The Battlefields - Legends of the Zulu Kingdom

The History of the KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields area: Leopard-Skin, Khaki and Redcoat

Spear of the Nation

Between his coronation in 1816 and assassination a mere 12 years later, King Shaka and his awe-inspiring regiments sallied forth across the length and breadth of modern-day KwaZulu-Natal, trampling and dispossessing all rival tribes in their path with the innovative weaponry and battle-strategies born of the king's military genius. Gone were the throwing-spear and small shield of his forefathers - standard issue during three centuries of inter- clan warfare - replaced by the stabbing- spear and full-length body-shield designed to facilitate Shaka's lethal new concept - encircling his enemy with a horn-shaped pincer movement and engaging in highly-effective hand-to- hand combat.

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Cannibals and Colonists

Many who fled before the all-conquering Zulu impis took refuge in numerous caves dotted amongst the scenic, undulating terrain southeast of Dundee .Without livestock or the leisure to plant crops, however, hunger soon drove these 'scatterlings' to desperate, grisly means of survival in the so- called Valley of the Cannibals.

During this consolidation of his Zulu empire, King Shaka established a working relationship with the predominantly British colonists and adventurers who by now regularly dropped anchor off Port Natal. This situation was to change drastically at the hands of Shaka's co-assassin and successor - his half-brother Dingane.

The Great Trek (1836 - 1852)

Seven years into Dingane's reign - but a thousand kilometres south in the Cape Colony - the Boer people were about to embark on an exodus of biblical proportions from perceived tyranny at the hands of the British. Three decades of entrenched Colonial dominion saw the Boer - who by now were also known as the Afrikaaner - accumulate yet another descriptive epithet. They were about to become 'Voortrekkers'... a nation 'going forth' to seek political self-determination and survival of their cultural identity and language.The tall ships of their predecessors' emigration from Europe would be replaced by the most-enduring outer symbol of Afrikaanerdom - the covered ox-wagon.

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Betrayal and Revenge

Of several wagon trains to embark on the arduous journey into an unknown hinterland, the group led by Piet Retief entered the Kingdom of the Zulu in 1837, and immediately began negotiating with Dingane for land to establish an independent Boer territory. On 6 February 1838 - the day scheduled to finalise their agreement - King Dingane had Piet Retief and 101 Voortrekkers put to death at his royal settlement near Ulundi . Dingane's impis then massacred other groups of would-be settlers camped in the vicinity of Estcourt . The survivors eventually regrouped and abandoned the site still referred to as Weenen - their 'Place of Weeping'. They headed inland... intent on revenge.

River of Blood

Within nine months the Voortrekkers believed themselves capable of defeating Dingane's Zulu hordes, and at Wasbank on 9 December 1838, vowed to sanctify that date and build a church... should God grant them victory over their enemy.

Exactly one week later - along the banks of a river near Dundee known to the Zulu as 'Peaceful One' - a 15 000- strong impi attacked the 460 Voortrekkers... and experienced the first failure of their Shaka-devised battle strategies.Traditional weapons, ox-horn formation and unquestioning bravery proved no match for the flintlocks, field artillery and mounted marksmen of the Boer's own unique tactics... and the ensuing carnage remains known as 'The Battle of Blood River'.

King Dingane fled northwards, only to be assassinated in a forest on the edge of Swaziland... while the Voortrekkers built their Church of the Vow three years later in a more secure Pietermaritzburg, and religiously maintain their Day of the Vow.

Peace and Murder

While the enthronement in 1840 of King Mpande served to normalise relations between Zulu and Afrikaaner - and maintain a cordial Zulu-British atmosphere - his son and heir-apparent harboured dreams that would impact on Colonial authorities firmly ensconced south of the Thukela River.Prince Cetshwayo ascended to the throne in 1872, but unlike the Shakan era, his expansionist campaign included the harassment - and murder - of pioneer farmers.Six years of resulting British dissatisfaction led to The Ultimatum - a boundary award and list of demands presented to the Zulu on 11 December 1878, near the mouth of the Thukela River, by representatives of the High Commissioner of Natal, Sir Bartle Frere. When King Cetshwayo failed to respond by the prescribed deadline - New Year's Eve 1878 - his silence was interpreted as defiance... and the British authorities declared war.

Anglo-Zulu War 1879

Having anticipated the Zulu attitude, Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford immediately launched a two-pronged assault, and ready-assembled British columns invaded Zululand from the southeast coastal belt and inland from the vicinity of Dundee... while Redcoats garrisoned in the northwest mountains around Utrecht were given a 'watching brief'. The Central Column was the first to engage Cetshwayo's army, but Chelmsford had grossly underestimated his foe... with results that took Fleet Street editors completely off guard and shook the Empire to its core.

22 January 1879

Unexpectedly employing diversionary tactics, an estimated 15 000 Zulu warriors surprised and successfully split the British force at Isandlwana, near Nquthu, and in a two-hour engagement killed all but 74 of the 1 500-strong invading troop. The Queen's Colour was finally lost a short distance away at Fugitives Drift... but only after a valiant rear- guard action by survivors of the carnage who were pursued across the Buffalo River. Lieutenants Coghill and Melville were immortalised for their bravery.

Within hours and a mere 15 kilometres due west of Isandlwana, some 4 000 Zulu attacked the Swedish mission station at Rorke's Drift used by the British as a magazine and field hospital. Here, the 'Heroic Hundred' earned 11 Victoria Crosses - the most ever awarded for a single engagement - while holding the impi at bay for 12 hours. When the Zulu finally retreated they left behind 500 dead - to the 17 British fatalities.
The regiments invading from the eastern seaboard were also set upon that day, ambushed by 5 000 warriors lying concealed among bushes and gullies. Although their casualty list was high, the 4 000-plus British repelled wave after wave until late afternoon when the Zulu withdrew... allowing the column to continue its march.

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Siege and Rescue

Led by Colonel Pearson and without further incident, these invaders from the coast reached Eshowe the following day, but did not immediately press on towards the Zulu capital of Ulundi as originally planned. And when news of the disaster at Isandlwana reached Pearson a week later, he decided to attempt no further advance whatsoever. This, in turn, compelled Zulu commanders in the southeast to resort to a new strategy. They laid siege to the British settlement, blocking communication and supply routes for more than two months, until Eshowe was finally relieved after the Battle of Gingingdlovu.

Northern Exposure

Unlike the Coastal and Central columns, the troops under Captain Moriarty who filed out of the mountainous northwest encountered no enemy action until the second week of March... when they were outnumbered and almost annihilated at Ntombe Drift in the vicinity of Paulpietersburg. Surprisingly, the superior-numbered Zulu force withdrew, allowing the British to consolidate... only to be defeated a fortnight later on the slopes of Hlobane Mountain near Vryheid.

Buoyed by this victory, King Cetshwayo's army sought to press home their perceived advantage... but it was the Zulu's turn to underestimate their foe.

Pivotal Victory

Early afternoon on the day after Hlobane, an estimated 25 000 warriors launched themselves against a fortified British position at nearby Kambula. They were repelled again and again... eventually taking flight and pursued on horseback until nightfall. Although this crushing defeat proved to be the turning point of the Anglo-Zulu War, Lord Chelmsford adopted a less cavalier approach and called for reinforcements.

Death of a Dynasty

Among newcomers to the front was the great-nephew of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, Prince Louis Napoleon, who had personally begged Queen Victoria's permission to accompany the fresh troops. Exiled to England in 1870, Prince Louis was legally barred from receiving a commission in the British Army, but allowed to join Chelmsford as an extra aide-de-camp. Any hopes of resurrecting a Napoleonic dynasty in France died on the first day of June, 1879, when the Prince succumbed to 17 assegai thrusts while on patrol with a scouting party.

The Final March

Many similar skirmishes punctuated Lord Chelmsford's determined efforts to converge on the Zulu kingdom's Royal Seat. Soon after the formerly-beseiged Coastal Column passed through Melmoth, the full might of Britain's war effort was concentrated alongside the Umfolozi River... a stone's throw from the Zulu capital of Ulundi. Here, on 4 July 1879, the British dealt their enemy the death-blow... routing the Zulu army for the last time, capturing Cetshwayo and tearing his realm asunder.

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A Short Peace for the British

While the Redcoats and impis were shedding blood on Zulu soil, anti- British sentiment was simmering north of the Vaal River, where in 1877 Voortrekkers had watched with deep resentment the annexation of their self- proclaimed Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek by agents of the Crown. Three years of negotiation repeatedly failed, and within 18 months, British veterans of the triumphant Zulu campaign once again found themselves on war footing.

History continued...

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