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Battle of Isandlwana

The Battle of Isandlwana (alternative spelling: Isandhlwana) on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British invaded Zululand in Southern Africa, a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of approximately 1,800 British, colonial and native troops with approximately 350 civilians.[12] The Zulus were equipped mainly with the traditional assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields,[13] but also had a number of muskets and antiquated rifles.[14][15]

The British and colonial troops were armed with the modern[16] Martini–Henry breechloading rifle and two 7-pounder mountain guns deployed as field guns,[17][18] as well as a Hale rocket battery. The Zulus had a vast disadvantage in weapons technology,[19] but they greatly outnumbered the British and ultimately overwhelmed[20] them, killing over 1,300 troops, including all those out on the forward firing line. The Zulu army suffered anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 killed.[21][22]


The battle was a decisive victory for the Zulus and caused the defeat of the first British invasion of Zululand.[23] The British Army had suffered its worst defeat against an indigenous foe equipped with vastly inferior military technology.[19] Isandlwana resulted in the British taking a much more aggressive approach in the Anglo–Zulu War, leading to a heavily reinforced second invasion,[24] and the destruction of King Cetshwayo's hopes of a negotiated peace.[25]

Background[edit]

Following the scheme by which Lord Carnarvon had brought about the Confederation of Canada through the 1867 British North America Act, it was thought that a similar plan might succeed in South Africa and in 1877 Sir Henry Bartle Frere was appointed as High Commissioner for Southern Africa to instigate the scheme.[26] Some of the obstacles to such a plan were the presence of the independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand, both of which the British Empire would attempt to overcome by force of arms.[27]


Bartle Frere, on his own initiative, without the approval of the British government[28][29] and with the intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, had presented an ultimatum to the Zulu king Cetshwayo on 11 December 1878 with which the Zulu king could not possibly comply.[30] When the ultimatum expired a month later, Bartle Frere ordered Lord Chelmsford to proceed with an invasion of Zululand, for which plans had already been made.[31]

Staff – 2 officers, 1 NCO

11th/7th Brigade, Royal Artillery – 1 officer, 9 NCOs and men with a rocket battery (3 rocket troughs)

[17]

(5 troops) – 5 officers, c. 259 NCOs and men

Natal Native Horse

1st/1st Natal Native Contingent (2 companies) – 6 officers, c. 240 NCOs and men

2nd/1st Natal Native Contingent – 1 NCO

Aftermath[edit]

Analysis[edit]

The Zulus avoided the dispersal of their main fighting force and concealed the advance and location of this force until they were within a few hours' striking distance of the British. When the location of the main Zulu Impi was discovered by British scouts, the Zulus immediately advanced and attacked, achieving tactical surprise.[90] The British, although they now had some warning of a Zulu advance, were unable to concentrate their central column. It also left little time and gave scant information for Pulleine to organise the defence. The Zulus had outmanoeuvred Chelmsford and their victory at Isandlwana was complete and forced the main British force to retreat out of Zululand until a far larger British Army could be shipped to South Africa for a second invasion.[91][92][93]


Recent historians, notably Lock and Quantrill in Zulu Victory, argue that from the Zulu perspective the theatre of operations included the diversions around Magogo Hills and Mangeni Falls and that these diversions, which drew more than half of Chelmsford's forces away from Isandlwana, were deliberate.[94] Also, the main Zulu force was not unexpectedly discovered in their encampment but was fully deployed and ready to advance on the British camp. These historians' view of the expanded battlefield considers Chelmsford to have been the overall commander of the British forces and that responsibility for the defeat lies firmly with him.

, a 1979 American adventure war film about the Battle of Isandlwana.

Zulu Dawn

Bambatha Rebellion

Battle of Blood River

Colony of Natal

, the second album by Johnny Clegg and his band Juluka, containing the track "Impi" about this battle.[123]

African Litany

List of Zulu War Victoria Cross recipients

Military history of the United Kingdom

Military history of South Africa

Zulu Dawn

Battle of Rorke's Drift

Zululand Empire

Zulu

Clarke, Sonia The Invasion of Zululand, Johannesburg, 1979.

Coupland, Sir Reginald Zulu Battle Piece: Isandhlwana, London, 1948.

Dutton, Roy Forgotten Heroes Zulu & Basuto Wars, Infodial, 2010  978-0-9556554-4-9.

ISBN

(February 2009). "The Forgotten Battles of the Zulu War". BBC History Magazine. Vol. 10, no. 2. pp. 26–33.

David, Saul

Furneaux, R.. The Zulu War: Isandhlwana & Rorke's Drift W&N (Great Battles of History Series), 1963.

. The London Gazette. 14 March 1879. p. 2199.

"No. 24695"

Greaves, Adrian. Isandlwana, Cassell & Co, 2001,  0-304-35700-6.

ISBN

Greaves, Adrian. Rorke's Drift, Cassell & Co., 2003  0-304-36641-2.

ISBN

Jackson, F.W.D. Hill of the Sphinx London, 2002.

Jackson, F.W.D. and Whybra, Julian Isandhlwana and the Durnford Papers, (Journal of the Victorian Military Society, March 1990, Issue 60).

Brave Men's Blood, London, 1990. ISBN 1-84415-212-X.

Knight, Ian

Knight, Ian Zulu, (London, 1992)

Knight, Ian Zulu Rising, London, 2010.  0-330-44593-6.

ISBN

Whybra, Julian. England's Sons, Billericay, (7th ed.), 2010.

Yorke, Edmund. Isandlwana 1879. 2016.

Zulu: The True Story By Dr. Saul David

Isandlwana battlefields

Personal account of the battle by Horace Smith-Dorrien

Zulunet description of the battle

Archived 11 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine

Secrets of the Dead – Day of the Zulu

Travellers Impressions

The Battle of Isandlwana

The Battle of Isandlwana 22 January 1879, Ian Knight video

[1]

Forgotten Heroes Zulu & Basuto Wars, Roy Dutton,/ [

https://www.roydutton.co.uk/my-books/forgotten-heroes-zulu-basuto-wars/

at SAHRA

Site by Isandlwana Battlefield, Reserve 18 15840, Nqutu District