On 22 January 1879 a Zulu army of about 20,000 warriors attacked the British camp below the hill of Isandlwana in Zululand, in what is now KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The camp had been left with only part of the invading column, and within a few hours it was overrun. More than 1,300 men of the British force were killed. The National Army Museum calls it the Zulus' greatest victory of the war and a humiliating defeat for the British Army.
The invasion of Zululand
According to the National Army Museum, Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford invaded the Zulu kingdom of King Cetshwayo in January 1879 after the king refused British demands, which included disbanding his army. Chelmsford split his force into three columns. The center column, which he accompanied himself, crossed the Buffalo River at Rorke's Drift and pitched a temporary camp at the foot of Isandlwana.1
The camp was not entrenched and no wagon laager was formed. Early on 22 January Chelmsford rode out with about half of his men to look for the main Zulu army, having underestimated how fast it could move. He left Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Pulleine in command of the camp; Colonel Anthony Durnford, who was senior to him, arrived later that morning with more troops.2
The attack
The main Zulu army, commanded by Ntshingwayo kaMahole and Mavumengwana, was in fact hidden close by in a valley. Estimates of its strength run from about 20,000, the figure given by the National Army Museum, to 25,000, the upper figure given by the Talana Museum. Just after midday it attacked the camp.3
The British firing line, built around companies of the 24th Regiment of Foot, was too extended to hold. The National Army Museum adds that it stood too far from its ammunition, and the Talana Museum states that the ammunition in the camp gave out. A solar eclipse also darkened the sky during the battle; the Talana Museum places it just before noon, BritishBattles.com at about 2:29 p.m.. Organized resistance ended by about 2 p.m., and survivors fled toward the swollen Buffalo River.4
The cost
The Talana Museum gives the British dead as 52 officers and 1,277 men. BritishBattles.com, a private history site, also puts the total at more than 1,300, and counts 471 Africans who fought on the British side among them. The National Army Museum puts the force in the camp at about 1,700 men, most of whom were killed; EBSCO gives 1,800. Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill of the 24th tried to carry the regiment's Queen's Color to safety and were killed after crossing the Buffalo; the flag was recovered from the river some weeks later.5
Zulu losses are less certain. The Talana Museum gives more than 1,000 dead. An article in the Military History Journal of the South African Military History Society says the exact number is not known but calls a figure in excess of 3,000 accepted, and EBSCO gives an estimate of more than 2,000 killed outright and another 2,000 mortally wounded. The story is told in full in our article on the Battle of Isandlwana.6
Rorke's Drift and after
That same afternoon a Zulu force of about 4,000 warriors crossed the river and attacked the mission station at Rorke's Drift, held by about 150 soldiers, mostly of the 24th. After more than twelve hours of fighting it was beaten off. The National Army Museum notes that eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded for the defense, and in popular memory Rorke's Drift soon overshadowed the disaster that preceded it.7
Isandlwana ended the first British invasion. Chelmsford withdrew, and at the end of May 1879 he invaded again with a much reinforced army. According to the National Army Museum, the second campaign ended with the defeat of the Zulu army at Ulundi, the capture of Cetshwayo and the break-up of his kingdom. Isandlwana also features in our list of famous last stands.8
Also on this day
- 1944: Battle of Anzio. Allied troops landed at Anzio and Nettuno to outflank German defenses south of Rome and open the way to the capital, in Italy during World War II.
