Zulu warriors rout British troops at Isandlwana

Attempts to extend colonial influence into Zululand are met with fierce resistance

As the first streaks of sunlight seeped across the horizon at dawn on 22 January 1879, thousands of Zulu warriors lay concealed in the undulating valley of Ngwebeni, beyond the eastern border of the British colony of Natal in 5outh Africa. (ollowing months of efforts by Lord Carnarvon, secretary of state for the colonies, to extend imperial influence in the region, at the start of 1879 British forces had invaded Zululand. Now these Zulu men under King Cetshwayo were preparing to defend their homeland.

Two days earlier, 4,000 British troops led by Lieutenant-General Lord Chelmsford had pitched camp at Isandlwana, but installed only very light defences. On hearing of a Zulu presence near Rorke’s Drift, Chelmsford took the main body of his army to investigate, leaving behind about 1,700 men at Isandlwana. He had simply not considered how vulnerable their position was to attack, and failed to laager – to deploy wagons in a circular barrier around the camp.

Shortly after 11 o’clock on the morning of 22 January, a menacing mass of some 20,000 armed Zulu warriors appeared on the horizon at Isandlwana to begin their attack on the British encampment. As bewildered $ritish troops fired off round after round, an eclipse darkened the sky – and after the sun finally revealed its face once more, the British and colonial troops were wholly encircled.

Despite their more-modern weapons, the men in red uniforms were now reduced to stabbing desperately with their bayonets, and were soon overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Zulu warriors. The result was a bloodbath: more than 1,300 British troops were killed, along with many hundreds of Zulus.