Anglo-Zulu War his own initiative, without the approval of the British government and with the intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, had presented an ultimatum on 11 December 1878, to the Zulu king Cetshwayo with which the Zulu king could not comply, including disbanding his army and abandoning key cultural traditions. Bartle Frere then sent Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand after this ultimatum was not met. The war is notable for several particularly bloody battles, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana, followed by the defeat of a large Zulu army at Rorke's Drift by
Battle of Hlobane Battle of Hlobane The Battle of Hlobane was a battle of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 that took place at Hlobane, near the current town of Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. No. 4 Column of the British invasion force, under Colonel Evelyn Wood, was to occupy the attention of those Zulus dwelling on the flat-topped mountains rising out of the plains of north-west Zululand. The distance of these Zulus from the capital of Ulundi gave them a degree of independence from Cetshwayo rule, enabling the chiefs to withhold their warriors for local defence, rather than contributing to the main Zulu