Zulu: The True Story

Page 3 of 8

• 1. Introduction
• 2. An unnecessary war
• 3. Isandlwana
• 4. The cover-up
• 5. Rorke's Drift
• 6. Chelmsford's recall
• 7. Only one winner
• 8. Find out more
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Isandlwana

The war began on 11 January 1879, when the 5,000-strong main British column invaded Zululand at Rorke's Drift. It was commanded by the ambitious Lord Chelmsford, a favourite of the Queen, who had little respect for the fighting qualities of the Zulu. 'If I am called upon to conduct operations against them,' he wrote in July 1878, 'I shall strive to be in a position to show them how hopelessly inferior they are to us in fighting power, altho' numerically stronger.'

This dangerous mixture of self-confidence and contempt for their foes infected the whole British force. But their misjudgement came to rebound on them badly.

By 20 January - hampered by minor skirmishes and poor tracks - Chelmsford's column had only advanced 11 miles to the rocky lower slopes of a distinctive, sphinx-like hill called Isandlwana. There it set up camp. But at 4am on 22 January, Chelmsford made the first of a series of blunders by taking two-thirds of his force off to pursue what he believed was the main Zulu army.

He was convinced that the Zulus were gathering to the south-east, and so failed to reconnoitre adequately the broken ground to the north-east. There, lying in wait just five miles from the exposed camp at Isandlwana, were 20,000 Zulu warriors.

At around 8am, mounted vedettes reported large numbers of Zulus on the high ground to the left of the camp. Colonel Pulleine, in command at Isandlwana, dashed off a quick note to Chelmsford, reading: 'Report just come in that the Zulus are advancing in force from Left front of Camp.' Chelmsford read it shortly after 9.30am, and he returned it to his staff officer, Major Clery, without a word, and would not be deflected from his original plan.

'This dangerous mixture of self-confidence and contempt for their foes infected the whole British force. '

At 11am, by which time the 1,300 men remaining in the camp had been swelled by 450 reinforcements, mounted scouts stumbled upon the concealed Zulu impi. Realising they had been spotted, the Zulus rose as one and began their attack, using their traditional tactic of encirclement known as the izimpondo zankomo ('horns of the buffalo').

An hour later, as the hard-pressed British defenders fought for their lives, a portion of Chelmsford's force at Mangeni Falls received word that the camp was in danger of being overrun. On his own initiative a Colonel Harness gave orders for his small force of artillery and infantry to return to camp. But it had only progressed half a mile when a staff officer rode up with express orders from Chelmsford to resume its original march because the message was a false alarm. The last chance to save the camp had been thrown away.

By 3pm, despite severe losses, the Zulus had captured the camp. The culmination of Chelmsford's incompetence was a blood-soaked field littered with thousands of corpses. Of the original 1,750 defenders - 1,000 British and 750 black auxiliaries - 1,350 had been killed.

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