Battle of Gingindlovu The Battle of Gingindlovu ( uMgungundlovu ) was fought on 2 April 1879 between a British relief column sent to break the Siege of Eshowe and a Zulu impi of king Cetshwayo . Prelude . Charles Pearson had led the No . 1 Column of the British invasion force across the Tugela River with the intention of creating an advanced base at Eshowe . This they did , but found themselves besieged in the hastily constructed base , at a deserted Norwegian mission station . A relief column was organised , and under the leadership of Lord Chelmsford it departed Fort Tenedos on 29 March to march to Pearson ' s relief . The column composed 3 , 390 Europeans and 2 , 280 Africans , and a range of artillery , including two 9 - pounders ( 4 kg ) , four 24 - pounder ( 11 kg ) rocket tubes and two Gatling gun s . The progress was slow , as Chelmsford took a roundabout route to avoid ambush in the close country Pearson had previously passed through . In addition , the rivers they had to traverse were swollen by heavy rains and fearing a repeat of Isandlwana , Chelmsford ensured his men spent much time laager ing and entrenching their camp at the end of each day . Despite this slow progress , Pearson ' s observers at Eshowe could see the relief column laagering on the south bank of the Inyezane on the evening of 1 April . The laager was sited on a 300 - foot ( 100 m ) ridge running roughly west - east . West of the ridge , the ground dipped , only to rise again to the 470 - foot ( 140 m ) Umisi Hill . The ground sloped away in all directions , allowing a good field of fire . A trench surrounded a waist high wall of earth , which itself encompassed 120 wagons formed a square with sides of 130 yards ( 120 m ) in length . While these defences were being constructed , a scout returned in the evening bearing news of Zulus massing on the far side of Umisi Hill . A second scouting party reported no forces there , but that an impi was camped to the north west of the laager . While the scouts could not assess the Zulu strength because of the darkness , this impi was in fact composed of 12 , 000 warriors , all of whom had been at Isandlwana . The impi had been ordered to ambush the relief column , and thwarted by Chelmsford already ; this was their final chance to stop the column before it reached Eshowe . The night passed with no attack . The battle . At daybreak on 2 April 1879 , the morning sun revealed a muddy and sodden ground and a heavy mist . Chelmsford could not move his wagons until the ground dried out , and so sent out the Natal Native Contingent to provoke the Zulus into an attack while he held a strong position . Once the mist lifted , the left horn of the impi was seen advancing eastwards over the river towards the British laager before disappearing into tall grass . A long burst of fire from one of the Gatling guns saw the warriors disappear into the long grass . When the left horn re - emerged it had joined the rest of the impi and the left horn , chest and right horn were advancing over Umisi Hill . The whole charging buffalo formation came in at a run on the three sides of the laager . This was the scenario Chelmsford had planned for , at a range of between 300 and 400 yards ( 300 to 400 m ) , the British infantry opened fire , supported by the Gatling guns and rockets . Zulu marksmen caused a few casualties within the laager , but the defenders kept the Zulus at bay and Chelmsford ' s defence was working . Though the Zulu regiments made persistent rushes to get within stabbing range , their charges lacked the drive and spirit that had pushed them forward at the Battle of Isandlwana and Rorke ' s Drift . After 20 minutes , the Zulu impi began to crumble away . Seeing this , Chelmsford ordered pursuit by the mounted troops and the native contingent . Large numbers of Zulu warriors were killed in this chase . By 07 : 30 , the Zulus had fled and the grim task of killing Zulu wounded was undertaken . Around the laager itself , 700 Zulu bodies were counted and 300 more were killed in the mounted chase of the retreating warriors . The British took eleven dead , including a Lieutenant - Colonel , and 48 wounded . Aftermath . The battle restored Chelmsford ' s confidence in his army and their ability to defeat Zulu attacks . With the last resistance between Chelmsford and Pearson ' s columns removed , he was able to advance and relieve Eshowe .