SOME HISTORIC GRAVESTONES ON MAJUBA.
....A Blackburn soldier has sent the following interesting letter home to his mother, a Blackburn lady. The letter is dated Charlestown, June 18th. He says:—"I, as a soldier, had the privilege of visiting Majuba Hill, or, as the Dutch call it, Amajuba, where our men were so cruelly dealt with in the year 1881. I viewed the hill all over it, a splendid sight to see; how well the Boers had entrenched and fortified it; but a touching sight for all, who went to see the graves on the top of the hill, of our dear comrades who fought, and so nobly fell on the 27th of February, 1881. There is a monument erected which is inscribed as under:—'This monument was erected by the officers, N.C.O.'s and men of the 58th Regiment, in memory of their comrades who were killed or died of wounds received in action at (Amajuba) on the 27th February, 1881.'
....This is the exact amount of names incribed upon the monument. One officer, 4 N.C.O.'s, 1 drummer, and 33 privates. In the graveyard there is a wooden cross, with the following inscribed on it. I won't give you the names, only the number:—
....In memory of Henry Brazier, of H.M. ship Boadicea, who, with 20 others of the Naval Brigade, was killed near this spot, Amajuba Hill, February 27th, 1881.
....Also another cross, which bears the following inscription:—
....In memory of one N.C.O. and 29 Privates, who fell in action on the 27th February, 1881.
....There was one grave by itself, and it bore the following:—
....In memory of the Honourable Cornwallis Maude, only son of Viscount Hawarden, aged 28 years, who, having resigned his commission in the Grenadier Guards, Volunteered for Service whilst in South Africa, and, being attached to the 58th Regiment, fell in action on the (Amajuba Mountain), February 27th, 1881.
....So you see there are a lot buried on this hill. There is also a place marked out where General Colley fell. There is a flower, an everlasting one, enclosed in this letter, which I plucked from General Colley's grave. I hope you have the same feeling towards the Boers as I have myself. I am in good health, hoping you to be the same."
The Blackburn Times, Saturday 28th July 1900
