The Red Soldier: The Zulu War 1879 by Frank Emery

Description

The short military lesson the British intended teaching Cetshwayo that turned into the Zulu War of 1879 followed a classic pattern of late Victorian campaigns. It began with the horrifying tragedy of Isandhlwana, followed by the heroic redemption at Rorke’s Drift and progressed through the panic reinforcement to the ultimate victory at Ulundi six months later.

The Red Soldier follows the war’s progress through the letters of men writing home – officers, NCOs and private soldiers who wrote to their families.

This book offers the opportunity to hear so many of the voices of the men who slept in their clothes with their weapons at their sides for weeks on end, who escaped the massacre at Isandhlwana or defended the blazing hospital at Rorke’s Drift and wrote home with news of their own survival and their comrade’s death.