Zulu.Lieutenant John Chard: What's our strength? Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead: Seven officers including surgeon, commissaries and so on; Adendorff now I suppose; wounded and sick 36, fit for duty 97 and about 40 native levies. Not much of an army for you.
Fair use notice.
This website may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorised by the copyright owner.
We are making such material and images are available in our efforts to advance the understanding of the “Anglo Zulu War of 1879. For educational & recreational purposes.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material, as provided for in UK copyright law. The information is purely for educational and research purposes only. No profit is made from any part of this website.
If you hold the copyright on any material on the site, or material refers to you, and you would like it to be removed, please let us know and we will work with you to reach a resolution.
Posts : 9996 Join date : 2009-04-07 Age : 63 Location : Melbourne, Australia
Subject: who knows ? Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:06 am
Rascal what are you trying to say 90th
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Who knows ? Fri Jul 19, 2013 7:20 am
Hello dear Marsupial without pocket
For example, for a iviyo of 50 Zulu warriors, there how many udibi with them ?
this is the kind of proportion that I research...
Cheers
Pascal
bill cainan
Posts : 225 Join date : 2011-09-19
Subject: Re: Who knows ? Fri Jul 19, 2013 10:40 am
Pascal
I doubt if there is an exact figure per company . At the age of eleven or twelve the boys {izindibi (sing. udibi)} would be expected to act as servants to their fathers or elder brothers when they were travelling long distances. So the Zulu army marching to Isandlwana would have had an unknown number of boys accompanying it. How many boys of this age were there per family ? The number would also vary according to the age of the regiment. I have heard of a figure of up to a quarter of the number of warriors - but of course, that is a pure guesstimate.
I don't know if you have a copy of Ian Knight's "The Anatomy of the Zulu Army from Shaka to Cetshwayo 1818-1879". I would highly recommend it and it does give a lot of the detail you are seeking.
Bill
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Who knows ? Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:11 am
Hello Mr.Cainan
"The Anatomy of the Zulu Army from Shaka to Cetshwayo 1818-1879" I got it, then I sold it ...
There are so many experts who tell different things ...
Thus, some write, that they accompanied the impis, than 3 days after their departure ...
Others write that they participated in combat!
Others write that they could serve as a decoy!
We can already imagine that the married regiments were accompanied by their younger children ...
It is also conceivable that unmarried regiments were accompanied by their younger brothers and sisters ...
But their role is not to be overlooked because they are the impis logistics ...
Best regards
Pascal
bill cainan
Posts : 225 Join date : 2011-09-19
Subject: Re: Who knows ? Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:17 am
Pascal
Yes indeed. There is so much that we will never know about the Zulu armies of 1879. I am particularly interested in how they exercised tactical command and control on the battlefield, but alas the details of that are lost in time.
Bill
Guest Guest
Subject: Re: Who knows ? Fri Jul 19, 2013 1:16 pm
Hello Mr.Cainan
Elementary, necessarily with runners and messengers on horseback ...
Matter of logic, but with no write orders, it was simple commands and a good memory to the messengers.
Home 
Gallery 
Publications 
Search 
Register 
Log in 
