On 2 December 1878 Captain W. R. C. Wynne embarked in command of the 2nd Field Company of the Royal Engineers for Natal, part of the small number of reinforcements sent to the colony ahead of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.
The company joined the first column under Colonel Charles Knight Pearson at the mouth of the Tugela River on 12 January and the following day crossed the river with them.
[1] In the presence of the Zulu, Wynne with his company of Royal Engineers, assisted by the line, laid out and built Fort Tenedos on the left (Zulu) bank of the Lower Tugela.
[1] The earthwork fort, large enough to shelter the entire column and a quantity of stores, was completed between 13 and 17 January.
These men were recruited from local African tribes hostile to the Zulus.