Fort Tenedos was a large earth-walled fort constructed on the Zulu side of the

Tugela River The Tugela River ( zu, Thukela; af, Tugelarivier) is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. With a total length of , it is one of the most important rivers of the country. The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the Dra ...

in January 1879, opposite

Fort Pearson Fort Pearson was a fortification constructed by the British on the Colony of Natal, Natal side of the border with Zululand in the lead up to the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. An earthen redoubt on a high cliff overlooking the Tugela River, the fort an ...

, to support the British at the start of the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupl ...

Construction

On 2 December 1878 Captain W. R. C. Wynne embarked in command of the 2nd Field Company of the Royal Engineers for Natal, part of the small number of reinforcements sent to the colony ahead of the

of 1879. The company joined the first column under Colonel Charles Knight Pearson at the mouth of the

on 12 January and the following day crossed the river with them.Vetch 1900, p. 264. In the presence of the Zulu, Wynne with his company of Royal Engineers, assisted by the line, laid out and built Fort Tenedos on the left (Zulu) bank of the Lower Tugela. The earthwork fort, large enough to shelter the entire column and a quantity of stores, was completed between 13 and 17 January. It was named Fort Tenedos after the British warship , anchored off the mouth of the Tugela. Her crew formed part of the Naval Brigade.''Illustrated London News'' 8 March 1879, p. 219.

Defences

The fort's armament consisted of two guns from the

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 ...

, two 7-pounder guns with the Naval Brigade, and a

Gatling gun The Gatling gun is a rapid-firing multiple-barrel firearm invented in 1861 by Richard Jordan Gatling. It is an early machine gun and a forerunner of the modern electric motor-driven rotary cannon. The Gatling gun's operation centered on a cyc ...

. Local British units consisted of the 91st Highlanders, Natal Hussars, the

Durban Mounted Rifles Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, Alexandra Mounted Rifles, Stanger Mounted Rifles, and the Victorian Mounted Rifles. There were also some 2,200 Natal Natives formed into two battalions of the 2nd Regiment,

Natal Native Contingent The Natal Native Contingent was a large force of auxiliary soldiers in British South Africa, forming a substantial portion of the defence forces of the British colony of Natal. The Contingent saw action during the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. The Natal ...

, and a company of Durnford's Natal Native Pioneer Corps. These men were recruited from local African tribes hostile to the Zulus.

References

Sources

* Laband, John (2009).
Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars
'. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. . * * ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

''. No. 2073.—Vol. LXXIV. 8 March 1879. p. 219. Attribution: *

Construction

Defences

References

Sources

Further reading