In the foreground is the statue, by Foley, of Daniel O’Connell; beyond the bridge is the monument of Sir John Gray, and, seen just behind it, the General Post Office. In the distance is the Nelson Column.
The invasion of Zululand had now assumed the proportions of a great campaign. About 20,000 British and 4,500 Colonial troops were in the field. The Government, dissatisfied with Lord Chelmsford’s initial want of success and subsequent hesitation, sent out Sir Garnet Wolseley to supersede him. But before he arrived a decisive victory had been fought on July 4, whereby the power of the Zulus was hopelessly broken. Lord Chelmsford’s reputation, endangered at Isandhlana, was redeemed at Ulundi, just as Lord Gough’s disaster at Chilianwalla had been repaired at Goojerat before Sir Charles Napier came to supersede him.
The native chiefs now crowded in to make submission. Cetchwayo was a fugitive with a handful of followers, and a force of cavalry scoured the country in pursuit of him, till, on August 28, the war was brought to an end by the capture of the unhappy king by Lord Gifford’s party. It had cost Great Britain dearly in lives and money; one of the most tragic incidents in it was the death of Prince Napoleon, eldest son of the late Emperor of the French, who served on Lord Chelmsford’s staff as a volunteer. He was slain on June 2, when employed on surveying duty, having ridden into an ambush of Zulus.
Lady Butler.] [From the Royal Collection. Reproduced by permission of the Artist.
RORKE’S DRIFT.
This post was held by Lieut. Chard, R.E., and Lieut. Bromhead with eighty men of the 24th Regiment. Having heard of the disaster at Isandhlana, they hastily improvised defences of bags and biscuit-tins, and were almost immediately attacked by about 4,000 Zulus. During the night the enemy six times obtained a foothold within the defences, and even burnt the hospital; but they were again and again repulsed at the bayonet’s point. In the morning, when the little garrison was relieved, 351 Zulus lay dead around the entrenchments.
