News from the Front: Review:

Blood On The Painted Mountain

Zulu Victory and Defeats,
Hlobane and Khambula 1879

by Ron Lock


Blood On The Painted Mountain:
Zulu Victory and Defeats, Hlobane and Khambula 1879 by Ron Lock
Published by Greenhill Books
ISBN 1-85367-201-T
Price: 18.95 pounds

These battles were of course, the principal engagements of the British Left Flank Column - Wood's column - and in many ways marked the turning point in Zulu fortunes in the aftermath of Isandlwana. Yet Wood had undoubtedly been lucky in that his victory at Khambula obscured the disaster at Hlobane, which had taken place the day before; after Isandlwana, Hlobane is arguably the most fascinating of the Zulu War battles, and much of it is still shrouded in mystery. This book, which is certainly a rollicking good read, goes some way - some way but not all - to addressing some of the mysteries ahout the battle.

The author has written it largely from the perspective of the Colonial irregulars who made up the British assault party on Hlobane, and as such he finds considerable fault with the regular officers, Wood himself and his right-hand man Redvers Buller. There is some substance to this, since the attack on Hlobane was clearly badly planned and mismanaged in the execution, and Wood himself missed several opportunities to take a decisive role. Nevertheless, a deeper look at both the British regulars, and the Zulus - whose perspective in this book is almost entirely lacking - would have given Blood On The Painted Mountain more depth.

The limitations of this approach are also apparent in an interesting and controversial chapter on Isandlwana, based largely on the accunt of one Colonial Volunteer officer. This account was written at a time when the British and Colonial survivors of the Isandlwana debacle were blaming each other for the disaster, and, further more, was written as part of a campaign waged by Col. Durnford's relatives to shift the blame away from Durnford and on to Lord Chelmsford's staff. Although it raises some interesting points, this account is almost entirely contradicted by the mass of evidence from other survivors, hoth British and Zulu.

Nevertheless Blood On The Painted Mountain is certainly worth reading, and includes some interesting previously unpublished illustrations.

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© Copyright 1996 by Partizan Press.

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