Industrial Age · Africa · War

1879

Battle of Isandlwana

January 22, 1879

Twenty thousand Zulu warriors overwhelmed a British camp at Isandlwana in Natal, killing over 1,300 soldiers in one of the worst defeats the British Empire ever suffered at the hands of an indigenous army. The Zulus fought with assegais and discipline against Martini-Henry rifles - and won. The empire's confidence in technological supremacy cracked, briefly.