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Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:35 am

During some recent research, I have come across two conflicting accounts regarding the movements of the mysterious figure that is the Hon. William Drummond throughout the events of the 21st January.

The Narrative of Field Operations lists him as accompanying Lonsdale on his reconnaissance in force, and subsequently being sent back with Major Gosset and Captain Buller to Chelmsford with the first of Dartnell's reports. Lock and Quantrill concur with these, and add that he also frightened the Carbineers by �trying to gun down, at the gallop, a fleeing antelope!� (a story which certainly seems plausible given his encounters described within �Large Game in South East and South Africa�). (Narrative pages 29-30, Zulu Victory page 138 for those interested).

Nonetheless, there are no contemporary accounts which verify this. Hamilton Browne who was present with Lonsdale does not mention Drummond; nor does Lieutenant Milne or Colonel Glyn mention Drummond returning with Gosset and Buller when Dartnell�s message was received.

Many of the subsequent detailed narratives of Isandlwana, including Knight�s tome �Zulu Rising�, have followed suite and made no mention of Drummond at all. I�m wondering therefore whether there are any accounts of Drummond accompanying Lonsdale which led to the propagation of this account?

Although Drummond may have been unofficially attached to Chelmsford�s staff as (effectively) a Political Agent, if it did conspire that he observed the Zulu force before Dartnell and relaid it back to Chelmsford, would it have added weight to this report over the other reports that had been made? Obviously it did not convince Chelmsford entirely at this point as he had ordered a reconnaissance of the North to be done on the 22nd.

Any thoughts? Apologies if these questions seem all over the place at the moment, still trying to organise my stance in my head at the moment!

Thanks

Andrew

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:01 am

Dear Andrew

Here are my notes on Drummond....but unfortunately do not answer your question:

DRUMMOND, the Honourable William Henry (1845-1879). Lord Chelmsford�s civilian intelligence officer.

The son of the 7th Viscount Strathallan. It is thought that he spent a period with 13th Foot before travelling in Africa (1867-72), mainly in Tongaland, Zululand and Swaziland. His experiences with buffalo, rhinoceros, eland, lions, elephants, leopards and antelopes, as recorded in The Large Game and Natural History of South and South-East Africa, were published in Edinburgh in 1875. He was unofficially engaged to marry Margaret, daughter of George Macleroy, a bank manager and immigration official in Pietermaritzburg, but Macleroy disapproved of the liaison because of Drummond�s reputation with the ladies. Drummond, however, was to die at Ulundi. It was reported: �We were to burn one section of the Royal homestead and were nearly cut off. Drummond, who was drunk that morning, rode right into the Zulus alone, nothing has been of seen him since but his pistol�.

Where is his pistol now?

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:36 am

Dear Martin,

That's new information to me about potentially spending some time with the 13th Foot! May have to do some extra digging there!

Additional information I have collated on Drummond was that he edited and provided a Preface to David Leslie "Among the Zulus and Amatongas; With Sketches of the Natives, Their Language and Custom" in 1875.

Keith Smith also notes that during the 9th Cape Frontier War Drummond served under Thesiger as his 'intelligence officer' during the First Pirie Bush Operation. It would certainly be interesting to learn more about their working relationship in that conflict! Could help answer the above questions.

I also noted (again thanks to Keith Smith's publications!) that Local General Order No. 21, dated January 30th, 1879 reads:
The ordinary rate of Field Allowance, granted to Regimental Captains, in accordance with Clause 57, Army Circular, 1st April 1878, will be issued to the Honorable W. Drummond, attached to Headquarters Staff, from 1st Nov., 1878. (pg. 68 in Local General Orders, Smith)
Which led me to assume that Drummond was attached to Chelmsford's staff from the 1st November 1878.

Additionally , he also acted at the Natal Witness' Special Correspondent accompanying No. 3 Column, writing several dispatches listed below: (date authored - titled - publication date)
January 10th - The Zulu Arrangement (pub Jan. 10th)
(Dispatches up to) January 13th - From Headquaters (pub Jan. 21st)
January 16th - From Headquaters (pub Jan. 22nd)
January 18th - From the Headquaters Column (pub Jan 24th)
(NB: these are the ones written before Isandlwana, and can all be found in Lock and Quantill's Red Book)

Where's his pistol now? Who knows, maybe one day on ebay... Wink

Regards

Andrew

Posted: Fri Apr 22, 2011 2:22 pm

Andrew

Ron & Peter don't appear to provide a source for the anecdote about Drummond and his antelope on the 21st, although Peter may well come on here and fill us in. Looking at that page again and some other works, I wonder if the source is Trooper Clarke's memoirs entitled My Career in S Africa, or notes thereon, held in the Killie Campbell collection. This would give us a contemporary eye-witness account.

I was very interested to see you name Drummond as the correspondent behind the anonymous reports to the Witness during the early part of the campaign. Other than his published protest at the use of his name being cited as the origin of certain views he had supposedly held during an earlier report to the paper - demonstrating that at least one earlier account had certainly been his work - I hadn't realised which, if any, of the other anonymous accounts were written by him, but I must have missed something somewhere. Incidentally, I believe Rev Geo Smith sent in one or two anonymous accounts published in one of the Natal papers around January, but I'm not with my notes so can't specify dates or newspapers. (In addition to his main lengthy report on RD to the Mercury, that is).

Drummond does sometimes seem a mystery man in some ways, although publications here and there do mention him. His preface in the Leslie work was the culmination of his efforts to get his late friend's essays published, as the two had clearly been very close companions on many a hunting trip. Leslie's death was no doubt a very big loss to Drummond. I recall that Drummond also features at least once in the correspondence of the wife of the Bishop of Zululand in the early 1870s (Mrs Wilkinson: A Lady's Life & Travels etc) published posthumously by the Bishop in 1882. Guy Dawnay, another hunter-soldier, mentions him briefly in his memoirs when describing the Battle of Ginghindlovu. Biographical notes on Drummond are provided by Huw M Jones in his Biographical Register of Swaziland to 1902 (Univ of Natal press, Pietermaritzburg, 1993), where full authorities are given. There are conflicting accounts of his death given in various works, although the number of eye-witnesses must, surely, have been very few!

Peter

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:11 am

Andrew

1. Chelmsford wrote that Drummond was the �Head of my Intelligence Department�. (WO 32/7763: Chelmsford to Sec. of State for War, 6 July 1879))

2. It was perfectly logical that Drummond should accompany Lonsdale since the whole purpose of the reconnaissance-in-force was intelligence-gathering.

3. Gossett and Buller were not �sent back�. They returned to inform Chelmsford that Dartnell had chosen to stay out overnight, rather than return to the camp as he had been instructed. When the Lieutenant-General was told of Dartnell�s decision, he said �My orders to that officer were distinct, that he was to return to Camp after completing his reconnaissance, & I was much vexed at my order not being attended to.� (WO 32/7725: Chelmsford to Sec. of State for War, 11 April 1879.)

4. I have found no primary source evidence as to whether or not Drummond accompanied Gossett and Buller back to the camp, other than the Narrative, which cannot really be described as a 'primary source'. On balance, however, I would be inclined to think that he did so but, because of his intelligence role, his movements may have been deliberately concealed. (As for people like Hamilton-Browne or even Lt Maxwell of the NNC (who also wrote an account in the Christmas edition of the Natal Witness, 1882) they probably didn't even know who Drummond was.) It seems unlikely that he remained out with Dartnell and Lonsdale since they were very exposed and Drummond would have been anxious to report his findings from the reconnaissance. You should note that no evidence is produced by L & Q concerning Drummond�s movements, so their statement that Drummond accompanied Gossett and Buller must also be taken from the Narrative.

KIS

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:54 am

Post from Ron:

Further to the Narrative and the movements of Drummond, what we do know is the that Drummond was with Chelmsford's force midday 22nd.
Quote from WO/33 S 6333 headed Confidential.
"The Isandlana Disaster.
By direction of the Secretary of State for War, and is to be considered strictly confidential.
Compiled and signed Walter A. James Lieut.R.E.Intellegence Branch QR-MR-Generals' Department, 21st March 1879."
It is signed off:
" I have examined every part of this narrative very carefully, and consider it as correct as the existing materials will permit.
A.Alison
DQMG"

The relevant portion that mentions Drummond reads:
" At about 12.30 p.m. some prisoners taken in the fight about Indhlazzazi
[Hlazakazi] Hills, stated that a large army from the King was expected that day. At 2p.m. the Hon. Mr. Drummond stated that he heard heavy firing at the camp."

The antelope episode is a quote from the diary of Fred Symons, Natal Carbineers.

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 10:02 am

First of all hope everyone enjoyed their Easter weekends!

Peter E:
In regards to the authorship of the anonymous reports to the Witness, I regret to say that I am �assuming� that the most likely author is the Hon. William Drummond, so you probably haven�t missed anything! My presumption was based upon the fact that Drummond was, as far as I�m aware, the only man who acted as a correspondent for the Witness (in addition to his other duties) in No. 3 Column. What convinced me further was with reading the �With the Head-Quarters Column� article dated January 18th, where it is listed as being �From the �Witness� Correspondent� and recounts the movements of Chelmsford�s staff on their first reconnaissance to the �peculiarly shaped hill, called the Sandhlwana�. The focus of the article on reconnaissance parties and its closing remarks (�Rumours of all kinds beset us from every direction, but none sufficiently reliable to send to you�) struck me as something Drummond would be ardent about, being supposedly the head of intelligence.

Keith:
I agree with your contention that it would be logical for Drummond to accompany the �reconnaissance in force�, hence why I was mystified to find little primary evidence to verify this. Would Drummond�s movements have been deliberately concealed? Surely Chelmsford could have used the testimony of his �Head of Intelligence� as evidence to rationalise his actions in the debates after Isandlwana?
I also note that the quote you provided relating to Chelmsford�s declaration as �Head of my Intelligence Department� was dated July.6th. Whilst he certainly held that role later on during the war (�The pay of the Honourable W. Drummond, in charge of the Native Intelligence Branch with No. 1 Division, South African Field Force, with be increased to 30s. per diem, from 29th March, 1879�. Local General Order 83, 12th April 1879�) is there any correspondence before Isandlwana which indicates that he held this position at the outbreak of the conflict? I�m sure you�re correct, but I haven�t seen any source pre-Isandlwana which can verify Drummond�s position as �Head of Intelligence�.
(Might I also take this opportunity to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading �The Wedding Feast War� over the last few weeks, and may I ask which source you used in relation to Drummond serving alongside Thesiger during the Ninth Frontier War?)

Peter Q (and Ron):
Thank you very much for that information which settles that little query! I shall check out his diary when I visit the Talana Museum in August!
I think we can safely agree that Mr Drummond accompanied Chelmsford on the 22nd, (although if Saul David is anything to go by, an even more mysterious figure known as �George Drummond� heard two cannons shots! Confused

)

In other Drummond news, I noticed yesterday whilst browsing through the BPP this little gem of information which I thought you�d all like to see!
�Drummond�s natives, three in number, went out two days ago and came in this morning.
They say that Matyana-ka-Usitzakusa and his tribe have taken refuge in the Indlhayngazi, and that the other Matyana is in the Qudeni Forest.
I shall look them both up in a day or two, and in all probability they will be willing to surrender�.
(BPP, C.2260, Enclosure 2 in No.4, Pg. 16: Extract from Semi-official Letters from Chelmsford to Frere (dated January 19th).

I know of Dunn�s scouts, but Drummond�s natives is a new one! Any additional information on that one?

Andrew

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:15 pm

Andrew

It seems that Drummond's actual role in intelligence was deliberately obscured by saying that he was Chelmsford's Political Adviser. I'm sure that most people in the higher echelons in 1879 (Clery, Glyn etc) knew his real job in life. His purpose may also have been known to some lower down the line but I'm equally sure that all toed the party line and kept mum about his activities and, it seems, his movements.

My reply to your enquiry about Drummond in the 9th Frontier War kills two birds with one stone! (And thank you for the kind words.) My information comes from the Journal of then-Major J.N. Crealock, in which he refers to Drummond when stating who was on Thesiger's staff: ' ... and Hon. H. Drummond (in charge of the Intelligence Department.)' See The Frontier War Journal of Major John Crealock 1878, (ed. Chris Hummel) van Riebeeck Society: Cape Town, 1988, p. 43.

Note that Crealock gives Drummond the initial 'H' and not 'W' but facts were not Crealock's strong point. In making that statement, I may be unfair to Crealock because Hummel had to transcribe his handwriting, which was bad, and his spelling even worse!

Further to your last comment about 'Drummond's natives', it is clear that he did indeed have some Zulu people on his staff. I quote: 'Statement of Untabeni and Uhlolwani, of the Intelligence Department, regarding Sandhlwana'. Wo 33/34, Inclosure 2 in No. 117, undated report of Hon. W. Drummond. In the same document, there is also a comment as follows: '5. I further forward a copy of the information furnished to me by Hon. W. Drummond, which he either personally obtained from the messengers, or was communicated by them to his native officials (Inclosure 4).' (WO 33/34, No. 178, The General Officer Commanding in South Africa to the Secretary of State for War, 6 June 1879.)

For those newcomers who may be confused by the names Chelmsford and Thesiger, allow me to add that General Thesiger became the second baron Chelmsford when his father died in October 1878.

Peter Q.

I think you mean WO 33/33, and not WO 33 - and do I still owe you R50?

KIS

Posted: Tue Apr 26, 2011 3:02 pm

Keith

Thank you very much for all the information! It has certainly given me plenty to mull over these next few days! And as for bad handwriting, Crealock may be bad but Drummond's is quite frankly in a class of his own! Wink

Andrew

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 4:29 pm

I would entirely agree that these comments of mine are merely conjectural, but the engagement of Drummond by co-opting him into a staff capacity was probably a fairly easy option for Lord Chelmsford and especially so in the absence, at least during the First Invasion, of any 'serious' team of individuals with formal experience in conventional intelligence duties.
That was corrected later as we start to see individuals being migrated out from London (example, Lt James RE) then a more structured approach being adopted for the Second Invasion.
Drummond was not necessarily carrying out a formally defined intelligence role and function as we might nowadays view it or as was organised more methodically later in the same campaign. He was essentially a useful sort of person who by type, temperament and transferable skills might be adapted to a widening range of battlefield purposes - in sme senses like Vereker also was. So, a bit like Marlborough's 'Running Men' and Montgomery's Phantom Squadron, who were at the right place at the right time, could observe and report events, and could be relied upon to remain discreet in informing and dealing with Chelmsford alone and carrying out his wishes.
So a hardy and enterperising individual like Drummond might be envisaged as carrying written and verbal messages between the Columns as they converged on their route to Ulundi, for example or might become an interlocutor betwen Chelmsford and any Zulu parties encountered who might be seeking to defect. Drummind might also have had useful knowledge of particular bits of terrain and the layouts of Zulu military infrastrcture sites, though several were constructed after 1872 and might well have been beyond his own knowledge. Supposing Drummond's abilities were sufficuently well enough developed and polished then he might also have been employable as a go-between, between Chelmsford and Bulwer or Frer, and others.
His designation as an intelligence or political officer therefore simply facilitated his initial employment and remuneration, rather than precisely defining exactly what role he initially and eventually fulfilled. His retention and separation from the more formally constituted and later military intelligence staff structure would have been more easily justified by virtue of his accumulated experience and supposed utility to Lord Chelmsaford up to that point. Not everything is what it might first appear to be in Lord Chelmsford's working arrangements, especially given the small sign and variable abilities of his immediately close staff officers. Drummond, we might reasaonably suppose, was probably also not aligned with the various War Department factions. Neither Wolseley's not the Duke's man, for example. And, very probably, had no particular political or administrative ambitions in Natal.

G

Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 4:32 pm

should say: "... small size and variable abilities..."

G