At that point, Wood was aware that the abaQulusi were not his only opponents in the area. Recently, the abaQulusi had been reinforced by a contingent of renegade amaSwazi, led by Khosa (prince) Mbelini kaMswati. Most amaSwazi were loyal to the British, but Mbelini, a pretender to the Swazi chiefdom, had broken with them and had allied himself with Cetshwayo. On March 12, Mbelini and about 800 of his followers surprised a company-sized detachment from the 80th (Staffordshire Volunteer) Regiment encamped along the Ntombe River and killed 79 men. Afterward, Mbelini withdrew, taking with him most of the supplies and ammunition he found in the British supply wagons, eventually joining the abaQulusi at Hlobane.

Subscribe Today

• Did you enjoy our article?
• Read more in Military History magazine
• Subscribe online and save nearly 40%!!!
 

Even with Mbelini’s irregulars, the estimated total of 1,500 warriors on Hlobane was hardly sufficient to threaten Wood’s camp, but their raiding and stealing cattle near the Zulu­Natal border was a considerable nuisance and drew strength from Wood’s defensive position. Wood realized that there could be no peace to the northwest of Zululand until the abaQulusi were subdued.

Wood reconnoitered the approaches to Hlobane and then worked out his plan of attack. It would not be easy–the British would have difficulty scaling the steep-sided krantzes (cliffs)–but there were two possible routes to the top. Wood thought that a dismounted cavalry force might be able to lead horses up the western slopes of Zunguin Nek, over the lower plateau, then move on to the upper plateau.

At the eastern end of the mountain lay Ityenka Nek, a high saddle of ground that gave way to steep cliffs and a high rocky terrace, notched and honeycombed with caves. There, a path twisting its way up and across the jumbled rocks was another possible route to the top.

Meanwhile, at his royal kraal (village) at Ulundi, King Cetshwayo had received a message from ‘the Swazi Pretender’ Mbelini, boasting of his success at the Ntombe River, but at the same time urgently requesting that Zulu reinforcements be sent to Hlobane. Recognizing Wood’s column as the greatest remaining British threat in his territory, Cetshwayo was willing to oblige. The warriors of his main impi had taken some time to ceremoniously cleanse themselves after ‘washing their spears’ at Isandlwana, replacing their losses and allowing their wounded time to heal. But on March 24 they were ready to move, and Cetshwayo dispatched them to Hlobane, under the joint command of Khosa Mnyamana kaNgqengelele and the victor of Isandlwana, Ntshingwayo.

On March 26, Wood heard reports that the main impi had left Ulundi and that its probable objective was to attack his camp at Khambula. If that was indeed the case, he knew that the impi would have to take the road that led directly along the southern flank of Hlobane. If the information received was correct, Wood was about to gamble with the safety of his camp by marching on Hlobane. But preparations were made, and on March 27 Khambula was astir long before daylight, as a long column of mounted men rode out of the camp.

There were 156 men in the Frontier Light Horse (FLH), under the command of Captain Robert Barton of the Coldstream Guards. Petrus Lafrus (Piet) Uys, a Boer farmer who had lost his father and a brother to the Zulus many years earlier, commanded about 40 scouts, including two of his sons. There were 70 Transvaal Rangers and 80 Cape Colony volunteers of Bakers Horse and Lt. Col. Frederick Augustus Weatherley with the Border Horse–about 400 mounted men in all. Also accompanying the expedition were the 277 native troops of the 2nd Battalion of Wood’s Irregulars–mostly local recruits from the Transvaal, supplemented by loyal Swazi warriors–under the command of Major William Knox Leet.

At midday, the British column halted for an hour’s rest prior to making the next leg of their journey–up the foot of the mountain at the western end of Hlobane. Once there, the troops off-saddled near a deserted Zulu kraal, and when the sun set they gathered timber from the huts and made large fires, as though they were camping for the night. When it got dark, they saddled their horses, and then Buller rode toward the eastern end, while a second force led by Lt. Col. John Cecil Russell–comprised of the 1st Squadron, Mounted Infantry, the Kaffrarian Rifles, the Edendale Troop of the Natal Native Horse, a rocket detail of the Royal Artillery and a battalion of 200 Zulu allies (led by Cetshwayo’s disaffected half-brother, Khosa Hamu kaNzibe)–rode toward the lower plateau in the west and bivouacked at the foot of the mountain for the night.

Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to