In the evenings, the purple light warns of summer thunderstorms approaching & provides a sinister backdrop to its peak, while sudden rushes of wind ripple the long dry grasses at its foot.

In bad weather, it hangs, gray & mysterious, amidst the lowering clouds; a dark smudge apparently suspended somehow above the horizon. All in all, Isandlwana is the perfect place for such a terrible human drama as was played out below it on January 23, 1879.

Chelmsford had established camp on the lower slopes which was a good location, commanding views across the plains for miles. When he arrived reports were already reaching him that a great Zulu army was approaching & he felt secure about his left flank & front, but he was concerned about the right flank – a range of hills, Hlazakazi & Malakatha – which shut out his views in that direction.

Beyond these hills the country fell row upon row of steep gorges & undulating ridges & rightly he feared if the Zulu army moved into or up these unopposed, they might slip by & into Natal downstream of Rourke’s Drift.

On the 21st he dispatched most of his African auxiliaries & mounted men under this command to scour the hills & that night, at the very far end of the range overlooking spectacular Mangeni Falls, they ran into a strong Zulu force. Unable to determine either the size or strength of the Zulu’s, or their intensions, they sent word back to Chelmsford.

It reached him around 0200 on the morning of the 23rd & the intelligence seemed to point to everything he had thought, was coming to pass. The Zulus were attempting to slip by without a fight as they were exactly where he thought they would be. So he ordered half of his force to mount up & depart camp immediately supported by four artillery pieces, to catch the Zulu force at dawn before they broke their overnight camp, as they would be on lower ground & at the mercy of his men firing down from above. Chelmsford was determined to lead his men to destroy the Zulu army for once and all.

The main Zulu army however, was not that which his scouts had encountered. They had actually happened upon the retainers of local chiefs forces, making their way to join the main Zulu body which had effectively out maneuvered Lord Chelmsford’s forces.

Upon leaving camp, Chelmsford had divided his force in two. One was commanded by Brevet Colonel Durnford, who had arrived in a support column Chelmsford had ordered join him from their positions at Rourke’s Drift to the south. He was concerned to find that after Chelmsford departure, large numbers of Zulus had shown themselves, then as quickly, melted into the valleys to the left of the main camp – altogether the opposite direction from where Chelmsford was headed searching for them, so Durnford took his men and headed towards the iNyoni Heights. His column consisted of 500 men, almost entirely African auxiliaries, about half of them on horseback.

The troop of cavalry under the command of Lieutenants Raw & Roberts went high, while Durford stayed low in what was meant to catch the Zulus in a pincer movement & drive them away from both the camp & Lord Chelmsford’s forces. But the undulating heights meant that Durford could not see that Raw & Roberts were rapidly catching up on small groups of Zulus who then crested a stony rise known as Mabaso & then dropped out of sight below the ridge into an open valley of the Ngewebeni stream. Sitting in the bottom of that valley lay the entire Zulu army looking up in surprise.

The main army of Zulus had advanced slowly, from oNdini to Isandlwana – it had taken them four days to make 40 miles – & they had masked their approach behind Siphezi mountain, which marked the limit of the British visibility at Isandlawana. The army had lain in wait some 5 miles away from where Chelmsford had set camp, resting quietly & lighting no cooking fires.

The led regiment of Zulu at the foot of the heights – the uKhandempemvu - to a man rose up & rushed towards Raw’s men & their excitement infected the regiment alongside them. There was no time for the Zulu commanders to give instructions or for warriors to undergo last minute battle rituals necessary to ensure success – instead all their chief Ntshingwayo could do was hold back the regiments associated with the royal household & form them as a reserve force.

The army spilled out of the valley in somewhat a state of confusion but within a mile, their commanders had seized the initiative & deployed the mass of black Zulu warriors into the traditional ‘chest and horns’ fighting attack formation. Raw & Roberts fell back stopping briefly to have their small force fire restraining volleys, but the advance was relentless.

News of the impending attack had reached the encampment when riders of Roberts scouting troop galloped in with details of what was unfolding on the other side of Isandlwana out of sight of those guarding the base. There were perhaps 700 redcoat men in the line together, extended in an orderly formation a pace apart from one and other, crouching behind scant cover of the rock & boulder strewn lower slopes where their tents were pitched. As the retreating men from Durnford’s forces which by this time had formed up as one, came upon the line of British infantry, there were perhaps no less than 1300 men in all covering two miles of front protecting the camp, on which the Zulu army was descending, outnumbering them 10 : 1.

The first wave of Zulus attacked & went to ground in the face of intense firing, but they were so overwhelming in numbers the British lines soon began to collapse like sand against an oncoming tide. The left ‘horn’ of the Zulu force was quickly outflanking the retreating British & Durnford ordered his men to mount up & retreat. But the Zulu hordes descended & cut gaps in the lines thereby forcing the British into small pockets, cutting them off from one & other.

Little is known of Durnford’s fate nor that of individual officers. Durnford made a stand with the Natal volunteers who were trying to hold back the Zulu left ‘horn’; after the battle his body was found amongst a clump of corpses there. Roberts was overwhelmed in the saddle with the remains of the 24th Regiment, where a memorial stands today. Raw somehow escaped.

There had been 1700 men in camp & when the battle was over 1300 were dead & another 345 were mortally wounded and dying. To the Zulu, the shredding of so much blood demanded a gruesome purification ritual & they disemboweled the enemy dead to allow their spirits to fly with safe passage to the here after-life. Every warrior who had killed a British soldier had to wear some article of that soldiers clothing until they had undergone a cleansing. Perhaps a 1000 Zulu had perished & hundreds more would die in the days a weeks that followed as a result of bullet & shell fire wounds.

The Zulu who had fought, turned their attention to looting the camp, while the British who had made it out alive - 55 of them - fled through Fugitives Gap towards Rourke’s Drift. Fugitives Gap lies 5 miles of stony ground to the north east of Isandlwana. These men, some stumbling, others on precious horses, tried to make their way to Rourke’s Drift for safety & to warn the garrison there of the impending Zulu hordes attack after the battle at Isandlwana. On the fateful retreat, 38 were killed & in the midst of confusion, the Regimental colours – with all the Regiments honour attached to them & being carried by Lieutenant Melville - were lost in the river when he & a fellow officer he was attempting to rescue, were hacked to death by Zulus.

And what of Lord Chelmsford ?

He had arrived at Mangeni shortly after dawn to find that the Zulu force he sought had evaporated. He spent an exhaustive & exasperating day in skirmishes with small pockets of warriors in the hills towards the Siphezi mountain. Curious reports of something happening at Isandlwana throughout the day reached him, but the camp looked peaceful enough shimmering in the midday sun haze twelve miles distant & some trick of acoustics & a wind that blew from behind his force, prevented the sounds of battle reaching his command.

It was not until early afternoon he became convinced something had gone drastically wrong & by the time he had collected all of his command & ridden back to Isandlwana, it was dusk.

The sights that greeted him were appalling as men stumbled over hundreds of their comrades bodies strewn about the camp. Worse was to come as from the saddle, Chelmsford looked back into Natal to see the glow of a fire glimmering on the hill directly above Rourke’s Drift. Indeed, the Zulu’s had gotten behind him & now Rourke’s Drift & the post he had ordered the reserve column that was guarding it to leave, was under attack.

The battle of Rourke’s Drift January 23 , 1879

Rourke’s Drift was originally a Mission station situated at a point where pontoons had been erected to get supplies across the Buffalo River. At the time of the massacre at Isandlwana, it was serving as a supply station & field hospital for walking & bed ridden wounded.

Lieutenant John Rouse Merritt Chard had ridden from Rourke’s Drift to Isandlwana at 0800 on the morning of January 23rd , to confer with Lord Chelmsford. He arrived to find Chelmsford had left in the small hours of the morning to pursue what he expected was the main Zulu army camped overnight in the hills, beyond the Isandlwana base. He was briefed by Lt. Col Pulleine, the officer in charge of protecting the base camp & was advised that a group of Zulu was headed northwest across the Nqutu plateau, possibly threatening his route back to Rourke’s Drift, so with nothing to accomplish by remaining at Isandlwana, he set out to head back there, arriving around 1100hrs.

Immediately he instructed Major Henry Spalding to ride out to Helpmekaar to hasten the advance of the relief column expected latter that day at the Rourke’s Drift Mission station.

At 1430hrs, down where Lt Chard had a section of men repairing the pontoons that spanned the Buffalo River, two breathless horsemen of the Natal Native Contingent came racing in & reported the slaughter of the British at Isanadlwana. They did not stick around as one rode off to carry the news to the garrison at Helpmekaar 12 miles away to the west & the other, accompanied by Chard, headed to Rourke’s Drift to relay the news to the men there to commence barricading the Mission.

Shortly after, two squadrons of horsemen arrived from behind the Oskarberg, survivors of the fighting at Isandlwana. Chrad ordered them to take up positions at the river, to impede the oncoming Zulu, then, withdraw if things turned for the worse to the barracks at the Mission.

On his return to the Mission compound, Chard had begun the task of moving a large stack of mealie sacks, 200 lbs each, along with teak crates plus two overturned wagons to form a barricade at the south end of the complex as an extension of the southern wall.

After the detail had completed the moving of mealie sacks, Chard returned to the River & ordered his men to retire to barracks with the water wagon they had taken there to replenish water supplies. As they neared the barricades, the Natal Native Contingent were seen to be riding off, leaving their positions and galloping away. That proved all too much for Capt Stevenson’s squadron of horsemen who earlier had assisted in erecting the mealie sack barricade as to a man, including the officer himself, they too rode away & fled the impending Zulus arrival.

The effective strength of the garrison at this time had therefore been reduced from 450 to 125 men ( including 16 walking sick ) plus those in the infirmary hospital.

At 1630hrs, the Zulus spilled over the southwestern spur of the Oskarberg & from three sides, came on at a run towards Rourke’s Drift’s puny fortifications. The initial attack on the south wall faltered under a withering hail of gunfire from defenders so the main attack turned & hurled itself upon the west side & the hospital along the thinly held north wall.

By 1800hrs, with Zulu warrior bodies sprawled in the dirt, some still writhing from mortal bullet wounds, the defenders were forced to retreat inside the ýard’ while engaged in desperate hand to hand combat. They took up defensive positions in the ‘keep’ having taken four of the hospital patients with them as the Zulus had torched the thatch roof of the infirmary. With flames taking hold a mass evacuation of the hospital was required with all but one man being successfully removed. During this time, a number of men constructed a nest of mealie sacks some 8 feet tall. The sick & wounded were laid on a bed of the nest whilst 20 marksmen manned the rim.

Gunner Howard & Private Waters had escaped the inferno which had been the hospital & were to rejoin their unit the following day, having to hide in & amongst the Zulu dead the entire night.

At 2230hrs the Zulu attacked in full force, hundreds of them attempting to overwhelm the small garrison of defenders who’s ranks had dwindled as some had been killed. By now all the defenders were confined to the cattle kraal which marked the eastern edge of the defenses. Lt Chard led a’ do or die’ ferocious counter attack with bayonets, while others dragged the water cart into the kraal as all were desperately parched & in need of water.

By 0230hrs on the early morning of the 23rd, the Zulu resolve seemingly was weakening, certainly dented as several scores of dispirited warriors were seen to be slinking away leaving the battlefield. At 0430hrs the remaining Zulu warriors withdrew to a vantage point southwest of the Mission & Chard sent out a patrol to kill any Zulu wounded & recover their ammunition & weapons for his supplies had run perilously low.

Without fathomable reason, the Zulu commanders were heard to utter battle cries that recalled their warriors further up the hills & they were seen to reform their lines heading off & over the crest in the traditional Zulu shuffle or marching gait never to return.

The remnants of Chelmsford’s shattered column arrived at Rourke’s Drift Mission around 0800 to be heartily greeted by the 106 survivors of this historical battle won against all odds. There were 11 Victoria Crosses 76 Distinguished conduct Medals awarded for bravery after the battle of Rourke’s Drift – more than any ever awarded previously or since in one engagement by forces under British command. The recipients of the Victoria Crosses were Lt J.R.M Chard, the Mission surgeon J.H. Reynolds, two junior officers & 7 enlisted men. Of the 125 men & 12 hospitalized wounded that defended the Mission, 106 survived. For posterity, the battle of Rourke’s Drift has been re-enacted on the big screen in a dramatic 1964 motion picture - ‘ZULU’- which starred Michael Caine, Stanley Baker & Jack Hawkins.