The Anglo-Zulu War: An Interactive History

[King Kurt]

With the wonderful gift of hindsight, I would say c. We need as good a position as is possible - the men can recover once it is built. If we wait the Zulus will come - a military system which only allows you marry after you have been blooded in battle tends to encourage reckless attacks!!!! It has been alleged that Rorke's Drift only occured because the Impis involved had not been at Isandwana and were all unmarried - so sexual frustration led to them throwing themselves on the station's defences!!

[GiantMonkeyMan]

23rd January, 1879
Chelmsford smiled at the tired troops that were digging a trench around the camp in the pooring rain that had started again. He tried hard not to appear uneasy about the low morale caused by disgruntled officers who believed that Chelmsford had gone mad and the hard work that the men had to put up with. He knew he was right. He had to be right. Somehow he unquestionably knew that the Zulu were massing somewhere to attack right this minute. The reports nearly proved it, and yet almost everyone else didn't believe so.
Once out of sight he sighed and walked to his tent, Mothusi followed obediently, holding up an umbrella. Once inside he sat down and looked over the reports. Skirmishes to the north and east, the trench progressing well despite the rain. All in all Chelmsford was pleased so far with how the campaign was progressing.
Lieutenant Coghill burst in, officers uniform soaked, and said, "Sir! People on the hills!"
Instantly Chelmsford belted out of the tent, both Mothusi and Coghill racing to catch up. Some of the soldiers had stopped digging and were looking at the growing mass of silhouettes amassing on the hills north and east of the camp. "The old fool was right..." muttered someone in front of him. Chelmsford ignored the comment.
The rain was dying down, allowing the troops to easily see the mass of enemy suddenly swarm down the hill-sides in incoherant hordes. Chelmsford's glee at being correct was instantly quashed at the sight of the attack. The trench was incomplete on the north side of the camp and most of the Zulu were coming from that direction.
Officers were already gathered around him, waiting for orders:

1. First you need to position your troops.
a. Assemble most of the British line to the north with a small NNC group for aid; their experience and training will help hold off the enemy. To the east have the majority of the NNC with a small group of British soldiers.
b. Assemble most of the NNC to the north with a small group of British soldiers to help; their larger numbers will hopefully pursuade some of the Zulu to instead attack the east where you would have placed the well trained British soldiers in the defensive position.
c. Have one battalion of the 24th to the north and the other to the east, spreading the NNC between the two directions.
d. (The first poster can come up with option d. if they wish)

2. You need to position your artillery.
a. Spread the 7 pounders evenly around your inevitably curved battle line. With the Congreve Rockets to the north.
b. Spread the 7 pounders evenly around your inevitably curved battle line. With the Congreve Rockets to the east.
c. Leave all your artillary towards the rear. They won't be able to fire as far but they will have a larger arc in which to fire.
d. (First poster again can make a new option, obviously there is a lot of choice available for this)

3. You still have about 200 cavalry in camp.
a. Send 40 cavalry to get aid while leaving the rest as a mobile auxillary. (Most of you cavalry are carbine/rifle armed).
b. Keep all of your cavalry as a mobile reserve.
c. Send 50 to get help and the rest to circle around the Zulu and attempt to gather the reconnaissance forces left in the hills.
d. (Another option that you can make a new decision about)

[King Kurt]

I think a - brits to the north, NNC to the east - the NNC are the weak link , so the trench in the east will help.
Artillery - again a. We need the firepower to help break the main attack from the north. By spreading the guns, the infantry will help support the guns when the Zulus get close. The rockets are more of a morale breaker, so again, near the main attack.
Cavalry - I think b - we need a mobile reserve to shore up where we are pressed most - perhaps a small number say 5 could be dispatched for help.

Finally, we need to get as much ammo as possible up near the firing lines of British troops - there will be plenty of targets soon!!

[Rex_Pelasgorum]

The Zulu have no chance....
It will be a mass slaughter...

In true history, Isandlwana was just pure luck and numbers....

[King Kurt]

The Zulu have no chance....
It will be a mass slaughter...

In true history, Isandlwana was just pure luck and numbers....

I think that the Zulu does have a fair chance. The historic Isandlwana was more a result of British incompetance and over confidence. The Zulus with their whole society based on a military system were not the normal colonial adversery for the british. They would not disappear after a couple of rounds. They also had a strong centralised comand structure. A steady British line would always defeat charging tribesmen - but the brits could not be everywhere. If the Zulus get amongst the NNC - who are basically Zulus with a red bandana i.e. no firearms - then they might break and expose the British flank. That is why , in my dispositions I have tried to put the NNC in a position of best defence with a trench to help them.
Once the Brits learnt the lessons of Isandlwana - this even included a longer bayonet due to the Zulu's shield and peeing on the Martini Henry's to keep them cool!! - it was a slaughter - but they needed the lessons first.

[GiantMonkeyMan]

Some Historical Info on the NNC:
I decided to give this infomation since Chelmsford would generally have known (being commander and all ).
In Chelmsfords column, there were three NNC battalions (as far as i can tell although there seems to have been extra troops) the first and second battalions were the best trained whereas the third was the least trained and enthused and was basically the most rushed battalion. The NNC were generally led by bad european officers and just as bad NCO's, which didn't help their morale. Only 1 in 10 were armed with rifles and the rest were armed as they normally would have been (the british governor basically acted as their 'war-chief' and raised them in tribal tradition). At Rhorke's Drift there were suppossedly about 100-150 NNC but as soon as they realised the Zulu were coming, they fled.

edit: forgot to say that there was basically twice as many NNC all together than British forces. (approximately)

Is there anything else you might want to know about your own forces? Since you don't know much about the Zulu (although you can guess/find out i suppose ) you can't ask about them.

[Peasant Phill]

I know almost nothing about this conflict, but I remember seeing a documentary some years ago dealing with it. As I remember they said that the zulu's used some kind of drug in the same way as berserkers did (although sexual frustration can probably have the same effect).
In this documentary there were at least 2 reasons for the defeat of the English (I don't know which battle). 1) When firing the gun, residue powder would eventually clog the barrel and render the gun useless. This was worsened by the fact that the British soldiers crack open the ammunition boxes with their gun. This could deform the copper casings of the bullets which would then spill more gunpowder and so speeding up the process of a clogged barrel. Without guns, the Zulu's had the advantage
2) the Brits were spread out to far. As a result that it was harder to support each other. And thus it was easier for the Zulu's to break through the line.

Was this documentary (or what I remember about it) correct?

As to our current situation:
1A 2A and 3B (My instinct tells me that the Zulu's will have something up their sleeves. We need something to hold them of in order to have time to reposition troops.)