72-8540 BRITONS REACHED A BARRICADE WITH SACKS OF CORN

The Anglo-Zulu War is an armed conflict between the British Empire and the Zulu kingdom that took place between January and July 1879. At the beginning of the war, Great Britain involved about 15,000-16,000 in the conflict. people, but after the first defeats this number increased to approx. 25 thousand. people. The basic strength of the British Army in this war was the volunteer infantry, whose conditions of recruitment and service were reformed by Edward Cardwell in the early 1870s, which shortened the period of regular service from 21 to 12 years, thus seeking to increase trained reserves . The armament of the British infantry in 1879 was the Martini-Henry sagittal rifle rifle, which had entered the service of the British Army eight years earlier (1871). Its rate of fire was up to 12 shots per minute, and the maximum range of the shot was about 1700 meters. During the Zulu War, the British infantry was divided into regiments, and these in turn into battalions, which were divided into eight infantry companies. The war began tragically for the British - with a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Isandlawana (January 11, 1879), when approximately 730 British soldiers were killed. However, this defeat had a sobering effect on many British officers involved in this war and was "avenged" in the heroic defense of Rorke's Drift station, the Battle of Kambula and in the decisive Battle of Ulundi, where the loser at Isandlavana (Lord Chelmsford) inflicted a terrible defeat on the Zulus.