Forgotten Battles of the Zulu War by Adrian Greaves

Author:Adrian Greaves [Greaves, Adrian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Modern Warfare, Zulu Wars, Battles
ISBN: 9781848847460
Google: sgdCXwAACAAJ
Amazon: 1848847467
Goodreads: 14490729
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Published: 2012-01-15T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

Gingindlovu, 2nd April 1879

The Zulus have made no plan to attack us. I fear they are too cunning, knowing they would suffer severely. Captain Richard Wynne RE

By the end of March 1879 Chelmsford had been forced to accept a number of unpleasant realities; he had achieved nothing since the original invasion of Zululand on the 11th January. Worse still, the border between Natal and Zululand remained effectively undefended and open to the Zulus. Superior Zulu forces and tactics had destroyed his Central Column and the Northern Column under Wood was effectively locked in at Khambula. He now faced restarting the campaign. Fresh troops, new columns and different tactics would all be necessary before the reinvasion of Zululand could begin. The task of facing the now triumphant Zulus was daunting yet, unbeknown to Chelmsford, the tip-over point to British success was rapidly approaching.

Following his victory over the Zulus at Nyezane, Pearson’s Coastal Column swiftly moved to occupy the abandoned mission station at Eshowe. Eshowe merits a mention here for, although not a battle, it was a major siege, which directly led to the battle of Gingindlovu. The site occupies conveniently high ground and the first troops to arrive discovered that it was in good condition, the buildings having been ignored by the Zulus. The station consisted of a corrugated iron-roofed steepled church, three other mud-built structures and a nearby garden filled with orange trees. It covered an area of just 120 yards by 80 yards, sloping west to east, and there was a good supply of water from two nearby streams. In addition, there were three more buildings standing a short distance away. The senior Royal Engineer officer present, Captain Warren Wynne, had reservations that some marginally higher ground overlooking the mission was within sniping range. Furthermore, a deep ravine filled with impenetrable undergrowth and home to a large colony of deadly puff adders came right up to the new camp perimeter and could conceal a Zulu assault.

As soon as camp was made, work started on making the area defendable. Pearson ordered an earthwork to be built around the mission site and trenches to be dug. The fruit trees were cut down and the offending undergrowth was soon cleared to give unrestricted fields of fire. The already weary men then toiled on through the stifling heat of the afternoon until all stores were unloaded and placed in the outlying buildings. The next day, the 25th January, forty-eight of the empty wagons were escorted back to Fort Pearson to collect more stores. They passed another convoy en route to Eshowe and the first rumours began to spread that all was not well with the Centre Column. Some even reported hearing a rumour that Colonel Durnford and his No. 2 Column had been annihilated – which was true.

Like Isandlwana, Eshowe was intended to be little more than a staging post on the line of advance to Ulundi and Pearson did not expect to remain there long. Nevertheless, the following day his Zulu-speaking

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