Battlefield of Gingindlovu (Zulu War 1879)

[SteveMc1958]

Some photos below of Gingindlovu as it looks today.

The battle was fought on 2 April 1879 as Chelmsford's force advanced to releive the besiged garrison at Eshowe. The British were formed in square (laager) - having learned the hard way at Isandlwana - with canon or gatling guns at each corner. An attacking force of perhaps 10,000 or more zulu was repulsed after a few hours of tough fighting, during which some 1,200 zulu and about 60 British casualties were sustained.

The the British square was roughly 180 yards on each side. It was sited on the road shown in one of the photos below, close to what is now the cemetary (in fact it stretched roughly from the cemetary to the stone memorial marker). The most senior British fatality, Lt. Col. Northey of 60th Rifles, was originally buried on site with the other British dead, but his body was subsequently repatriated - so the headstone that remains there today marks an empty grave.

Steve