My new project HELP WANTED

Hi guys

I am in the process of creating a web sight centered on Zululand I have a collection of panoramas which will be the center piece of this web sight, most of it will cover the battle sights of Zululand I am hoping to have this online by the end of the year.  As I am going through the eyewitness testimony's  it gives locations of certain features which I am wanting to confirm with maps which were drawn up as close to 1879 as possible.  As an example Uguku mentions a Kraal belonging to Baza which gives the location from were the artillary started firing which can be confirmed on Lieut Mainwaring map indicated by I.  Uguku also mentions a kraal belonging to  Nyenzani which was located behind Isandlwana of which the Nokenke regiment was moving to its not on the Mainwaring map but is there other maps that shows kraals located behind Isandlwana.  John Young has been helping me a lot but I thought it was best if I can remove some of the pressure and spread it around this is going to be a massive project I will be starting with about 50 panoramas  but that might only cover 10% of the entire web sight its going to take many more trips to these sights to cover all the places,  and as it is going to cost me thousands of dollars and hours to set up I will need to charge a small annual fee just to cover some of the costs, but the first month will be free so there is no obligation to pay if any one is not happy with it.  

This web sight will be great for all those who are interested in Zulu history but can not go and climb all these mountains and witness these magnificent views,  the best way to view these panoramas will be on a large screen which will be possible to view on your smart TV or if you dont have one you can connect your computer to the TV using a HDMI cable I have tested this from home and the results are great.  For all those who can contribute with Maps or any other images your name will be mentioned beside your images and I am prepared to give a discount for those who can help out,  nothing like this has been done before so if we who can all contribute we will be promoting our passion to those who may be interested.

So to start things of if there is a map of any kraals mark behind Isandlwana if you can post them or send me a private message I will be grateful.  Also I need a map with the location from where the guns finally fell in the hands of the Zulu and I remember not long ago seeing a map  from were the left horn  entered the camp from Durnfords donga.  If there is other things you may want to help with, you can send me a private message.  I will be posting more requests in the near future

Thanks and lets make this web sight something special.

I wish you well with your project which sounds like quite an undertaking. There are relatively few maps of Isandhlwana at a sufficiently large scale to show the kind of features you're after. The obvious ones are those included in the Narrative - the Military Survey of the Battlefield of Isandhlwana by Anstey shows kraals. More generally, a selected bibliography of Natal Maps by Merrett was published in 1979 by JK Hall and Co. in Boston USA. It lists 15 maps of Isandhlwana ranging in date from 1879 to 1966.

Steve

Isandlwana Battlefield Site plan 10155/1 (dated 22.10.1986, Natal Provincial Administration Works Department) All the cairns were numbered.

Isandlwana Battlefield Site plan 10155/1 (dated 22.10.1986, Natal Provincial Administration Works Department) All the cairns were numbered.

I havent seen this map for a good many years but seem to recall there are cairns located on it. Possibly somebody on the forum can assist.

This looks like something similar, but an earlier date?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Steve

Hi Steve
Thats the old Provincial Road map exploring the new access road. The cairn map is similar as you pointed out, with all the cairns numbered.
Ive checked with the PMB archives and cant locate it there so it will probably be in Durban somewhere.
Still searching.

aussie inkosi wrote:

Hi guys

I am in the process of creating a web sight centered on Zululand I have a collection of panoramas which will be the center piece of this web sight, most of it will cover the battle sights of Zululand I am hoping to have this online by the end of the year.  As I am going through the eyewitness testimony's  it gives locations of certain features which I am wanting to confirm with maps which were drawn up as close to 1879 as possible.  As an example Uguku mentions a Kraal belonging to Baza which gives the location from were the artillary started firing which can be confirmed on Lieut Mainwaring map indicated by I.  Uguku also mentions a kraal belonging to  Nyenzani which was located behind Isandlwana of which the Nokenke regiment was moving to its not on the Mainwaring map but is there other maps that shows kraals located behind Isandlwana.  John Young has been helping me a lot but I thought it was best if I can remove some of the pressure and spread it around this is going to be a massive project I will be starting with about 50 panoramas  but that might only cover 10% of the entire web sight its going to take many more trips to these sights to cover all the places,  and as it is going to cost me thousands of dollars and hours to set up I will need to charge a small annual fee just to cover some of the costs, but the first month will be free so there is no obligation to pay if any one is not happy with it.  

This web sight will be great for all those who are interested in Zulu history but can not go and climb all these mountains and witness these magnificent views,  the best way to view these panoramas will be on a large screen which will be possible to view on your smart TV or if you dont have one you can connect your computer to the TV using a HDMI cable I have tested this from home and the results are great.  For all those who can contribute with Maps or any other images your name will be mentioned beside your images and I am prepared to give a discount for those who can help out,  nothing like this has been done before so if we who can all contribute we will be promoting our passion to those who may be interested.

So to start things of if there is a map of any kraals mark behind Isandlwana if you can post them or send me a private message I will be grateful.  Also I need a map with the location from where the guns finally fell in the hands of the Zulu and I remember not long ago seeing a map  from were the left horn  entered the camp from Durnfords donga.  If there is other things you may want to help with, you can send me a private message.  I will be posting more requests in the near future

Thanks and lets make this web sight something special.

If you can give me a landmark of the Mainwaring map, I can have a look at the map my cousin drew, in 1878, which lists many of the kraals. Kris

Thanks all, for all your help I am looking into all your leeds

I have a Question as I am doing some research on the first sighting of the Zulu by trooper Barker and Whitelaw both being at different locations on Pickett duty where these Zulu's both these troopers saw were they also seen by the pickets on Mikwene and is there any documentation to confirm this I have my personnel belief but i need to look at other possibilities

All your opinions will be welcomed

Aussie
Look back on the forum. Ian Knight once answered questions from forum members, one of those was on the piquets.
Cheers

Of course in doing so, it is possible to make a logical assumption about where Barker was positioned but not so (definitively) for Whitelaw. A lot depends on where they were precisely. Mansel's sketch showed where he located the picquets on the hills and that's where they should have been on the 22nd. Writers who offer locations other than this are making suggestions, that is all. Making assumptions based on suggestions can be a dangerous game!

Thanks so much I have been looking for it, a very good read.

The reason I need to know the picket positions is because if Whitelaw was on the Nqutu ridge and Barker on Itusi then the only location the Zulu were when they was spotted where both pickets could see them was the Nqutu plain then Barry would of seen them as well on Mkwene.

This is what I think may have happen we know for certain Higginson runs into the left horn hiding under Nyezi at 1145am these numbers match the 6,000 the native spy informs Lieut Davies of after 10am. Barker also sees a large army hiding under a hill earlier in the morning these are the same Zulus hence the location they first was sighted on that morning can only be in the Qwabi plain not on the Nqutu plain hence the reason for the possible picket locations.

Still working on my pans and it will well be worth it when it is released online.

THANKS AGAIN

aussie
I think it would be helpful to you to read the analysis of Granger's accounts in Studies in the ZW vol V and the analysis of Barker and Scott's movements in Gunner William Taylor's Escape vol IV.

Don't forget Chard seeing large numbers of the enermy!

"An N.C.O. of the 24th Regiment lent me a field glass, which was a very good one, and I also looked with my own, and could see the enemy moving on the distant hills, and apparently in great force. Large numbers of them moving to my left, until the lion hill of Isandhlwana, on my left as I looked at them, hid them from my view. The idea struck me that they might be moving in the direction between the camp and Rorke's Drift and prevent my getting back, and also they might be going to make a dash at the ponts"

Morning Aussie
I know where your going with this but I do caution you on being 'single minded' in the direction your taking. Using the information you have there are other possibilities available to you. I dont believe there is any evidence that puts 'early' morning activity in the Qwabi valley. You have seen the ground closer than most people have, you have seen the rocky conditions prevalent on the ridge, now think how easy it would be to get a horse up through those rocks. People tend to put pins in maps without considering the actual conditions. iThusi is a classic example. Why would I risk breaking my horses leg and having no fast escape route available in the event of a quick escape? 300 metres to the North on the iThusi ridge there is a high spot that is merely metres below iThusi in height, it has a huge view point, better than iThusi, is a soft slope and easier tracking by horse. Why would an experienced man with the 'bushcraft' of Barker relinquish that sort of position?
In terms of the Narrative, a pinpoint position could easily vary by half an inch and still meet all the known criteria.
Take another look at those fantastic photos you have.
Cheers Mate.

aussie
I agree totally with Frank - the Qwabe is not the horse to put your money on.

Thanks for your advice I am going to stick with the picket locations on the Military Survey Map after reading Studies of the Zulu War Vol 5 page 46 {22} it indicates that a large body of Zulu was sighted on Mkwene at 6am  so the pickets on Itusi being Barker and Whitelaw being on the high ground on the Nqutu.

What I need is a good book covering all the  confirmed eyewitness reports because my  resources are lacking.  Julian thanks for your good work if you can help me with any other sightings confirmed by those on Mkwene that would be great.  One thing I found which is very telling is that Captain Barry was not on Mkwene when Roberts and Raw was sent by Durnford to sweep the Nqutu plain he was near to Nyezi which means he left his post most likely because of given new sightings of Zulus by his scouts in the Nyezi area this is confirmed by Higginson and I believe this is the last location Barry was sighted alive.

Thanks for your advice I see myself as a novice learnin,   the more voices I hear from the better

Julian I have a good question that can help me a lot those Zulus seen from Mkwene at 6am does it give the direction they disappeared to whether back from were they came or did they move else where.

AUSSIE
The report from Higgginson is the main source quoting the FIRST SIGHTING, but he doesnt attach a time to it. Its his statement that is often conflated to produce a 6 oclock sighting but read carefully it doesnt do so.
Quote
"At about 6am on the morning of the 22nd, an officer rode up to my tent and ordered Captain Krohn to fall in his company (No 6, 1st Battalion) for piquet duty to relieve Captain Lonsdale."

and then later in his statement ;

"Lieutenant Hon S. Vereker of No5 Company. 2nd Battalion, came into camp from outlying piquet on the extreme left of the camp, where his Company had relieved Captain Erskine, No4 Company, the night before, and reported Zulus in plain sight in the plain close to them, and who had come close enough to speak to his men."

Shortly after that the alarm was sighted and Higginson and Williams rode to to see the Zulu who where being watched by Barry and Vereker.

Lt Curling.
"About 7.30, on that date, a large body of Zulus being seen on hills to the left front of the camp, we were ordered to turn out at once.'

Captain Essex
"After the departure of the main body of the column nothing unusual occured in camp untill around about 8am, when a report arrived from a piquet stationed at a point around 1500 yards distant, on a hill to the North of the camp, that a body of the enemy's troops could be seen approaching from the north east. Lieutenant-Colonel Pulleine 1/24th Regiment, commanding in camp, thereupon caused the whole of the troops available to assemble......."

JA Brickhill seems to be the only statement that puts and incident at an earlier time when he says between 6 and 7 o'clock the first sightings took place but this needs to be aproached with caution as his report has escalated the contact to seeing the whole of the ridge covered with Zulu. Again with his timing of taking 8 natives to see Durnford it would seem to have happened around 2 hours before Durnford arrived.
I wouldnt therefore place a lot of reliance on his times.
Likewise with McPhail who puts the first sighting at 5 oclock.

Lt Hillier ( He wasnt in camp so his evidence needs to regarded as second hand) puts the time Vereker arrived in camp at 7.30

From the above I would put 'First Contact' by Vereker et al at 7.30 to 8 at the earliest.
Possibly this may help in your own time frame analysis?

Cheers Mate

aussie
Sorry I was away for several days visiting family. I'd be pleased to answer any specific question you have if I can. The positioning of the picquets is something I've been intrigued by for some years and have a pile of notes on (intending to try to produce definitive locations for them and identifications where possible at some point). It's not something I've been able to achieve because of a lack of the specific information which would enable me to do it). It's not that I can't find the info; it's that as far as I know it just doesn't exist, i.e. it was never recorded at the time such that the task is unachieveable. Nevertheless if you think you have an angle and can find a way to do it, I'd be happy to answer any question you have and progress the matter.

Help Please

Is there a photo of Captain Barry who was in charge of the Pickett on Mkwene  I am using photos on my Pans of those to add some character to it

I just sourced a photo of James Nathaniel Hamer and I thought that was hard.

I don't have one of Barry but you should have asked me about Hamer - its source is listed in England's Sons.