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LIEUTENANT JOSEF ADENDORFF - TEACHER
ayr41


Joined: 02 Feb 2006
Posts: 44
Location: Ayr Scotland
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Can't seem to find an answer to this, as portrayed in the film Adendorff (Gert van der Bergh) teaches Chard and Bromhead the way of the Zulu horns of the Buffalo attack, was this just made for the film or is there any substance to this, also was Adendorff in the battle at Isandlwana and what part did he play during the battle of Rorke's Drift Question
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Just for the film, Ayr. Primary & secondary evidence places him at both actions. From memory, Chard mentions him briefly as present, but I can't recall offhand any specific account about his actions or location during the defence. Someone else might but as I've just seen your posting late at night I'll leave that for someone else!

Peter
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Michael Boyle


Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 595
Location: Bucks County,PA,US
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As all of the officers in the invasion force would have had the opportunity to peruse Lord Chelmsford's pamphlet describing the Zulu Army in pretty fair detail it would seem that in the film Adendorff was simply used as a way to introduce the audience to the horns of the buffalo. (Oddly enough a formation that wasn't necessary at RD as static defences much like paratroopers are supposed to be surrounded anyway!) Very little is known of Adendorff and he may not even have been a Boer.

As for the part he played in the battle, Lt. Chard wrote "...Lieut. Adendorff, whom I have before mentioned. He remained to assist in the defence, and from a loophole in the store building, flanking the wall and Hospital, his rifle did good service�. There has been of course a certain amount of contention as to whether he may have booked before the battle and even that he lit out too early from Isandlwana. (Good ol' TWOTS seems to have planted this one unless I've missed some contemporary source, which is possible because Morris seems to have contended he had evidence which he didn't bring to light in TWOTS but said he would present separately.) [Anyone know what this might have been?]

At Isandlwana he was with No. 6 Coy 1/3 NNC who were supposed to relieve Lonsdale's Coy on piquet before the Zulus showed and was instead held in reserve. Lt. Higginson is quoted as saying Adendorff was then sent out to the piquet to bring in a report from them. He was next commented on by Capt Stafford that he and another man, neither of whom could swim, had instead of crossing at Fugitive's Drift followed the river up to Rorke's Drift and punted across.

Best

Michael
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Sawubona


Joined: 09 Nov 2005
Posts: 1179
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Addendorf (and no one seems to know his first name nor how to correctly spell his last name) may not have killed many Zulu , but he's surely going to cause the death of some of us! I smell fire and brimstone in the future of this thread, and if we all get swept off our feet by the coming tidal wave, we'll soon believe that he was the only survivor of both Isandhlwana and Rorke's Drift.
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Sawubona

Many surnames had no particular correct or "uniform" spelling before the middle of the 19th century and this particular one will obviously have appeared in a number of guises when recorded in accounts written in English, as was only to be expected. (For example, Stafford spells him as Odendorff some years later).

However, Adendorff (pronounced "Ardendorf", as in the film, "ZULU") is by far the most consistently used among the contemporary sources. Using a double "d" would only confuse matters and alter the pronunciation. If it is pronounced in the standard German way then there are no anomalies at all that I can see. He appears to have been of German descent and certainly not a Boer (modern genealogical work appears to have established this although there were, I seem to recall, still some grey areas regarding his family's origins, which were discussed on the "old" forum by Lee Stevenson, John Young and others & I believe some contact had been made with family connections if I remember rightly). Was Adendorff not understood to have been born at Graaff-Reinet?

Mike, thanks for digging out the ref from Chard. I think he mentions him twice (also shooting a Zulu with torch in his hand at the time of Maxfield's demise). The doubts Morris raised about Adendorff had, I thought, been put to bed, but they have certainly appeared since in print. As you rightly say, Adendorff's character was used in the film to acquaint the audience with Zulu attack tactics but the invasion force had been briefed on this already. The obviously political elements in his "ZULU" script also clarify why he was cast as a Boer.

Not sure if this is the first of the tidal wave, Sawubona, but informed opinion (a lovely expression!) certainly places him indubitably at both actions and I suspect someone is going to have to come up with something pretty conclusive to shake that conviction or to return him to Morris's "shadowy" existence.

Peter
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Interesting - I thought I'd noticed it before and now I'm sure. When typing ZULU in capital letters (to indicate the film title) it nevertheless comes out in lower case, necessitating some editing to insert inverted commas.

Any idea why, Alan & Peter?

P.E.
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Rich
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As for Adendorff, it sure looked that another way he was used in the film was to sort of give a little dig to the Englishmen to setting up home shop in South Africa where his people i.e. the Boers were. And in hindsight we know how the certainly understated "confrontation" turned out between Adendorf's people and Chard's. Nothing like "Zulu" to examine all the political implications of the time besides the Zulus.
Alan
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 1530
Location: Wales
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Peter,
in an attempt to avoid people putting incorrect versions of proper names, I altered the word management section to change words to be in their correct forms. It's limitations mean that it makes it's own mind up how to interpret entries. I've altered it now, I'll just hope people use a capital Z when refering to Zulus. I do understand that some people's keyboard doesn't have a shift key.
Zulu, ZULU. see?

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Lee Stevenson


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 48
Location: England
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It would appear that his name was in fact - Gert Wilhelm Adendorff...however there are numerous variations in both his forename and surname in official documents, including; ...Gerhardus, Gerrit, Willem, Wilhelmus, and Adendorf, Ardendorff etc etc

He was born in Graaff Reinet, Cape Province in 1848, his parents being of German (through his grandfather) and French (maternal) descent.

Lee
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Sean Sweeney


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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The original Adendorff into the Cape was 'Michael (or Michiel) Joseph', born Adendorf bei Koln in or around 1752.
There was a 'John' Adendorff settled in the 'Boer' community of Northern Natal in the post Trek 1860's. The family could have been 'TrekBoers' ?
All 'Boers' were a mixture of Dutch, German and French Huguenot descent, et al.
The term 'Boer' (farmer) is also just an abreviation of 'GrensBoer' (Cape Border Farmer) or 'TrekBoer', those that trekked with the Voortrekkers into the hinterland.
There was also a JC Adendorff on 'Hope Farm', in 1884 and the farm 'Bradford' during the ABW, (both near Newcastle).
A 'Gerrit' Adendorff was sentenced to 9 months imprisonment, as a Natal Afrikaner, for supporting the Boers, during the ABW. (Treasonable)
One wonders what Lieut A thought himself as.... Afrikaner ? (Little used before the 20th C), Boer ?, British ? German ? or what the history was of his presence in Natal at that time. He would certainly have spoken the 'Cape Dutch' that eventually became Afrikaans as we know it today.

Lee, I note that you were compiling an Adendorff 'Family Tree' a couple of years ago, to try and clarify the position.
Care to shed some more light on it ?
Where does the Lt 'Josef', 'Joseph', or 'James' come from ? as he is on occasion referred to ?
I see that Gert Wilhelm b Graaff-Reinet 1848 had a brother Joseph b G-R 1850, (amongst 12 other siblings).

Sean


Last edited by Sean Sweeney on Wed Apr 19, 2006 5:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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Sean Sweeney


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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It appears that Lt A arrived in Natal with the recently formed (from E.Cape German immigrants and their families) infantry commando 'Kaffrarian Vanguard', Cmdt Schermbrucker in Command,
and our Lieutenant jumped 'horse' when offered a commission in the NNC.

Shades of 'Gung-Ho' Durnford, maybe ?

The 'Vanguard', also later known as 'Schermbrucker's Horse', when it became a mounted force after Isandhlwana, served with distinction at Hlobane and Khambula, having originally been detailed by Chelmsford to guard their compatriots at Luneberg.
Schermbrucker and the Vanguard had also previously served with Chelmsford and Wood in the Frontier War of 1877/78.
'Adendorf' is quoted by Werner Schmidt in 'Deutsche Wanderung nach S�dafrika I'm 19. Jahrhundert' as being a 'Leutenant' in the Vanguard in 1878.

Sean
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Sean

That's interesting, Sean. I had wondered if he had been involved in Schermbrucker's force when I mentioned his German ancestry the other day and that he'd come up to Natal from "down south."

I understand this force had served on the allied side during the Crimean War but obviously Adendorff would have been too young for that. I'm a little confused about all that, and I also understand two different German units are confused from time to time (the Vanguard and another?). Anyone have chapter & verse on the life of this German force? I know that the German community at Luneburg was very pleased at Schermbrucker's eventual arrival up there for obvious reasons.

Peter
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Lee Stevenson


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 48
Location: England
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Hi Sean & Peter

As I understand it Adendorff also appears as a Lieutenant in the Kaffrarian Rifles, and is named as such in a diary by a fellow officer of that unit. Might this have been the "Vanguard" by another name I wonder?

A "Lt T Adendorff, 2nd Regiment" is listed in a roll of the Royal Swazi Levy who arrived in Natal just prior to the Zulu campaign.

Former members of the "German Legion" (a fighting strength of some 10,000 apparently), were offered passage and land in the Cape at the end of the Crimean War. A list of those men who took up the offer, arranged by regiment, is available at the National Archives, Kew. I do not recall finding any "Adendorffs" in that list at all when I searched through it a good few years ago though!

Gert Wilhelm Adendorff had three brothers with the initial "J" - Joseph Johannes, Jeremie August and Jan. (A "Mr J Adendorff" of Graaff Reinet was listed as GW's next of kin in one contemporary source)

A further interest perhaps to the Isandlwana side but a further brother - August Rouverie Adendorff later served as a Captain in the Abalondolozi Regiment in the Transkei c. 1880-1881. A "Captain W.H. Stafford" served in the same unit and received the Cape of Good Hope general service medal with clasp for "Basutoland"

The 'Gerrit Adendorff' mentioned is from a different side of the family, but was living in or around Newcastle, Natal, where in fact a fair number of Adendorffs from various branches of the wider family later settled.

It would appear that there were Adendorffs fighting on both sides during the ABW2, a number on the Boer side are known to have been killed or taken prisoner by the British. At least one who fought on the Boer side and who was later taken prisoner subsequently fought for the other side during the Zulu uprising of 1906.

Lee
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Sean Sweeney


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 185
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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Thanks Lee, Peter,

It appears that the 'Vanguard' is referred to as 'Rifles' at times, probably as they were an infantry/rifle unit, rather than a 'horse', (if you get my drift).
The 'official' Kaffrarian Rifles were only formed later. (I have in 1883.),
although I think the current Buffalo Volunteer Rifles regiment probably take both the Kaffrarian 'Vanguard' and 'Rifles' into account when tracing their history, plus Kaffrarian Volunteer Corps, Kaffrarian Mounted Rifles (Kaffrarian Rangers), Buffalo Volunteer Rifles Corps, Buffalo Volunteer Engineers, Kaffrarian Volunteer Artillery Corps, Berlin Mounted Volunteers, Cape Mounted Yeomanry (1st Regiment), Frontier Mounted Riflemen (Brabant's Horse), East London Volunteers (Von Linsingen's Buffalo Corps and later Walkers Horse) and Stutterheim Light Infantry et al.

Schermbrucker was a veteran of the German Crimean Legion,
a German mercenary unit put together to fight the Russians in the Crimean War, but did not even get to the Crimea before hostilities ended.
The British authorities offered them the opportunity of settling in South Africa, which a number of them accepted.
The Adendorffs were not amongst them as their ancestor was already there.
There were a number of different German immigration schemes, at the time,
plus those that came in earlier with the VOC , as my German (Holsteiner) ancestor did.

There is a great site on German immigration into South Africa;
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/7589/index.html

This list covers members of the 'Krimlegion' as well as others, from 'Deutsche Wanderung' and mentions an 'Adendorf' and Lt Carl Muller (who wrote of Adendorff's defection to the NNC), both as having been in the 'Vanguard', plus the Danes, Larsen and Tomsen;
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/7589/Names/Wanderung.html

There's a wonderful account from Schermbrucker of the chase after Khambula. Here it's in the article written by John Young for the Military History magazine, in HistoryNet;
http://www.thehistorynet.com/mh/blkhambula/index2.html
(I see there was a Pvt John Snook there of 1st/13th (Somerset) who was a bit loose lipped. Wonder if he copped a flogging ! Any relation Mike ?)

S.Monick in his paper for the SAHMS on the Colonial and Imperial forces AZW mentions the 'Vanguard' and it's formation.
http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol045sm.html
I gather that Schermbrucker had previously formed 'commandos' during earlier frontier skirmishes, particulary in the 9th, under command Chelmsford/Wood, and also that he boosted his unit's numbers from the Luneberg community, before joining Wood's AZW column.
Maybe that's where the Danes enlisted ? and where he was supplied with mounts.
cheers,
Sean
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Peter Ewart


Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Posts: 1797
Location: Near Canterbury, Kent, England.
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Lee & Sean

Apologies for not acknowledging the last two posts above - I've only just seen them!

Thanks, Lee, for the Adendorff genealogical details. I knew some work had been done and thought you were the repository of much of it. Thanks, Sean, too, for the detailed material on the German units (Larsen of Luneburg is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a German and one can see why). Talking of Pte Snook of the 13th, I'm sure Col Wood would love to have administered a flogging to him personally, as it was Snook who blew the whistle on the killing of fugitives after Kambula, which Wood appears to have tried to sneak out of by use of an innocent technicality in Snook's testimony. I have also wondered if this chap is a relative of Mike!

Peter

P.S. Lee, did I ever sent you those medical case-notes from Pte Wall's stay in the lunatic asylum which I promised? No evidence that I did so in my notes - another task not followed up?
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LIEUTENANT JOSEF ADENDORFF - TEACHER
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