History of the Zulu War

by Alexander Wilmot

Cetywayo's peace offers.

In the beginning of July Lord Chelmsford's column was within ten miles of the king's kraal at Ulundi. Messengers again arrived from Cetywayo, and on this occasion they brought the sword of the Prince Imperial as a peace offering. The amanuensis of Cetywayo was a Dutchman, named Vogel, who took the opportunity of marking in pencil on the envelope of the letter, that the king had 20,000 men with him. The reply of Lord Chelmsford was as follows:—"If the induna, Mundula, brings with him the 1000 rifles taken at Isandhlwana, I will not insist on 1000 men coming in to lay down their arms, if the Zulus are afraid to come. He must bring the two guns and the remainder of the cattle. I will then be willing to negotiate. As he has caused me to advance by the great delay he has made, I must now go to the Umvolosi to enable my men to drink. I will consent, pending negotiations, to halt on the further bank of the river, and will not burn any kraals until the 3rd of July, provided no opposition is made to my advance to the position on the Umvolosi, by which day, the 3rd of July, at noon, the conditions must be complied with. If my force is fired on, I shall consider negotiations are at an end, and to avoid any chance of this, it is best that Mundula come to my camp at daybreak or to-night, and that the Zulus should withdraw from the neighbourhood of the river to Ulundi. I cannot stop the general in command of the coast army until these conditions are complied with."

Of course, nothing more was seen or heard of Mundula. On the 2nd of July an impi, 20,000 strong, advanced from Ulundi as if to attack. Newdigate and Wood, at a short distance from each other, immediately laagered their waggons, and these preparations seemed to check the enemy. It is possible that Cetywayo had personally some idea of surrendering, as it is stated that a large herd of white cattle (the royal colour) was seen coming towards the camp from the direction of Cetywayo's new stronghold at Mahize Kanye. A number of men came out and drove the cattle back. A sudden scare or panic had just taken place at the camp. Men of the Native Contingent, having become alarmed, rushed in over a portion of the 2-4th Regiment; our short-service red jackets, seeing naked black men rushing in past them, assegai in hand, imagined that the Zulus were upon them, and fled in terror within the laager. So demoralized did the men become, that it required the exertion of physical force on the part of their officers to induce them to return to their posts.

Preparations for battle.

On the 3rd of July a large force of mounted men, under Colonel Buller, crossed the river at a drift commanded by a rocky hill, from which the enemy were gallantly and quickly dislodged by Baker's Irregular Horse. Buller moved forward to Nodwengu kraal, and on the way several stragglers were killed. One of them was "stuck" by Lord William Beresford, with the exclamation, "First spear, by Jove!" Shortly afterwards this force was nearly trapped, by means of the decoy of a man with a number of goats, who moved forward in front. The nonchalance of this fellow was so suspicious, that the force was suddenly wheeled to the right in the direction of Ulundi; and no sooner was this done than a crowd of Zulus, who had been in ambush, rose out of a donga at a hundred yards distance, and poured in a heavy volley.[46] Preparations for battle were made during the night of the 3rd of July. War-dancing took place among the enemy, while on our side the waggons were carefully formed into laager, and at 6 a.m. on the 4th of July, the British army, leaving this camp, crossed the Umvolosi river, and ascending to the high ground, formed upon it in order of battle. It was here that the Zulus had defeated the Boers, and it was, therefore, fitting that upon the field where the white men had met with disaster their crowning triumph should take place. A victory sufficient to repair and efface the stains of all previous calamities was absolutely required, and it was obtained in the most complete and satisfactory manner.

The leaders of the Zulu army were named Tyingwayo, Manyamane, Dabulamanzi, Mondula, Sirayo, Mehkla Ka Zulu. The force under their command numbered more than thirteen corps of regiments, was larger than that at Kambula, and comprised more than 20,000 men. One of the prisoners, named Undungunyanga, son of Umgegane, declared that it was true the king had wanted to make peace, and previous to the battle, in an address to the army, said that as the Inkandampeonvu regiment would not let the white cattle go to the British as a peace offering, and as the white army was now at his home, they could fight. The battle was to take place on the open plain between the Nodwengu and Ulundi kraals. The king then personally placed the different regiments, gave final orders, and retired to a kraal at a short distance to witness the battle.[47] The place in which the British army was drawn up had many advantages. A broad open country was around, almost free from bush. The Nodwengu kraal, distant about 1000 yards, offered some cover to the enemy, and it would have been burned had not Colonel Buller suggested that if this were done the Zulus would be enabled to creep up under cover of the smoke.

The battle of Ulundi.

Very shortly after a halt had been made, and while the solemn duty of burying one of our men, killed on the previous day, was taking place, it was observed that the enemy was approaching from the direction of Ulundi, and from the bush on the right. Our troops were formed up in a hollow parallelogram. In the centre was the Native Contingent, with ammunition waggons. The four sides of the parallelogram were formed by eight companies of the 13th Regiment, five companies of the 80th Regiment, the 90th, 58th, and 34th Regiments, together with the 17th Lancers and the mounted irregulars. At the corners and centres artillery was placed—Gatlings,[48] 7-pounders, and 9-pounders. At half-past 8 a.m., as the enemy were advancing, Buller's mounted men were thrown out on the front, left, and rear. As the right was left uncovered by cavalry, Cochrane's Mounted Basutos were sent out from this direction to make the enemy advance nearer. As they retired the right face of the square commenced the action by a brisk fire. At ten minutes to nine o'clock the attacking army was so near the British as to make the fire from the latter become general. Silently and steadily the horns of the Zulu army came on in their usual manner; without a word or cry, the warriors of Cetywayo continued to press forward in spite of the deadly fusillade. As at Ghinghelovo and Kambula, so now at Ulundi, their extraordinary bravery and contempt of death was the chief feature in the attack. During this time the British infantry were formed in four ranks, of which the front knelt, while the rear rank was reversed. Inside the square every means of obtaining ammunition swiftly was provided. The continuous and tremendous fire poured upon the advancing enemy had no perceptible effect at first. On, like a wave of the sea which cannot be stopped, poured the human tide; but when it had advanced to a distance of seventy yards, flesh and blood could no longer stand the awful destruction which poured from the British lines. The main body hesitated and stopped. A few, more intrepid than the others, rushed on; but the wavering feeling spread throughout the Zulu host, and now was the exact moment to take advantage of it. The dogs of war were suddenly slipped. Out rushed the Lancers, and bore down like a hurricane upon the disheartened and discouraged multitude. Shells were breaking in all directions among their masses, the incessant "pings" of rifle bullets were doing deadly execution; and when the cavalry plunged in among them, the Zulu army was literally torn asunder and broken. The flower of these warriors of Zululand made yet one wild effort, when Captain Edgell, of the Lancers, was shot dead, and Captain Drury-Lowe, Lieutenant James, and other officers had a narrow escape. Nine men were killed, and no fewer than seventy-five were wounded. But all was in vain; Cetywayo's great army was forced to turn and fly. They had met the white man upon the open plain, and, though more than 20,000 to 5000, were totally and completely defeated. Away went the mounted men in pursuit, and before the slaughter ended, fully 1000 of the Zulu army bit the dust. The Lancers, with the Irregular Horse, did very good work, as it is estimated 450 of the enemy were killed in the pursuit. The Zulus ran with surprising swiftness. The Lancers drove a crowd into a donga, and working round, pursued a mass of fugitives, who, being overtaken and at bay, made an unavailing stand, when 150 of their number were killed.

Total defeat of the Zulus.

A rest was ordered after the battle; and then the mounted force rode on to Ulundi, which was found wholly deserted, and was at once given to the flames. Subsequently all the forces fell back upon the laagered camp which had been left in the morning. Ulundi, the great place of the great monarch of Southern Africa, was wholly destroyed. The king's palace consisted merely of a thatched building of four rooms with a verandah. A Spartan absence of all furniture and of all luxuries was perceptible, but the numerous huts and kraals indicated that this place had been the head-quarters of a powerful army. Lord William Beresford was the first to enter. It was a grand sight to see the flames mounting to the skies, and to know that in their smoke the prestige and influence of the greatest savage power in Southern Africa had ended. Mr. Archibald Forbes, the correspondent of the Daily News, although suffering from a wound, galloped to the colony with the news of this victory. He carried an important despatch from the general, and was the first to telegraph the news to Natal and to the world. Starting early in the forenoon, immediately after the battle of Ulundi, he rode in fourteen hours a distance of 110 miles to the nearest telegraph station at Landman's Drift, on the Buffalo river. Twice he lost his way in the midst of dense mist, and during the entire journey he was exposed to attack by scattered parties of the enemy. It was a daring ride, which will live in history, and deserved special and generous recognition.