Episode 265 – John Dunn’s MI5 Connection, Gingindlovu, and the Relief of Eshowe
About this episode
This episode discusses the British invasion of Zululand in 1879 and the challenges faced by British forces during the campaign.
The last quarter of the 19th Century was in some ways, like the first quarter of the 21st Century - full of tone-deaf business barons gambling building vast riches — financing politicians and in accelerating the planet towards world wars. There are ripples in the timeverse, all the way to now, because the latest empire has started a war that it cannot end. The infinite rule of war is do not start a war you cannot finish — British back in 1879 set off a whole host of pain for itself by invading Zululand because the Boers of the Transvaal were flexing. First, however, was the small matter of trying to Crush the Zulu empire. Not only had the British suffered sharp reverses at Hlobane and, most dramatically, at Isandlwana, but Lieutenant-Colonel Pearson’s column had now been shut up in Eshowe for nearly two months. At first the invasion had been greeted in Britain with confidence and patriotic support, yet that mood began to shift as the scale of the setbacks became clear and questions were asked about Lord Chelmsford’s conduct of the campaign. Confidence gave way to unease as news filtered home that the war was proving far more difficult than anyone had expected. So it is to Eshowe…
More episodes of History of South Africa podcast
- Episode 272 - The Boers wring Major General Colley’s Column at Laing’s Nek
- Episode 271 - Basutoland Gun War, Gold Coast and Ottoman Empire
- Episode 270 - Kruger vs Black Michael and Courageous Women at the Battle of Bronkhorstspruit
- Episode 269 - Bapedi Chief Sekhukhune’s Cruel Fate and the Afrikaner Paradox
- Episode 268 - The Theodolite and the Hardepad: Thomas Bain’s Silent Mountain Pass Artisans
- Episode 267 - Betrayal at the End: Mnyamana, Cetshwayo’s Dutchman, and the Crushing of the Zulu Kingdom
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