It’s been 145 years since Sir Lord Chelmsford’s Army began a three-phase invasion of the South African nation of Zululand in January 1879. Chelmsford and Sir Bartle Frere had instigated the war, and felt that they could bring the Zulu people to capitulation in a short period of time with the goal of bringing another portion of South Africa under British control. What they found, would go down in the annals of military history forever.
Here, Michael Leibrandt explains the story of the Battle of Isandlwana in the Anglo-Zulu War.
The 1879 Battle of Isandhlwana. By Charles Edwin Fripp, 1885.
The Centre Column of the invasion — led by Lord Chelmsford himself — would cross the Buffalo River from Rorke’s Drift and setup camp at the foot of Isandlwana Hill on January 20th. The name Isandlwana is meant to mean abomasum — named as its shape resembles part of the digestive track of the cow. The British would note the sphinx-like shape of the Hill.
Receiving a multitude of intelligence during the overnight hours and feeling that the Zulu Army would not engage the British forces directly, Chelmsford divided his forces.
Splitting his force, Chelmsford marched out of the camp at 4:00 A.M., and left Lt. Colonel Pulleine with approximately 600 men of the 24th Regiment of Foot, 700 soldiers from the Natal Native Contingent, and 70 members of the Royal Artillery with two cannons.
To reinforce the camp, Chelmsford ordered Colonel Anthony Durnford to march from Rorke’s Drift to reinforce Isandlwana. Not long after 10:00 A.M., Durnford arrived with 250 Natal Native Contingent troops and a rocket battery. To this day, historians are still divided on whether or not this was a deliberate Zulu maneuver to further divide the British troops or transpired out of happenstance.
While scouting the area around the heights overlooking the nearby Ngwebeni Valley, the British found to their horror the entire Zulu Army hidden in the valley below. Immediately realizing that they had been discovered, the Zulu Army rose up and headed towards Isandlwana. After assembling, the Zulu Impi charged the camp utilizing the “horns of the buffalo” attack that was first employed by King Shaka decades earlier to encircle Isandlwana Hill.
Repelling the attack
Although initially being able to repel the Zulu attack with rank fire, the British and Natal forces were ultimately too extended in front of the camp and vulnerable to the closing Zulu flanks. In less than five hours — almost all of the British and Natal Native Contingent — nearly 1,700 men were wiped out. A few did manage to escape down Fugitives Trail and were able to warn the garrison at Rorke’s Drift before the horns closed to cutoff any retreat.
Colonel Durnford was killed in the dry donga. Zulu accounts indicate that Major Russell’s Rocket Batteries were overwhelmed early in the fight. The Royal Artillery attempted to save the two cannons, but were also overwhelmed. After the Battle, the Zulus disassembled the cannons and one was found on the road back to Ulundi. Colonel Pulleine was killed in the camp.
Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill desperately grabbed the Queen’s Colour and galloped out of the camp at in the latter stages of the battle. They made it to the banks of the Buffalo River before exhaustion overtook them and they were caught and killed. The Queen’s Colour was later found floating in the river.
Eclipse
For some time, historians debated as to whether or not an annual solar eclipse which covered South Africa in the path of totality on January 22nd 1879 actually had an impact. Only the Zulu accounts of the Battle even seem to mention it that day, with other engagements in Zululand on that day do not. The survivors of Rourke’s Drift also did not mention it in their accounts.
The Zulus did mention it in accounts of the Battle, detailing that they took a sudden darkness over the battlefield as a sign from the gods with increased inspiration.
According to Zulu Accounts, one lone soldier made it up the side of Isandlwana Hill and took cover in a cave. He was killed when his ammunition ran out and is depicted in the famous Richard Thomas Moynan painting, The Last of the 24th.
In the late afternoon, Commandant Lonsdale had received permission to return to the camp at Isandlwana to recover in his tent from some heatstroke. Allowing his horse to wander towards Isandlwana, when he roused from his stupor to find the camp in possession of the Zulus and was barely able to spur his horse to escape.
When Chelmsford returned to the camp at dusk, he and the remaining British forces saw a horrific site on the battlefield. In the distance, night sky was lit up with fire burning in the direction of Rourke’s Drift. His troops overheard him say, “But I left 1,000 men to guard the camp.”
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Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.
