On January 22st, 1879, the 
greatest defeat ever inflicted 
upon a British colonial army by 
a native force took place 10 
days after the British invasion 
of Zululand began.  The battle -
Isandlwana.

The British army, a 7,000 man 
mixed force of British regulars,
Boers, and native troops 
advanced in three columns.  At 
Mount Isandlwana, twelve miles 
from their base at Rorke's 
Drift, the central column made 
camp on the 20th.  The army 
expected only a short stay at 
this camp, believing that modern
rifles and artillery were all 
the protection his men needed 
from Zulu arms.  Their 
commander, Lt. General Lord 
Chelmsford - a veteran of native
fighting, made no attempt to 
fortify their position due to 
this belief. 

On the 22nd, reports of Zulu 
troops 10 miles to the southeast
arrived. Sending orders to the 
commander of the reserve force, 
Colonel Anthony Durnford, to 
bring his men up from Rorke's 
Drift to reinforce the camp, 
Chelmsford marched out to 
attack.

Durnford arrived with his 
troops, conferred with base 
commander Lt. Colonel Henry 
Pulleine, then decided to 
follow Chelmsford into battle.  
As Durnford set out, 20,000 
Zulus charged from concealed 
positions they had taken east 
of the camp the day before.  
Durnford's forces deployed to 
try and stop the Zulu tidal 
wave.  The Zulu left pushed 
Durnford's troops back 1/2 mile 
to a small gully, where they 
stood successfully, forming the 
right end of the British line.  

On the other side of the camp, 
the Zulu right attempted to 
envelop the British from the 
rear.  Pulleine's troops, 
supported by 2 guns, halted the 
Zulu advance, validating 
Chelmsford's faith in modern 
weaponry.  Finally, after more 
than an hour of firing with his 
men nearly out of shells, 
Durnford began to pull back.  
Seeing this, the native infantry
unit to his left panicked and 
ran.  As Pulleine desperately 
tried to reform his defense, 
the Zulus poured through the 
gap and overwhelmed the 
outnumbered defenders.  The 
battle became a massacre.

Chelmsford and his troops 
returned after dark, expecting 
to have to fight to regain 
their camp.  Instead, it was 
empty of all but the bodies of 
over 1,300 British soldiers.  