wakelyn Smith, 1st Baronet, GCB (28 June 1787 – 12 October 1860) was a notable English soldier and military commander in the British Army of the early 19th century. A veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, he is a ...

, besieged at Fort Cox. The site currently houses the Fort Cox College of Agriculture & Forestry.Fort Cox College of Agriculture & Forestry
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References

Castles in South Africa

Cox Cox may refer to: * Cox (surname), including people with the name Companies * Cox Enterprises, a media and communications company ** Cox Communications, cable provider ** Cox Media Group, a company that owns television and radio stations ** ...

{{SouthAfrica-struct-stub

History

See also

References