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Blood on the Painted Mountain: Zulu Victory and Defeat, Hlobane and Kambula, 1879
During the Anglo-Zulu War, the bloody battle and British defeat at Hlobane, "the painted mountain," was followed by 1,000 Zulu dead at Kambula--a British victory that marked a turning-point in the war. This gripping account explores the crucial role of the Colonial horsemen at Hlobane, who fought daringly but received little credit for their sacrifices on behalf of the British Empire. B&W photos & illus.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1995
39 people want to read
About the author
Ron Lock
11 books8 followersRon Lock has spent much of his life in Africa, including thirteen years in Kenya and Tanganyika. He served in the Mounted Troop of the Royal Military Police and the Rift Valley Troop of the Kenya Police. He is the author of Blood on the Painted Mountain - Hlobane and Kambula, 1879 and numerous articles on military history which have been published in the UK and USA. He is also a registered guide to Anglo-Zulu and Boer War battlefields.
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October 22, 2023
“[Colonel Evelyn] Wood tried to lift him [the wounded man] but Lloyd was too heavy a load, and when Wood was seen to stumble, Captain Campbell rushed forward, lifted Lloyd and carried him back to the safety of the cattle kraal where the rest of Wood’s escort had also taken cover. Wood, however, did not retire; still leading his horse, he started to advance when a warrior, concealed below a boulder, fired at point-blank range, killing Wood’s horse…As the animal buckled and fell, it crashed sideways into Wood, bringing him down beneath it. Wood struggled out and instructed Campbell to go to [Colonel Frederic Augustus] Weatherley and order him to clear the rocks from which the fatal shots had been fired. Weatherley was some way below but sufficiently close for Wood to hear Campbell give the order three times. Weatherley, however, refused to move, whereupon Campbell shouted to Wood, ‘Damn him! He’s a coward!’ Then running forward, Campbell called, ‘I’ll turn them out.’ Inspired by Campbell…others of Wood’s Escort rose up led by young [Lieutenant Henry] Lysons who, desperate to test his courage, yelled ‘May I go?’ Wood, equally carried away, yelled back, ‘Yes! Forward the Personal Escort!’ In a mad rush a half-dozen men…made for the jumble of rocks. Campbell in the lead scrambled up and peered down into a black recess from which the shots had come. Momentarily unable to adjust his eyes from bright sunlight to pitch darkness, he could see nothing, but immediately below him an abaQulusi marksman, hidden in his deep cavity, was close enough to touch. He poked the muzzle of his rifle at Campbell’s head and pulled the trigger…”
- Ron Lock, Blood on the Painted Mountain: Zulu Victory and Defeat, Hlobane and Kambula, 1879
Unnecessary fact about me: I’ve been studying the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 since I was 12 years old. That’s the age when my mom bought me my own copy of Donald Morris’s sweeping history on the rise and fall of the Zulu Nation, The Washing of the Spears. This was a long time ago, back when you had to special order books like this, and it was a special occasion, me having broken my first bone.
It didn’t take long for Morris’s weighty tome to become one of my all-time favorite books. Inspired to read it after watching Michael Caine in Zulu, The Washing of the Spears riveted me with its epic tale of two very different warrior cultures clashing in southern Africa. It helped, of course, that it was also a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, even allowing for its flaws.
And it is certainly flawed.
Morris never hesitated to choose myth over hard fact, especially when the myth made for such entertaining story beats. His mistakes, distortions, and mishandling of primary sources is a frequent topic on the Anglo-Zulu War message boards where I sometimes lurk. Still, Morris injected a lot of passion into his opus, filling it with high drama while retaining a good perspective as to who were the perpetrators in the war, and who were the war’s ultimate victims.
I say all this because Ron Lock’s Blood on the Painted Mountain – though far more constrained in scope – follows in Morris’s large footsteps, maintain an infectious enthusiasm for his subject, and real storytelling ability, while also hewing to more rigorous standards of veracity.
***
The most memorable day of the Anglo-Zulu War occurred on January 22, 1879. It began with the Zulu Army demolishing a British encampment at Isandlwana, including 6 companies of Imperial Infantry. In all, some 1,300 men were killed on the British side. Normally, such an event would be enough for one 24-hour period. Later that day, however, the Zulus clashed with the British Army once again, this time at a ford on the Mzinyathi River called Rorke’s Drift. Here, approximately 150 soldiers held off repeated attacks by 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors.
You can spend a pretty good life just studying those two battles. Unfortunately, my wife has informed me that this is not a viable financial option. In any event, literature on the Anglo-Zulu War dwells on these two fantastically brutal, dramatic, and near-run fights. Even when you read a comprehensive history of the war, everything that comes after the Isandlwana-Rorke’s Drift double-header feels anticlimactic.
Lock’s Blood on the Painted Mountain tries to change that perception by focusing on another deadly twofer, the Battle of Hlobane Mountain on March 28, 1879, and the Battle of Kambula on March 29, 1879.
***
For my money, Hlobane is the more interesting engagement. An entirely mounted force under Colonel Evelyn Wood advanced on the Zulu stronghold at Hlobane Mountain. Wood divided his forces to scale and occupy the plateaus of Hlobane. While this attack was underway, the main Zulu impi arrived earlier than expected and began enveloping the men on the mountaintop. Due to a variety of factors, including miscommunication and abject terror, the battle devolved into a series of scattered, hair-raising retreats for the British. A deadly struggle ensued among a steep, treacherous jumble of rocks that proved oft as deadly as Zulu spears. As demonstrated in the except above, Lock scales the battle down to intimate details and individual experiences.
***
Zulu overconfidence from their lopsided victory at Hlobane led them to utter defeat the next day at Kambula. Here, the British got the set-piece engagement they desperately wanted, fighting from cover behind laagered wagons, where their Martini-Henry rifles worked to devastating effect. Zulu flanking maneuvers – for which they were justly famous – failed against an enemy formed into squares and not presenting a flank. Force into making frontal assaults that were hampered by poor coordination among regiments, the Zulus lost around a thousand warriors.
Kambula proved to be a turning point. A war that started with British inevitability, and then segued into catastrophe and embarrassment, turned once more against the Zulu Nation.
***
Blood on the Painted Mountain is a slim, tidy 214 pages. Almost by definition, it is written for a narrow audience. People like me who grew up with more books on the Zulus than actual friends.
Nevertheless, Lock writes in a very accessible manner. Instead of jumping right into the middle of things, he devotes the first five chapters to providing the context for the two subject battles, so you understand what led up to them.
***
From what I can tell, Lock is not a historian or writer by training. He was an invested amateur researcher who parlayed his interest into several books about the Anglo-Zulu War. I'm always a bit wary when reading a book by an enthusiast-turned-author. Here, I was pleasantly surprised by the literary qualities. For a niche-history volume, the writing is pretty good!
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is a small press publication with all the hallmarks of a mainstream release. There are two photo insets, a number of maps (of varying quality, but still), and even a pronunciation guide. For the record, Hlobane is pronounced Shlo-baan…which is not how I was saying it in my head.
***
When I sought out this book, I was frankly looking for anything about the second half of the Anglo-Zulu War. My expectations were low. Indeed, I sought nothing more than two covers sandwiching paper that had words formed into complete sentences.
Happily, Blood on the Painted Mountain surpassed that by a wide margin. This sounds like damning with faint praise, which is not my intention. This is a really impressive history book. It gives the full-dress treatment to a pair of minor battles in a half-forgotten colonial war that profoundly affected – and nearly destroyed – a proud kingdom. It’s not meant for everyone, but to those for whom it’s meant, it’s pretty darn great.
- Ron Lock, Blood on the Painted Mountain: Zulu Victory and Defeat, Hlobane and Kambula, 1879
Unnecessary fact about me: I’ve been studying the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 since I was 12 years old. That’s the age when my mom bought me my own copy of Donald Morris’s sweeping history on the rise and fall of the Zulu Nation, The Washing of the Spears. This was a long time ago, back when you had to special order books like this, and it was a special occasion, me having broken my first bone.
It didn’t take long for Morris’s weighty tome to become one of my all-time favorite books. Inspired to read it after watching Michael Caine in Zulu, The Washing of the Spears riveted me with its epic tale of two very different warrior cultures clashing in southern Africa. It helped, of course, that it was also a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, even allowing for its flaws.
And it is certainly flawed.
Morris never hesitated to choose myth over hard fact, especially when the myth made for such entertaining story beats. His mistakes, distortions, and mishandling of primary sources is a frequent topic on the Anglo-Zulu War message boards where I sometimes lurk. Still, Morris injected a lot of passion into his opus, filling it with high drama while retaining a good perspective as to who were the perpetrators in the war, and who were the war’s ultimate victims.
I say all this because Ron Lock’s Blood on the Painted Mountain – though far more constrained in scope – follows in Morris’s large footsteps, maintain an infectious enthusiasm for his subject, and real storytelling ability, while also hewing to more rigorous standards of veracity.
***
The most memorable day of the Anglo-Zulu War occurred on January 22, 1879. It began with the Zulu Army demolishing a British encampment at Isandlwana, including 6 companies of Imperial Infantry. In all, some 1,300 men were killed on the British side. Normally, such an event would be enough for one 24-hour period. Later that day, however, the Zulus clashed with the British Army once again, this time at a ford on the Mzinyathi River called Rorke’s Drift. Here, approximately 150 soldiers held off repeated attacks by 3,000-4,000 Zulu warriors.
You can spend a pretty good life just studying those two battles. Unfortunately, my wife has informed me that this is not a viable financial option. In any event, literature on the Anglo-Zulu War dwells on these two fantastically brutal, dramatic, and near-run fights. Even when you read a comprehensive history of the war, everything that comes after the Isandlwana-Rorke’s Drift double-header feels anticlimactic.
Lock’s Blood on the Painted Mountain tries to change that perception by focusing on another deadly twofer, the Battle of Hlobane Mountain on March 28, 1879, and the Battle of Kambula on March 29, 1879.
***
For my money, Hlobane is the more interesting engagement. An entirely mounted force under Colonel Evelyn Wood advanced on the Zulu stronghold at Hlobane Mountain. Wood divided his forces to scale and occupy the plateaus of Hlobane. While this attack was underway, the main Zulu impi arrived earlier than expected and began enveloping the men on the mountaintop. Due to a variety of factors, including miscommunication and abject terror, the battle devolved into a series of scattered, hair-raising retreats for the British. A deadly struggle ensued among a steep, treacherous jumble of rocks that proved oft as deadly as Zulu spears. As demonstrated in the except above, Lock scales the battle down to intimate details and individual experiences.
***
Zulu overconfidence from their lopsided victory at Hlobane led them to utter defeat the next day at Kambula. Here, the British got the set-piece engagement they desperately wanted, fighting from cover behind laagered wagons, where their Martini-Henry rifles worked to devastating effect. Zulu flanking maneuvers – for which they were justly famous – failed against an enemy formed into squares and not presenting a flank. Force into making frontal assaults that were hampered by poor coordination among regiments, the Zulus lost around a thousand warriors.
Kambula proved to be a turning point. A war that started with British inevitability, and then segued into catastrophe and embarrassment, turned once more against the Zulu Nation.
***
Blood on the Painted Mountain is a slim, tidy 214 pages. Almost by definition, it is written for a narrow audience. People like me who grew up with more books on the Zulus than actual friends.
Nevertheless, Lock writes in a very accessible manner. Instead of jumping right into the middle of things, he devotes the first five chapters to providing the context for the two subject battles, so you understand what led up to them.
***
From what I can tell, Lock is not a historian or writer by training. He was an invested amateur researcher who parlayed his interest into several books about the Anglo-Zulu War. I'm always a bit wary when reading a book by an enthusiast-turned-author. Here, I was pleasantly surprised by the literary qualities. For a niche-history volume, the writing is pretty good!
In fact, I'd go so far as to say that this is a small press publication with all the hallmarks of a mainstream release. There are two photo insets, a number of maps (of varying quality, but still), and even a pronunciation guide. For the record, Hlobane is pronounced Shlo-baan…which is not how I was saying it in my head.
***
When I sought out this book, I was frankly looking for anything about the second half of the Anglo-Zulu War. My expectations were low. Indeed, I sought nothing more than two covers sandwiching paper that had words formed into complete sentences.
Happily, Blood on the Painted Mountain surpassed that by a wide margin. This sounds like damning with faint praise, which is not my intention. This is a really impressive history book. It gives the full-dress treatment to a pair of minor battles in a half-forgotten colonial war that profoundly affected – and nearly destroyed – a proud kingdom. It’s not meant for everyone, but to those for whom it’s meant, it’s pretty darn great.
October 28, 2012
This book surprised me. I thought it might turn out to be yet another "academic paper turned into a book" type of history, which is often what you get with books about more obscure topics like the Zulu War. But this was actually a very well-written, fast paced, and informative history of most of the war, rather than simply an analysis of Hlobane and Kambula.
Lock focuses on three battles, really. Hlobane and Kambula are obviously the center pieces, but he also talks in depth about Isandlwana. Mainly because the utter destruction of the British there, as well as the rout at Hlobane, led directly to the Zulu decision to assault the fortified camp at Kabula, rather than go around and attack the English and Boer settlements as originally intended. He mentions Rorke's Drift in passing (though I hadn't realized that only a small portion of the Zulu army attacked it, and not the whole thing), and also mentions the battle of Ulundi. But Lock clearly regards the massive loss at Kambula to be the end of any chance of victory for the Zulus.
This book changed my opinion on many things. First, I didn't realize how large a percentage of the forces used by the British were colonial volunteers, native "irregulars", and Boer horsemen. There weren't all that many regular troops, though of course their artillery was. Also, I didn't realize that the Zulus used guns in large numbers. At Kambula, at least, the vast majority of Zulus carried a firearm. Many of these were modern Martini-Henry rifles, the same used by the British, which they had captured after Isandlwana. And Zulu snipers had a serious effect on the battle, despite contemporary, and even modern, scoffing at their ability to shoot. In the end though, much like the Scots at Culloden, they fell back on the traditional spear and shield charge. Against entrenched troops, with artillery, this was suicide. And the Zulu commanders knew this full well, but the young warriors who had watched the British run at Isandlwana and Hlobane were confident that the same would happen there.
A great book for military history geeks, and a good primer on the causes and main figures of the Zulu War as well.
Lock focuses on three battles, really. Hlobane and Kambula are obviously the center pieces, but he also talks in depth about Isandlwana. Mainly because the utter destruction of the British there, as well as the rout at Hlobane, led directly to the Zulu decision to assault the fortified camp at Kabula, rather than go around and attack the English and Boer settlements as originally intended. He mentions Rorke's Drift in passing (though I hadn't realized that only a small portion of the Zulu army attacked it, and not the whole thing), and also mentions the battle of Ulundi. But Lock clearly regards the massive loss at Kambula to be the end of any chance of victory for the Zulus.
This book changed my opinion on many things. First, I didn't realize how large a percentage of the forces used by the British were colonial volunteers, native "irregulars", and Boer horsemen. There weren't all that many regular troops, though of course their artillery was. Also, I didn't realize that the Zulus used guns in large numbers. At Kambula, at least, the vast majority of Zulus carried a firearm. Many of these were modern Martini-Henry rifles, the same used by the British, which they had captured after Isandlwana. And Zulu snipers had a serious effect on the battle, despite contemporary, and even modern, scoffing at their ability to shoot. In the end though, much like the Scots at Culloden, they fell back on the traditional spear and shield charge. Against entrenched troops, with artillery, this was suicide. And the Zulu commanders knew this full well, but the young warriors who had watched the British run at Isandlwana and Hlobane were confident that the same would happen there.
A great book for military history geeks, and a good primer on the causes and main figures of the Zulu War as well.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews