28th March 1879
The British forces, whose leaders included Sir Evelyn Wood, Lt Col Redvers Buller and Lt Col John Russell, were defeated by the Zulus. It was for his actions here that Buller received a Victoria Cross. Pietrus Uys, a prominent Boer farmer who joined the British, was killed here.
Casualties
- 15 officers, 79 men, 174 black troops. Zulu unknown.
The late David Rattray, in his Guidebook to the Anglo-Zulu Battlefields says that this is “one of the most magnificent of all Zulu battlefields” and “it is a notoriously difficult battlefield to visit”. The late Ken Gillings in Battlefields of KwaZulu Natal calls the descent of the Devil’s Pass “hair-raising”.
As you can see from these photos, the area earns the name Devil’s Pass. There are precipitous cliffs and rough, rocky terrain. The photos were taken in 1973 when the Durban branch of the South African Military Historical Society (SAMHS) explored the site.
