Anthony Durnford Lieutenant colonel Anthony William Durnford ( 1830 – 1879 ) was a career British Army officer of the Royal Engineers who served in the Anglo - Zulu War . Brevet ed colonel , Durnford is mainly known for his presence at the defeat of the British Army by the Zulu ' s at the Battle of Isandlwana . Background . Durnford was born into a military family at Manor Hamilton , County Leitrim , Ireland on 24 May 1830 . His father was General Edward William Durnford , also of the Royal Engineers . His younger brother , Edward , also served in the British military , as a lieutenant - colonel in the Royal Marine Artillery . During his formative years he lived with his uncle in Düsseldorf , Germany . In July 1846 Durnford returned to England to enter the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Engineers in 1848 initially serving at Chatham and Scotland . Between 1851 and 1856 he served in Ceylon , stationed at Trincomalee , where he provided distinguished assistance in designing the harbour . In 1853 Durnford was instrumental in saving portions of the harbour defences from destruction by fire . Durnford volunteered for service in the Crimean War but was not accepted . He was transferred in 1856 to Malta as an intermediate posting , but did not see active service either in the Crimea or in the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 . He served in Malta as an adjutant until February 1858 , when he was promoted to Second Captain and posted back to Chatham and Aldershot in England . Between 1861 and 1864 Durnford commanded No . 27 Field Company , Royal Engineers , at Gibraltar . In 1864 , promoted to Captain , he was transferred to China , but was invalided back to England while in transit due to heat apoplexy . After his recovery , Durnford spent the next six years at Devonport and Dublin on routine garrison duties . In 1871 he received a posting to South Africa . South African duty . On 23 January 1872 , he arrived in Cape Town , still never having seen active service . He was however promoted to Major on 5 July 1872 and Lieutenant colonel on 11 December 1873 . Of the 16 months following his arrival in the Cape , Durnford spent the greater portion at King William ' s Town . In a letter to his mother he wrote of the blacks : " . . they are at least honest , chivalrous and hospitable , true to their salt , although only barbarians . They are fine men , very naked and all that sort of thing , but thoroughly good fellows " . He appears to have adhered to his idealistic picture throughout the remaining years of his life . He was later stationed at Pietermaritzburg , where he was befriended by Bishop Colenso and he joined Theophilus Shepstone on an expedition to crown King Cetshwayo . He saw some action during the pursuit of Langalibalele at Bushman ' s River Pass , where he showed great courage but received two assegai stabs , one in his side , the other in his elbow ; severing a nerve thus paralysing his left under - arm and hand for the rest of his life . Durnford managed to shoot two of his assailants with his revolver and to extricate himself . His Natal Carbineers had abandoned him , but his loyal Basuto troopers stood by him . In 1878 Durnford , as the senior Royal Engineer officer in the colony , served on Sir Henry Bulwer ' s Boundary Commission to investigate the disputed border between the Transvaal and the Zulu Kingdom . Later that year he was tasked to plan the formation of an African auxiliary force which soon became the Natal Native Contingent ( NNC ) Anglo - Zulu War . He was one of the most experienced officers of the Anglo - Zulu War - - " commanding presence , untiring energy and undoubted powers of leadership " , he was also apt to be headstrong , and was threatened with loss of command by Lord Chelmsford . Assigned to lead the No . 2 Column of Chelmsford ' s invasion army , Durnford commanded a mixed force of African troops including the Natal Native Horse and a detachment of the 1st Regiment Natal Native Contingent . On 20 January , Durnford ' s force was ordered to Rorke ' s Drift to support Chelmsford ' s column . That evening , a portion of the No . 2 Column under Durnford arrived at Rorke ' s drift and camped on the Zulu bank where it remained through the next day . Late on the evening of 21 January , Durnford was ordered to Isandlwana , as was a small detachment of No . 5 Field Company , Royal Engineers , commanded by Lieutenant John Chard , which had arrived on the 19th to repair the pontoons which bridged the Buffalo . Chard rode ahead of his detachment to Isandlwana on the morning of 22 January to clarify his orders , but was sent back to Rorke ' s Drift with only his wagon and its driver to construct defensive positions for the expected reinforcement company , passing Durnford ' s column " en route " in the opposite direction . Around 10 : 30am on the morning of 22 January , Durnford arrived from Rorke ' s Drift with five troops of the Natal Native horse and a rocket battery . A Royal Engineer , Durnford was superior in rank to Brevet Lt - Col Henry Pulleine , who had been left in control of the camp . This put the issue of command to the fore because Durnford was senior and by tradition would have assumed command . ( Pulleine ' s rank was Brevet Lieutenant Colonel . In other words he was still being paid as a major . ) Durnford did not over - rule Pulleine ' s dispositions , however , and after lunch he quickly decided to take the initiative and move forward to engage a Zulu force which Pulleine and Durnford judged to be moving against Chelmsford ' s rear . Durnford asked for a company of the 24th , but Pulleine was reluctant to agree since his orders had been specifically to defend the camp . Durnford was killed during the resulting battle , and was later criticised for taking men out of the camp thus weakening its defence . His policy though , was in effect to ride to the sound of the guns , " and attack the Zulu wherever they appeared " , and was well respected by his native Basutos . It must be added , moreover , that the actions of Durnford and his command effectively halted the left horn of the Zulu army until their cartridge boxes began to run dry . This was no small accomplishment considering the Left Horn included the inGobamakhosi regiment , " The Benders of the Kings " . Their ammunition supply expended , Durnford and his troopers fought their way back to the " saddle " that separated the wagon park from the rest of the camp . In one last valiant effort , Durnford perished with a handful of his troopers as the horns of the Zulu army engulfed the camp . Among the causes of the disaster were the ill - defined relationship between Durnford and Pulleine , brought about by failures of Lord Chelmsford ' s command and control , a lack of good intelligence on the size and location of Zulu forces which resulted in Chelmsford splitting his force and , most decidedly , Chelmsford ' s decision not to fortify the camp ( which was in direct violation of his own standing pre - campaign orders ) . Popular Culture . In the 1979 film Zulu Dawn , which depicted the battle of Isandlwana , Dumford was portrayed by Burt Lancaster .