Greaves, Adrian: The Battle of Ulundi, 4 July 1879

In 1879, Great Britain was at the height of its power when its forces in South Africa unexpectedly invaded neighboring Zululand. The Zulu King Cetshwayo resisted and swiftly defeated the invading forcesfirst at Isandlwana (despite the defense of Rorkes Drift), then at Ntombe and Hlobane. It was not until Khambula that the British achieved their first significant victory; this boosted their confidence enough to launch a renewed invasion, bringing the opposing armies together at Ulundi for the war's decisive battle. The Zulus were defeated in a fierce struggle, yet the British public and pressaccustomed to victorywere less interested in the battle itself than in the subsequent fate of Cetshwayo, who was subsequently captured. His kingdom was partitioned into thirteen feuding chiefdoms and his cattle confiscated, thereby destroying Zululand's economy. In 1882, Cetshwayo was brought to England to meet Queen Victoria; although she called for his return to Zululand, it was restricted to a single chiefdom. Adrian Greaves provides a detailed account of the Ulundi campaign and the battle itself, incorporating insights drawn from his intimate knowledge of the terrain. He then continues his compelling narrative with the events surrounding Cetshwayos capture and release, as well as the ensuing Zulu civil war, in which the king suffered yet another military defeat. The tragic conclusion sees the deposed king fleeing to British protection, only to die shortly thereafter from poisoning. He was buried in a location difficult for his followers to accessa site now regarded as a Zulu shrine.