The Battle of Hlobane 1879 - Anglo Zulu War

the Battle of hobani was a forgotten British disaster during the Anglo Zulu War of 1879 once more a combination of zulu excellence and British mistakes led to a costly defeat on a Lonely Mountain in South Africa in what was supposed to be a diversionary attack on a mountain to steal Zulu cattle and new to local Zulu resistance the British found themselves instead surrounded by the main Zulu Army and their force was nearly wiped out as it was they lost 90 men killed from their force of 400 Coloni

al troops plus well over 100 African auxiliaries and Zulu allies only a victory over that same Zulu Army the following day and some careful massaging of the information by the commander s Evin wood moved the Battle of cabani from another headline and maybe a film to a footnote that only Zulu War Buffs know about the early stages of the Anglo Zulu War of 1879 hadn't gone quite the way the British commander Lord chelsford had expected the Zulus have proved themselves far worthier adversaries than

the British had given them credit many followers of military history will be aware that the British army was decisively defeated at the Battle of isand Guana the Zulus overran the camp wiping out most of the 1300 British Defenders but is ang Guana was not the only Zulu success chelsford had invaded the Zulu Kingdom in a three pronged attack his own column s Evelyn Woods number four column to the north and Colonel Pearson's column attacking close to the coast we all know about the disaster that b

efell the central column at is andana but it got worse the coastal column had ended up being besieged at AO and meanwhile to the Northwest the British 80th Regiment of foot had lost 70 men when their camp at in tombe was overrun by the Zulus under a swasi prince and bini so all in all the British Invasion had been a bit of a disaster and Chelmsford needed to both reverse the military situation and save British honor welcome to another talk on one of my most popular subjects here on YouTube the A

nglo Zulu War of 1879 it's certainly a period from British military history that has fascinated me ever since my dad took me to see zulu when I was a lad yet the arrival of the Zulu Army above Rock drift is still one of my favorite cinematic moments what is it about this war that fascinates you I'd love to know your thoughts in the comments below now today's story is another CP although pretty much forgotten bravery edge of your seats action incompetence and more I think it'd actually make a fan

tastic film so sit back grab your favorite drink and let me tell you the story of the battle of hobani having retraced his steps back into the British colony of natal Lord chelsford decided to extricate the coastal column under Colonel Pearson from their position at aoy the problem for chumford was that the Zulu King keso could now throw his Victorious Army at Chelmsford as he made his way to relieve Pearson and thus on the 20th of March he ordered Colonel EVN wood and his fourth column in the n

orthwest of zululand to create a diversion and draw some of keto's army to the opposite end of the Kingdom after all even Zulus couldn't be in two places at once and so Evelyn and his Deputy Colonel Reed V bullah were more than happy to oblige the only problem for wood and bullah was that despite offering themselves as bait they hadn't actually prepared themselves for the coming storm and so it was that on the 28th of March 1879 the British came within a hair's breath of another calamitous defea

t at the hands of the Zulus the backbone toward WS number four column were two battalions of regular British troops also called Imperial troops the 13th Somerset Regiment of foot also called Prince Albert's light infantry and the 199th peria light infantry comprising of about 1,200 troops in total the rest of his force was made up of around 500 mounted Colonial troops 500 black African auxiliaries and a couple of hundred Renegade Zulus commanded by King keto's half brother Prince hamu sir evand

wood and Colonel bullah were both members of s Garnet walley's a shanty ring of officers wood who'd been awarded the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny Indian Revolt in the 1850s during which time he had survived being trampled by a giraffe was Keen to take the war to the Zulus indeed he was so Keen to be in action that he had actually Advanced his number four colum across the border before the British ultimatum had expired moving forward to establish a fortified position at Kula it was the

re that he heard the incredible news of the British defeat at is andana since that defeat wood had stayed put at Kula which he had fortified using wagons and trenches now with chumford ordering him to create a diversion he activated a plan that he and bullah had been formulating for several weeks they would attack the Abu kului Zulus who were deeply loyal to the Zulu King at their stronghold of kabani mountain about 25 Mi Northeast of his encampment at Cula the Abu kului had been joined by imini

the Victor at intombi and have placed 1,000 Warriors guarding 2,000 cattle on the top of the mountain despite what some viewers comment about the British wanting Zulu gold there was no gold in Zulu land the key to Zulu wealth was cattle to lose 2,000 of them on kobani Mountain would be a psychological blow to a society that valued cattle above all else and it would also deny queso's Army a valuable food source kobani mountain with its flat top was about 4 MI long and about half a mile wide it w

as part of a chain of mountains running in a northeasterly direction towards the neighboring Kingdom of the suasis rising to nearly 1,000 ft above the surrounding Plains with sheer sides except at each end it was a natural defensive position with enough room for all those cattle as well to the Northeast end a saddle or neck linked it to the next mountain in yentia at the other end it dropped to a lower Plateau VI a 150t steep slope later called Devil's Pass and you'll find out why it has that na

me in a little while that's lower Plateau called little kalbani or nintend broadened into to a 4 Mile Ridge before rising to the zungu mountain wood had actually conducted a reconnaissance on the 15th of March and had identified two possible routes to the summit of kuani however as he was viewing from distance and no one in his Force had ever climbed the mountain his survey was far from accurate his observations had failed to clearly identify the roots in detail nor had they spotted the Myriad o

f caves that honeycombed the mountain and nor had he actually seen just how steep that Devil's p actually was moreover whil the top of the mountain looked flat from his distant reconnaissance he was unsure whether it contained gullies or other natural obstacles that could both hinder his advance and Aid the Zulu Defenders from his observations however wood had spotted that the bulk of the 1,000 Zulu Warriors No Doubt therefore the cattle were on that lower plateau of little kobani he therefore d

ecided to cut them off from retreating to the higher Mountain by sending Colonel bullah to seiz Club bani itself in the nighttime Advance the next morning a second force would Advance along the 4 Mile Ridge towards the lower Plateau thus catching the Zulus in a Piner movement in the early hours of the 27th of March 1879 whilst it was still dark his Attack Force was assembled as kabani was 25 Mi away wood decided not to use his British infantry the 13th and the 90th this would be a mounted Coloni

al Expedition along with African infantry who were more used to traversing this landscape at speed as mentioned just now wood planned a pincer attack bullah would scale kabani from the furthest end of the mountain with 400 mounted Colonial troops the largest contingent were just over 150 members of the frontier light horse under the command of Captain Robert Barton on Circ condent from the Coldstream guards the other Colonial volunteer troops were the transval Rangers under commandant Peter Joha

nnes RF and 80 men from the cape colony in a unit called Baker's Hall there were also about 30 local boers riding under bullah under the command of Pete Ace the 52-year-old son of one of the four trackers leaders from the great Trek finishing off Bull's Force were just under 300 local Africans from Wood's irregular Battalion they were commanded by Major nox leit from the 13th Regiment of foot the only Imperial or British regulars in Bull's column were eight men from the Royal artillery rocket co

mpany meanwhile leftenant John cesil Russell would would lead the second prong of the attack up onto the plateau driving the abui Zulus and their cattle before them into the arms of bullah Russell was a 40-year-old Cavalry officer who had served in the Ashanti war and whilst he never reached the stardom of some of his compatriots he was thus also a member of garnet walley's a shanty ring so interestingly this means that the overall Mastermind of the battle of kobani mountain and the commanders o

f both attacking forces were all the shanty ring members wood Buller and Russell Russell's force was slightly smaller than buller's consisting of about 640 men in total of whom just under 200 were mounted there were about 80 men from the mounted infantry under the command of leftenant Edward Brown from the first Battalion 24th Regiment of foot as he'd been sanded away from the 24th his mounted infantry were with chelsford when he split his forces at isand Juana and thanks to this sment he had be

en saved from being at the camp when five companies of his Battalion were wiped out there was also a smaller contingent called the cfan Vanguard from the cape colony and completing the mounted contingent were about 70 men from the Edendale contingent from the natal native horse many of these highly regarded black soldiers had fought alongside Colonel dford at his andana before escaping a long fugitives drift and providing a brief screen at the very beginning at the Battle of rocks drift once aga

in there were over 200 men from Woods Irregulars but Russell was also accompanied by 200 disaffected Zulus these warriors were loyal to King kesh's half brother hamu traditionally sympathetic to the British and maybe with an eye on the throne he had thrown in his lot with Colonel Evelyn wood at the outset of the war once more the only Imperial troops involved were another rocket battery from the Royal artillery Bull's Force which had further to travel set off first it was a hot sunny day as bull

moves South skirting both little kubani and the larger Mountain the only sign of life up on the mountain were three large signal fires the Zulus had lit tell who they were signaling to was not clear and bullah didn't seem to care or worry and that when dealing with the Zulus always tended to spell disaster and so it would very very soon by about 3:00 p.m. he had moved Beyond kobani and in an effort to disguise his true intentions made a very visible display of establishing a camp with fires bur

ning his men sat down to drink a well-earned coffee they were now about 5 miles south of kobani 30 m from the safety of the entrenched British position at Cula the Zulus however were not fooled and had started moving cattle and Men onto the higher mountain and there they waited for the inevitable attack not only did they believe that bullah would inevitably turn back to the mountain but they correctly guessed that he would Ascend using the trail at the far Northeastern end as Darkness fell bull

ordered his men to stoke up the fires and then silently they moved forward EVN wood was riding through the night with a small escort towards Bull's now deserted Camp to watch the attack at dawn on Route he'd picked up Prince hamu and some of his men from Russell's column suddenly he saw movement ahead but it wasn't Zulus through the Gloom appeared about 60 mounted men of the bordered horse this unit made up of many British settlers from the transval had been established by leftenant Colonel Fred

erick Weatherly a 51-year-old Canadian as a young man he had served in the Austrian Cavalry before obtaining a commission in the fourth light drons and he had with that regiment ridden at The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War after further service during the Great Revolt in India he' left the Army under something of a cloud and settled in South Africa controversy continued to stalk we when he divorced his wife shortly before the outbreak of the Anglo Zulu War and he' brought his

teenage Sons with him on campaign he had set out slightly later in the day to join Bull's Force but had in the dark got lost he was not a man whom wood warmed to seeing him as a rather flamboyant character and now he was not best pleased to find him 5 miles south of the mountain he was even less impressed with the news that Weatherly imparted stumbling around in the dark slightly further to the south of where they now were he had come across a Zulu Army fast asleep now whilst aware that the Zul

u King might very well send his army towards him in response to this diversion operation Woods scoffed at the information nonsense he snapped I've had my men out yesterday there is no Zulu impy wetherly's second in command Captain Dennison interrupted and said that he crept right up to the camp again the commander repeated his assertion Dennison must be mistaken but he was not mistaken there was a Zulu Army fast asleep just a few miles away it had been dispatched from Zulu capital on the 24th of

March and had covered the 70 Mi distance in 3 days and in the morning it would be heading right this way Bull's Advance towards the neck that separated kobani from inyan Tika had initially proceeded well but sometime around midnight a storm had descended on the area Sheets of Rain deluged the advancing troops and men and horses were sent skidding across the rocky surface huge flashes of lightning cracked across the sky and that lightening illuminated Bull's men to the Zulu guards above suddenly

shots rang out leftenant Williams and three others were killed as Dawn started to break the storm finally stopped but still Bull's men had to contend with making their way up the slippery gradient while Zulus took pot shots at them from almost invisible caves just below the ridge in the growing light sir Evelyn wood was also riding forwards towards the base of the neck and with him was Weatherly with his border horse if he was concerned about the report of a Zulu Army wood didn't seem to show i

t he was more concerned with the lack of enthusiasm the Border force was showing to follow bullah up the slopes and face the enemy in frustration he rode past the stationary Colonials with his escort but promptly found the track he was following ended in a dead end as wood was about to retrace his steps a shot rang out from a cave about 50 yards away and his political officer lell and Lloyd fell from his horse with a bullet in his spine he died almost immediately wood now ordered his escort to t

ake out the sniper in the cave Captain Ronald Campbell on S condent from the prestigious Coldstream guards led a small party upwards the Gap into the cave was only about 2 ft wide so that the party had to assault it in single file as Campbell charged into the entrance he was shot straight through the forehead liutenant listens on private Fowler followed behind leaping over Campbell's prone body into the narrow Gap and entered the dark cave finally hunting the sniper down and killing him wood ord

ered that both Lloyd and Campbell should be buried on the mountain while some of hu's Warriors dug the graves with their Asis he ordered his bugler Alexander walin Shaw to go back to his horse to fetch a Bible so that he could conduct a hasty funeral despite the continuing sniper fire from above walin sha calmly made his way down the slope to the horse and then returned in a similar leisurely and upright manner for this action he would receed the distinguished Conduct Medal having conducted his

funeral service wood now remounted and decided to make his way back along the south side of kabani mountain to see how Russell was progressing actually Russell had been making pretty good and easy progress ascending the long Four Mile wide slope that led up to the southwestern end of little colani all the easier as he found no Zulus as they had all moved to the higher ground which bullah was trying to occupy meanwhile four miles away Bull's Force had reached the neck and turning left had finally

crested the northeastern Ridge of the main kobani mountain The zudu Defenders had disappeared into the caves and gullies that lited the plateau and his Force gingerly made their way forward if the Colonials were worry about the dangers lurking on the mountain the African Irregulars had thrown caution to the wind as they gleefully rounded up hundreds of cattle that were roaming on the plateau bullah became aware that the Zulus had used the terrain to move behind his force and ordered a troop of

the frontier ligh horse to cover his rear and keep the Zulus at Bay whilst he herded both the 2,000 cattle and his men down onto the lower Plateau to join Russell but Bull's plan was about to go horribly wrong and not due to one but two reasons firstly The Descent down from clani onto the plateau was not quite as simple as Woods reconnaissance a few days beforehand had implied rather than a gentle descent bull was confronted with a 150 ft near vertical drop littered with rocks and boulders whils

t a man might with some difficulty lead a horse down it it would almost be impossible for a man to descend actually mounted or at speed which leads us to the second reason why Bull's plan was about to go horribly wrong he was going to need to get off this mountain fast Colonel Sev Linwood was making his way along a ridge on the lower slopes on the south side of kobani mountain around him Prince hu's followers hded some goats that they had captured suddenly the Zulu Prince called wood to the edge

of the ridge the British commander trotted over and looked down onto the plane below sweeping along the side of the mountain was the main Zulu Army yeah the one he' scoffed was nowhere near here over 20,000 strong the heads of those Warriors many of whom had been Victorious at isan Guana would turned towards the fire that they could hear from Bull's men somewhere out of sight on the top of the mountain as wood watched on the Zulu Army started to adopt its traditional horns of the Buffalo battle

formation the flanking horns were already starting to increase Pace as they sought to climb up the track that bullah had taken only a few hours before and the other raced southwestwards to either scale the neck between little hobani and zungu mountain or indeed sweep around that mountain entirely either way they' cut off a retreat to Cula suddenly Wood's diversion reaction was in danger of becoming a repeat of his handana he hurriedly wrote a note to Russell warning him of the danger he then or

dered his men to ride or run as fast as they could along the Ridge and get ahead of the Zulu Army it was now 10:30 a.m. on the 28th of March 1879 by the time Woods note reached Russell he had already seen the Zulu Army aware that there was no way that bullah could descend the 150 ft precipitous drop hit s two officers climbing up to find his counterpart and advised that he would need to descend the way that he had arrived now upon seeing the Zulus to the South he sent a further message warning b

ullah of the danger it was now that Wood's message arrived ordering him to get into a position on zungu neck whilst Russell was more than happy to get off the plateau and avoid a similar Fate To The Defenders of is andana the message perplexed him and neck is normally in this part of Africa and now narrow piece of land or saddle connecting two mountains but as far as he could see the plateau that he was on rolled southwestwards for several miles before gently rising to zungu Mountain so was he o

n the neck now or was his commanding officer talking about the neck on the far side of zungu which made sense if the Zulu horn was trying to pass around that mountain and close the Escape Route to Kula Russell decided that wood meant the latter and ordered his men to vacate little kobani and by doing so he left bullah on his own meanwhile up on the mountain bullah was suddenly becoming aware of how dire the situation was at the same time that wood was scribbling his warning and order to Russell

bullah still oblivious to the impending danger had ordered Captain Barton and a contingent from the Frontier light horse to head back across the mountain to bury leftenant Williams and the three others killed on the climb that morning now just a half an hour later at 11:00 a.m. he received Russell's warning already he could see up on inenka Mountain over 2,000 Zulus Gathering under imini Barton totally unawares was riding straight towards them he was also riding straight towards the right Horn o

f the Zulu Army frantically he sent two Troopers riding across the Broken Ground with the new message retreat by the right of the mountain if Wood's message to Russell had been vague and confusing it was rivaled by bullers to Barton in a rerun of the messages ordering the ch of the LGE Brigade it was a message that had different interpretations depending where you were physically standing and looking bullah had dictated the note whilst facing west to him the right of the mountain was the western

or Northwestern Edge in other words the side closer to the safety of Kula unfortunately it just so happened that when Captain Barton received the message he was at the far end of the mountain about to descend onto the neck between kobani and Yanka Facing East as he looked out his right was along the southern edge of the mountain from where bullah had approached the day before he duly descended the path meeting Weatherly on Route whose men swelled his ranks as their force of just over 100 men ca

me towards the base of the neck they saw to their horror the right Horn of the Zulu Army just a quarter of a mile away and advancing straight towards them Barton and wle hurriedly turned their men around to once more send the neck only to find that umini and over 2,000 men both from his clan along with the local Abu kului were now blocking their path they were trapped behind them the rapidly advancing Zulu Army ahead of them in that narrow neck filled with 2,000 Warriors but beyond the neck was

the route back to Cula they charged into the Zulus above them and as they disappeared into the waiting throng it was every man for himself some did manage to break through and now a further horror awaited them the other side of the neck or saddle ended with a 400t precipice strewn with rocks as the survivors hesitated the Zulus were amongst them shooting stabbing leftenant Colonel Weatherly turned and saw his 15-year-old son Rupert on the ground with a Zulu towering above him as ay raised the ve

teran of The Charge of the Light Brigade spurred his horse and killing the Zulu he grabbed his injured son the man who had warned Woods about the Zulu Army was last seen wielding his his saber and clutching his son as the Zulu swarmed around him they were among 66 Colonial troops to die on the neck those who survived did so by plunging their horses down the precipice amongst them was Captain Dennison whose claimed that he had crept up to the sleeping Zulu Army had been ridiculed by wood he was t

he only officer of the Border horse to survive the Battle of halani and would go on to serve in both the first and second B Wars another man to break through the Zulus was Captain in Barton Barton lost his horse in The Descent but managed to find a riderless mount at the base nursing an asagi wound he rode toward safety although safety was not close to hand it might have been hard for mounted men to descend those rocks but it had been easy for Fleet footed Zulus any Colonial Trooper without a ho

rse was swiftly overtaken and killed Barton came across another officer leftenant PA of the Border horse running for his life hoisting Paul onto his horse he set off for Cula 25 M away chased by Zulu Warriors and the Zulus wouldn't give up they pursued him for 8 Miles finally Barton's horse gave up and the two men tried to run for it Paul was killed and then a senior Warrior an induna faced Barton the British officer drew his revolver and fired his revolver misfired again another misfire Third T

ime Lucky not this time another misfire The induna Who already washed his spear by killing other soldiers up on the neck indicated for Barton to surrender unbeknown to the Cold Stream Guardsmen the Zulu King had issued orders to capture British officers as they faced each other the silence was shattered by a rifle shot another Zulu Warrior had arrived the induno looked back at Barton who fell mortally wounded Barton would not be his prisoner so he stepped forward and delivered the Cuda grass onc

e the men of the frontier light horse and the Border horse were dying on the neck the situation at the far end of cabani mountain was equally dire Panic was setting in as the natal Africans and the colonial troops found themselves trapped between the rocky 150 ft drop later called Devil's Pass and the Zulus advancing along the Mountaintop making matters worse even if a man had wanted to take his chances descending that drop he had to get past 2,000 panic-stricken cattle blocking the way behind t

hem the Zulus who' originally been keeping their distance were emboldened by the arrival of the Army and the success down on the neck they now started to Dart in amongst Bull's Milling force it was with some difficulty that bullah restored a semblance of order and formed a rear guard to buy time for as many men as possible to descend the treacherous slope for Vital minute common out R of the transval Rangers leftenant Brown of the mounted infantry and Troop sergeant major Charles Everett command

ed that rear guard you might recall leftenant Brown he had missed the fate of most of his Battalion of the 24th regiment at DES because he'd been succed to the mounted infantry he started this Expedition with Russell's column so why was he now up there with bullah well it seemed his luck had finally run out he was one of the officers whom Russell had sent climbing Devils past to war bua of the impending danger as brown and the rest of the rear guard fired away Africans were seen running towards

them and a shout went up that they were part of woods irregular auxiliaries they ceased fire too late they realized that who whoever shouted that ceasefire was wrong they were Zulus and they tore through that fragile line of defense one officer and 16 troopers were killed that stand on the mountain had brought valuable time for others to escape but the remaining Defenders up there were now finally being overwhelmed Victoria Zulus were even throwing some of the Defenders off the side of the mount

ain to their deaths Trooper Pon reached the edge of the ridge only to be speared from his horse by aulu Trooper White Cross came to his Aid he used his rifle butt to beat off the warrior pulled Pearson onto his horse and somehow he guided his horse carrying two men down that slope both men and the horse survived up on the edge of the mountain sergeant major Everett knew it was all over he sat down and simply awaited death all at once a large hand grabbed his collar and was rushing him towards th

e drop into Devil's Pass awaiting that final shot from the Zulu Warrior he suddenly realized it was in fact Colonel bullah who bellowed at him to climb down later survivors claimed that bullah was the last man to descend from The Mountaintop The Descent down the rock face to Devil's Pass was just as frightening as anything up on the Mountaintop men and horses were stumbling and falling horses lost their footing and fell onto Troopers who lay trapped Zulu's leaping down to finish them off 17-year

-old George mosip nicknamed chops was born in Durban in 1861 when he was just 14 he'd run away from home and became a dispatch rider in the transval with over 3 years experience riding across the African felt he had despite his age been snapped up by the Frontier light horse now he found himself on the edge of kobani mountain looking down at the Mayhem below nursing an asy slash across his arm he abandoned his horse and jumped off the ledge slipping down the precipice passing dead horses and Zul

us he arrived at the bottom and as he recovered his senses he felt a giant hand on his shoulder it was bullah where's your horse shouted the colonel from Devon mossup indicated back to the ridge go and get it and don't lose it again roared bullah the teenager was so scared of bullah that he actually climbed back up the slope where the few surviving Defenders were facing the Zulus amazingly there too was his pony named Warrior at that moment the Zulus charged and he and another man were chased to

the southern edge of the mountain away from Devil's Pass mosip asked if they could get away and His companion said not a chance and with that to Moss's horror he placed the bar bar of his carbine in his mouth and pulled the trigger that suicide along with the advancing Zulus galvanized the young Trooper he'd have to take his chances with the Furious Buller once more he jumped off the edge and somehow bounced from rock to rock all the way down to a ridge below without breaking a limb and there o

n the ridge almost like a present from heaven was none other than Warrior he mounted his Pony and galloped up the slope to Devil's Pass dodging Zulu Warriors and over the other side George mossup reached the safety of Cula that night but Brave Warrior who' sustained an asagi wound in the Escape died the following morning mossup himself would continue to serve for the rest of the Anglo Zulu War finishing off at the Battle of wundi he died in Risha in 1938 whilst he hadd been having his miraculous

Escape over the Southern Ridge of kobani mountain the rest of the survivors had been fighting for their lives up on Devil's Pass Zulus had bounded down the rock face and were now attacking men who were desperately trying to find mounts to escape on Pete ice the boore commander saw his son struggling to control his horse and rode back to help him as he neared aulu suddenly sprung up and speared him in the back amazingly liutenant Brown's luck continued to hold he'd managed to get down from the m

ountain as the rear guard had broken having found a horse he proceeded to carry two Troopers to safety meanwhile liutenant Smith of the frontier light horse was also ploted to safety by Major nox leet riding past leftenant cesil Dary found found himself unseated in Devil's Pass Trooper Francis raced towards him with a spare horse leaping up Darcy was about to escape when he saw a wounded Trooper nearby dismounting he heed the trooper up and slapped the horse which galloped away for that act of s

elflessness he'd be recommended for the Victoria Cross as he now stood with the Zulu's closing in Darcy was rescued by bullah who rode to his Aid as the day ended exhausted survivors started to ride into the British camp at Kula many had been chased for several miles by the Zulus upon his own arrival bullah realized that some of the men he'd seen escaping westwards from kabani had yet to return immediately saddling up he went out into the dark searching for them and throughout that long night he

found survivors and shephered them home five Victoria crosses were awarded for acts of Bravery during that chaotic and terrifying battle on cabani Mountain they were leftenant Brown of the 24th Regiment of foot and mount infantry for his bravery in rescuing two men at Devil's Pass major KNX leite for rescuing leftenant Smith again at Devil's Pass liutenant listens and private Fowler for storming the cave after Captain Campbell had been killed and finally Reds Buller for three acts of Bravery re

scuing sergeant major Everett Trooper Randall and leftenant darccy interestingly Darcy was recommended for the VC by bullah for his Brave actions giving up his horse for the wounded Trooper but the recommendation was turned down however with a certain element of poetic justice he was awarded a VC for bravery just before the final battle of this war at aundi when he was commanding the Frontier light horse and the man who recommended him on that occasion redv buah VC four distinguished conduct med

als were also awarded to survivors at the Battle of kobani including bugler Alexander walin Shaw he would remain with wood for the rest of the war and afterwards stayed with wood when he escorted the empress Eugenia France to zululand to visit the spot where her son the prince Imperial was killed wena would end up falling in love and marrying one of the empress's maids and would die in France in the 1920s but the medals for gallantry and the incredible acts of bravery and narrow escapes couldn't

hide the fact that kobani was almost a disaster of massive proportions as it was 10 officers and 80 men were killed out of Bull's force of 400 mounted Colonial troops nearly a quarter the frer light horse had lost 29 men and the Border horse had almost ceased to exist as a unit over 100 African Irregulars and hamu warriors had also been killed and rather like the recent defeat at isan Guana a large part of the disaster was of the British own making scant reconnaissance meant that Devil's Pass c

ame as a surprise to both bullah and Russell who couldn't join forces careless or even negligent scouting had not spotted a Zulu Army of over 20 ,000 approaching and reports of the nearby Army were dismissed by wood as simply wrong incredibly Colonel Evelyn wood VC somehow came out smelling of roses partially this was down to him being deliberately vague in his reports about what had actually taken place his massaged accounts left even his Commander Lord chelsford unclear about what had exactly

happened up there in Northwest zululand but there was no denying the facts hot on the hills of is andana and in me this was the third Zulu victory of this war but this Victory would also be their last just 24 hours later that Victorious Army would be decisively defeated by Wood's British Red Coats when they attacked his 45 position at Kula and therein lies one last reason why kobani didn't get the coverage of his andana put quite simply no British Red Coats had been involved at clani apart from

some officers attached to the various units the battle had been fought by Colonial white troops and black African auxiliaries so whilst many newspapers in South Africa were a gust at the casualties the British press paid its scant attention after all Colonial units being wiped out didn't sell newspapers in Britain whereas a magnificent Victory by the Red Coats just a day later was much more interesting and that Victory the Battle of Kula would be the turning point of this war and I'm going to co

ver it in another episode very soon thanks for joining me today and I hope you enjoyed that story from the Anglo Zulu War what stories from British or British military history would you love to hear about in the future please do drop me a line in the comment section below and if you haven't already please do subscribe to my channel and maybe even become a member click on the buttons below thanks for your support keep well and I'll see you again very soon