The defenders of Rorke’s Drift were frantically strengthening their defenses knowing that they were soon to be attacked by a superior force of Zulu Warriors. They already knew that British and colonial troops had been slaughtered to a man in the killing fields of Isandlwana by the Zulu army the day before. Some 1300 men now lay dead and disemboweled. For them, like the others it would be a fight to the death.
Here are just a few pictures of mine taken last September and two illustrations which help to explain the battle of Isandlwana.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Interesting blog. I read about this many years ago in ‘Washing of the Spears’.
Hi Tom,
Thank you. The outcome as every one knows was different at Rorke’s Drift. Isandlawana is an eerily sad place. The cairns that mark where the defenders fell are all over the place. Chelmsford didn’t go back until May that year to bury the dead. It must have been a horrendous site to view then.
Hi toc
I was writing up my own post on Isandwlana but sort of gave up as I had not done all my research on the subject when I saw your post.
Several points.
1.’slaughtered to a man’ seems to be incorrect according to most sources. 55 Europeans and about 350 native auxiliaries appear to have survived, mostly by nipping off back over the Buffalo river at the earliest opportunity when the Zulus swarmed over that ridge to the north-west.
2.As late as 11th December 1878, Hicks-Beach, the Colonial Secretary wrote to Bartle-Frere saying ‘….As you will see from my dispatch, we entirely deprecate the idea of entering on a Zulu war in order to settle the Zulu question.’ The British government did not want a war in SA at that time because they were fully engaged qith matters Balkan.
3.Bartle-Frere was impelled to war because, inter alia, he wanted to be the man responsible for federating SA and Chelmsford was convinced that it would be a walk in the veldt because he had sorted out the Kaffirs in short order and because he was sure that the Zulus would not stand up to the Martini-Henry rifle.
4.Bartle-Frere, Chelmsford and many others seem to have believed that the Zulus would overthrow the hated Cetshwayo and bring about a regime change as soon as the British liberators invaded Zululand.
5.Chelmsford was only about 12 miles away when Pulleine sent him a report at 8.05 am stating:- ‘Report just come in that the Zulus are advancing in force from the left front of the camp’. He chose to ignore that and then denied that he received any of the other messages from various sources telling him that the camp at Isandlwana was under attack. I personally feel that he might well have been a bit of a total shit.
6.Worst of all for me, Chelmsford arrived back at Isandlwana that evening but chose not to bury the bodies, pressing on to Rorke’s Drift instead. As you say, it took several months before said bodies were given a decent burial when the scumbag finally sent a column to carry out that task.
None of this alters the fact, of course, that I totally agree with you that it is an ‘eerily sad place’ which I found intensely moving when I visited it. Listening to our guide telling the tale of the battle and describing the many individual and selfless acts of heroism of officers and men, I could do nothing but marvel yet again at the spirit that our Victorian ancestors clearly had. Vacillating government, incompetent and even venal commanders but many magnificent men, both British and African, died that sad day
Morning Toc
Our Sunday Times carried a picture of a re-enactment of the battle with the following caption:-
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF: English soldiers and Zulu warriors fight it out during a re-enactment of the battle of Isandlwana, which took place on the conflict’s 132nd anniversary on Friday. President Jacob Zuma, who attended the battle’s site near Newcastle said that lessons from the engagement would help to win the battle against poverty. 1300 British soldiers and 1000 Zulus died in the battle.
Thought that you’d like to know that it is remembered here every year and this year even received a visit from our head of state!