The battle of iSandlwana - what legends are made of
On 22 January 1879, exactly 139 years ago this week, some 20 000 warriors of Zulu King Cetshwayo kaMpande encircled 1 774 British invaders and killed 1 329 of them within two hours of fierce hand-to-hand combat.
More than 470 of the dead were blacks who sided with the British.
Most of the dead had been disemboweled. The Zulu army lost some 1 000 men. Some 60 British soldiers on horseback survived the greatest massacre in Victorian military history.
iNkosi Ntshingwayo kaMahola and iNkosi Mavumengwana kaNdlela led the attack from the Ngwebeni valley about 12km north-east of the British camp at iSandlwana hill.
The complacent British commander, Lt Gen Sir FA Chelmsford, failed to form a defensive ‘laager’ to protect his troops.
He ignored the advice given to him by President Paul Kruger in Pietermaritzburg.
The vast number of Zulu succeeded in encircling the British troops using the classical bull’s horn formation of two flanks, with the chest in the centre.
The British were armed with mounted infantry using sophisticated MartiniHenry rifles and seven pound shell-firing guns.
There was an ample supply of ammunition – some 500 000 rounds (the story of ammunition boxes that could not be opened as a result of six screws and the lack of screw-drivers seems to be a myth. A single blow with a rifle butt could dislodge the single brass screw).
The Zulu were armed with short stabbing spears, throwing spears, knobkieries, shields, a few hundred muskets, a number of shotguns plus a few hundred modern breech-loading rifles.
It is a myth that the Zulu fought with traditional weapons only.
King Cetshwayo kaMpande had more than 40 000 warriors under his command.
They had strict orders to kill the invaders to prevent the destruction of the Zulu Kingdom.
Medicine men
The medicine men (iziNyanga) played an important part in the success of the warriors by treating the wounded and by using psychological and chemical methods.
The psychological part lay in numerous ancient rituals, dances, war cries and the motivation of the warriors.
The chemical part lay in the preparation and distribution of chemical substances to the warriors, such as special cannabis snuff and the toxic hallucinatory drug ‘red mushroom’ snuff.
A special group of Zulu suicide warriors volunteered to get behind the British lines despite the overwhelming odds against them and with the full knowledge that they would be killed.
The hallucinatory properties of the potent snuff lasted for more than an hour.
The drug completely changed the perception of the warriors, and gave the ‘kamikazi’ warrior a feeling of absolute detachment with total focus on one goal - kill the enemy.
These warriors felt completely invincible against the fierce rifle fire and actually succeeded in finding gaps in the extended British line of fire.
The Martini-Henry Mark Two rifle was the pride of the British Army.
It had a range of more than one kilometre and fired 0,45 caliber bullets at a speed of ten rounds per minute.
As a matter of fact, an approaching Zulu warrior in full battle gear remained in the deadly range of a rifle bullet for more than ten minutes.
Ironically for the British troops, the Martini-Henry rifle became their weakest link during this battle on account of frequent jamming.
The rifle has a tendency to heat up to about 50 degrees Celsius after firing some 20 shots in quick succession.
The black propelling powder would then form a solid coating inside the hot barrel, making it impossible to eject the soft brass cartridge.
The soldier had no option but to extricate the jammed cartridge with the sharp end of his bayonet.
The long time interval gave the Zulu impi sufficient time to penetrate the weakest link in the extended line of troops.
The British troops were encircled and wiped out.
For many years the British media and historians projected the Battle of iSandlwana as a British disaster suffered by gallant imperial soldiers.
In fact this battle was a massive victory for King Cetshwayo and his impi.
They brilliantly defended their land against British imperialism - and won.
The Zulu victory at the battle of iSandlwana (1879)