Eighth Frontier War

Tension intensified after British Kaffraria was annexed and Governor Harry Smith imposed more direct authority over Xhosa chiefs. The prophet Mlanjeni attracted followers with a message of purification and resistance. Smith summoned Sandile to a meeting outside Fort Cox in October 1850; Sandile, who distrusted Smith's intentions, did not attend. Smith then declared him deposed, appointed Charles Brownlee in his place and later ordered his arrest.

On 24 December, a British column of about 600 men entered the Amatola region to arrest Sandile. Ngqika fighters ambushed it in the narrow Boomah Pass and forced it to withdraw under fire. On the following day, Xhosa forces attacked military villages including Woburn and Auckland, killing male settlers and destroying the settlements, while Smith and his force were temporarily isolated at Fort Cox. These actions turned the political confrontation into open war.

Xhosa forces used the Amatola terrain to resist British columns. Khoekhoe communities also rebelled, including people from the Kat River Settlement and some members of the Cape Mounted Rifles, in response to racial discrimination, lost land and deteriorating political rights. Their participation overlapped with Xhosa resistance but arose from distinct experiences and objectives.

After more than two years of fighting, superior colonial resources and the destruction of food supplies forced resistance to collapse. The war deepened impoverishment and colonial control across the eastern Cape.

Significance

The conflict joined resistance to Xhosa dispossession with a distinct Khoekhoe revolt against discrimination, lost autonomy and colonial military service, stretching British forces for more than two years.