Colonel Wood had left Khambula two hours after the main column, heading toward Hlobane. He was accompanied by his personal staff, Lieutenant Henry Lyson and Captain Ronald Campbell, as well as his political agent and interpreter, Llewellyn Lloyd, along with a number of friendly mounted Zulus and eight mounted men from the 90th (Perthshire Volunteers) Light Infantry.

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The next morning, Wood set out with his escort to ride the five miles along the southern foot of Hlobane, following the route taken by Buller and the FLH. He then encountered Weatherley and the Border Horse. Weatherley had lost Buller in a rainstorm that morning. His men, who were not professional soldiers, were wet and cold, and not in a good frame of mind.

Buller had, in fact, already begun ascending the mountain at 3 that morning, despite a blinding thunderstorm that hampered the cavalry's progress. Dawn revealed another unpleasant surprise: Hlobane's abaQulusi defenders had erected barricades among the boulders and caves, from which they now opened fire. Two officers of the FLH, Lieutenants Otto von Stietencron and George Williams, were cut down, as were two troopers.

Buller's column was just visible high on the trail, so Wood ordered the Border Horse to follow it up. Weatherley again lost the trail to the summit, however. Concealed behind boulders and in caves on a rocky terrace, abaQulusi riflemen began sniping at the Border Horse. As Wood's party came up, an abaQulusi took aim and, just as Wood was expressing his scorn for Zulu marksmanship, opened fire. Lloyd fell back, exclaiming, 'I'm hit badly! My back is broken.' While Captain Campbell and an escort were carrying the mortally wounded Lloyd down the slope, Wood's horse was killed. Wood directed Weatherley to dislodge a number of abaQulusi who were causing the most trouble, but only two of the Border Horse–Lieutenant J. Poole and Sub-Lieutenant H.W. Parminter–responded; the rest insisted that the enemy position was unassailable. Voicing his contempt for their cowardice, Campbell, his aide-de-camp, 2nd Lt. Henry Lysons, and four mounted infantrymen of the 90th charged into a cave. As they entered, Campbell was fatally shot in the head. Lysons and Private Edmund J. Fowler, following close on the captain's footsteps, shot and killed one sniper; the other escaped through a subterranean passageway.

Campbell's body was carried back down the hill. Wood had been extremely fond of Campbell and Lloyd and was stunned by their deaths. He lost all interest in the ongoing fight while he concentrated on giving his friends a proper burial. Since the abaQulusi were still sniping at them from the rocks, Wood decided to move the bodies farther down the hill. Weatherley and the Border Horse went in search of Buller's command, as Wood ordered his Zulu retainers to dig a shallow grave with their assegais. Only when he was certain that his friends could rest without their legs doubled up would he permit the bodies to be lowered into the grave and interred. Wood read the burial service over the bodies while skirmishing went on close behind him.

Seeing some 300 Zulus approaching from the east, Wood had his party ride back to the western end of Hlobane. As the commander cantered up a rise, his Zulu escort called his attention to the plain below. Wood looked…and got the shock of his life. A gigantic force of some 22,000 warriors–Cetshwayo's main impi–was at the foot of the mountain and starting to outflank the British by going into its traditional 'buffalo' attack formation–two 'horns' branching around the mountain, the central 'chest' advancing directly up the middle and the 'loins' holding back as a follow-up reserve. All Wood could do was hope that Buller, who was now at the summit, had also seen the impi's approach.

At about that time, Weatherley and the Border Horse had reached the top of the plateau. Weatherley had two sons accompanying his column, and 15-year-old Rupert, who had joined up as a sub-lieutenant, was riding at his side. Rupert had heard his father speak many times of great battles in foreign lands, and with the exuberant enthusiasm of his youth had been looking forward to his first campaign. Weatherley, however, was becoming alarmed by the situation that he saw developing. The terrain was treacherous–not good country for mounted men to be caught in by marauding bands of Zulus. But Wood had insisted that Weatherley and his men go on.

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