2) Chelmsford's decision to camp at Isandlwana. It was not a great camp site and quite why it was chosen is a mystery. It did not have great access to water, it did not have good fields of fire all round (the 'mountain' is in fact just a distinctive hill and blocked sight whilst being easy to climb), it was not condusive to Chelmsford's own standing orders of digging defences (ground was too hard). The site was well known, since people had been travelling in Zululand for decades, so exactly what was the purpose in camping there?
Absolutely agreed. A ready supply of firewood is one argument. The same coppices of trees obscured much of the left flank!
I have had the privilege of walking the battlesite a few times over the years, and once with a very well-studied local historian. Once you have gotten over the vast area covered with burial cairns (it really is a sombre site) the next thing that strikes you is how poor a defensive position it is. You can see nothing towards the Inzinyathi river on the right flank (assuming your back is to the hill) due to the broken ground and scrub, and nothing beyond the ridge of hills to the left. The nek and the hill itself obscures the rear, and short of the area directly in front of the camp stretching to the conical hill, there are no fields of fire. Even these were broken, with plenty of dead ground and dongas for any attacking force to exploit. Also note that it was a very wet summer, so the grass was probably long (as much as 2-3 feet tall if no cattle had grazed there), so easy for a target to "disappear".
@ Cubs: The mounted Irregular troops (who were pivotal in the battle) were only issued 70 rounds (like regular mounted infantry) and conducted a fighting retreat from the conical hill to the dongas in front of the camp. Thats a long way. A kilometer or two by my reckoning. Even with good fire discipline, they were doomed to run short of ammo.
how would the aspects of gunpowder smoke and solar eclipse do come into play?
Knight seems very fond of the Eclipse/Black Sun theory, but the historian I mentioned above dismissed it out of hand, suggesting if it occurred at all it was later in the day, after the battle had occurred. The records are unclear.
Gunpowder smoke... I dont buy it. The 24th were seasoned vets who had plenty of time to perfect their downwind to upwind platoon fire drills in the Eastern Cape.
23 May 2009, 05:11:27 PM