page_title: Battle of Kambula
section_title: Battle
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Kambula / Battle
caption_attribution_description: English: An English map of the en:Battle of Kambula in the Anglo-Zulu war.
context_page_description: The Battle of Kambula took place on 29 March 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, when a Zulu Army attacked the British camp at Kambula, having routed the mounted element of the British force at the Battle of Hlobane the day before. The battle was a decisive defeat and the Zulu lost their belief in victory. The war ended after the Battle of Ulundi on 4 July 1879.
context_section_description: At 12:45 p.m. on 29 March 1879, the tents were struck, reserve ammunition was distributed, and the troops took up their battle stations. As the troops moved to their posts they could see the Zulu right horn, circling north out of British artillery range before halting north-west of the camp. The left horn and centre of the impi continued westwards until they were due south of Kambula. At 1:30 p.m. Lieutenant-Colonel Redvers Henry Buller was ordered with his mounted troops, to sting the right horn into premature attack. The men rode out to within range of the massed Zulus, fired a volley and raced back, closely followed by a great wave of 11,000 Zulu warriors shouting "Don't run away Johnnie! We want to speak to you". As soon as the horsemen had reached Kambula and cleared the field of fire, the British infantry opened fire with support from their four 7-pounders firing shell, which had been firing over the heads of the horsemen and then when the Zulus got closer, engaging them with case (canister shot). A small number of Zulus managed to burst into the laager and were repelled with bayonets, while the bulk of the advance was held at bay by the steady British volley fire and artillery. Some of the Zulu force swung right to come in against the western sides of the laager but was met with equally effective volley-fire. At about 2:15 p.m. the Nkobamakosi of right horn drew back to the north-east.
  As the right horn made its withdrawal, the left horn and centre comprising the Umbonambi (uMbonambi), Nokene (uNokhenke) and the Umcityu advanced towards a ravine below the redoubt, then attacked from the ravine at about 3:00 p.m. The leading warriors fell to volley fire from the 13th Light Infantry in the south face of the laager and the shrapnel and case shot from the four British guns in the laager and the two in the redoubt. More and more Zulu got into the ravine, about 100 yd (91 m) from the cattle kraal. About forty Zulu riflemen climbed to the lip of the ravine and two parties took over some huts to the east and the rubbish dump to the west, about 400 yd (370 m) either side of the camp. The fire of the Zulu riflemen from the three positions forced most of the infantry in the cattle kraal to retreat into the redoubt and the rest to shelter at the wagons to the rear. Zulu morale rose at the sight of the British retreat, the men in the ravine advanced on the cattle kraal, confronted only by fire from one side of the main laager and soon forced their way into the kraal, fighting hand-to-hand with men of the 1/13th Company. The cattle in the kraal hampered both sides but with Zulu pressure mounting, most of the British troops managed to extricate themselves and pull back to the redoubt, with four killed and seven wounded. Zulu riflemen were now able to open fire from behind the walls of the kraal to give covering fire for more Zulu advancing from the ravine.
  At about this time the right horn came on again from the north-east, charging across the north face of the redoubt towards the guns and the eastern sides of the laager. Although attacked on both sides, Wood appreciated that to the south, 5,000 Zulu could shelter in the cattle kraal, only 50 yd (46 m) away, well within charging distance. Wood ordered two companies of the 90th Light Infantry to retake the cattle kraal with a bayonet charge. Led by Major Hackett the men shifted a wagon from the north-east corner of the laager and formed line with bayonets fixed. The British charged across the open ground, forcing the Zulus back over the rim of the ravine. The troops then lined the crest and opened volley fire into the packed warriors. The counter-attack had succeeded perfectly but Hackett's men suddenly found themselves under fire from their right, when Zulu marksmen in the huts and rubbish dump on the left opened fire. Wood ordered the recall, Hackett sounded the 'Retire' and his men returned to the cover of the laager, losing a colour-sergeant, a subaltern and Hackett receiving a blinding head wound; forty-four men were killed or wounded. The Royal Artillery fought their guns i
caption: A British map of the battle
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