Last of the 24th at Isandhlwana

Posts : 2 Join date : 2024-07-24

I know this subject has been debated at length over the years, but has any recent evidence emerged as to the possible identity of the lone redcoat said to have mounted a spirited last-ditch defence from a cave on the actual mountain of Isandhlwana? While I accept that whether this episode even happened or not will be forever disputed, surely the circumstances of Younghusband's last moments could have led to the possibility of one of his men (possibly arming himself with bullets from the guns of fallen comrades) proceeding to stage a last stand of his own?

Subject: Re: Last of the 24th at Isandhlwana Wed Jul 24, 2024 6:16 pm

To the best of my knowledge there is no known identity of the soldier who - according to Zulu eyewitnesses - died defending one of the caves on the slopes of iSandlwana.

JY

Posts : 42 Join date : 2024-01-28 Location : Baja, Hungary

miklew wrote:: I know this subject has been debated at length over the years, but has any recent evidence emerged as to the possible identity of the lone redcoat said to have mounted a spirited last-ditch defence from a cave on the actual mountain of Isandhlwana? While I accept that whether this episode even happened or not will be forever disputed, surely the circumstances of Younghusband's last moments could have led to the possibility of one of his men (possibly arming himself with bullets from the guns of fallen comrades) proceeding to stage a last stand of his own?

It is certain that this last stand happened in one way or another, and that it took the Zulus quite a while to finally kill him. Do not imagine a sequence such as the one depicted by Moynan's painting tho. The cave was really, really small, as Ian Knight describes in his excellent "Zulu Rising" :" no more than 2 or 3 metres high, extending back about the same distance into the hillside".
I am more intrigued by the way he got there in the first place. Did he get lost/ seperated from his mates, who charged down the hill? Was this perhaps an attempt to escape? Did he try to survive and keep the Zulus at bay, hoping that Chelmsford would arrive with reinforcements soon? We'll likely never know, but it can be a matter of some interesting debates...

Subject: Last of the 24th at Isandlwana Fri Aug 09, 2024 4:48 am

Hi Hobbes .
Having been to Isandlwana many times in the last ten years there are at least several ' Caves ' that could've been the one used by the
lone Soldier, although the accepted cave is probably the one used . My best Guess he was probably wounded and a member of Younghusband's C Company... as they were already on the slope of the Eastern Face of Isandlwana and wasn't able to be part of the ' charge ' down the slope .

90th Salute

Subject: Re: Last of the 24th at Isandhlwana Sun Sep 01, 2024 7:51 am

Read the original account of the uVe warrior in Colenso and Durnford.

» The 24th Regiment at Isandhlwana'
» 1st Battalion 24th Regiment side-drum recovered from Isandhlwana, 1879
» Private William Johnson, 1st Battalion, 24th Foot, one of the few survivors of the massacre at Isandhlwana