The Zulus at War: The History, Rise, and Fall of the Tribe That Washed Its Spears

322 Pages·2013·5.38 MB·English

by  Adrian Greaves

Also by Adrian Greaves
Flight of Colour, Debinair, 2000
Isandlwana, Cassell, 2001
A Review of the South Africa Campaign, Debinair, 2001
Curling Letters of the Zulu War, (co-author with Brian Best), Pen & Sword, 2001
Rorke’s Drift, Cassell, 2002
David Rattray Guide to the Battlefields of Zululand, (co-author with David Rattray, and editor), Pen &
Sword, 2003
Redcoats & Zulus, Pen & Sword, 2004
Crossing the Buffalo, Cassell, 2005
Who’s Who of the Anglo-Zulu War, 2 Volumes, (co-author with Ian Knight), Pen & Sword, 2007
Lawrence of Arabia – Mirage of a Desert War, Cassell, 2011
Isandlwana – How the Zulus Humbled the British Empire, Pen & Sword, 2011
Forgotten Battles of the Zulu War, Pen & Sword, 2012

Copyright © 2013 by Adrian Greaves and Xolani Mkhize FIRST NORTH AMERICAN
EDITION 2014
FIRST SKYHORSE PUBLISHING EDITION 2014
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First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Pen & Sword Military, an imprint of
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
Jacket design by Jon Wilkinson
Print ISBN: 978-1-62914-513-6
Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220201-7
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Acknowledgements
Maps
Foreword
Zulu Names
Timeline of Events Significant to the Zulu People
Glossary of Terms
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Emergence of the Zulus
Chapter 2 Shaka and the Second Mfecane
Chapter 3 Zulu Rituals and Customs
Chapter 4 White Expansionism in South Africa and the Eight Frontier Wars
Chapter 5 Passing the Crown: From Kings Shaka, Dingane and Mpande to
King Cetshwayo
Chapter 6 The Emergence of King Cetshwayo
Chapter 7 Defending their Nation
Chapter 8 Isandlwana
Chapter 9 To Rorke’s Drift
Chapter 10 Nyezane and Gingindlovu
Chapter 11 Ntombe, Hlobane and Khambula
Chapter 12 The Zulu Defence of Ulundi, and the Prince Imperial Louis
Napoleon
Chapter 13 The Battle of kwaNodwengu-Ulundi, 4 July 1879
Chapter 14 Beginning of the End
Chapter 15 Closure of the Zulu War
Chapter 16 Long Live the King
Photo Insert
Appendices
A. The Mfecane
B. Boer Account: Blood River
C. Chelmsford’s Orders to the Five Invasion Columns
D. The Ultimatum
E. King Cetshwayo in London
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge a number of people who have rendered valuable
assistance to me in the preparation of this book.
I owe a huge debt to my wife Debbie for her unfailing patience and assistance
while I was conducting the necessary research and putting the book together.
Our lovely house was strewn with papers, photographs and maps, and whilst I
always claimed to know where everything was, she didn’t, and the temptation to
tidy up was almost too much.
I will always thank Consultant Surgeon Cliff Stossell and his wife Katie, his
operating theatre sister, for saving my life in 1986 following a road traffic
accident, and for their care and skill during the many operations that followed
over the years. It was my greatest pleasure, eventually, to accompany them
around the stunning battlefields of Zululand and introduce them to my many
South African and Zulu friends.
I especially thank all my long-standing Zulu friends at Rorke’s Drift, especially
Xolani Mkhize and the Reverend Wilfred Mbatha, who showed me some of the
secret places of Zululand and who sought out and provided me with local
material and interpretations of Zulu folklore that would have been impossible for
me to access without their support. Xolani volunteered to be my co-author and
he provided the interpretations of Zulu folklore. He was always a delight to work
with.
Ian Knight was, as ever, hugely supportive and his willingness to comment,
especially on the later Zulu kings, was always appreciated. Dr David Payne
generously volunteered the impressive volumes of Charlie Harford’s papers,
which enabled me to fill many gaps in my research. I have relied on some
material previously unseen by researchers and while this is referenced, any
interpretation is mine and mine alone. This is my final book, due to anno
domini, and I have used my twenty-five years of walking the battlefields of
Zululand to try to understand and explain the Anglo-Zulu War, its participants
and their descendents. I have been privileged to accompany some remarkable
people while exploring these fascinating and desolate battlefields. They include,
in no particular order, Xolani Mkhize and Reverend Wilfred Mbatha of Rorke’s
Drift, Chelmsford Ntanze from Isandlwana, David Rattray, Dave Charles, Ian
Knight, Ian Castle, Dr David Payne, George Chadwick, Paddy Ashdown MP,
Prof John Laband, Ray Heron, Isobel Swan, Ron Lock – and all the guests from
Holt’s Battlefield Tours who, over many years, so politely listened to me at all
those haunting battlefield sites.
I am also eternally grateful to David and Nicky Rattray for their generosity in
accommodating me at their magnificent Fugitives’ Drift Lodge during my
numerous visits to Zululand. I first met David at Rorke’s Drift nearly twenty-four
years ago while I was accompanying some tourists to the graves of British
soldiers. David was supervising the groundwork of his proposed lodge and
innocently asked me, ‘Do you think people will pay to come here?’ The following
year I took the first tourist coach the 20 miles along a bumpy dirt road to the new
lodge for Holt’s Battlefield Tours; other tourists, regal and otherwise, soon
followed. While staying at the lodge, I was privileged to experience numerous
‘walkabouts’ with David to explore some of his special locations and talk over the
finer points of Zululand’s rich history. David’s savage murder was an
inconsolable loss to his family and friends and I am grateful to Nicky for
enabling my association with her lodge to continue.
Hala gachle!