Battle of Isandlwana
22 January 1879 · in Battle View, played out step by step on the ground where it was fought
Zulu army defeated a British force on 22 January 1879 at the start of the Anglo-Zulu War, one of the worst defeats of a colonial army by an African force.
The sides
- British, led by Henry Pulleine: about 1,800 men
- Zulu, led by Ntshingwayo kaMahole: about 20,000 men
States that fought: Zululand, Kingdom of Great Britain.
How it went
Battle of Isandlwana
Britain invades the Zulu kingdom to break its power. The column under Lord Chelmsford camps below the sphinx-shaped hill of Isandlwana, and at dawn on 22 January Chelmsford takes half of it off to find the Zulu army. The Zulu army, 20,000 strong, is hidden in a valley a few kilometres away.
The impi found
Around noon scouts ride over the heights and look down on the whole Zulu army sitting in silence. It rises and pours over the escarpment towards the camp.
The firing line
Pulleine sends his men out a kilometre from the tents in an extended line. Their volleys stop the chest of the Zulu army, which lies down in the grass. Out on the right, Durnford's horsemen fight from a donga.
The horns
The Zulu horns run wide. The right horn swings round behind Isandlwana itself to cut the road back to Natal; the left horn works round Durnford, who falls back out of ammunition.
The line gives way
The line pulls back towards the camp. The chest rises and charges, and it is hand to hand among the tents: bayonets against the short stabbing spear. An eclipse of the sun darkens the field.
Isandlwana
Some 1,300 of the men in the camp are killed, and with them the 24th's colours; perhaps 1,000 Zulu die. That night the Zulu reserve attacks the mission station at Rorke's Drift and is held off. Britain sends more troops, and in July the Zulu kingdom falls.
Numbers after the usual counts; about half the men in the camp were African troops of the Natal Native Contingent. The Zulu army is drawn in its classic formation of chest, horns and loins.