KwaZulu-Natal Battlefields

Anglo-Zulu War, 1879
Battles of Islandwana & Rorke’s Drift

During a 24-hour period on January 21st/22nd, 1879, the British army fought two engagements which have gone down in history as classic examples of both the best, and the worst, way to fight a battle. While searching for the main Zulu army, the commander of the British force, Lord Chelmsford, split his force in two and failed to defend his camp at Isandlwana. When a Zulu force of 20,000 made a surprise attack using the ‘buffalo horns’ formation developed by the legendary King Shaka, the British were routed leaving more than 1300 dead.

Later that same day, a Zulu force of 3,000 attacked the base camp at Rorke’s Drift which was defended by just 156 men. By retaining discipline in close formation, the Zulus were repulsed with the deaths of only 17 British. 11 VCs were won during the engagement.

2nd Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1902
Battle of Talana, Battle of Elandslaagte

For a few years after the first Anglo-Boer War, the Boer republics remained relatively free of British influence but the discovery of gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 changed all that. The Battle of Talana took place on October 20th, 1899, when 14,000 Boers attacked 4,000 British troops. The British managed to repel the attackers and later defeated the Boers at Elandslaagte which was quickly followed by the Siege of Ladysmith when the Boers besieged the British for 118 days. Two years of hard fighting later, the Boers finally succumbed. Crucial to the victory was the British scorched earth policy of sending Afrikaner women and children to concentration camps where many perished from malnourishment and disease.