Isandlwana

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Isandlwana (also sometimes seen as Isandhlwana or Isandula) is an isolated hill in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa.

On January 22, 1879, Isandlwana was the site of the Battle of Isandlwana, where over 20,000 Zulu warriors defeated a contingent of British soldiers in the first engagement of the Anglo-Zulu War. Almost the entire column of about 1,200 British soldiers was killed, and the regimental colours were lost.

The leader of the British, Lord Chelmsford, had gone forward with the rest of his column. Scouts from the British camp stumbled upon a large Zulu impi (army) on a plateau in front of the British camp. The impi immediately began an attack on the camp. The British tried to defend against the impi but were eventually overwhelmed. Various reasons have been given for this defeat including difficulty in supplying ammunition and attempting to defend too much line with too few men. Once the Zulus were able to penetrate the British line defence proved to be impossible and most of the British troops were slaughtered. The Zulus had been instructed to kill the soldiers in the red coats--and not a single British soldier dressed in this manner survived. Lord Chelmsford returned that night to a scene of utter devastation.

A part of the Zulu impi proceeded to attack a small British force at Rorke's Drift the next day. Interestingly, the British defenders were able to beat back this attack even though they were even more outnumbered than their counterparts at Isandlwana. At Rorke's Drift the British were able to fight behind improvised fortifications that the Zulus had difficulty in penetrating. More Victoria Crosses were awarded for this small battle than for any other action in the history of the British army.