Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford was typical of a conventional Victorian officer who had risen in the army through his high social status (his father had twice been Lord Chancellor) and purchase, and thanks to the patronage of the Horse Guards. He had served primarily as a staff officer, and had been Adjutant General of the Indian Army (1868–74) before taking up home commands. On 24 January 1878 he was appointed General Officer Commanding in South Africa. He was not necessarily the first choice, but the support of the Duke of Cambridge was crucial in his selection. He was to replace General Sir Arthur Cunynghame, who was recalled in the midst of the Ninth Cape Frontier War because he had become embroiled in a politically embarrassing dispute with the Cape colonial government over the command of the colonial and imperial forces in the field.
On taking up his command on 25 February 1878, Chelmsford successfully concluded military operations in the Eastern Cape, and in August 1878 moved to Natal to prepare for the war against the Zulu kingdom being engineered by the High Commissioner, Sir Bartle Frere, with the objective of furthering the confederation of South Africa under the Crown. The British invaded Zululand on 11 January 1879. Chelmsford and his staff were recklessly over-confident after their easy victory over the amaXhosa in the Eastern Cape, and suffered a disastrous defeat at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879. Chelmsford suffered a nervous collapse in the aftermath, and urgently requested heavy reinforcements which the British government immediately despatched. The Horse Guards, parliament and the public were thunderstruck by Isandlwana, but Chelmsford seemed unable to supply adequate reasons for his defeat, and made serious efforts to shift the blame onto others. That, alongside his failure to bury the British dead at Isandlwana, his poor relations with carping war correspondents, adverse reports by senior officers in South Africa concerning his leadership, and the slow pace of his preparations for a renewed invasion of Zululand, lost him the initial support of the Horse Guards and the government. When he became embroiled with the Natal authorities over the command and deployment of the colonial troops, just as General Cunynghame before him had been in the Cape, it proved too much for the government. Knowing, however, that Chelmsford enjoyed royal support, the government finally decided he would not suffer the disgrace of being replaced, as Cunynghame had been, but would be superseded by a senior office. On 26 May 1879 the government appointed Sir Garnet Wolseley, the popular soldier of the hour, despite the disapproval of the Duke of Cambridge who was dismayed that one of his conservative circle was being subordinated to the reforming Wolseley and his ‘ring’.
However, it took Wolseley weeks to reach the front to take command. And although Chelmsford had unofficial notice of his supersession, he dextrously exploited his relative inaccessibility in the field to ignore Wolseley’s orders, and put on a sudden spurt of speed in his hitherto plodding advance on oNdini to retrieve his reputation by winning the battle of Ulundi on 4 July. Straight after the battle he finally received his official letter of supersession. Rather than serve under Wolseley, he resigned his command on 9 July, but not before his withdrawal after Ulundi had compromised the indignant Wolseley’s operational plans for finishing off the campaign.
Unable to shrug off the Isandlwana disaster despite his victory at Ulundi, Chelmsford was never again was given a command. Nevertheless, despite private censure by the Horse Guards, a very public grilling in the House of Lords and much criticism in the press, he continued to enjoy royal favour, and ended his days as a respected courtier full of honours. In the end, class and connections trumped military ineptitude.
Dr John Laband is a Professor Emeritus of History at Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada, and a Research Fellow in the Department of History, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. He has published extensively on warfare and military culture in colonial Africa with especial reference to the Zulu kingdom. His latest book is The Shadow of Isandlwana: The Life and Times of General Lord Chelmsford and his Disaster in Zululand (Greenhill, 2023).
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