Battle of Isandlwana
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||
| Battle of Isandlwana | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conflict | Zulu War | ||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 22, 1879 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place | Isandlwana, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||
| Result | Pyrrhic Zulu victory | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
The Battle of Isandlwana was a battle in the Zulu War in which a Zulu army wiped out a British force on January 22, 1879. The British were commanded by Frederick Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford.
| Contents |
Overview
The British presented an ultimatum on December 11th, 1878 to the Zulu king Cetshwayo. Cetshwayo did not accede, which led the British to declare war. Chelmsford moved his troops from where they were stationed in Pietermaritzburg to a forward camp at Helpmekaar, past Greytown. On January 9th, 1879 they moved to Rorke's Drift, and early on January 11th commenced crossing the Buffalo River into Zululand.
The British pitched camp at Isandlwana, but because of the size of the force (precluding a laager, or circling of the wagons), the hard ground, and lack of entrenching tools, did not fortify the camp. The British relied instead on their superior weapons and organization. Though the British posted lookout pickets, these did not have a full field of view so the British sent out reconnaissance parties as well. Although these parties skirmished with some Zulus and confiscated cattle, they did not discover the full magnitude of the Zulu force, which consisted of numerous impis (regiments).
The British army consisted of mounted regiments, infantry, and the Natal Native Contingent of local African auxiliaries. The support columns — oxen pulling wagon trains that needed prepared roads in order to progress — caused much delay.
Once he had established the camp at Isandlwana, Chelmsford divided his army and set out to find the Zulus. He left the 1st battalion of the 24th Regiment of Foot (later the South Wales Borderers) behind to guard the camp, under the command of Colonel Henry Pulleine. Pulleine was an administrator and had no experience of front line command on a campaign. Around 10:30 Colonel Anthony Durnford arrived from Rorke's Drift with 5 troops of the Natal Native horse. This put the issue of command to the fore because Durnford was senior and by tradition would have assumed command. However he does not seemed to have over-ruled Pulleine's dispositions and after lunch he moved off with his mounted troopers to reconnoitre in front of the British positions leaving Puelleine in command. When the attack started he retreated to the right of the British position and fought the battle on the right wing. At no time did Durnford take command of the main British position during the battle.
The fight
While Chelmsford was in the field seeking them, the entire Zulu army attacked the British camp. Pulleine's 1,400 soldiers fought the Zulus, but were totally overwhelmed. The Zulus took no prisoners and killed any they could including Pulleine and Durnford. Approximately 60 British regulars escaped none of whom were wearing red coats - Cetshwayo had specifically ordered his men to kill all the men wearing the red coats. One of the survivors was Lieutenant Horace Smith-Dorrien, who commanded the British II Corps in Flanders more than 35 years later during the First World War.
The traditional view [1] (http://www.richthofen.com/smith-dorrien/dorrien01a.htm) is that the British had difficulty unpacking their ammunition fast enough, causing a lull in the defense and a subsequent rout. Modern researchers [2] (http://www.rapidttp.com/milhist/vol044gc.html) are of the opinion that South Wales Borderers retreated, and that the fleet-footed Zulu took advantage. Other recent research indicates that the British skirmish line was too long; instead of standing shoulder to shoulder, the British soldiers were separated from each other by a few metres.
Either way, the Natal Native Contingent broke, and led the flight to Fugitive's Drift. After the battle, the Zulus, as was their tradition, ripped open the dead bodies of their casualties and the enemies to free the spirits.
Chelmsford who was by now about 11km away had two indications that the camp was being attacked, but due to the hilly terrain had a poor view of the theatre of action. Unable to see anything amiss he apparently discounted both reports. One of the standard orders for the British when attacked in camp was to loosen the guy ropes on the tents so that soldiers would not get tangled up in them. This was not done and the upright tents were visible in the field glasses of the young officers with Chelmsford. Chelmsford took this to be an indication that the camp was not under attack and that the shots which could be heard in the distance was firing practice. Even when the Zulu main attack started it was assumed that the Zulu impi which could be seen chasing Durnford cavalry was the native contingent being drilled. Chelmsford returned on the night of January 22nd, and his troops were forced to bivouac amongst the battle dead. The troops also could hear the sounds of battle at Rorke's Drift.
Results
Isandlwana was a Pyrrhic victory for the Zulus. The Zulus lost around three thousand men, plus a comparable number of wounded. This amounted to the death of 10% of all Zulu males, young or old, wedded or unwed. Such losses were clearly catastrophic. King Cetshwayo likened the battle to a spear-thrust to the belly of the Zulu people. From a morale perspective, this was made even worse by the victory of a small handful of British over hundreds or thousands of Zulus at Rorke's Drift. Cetshwayo, his generals, and his people now had to contemplate the coming war with an Empire so vast and powerful that a single company held up thousands of enemy troops, and that defeating the weakest third of a single army had gutted the entire Zulu population.
See also
A film version of this battle is Zulu Dawn.
External links
- The South African Military History Society Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift (http://www.rapidttp.com/milhist/vol044gc.html)
- Personal account of the battle (http://www.richthofen.com/smith-dorrien/dorrien01a.htm)
- Zulunet description of the battle (http://www.zulunet.co.za/izl/isandlwana.htm)
- List of British officers killed during the Zulu war (http://sirius.sgic.fi/~juha/zulu.htm)
- Military History Online (http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/19thcentury/rorkesdrift/dayoneprep.aspx)eo:Batalo de Isandhlwana