HC Deb 27 March 1879 vol 244 cc1859-61
SIR ALEXANDER GORDON

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, If he has received copies of the following documents, and, if received, whether he will lay Copies upon the Table of the House:—

  1. 1. "A Despatch from Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford, dated Rorke's Drift, 23rd March 1879," reporting the affair at Isandula on the previous day, referred to in Enclosure No. 4 of Sir Bartle Frere's Despatch of the 27th January 1879.
  2. 2. "Colonel Bray's very clear and useful Letters, dated Court House, Sandspruit, Umzinga, 8 a.m. and 1.25 p.m. January 23rd 1879," referred to in Enclosure No. 5 of Sir Bartle Frere's Despatch of the 27th January 1879;"
and, if he will lay upon the Table of the House Copies of his Telegrams to Sir Bartle Frere, dated 5th and 18th October 1878, referred to at page 79 of Blue Book, C. 2242?

SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH

I have not received copies of a despatch from Lord Chelmsford dated the 23rd of March, nor of Colonel Bray's clear and useful letters; therefore, I am unable to lay them on the Table of the House.

SIR ALEXANDER GORDON

There is a misprint. It should have been the 23rd of January, not of March. Sir Bartle Frere refers to the despatch. I beg to ask the right hon. Gentleman if he is in possession of a despatch of that date?

SIR MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH

I am really very sorry; I did not notice the misprint; I replied to the Question under the impression that the date named was the 23rd of January. I have not received any such despatch nor a copy of Colonel Bray's letters. I am anxious to give the House the fullest information in my power. I thought the telegram of the 5th of October had been already presented. I find it is not so, and I will read it to the House. It was sent by me in reply to Sir Bartle Frere's despatch of the 10th of September, which was written from Cape Town, and received by me on the 5th of October. It was, as the House will remember, the first request for reinforcements. I replied by telegram on the same day— I have received your despatch of the 10th of September suggesting reinforcement of troops. Her Majesty's Government will wait the result of your personal interview with Sir Henry Bulwer and General Thesiger before coming to a decision on the subject. I am led to think from the information before me that there should still be a good chance of avoiding war with the Zulus. The House will remember Sir Bartle Frere's despatch was written from Cape Town; he was about to proceed to Natal, where he was to meet Sir Henry Bulwer and General Thesiger. The telegram dated the 18th of October was not from me; it was simply forwarded through my Office; it was a telegram from the Secretary of State for War to Lord Chelmsford, and I believe it was included in the War Office Papers presented to the House.

SIR ALEXANDER GORDON

asked the Secretary of State for War, Whether he will lay upon the Table of the House Copies of his Message to Lieutenant General Thesiger, and of General Thesiger's reply thereto, both of which are referred to in the first paragraph of Sir Bartle Frere's Despatch to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated November 11th, 1878?

COLONEL LOYD-LINDSAY

If the hon. and gallant Member will turn to the Blue Book issued this morning, he will find the Papers there—pages 6 and 17.

MR. MILBANK,

without in any way wishing to cast the slightest doubt on the statement made in "another place" by His Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief, desired to give Notice of his intention to ask the Secretary of State for War to-morrow, Whether he remembered to have seen or heard of in the War Office a letter or despatch from Lord Chelmsford to His Royal Highness to the effect that he was suffering from the strain of prolonged anxiety?

COLONEL STANLEY

I may as well answer the Question at once. So far as I am aware, there is no such despatch. I am making every effort to trace it both in semi-private papers, such as there have been, in letters written to officers, and letters to myself; but up to the present time no trace has been found of any such Paper.