Isandlwana Anniversary January Isandlwana – Rorke’s Drift – Blood River Battlefields
Duration:
Day Trip / 1 Night, 2 Days / 2 Nights, 3 Days
The region boasts the largest concentration of battlefields in South Africa, drawing visitors from all over the world. It is here that military engagements that were to shape the course of South Africa and world history, and rock the pedestal of the British Empire raged over thorny hills and sweeping grasslands.
The first war involved the continuing clash between the Voortrekkers and the Zulu nation during the period 1836-1852.Thereafter the Zulu nation was in conflict with British forces in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. The first battle of the war was at Isandlwana, when the 1500 strong British invading force was routed by Zulu impis. On the same day, the Zulus attacked Rorke’s Drift, a small Swedish mission station used by the British army as a magazine and hospital. It was here that for 12 hours the “Heroic Hundred” repelled a force of 4000 Zulus, losing 17 men and winning 11 Victoria Crosses – the most ever awarded for a single military engagement. The war was typical of the British army’s attitude in the Victorian era, in that it was a campaign waged not only against a courageous and forceful enemy, but also against distance and natural obstacles. Despite considerable experience in the field, the British generals underestimated the fighting ability of the Zulus, resulting in a series of disasters.
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