This Day in Southern African History: Apr 17, 1838: Robert Biggar and his force are killed

 

 

During March and April 1838 the British in Port Natal sent an expedition against Zulu forces, resulting in the Battle of Ndondakusuka near the Tugela River. Robert Biggar was the leader of the group with 16 Europeans under him, among them T. Carden, W. Bottomly, Richard King, John Cane, Richard Duffy, Robert Wood, W. Wood, Blanckenberg and Lovedale. His force also included between 20 and 30 Khoi with guns and roughly 1 500 African followers, mostly deserted Zulus. Only 4 Europeans, namely George Duffy, Joseph Brown, Robert Joyce and Richard (Dick) King, 750 Africans and 2 or 3 Khoi survived the slaughter.


The British commando wanted to attack Dingaan's Zulus to avenge the death of Thomas Halstead and George Biggar, Robert's brother, who had been part of Piet Retief's murdered party. Only the Europeans, Khoi and a small group of Zulus had guns. On their march to uMgungundlovu the British party came across a group of Zulus with about 700 cattle. The Zulus fled and the party collected the cattle, taking them back to Port Natal as booty.

10 days later some members of the Biggar party departed for the heart of Zululand again. They travelled towards UMgungundlovu again and close to the uMvoti River they spotted a group of 150 Zulus camping. They sent scouts to spy on the group and, after they fired some shots, chased the Zulus away. A larger force was sent to follow the group to the Tugela River. The British group fired at the Zulus again and drove them away. Biggar was getting increasingly confident and took a Zulu warrior from a nearby village prisoner to question him. While busy with his interrogation an enormous group of Zulus descended on him and his party. Although they drove off the attacking force 3 times Biggar made a critical mistake in dividing his force, inspiring the Zulus to rush, killing most of them.

Read about the killing of Robert Biggar and Piet Retief.

Sources

1. http://www.southafrica-travel.net/history/wood.htm
2. http://www.rapidttp.co.za/milhist/woodzulu.html
3. Omer-Cooper, J.D. (1987). History of Southern Africa, London: James Currey

This Day in History: Apr 17, 1790: Benjamin Franklin dies

On April 17, 1790, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia at age 84.

Born in Boston in 1706, Franklin became at 12 years old an apprentice to his half brother James, a printer and publisher. He learned the printing trade and in 1723 went to Philadelphia to work after a dispute with his brother. After a sojourn in London, he started a printing and publishing press with a friend in 1728. In 1729, the company won a contract to publish Pennsylvania's paper currency and also began publishing the Pennsylvania Gazette, which was regarded as one of the better colonial newspapers. From 1732 to 1757, he wrote and published Poor Richard's Almanack, an instructive and humorous periodical in which Franklin coined such practical American proverbs as "God helps those who help themselves" and "Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
As his own wealth and prestige grew, Franklin took on greater civic responsibilities in Philadelphia and helped establish the city's first circulating library, police force, volunteer fire company, and an academy that became the University of Pennsylvania. From 1737 to 1753, he was postmaster of Philadelphia and during this time also served as a clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature. In 1753, he became deputy postmaster general, in charge of mail in all the northern colonies.


Deeply interested in science and technology, he invented the Franklin stove, which is still manufactured today, and bifocal eyeglasses, among other practical inventions. In 1748, he turned his printing business over to his partner so he would have more time for his experiments. The phenomenon of electricity fascinated him, and in a dramatic experiment he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightning is an electrical discharge. He later invented the lightning rod. Many terms used in discussing electricity, including positive, negative, battery, and conductor, were coined by Franklin in his scientific papers. He was the first American scientist to be highly regarded in European scientific circles.

Franklin was active in colonial affairs and in 1754 proposed the union of the colonies, which was rejected by Britain. In 1757, he went to London to argue for the right to tax the massive estates of the Penn family in Pennsylvania, and in 1764 went again to ask for a new charter for Pennsylvania. He was in England when Parliament passed the Stamp Act, a taxation measure to raise revenues for a standing British army in America. His initial failure to actively oppose the controversial act drew wide criticism in the colonies, but he soon redeemed himself by stoutly defending American rights before the House of Commons. With tensions between the American colonies and Britain rising, he stayed on in London and served as agent for several colonies.

In 1775, he returned to America as the American Revolution approached and was a delegate at the Continental Congress. In 1776, he helped draft the Declaration of Independence and in July signed the final document. Ironically, Franklin's illegitimate son, William Franklin, whom Franklin and his wife had raised, had at the same time emerged as a leader of the Loyalists. In 1776, Congress sent Benjamin Franklin, one of the embattled United States' most prominent statesmen, to France as a diplomat. Warmly embraced, he succeeded in 1778 in securing two treaties that provided the Americans with significant military and economic aid. In 1781, with French help, the British were defeated. With John Jay and John Adams, Franklin then negotiated the Treaty of Paris with Britain, which was signed in 1783.

In 1785, Franklin returned to the United States. In his last great public service, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and worked hard for the document's ratification. After his death in 1790, Philadelphia gave him the largest funeral the city had ever seen.

Taken from: http://www.history.com/topics/benjamin-franklin [17.04.12]

This Day in History: Apr 17, 1815: Volcanic eruption kills 80,000

Heavy eruptions of the Tambora volcano in Indonesia are letting up by this day in 1815. The volcano, which began rumbling on April 5, killed almost 100,000 people directly and indirectly. The eruption was the largest ever recorded and its effects were noted throughout the world.



Tambora is located on Sumbawa Island, on the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. There had been no signs of volcanic activity there for thousands of years prior to the 1815 eruption. On April 10, the first of a series of eruptions that month sent ash 20 miles into the atmosphere, covering the island with ash to a height of 1.5 meters.

Five days later, Tambora erupted violently once again. This time, so much ash was expelled that the sun was not seen for several days. Flaming hot debris thrown into the surrounding ocean caused explosions of steam. The debris also caused a moderate-sized tsunami. In all, so much rock and ash was thrown out of Tambora that the height of the volcano was reduced from 14,000 to 9,000 feet.

The worst explosions were heard hundreds of miles away. The eruptions of Tambora also affected the climate worldwide. Enough ash had been thrown into the atmosphere that global temperatures were reduced over the next year; it also caused spectacularly colored sunsets throughout the world. The eruption was blamed for snow and frost in New England during June and July that summer.
Ten thousand people were killed by the eruptions, most on Sumbawa Island. In subsequent months, more than 80,000 people died in the surrounding area from starvation due to the resulting crop failures and disease.

 Taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/volcanic-eruption-kills-80000 [17.04.12]