The Battlefields
Between eSwatini and Lesotho are South Africa’s historic battlefields. the Zulus vs the Boers, the Boers vs the British, and the British vs the Zulus. But not necessarily in that order.
We first visited Isandlwana – the site of the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom on 22 January 1879. 20,000 Zulu warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of about 1,800 British, colonial and native troops with approximately 350 civilians. The Zulus had a vast disadvantage in weapons technology, but they greatly outnumbered the British and ultimately overwhelmed them, killing over 1,300 troops. The Zulu army suffered some from 1,000 to 3,000 casualties. It was quite chilling to walk around and read names on the various memorials. There was no equivalent for the Zulus, there being a recent sculpture instead.
Next was Rorke’s Drift, immortalised in the film Zulu! This battle took place immediately after Isandlwana. The successful British defence of the mission station of Rorke’s Drift, under the command of Lieutenants John Chard of the Royal Engineers and Gonville Bromhead, 24th Regiment of Foot began when a large contingent of Zulu warriors broke off from their main force during the final hour of the British defeat at the day-long Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, diverting 6 miles (9.7 km) to attack Rorke’s Drift later that day and continuing into the following day.
Just over 150 British and colonial troops defended the station against attacks by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The massive but piecemeal attacks by the Zulu on Rorke’s Drift came very close to defeating the much smaller garrison, but were consistently repelled. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded among the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours.
Finally we visited Blood River. This river is so named after the battle in which Zulu King Dingane was defeated by Andries Pretorius and his men on 16 December 1838, when the water turned red from the blood of Zulu men who died there en masse. It was a fight with 464 Boers and over 10,000 Zulus. 64 bronze wagons represent the corral formation used by the Boers. There are two sides to every story though, so we also visited the Zulu museum, where the battle is known as the Battle of Ncome River, rather than Blood River.
Thank you to Wikipedia!
