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zulu scouts
johnk


Joined: 18 Oct 2010
Posts: 64
Location: St.Helens, Merseyside
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Hi all, Great week last week at Rorke's Drift Hotel, my guide on Islandwana mountain was called Tulani and he was very informative but he suggested that Zulu scouts actually followed the column all the way from Pietermaritzburg across the border at Rorke's Drift and beyond.
I can see them picking the column up at the border but did they really reach so far into Natal unseen.
Can anyone confirm this please

cheers
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John Young


Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 1020
Location: Lower Sheering, Essex
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John,

Why not there were Zulu living in, and near, to Pietermaritzburg. Who today can say for sure that King Cetshwayo did not have his spies embedded with those who were on the losing side of the War of the Children.

As an example of word travelling fast through the bush - can I cite a couple of examples:

Rider Haggard tells that he heard of the defeat at Isandlwana within two days, despite the fact that he was in Pretoria.

Eustace Fannin at the Middle Drift of the Tugela heard the news of Isandlwana within hours.

Who is to say the King was not kept appraised of troop movements before his kingdom was invaded.

Just my thoughts.

Glad you enjoyed yourself!

John Y.
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AMB


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Posts: 921
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As John has already suggested, I think it most likely that the Zulu monitored the British force even when in Natal.

The actual route of the passage of their intelligence back to the Zulu King would, no doubt, be fascinating.

Sadly, the passing of time would suggest that the exact intelligence pathway is now only speculation. Stephan Wade, in his book Empire and Espionage Spies in the Zulu War (Pen and Sword, 2010), does fleetingly mention the Zulu's network of spies, in Natal and Transvaal, but in no great detail; albeit to be fair, such detail, along with much on the Zulu War from a Zulu perspective is limited. Interestingly, Wade quotes a 'recce' carried out on the British in Pretoria by Zulu spies drawn from Cunynghame's memoirs. However, as Cunynghame's memoirs stop in 1878, clearly this would have been a very early recce!

AMB
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johnk


Joined: 18 Oct 2010
Posts: 64
Location: St.Helens, Merseyside
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Many thanks John, AMB, very kind of you to reply.
The more I think about it, the more likely it seems. As King you would want to gather information about goings on in neighboring areas in peace as well as war.
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zulu scouts
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