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The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 - Siege of Eshowe

Index

Siege of Eshowe's background

What makes the Siege of Eshowe such a great example?

Siege of Eshowe's background

Colonel Charles Pearson's column crossed into Zululand on 12 January 1879 and advanced as far as the abandoned mission station at Eshowe, which he fortified. After news reached him of the disaster at Isandlwana on 22 January, Pearson judged it too dangerous to retreat, and instead held Eshowe, cut off and under intermittent Zulu attack, for two months on dwindling supplies until a relief column fought its way through at the Battle of Gingindlovu on 2 April 1879, entering Eshowe the following day to bagpipes played by the 91st Highlanders.

What makes the Siege of Eshowe such a great example?

Charles Pearson and the Siege of Eshowe

Pearson's decision to hold Eshowe rather than retreat, made under real uncertainty and with no way of knowing how long the siege would last, is a good test of a chart's capacity to show a deliberate choice of endurance over retreat.

The chart shown is the birth of Charles Pearson, set at midday, with transits for the start of the siege on 22 January 1879 set at midday.