One hundred and forty-two years ago today ...

... Zulu forces attacked and destroyed most of the troops forming Nos. 2 and 3 Columns of the British army that was invading King Cetswayo’s Zulu domain. The fighting took place in the shadow of Isandlwana, an isolated 1.284m /4,213ft-high hill. 

Of the approximately 1,800 British-led troops who took part in the battle, 1,300 were killed, the majority being drawn from the 1st Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot, the Natal Native Contingent, and other native auxilliary troops. There were a total of fifty-seven British officers in command of the troops at Isandlwana, of whom only five survived.

Later that day, Zulu troops who had not taken part in the battle attacked the British outpost at Rorke’s Drift ... where just over 150 soldiers of the regular army (mainly drawn from B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Regiment of Foot) held them off until the next day. During the fighting, at least 500 Zulus were killed at a cost of seventeen dea and fifteen wounded British casualties. Eleven Victoria Crosses and four Distinguished Conduct Medals were awarded to the defenders.

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The films ZULU DAWN and ZULU tell the story of the fighting at Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, and with a bit of luck I hope to be able to watch them later today or at some point over the weekend. The former is a worthy and fairly accurate depiction of what happened at Isandlwana, and the latter tells a somewhat fictionalised version of the fighting at Rorke's Drift. That said, it is an outstanding film in its own right, and never ceases to entertain me whenever I watch it.