Lt Chard and his sighting of Zulu enemy at Isandlwana

I'm a little confused by Lt Chard's report about arriving at Isandlwana on the morning of the 22nd Jan.

He wrote that he was lent a field-glass by a NCO of the 24th, and through them could see the enemy moving on distant hills, and apparently in great force.

Chard continued watching them moving to his left until the lion hill of Isandlwana, on my left as I looked at them, hid them from my view.

From this Chard then went on to say he though that perhaps the Zulu were to make a dash for the ponts. On leaving Isandlwana, he meets Col Durnford a quarter mile way - and considering most agree than Durnford arrived at Isandlwana at 10:30, means Chard must of left at around say 10am/10:15am.

So my question is, who were the Zulu's he spotted? It must have been a company of NNC surely? For Chard to have spotted any Zulu's in the distant hills means that they were silhouetted on the ridge line of the Nqutu plateau, there's no other explanation (in my mind anyway).

Am I right?

Morning Sheldon.
It doesnt appear that Chard ventured to much further into the camp than the HQ tent looking for his orders. The regiment was on standby at the time.Looking from the HQ position across at the ridge there is no sighting of the spur and portion of Mkwene hill is blocked. Chard doesnt say the force he witnessed went behind the hill, rather the hill blocked his view.
Ive had the same problem as yourself in trying to come to terms with a large column of men INSIDE the perimeter of the piquets. And to be visible from the camp they would have to be, as you point out, on the ridge line or below the ridge on the iSandlwana side.
If they were NNC, then which group?
Regards

I am decades late to this conversation but I am likewise puzzled. I have used Google Earth Viewshed feature to map exactly what Chard could and could not see from the command tent. He could only have seen beyond the ridge if he had climbed the mountain and he did not. I commend Viewshed (and the profile feature) to the group as a useful tool which allows you to do some inter-visibility analysis from afar, but it all confirmed by what is clearly visible and from photos. I suppose the view over the Nyoni Ridge might be slightly more obscured than it was on the day as there are more buildings there, but not many from my memory. My hypothesis is that what Chard saw were Zulu recce and command parties. the hardest thing to judge might have been the size of them.

The relevance of this now is the RE Museum have launch a crowd funding campaign to buy the Chard Papers. What they say they are buying is here. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

"Of particular interest is Chards own hand-written report on the Battle of Rorke's Drift. A draft of the report written for Queen Victoria, this document is a wonderfully annotated insight into this famous action. We are also interested in the acquisition of Chard's photograph album and his drawing set, as used whilst at Chatham."

The draft of the Queen Victoria letter is interesting as it speaks to the provenance of that important record of what was and was not seen am 22 Jan. I gather some think the Chard letter was heavily coached perhaps by staff officers of Chelmsford. Any views?

The sale was 17 Dec and I am not sure if they got it.

Simon have a look at the Pope diary entry for clarification on the size

Snook hit upon an interesting thought. Warriors moving into the Manzimnyama valley, exposing themselves to the west of Mkwene on the Tahelane Spur. Quite a close scrape for poor Barry.

Or was it indeed Barry's coy getting into position in the early morning mist?

Julian, thats an interesting thought but the size of Barry's company wouldn't equate to Pope's sighting surely? Or would you accept that there were seperate situations?

No, not to Pope's sighting but to Chard's.

Then it becomes interesting to throw open to Kate, Kenny, and Gary etc. that have, like myself, been at iSandlwana on the battlefield itself at around 9 ish in the morning in January. I dont recall seeing any mist at that hour, but happy to be educated.

Cheers

Frank
OK, I was being literary..how about in the dust and haze!

I got carried away with poetic licence. I've been re-reading Joaquin Miller and his 'tinkle of bells'. Do you know it?

'The steady tinkle of the bell
Of lazy, laden, home-bound cows
That stop to bellow and to browse;
I breathe the soft sea-wind as well,'

Hi Frank
Your boys did a great job after the massacre and poor performance in the opening Test , the Kiwis are hard to beat at home , only lost 2 series there in 12 or 14 years ? . As for you asking about Isandlwana in Jan , I've only been once at that time and that was for the 140th , I was at Isandlwana before 5am on the 22nd and the 23rd Jan 2019 , didn't see any fog or mist , although we do know there was a heavy fog / mist present 140 yrs previously ...at the time LC moved out to find the Zulu ! .
90th

Hi Gary
Brand new team so didnt expect to much, they did well.
What we were trying to establish was Julians thought that the zulu spotted by Chard on the plateau could have been the Barry Piquet, possibly mistaken in the morning mist etc.
I cant recall ever seeing morning mist around the 9 to 10 period in the morning. Earlier yes but by that time its been burned away by the sun.
Cheers

Hi Frank
I'm not to sure , there may be some merit in that thought....... that Chard saw Barry's men as the part of the Zulu Army , I'd never actually thought of that before ! .
90th

Its a very interesting concept

Frank
No not that one, this one, which came into Dawnay's mind when he visited Isandhlwana in May:

A tinkle of bells on the bended hills,
And a hum of bees in the orange trees,
Are heard in the land as I look again
Over the peaceful battle plain.
Murderous man from the field has fled,
Fled in fear from the face of his dead;
He battled, he bled, he ruled, a day,
And peaceful Nature resumes her sway.
And the field where yonder corpses lie,
When the verdant season shall come again,
Shall again in springtime glory vie
With the gayest green of the tropic scene,
Taking its sweetness back once more
From them that destroyed it yesterday.

Apologies to all for the digression. His visit to Isandhlwana can be found on p. 32 et seq., of his auto biography viz. 'Campaigns: Zulu 1879, Egypt 1882, Suakim 1885' by Guy Dawnay.

Re Barry's coy, I don't recall Chard saying he discussed what he saw on the ridge with anyone.  He left camp almost immediately but stopped to speak to Durnford when he met him.  When Durnford arrived in camp 15 mins. later, none of his surviving men record seeing anything on the ridge.  Durnford simply sent back Vause to bring in the waggons.  Perhaps Chard had 'scared' him into doing this as a protective measure or perhaps Durnford was just being cautious - but nowhere does anyone say it was because they thought the waggons might be intercepted by Chard's Zulus - that's always been a modern assumption.

Julian, I have a number of issues with Chard mistaking Barry's Company.

First, the sighting is independently confirmed by Lieut. Charles Pope, ostensibly deployed with his men to the left front of the camp.

"7000 (!!!) more E.N.E, 4000 of whom went round Lion's Kop"

These warriors must have been visible from Pope's position, and their movement was eventually obscured by Isandlwana itself, as Chard states. Further, this happened between the initial alarm and Durnford's arrival.

On the morning of the 22nd, Barry's No. 5 Coy was set to be relieved by No. 6 Coy under Capt. Krohn. As we all know, this never happened due to the situational reports by Capt. Barry, Lieut. Scott, etc that triggered the initial alarm.

Terrain-wise, my real question is 'What is the exact view from Column HQ?' From a map and photo reconnaissance, I suspect Mkwene and part of the Tahelane Spur would be in plain view. If this body of men was NOT Barry's Coy, the sighting must have occurred to the west of Mkwene as they apparently did not clash with the NNC. My guess is they were screened from view and (wisely) kept their heads down.

Timing-wise, there are some interesting details from Essex that seem to contradict this large enemy force presence.

Mike is it possible that Chard and Pope are recording different sightings? Just thinking aloud.
As to the view from HQ tents, Mkwene most certainly, the extreme east of Tahelane.
To be apparent to the camp the zulu would have had to have been south of Mkwene. In theory the piquet was to the north, I say in theory as I believe the piquet was deployed to guard the access into camp that evening and so early morning would have been south of Mkwene as well. That would open the possibility of the piquet getting out of the way of the zulu and allowing them to pass between the hill and the themselves.
Julians idea is thought provoking.
Cheers

Mike/Frank
Let me try to be clear. I'm not saying that Chard and Pope were definitely seeing different Zulus. I am saying that Chard's sighting can be fairly well-timed and Pope's can't with any precision.
Pope could write 7,000 Zulus, clearly visible at that distance. Chard borrowed field glasses to see his group.
It is possible (I won't even go as far as to say probable) that they were watching different groups at different times. After all, on what basis can it be assumed that it was the same group?

Can someone please post Pope's testimony of this sighting

INKY

AUSSIE
Look on the thread 'Charlie Pope's Diary' - 3rd post down (gratis 90th).  It's already there. It's just series of brief notes/entries in his diary really - hardly a narrative or account and is open to innumerable interpretations.

Julian
Found it thanks, very interesting it indicates he saw 4,000 Zulus going behind Isandlwana before the arrival of Durnford, this may be the same impi that Higginson and others viewed from Mkwene just before Durnfords arrival,  the right horn ?

Aussie look how big the right horn actually was!

I wonder just how easy it is to estimate numbers at that distance even for a professional soldier. It's not as if he would have had much chance of doing it before. Have you ever tried it in a stadium or at a football crowd or a demonstration? I always fail hopelessly.

Julian, I've seen this on a number of maneuver exercises where bodies of OPFOR (personnel & vehicles) are called in incorrectly by trained observers. Geographic dispersion, distance, even human factors like stress all play a role.

I'm going to play around with the testimony of the guys who were present in camp that morning, see if we can get any confirmation or denial of numbers and positioning.

I've always found it bizarre that no thought seems to have been given to defending the rear of the camp. Obviously the primary threat was from the north and then the east... But if enemy personnel were observed moving into the Manzimnyama Valley, there was a clear and present danger to the rear well before the first rounds went downrange.

Given the location of Shepstone's body, and the NNc around him, I do wonder whether Durnford at the last sent him with perhaps Murray's coy (?) as the last possible reserve to the rear of the mountain to try to hold the two horns apart?

Hi Julian
Have had the same thoughts regarding George Shepstone , was he sent there by Durnford or others ? , did he take it upon himself to take up his position on the Western face ? , unfortunately we'll probably never know with any clarity .
90th

Well Durnford was told by Higginson that 5,000 of the enemy went behind Isandlwana then Pope said its 4,000 the 3 regiments that went behind Isandlwana excluding the Nokenke which Essex spots at the first action around Mkwenene is 3,500 its very close to Pope's numbers Frank.

One thing for certain the right horn pre deployed its confirmed by Melville when he meets up with Essex on the ridge.

Its clear as crystal they were not prepared for the Horns of the Buffalo they were only concentrating on a frontal assault the two horns were forgotten even the left horn, Dunford needed to ride up to the extreme left of camp to stop them and he only had enough ammunition to hold them back for 20 minutes. Sorry to say it takes a disaster to learn from your mistakes.

Remember LC's desired troop dispositions in the Instructions to Column Commanders!!!!
"The formation which seems best adapted to meet such an attack is...." and he even drew a pretty picture for them to follow.
That said, it worked at Inyezane, mainly because of the terrain I think. However Isandhlwana wasn't Inyezane.

aussie
Have a look at Jackson's figures, its a hell of a lot less than 3500.
Cheers

Frank I am using the army list on page 66
uDududu  1,500
iMbube        500
iSangqu    1,500

Like I said the uNonkhenke  is what Essex saw as a shape of the horn near Mkwene moving behind Isandlwana. Melville saw the above 3 regiments and informed Essex of them, which prompted him to recall E and F company's back to camp

Aussie, neither Melvill not Essex had the authority to call back E or F Coy...

Pulleine sent Melvill to inform Essex, its in Essex testimony

Correct. Your initial statement implies that either the Adjutant or the Capt. took the initiative to do so. A minor typo, no doubt.

Correct. Your initial statement implies that either the Adjutant or the Capt. took the initiative to do so. A minor typo, no doubt.

Aussie
I read it differently mate.
The right horn was the uNodwengu, approx 1000 strong and part of the uNokhenke, a total force of 1600 so part would be say 800. So the whole of the right horn behind the mountain would be around 1800.
That 1800 was split between entering the camp, chasing fugitives and joining up with the left horn. The blood lust was up for the Zulus, can we really imagine them standing in a nice orderly line waiting for someone to present themselves?
The fact that they didn’t fully join up with the left horn speaks volumes in saying that they were ‘distracted’ by invading the camp and then running down the trail. I would hazard a guess that at least half invaded the camp, around 900, that would fall in with the sightings from Hamilton Brown. The balance of 900 would be split with around 4 to 500 chasing down the track, that would leave approximately 400 desperately trying to close the gap with the left horn, not a lot of bodies to envelope that real estate.

Well I agree with you some of the right horn entered the camp and others block [ chased after the fugitives ] But we must remember a great many of them had to deal with George Shepstone force before entering the camp and we know were George fell not far from the saddle.

The location of Shepstone's body and the cairns in the vicinity lie on the south-westernish slope of Isandhlwana. Any defence of the rear would have been surely on the western entrance to the saddle. The bodies' location might show their being pushed/forced to one side as the right horn entered the camp.
If Shepstone had just NNC with him, it surely must have been more of a melee then a firing line - something that the Zulus could to a certain extent ignore but deal with en route as it were, by-passing, rather than confronting head-on and being obliged to deal with before progressing. Just a thought.

Julian/Aussie there is a line of cairns stretching up the slope from the northern end of the saddle.Ther is also Brickhills testomony of the 'Basuto' getting in amongst the rocks. So yes there is every possibility that Shepstone commandered a a group and lead them from the saddle gradually falling back up the slope. In front of his grave there are around 6, if memeory serves, cairns so it was a significant stand. The timing is key though if it was to hold back the right horn or just self defence.
Cheers

Frank
If anything it looks like these men would have been from the Sikali troops. The Hlubi and Edendale troops escaped almost intact. I expect Brickhill was using the generic term 'Durnford's Basutos'. NNH would make more sense than NNC in terms of getting to the rear of the saddle quickly and in terms of who might have been close to Shepstone at the time. They must have been disciplined. It would not have been easy to stay rather than gallop away.

All,

There were over 1500 Oxen and cattle on the Nek or the ground surrounding it, some oxen inspanned so not moving but adding to the confusion. Hamilton Browne refers to seeing oxen coming over the Nek. This amount of Bovine movement could have had a very significant influence on the battle for many reasons, one for example may be dust, how would groups who wanted to coalesce see each other?

Hamilton Browne also puts the timing of the cattle and the collapse of the firing line at the same time, as well as the Zulu advance on it. Cattle running around the camp would be a very powerful message with differing interpretation to the observers.

Frank refers to Zulus desperate to close the horns, but fleeing troops are far more vulnerable and harder to kill than troops with their back to the wall, closing the horns may have been the objective, I do not know, but closing them is likely to cause greater casualties. Trained troops especially infantry, know this, volunteers, civilians and mounted troops are more likely to run. Are we sure closing the horns was the Zulu objective, once it became clear the horns would close?

Tig
I believe the cattle were kept as a herd south of the 1/24th camp rather than on the saddle (I write from memory - I have to check) and that the left horn drove the cattle in on to the camp as it advanced.
Re closing the horns - this would always have been the Zulus intention - but on this occasion they neglected to do so initially allowing for that initial rush of fugitives to escape.

To confuse a few matters...
Shepstone was last seen by Lieut. Erskine near the wagons, attempting to rally various unattached men left with the baggage, shouting 'Why are you men not at the front, do you not know that every man is wanted there?"

An unknown survivor supposedly later told Frances Collenso that Shepstone was carried away in the rush of the NNMC to escape, but fought his way clear to look for Col. Durnford. This story is echoed by Rev. A.W. Lee who states he was accompanied by two faithful natives (servants if I recall, probably his own servants Adam Dhloon and Lulu).

All anecdotal stuff but it does suggest the going rumour was that he initially was caught up in the fleeing men over the saddle but deliberately turned back.

As for the men found near Shepstone, both Brickhill and QM MacPhail identified them as members of the NNMC. Brickhill specifies they were in action to the left of the British line, came galloping past the General's tents and took up position under Isandlwana among the rocks where they engaged the right Horn. MacPhail confirms that the bodies of NNMC were found there.

This has to be Zikhali for they sustained 27 KIA while the Edendale and Hlubi Troops were relatively unscathed. I won't get into the matter too deeply here but the best candidate seems to be Lieut. Roberts No. 2 Troop as we have good accounts that No. 1 and No. 3 retired on the camp for ammunition and eventually made their escape.

However the cairns around Shepstone account for 40-80 bodies, far more than the number of NNMC killed. This points to the Foot Contingent being the remainder. I'd be hard pressed to say which unit; we don't really know what Capt Murray or Capt. Erskine's amaCunu did during the battle so they are candidates; possibly Capt. Lonsdale's Isiquoza although Malindi's account does admit they routed. Alternatively they could well be fugitives trapped there by the right Horn.

Either way, I don't see any evidence that Shepstone specifically was ordered to take up position there by Durnford or anyone else. I think he saw some of his men still fighting and like any good Officer, stood by them.

Julian, Davies? I think mentions warriors of the left horn first penetrating the British line behind a herd of cattle.

Weekend Warrior,

For what it is worth, there is a reference in R W F Droogleever Road t Isnadlwana p224 which has some thoughts about Shepstone, Erskine he thinks that since Erskine's company had no recorded survivors they may be the company with Shepstone.

Tig, thanks! There was an Lt from the 1/3rd, Lieut. Gibson, found not too far from Shepstone. Pity we don't know which Coy he fell in with. Although my best bet would be Erskine or Barry's Coys.

Weekend Warrior
I seem to remember reading a report stating Lt Gibson (?) was buried somewhere on the slope below Younghusband ? , that isn't that close to Shepstone's position .
90th

I'll have to double check. I recall the phrasing had something to do with sunrise?