Horns of the Buffalo: Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa

June 16, 2024

Horns of the Buffalo: Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift, KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa

The ‘Scramble for Africa’ engaged in by European powers during the nineteenth century is, to say the least, an unedifying part of our history. World powers still like to flex their figurative muscles, of course, finding all sorts of ways to increase their hegemonies and outdo their rivals, and I suppose it was ever thus and ever will be. Perhaps we are all as bad as each other, simply passing the baton of dreadful behaviour around (or wrenching it from someone else’s determined grasp) as the centuries march on. Still, saying ‘everyone else is doing it, so why can’t we?’ and even making the case that ‘everyone else is doing it, so we have to, or we’ll be in trouble’ doesn’t really constitute moral vindication for such actions. Political reality is an unpleasant thing. Anyway, let’s return to history (since enduring imperialist urges and the attendant need to maintain a balance of power through whatever means are not things I can solve. Although I do appreciate the irony of such behaviour being a unifying factor across humanity). In the nineteenth century, Africa’s strategic importance and its mineral-rich landscapes made it prime territory for conquest during the struggle for dominance between European nations. In what is now South Africa, British expansionism led to the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879 and the later Boer Wars of 1880-81 and 1899-1902. By 1910, the Union of South Africa had been created, bringing together the former colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River under British control.

On 11^th December 1878, the British sent the Zulu king Cetshwayo an ultimatum containing terms to which it was obvious he neither could nor would agree (including disbanding of the Zulu army). It was a deliberate attempt to start a war, and on 11^th January 1879, British forces invaded Zululand. Eleven days later, on 22^nd January 1879, the Battle of Isandlwana took place. The British were massively outnumbered, as around 20,000 Zulus launched a surprise attack against 1,700 British troops. As you may know if you have seen the 1964 film Zulu, the Zulus used a highly effective encirclement technique known as the buffalo horns formation. Somewhere between 1,000 to 3,000 Zulu warriors lost their lives in the battle, but of the British troops, 1,300 of the 1,700 stationed at Isandlwana died that day. It was a shocking humiliation for a powerful empire whose hubristic representatives had fatally underestimated their enemy.

above: Isandlwana.

above and below: Explanation of Zulu battle tactics.

Some six miles (just under ten kilometres) from Isandlwana is Rorke’s Drift, located on what was at the time the border of British colony Natal and the Zulu Kingdom. In 1879, Rorke’s Drift’s mission station for the Church of Sweden was being used as a supply base by the British Army. The church had become a store and the minister’s house was transformed into a hospital. Most of the men stationed there at the time were of B Company, 2^nd battalion, 24^th (2^nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot, under the command of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead. Also present was a small detachment of No. 5 Field Company, commanded by Lieutenant John Chard. A few days before the battle, Chard’s Company had been dispatched to repair a bridge on the Buffalo River. All told, there were around 150 British troops at Rorke’s Drift on 22^nd January 1879.

above: Church at Rorke's Drift.

Leading the Zulu Undi Corps was Dabulamanzi KaMpande, half-brother to the Zulu king, Cetshwayo. It seems that his warriors had missed much of the action at Isandlwana and were eager to prove themselves. So it was that somewhere between 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors made for Rorke’s Drift, arriving at approximately 4:30pm on 22^nd January 1879.

Aware of the oncoming Zulu threat, the British officers at Rorke’s Drift decided that staying and putting up some kind of defence was a better option than flight across open country, especially with hospital patients in tow. Mealie bags, biscuit boxes and crates of tinned meat were deployed to construct a defensive wall.

above: Scene recreated at Rorke's Drift Museum.

above: Model of the Battle of Rorke's Drift.

The Zulu attack on Rorke’s Drift lasted for twelve hours, as warriors armed with short spears (assegai) and nguni shields assailed the improvised defences and outnumbered British forces. Some Zulus did have firearms, but these were often old and inefficient. Having set fire to the hospital building, the Zulus gained entry and attacked patients with spears. Surviving patients were rescued by being dragged to the yard and placed behind the makeshift barricade. Those who were wounded and could not fire weapons were required to reload and distribute ammunition for those who could.

above: The hospital building at Rorke's Drift. It should be noted these buildings have been rebuilt and this would have been thatched at the time of the battle.

above: Plan of the hospital building at Rorke's Drift.

By dawn, the attackers had gone, but around 7am, another Zulu impi (regiment) was seen, However, there was no further fighting. The Zulus were exhausted; many had not eaten properly for a couple of days, and they had lost approximately one in ten of their men in the battle. Spears were ineffective in a battle against fortified positions, and the Zulus had inadequate firearms which most were not properly trained to use. British reinforcements arrived later that morning, and the action was finally over. The British had lost seventeen soldiers to the fighting. According to British reports, they buried 351 Zulus. It may be that at least 500 Zulus were wounded, and some of these may have been put to death by the British.

In the aftermath of Rorke’s Drift, eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, the highest number ever for a single action. It was seen as a propaganda coup for the British, masking the humiliation of Isandlwana. Unfortunately for the Zulus, these events increased the determination of the British to invade Zululand and crush Cetshwayo’s power. In July 1879, the Zulu army was decisively defeated and Zululand was carved up into compliant chiefdoms: the classic divide and conquer strategy.

I think it is important to recognise the immense bravery of the individual British soldiers who defended Rorke’s Drift against a formidable enemy who enormously outnumbered them. I think it’s possible to do that without condoning the background of the conflict, which personally I think is quite reprehensible, and cannot be seen from a modern perspective as anything other than a deliberate act of conquest by the British. It can hardly be said that whilst the British at Rorke’s Drift were courageous, the Zulus were cowards. They were tough, well-trained warriors, who effected brilliantly simple military strategy to outflank an arrogant and overconfident enemy at Isandlwana. It’s also worth considering that many Zulus regarded firearms as cowardly, since they enabled killing from a distance without waiting for an attack.

I visited Rorke’s Drift and Isandlwana a few years ago, and was fortunate to have a Zulu guide there who explained the sequence of events in much more detail than I have here, and whose knowledge of dates and subsequent individual histories was astonishing. I wish I could remember (if indeed I ever found out) his name. I share here some of the photographs I took that day at both locations, and at the Rorke’s Drift Museum. It’s an important piece of history to commemorate, for the bravery of the men on both sides, and as a reminder of the human cost of empire building.