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Thread: ISANDLWANA

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    Default ISANDLWANA

    The Battle of Isandlwana

    Eleven days before the historic Isandlwana battle, during which the British army was to suffer its biggest defeat ever at the hands of a native military foe, British High Commissioner in South Africa at the time, Sir Bartle Frere, had launched an invasion of Zululand after the expiry of his impossible ultimatum to the Zulu King Cetshwayo had expired. Frere was trying to establish a confederation of white-led states in southern Africa, but the Zulus stood firmly in the path of his ambitions.

    Isandlwana

    Under the command of Major General Lord Chelmsford, three columns were sent to converge on the Zulu Royal ikhanda – or military camp – at Ulundi. The coastal column was commanded by Colonel Charles Pearson, the central column by Colonel Richard Glyn, and the third – highly mobile – column by Colonel Evelyn Wood. In addition, Brevet Colonel Anthony Durnford and Colonel Hugh Rowlands each commanded an additional reserve force.
    General Chelmsford accompanied the central column, thereby effectively over-riding the command of Colonel Glyn. This column crossed the Mzinyathi – or Buffalo – River at Rorke's Drift on Sunday the 11th of January 1879. Their first action took place the following day when they attacked the settlement of Chief Sihayo, after which they advanced to the site below the sphinx-shaped hill known as Isandlwana, where they established a camp. As they considered it a temporary camp, unlikely to suffer an attack, they undertook no entrenchments. The column totalled some 4,907 men and included 302 wagons and carts, 1,507 oxen and 116 horses and mules.

    At dawn on the 21st of January Major John Dartnell led a party of about 150 men on a reconnaissance mission, some 16km to the south-east in the area of the Hlazakazi Hill. Commandant Rupert Lonsdale simultaneously led 1,600 men of the Natal Native Contingent in the direction of the Malakatha Mountain. During these movements some Zulus were observed on the Magogo Heights. After several skirmishes, Dartnell sent two men back to Isandlwana to report to Chelmsford, and inform him that his party would spend the night on the slopes of Hlakazi.
    The following morning Chelmsford and Colonel Glyn rode out in the direction of Hlakazi and met up with Dartnell, leaving the camp under the command of Lt. Colonel Henry Pulleine, who at this point had a total of 1,768 men in the camp, it having also been reinforced by Durnford’s reserves.

    On the 22nd of January, a scouting party of mounted troops, led by Lt. Charles Raw, observed some Zulus and set off in pursuit. As they approached the edge of the Mabazo overlooking the Ngwebeni Valley, they spotted the 24,000-strong Zulu main force camped below.

    Meanwhile, on the 17th of January, the 28,000-strong Zulu army, under command of Cetshwayo's Prime Minister Mnyamana Buthelezi, had left kwaNodwengo – near present-day Ulundi – and proceeded across the White Umfolozi River. On the 18th 4,000 warriors under Godide kaNdlela set off from the main body to attack Pearson at Nyazane, near Eshowe. The remaining 24,000 Zulus camped at the isiPhezi ikhanda, their trail behind them leaving the grass flat for five months! On the 19th they split into two parallel columns and camped near Babanango mountain. On the 20th they moved a further 18km and camped near Siphezi mountain, and on the 21st they moved in small groups into the Ngwebeni valley where they remained hidden until their discovery by Raw and his men on the 22nd.

    The Zulus had intended attacking the following day, but Raw's men fired into their ranks and they began to stream towards Isandlwana. Raw reached the camp around 12h15 to warn of the approaching enemy. A defensive line was established between the rump of the hill, across the rocky plan to the Nyokane donga. Durnford's men who had already commenced their advance withdrew to the donga when the rocket battery was overrun.

    The main Zulu attack began at 12h30 with 20,000 men, 4,000 being held in reserve. At first the British line, comprised mainly of the 1st and 24th regiments, held firm with the two guns keeping a steady fire. However, as many as a third of the Zulus were armed with some type of firearm, which eventually began to take its toll and the warriors advanced to within 800 metres of the somewhat extended British line, due to a shortage of men who had also begun to run short of ammunition. A simultaneous partial eclipse of the sun during the fighting added an eerie quality to the battle.

    Realising that the initial attack had failed, the Zulu commanders sent Ndlaka and an induna forward to encourage the warriors. At this point Durnford’s position on the right collapsed and his men fell back towards the saddle, through which the warriors surged across the British line. As their line fell back from the Zulu advance, the right horn of the Zulu force had made its way behind the hill to cut off any British retreat back towards Rorke’s Drift.

    By about 3pm the British position had been overrun, and those who tried to escape the slaughter attempted to flee via the saddle between Isandlwana and Black’s koppie. Most of these fugitives were stopped by the Zulu’s right horn, and only a few on horseback got away.

    Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill bravely attempted to save the battalion’s Queen’s Colour but were killed in the attempt, the colours being washed downstream and recovered on the 4th of February.

    Chelmsford, who had been operating in the hills to the south-east, was informed of the disaster at 3pm and the remnants of the central column cautiously returned to Isandlwana as evening fell. The reality of the situation together with the reports of the ongoing battle raging at Rorke’s Drift made him resume his march before dawn, reaching the Mzinyathi River shortly after the Zulus had returned to Zululand.

    Both sides lost heavily in the battle of Isandlwana. Estimates of British losses were 1,357, and approximately 3,000 Zulu warriors were also killed. At this news, King Cetshwayo said ..'alas, a spear has been thrust into the belly of the nation'.

    The Isandlwana Battlefield Site is open daily between 08h00 and 17h00. An entrance fee is payable. Toilets are also available.

    ACCESS INFORMATION:
    The Isandlwana battle site is situated off the R68 Road, between Nqutu and Babanango.
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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    The cover-up

    Queen Victoria Queen Victoria © Word of the disaster reached Britain on 11 February 1879. The Victorian public was dumbstruck by the news that 'spear-wielding savages' had defeated the well equipped British Army. The hunt was on for a scapegoat, and Chelmsford was the obvious candidate. But he had powerful supporters.

    On 12 March 1879 Disraeli told Queen Victoria that his 'whole Cabinet had wanted to yield to the clamours of the Press, & Clubs, for the recall of Ld. Chelmsford'. He had, however, 'after great difficulty carried the day'. Disraeli was protecting Chelmsford not because he believed him to be blameless for Isandlwana, but because he was under intense pressure to do so from the Queen.

    Meanwhile Lord Chelmsford was urgently burying all the evidence that could be used against him. He propagated the myth that a shortage of ammunition led to defeat at Isandlwana. He ensured that potential witnesses to his errors were unable to speak out. Even more significantly, he tried to push blame for the defeat onto Colonel Durnford, now dead, claiming that Durnford had disobeyed orders to defend the camp.

    Many generals blunder in war, but few go to such lengths to avoid responsibility.

    The truth is that no orders were ever given to Durnford to take command. Chelmsford's behaviour, in retrospect, is unforgivable. Many generals blunder in war, but few go to such lengths to avoid responsibility.
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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    THE COVER-UP:

    Queen Victoria Queen Victoria © Word of the disaster reached Britain on 11 February 1879. The Victorian public was dumbstruck by the news that 'spear-wielding savages' had defeated the well equipped British Army. The hunt was on for a scapegoat, and Chelmsford was the obvious candidate. But he had powerful supporters.

    On 12 March 1879 Disraeli told Queen Victoria that his 'whole Cabinet had wanted to yield to the clamours of the Press, & Clubs, for the recall of Ld. Chelmsford'. He had, however, 'after great difficulty carried the day'. Disraeli was protecting Chelmsford not because he believed him to be blameless for Isandlwana, but because he was under intense pressure to do so from the Queen.

    Meanwhile Lord Chelmsford was urgently burying all the evidence that could be used against him. He propagated the myth that a shortage of ammunition led to defeat at Isandlwana. He ensured that potential witnesses to his errors were unable to speak out. Even more significantly, he tried to push blame for the defeat onto Colonel Durnford, now dead, claiming that Durnford had disobeyed orders to defend the camp.

    Many generals blunder in war, but few go to such lengths to avoid responsibility.

    The truth is that no orders were ever given to Durnford to take command. Chelmsford's behaviour, in retrospect, is unforgivable. Many generals blunder in war, but few go to such lengths to avoid responsibility.
    live out your imagination , not your history.

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    AN UNNECESSARY WAR

    Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli © Like so many imperial conflicts of the period, the Zulu War was not initiated from London. Instead, Benjamin Disraeli's government - preoccupied with the Russian threat to Constantinople and Afghanistan - made every effort to avoid a fight. 'We cannot now have a Zulu war, in addition to other greater and too possible troubles', wrote Sir Michael Hicks Beach, the colonial secretary, in November 1878.

    The man to whom this letter was addressed - Sir Bartle Frere - had others ideas, however. Frere had been sent out to to Cape Town with the specific task of grouping South Africa's hotch-potch of British colonies, Boer republics and independent black states into a Confederation of South Africa. But he quickly realised that the region could not be unified under British rule until the powerful Zulu kingdom - with its standing army of 40,000 disciplined warriors - had been suppressed.

    So he exaggerated the threat posed by the Zulus to the British, and, when the home government refused to sanction war, took matters into his own hands in December 1878 by presenting the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, with an unacceptable ultimatum. This required, among other things, the disbandment of the Zulu Army, and war was the inevitable result.

    Such unilateral action by an imperial pro-consul was not unusual during the Victorian period.

    Such unilateral action by an imperial pro-consul was not unusual during the Victorian period. So great were the distances involved, and so slow the methods of communication, that British governors often took it upon themselves to start wars and annex provinces.

    Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of India, was about to invade Afghanistan without reference to London. But the Zulu conflict was unique in that it was to be the last pre-emptive war launched by the British, prior to the recent campaign in Iraq.
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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    CHELMSFORD'S RECALL

    Back in England meanwhile - with the Zulu War no nearer to being won - the cries for Chelmsford's recall intensifying. On 23 May, realising that his political future was on the line, Disraeli told the queen that his government was replacing Chelmsford with Wolseley. She replied frostily: 'I will not withhold my sanction though I cannot approve it.' It was one of the few serious breeches she and Disraeli had during their political relationship.

    Most of what Chelmsford told the Queen was a pack of lies.

    In early September, shortly after his return from South Africa, Lord Chelmsford was given an audience with the Queen. She recorded the conversation in her journal:

    'Ld. Chelmsford said no doubt poor Col. Durnford had disobeyed orders, in leaving the camp as he did... Ld. Chelmsford knew nothing, Col. Durnford never having sent any message to say he was in danger... This much is clear to me: viz. that it was not his fault, but that of others, that this surprise at Sandlwana took place... I told Ld. Chelmsford he had been blamed by many, and even by the Government, for commencing the war without sufficient cause. He replied that he believed it to have been quite inevitable; that if we had not made war when we did, we should have been attacked and possibly overpowered.'

    Most of what Chelmsford told the Queen was a pack of lies. Durnford, as we have seen, did not disobey orders. And Chelmsford ignored at least two warnings to the effect the camp 'was in danger'. In addition, the war was not one of self-defence but of conquest. Queen Victoria, however, would not see the truth.
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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    Dr Saul David is the author of several critically-acclaimed history books, including The Indian Mutiny: 1857 (shortlisted for the Westminster Medal for Military Literature), Zulu: the Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879 (a Waterstone's Military History Book of the Year) and, most recently, Victoria's Wars: The Rise of Empire. He was recently appointed Visiting Professor of History at the University of Hull.
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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    TRIVIA

    1879 22 Jan British soldiers are massacred by Zulus at Isandhlwana,

    1901 22 Jan Victoria, the longest reigning monarch in British history, dies aged 81 after 64 years as queen
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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    Been there, and to most of the other war sites. Truly remarkable

    The fact that what was regarded as a "disorganized native army" could rally those numbers, speaks volumes!

    Rorkes drift had an amazing story teller, hard to imagine what went through the minds of soldiers on both sides

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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    Quote Originally Posted by GAZZAMCK View Post
    Been there, and to most of the other war sites. Truly remarkable

    The fact that what was regarded as a "disorganized native army" could rally those numbers, speaks volumes!

    Rorkes drift had an amazing story teller, hard to imagine what went through the minds of soldiers on both sides
    Share picture)
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    Default Re: ISANDLWANA

    An interview with Johnny Clegg was replayed on 5FM this morning. His song Impi was written about the battle of Isandlwana.

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