Empress Eugenie Pilgrimage
In May 1880 Empress Eugenie made a pilgrimage to the remote spot in Zululand where her son, the Prince Imperial, had been killed during the Anglo-Zulu War the year before.
Living in exile in England in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, Prince Louis Napoleon had gone to Zululand in search of glory, but despite being no more than an observer he had been killed in a skirmish when a patrol he was leading was ambushed. Louis’ death was made all the more unbearable to her because his sacrifice had not taken place in the name of France, but in an obscure war against an African people and the Prince had been wearing the uniform of a British officer.
The pilgrimage was not an easy undertaking. Although the fighting was over, but Prince had been killed in a remote gully close to the Ityotyosi river. From the neighbouring British colony of Natal it would require at least a week of hard travelling by ox-wagon in an area with no roads and populated by people who had recently suffered the British invasion and war. It was impossible for the Empress to travel alone and the expedition required the personal approval of Queen Victoria. She appointed Sir Evelyn Wood to command Eugenie’s escort. Wood took his own wife and two of his personal staff, who had also fought in Zululand, with him. Wood knew that the Empress would require to travel in a degree of comfort, even under the rough circumstances in Zululand and her entourage included an aristocratic French aide, a lady in waiting, two maids, one French and one English, and a French cook. With Wood’s addition of servants and an escort of Mounted Police the expedition totalled 78 people.
The expedition crossed into Zululand on 13 May 1880. From Durban her party travelled to Pietermaritzburg and then up country, camping at suitable spots overnight. At Dundee they camped on the farm, Coalfields, and the Empress walked on foot to visit the camp and fort where the Prince had stayed.
Rather than striking directly towards the Tshotshosi valley, Wood had organised for the party to travel northwards towards the battlefields of Hlobane and Khambula. This had been his area of command a year before, and the scene of some of the fiercest fighting of the war. On 28 March 1879 Wood had supervised an assault on a Zulu mountain stronghold known as Hlobane; the attack had proved a disaster and over 200 British and African auxiliaries had been killed.
A number of the men who had been killed were friends of his. Katherine Campbell, widow of Captain the Hon. Ronald Campbell of the Coldstream Guards, who had been given special permission to accompany Eugenie as her lady-in-waiting. The party had brought a stone cross with them, to place on his grave.
From here they the moved on to the site where the Prince had been killed.
Princess Eugenie spent an all night vigil at the spot where he was killed to mark the first anniversary of his death. That night she wrapped herself in warm clothing and although alone, members of her entourage discreetly kept watch. The Empress described her experience:
“More than once I noticed black forms on top of the bank, which moved silently about and watched me through the tall grasses. This scrutiny was full of curiosity, but it was not hostile. I believe… wished rather to express sympathy and pity…Doubtless they were the very men who had killed my son on this same spot…. Towards morning a strange thing happened. Although there was not a breath of air, the flames of the candles were suddenly deflected, as if someone wished to extinguish them, and I said to him “Is it indeed you beside me? Do you wish me to go away?”
Later that day the Empress and her party started their journey back to Pietermaritzburg and then Durban and England.
Text box off to one side so that it does not distract from story of Prince Imperial.
Campbell had been killed by Zulu snipers, when Wood and his staff had come under fire. Wood attempted to recover Lloyd’s body but found it too heavy to manage. Campbell ran forward to assist and they succeeded in carrying the body down to the assumed safety of the cattle kraal where the rest of the troops were gathered.
Wood’s horse was shot from under him and after managing to extricate himself he allegedly told Campbell to instruct Weatherley’s Border Horse to come up in support. Campbell led the way into a recess in the, where he had the top of his head shot off by a Zulu warrior hiding among the rocks.
Both Campbell and Lloyd were buried on the slopes of Hlobane mountain, under enemy fire. The graves have suffered weathering, neglect and desecration over the years. But somehow someone and sometimes the relevant controlling body, restores them. Possibly due to the remoteness and difficult access, they are graves that still remain in their lonely isolation.
