Zulus! Sir...Thousands of them...

The Anglo-Zulu War (1879) A Brief Synopsis

I recently played a few games with the rules for The Men who would be Kings and also had a look at Warlord's Black Powder, and also their Zulu Wars supplement. Having already built some Victorian Brits for the Sudan Campaign (another of Victoria's colonial wars); I was keen to expand my British colonial forces, and, of course they would need some opponents other than just the Mahdist Ansar...
Invested in Warlord, Perry, North Star and Empress figures.
The Anglo Zulu War (AZW) of 1879 is one of the extraordinary "little wars" of Victorian history.

Many people are aware of the battle of Rorke's Drift - made famous by the films "Zulu" (1964, Stanley Baker and Michael Caine)  and " Zulu Dawn " (1979, Peter O'Toole and Burt Lancaster) , but they are not as aware of the Battle of Isandlwana, fought earlier on the same day, 22nd January 1879.
In fact, the defense of Rorke's drift raged through the night and on into the next day, 23 January 1879.

Cetshwayo kaMpande, the Zulu King

Cetshwayo's impi dealt the British empire a bloody nose that constitutes the greatest defeat of the Brits at the hands of a native/ indigenous force ever. Rorke's drift was a bit of a face-save, if you like.

A lot has been written about Cetshwayo and Chelmsford, but in fact, neither was on the battlefield on the day. In the vernacular,  they were the commanders-in-chief, so it was "their" armies that faced off on the day. Chelmsford was the strategist of the broader attack on the Zulu kingdom. The only time they really squared up as commanders was at the Battle of Ulundi.

52 British officers and 806 non-commissioned ranks were killed at Isandlwana. Around 60 Europeans survived the battle. 471 Africans died fighting for the British. Zulu casualties have to be estimated and are set at around 2,000 dead either on the field or later from wounds. The Zulus captured 1,000 rifles with the whole of the column’s reserve ammunition supply.

The AZW war also brought an end to the Napoleonic dynasty with the death of the Louis Napoleon, the French Prince Imperial at the hands of the Zulu, and brought down the incumbent British Government. I've written a separate post on the Prince Imperial's demise.

Being of both British and Boer descent,  the history is close to my heart. In some ways it was a a pre-able to the Anglo-Boer wars, which are also of great interest to me. My ancestors also faced the might of the Zulu impi, but also that of the British empire.

My paternal grandmother was from the Eastern Cape, where many of the colonial volunteers came from. My wife's great-grandfather on her father's side, Willem Cornelis Janse van Rensburg, was the 2nd President of the ZAR (One of the Boer republics, after the Voortrekker leader Andries Hendrik Pretorius; but before the more famous Paul Kruger) Her maternal grandmother was actually disowned for marrying an Englishman, as some of her siblings died in British concentration camps in South Africa. 

My father and grandfather could speak both Xhosa and isiZulu fluently. I am only able to converse in basic Zulu, but  was once able to conduct a medical examination in isiZulu. My vocabulary, however, is fading fast after 20 years of living in New Zealand.

However, the words of Johnny Clegg's " Impi" ring in my ears as I research and write. 

Couldn't help but stream it in the background:

Impi! wo 'nans' impi iyeza

Obani bengathinta amabhubesi? (Warriors! The battle is coming! Who dares to fight the lions?) 

All along the river

Chelmsford's army lay asleep

Come to crush the children of Mageba

Come to exact the realm's price for peace

And in the morning as they saddled up to ride

Their eyes shone with the fire and the steel

The general told them of the task that lay ahead

To bring the people of the sky to heel

Mud and sweat on polished leather

Warm rain seeping to the bone

They rode through the season's wet weather

Straining for a glimpse of the foe

Hopeless battalion destined to die

Broken by the benders of kings

Vain-glorious general and Victorian pride

Would cost him and eight hundred men their lives

They came to the side of the mountain

Scouts rode out to spy the land

Even as the realm's soldiers lay resting

Mageba's forces were at hand

And by the evening the vultures were wheeling

Above the ruins where the fallen lay

An ancient song as old as the ashes

Echoed as Mageba's warriors marched away...

The Zulu war was precipitated by Sir Henry Bartle Frere in 1879 who was spoiling for a fight against the Zulu Kingdom; an independent sovereign state in Southern Africa, until then actually recognised by the British Crown.

The British army was led across the Tugela river by Lord Chelmsford and the Anglo-Zulu war resulted in one of the most bloody wars ever to take place on South African soil.

Lord Chelmsford

Chelmsford split his force into three columns. He planned to surround the Zulus and force them into battle before capturing the royal capital at Ulundi.

The right column crossed into KwaZulu near the mouth of the Tugela River to secure an abandoned missionary station at Eshowe as a base. The left column entered Zululand from the Transvaal and made for the town of Utrecht.

Finally, the centre column, led by Chelmsford himself, crossed the Buffalo River at Rorke's Drift mission station to find the Zulu army.

The Zulu King and military leader was Cetshwayo kaMpande, (son of Mpande) who ruled the Zulu Kingdom from 1872 to 1879.  He fielded an army of forty thousand to sixty thousand men. His brother, Dabulamanzi was the supreme commander of the Zulu army.

Dabulamanzi kaMpande

Frere issued an ultimatum to Cetshwayo, without the permission from the British Government, and then ordered the invasion of Zululand when Cetswayo ignored it. This invasion was led by Lieutenant General Frederick Augustus Thesiger, Baron of Chelmsford.

The British invaded Zululand in 3-pronged attack, with Rorke’s Drift being the staging point.

At least 6 battles of significance occurred: Isandlwana, Rorke’s Drift, Hlobane, Khambula, Gindlovu and Ulundi.

The Zulu warriors comparatively weakly armed, using thrusting spears (iklwa), throwing spears (umkontho); also known as assegai, warclubs and shields. Some were armed with obsolete muskets. The British soldiers were armed with Martini-Henry rifles. Colonial troops bore an assortment of weapons.

The battle for Rorke’s Drift started on the very same day as the famous Battle of Isandlwana. 

At Isandlwana the Zulu army was led by Ntshingwayo kaMahole 

(Incorrectly identified here as Cetshwayo) and Mavumengwana Kamdlela Ntuli.

The British commanders were Lieutenant colonel Anthony William Durnford and Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pulleine. The invasion column was all but completely wiped out at Isandlwana .

The Battle of Rorke’s Drift took place at the Tugela River in Natal, South Africa. The British commanders were  Lieutenant Gonvile Bromhead and Lieutenant John Chard.
Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande, commanded the Zulu army. The Brits were victorious despite overwhelming odds. The battle is immortalised in literature, legend and on celluloid.

 

Khambula,  29th March 1879: Northern Zululand. Ntshingwayo kaMahole commanded the Zulu warriors faced by Colonel Evelyn Wood's column of the army. Despite the British forces being demoralized by their defeat at Isandlwana battle, they prevailed at Khambula. The British thought this particular battle to be their turning point in the Zulu war.

Gingindlovu:  2nd of April 1879 Eastern Zululand. (Also known as uMgungundlovu and uNgungundlovu, Place of the Elephant - uDingane, Mpande's father and Cetshwayos' grandfather's capital ) Lieutenant general Lord Chelmsford himself commanded the British and Natal colonial forces while Somopho kaZikhala was the Zulu general. Chelmsford was victorious.

Ulundi: The final major battle, 4th July 1879, the capital of Zululand. King Cetshwayo himself headed the Zulu warriors doing battle with Lord Chelmsford's British soldiers. The British fielded seventeen thousand men and the Zulu twenty-four thousand men.

Cetshwayo had greater numbers of rifles and out-dated muskets at Ulundi, and hoped this would bolster his army. These weapons were often of poor quality, ammunition in short supply, and when used by with Zulu warriors not trained to use these guns, quite ineffective. Compare that to the British forces who were professional and trained soldiers, well supplied, and supported by artillery.

On  28th August 1879, the Zulu king, Cetshwayo was captured and exiled to the Cape colony. 

Disclaimer: This article is simply a distillation and interpretation of information and images freely available on the internet, for the purposes of education and entertainment; primarily for a wargaming audience. 

I do not own any of the content other than my own interpretations. 

This post may contain opinions and distortion of historical facts, and may differ from actual historical fact. Within this context I am happy to correct, acknowledge ownership or even remove content. 

How Zulu Impi killed Napoleon (Death of the Prince Imperial: 1 June 1879)

Napoléon, Prince Imperial (full name: Napoléon Eugène Louis Jean Joseph Bonaparte, Prince Impérial de France; 16 March 1856 to1 June 1879) was the only child of Emperor Napoleon III of France and his Empress consort Eugénie de Montijo.

After his father was dethroned in 1870, he relocated with his family to England. On his father's death in January 1873, he was proclaimed Napoleon IV, Emperor of the French by the Bonapartist faction.

                                                            

Louis trained as a soldier in England. Keen to see action, he successfully put pressure on the British to allow him to participate in the Anglo-Zulu War. In 1879, serving with British forces, he was killed in a skirmish with a group of Zulu. His premature death sent shockwaves throughout Europe, as he was the last serious dynastic hope for the restoration of the Bonaparte Family to the throne of France.

Born in Paris, he was baptized on 14 June 1856, at Notre Dame Cathedral. His godfather was Pope Pius IX, whose representative, Cardinal Patrizi, officiated. His godmother was Queen Victoria. His English nurse, Miss Shaw, who was recommended by Queen Victoria taught the prince English from an early age. The young prince was known by the nickname "Loulou" in his family circle.

Empress Eugenie and Louis as a baby

At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871), as teenager, 14 or 15 years old, he accompanied his father to the front and had a baptism of fire at Saarbrücken. He was present at the battle of Spicheren, on the hills above Saarbrücken, early in August, when, as the Emperor informed the Empress in a despatch published immediately afterwards, ‘Louis a fait son bapteme du feu’ (Has his baptism of fire)

Louis as boy, being groomed for life as an officer

The Prince, however, was not long allowed to partake with his father the experiences of that unfortunate campaign, but was sent back first to Paris and then Belgium when the French army began to retreat. The disastrous battle of Sedan, on Sept 2, with the surrender of Napoleon III as a prisoner of war, caused the speedy overthrow of the French Empire. 

Surrender of Napoleon III, Louis' father, to Bismarck at Sedan

The Empress, with the Prince Imperial, took herself to England for refuge. The exiled French Royal family settled in England at Camden Place in Chislehurst, Kent. On his father's death, Bonapartists proclaimed him Napoleon IV. On his 18th birthday, a large crowd gathered to cheer him at Camden Place.

The Prince Imperial attended King's College in London. In 1872, he applied and was accepted to the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He finished seventh in his class of thirty four, and came top in riding and fencing.; he passed sixth in mechanics and mathematics, seventh in fortifications and artillery, first in horsemanship, and fifth in gymnastics. He was then commissioned into the Royal Artillery in order to follow in the footsteps of his famous great-uncle.

Louis Imperial's uniform, Woolwich Academy

During the 1870s, there was some talk of a marriage between him and Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice. Victoria reportedly believed that it would be best for "the peace of Europe" if the prince became Emperor of France. 

The Prince remained a devout Catholic, and retained hopes that the Bonapartist cause might eventually triumph if the secular Third French Republic failed. He supported the tactics of Eugène Rouher over those of Victor, Prince Napoléon, breaking with Victor in 1876.

Louis Napoleon in field uniform

With the outbreak of the Zulu War in 1879, the Prince Imperial, with the rank of lieutenant, forced the hand of the British military to allow him to take part in the conflict, despite the objections of Rouher and other Bonapartists.

He was only allowed to go to Africa by special pleading of his mother, the Empress Eugénie, and by intervention of Queen Victoria herself. He went as an observer, attached to the staff of Frederic Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford, the commander in South Africa, who was admonished to take care of him. Louis accompanied Chelmsford on his march into Zululand. Keen to see action, and full of enthusiasm, he was warned by Lieutenant Arthur Bigge, a close friend, "not to do anything rash and to avoid running unnecessary risks. He reminded him of the Empress at home and his party and obligation to in France.

(Bigge had fought in the Anglo-Zulu War, and was mentioned in despatches. In 1880, he was summoned to Balmoral Castle by Queen Victoria to give an explanation on the Prince Imperial's death. He was later appointed  Private Secretary to the Queen. Rising to become Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur John Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham, GCB, GCIE, GCVO, KCSI, KCMG, ISO, PC. He was Private Secretary to Queen Victoria during the last few years of her reign, and to George V during most of his reign.) 

Taken from The Illustrated London News, June 28, 1879:

" His motive was probably no other than the natural inclination of a young man, who had been brought up with ideas of soldier-ship, to take part in some active field operations. He did not belong to the Army, and could not, therefore, expect to obtain any military rank. 

His position would be simply that of a volunteer, nominally placed on the Staff of the Commander-in Chief, and really the guest of Lord Chelmsford at head-quarters. The two private letters of introduction with which he was furnished by the Duke of Cambridge on Feb. 25, the day before his departure from this country (England) , were read in the House of Lords on Monday last. They may be quoted as showing precisely the manner in which the young Prince was unofficially assisted in gratifying his own personal desires.

 

                       

                  Prince George, Duke of Cambridge                                  Lord Chelmsford

In writing to Lord Chelmsford, the Prince George, Duke of Cambridge said of the Prince Imperial that 

“He is going out on his own account to see as much as he can of the coming campaign in Zululand. 

He is extremely anxious to go out and wanted to be employed in our army; but the Government did not consider that this could be sanctioned, but have sanctioned my writing to you and to Sir Bartle Frere to say that if you can show him kindness and render him assistance to see as much as he can with the columns in the field. I hope you will do so. 

He is a fine young fellow, full of spirit and pluck, and having many old cadet friends in the Artillery, he will doubtless find no difficulty in getting on, and if you can help him in any other way, pray do so. My only anxiety on his account would be that he is too plucky and go-ahead.”

 In the letter to Sir Bartle Frere his Royal Highness stated that the Prince was going out

“To see as much as he can of the coming campaign in Zululand in the capacity of a spectator. 

He was anxious to serve in our army, having been a cadet at Woolwich; but the Government did not think that this could be sanctioned. But no objection is made to his going out on his own account, and I am permitted to introduce him to you and to Lord Chelmsford in the hope and with my personal request that you will give him every help in your power to enable him to see what he can. 

I have written to Chelmsford to the same effect. He is a charming young man, full of spirit and energy, speaking English admirably, and the more you see of him the more you will like him. He has many young friends in the Artillery, and so I doubt not with your and Chelmsford’s kind assistance, he will get on well enough.” 

These letters plainly show that the Government and military authorities at home did not intend to accept the services of the Prince Imperial as a military officer. 

He was not to be placed under Lord Chelmsford’s command, but was received simply as a visitor. Upon his arrival at Cape Town, in the absence of Sir Bartle Frere, he was entertained by Lady Frere at Government House, but lost no time in going on to Natal. 

There he became the guest, at Pietermaritzburg, successively of Sir Bartle Frere and of Lieutenant-Governor Sir Henry Bulwer, till he reached the head-quarters of General Lord Chelmsford, whom he first met at Durban on April 9. There are but scanty notices of what he did and experienced in the months of April and May; other than that he was ill with a slight fever during two or three weeks of that time. In the latter part of May, being on the general staff, he was attached to the cavalry corps of Colonel Redvers Buller, V.C., C.B., operating on the northern frontier of Zululand.

Louis eventually made his way up country and on the 2nd of May 1879 at a camp near Khambula. He was reunited with two of his companions from Woolwich, Lieutenants Arthur Bigge and Frederick Slade. Both these officers had fought in the action at Khambula, on 29th March, which had in fact proved the turning point in the campaign. Louis listened avidly as they recounted the battle, wondering when it would be his chance to see some action. 

Photograph purported to be of Louis Imperial larking with friends  

(? Bigge and Slade) in Zululand (Providence questionable)

Shortly after on the 8th May Chelmsford appointed Colonel Richard Harrison, Royal Engineers, as his Acting Quartermaster-General. Despite his title, Harrison's task was actually military intelligence. Harrison's staff was limited, he only had two officers, Brevet Major Francis Grenfell and Lieutenant Jahleel Carey, and one Lance Corporal, by the name of Martin. 

Harrison later in life

Chelmsford decided that an observer position on Harrison's staff would be an ideal billet for the Prince Imperial. This would permit the General to stop being a royal tour guide, and allow him to get on with the matter in hand: To defeat the Zulu. 

Thus Louis was attached to Col. Harrison's staff. He very quickly found a soul mate in Carey. Thirty-one year old Carey was the son of a Devon vicar, who had been educated at the Lycee Imperial in Paris and had served as a first aid volunteer in the Franco-Prussian War. In addition he had previously seen active service in West Africa and Central America. Because of his Parisian education he affected certain French mannerisms, also well speaking the language with a marked Parisian accent. 

Jahleel Carey

The Prince Imperial had thus been permitted to be a first hand spectator and had embarked on a reconnaissance deeper into KwaZulu. 

Louis had been allowed, with Colonel Harrison's permission, to accompany a strong probing patrol, of some three hundred veteran volunteer horsemen, both European and African, to test the Zulu strength ahead of the line of march. 

Louis was in his element - the opportunity for action had at last come to him. 

On the 16th of May, as Zulu scouts were spotted on the ridge of the Itelezi Hill, but on sighting the patrol they melted back from sight. The reconnaissance commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Redvers Buller V.C., turned to his imperial guest to point out the stealth of the Zulu warriors, only to see that Louis had draw his sword, (the same sword that his great-uncle had carried at Austerlitz), and was galloping headlong in pursuit of the Zulus, thus jeopardising the purpose of the mission. 

Buller dispatched troopers after the eager young man, who returned dejected as  he had not drawn blood. Buller asserted his authority over this spectator with extreme wrath: 

"Your Imperial Highness, this is a reconnaissance, not a Zulu hunt...- Under no circumstances will I permit such reckless action again. Do I make myself clear, Sir." 

Sheepishly, the young Bonaparte admitted his error. On his return to the British lines, Buller, brave, reckless Buller, who only weeks before had personally risked his own life to rescue, not once, but three times, unhorsed men from the clutches of the Zulu, voiced his concerns about Louis Napoleon to his own superior, Col. Harrison.  

Redvers Buller V.C. 

While on patrol with Molyneux another event occurred. While talking with Louis spoke a shot rang out to their left. Nothing was to be seen, save for a trooper calmly reloading his rifle and continuing with his pace. Molyneux concluded that the man had hit whatever he had been aiming at. Not so the Prince, who again drew his sword and rode at full tilt towards the trooper. 

Molyneux shouted, "Prince, I must order you to come back." 

Louis pulled up at once, and turned to face Molyneux, he saluted the officer with his sword, before returning it to its scabbard, and then he let fly at the captain: "It seems I am never to be without a nurse."

Sullenly he returned to camp. On his arrival Colonel Henry Evelyn Wood, quipped to Louis, "Well Sir, I see you've not been assegaied yet." Louis replied, "Not yet, but while I have no desire to be killed, if I have to fall I should prefer an assegai to a bullet, for it would show that I had at least been at close quarters." 

For his sins Louis was unofficially confined to camp, employed on the less than rigorous duty of drawing maps. This was a task which he seethed about: "How could he accomplish his political purpose and reestablish the Napoleonic dynasty, armed only with mapping paper and a drawing pen?"

A patrol on the 30th concluded: " Nothing occurred. We breakfasted, we dined; we saw no Zulus, killed nothing; met with no accidents, and got into camp as quiet as you like. Those who know the Zulus say the patrol had done great good in burning the kraals, as such acts teach the natives that we mean to thoroughly suppress them. One thing has been ascertained, and that is that there are no Zulus in any number in the north-east corner of Zululand.” 

On the evening of 31 May 1879, Harrison agreed to allow Louis to scout in a forward party scheduled to leave in the morning, in the mistaken belief that the path ahead was free of Zulu skirmishers.

Death of the Prince Impérial, detail of a painting by Paul Jamin

On the morning of 1 June, the troop set out, earlier than intended, and without a full escort, largely owing to Louis's impatience. In the party was Lieutenant Jahleel Brenton Carey, a French speaker and British subject from Guernsey, (Who has been erroneously reported, also by Wikipaedia; to have been given particular charge of Louis.) The scouts rode deeper into Zululand. Without Harrison or Buller present to restrain him, the Prince is reported to have taken command from Carey, even though the latter out-ranked him.

The Prince's party was to consist of six troopers and six Basuto (also referred to as "friendly Zulu" or Hlubi) Though no officer was sent to accompany him, Lt Jahleel Carey, an accomplished and intelligent soldier, requested to join the band. Carey had been instructed to survey and map out some of the adjoining ground, and he asked leave to go with the Prince.

Harrison gave permission to Louis to verify details on his maps, by inspecting the area, and to help elect a spot for the camp to move to on the following day. 

Major Bettington's Troop of the Natal Volunteer Horse (established in Feb 1879 after the Isandlawana disaster) supplied an escort of six men. This consisted of Sergeant Robert Willis, Corporal James Grubb (a Natal farmer spoke the Zulu language and was a veteran of 16 years in the Royal Artillery), as well as four troopers namely Nicholas Le Tocq (a Guernsey islander who spoke French), William Abel, George Rogers and private Cochrane. In addition six African Basuto troopers of Captain Shepstone's Native Horse were also assigned to parade at 9.15 a.m. Due due to a misunderstanding, they reported to the wrong tent. 

The Basuto were better scouts as they had a keener sense of sight and hearing than the Europeans. In addition a renegade Hlubi Zulu was assigned as a guide who rode Louis´second horse called “Fate”. Also in tow was Louis´ fox terrier “Nero”. Eager to be about his task Louis left without waiting for the Basuto scouts. Major Francis Grenfell fell in with the group and travelled with them in the direction of the Ncome (Blood) River. A  little over twenty miles off to the east was Ulundi, the Zulu capital. 

Harrison,  who was on another mission in the same vicinity,  came upon the little party. He suggested that their numbers were insufficient, to which Louis replied, "Oh no, we are quite strong enough." 

Harrison could see other mounted units scouting on the nearby Itelezi Hills - he felt that there was no reason to dispute the matter further. Harrison ordered Grenfell to return to camp with him. 

Grenfell turned in his saddle and said, "Take care of yourself, Prince, and don't get shot." 

The Prince, replied, pointing to Carey, "He'll take very good care that nothing happens to me." 

To clear up a point on which Lt Carey and Lord Chelmsford differed in opinion: Carey went on the trip at his own request. He was never ordered to look after the Prince; in fact, he was told that, if he went, he was not to interfere with His Imperial Highness, who  was eager to restore the the tarnished fortunes of his House, and desired to have all the credit of conducting the expedition himself.

The young Prince was now in command of the party, ignoring both Carey and Harrison's advice, had prematurely, ordered it to ride without waiting for the six Basuto scouts. 

He led his little troop on for some distance, and at noon halted, again against Carey's counsel, for a rest in an apparently deserted Zulu Umuzi or kraal (A homestead, belonging to a Zulu named Sobhuza) The Umuzi was was surrounded by a field of tall maize corn and shoulder-high grass on one side and a gully (donga) on the other.

The beehive huts were deserted, but betrayed signs of recent habitation. Louis gave orders for the

men to off-saddle their mounts and allow them to be grazed. Their Zulu guide was dispatched to fetch water so that the white men could brew some coffee. 

Louis and Carey made some sketches of the terrain, and used part of the thatch of the huts to make a fire. Louis lay down beside one of the huts and relaxed, he was in his element, free from the constraints of being made to obey orders, he was now giving the orders. Carey and Louis mused over the victories of the 1st Napoleon in Italy in 1796; and Louis's mind was obviously wandering towards his own future. The men relaxed over their coffee, and enjoyed a pipe, but no one had deemed it necessary to set a guard. 

Louis did not post a lookout. This was a fatal blunder. The cover of the maize field and the tall grass rendered the place ideal for concealment and ambush. Here the Prince waited and rested an hour, while the Zulu surrounded him.

At 3.35 p.m. Carey suggested to Louis that they should saddle up,.

Louis replied, "Just another ten minutes." 

Almost simultaneously the Zulu guide reported that he had seen a lone Zulu on the rise above the kraal. The order was given to saddle-up, but some of the horses had strayed and it was a further ten minutes before all of them could be gathered and made ready. 

Lt Jahleel Carey, being an officer, mounted independently from the others. The enlisted men stood by horses, with Louis facing them. He enquired of them: "Are you all ready?" To which the men replied they were. Louis then gave the order "Prepare to mount", at which the men each put their left foot in the nearside stirrup - all were waiting for the Prince's next word of command. 

As the word "Mount" came from his lips it was drowned by a ragged volley of rifle fire from the surrounding bush, from which broke some forty or so Zulus, yelling their war cry, "Usuthu!" (Kill) as they came. This din startled the horses, making it difficult for riders to mount.

Trooper George Rogers's horse bolted, stranding him on foot. He managed to load and fire his carbine before falling to the assegais of  warriors called Zubalo and Mshingishingi. 

Carey and the others rode off towards the donga. Trooper William Abel´s flight was stopped by a bullet from a captured British rifle and he fell from his mount. As for Prince Louis, he struggled to mount his horse and in doing so his sword, (Napoleon's sword from Austerlitz) cluttered to the ground. His horse, a skittish grey, dragged him along as he clutched onto a saddle holster. 

Trooper Nicholas Le Tocq, the man from Guernsey fled past him. Le Tocq was lying on his stomach across the saddle of his galloping horse. He could offer the prince little help, save for urging him in French to mount his horse. Fate intervened. The leather strap of the saddle holster broke, sending Louis crashing to the ground, fracturing his right arm. 

Corporal James Grubb looked back to see Louis making off on foot pursued by about ten Zulus. The fleet-of-foot Zulu warriors gained on their prey. Louis ran some three hundred yards, then turned in the donga to meet his destiny. 

He drew his pistol with his left hand, and fired two shots. Neither of these found a mark, despite being at close range.  A thrown assegai, struck the Prince in the right thigh. Louis plucked the spear from his leg with his left hand, and tried to defend himself with it. Another warrior threw a spear, which entered his left shoulder. He eventually slumped to his knees. The Zulu closed in on him and he died under a flurry of stabbing assegai blades. 

No attempt could be made by Carey or the others to save Louis. It was impossible to see what was going on through the corn and grass, and it was not till the troopers had retreated for some considerable distance that Carey and his comrades learned of the Prince's fate. To have made a stand in the cornfield would have been to court instant death. 

Zulu oral history reports that the assault group was commanded by an Induna called Mnukwa, an officer of the royal household of King Cetshwayo. The warrior Langalabele hit Louis with his spear in the thigh; while Xabanga was the one who threw his spear at the Prince´s left shoulder and also fatally stabbed him to the chest. 

Most of the 17 stab marks recorded in his chest were probably postmortem. 

This would be consistent with the Zulu practice of hlomula, whereby each warrior marked this participation in the killing of a gallant foe (Louis was described as having "fought like a lion"). 

He was then eviscerated with a cut through the stomach by the warrior Klabawathunga. 

The belief was that it was necessary to free the spirit of the slain in order that it should not haunt the slayer. His clothing was taken and distributed among the warriors as it was tradition to wear a piece of clothing of the killed opponent as a talisman until a ritual cleansing could take place

Thanks to Carey's knowledge of the ground, the rest of the party, with the exception of the two slain troopers, were saved. Carey was able to give Colonel Wood's force the valuable intelligence that the enemy, contrary to the general belief, was present in strength the country ahead of the British.

With no chance to rally, and out numbered,  Carey and the others rode back, until they encountered Wood and his men. Due to the lateness of the hour, it was decided that it would have been futile to risk any further lives in the dwindling light of an African dusk. 

Carey and his men rode into camp that night and imparted their sorrowful news to General Lord Chelmsford. In the pre-dawn light of the following morning two whole regiments of regular British cavalry, several units of volunteer cavalry and a battalion of loyal African soldiers mustered to search for the Prince Imperial. 

The correspondent from the Le Figaro, Paul Deleage, his eyes filled with tears, yelled his abuse at the officers, with the words, "Yesterday the Prince left this camp with but seven companions. Today a thousand men will search for his body." 

The search party found his body  where he had died, stripped of all its clothing, the body bore seventeen spear wounds of which one of three could have proved fatal. All wounds were inflicted on the the front of his body showing that he had died facing the enemy. 

Contemporary press reports on Louis' body being recovered

The body was borne away, and amid great ceremony it was taken back through Natal, and eventually to England. Where an almost state funeral took place at Chislehurst. 

The indignation of the French Bonapartists at the death of the Prince Imperial was without limit. 

The ex-Empress, who had encouraged her son to go to South Africa, was prostrate with sorrow and remorse. Even the tender sympathies of the British Queen could not console her for the loss of one whose life was necessary for her ambition, and whose death shattered the last hopes of Imperialism in France.

Victor Bonaparte and Empress Eugenie at Louis' funeral

It was thought desirable that somebody should be sacrificed to appease the wrath of the ex-Empress.

Carey was hastily tried by court-martial, found guilty, and cashiered for "Misbehaviour in front of the enemy while in command of a reconnoitering party" He was sent back to the UK under arrest.

Carey vilified in the press

’

Carey was subjected to first a court of inquiry, then a hasty court martial in South Africa, fueled by agitation from Empress Eugénie and intervention by Queen Victoria.

 

The guilty finding and cashiering was later overturned by Prince George, the Duke of Cambridge, head of the Army. Carey was reinstated and subsequently promoted to Captain. Carey took the brave, but quixotic action of returning to his regiment. Though cleared and the court martial overturned by the Duke of Cambridge, he was to return to his regiment a pariah, shunned by his fellow officers for not standing and fighting. Carey endured several years of social and regimental opprobrium before his death in Bombay, India, following a fall from a rearing horse.

Field Marshall Wolseley’s comment may be typical: ‘He had better start in some line of life more congenial with his cowardly heart… the greengrocer or the undertaker calling might suit him."

There were only one reason for attacking Carey:

 
He was a convenient scape-goat. He was the officer of lowest rank who had any direct connection with the Prince Imperial's ill-fated reconnaissance. Though he had absolutely nothing whatever to do with the command of that expedition, or with the Prince's mismanagement of it, he was held to account.
In fact, all that Carey could be held responsible for, was for saving, by his superior knowledge of the ground, four of the six troopers whom the Prince had led into a fatal ambush.

It need hardly be said that, on review, the finding of the court-martial was overturned by the
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, and Carey restored to his rank. The Duke laid all the blame on Colonel Harrison. The latter was, however, never tried by court-martial.

 
He also found that Carey had made a mistake in assuming that the Prince would be in command of the party. Given the social standing and unique position of the Prince, this mistake which was not only natural but probably inevitable. Any of his peers would have fallen into this trap.

Louis Napoleon's death caused an international sensation. Rumour spread in France that the prince had been intentionally "disposed of" by the British. The French republicans and even a Freemason's conspiracy was blamed. In one account, Queen Victoria was accused of arranging the whole thing, a theory that was later dramatised by Maurice Rostand in his play Napoleon IV.

Zulu leaders claimed at a later stage that they would not have killed him if they had known who he was. Langalabele, and most of his other assailants, met their own death in July at the Battle of Ulundi.

Destroyed huts at Sobhuza's kraal, where the Prince Imperial met his fate

Princess Eugénie later undertook a pilgrimage to Sobhuza's kraal, and the spot where her son had died. Queen Victoria had a memorial cross erected in his memory on the spot:

The Prince, who had begged to be allowed to go to war (carrying the sword worn by the first Napoleon at Austerlitz) and who had worried his commanders by his dash and daring, was described by Garnet Wolseley as "a plucky young man, and he died a soldier's death. What on earth could he have done better?"

His badly decomposed body was returned to Woolwich Arsenal, on board the British troopship HMS Orontes; and lay in state in the western octagonal guardhouse of the barracks where he had trained. 

The funeral procession, including Queen Victoria, went from there to Chislehurst,  where he was buried. On 9 January 1888, his body was transferred to a special mausoleum constructed by his mother as the Imperial Crypt at Saint Michael's Abbey, Farnborough, Hampshire, England, alongside his late father, Napoleon III.

The Prince Imperial will appointed his cousin, Prince Napoléon Victor Bonaparte his heir, skipping the (genealogically senior heir), Victor's father, Prince Napoléon, his uncle.

Upon hearing news of Napoleon’s death, British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli asked “who are these Zulus…who on this day have put an end to a great dynasty?”

Death of the Prince impérial during the Anglo-Zulu War, detail of a painting by Paul Jamin. Collection of Château de Compiègne; Musée du Second Empire, Compiègne, France.

What became of the sword? 

There is no mention of it in Donald Morris’s  "The Washing of The Spears" or "Captain Carey’s Blunder by Donald Featherstone. There is an image in the Getty Image collection showing Lt Lysons (later VC) handing the sword to Lord Chelmsford. 

The romantic legend was that it was Napoleon’s sword that he had worn at Austerlitz. The truth is sadly more mundane. Some sources report the sword he was wearing was simply a French or British Artillery/Infantry Officer's Service sword (Type 1822 or 1845 as below) and now is located in the Château of Fontainebleau. I have been unable to locate an image of the actual sword. 

The Emperor Napoleon I had the Austerlitz sword at his death in 1821 on St Helena. General  Bertrand brought it back surreptitiously from St Helena to France to give to the Bonaparte family. It was intercepted by Prince Klemens von Metternich. The sword was handed  to King Louis-Philippe and on his death in 1824 it was placed in the Army Museum in Paris (Les Invalides ) .

The real sword of Napoleon I, worn at Austerlitz (Les Invalides, Paris) 

The final word

A bronze statue of the Prince Imperial which was erected at the RMA Woolwich where he had been a gentleman cadet. This was moved to Sandhurst in 1955, when the two training units merged. It remains on the grounds of Sandhurst.

Disclaimer: This article is simply a distillation and interpretation of information freely available on the internet, for the purposes of education and entertainment; primarily for a wargaming audience. 

I do not own any of the content other than my own interpretations. It may contain opinions and distortion of facts, and may differ from actual historical fact. Within this context I am happy to correct, acknowledge ownership or even remove content.