.
ZULU DAWN - ZULU DUSK
BATTLE OF ISANDHLWANA - 22 JANUARY 1879
.
Toward end of 2007, there was a 'Welcome the Troops Home' event in Caerdydd, I am not going to use this feature as an Anti - Iraq War article, my position regards this war is simple, I oppose it full stop! However, At best now looking at the bloody mess there, all I can say is; I just wish it had not been launched in the first place. Everyday reports of the killings of innocent civilians in particular, I find so distasteful but beyond blaming one side more than the other. All I can say is I wish it would end but just do not, for once have an oppinion as to how this may be done for the best, I just wish it would end so no more lives are lost. Having said that, and not wishing to condemn Welsh Soldiers whose bravery in relief of Basra Palace is not in question, I just find some how distasteful that links were made with the stand at Rourkes Drift in January 1879, the film of that event is a film that one must just watch, it's so good a film. When I first saw this film, in Taunton many, many years ago, I could not help feeling a sense of ''Patriotic Pride'', today, more politically aware I realise where this 'ZULU WAR' fitted into the British Imperial Scheme of expansion in making of colonies. The Invasion of Zulu Land in 1779 was an imperial act of agression with one great purpose to kill the Zulu Nation, an outcome achieved and which reduced the Zulus into a virtual state of slave labour to Colonists and Capitalists.
.
Toward end of 2007, there was a 'Welcome the Troops Home' event in Caerdydd, I am not going to use this feature as an Anti - Iraq War article, my position regards this war is simple, I oppose it full stop! However, At best now looking at the bloody mess there, all I can say is; I just wish it had not been launched in the first place. Everyday reports of the killings of innocent civilians in particular, I find so distasteful but beyond blaming one side more than the other. All I can say is I wish it would end but just do not, for once have an oppinion as to how this may be done for the best, I just wish it would end so no more lives are lost. Having said that, and not wishing to condemn Welsh Soldiers whose bravery in relief of Basra Palace is not in question, I just find some how distasteful that links were made with the stand at Rourkes Drift in January 1879, the film of that event is a film that one must just watch, it's so good a film. When I first saw this film, in Taunton many, many years ago, I could not help feeling a sense of ''Patriotic Pride'', today, more politically aware I realise where this 'ZULU WAR' fitted into the British Imperial Scheme of expansion in making of colonies. The Invasion of Zulu Land in 1779 was an imperial act of agression with one great purpose to kill the Zulu Nation, an outcome achieved and which reduced the Zulus into a virtual state of slave labour to Colonists and Capitalists.
.
The film Zulu plays up the ''Welsh Connections'' with the 24th foot, although this has been contested in latter years. At this time the 24th was not known as the South Wales Borderers but was an English regiment with hardly any Welsh men in it at all. Even if it was a so called "Welsh Regiment" as other so called "Welsh Regiments", good example being the Irish Bashing "Hanoverian Horrors" Royal Welsh Fusiliers, as with Irish & Scots Regiments, all were often made up in numbers by Englishmen. Go check the records at the British National Army Museum in London, or even Regimental Histories as that of RWF. It was only with the first World War and massive recruitment campaigns & conscription that "British Regiments" really took on strong "Regional Identities" but even so the Welsh Guards was full of Englishmen, particularly English Londoners from it's beginnings to the present day - after all there are not many "TALL TAFFS" are there? Whatever, lets look at the ZULU WAR as glorified by "THAT FILM", but for the really grim truth I suggest you search web for the below and read the article therein, which touches on the aftermath of Rourkes Drift where wounded Zulus were baynoted to death, be their injuries serious or slight.
.
Night of the Assegais
As published originally by Military History Magazine.
The red-coated soldiers also slaughtered untold numbers of the natives there.... of that massacre, the officer in charge of the garrison at Rourkes Drift, ...African.about.com/ library/prm/blnightoftheassegais2.htm - 43k - Cached - Similar pages
Night of the Assegais
As published originally by Military History Magazine.
The red-coated soldiers also slaughtered untold numbers of the natives there.... of that massacre, the officer in charge of the garrison at Rourkes Drift, ...African.about.com/ library/prm/blnightoftheassegais2.htm - 43k - Cached - Similar pages
.
I quote the following: "What followed Isandhlwana was a relatively short war, just six months long. After engaging the Zulus in several battles, the British defeated the enemy soundly in a large engagement at Ulundi, King Cetesweyo's capital, on 4 July 1879, and captured him there. Short as it was, though, the war was extremely savage, was one in which the British laid waste to the Zulu countryside by burning most of the native farms and driving off, killing or capturing most of the cattle, the basis of Zulu food supply and the foundation of their economic and social systems. The red-coated soldiers also slaughtered untold numbers of the natives there. The chief effect of the war for the British was new conviction that they had to rule their colonial possessions with more resolution than ever before and that the old ways of natives (the Zulus, for one, were always a most war-minded nation) could not be tolerated. just as the massacre of U.S. soldiers at the Battle of the Little Big Horn* three years earlier had shocked the U.S. public and brought about re-thinking of American policy toward the Indians, the Battle of Isandhlwana changed British attitudes. It forced the British to decide that their dealings with native populations must be backed by greater military might".
I quote the following: "What followed Isandhlwana was a relatively short war, just six months long. After engaging the Zulus in several battles, the British defeated the enemy soundly in a large engagement at Ulundi, King Cetesweyo's capital, on 4 July 1879, and captured him there. Short as it was, though, the war was extremely savage, was one in which the British laid waste to the Zulu countryside by burning most of the native farms and driving off, killing or capturing most of the cattle, the basis of Zulu food supply and the foundation of their economic and social systems. The red-coated soldiers also slaughtered untold numbers of the natives there. The chief effect of the war for the British was new conviction that they had to rule their colonial possessions with more resolution than ever before and that the old ways of natives (the Zulus, for one, were always a most war-minded nation) could not be tolerated. just as the massacre of U.S. soldiers at the Battle of the Little Big Horn* three years earlier had shocked the U.S. public and brought about re-thinking of American policy toward the Indians, the Battle of Isandhlwana changed British attitudes. It forced the British to decide that their dealings with native populations must be backed by greater military might".
* The U.S. Government actually declared Little Big Horn Battle as a "National Cemetery" in 1879. More information on the Battle of the Little Big Horn can be obtained from numerous Web Sites as that noted below.
.
HistoryOn June 15, 1876, the Battle of the Little Big Horn between the 7th Cavalry and... First, in early reservation history Pine Ridge was the site of the 1890 ...www.lakotamall.com/oglalasiouxtribe/history.htm - 8k - Cached - Similar pages
HistoryOn June 15, 1876, the Battle of the Little Big Horn between the 7th Cavalry and... First, in early reservation history Pine Ridge was the site of the 1890 ...www.lakotamall.com/oglalasiouxtribe/history.htm - 8k - Cached - Similar pages
.
Further, most importantly you then read the below:
Wounded Knee and the Medals of (dis)Honor Endeavours to "mend the Sacred Hoop that was broken" at the massacre in 1890. Provides historical records and links to additional information. woptura.com/ - 12k - Cached - Similar pages
.
Further, most importantly you then read the below:
Wounded Knee and the Medals of (dis)Honor Endeavours to "mend the Sacred Hoop that was broken" at the massacre in 1890. Provides historical records and links to additional information. woptura.com/ - 12k - Cached - Similar pages
.
Following on above, if you find these Nation Killing ''frontier wars'' fascinating, then look up the Caste Wars of Yucatan, I had a very good book on this war but have mislayed it, so cannot ref it for you. Last year some time I caught the remake of the ALAMO, a far superior version to the John Wayne film. After, I decided to check up on this Texas War of Independence and soon learnt that it was not just about Texas but about also the Republic of Rio Grande and Republic of Yucatan. Three ''Provinces'' of an Independent Federal Mexico being centralised by the Dictator Sant Anna, the consequence of which was, three ''provinces'' breaking away to seek Independence in their own proclaimed Republics. The Republic of Rio Grande was not to last long, and the Republic of Texas was to quickly win it's freedom but the Republic of Yucatan was to continue it's struggle for Independence for 85 more years. For further information on this largelly ignored and forgotten history check out links below and take it from there.
.
Yucatán - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Flag of the Republic of Yucatán. Flag of the Republic of Yucatán. But when Santa Anna later ignored the provisions of this treaty, hostilities resumed, ...en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucatán - 60k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
.
Footnotes to History- U to Z
Yucatan Republic- The Yucatan has long regarded itself as distinct from the rest of Mexico, and its Mayan population has resisted integration into the ...www.buckyogi.com/footnotes/natuz.htm - 48k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
.
History of Yucatán
The territory of what is now the Republic of Yucatán has one of the longest recorded histories in the Americas. The earliest reliable archeological evidence ...www.ahtg.net/TpA/yucatan.html - 34k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
.
Texas Navy - The Yucatán Alliance - Texas State Library
In response, the Yucatecan governor ordered all Mexican flags hauled down and replaced with the flag of the new Republic of Yucatán. ...www.tsl.state.tx.us/exhibits/navy/alliance.html - 29k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
.
G.Gruffydd.
