The Battle of Isandlwana: From above

This is Issanguana Mountain in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, on January 22, 1879. This was the scene of one of the worst defeats ever suffered by the British Army during its long era of colonial wars, but what happened in the video today we will explore it. The topography is Antoine and I will give you an overview of one of the most famous

battle

s in British history so you know that I have made numerous videos about the

battle

before so for a full understanding of the events try watching this video on Together with my others, you can also download my book about the battle for free via redcoathistory.com, which will fill any gaps or questions you have early on the morning of January 11, 1879.

Lord Chelmsford's central column crosses the river Buffalo here in Rorke. drift to begin the invasion of Zulu land forces under Chelmsford include the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 24th Infantry Regiment as well as the final battery of the 5th Brigade Royal Artillery there is a squadron of mounted infantry imperial the third regiment of the native native contingent and a number of other small mounted units composed mainly of locally recruited white settlers. It is a powerful force. One of the three invasion columns currently advancing towards Zulu lands. Mr. Chelmsford is the overall commander of the invasion forces, but he is here with the central column until recently. known as general frederick augustus thieziger but after the death of his father he became lord chelmsford and that is how I will refer to him from now on on the morning of the 12th the men of the column have their first major skirmish at the pass of A local chief named Sehayo came here by order of the great queen, only a small force of Zulus was a prison and the easy victory confirmed to the British commanders that this campaign would be a walk along the column advancing ever deeper into territory. zulu on monday 20 january they camped here in the shadow of isandwana mountain isankwana is a zulu word meaning it looks like a small hut and is apparently a reference to the second stomach of a cow.

These are some of the key features you need to know for the battle this is the mountain itself the camp was established here to the north is the neoni ridge or the nyoni heights and this is the talahani spur which will be important to our story to the east of the camp is The conical or hill copy this dry watercourse is known as nirgani donga. All of these features will be mentioned again and are important to the story, so one of the biggest talking points of the battle is that the British did not take serious defensive measures, they did not cut down the wagons as the Boers would have done.

In fact, I formed them into a defensive perimeter nor did they make sangers with rocks, an impregnable square of British firepower is a defense that can be formed in a moment, although technically one could argue that this was not Lord Chelmsford's responsibility, he ultimately instance must take the blame. By this mistake, as he had been micromanaging every aspect of the invasion thus far, to me shows that the British were overconfident and grossly underestimated their Zulu opponents. At four thirty in the morning on January 21, a strong reconnaissance patrol is sent to search for the Zulu army. This force is mainly composed of Zulu auxiliaries and is commanded by Commander Rupert Lonsdale.

At the end of the afternoon they discover a large Zulu force right here and confront them, they are forced to sleep and spend the night and lonsdale sends messengers to Lord Chelmsford hints that the main Zuluimpi has been discovered. It is the breakthrough Chelmsford has been desperately waiting for to lead the enemy into battle. He splits his forces and leaves the camp with most of the 2nd 24th, four of his six artillery pieces. The Imperial Mounted Infantry. In the Native Pioneer Company, Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pulane of the First 24th is now in charge of Isandlwana. His remaining force comprises five companies of the first company 24 g of the second 24 g that were left behind because two seven-pounder guns were on guard about one hundred mounted men and approximately 500 auxiliaries of the native native contingent, which number about fifteen hundred men in total at seven thirty in the morning shots are heard north of the camp the pickets have seen Zulu warriors in the area pulane orders the electronic company under the command of lieutenant charles kavaj to occupy the Talahani spur at approximately 10 am .

Colonel Durnford and his black mounted troops now arrive from Rorke's Drift. Technically, Durnford is Perlain's superior, but his is an independent command and his priority is to seek out and engage the Zulus he has no concern about defending. Issandrana himself wants to help Lord Chelmsford, who believes he has found the main Zulu impediment and quickly deploys his men to the north and east, so while this was happening, where was the Zulu impediment? The Zulu army, with home advantage, has used the terrain to skillfully maneuver unnoticed to within striking distance of the British camp. They have gathered around twenty thousand warriors.

Tough men trained from an early age in the use of their sharp assegai spears and cowhide shields. On the night of the 21st they camped here in the valley of Enguabani. It is a dead ground that left them invisible to the British pickets. Wednesday the 22nd is the day of the new moon. The dead moon, as the Zulus call it, due to their beliefs, is considered a fight. unfavorable data, therefore, his unsenguayo commander kamahole has decided to arrest him the warriors and attack the British the next day, but as we know no plan survives the first contact with the enemy and around 11:45 a.m.

A patrol of Durnford's men make a shocking discovery while rounding up cattle, they reach the top of the Anguabani rim. valley and see the entire Zulu army deployed in front of them the Zulus now have no choice but to attack, they quickly deploy in their traditional horns of the buffalo formation and begin to maneuver their right horn or right wing comprises the regiments nokenke the chest o the center includes elements of the ingobamakosi regiments the left horn also includes some men of ingo bamakorsi as well as the undie and uva regiments the loins or the reserve are mainly older men, including the king's own regiments the uttalwana in which they will not play an important role this battle but they will be adrift of rorke when the zulus begin to approach the camp the messengers rush back to tell pelane what is happening tira immediately sends captain william mostin's company f to the Tallahani spur where They join the Kawaii Men now it's just after noon and Durnford has gotten himself into serious trouble.

He has encountered the left horn as he turns south down the escarpment and begins to turn west toward the camp. Dunford's men fire and retreat, reluctantly giving ground as they realize the size of the enemy force shortly after, a rocket battery. under the command of major russell is surprised and invaded here at a place known as the notch is near the conical copy these men were actually under the command of durnford and he had left them behind now they are massacred the men on the Tallahani spur are now retreated Back to camp and a line of fire is formed facing north towards the heights of Neoni, the red clad British infantry are few in number to the left of the line is the captain, the young husbands, company c together to them is Maustin and Kavya's companies, the next would have been the company commanded by lieutenant porteous the two guns of the royal artillery and the company of captain wardell on the far right are those men of company g of the second battalion who are Under the command of Lieutenant Charlie Pope each company has a lot of ground to cover and there is at least a meter of distance between each soldier from shoulder to shoulder the image we have is not clear if the Zulu auxiliary is fighting for the British are in the line of fire given their lack of rifles they may have been placed behind the redcoats the Zulus Chest is now advancing up the escarpment and the battle is in full swing on the British right flank.

Durnford and his men have deployed along this donga, the Niagara Nidonga. They are holding the Zulu left horn at bay with intense rifle fire among the left horn men. It is the Vee regiment, they are the youngest in the Zulu army and they are suffering greatly at this point, the British still feel they are in control of the battle, their artillery is firing and the Zulu chest is pinned down and cannot advance much. far away, but shortly after 1:00 p.m. m. and Durnford's men are in trouble again because the Zulu left horn is beginning to outflank them and his men are low on ammunition feeling they have no choice.

Durnford orders his troops to withdraw. This is the turning point of the battle. Those redcoats in the line of fire are now in grave danger. Charlie Pope's company here at the place known as Rocky Ridge is quickly wiped out as he tries to retreat back to camp with perfect timing. The Zulu chest now makes a bold charge. I have been inspired by the words of a chief named Unkozana. Unfortunately, he is killed immediately, but his men catch up with the retreating redcoats and the battle descends into a brutal hand-to-hand fight between two groups of equally brave warriors who stab, shoot, punch and bludgeon the survivors. back to camp but there is no safety for the redcoats he probably died fighting alongside his men it is unlikely that he was stabbed to death in his tent like he does in the film Zulu Dawn Durnford leads one last battle here and dies in the process everyone these white cairns mark the mass graves of the British soldiers captain company of young husbands fight defending the mountain until they run out of ammunition the survivors turn to each other shake hands fix their bayonets and charge the Zulus die like true warriors now It is around two thirty in the afternoon the serious fighting is over the Zulus have won the battle the Sutu are shouting they have overwhelmed the casualties are horrible over 1300 British and their allies are dead only a handful of them escape the massacre We can't say for sure how many Zulu there are but it is also likely that there are around a thousand men with perhaps twice as many wounded with such a limited manpower pool, it is highly unlikely that the Zulu nation will be able to recover from this victory, well, I hope you guys enjoyed it, it's a very brief description of the battle and as I said at the beginning you can find out more by downloading my book for free at redcohistory.com.

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