Surgeon James Henry Reynolds and the Defence of Rorke's Drift, January 1879

by Dr David Murphy

The immediate origin of the Zulu War of 1879 was Britain's desire to break the power of the Zulu king, Cetshwayo, who had an army of over 40,000 warriors. In late 1878 Sir Henry Bartle Frere, the British High Commissioner in South Africa, delivered a series of ultimatums to Cetshwayo which he knew would be unacceptable. Among other things Frere demanded that a British Resident be installed in Zululand to administer what essentially would have been a protectorate. The deadline for some form of reply to these demands was 31st December 1878 and, when no such reply was forthcoming, a state of war was assumed to exist. On 11th January, a force of 5,200 British and 8,200 native troops crossed into Zululand under the command of Lord Chelmsford with the intention of attacking the royal kraal at Ulundi. On the 22nd January 1879 the British camp at Isandlwana was attacked by a Zulu impi of some 20,000 men. A force of 1,700 men, both British infantry and Natal Native Contingent, had some initial success in holding back the Zulu army. As ammunition grew short all over the camp, positions were overrun and over 1,300 of the defenders were killed, the worst ever defeat inflicted by a native army on European troops. Most of the survivors were men of the Natal Native Contingent. There were less than sixty white survivors.

Fierce and Terrible Fighting

by Liam Dodd