Natal Native Contingent - Effectiveness

Effectiveness

At the beginning of the Anglo-Zulu War in January 1879, the NNC's commander, Colonel Anthony Durnford, frequently voiced his opinion that the NNC troops should be used as scouts for the advancing British army, as their similar appearance to Zulu warriors would confuse Zulu scouts. The NNC was, in his view, particularly well-adapted to reconnaissance and light infantry roles, as NNC soldiers were generally in better physical condition than British regulars (some of whom were hampered by heatstroke and illness resulting from over-exposure in the South African summer) and were not encumbered with heavy equipment. Instead, the British commander of the invasion force, Lord Chelmsford, frequently assigned NNC troops to menial labouring tasks, believing that their fighting ability was almost non-existent.

Battlefield performance was very uneven. At the Battle of Isandhlwana, units of the NNC fought hard alongside their British allies, and sustained heavy casualties. Many of the NNC were killed in fierce hand to hand fights while trying to retreat across the Buffalo river. At the Battle of Rorke's Drift, the NNC officers, NCO's and soldiers who possessed firearms were deployed along the barricade. The rest of the NNC, stripped of their command, armed only with spears, were posted outside the mealy bag and biscuit box barricade within the stone-walled cattle kraal. They broke and fled as soon as the Zulu force came into sight, some NCOs and Captain Stephenson joining them. A Swiss corporal of the contingent, Christian Ferdinand Schiess, remained and won the Victoria Cross for his gallantry in the ensuing battle.

After Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, British commanders in South Africa worried about the loyalty of their NNC detachments, and most were sent into Natal as static border-guards. The NNC last saw action at Hlobane, where a number of NNC troops were killed alongside a small British force when ambushed by Zulu troops. After the war, the NNC was disbanded and the troops returned to civilian life.