The Zulu War 1879
The Zulu War 1879
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THE ANGLO-ZULU WAR
A dangerous mix of self-confidence and contempt for their foes infected many in the British Army during the Zulu War.
This misjudgement led to thousands of deaths - and an unsavoury, high-level cover-up
The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 remains one of the most dramatic in both British and southern African history, and
has been immortalised in at least two feature films, ZULU and ZULU DAWN.
In retrospect, the war was provoked by an unwarranted act of British aggression. The Zulu kingdom had first emerged
early in the nineteenth century, with its heartland lying along the eastern seaboard of southern Africa, north of modern Durban.
Within a few years, British adventurers were attracted to Zululand in search of trade and profit, and by the 1840s a British
colony - Natal - had sprung up on the southern borders of Zululand. By the 1870s, the British had begun to adopt a 'forward policy'
in the region, hoping to bring the various British colonies, Boer republics and independent African groups under common control,
with a view to implementing a policy of economic development.
The British High Commissioner in South Africa, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, believed that the robust and economically self-reliant
Zulu kingdom was a threat to this policy. In December 1878 he picked a quarrel with the Zulu king, Cetshwayo kaMpande, in the
belief that the Zulu army - armed primarily with shields and spears - would soon collapse in the face of British Imperial might.
The war began in January 1879. Three columns of British troops under the command of Lt. Gen. Lord Chelmsford invaded Zululand.
Almost immidiately, the war went badly wrong for the British.
On 22 January, the Centre Column, under Lord Chelmsford's personal command, was defeated at Isandlwana mountain.
In one of the worst disasters of the Colonial era, over 1300 British troops and their African allies were killed. In the aftermath
of Isandlwana, the Zulu reserves mounted a raid on the British border post at Rorke's Drift, which was held by just 145 men.
After ten hours of ferocious fighting, the Zulu were driven off. Eleven of the defenders of Rorke's Drift were awarded the
Victoria Cross. The British flanking columns also saw action that same day.
On the coast, the right flank column brushed aside Zulu resistence at the Nyezane river, before advancing to occupy the
deserted mission station at Eshowe. The left flank column was also involved in heavy skirmishing around the Hlobane mountain.
The British collapse at Isandlwana left the flanking columns exposed, however. The Zulus managed to cut Col. Pearson's
right-flank column off from the border, and Pearson's men were besieged for three months at Eshowe.
Only the left flank column remained operative.
The success at Isandlwana exhausted the Zulu army, however, and Cetshwayo was unable to mount a counter-offensive
into Natal. This gave Lord Chelmsford time to regroup. British troops were rushed to South Africa from around the Empire.
By the end of March the war was poised to enter a new phase. Lord Chelmsford assembled a column to march to
the relief of Eshowe, and directed the commander of the Left Flank Column - Sir Evelyn Wood - to make a diversionary attack.
Wood's men attacked a local Zulu stronghold - Hlobane mountain - on 28 March, but were surprised by the unexpected
arrival of the main Zulu army, and scattered. The following day, however, the Zulu attacked Wood's camp at Khambula, and
after several hours of heavy fighting, were driven off. Meanwhile Lord Chelmsford had crossed
into Zululand, marching towards Eshowe.
On 2nd April he broke through the Zulu cordon around Eshowe at kwaGingindlovu, and relieved Pearson's column.
The defeat of the Zulu king's forces in two actions, at either end of the country, and within days of each other, demoralised
the Zulu, and proved to be the turning point of the war. Lord Chelmsford reorganised his forces, and in late May was poised
to mount a new invasion of Zululand. This, too, began badly, when, on 1 June, the exiled Prince Imperial of France,
Louis Napoleon, who was serving with the British in an unofficial capacity, was killed in a skirmish.
Nevertheless, British troops continued to advance towards the Zulu capital, Ulundi, which they reached at the end of June.
On 4 July Chelmsford defeated the Zulu army in the last great battle of the war. Ulundi was put to the torch, and King Cetshwayo
fled. Chelmsford resigned after the victory at Ulundi, but it took several weeks for the British to suppress lingering resistence
in the outlying districts. King Cetshwayo was eventually captured and sent into exile at Cape Town. The British divided his
country up among thirteen pro-British chiefs - a deliberately divisive move which led to a decade of destructive civil war.
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Cetshwayo in Exile, 1879
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Campaign medal, South Africa 1877-9
Martinis and the Zulu-War
Mark I and II Infantry Rifles, and Cavalry Carbine MkI's would have been employed during the 1879 Anglo Zulu War.
The large, heavy .45 caliber bullets of the Martini-Henry inflicted horrific wounds on the attacking Zulus, and many who
limped off the battlefield with bullet wounds died an agonizing, painful, slow death. Considering bullet weight and velocity,
it is probable that many rounds fired from 200 yards or less went through one Zulu Warrior, and possibly onto a next,
severely wounding or killing him as well. In general, the Martini-Henry performed well during the Zulu Wars.
It is the contention of some that jams and cartridge feeding problems with the M-H were a contributing factor to the
defeat of the men at Isandlhawana. I personally feel this theory to be lacking in factual evidence. While the occasional
jam was a fact of life with black powder cartridge arms, the M-H performed extremely well if properly cared for.
The men who designed the M-H were not idiots, and would not have let a design flaw such as chronic
jamming go unnoticed. It was during the Boer War that it became obvious that the large caliber Martini was
obsolete. Facing small caliber magazine loading weapons, the Martini was clearly outclassed.
A First Day of Issue from the Republic of South Africa commemorating the 1879 Zulu-War.
Please click the Victoria Cross
to find out who won this award during the Zulu War of 1879
