The Battlefields - Legends of the Zulu Kingdom

Siege Salute

zoom One of the two Howitzers that served Ladysmith with distinction during the 118 day siege, stands proudly in front of the Ladysmith Town Hall.

The Siege Salute has a high concentration of historical sites encompassing Anglo Boer War and several Voortrekker- Zulu War sites. The major towns along the way are Ladysmith, Colenso, Escourt and Winterton, at Dundee it merges with Red Soldier’s March.

The now quiet grasslands belie a turbulent past. Famous figures such as Gandhi, Churchill and Louis Botha traversed the countryside and left their indelible footprints in the African soil.

You can begin this unique experience at any point along the route. In the west the Ukhahlamba Drakensburg World Heritage Site forms a dramatic backdrop to the theatre of war in its foothills. The Siege Salute overflows with beautiful landscapes, wildlife, birdlife and adventures. The area was first inhabited by the Bushmen people who were driven away by the rising Zulu nation (pre-1800). The arrival of the white settlers, the Voortrekkers (1836) announced the dawn of a new age followed shortly by British. The Anglo Boer War had a profound effect on almost every aspect of development in South Africa. No visitor is left untouched by the macabre facts of war.

No visit to the KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields would be complete without a visit to the famous Siege Museum. Winston Churchill’s historic reference to the town, “famous unto the uttermost ends of the earth”, though perhaps exaggerated, nevertheless, expresses the emotions of the British trying to relieve Ladysmith.

zoom One of the memorials on the site of the futile battle of Spioenkop.

Battlefields Routes Index

zoom Monument to the South Lancashire Regiment on the site of the Battle of Spioenkop.

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