Isandlwana - Zulu dawn

Isandlwana

Some views from the battlefield. I was surprised how undulating the ground was and how large an area the British were spread over before the battle started. Not only were the British up against the finest Light Infantry the world has ever seen, they were simply “out generaled” before the battle started.


Looking towards the mountain from approx where Col Durnfords native horse made their last stand. The British tented camp would have been in the foreground.


A view with my back to the mountain. When the battle took place the ground was covered with lush tall grass, there had been heavy rains and the temp was +40C. The hill to the front left is “Conical Hill" it was near here that Maj Russell, RA with his rocket tubes were over run by the first wave of Zulu warriors. Col Durnford would have been to the right front and Lord Chelmsford was enjoying lunch just over the distant hills.


The view from the cave that the last surviving British soldier would have seen. He chose to take shots at the Zulu warriors looting his dead comrades, rather than hide and play dead. Eventually the Zulus returned fire with captured rifles until he was killed. His name is unknown, only four of the dead were later positively identified. The white washed rocks mark the burial spots for the British dead. To the right of the cave the British transport, huge ox wagons, oxen and horses were parked, in this gully with "Blacks Koppie" to thier further side, every thing was jammed solid, no room to move, this was the start of the trail to Rorkes Drift. The Zulus slaughtered every living creature, even the oxen which they valued.

Wild stuff. Still, if I was a young zulu warrior, I would be telling stories of zulu courage and sacrifice. War is hell. Great pics though, what a sense of scale they portray.

There has never been any doubt of the Zulu’s courage and sacrifice, sadly their history was only recorded orally so a lot has been lost. Many of the warriors who fought so successfully at Isandlwana would perish charging the “British Square” at Ulundi. Here the British volley fire from four massed ranks, stiffened with some small artillery and two Gatling guns wiped out over 3,000 warriors in a very short time. Remember to, at Isandlwana the Zulus were attacking an army that was invading their homeland, their (Zulu) orders were not to cross the Buffalo River.

Did you catch the last issue of "surplus firearms" by guns'n'ammo? They had a facinating write up on british forces in south africa, zulu wars and boer wars.

Did you catch the last issue of "surplus firearms" by guns'n'ammo? They had a fascinating write up on British forces in south Africa, Zulu wars and bore wars.

No I did not, but then I have a huge collection of Zulu weapons, these are not restricted or prohibited!
I guess I am like most people and thought the disaster at Isandlwana was caused by the British ammo boxes having the lids screwed down and the British ran out of ammo. Certainly that was true, but I believe their widely dispersed formations and complete lack of defensive positions was the real cause of their defeat. If their ammo boxes had been open, it would only have prolonged the afternoon and resulted in more Zulu been killed. It may also have given time for Lord Chelmsford to have returned to the camp, the reserve formation of Zulu (who attacked Rorkes Drift) were capable of ambushing them, this could have doubled the size of the British disaster. Any way you look at it this was not a good afternoon to be in the British army.

It's amazing what tactics and courage/fanaticism (and numbers!) can do to overcome firepower. It's good that the stories are not forgotten, at the very least. What I wouldn't give to be able to plant a remote camera at many battlefields during these conflicts. (I said REMOTE camera, I could not be mistaken for a zulu, and I am not crazy!)

Visiting a battle ground gives an entirely new perspective on how the battle was fought.

Walking across Vimy Ridge, and Beaumont Hammel, well, they were striking moments in my life.

Walking across the field where my great grand uncle was killed (and may still lie) was sobering.

Realizing that he died within 300 yards of the hotel I stayed at was bone chilling.

Reading his name in the chalk tunnel 80 feet underground that he wrote the night before he died left me silent.

Seeing the names of the two men who signed left and right of him in the tunnel buried side by side in the graveyard above left me always in thought of his sacrifice.

A walk across an "old battlefield" can be far more touching than you can imagine unless you do it sometime.

NS

Well put.

A walk across an "old battlefield" can be far more touching than you can imagine unless you do it sometime.

NS

I salute you sir, you have done what all men should, then maybe we could all move away from killing our fellow man.

This is the monument to the dead Zulu at Rorkes Drift. (The caves in the background at the top of the cliff face is where the Zulu riflemen hid and shot at the defenders, all of 200 meters away!) This is one of the most moving monuments I have stood next to, I have to admit there was a tear in my eye. The leopard represents Royalty to the Zulu, much like the Lion does to us. He (Leopard) is laying on the Zulu shields, this represents his fallen warriors. The shrub represents the sprit of live. The kraal wall symbolizes a sacred place, the Zulu berried their dead in their cattle kraals, this would nurture the grass, the cattle fed on the grass and life went on.

John,

Many thanks for sharing.

NS

Edited for inappropriate comments.

Chise you should pick up a history book. I wonder how long after the battles did the British realize that keeping thier ammo both stored seperately from their troops while camped and putting it in sealed tin crates without easy access helped facilitate thier defeat by the Zulu horde.

Great pics

Hats off Mr Wolverine for the history lesson!!
The only touching thing I have is my grandfathers 303 brit, when he served in the Airforce in the 2nd WW.
Awesome!

Mr Wolverine said:

Isandlwana

Some views from the battlefield. I was surprised how undulating the ground was and how large an area the British were spread over before the battle started. Not only were the British up against the finest Light Infantry the world has ever seen, they were simply “out generaled” before the battle started.

Click to expand...

The finest light infantry the world has ever seen? Ah, no.

It's amazing what you can get people to do though, if they believe their shamans have made them invulnerable to the enemy's weapons with some super-de-duper magic.

Oh, and the instant mass death penalty for failure helps motivate people too I hear.

USP said:

Chise you should pick up a history book. I wonder how long after the battles did the British realize that keeping thier ammo both stored seperately from their troops while camped and putting it in sealed tin crates without easy access helped facilitate thier defeat by the Zulu horde.

Great pics

Click to expand...

Later that same afternoon Lt Chard and Lt Bromhead organized the successful defense of Rorkes Drift (See the movie Zulu) they chose to stand and fight behind hastily prepared defensive positions and their ammo crates were open. It is estimated they started with 20,000 rds, when the Zulu left they had about 600 rds left!

RRCo. said:

The finest light infantry the world has ever seen? Ah, no.

It's amazing what you can get people to do though, if they believe their shamans have made them invulnerable to the enemy's weapons with some super-de-duper magic.

Oh, and the instant mass death penalty for failure helps motivate people too I hear.

Click to expand...

After I had written that statement I realized I should have modified it to the effect that the Zulu, “In my opinion” were among the finest light Infantry the world has ever seen.

Your comments about “motivation” are very true. The Zulu discipline was brutally enforced but that was not unique to them, in many armies discipline was harsh to the extreme and included the death penalty, admittedly in most armies you did not get your skull crushed with a knobkerrie if you dropped out of a battle fitness run.

Excellent post. Thanks for the pictures.

Wow, a piece of history that many do not know of these days. Thanks for the pictures and the write up.

Like NavyShooter said, walking across the fields at Vimy Ridge and through the tunnels and trenches that remain, is an experience one does not soon forget.

So many have given their lives for the world to be what it is today, for good or ill. Our grandfathers fought in a terrible war for the freedoms we have now and for the profit and power of other men they never met. If we do not look to the past and learn, we are destined to fail in the same ways.

There are so many stories like this one that need to be passed to the younger generations.

How was the firearms market out in South Africa? Firesale prices being offered as an alternative to destruction?

Thanks indeed!!