Fearful Hard Times: The Siege and Relief of Eshowe, 1879 (1994) By Ian Castle and Ian Knight
 
The first full-length study of the 72-day siege and relief of Eshowe.
 
On the morning of 22 January 1879, the forces of Colonel Charles Pearson's Right Flank Column confronted part of the Zulu army in the first major battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The battle, fought on the hills overlooking the Nyezane river in Zululand's coastal belt, was a British victory, but it proved a deceptive start to Pearson's operations. Elsewhere in Zululand on the same day, another British column was disastrously defeated at Isandlwana.
 
When Pearson reached his first objective, the deserted KwaMondi mission station on the Eshowe heights, he found that the collapse at Isandlwana had left his unsupported. Unable to advance but unwilling to retreat, Pearson dug in: the Zulus cut his lines of communication and subjected his command to a heavy siege.
 
For 72 days, cut off and isolated, nearly 1,800 men endured constant harassment from Zulu patrols, dwindling supplies, and the ravages of disease.
 
Hard Cover with Dust Cover
256 Pages
In Good Condition