Zulu War Correspondence, Army Mail...

Posts : 12 Join date : 2010-10-17 Location : Kingston

I recently found on the web a club/forum of individuals that collected Boer War mail and all the history of the army mail system. The members were small in number, but this gave me an idea.
Can the same be found in regards to the Zulu Wars? I believe actual letters written at the time could fill in small pieces of the puzzle. Where to find letters or people already collecting this mail may be difficult but rewarding if it exists.
I know my aunt was in WW2 and wrote many letters home from Burma and other locations, the small bits of info is quite interesting.
If someone is not already in the process of finding letters from the Zulu Wars, I may take some time and search the web for anything that comes close to correspondence from that time. Maybe regimental museums have some tucked away!

Subject: zulu war correspondence Tue Oct 19, 2010 6:03 am

Hi Will M .
Over the years I have seen letters from those involved in the zulu war also Diaries for sale on ebay . I am pressed for time
but will try and find who they were from . One lot I think went for nearly 1000 Pds couple of years ago .
cheers 90th.

Subject: Re: Zulu War Correspondence, Army Mail... Tue Oct 19, 2010 7:00 am

Hi Will m
Before you go to a lot of trouble read Frank Emery, The Red Soldier. It has lots of letters sent from the batlefields to home. Could give you a really good start.

Regards

Posts : 748 Join date : 2009-10-18

Quote :: The Red Soldier

But its better to have an original or a copy of the actual letter/Diarie than reading in book format.

Posts : 12 Join date : 2010-10-17 Location : Kingston

Thanks for the tip about the book, sounds like a good read if they were copied as written. I agree with Greaves, reading someones modern opinion having 20/20 vision does not carry the view of the times. Any one could say they should have or could have after the fact. Their understanding did not rely on instant communication or any modern ways we are used to today.

Subject: Re: Zulu War Correspondence, Army Mail... Tue Oct 19, 2010 2:52 pm

Will M
Couldnt agree more. However the reason for pointing you at Emery was not purely to read but to give you a start compiling your list.
Regards

Subject: Re: Zulu War Correspondence, Army Mail... Tue Oct 19, 2010 2:57 pm

HAve a look at the letter from John Snook. Ive often wondered if he is a relative of Col Mike, could be an interesting research project Mr Greaves.

Regards

Subject: zulu war correspondence Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:30 am

Hi Will M.
Ebay UK May 2008 , ' Collection of 15 Original Letters ( Some with interesting envelopes ) Re - Sth African
Campaign of 1878 and Zulu War of 1879 ' . From William Coghill , to his parents in Wynberg , Cape Province .
He served in , Prince Alfred's Own Cape Volunteer Artillery in 1878 Operations , C Troop , Lonsdale's Horse
in the Zulu War 1879 .
They were sold for 846.07 Pds , there were 21 Bids and the items had 240 Hits . They do pop up from time to
time on Ebay or Auction sites , but expect to pay top dollar as they are always very expensive . There are books as
Springbok has mentioned which are modern day printings of Individuals Diaries . As a rule these are printed as per
the letter including the actual wording and spelling . Hope this has been some help Idea

.
cheers 90th.

Subject: Re: Zulu War Correspondence, Army Mail... Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:07 pm

Hi Will M,

Just to pick up on your original post as to where one might find such letters, and following on from the subsequent posts by Springbok9, I had a quick look at Appendix 2 of the "The Red Soldier" by Frank Emery where he lists "The Letter Writers: Sources".

Looking at the list is quite interesting; some letters were sourced from private publications/collections as one might expect but by far the majority of the letters home (to wives, parents etc) seem to have then found there way into local newspapers, journals and school magazines from whence they appear to have been sourced by Emery. Perhaps Emery, too, found "original" manuscripts scarce to come by when researching his book?

As mentioned by 90th above, original material does command high prices. I agree with the others that it would certainly be nice to have such a collection but either way, I think I would still recommend "The Red Soldier" (ISBN 0-340-206721) as a worthwhile and interesting read.

Hope this helps also.

U

Posts : 1605 Join date : 2009-09-21

Don't forget the GENUKI letters

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Subject: Re: Zulu War Correspondence, Army Mail... Wed Oct 20, 2010 3:32 pm

Dave

Indeed - some of these are also featured in Emery's book.

U