Isandlwana
Cetswayo In early January, 1879, war broke out between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. This was no accident or the result of a series of unforeseen events. Sir Bartle Frere, the British High Commissioner in southern Africa, had been actively seeking a conflict with the Zulu King Cetshwayo, for some time. He was determined to expand British power in the region and eliminate the only independent threat remaining. In December, 1878, he found an excuse to heighten tension. A number of British subjects had been murdered in Zulu territory. In direct contravention of instructions received from London that ordered he avoid conflict with the Zulu's, Sir Bartle demanded that Cetshwayo hand over the miscreants. He also demanded that Cetshwayo disband his Impi's (regiments). Moreover, he presented a deadline by which this must be done, not to do so would be tantamount to a declaration of war. Frere knew Cetshwayo could not comply; without his Impi's he had no power. Frere knew this, and his preparations for war had already been made. When the ultimatum passed without compliance, Sir Bartle Frere ordered the British military commander in the province of Natal, which bordered the Zulu Kingdom, Lord Chelmsford, to invade.
Lord Chelmsford Lord Chelmsford had under his command 8,000 men, more than 4,000 of whom were British regulars. They were armed with the latest Martini-Henry breech loading rifles, supported by rockets and artillery, and though greatly outnumbered by the 24,000 Zulu warriors Cetshwayo could put in the field, they were not expected to be troubled by an enemy armed with spears and cow-hide shields. On 11 January 1879 leaving a small force at the mission station of Rorke's Drift, he crossed the Buffalo River into Zululand. His plan was to split his army into 3 columns. Firmly believing that the Zulu's would refuse to fight unless forced to do so, he determined to march directly on
Cetshwayo's capital at Ulundi with 4,000 men, a second column under the command of Colonel Pearson would circle around Ulundi and cut off Cetshwayo's line of retreat. In the meantime, a third column under Colonel Henry Pulleine would remain in camp at Isandlwana to await instructions. Colonel Pulleine was an administrative officer he had never seen action or commanded men in the field. The more obvious choice for command would have been Colonel Anthony Durnford, a colourful Irishman superior in rank to Pulleine. He knew the Zulu's and had lost the use of his left arm in a fight with Hlubis tribesmen at Bushman's Pass. Rescued from almost certain death by a contingent of the mounted Basuto warriors he had formed, he was brave, arrogant and outspoken. It had been originally intended that he should command one of the columns but he had fallen out with Lord Chelmsford who distrusted this mercurial Irishmen whom he believed had gone native.
1st Battalion, 5th Company, 24th Foot, killed at Isandlwana Pulleine, who was understandably a little nervous at his promotion, was still confident that he had sufficient forces to withstand any Zulu attack, not that he was expecting one. Under his command he had 800 British regulars, 450 men of the Natal Native Contingent under white officers, and 200 mounted irregulars mostly Natal Police Units and volunteers. Earlier, Lord Chelmsford had decided against laagering the camp on the grounds that it would waste too much time. British discipline and firepower would be more than adequate to deal with the reckless uncoordinated attacks of a bunch of savages. He never believed for a moment that the Zulu's would attack him, at least not in any force. His complacency was to be costly indeed. On 21 January, he moved his column out of the unfortified camp. At 10.30 am on the 21 January, Colonel Durnford arrived at Isandlwana. Though this posed a problem in that Durnford was superior in rank to Pulleine and by tradition should have taken command, he showed no desire to do so, and Pulleine was relieved to see him. He immediately told Pulleine that he should picket the hills and that he would take scouts to search for Zulu's he feared might be threatening Lord Chelmsford's rear. Unknown to Durnford, Pulleine, or anyone else, Lord Chelmsford had been out manoeuvred, not by a few stray Zulu's, but by the entire Zulu army. At 8.00am on 22 January, Lieutenant Raw, scouting far from the camp, gave chase to a small number of Zulu's he had spotted in the distance. As he chased them to the top of a hill, he glanced down. To his amazement he had stumbled across 20,000 Zulu's resting in the valley below. They immediately leapt to the offensive. Raw despatched a messenger to Pulleine and beat a hasty retreat, stopping from time to time to fire. Pulleine was uncertain how to react to the news. Was this an all-out attack, or a feint, was Raw exaggerating? At first, he ordered only a couple of battalions to form up. He discussed the matter with Durnford who wanted to take the attack to the Zulu's. He led his mounted troopers forward with Pulleine promising to offer him support if required. In the meantime, he formed his troops to defend a perimeter line outside the camp, and sent a messenger to inform Lord Chelmsford.
The Victors The Zulu's had hastily formed into their famous horns of the bull formation. The head would engage the centre of the British line while the horns would encircle the camp. For two hours the British rate of fire kept the Zulu's pinned down, but as exhaustion began to take its toll and ammunition began to run low, the Zulu's began to make progress. Likewise, Durnford had been forced to retreat and take up a defensive position in a donga. His Native Natal Contingent, only one in ten of whom was armed with a rifle, had earlier deserted. He held out as long as he could but with his ammunition exhausted he was forced to retreat. This exposed the British right-flank and Pulleine, in turn, had no option but to order a withdrawal back to the camp. The withdrawal, however, effectively broke the British line. In no time the Zulu's were upon them. In some disarray the British redcoats now fought in small groups, fighting back to back, and forming impromptu squares, the fighting was now hand-to-hand. Colonel Durnford, in the meantime, had returned to the camp. With no ammunition for their carbines, he and his men fought on with pistols and knives. Around 2.29 pm the battlefield was plunged eerily into darkness by a partial eclipse of the sun. By 3.00 pm the battle was effectively over. Pulleine was dead, Durnford was dead, the few survivors tried to make their way to Rorke's Drift but the road was cut-off by the Zulu's. Instead they were forced into the hills where they were hunted down and killed. Just prior to his death Pulleine, had pulled aside Lieutenant Teignmouth Melville and presenting him with the Regimental Colours told him, "Melville, as senior Lieutenant, you must take the colours". Melville did so and was provided with an available horse. As he rode off down Fugitives Drift clutching the colours under his arm he was joined by Lieutenant Neville Coghill, and together they cut their way through the Zulu's swarming around them. Riding hell-for-leather they plunged into the fast-flowing Tugela River. Coghill was the first to reach the far bank but looking back he could see that Melville was struggling and close to drowning. The colours had been lost and swept away as Melville desperately tried to stay afloat. Coghill bravely plunged back into the river to drag his friend out. But the delay was fatal. As they clambered back to the shore exhausted, the Zulu's were waiting for them. Armed only with their regimental swords they were quickly cut down. At the time there was no provision to issue the Victoria Cross posthumously. In 1906, Lieutenant's Melville and Coghill were among the first to be awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. The Battle of Isandlwana was the first time a European army using modern weapons had been defeated by native tribesmen. In total 1,329 men were lost at Isandlwana, 858 British regulars and 471 African troops. The Zulu's too had suffered grievously losing some 3,000 killed and a similar number wounded. The 60 or so men who escaped the battle were all mounted volunteers who not being under military discipline had invariably abandoned the battlefield before it was too late. No one on foot or wearing a red coat survived.
Isandlwana was a great victory for the Zulu army, and it is a tribute to the organisation, discipline and courage of its commanders and its warriors. The gloss was taken off the victory somewhat by the subsequent events at Rorke's Drift where 139 British troops successfully repelled repeated attacks by more than 4000 Zulu warriors. Cetshwayo had given specific orders for Rorke's Drift not to be attacked; but the Zulu's blood was up. Rorke's Drift presented the British with an heroic epic with which to shield themselves from the full horror of the disaster at Isandlwana. Even so, Lord Chelmsford, who had been horrified by the sight of the dead soldiers at Isandlwana who had been cut open and their entrails exposed, not realising that the Zulu's were releasing the souls of the dead, was replaced as Commander of British forces in southern Africa by Sir Garnet Wolseley. Before Wolseley could arrive, however, Chelmsford had retreated back into Natal to regather his strength for a further assault on the Zulu Kingdom. On 4 July, 1879, his freshly reinforced army brought its superior firepower to bear and captured the Zulu capital of Ulundi. Cetshwayo was forced to flee but was finally captured hiding in the Ngome Forest on 24 August. He was then curtly informed by someone he had considered a friend, the Secretary of State for Native Affairs, Sir Theophilus Shepstone, that he was henceforth to be considered a prisoner of war and that his Kingdom was to be divided into 13 separate parts and be ruled directly by the British via their native acolytes. In 1882, he was given permission to travel to London to petition Queen Victoria for the return of his Kingdom. Much to everyone’s surprise he was successful. He returned to southern Africa with his Kingdom restored but not his power. The Zulu's had been effectively emasculated. Denied the right to reform his Impi's a power struggle now emerged that was to become an effective civil war. On 8 February, 1884, King Cetshwayo Mpande died, possibly poisoned, possibly not. He was succeeded as King by his son, Dinizulu, but the power of the once mighty Zulu Kingdom had been broken forever.