Dick King - Defence of Port Natal

Defence of Port Natal

In 1842 however the English annexed Port Natal by sending a garrison under the command of Captain Charlton Smith (who also served at Waterloo). The Voortrekkers had in the meantime consolidated their position inland. They established the Boer republic of Natalia and were intent on expelling the English force from the strategic bay area. This soon led to the Battle of Congella, where the English suffered heavy casualties besides the loss of their artillery. The English garrison had to retreat to their tented camp where their only defense was their trenches and earthworks. The camp was besieged by Andries Pretorius who kept up the small arm and artillery attack continuously, day after day.

Trader Christopher Cato, who was to become Durban's first mayor, informed Dick King of the situation, who was on the Mazeppa vessel on the 25th of May. Before daybreak the next morning, King was met by his 16 year old servant Ndongeni, who brought two horses to the current Salisbury island in the bay. Attached to a boat, the tethered horses swam alongside the boat to the bluff, from where King and Ndongeni escaped.

From Port Natal (now Durban), King and Ndongeni started a heroic horseback ride to convey a request from Captain Smith for immediate reinforcements. The journey involved a ride of 960 kilometres (600 mi) through the wilderness and the fording of 120 rivers to arrive at Grahamstown. Ndongeni was forced to return half way through the journey, as he had no saddle or bridle. Dick King reached Grahamstown 10 days after leaving Port Natal, a distance normally covered in 17 days. King returned a month after his escape on the Conch, one of the British vessels which carried the relief parties. It arrived at the bay on the 24th of June, and the reinforcements were in time to save Smith’s garrison from imminent surrender or starvation.