- £1175.00
1878 9th FRONTIER WAR. An 1878 stampless envelope to Peterfield, England, endorsed ‘Free’ and countersigned W B C Chalmers, Specl. Comm, that has been charged 6d with a circular tax mark. FORT BEAUFORT MR 8 1878 dispatch and Peterfield AP 20 78 arrival cancels are on the back. The ninth and final frontier war was also known as the "Fengu-Gcaleka War" The first clash between Galekas and a colonial force took place on 26 September 1877 on a hill called Gwadana, when a mixed force of Mfengu and troopers from the Colony’s Frontier Armed and Mounted Police, commanded by Inspector Chalmers engaged a Galeka party that had sacked a Mfengu kraal. Soon, several other outposts and stations along the frontier came under attack. The Cape's local paramilitaries were deployed and the commandos swiftly engaged and defeated an army of Gcaleka gunmen. They then crossed the frontier and pushed into Gcalekaland. Dividing into three lightly equipped, fast-moving columns, the commandos devastated the Gcaleka armies, which dispersed and fled eastwards. The War was over in under a month. A fine cover written by Inspector Chalmers.
