4:51pm Wednesday 8th June 2005
Ed Coan visits a land where the British were once slaughtered but are now gratefully welcomed as tourists. The battlefields, however, have hardly changed.
I WAS standing on the very spot where the Napoleonic dynasty died and with it any hope of a Bonapartist return to power.
But I was not in France, Europe, nor even on the islands of Elba or St Helena. Instead, I was in a tiny, little-visited cemetery in the gathering dusky gloom of a remote and I mean remote part of Zululand, South Africa.
It was here on June 1, 1879, that the 23-year-old Prince Imperial, the potential Napoleon IV, was killed while on a reconnaissance mission during the Anglo-Zulu War of that year.
The reasons why a Bonaparte was in Zululand as part of a British invasion force was just part of the story which unfolded on a personal pilgrimage I recently made to South Africa. The pilgrimage would encompass a complete guided tour of the Anglo-Zulu War battlefields a conflict which still pervades modern consciousness.
The roots of more recent interest stem largely from the 1963 film Zulu, which depicted the Battle of Rorke's Drift, when around 150 British soldiers (not mainly Welsh, as the film would have you believe) kept 4,000 Zulu warriors at bay for more than 12 hours.
The other central reason why this particular Victorian colonial war holds its allure is that, 126 years later, its battlefields are virtually unchanged still walkable, the memorials to those who fought there mostly intact, the stories still stirring.
I had lived and worked in South Africa in the early 1980's, visited a few of the battlefields, read extensively on the subject and had long treasured the desire to return to visit them all. I also wanted to make the visit with an expert on the subject, and they don't come any more expert than Ian Knight, who led my 11-day tour. Ian's written upwards of 25 books on this multi-faceted campaign, as well as featuring in several TV documentaries on the subject.
However, though fascinated myself, the thought of daily wanderings around war graves was not entirely gripping especially in this most beautiful of regions, bordered by the foothills of the towering Drakensberg mountains to the west and descending in a series of river-cut terraces to the Indian Ocean in the east.
This potential downside was also sensitively acknowledged by the tour's organisers Holt's who ensured the trip also included a three-night stay at a game reserve (Itala), which included a couple of game drives one at night by searchlight. An overnight stop was also built in at Shakaland, a complete Zulu homestead originally built as a film set, but now a hotel, where individual huts are now beautifully-furnished rooms.
Shakaland was in effect the starting point, for it gave the entire 16-strong party an insight into Zulu culture including a breathtaking display of Zulu dancing and even an audience with a sangoma (a Zulu diviner), much revered for their contacts with ancestral spirits. Traditional Zulu dinner that night? A carvery featuring roast beef and Yorkshire pud, followed by apple crumble and custard. Marvellous. Mind you, breakfast on the verandah next morning was nearly shared with an intrepid monkey.
And so to the battlefields, all ten of them. Ian Knight set the scene in each location, with a detailed account of opposing strategies, specific incidents followed by a chance to walk the terrain. You could literally put yourself in the positions of the opposing armies. One armed with spears and shields, one with powerful Martini-Henry rifles both fortified with extraordinary courage.
The two most famous battle sites were saved until last Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, and the finest accommodation also formed the rearguard. The spectacularly-sited Isandlwana Lodge is built into the rugged landscape using local materials right below the vantage point from where the Zulu commanders orchestrated this great victory over the world's superpower of the time. From the battlefield of Isandlwana itself, the more adventurous of our party walked the undulating rock-strewn four-mile trek taken by those who escaped the carnage of Isandlwana with their lives around 1,300 didn't. Known as the Fugitive's Trail, it is continuously pockmarked with whitewashed cairns poignantly marking the final resting places of those caught and killed by the Zulus while trying to escape the massacre.
But apart from an extensive visit to Rorke's Drift, the highpoint was a moonlit walk three of us took with Ian over Isandlwana on our penultimate night a stark contrast to the horrors of January 22, 1879. The only sounds were the wind sighing in the long grass and the occasional screech of a preying owl.
And finally exactly why was the Prince Imperial Louis Napoleon in Zululand?
His parents, Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie, had fled with him to England following their fall from power after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Louis took military instruction at the Royal Military College in Woolwich and was dispatched to Zululand. On a reconnais-sance trip, his party was surrounded by Zulus, and was slaughtered.
At the time it was the equivalent of Prince Charles being killed in Vietnam, I have heard it said. Today it remains just one of the many stories, tragic and brave, seamlessly interwoven into the story of the Anglo-Zulu War.
Ed Coan works in Kings Langley and lectures to local history societies on the Anglo-Zulu War.
Before you go
Check with your GP if you need vaccinations it's borderline, but err on the safe side.
Read any book by Ian Knight on the subject Brave Men's Blood is an excellent general history.
Flights/Accommodation
Most major British airlines fly frequently to South Africa. Isandlwana lodge: www.isandlwana.co.za.
Timing
Our winter is South Africa's summer, when it can be wet and as it's high-season the flights are expensive. My opinion is the best times to go are April (autumn) or October (spring).
Don't go without
Insect repellent.
A good sunhat and the right factor sun cream for you.
Solid walking boots.
When you're there
Unless you know the story of the war, make sure you have a guide.
Out in the poorer, rural communities, it's tempting to want to give people money or gifts particularly young children. This is discouraged as it perpetuates the climate of dependency the post-apartheid era is trying to reverse.
If you do want to play a part support one of the charities fighting the Aids epidemic, which is particularly virulent in KwaZuluNatal.
Battle military sites to visit
Zululand is a big place, so arm yourself with a map. All the more reason to go on an organised tour. Apart from the Anglo-Zulu War sites, there are also numerous Boer War sites in the region.
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