Remembering a bloody and decisive battle

Fear and conflict were grim realities of life on the Cape Colony’s Eastern Frontier during the 19th century. At the same time, inspirational bravery shone through the violence. Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) saw its fair share of both in a crucial battle that took place here in 1819

- Mike Burgess

No fewer than nine wars were fought along the Cape Frontier between the European settlers and the Xhosa people between 1779 and 1878.

A monument in Makhanda’s High Street, erected in the late 19th century, memorialises, at least from a settler perspective, the town’s role during the 4th and 5th Cape Frontier Wars. Although known as the Elizabeth Salt Monument (in honour of a settler heroine of the Battle of Grahamstown in 1819), it also commemorates the founding of the town several years earlier.

A MILITARY GARRISON

In 1806, the British reannexed the Cape, including its complicated Eastern Frontier region, which would double as the theatre of war between them and the Xhosa for the next 70 years.