On this lonely hillside the two men who were responsible for saving the Queen's Colour from the Isandlwana camp were killed are buried. The site is located 15 km beyond Rorke's Drift. The Fugitive Trail follows the route along which the handful of survivors fled from Isandlwana to Fugitives Drift.
On the 22nd January 1879, Lt. Colonel Pulleine was in command of 1774 British troops encamped on the eastern slope of Isandlwana. By 10am Pulleine had received a dispatch from Lt. Gen. Lord Chelmsford to break camp and move the entire contingent to Chelmsford’s location 13 miles southeast of Isandlwana. Tents were being struck, oxen hitched to wagons. At 12 o’clock the camp was attacked by 24-25 000 Zulu warriors, using the tactics of the horns of the buffalo. The Zulus totally surrounded the camp annihilating 1 329 British soldiers.
Rorke's Drift was a mission station in Natal, South Africa, situated near a natural ford (drift) on the Buffalo River. The defence of Rorke's Drift (22-23 January 1879) during the Anglo-Zulu War immediately followed the British Army's humiliating defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana earlier in the day. At Rorke's Drift 139 British soldiers successfully defended their garrison against an intense assault by four to five thousand Zulu warriors.
This battle was fought on 20 October 1899 just outside Dundee. It was the scene of the first battle between the British and Boers during the Anglo-Boer war of 1899 to 1902. The British managed to drive the Boers off Talana Hill, but suffered heavy losses and their commanding officer, General Penn Symons, was mortally wounded in the engagement.
As evermore Boers gathered around Dundee, General Symons successor General Yule, decided to retire to Ladysmith. The Boer forces then occupied the town for seven months, renaming it Meyersdorp. Dundee was relieved after the Battle of Helpmekaar in May 1900.
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