Special Forces of the Anglo-Zulu War: Meet the Frontier Light Horse

Рет қаралды 24,444

Күн бұрын

Did you know that during the Anglo-Zulu War the British had a regiment whose tasks were very similar to those we would now class as Special Forces?
In this episode I interview Cam Simpson all about the men of the Frontier Light Horse - a tough, mounted regiment recruited in South Africa.
To order Cam's book on the unit visit www.amazon.com/Frontier-Light...
00:00 Intro
01:19 Baptism of fire - the Battle of Centane 7 February 1878
04:06 Major Redvers Buller takes command of the FLH
05:30 The Zulu War begins
07:24 Zungwini Mountain raid
12:30 Prince Hamu defects to the British
13:20 The Battle of Hlobane Mountain
29:20 Captain Cecil D’Arcy VC
30:42: The battle of Kambula (Khambula)
34:56 The 2nd Invasion of Zululand
35:58 The Battle of Ulundi
39:09 Regiment is disbanded
41:07 Were the FLH special forces?
If you are interested in the Zulu War, then please sign up for my mailing list to receive my free book on the subject: www.redcoathistory.com
If you are very generous, you can also buy me a coffee and help support the channel via ko-fi.com/redcoathistory

Пікірлер: 79

@user-mu6sr6ve4d 10 ай бұрын

I ordered one of Cam's books via your link. One of my ancetors was in the Frontier Light Horse under Buller at the battles of Hlobane, Kambuli and Ulundi. We are not sure how he came to be in South Africa, (he had been in India as a Captain in the 7th Hussars then the 9th Lancers and was at the relief of the Seige at Lucknow) but he was, for a while, the commissioner of Waterberg and was imprisoned by the Boers in 1880 in the first Boer war, (who auctioned of all his goods).

@welshwarrior5263 2 жыл бұрын

The Zulu's had English speaking warriors, taunting before the battles shouting, "We are the men of Islandlwana." Knowimg what happened there must have been terrifying. Brave men on both sides. Thanks for sharing mate.

@redcoathistory 2 жыл бұрын

Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed it.

@jasonparr4275 Жыл бұрын

A super doco. Cheers from Qld, Australia!!!

@jeffbruin5487 Жыл бұрын

Hi Chris, really enjoyed this episode. Must buy this book!

@Grandmastergav86 2 жыл бұрын

Semi-obsessed with this era of British history. Unpopular opinion but I also love Zulu and Zulu Dawn regardless of their flaws.

@mariadacre5875 2 жыл бұрын

Yes they certainly have their flaws but still great to watch and for me the best book on the subject is Saul David's....Zulu on par with his..The Indian Mutiny.

@FelixstoweFoamForge 2 жыл бұрын

Not unpopular with me buddy. Great films, even given the historical inaccuracies, I think they get the "FEEL" right. I mean, neither of them attempt to portray the British aggression in a positive light.

@lorenrogers9269 2 жыл бұрын

Not unpopular with me either. A tremendous history and the British Empire is vilified unfairly. The Empire brought great ideas, technologies and medical advances to the world. No nation is without warts.

@FelixstoweFoamForge 2 жыл бұрын

@@lorenrogers9269 Gotta disagree there. Imagine how you'd feel if you were amaZulu in 1879. It's like the USA telling us we have to have a Starbucks on every street corner ...oh, hang on, they did that.

@kengrimes1012 2 жыл бұрын

Neve mind the "trendy lefty's" making their opinion known, it was a period of time in the history's of GB, south Africa, and a period of great glory for the Zulu nation and is remembered by historians for what it is, a period of history, no matter who was in the right or not. Remember opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one

@theblackprince1346 2 жыл бұрын

Never heard of this unit before, thanks for sharing.

@JNH1960 Жыл бұрын

Very interesting and enlightening, thank you... My Great Grandfather served with the Frontier Light Horse, 1877-79, and was in action that day on Hlobane and the following day at Khambula. John, Durban, South Africa

@simonnormand2813 Жыл бұрын

Another good read is the “Washing of the Spears” by Daniel Morris. Has an excellent chapter on Hlobane

@mariadacre5875 2 жыл бұрын

This has to be one of the best channels on YT.

@Oscarhobbit Жыл бұрын

Big hello from Northern Ireland (UK). I have been dipping into your channel from your battlefield talks on the Anglo Zulu Wars. I have been fascinated by c19 African History from watching the film 'Zulu' with my dad. I appreciate your professional style and the effort you put into your channel. I think you should be on the Sky's History Channel or on British History programs on TV. It is really refreshing when someone does it well! Have you served in the British Army, I usually am good at spotting former service members. Keep up the great work!

@redcoathistory Жыл бұрын

Thanks a lot - I’m really glad that you are enjoying the channel. Feedback like this always cheers me up and makes the effort worthwhile 👍🏼

@duncanselvester1045 2 жыл бұрын

What an excellent film! Many thanks you you both for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Fascinating.

@pavlothekozak827 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for enlightening me. Hadn't heard of them before. Take care- Paul

@redcoathistory 2 жыл бұрын

Cheers, paul

@anselmdanker9519 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for covering this episode on the activity of Colonel Wood's column , most accounts only focus on Rorke's Drift and Isandlawana , the Frontier Light horse were behaving like classic light cavalry and in some accounts in the final pursuit they rode after and stabbed the fleeing Zulus. Also the pictures of the pass down which the cavalry had to retreat down is spectacular. I have read about the retreat but to see the descent area in colour is quite chilling. Great job. Any idea if the Frontier light horse was equipped with Martini Henry carbines or Swineburne Henry's?

@bigberry5979 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic episode, really enjoyed it - going from strength to strength every week, been listening since near start.

@redcoathistory 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate - I’m really glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching 👍🏼

@silasrocco 2 жыл бұрын

The battle of Hlobane and the follow up at Kambula has always been my favourite part of the campaign and isn't very well covered here on YT, so thank you! Buller was a critical presence in SA, makes me ill that his statue in Exeter caused controversy. Still not getting alerts to your video's btw, only through your newsletter👍

@redcoathistory 2 жыл бұрын

Hi Steve. Glad you liked it. I still hope to visit Hlobane and make a video there eventually. That’s a shame about the alerts…I do wonder if military history is suppressed by the KZfaq algorithm sometimes 😤

@silasrocco 2 жыл бұрын

@@redcoathistory Thanks for the reply Chris, a video from Hlobane would be most excellent!

@TheEarlofK 2 жыл бұрын

A fascinating discussion, the nearest thing to actually being there.

@eddierudolph8702 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for making this video, I have an major interest in mounted warfare.

@adventuresinhistoryland5501 2 жыл бұрын

Another good one!

@shawngarratt2887 Жыл бұрын

Congratulations on getting that tour guide job ! To be honest I knew you would get it ! It had your name on my friend 👍

@redcoathistory Жыл бұрын

Thanks for that!

@roberthiorns7584 Жыл бұрын

Brilliant!

@FranciscoPreira 2 жыл бұрын

Great info.

@peterrooke5336 Жыл бұрын

May I recommend a rather interesting book called "running the gauntlet " by George (chops)mossop .

@mazambane286 Жыл бұрын

I can imagine how scary it must be to patrol on horseback in that terrain. There were no roads in Zululand at that stage and you'd be amazed how fleet footed the fit barefooted Zulu are. They could quite easily catch a man on horseback. You can forget about ever catching them on foot. By the time you reach the summit you'll find them on the next koppie already. Laughing at you. If it were not for helicopters we would never have been able to arrest even one of them.

@patrickcooper7629 2 жыл бұрын

Mounted Zulu senior commanders should be seen as special forces, weird that Chelmsford didn't do more recon based on reports of Zulus on horses prior to Isandlwana.

@willowncfom8228 2 жыл бұрын

If I ever get the opportunity, I would jump at a Zululand tour with you.

@redcoathistory 2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic. Hopefully it will happen one day!

@hughsmith7668 Жыл бұрын

Mr. Simson where did the steel and forging for all the Ikiwa come from?

@KW-qq7nu Жыл бұрын

3:10. Henry Martinis, sounds like a posh drink. Martini Henry sounds like a potent rifle

@philipscott2025 Жыл бұрын

Do a programme on the boer commando fighting the zulu.

@redcoathistory Жыл бұрын

I have.

@keithagn 2 жыл бұрын

Super interesting! Everyone thinks of Special Forces as a modern invention from WW2 on, but they have been used throughout history. Regards from Canada 🇨🇦

@julianmhall 2 жыл бұрын

Would you class the 19thC Rifles or Rockets as Special Forces, in that they used new weapons not the ones everyone else used? Maybe even the Shrapnel only the British used in the early 1900s, albeit used by traditional artillery.

@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf Жыл бұрын

Australia had/has the Light Horse

@davidbolton4930 2 жыл бұрын

LRDG the, 1nzsas through out the south east Asia the new Zealand mounted rifles brigade through out ww1 in the middle East and the kiwis in the Boer war starting to see a trend here lol 🇳🇿🇳🇿🇳🇿

@Blobby192 Жыл бұрын

"whose chucking those bladdy spears"

@raymondpilarczyk2773 2 жыл бұрын

Congrats on your tour guide appointment... the only drawback might be that you know too much, and the guests might just have to camp out for the night lol

@FelixstoweFoamForge 2 жыл бұрын

This is the first time I've heard of Redvers Buller being able to understand anything. If memory serves, he was at Gallipoli, where he understood nothing. Can't reference this, (Documents are at my GF), so take this as just an informed opinion. CORRECTION: Buller was not at Gallipoli, my bad, but in the Boar War, where he didn't understand very much either. (And thank you for RMH for correcting my mistake!)

@redcoathistory 2 жыл бұрын

He wasn’t at Gallipoli but he did make a hash of the 2nd Anglo-Boer war.

@FelixstoweFoamForge 2 жыл бұрын

@@redcoathistory That's IT. I do tend to get that war and the Dardanelles mixed up, (probably because of the shear amount of "General Melchet-ness" that took place in both. Thank you for putting me right! It wasn't Spion Kop, was it?

@silasrocco 2 жыл бұрын

@Coll Maxwell Nonsense! He was the most deserving imo, a real in the thick of it hero. His men loved him which would not be the case if he'd have been getting more of them killed?

@lorenrogers9269 2 жыл бұрын

Personally, the Frontier Light Horse remind me, irresistibly, of what we (U.S. Army) used during Vietnam. The Long Range Reconnaissance Groups (LRRP) did similar work during that war. But you’re correct also Chris, FLH also mirrored SAS and the British Desert Rats during WWII. Brave men all. Nice video.

@kengrimes1012 2 жыл бұрын

We had them in WWII, called long range desert groupLRDG

@johncorrall1739 Жыл бұрын

Zulus sah,fousands of ‘em.

@welchman9390 2 жыл бұрын

10.55 badly mauled! Typical understatement of a virtual annihilation

@redcoathistory 2 жыл бұрын

But don't forget not all the column were present at Isandlwana - a large force still remained, though admittedly they were now in no way capable of any sort of sustained operations.

@welchman9390 2 жыл бұрын

@@redcoathistory First of all I thank you for all the great content that you upload. It's great!!! However, I still disagree with the term "a mauling" Those present at the battle were annihilated, regardless of the fact that other forces were present elsewhere. I think we should agree to disagree. Regards

@silasrocco 2 жыл бұрын

@@welchman9390 Didn't Chris refer to the column itself tho? I think Chelmsford took more redcoats with him, than the number that remained in camp that day. Some say it could have been as little as 350-400 white soldiers. But if you're referring to the camp, I agree it was totally annihilated

@welchman9390 2 жыл бұрын

@@silasrocco Hi. I'm not detracting from what Chris said in reply at all. I've too much regard for ALL the content he's uploaded! I'm just making the observation that the battle it's self was a complete trouncing!

@silasrocco 2 жыл бұрын

@@welchman9390 I agree with you...but he was on about the column, which wasn't trounced/annihilated as most of it wasn't at Isandlwana. You could say it took...ummm a mauling 🤔🤣

@3vimages471 2 жыл бұрын

Every time they fuck up and get routed by overwhelming forces, the medals get handed out. Up the FLH.

@3vimages471 2 жыл бұрын

@Coll Maxwell Bravery

@3vimages471 2 жыл бұрын

@Coll Maxwell Actually I should have said For Valour ..... when it was suggested to Queen Vic. the medal was for bravery she said `all my soldiers are brave`. i admit I don`t know enough about Buller and Wood`s actions to comment on the mistakes you mentioned. But I don`t think that excludes their bravery under fire earning medals.

@peterbrosnan809 2 жыл бұрын

Francis Marion c. 1732 - February 27, 1795, also known as the Swamp Fox, was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Acting with the Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina and Charleston in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven out of the state in the Battle of Camden. Marion never commanded a large army or led a major battle. He used irregular methods of warfare and is considered one of the fathers of modern guerrilla warfare and maneuver warfare and is credited further explanation needed in the lineage of U.S. Army Rangers and the 75th Ranger Regiment.

@doug6500 2 жыл бұрын

He might be credited as such in American military literature but not anyone elses. He also wasn't exactly the most savory of characters. Kind of the total opposite of the fictional character Mel Gibson portrays in The Patriot. Indeed, until Banastre Tarleton made a complete cock up he enjoyed a similar amount of success hampering the efforts of rebel militias (etc) but was unfairly maligned and demonised for the sake of propaganda.

@johnyoung663 2 жыл бұрын

Surely Major Robert Rogers was responsible for introducing ranger tactics in North America.

@patrickcooper7629 2 жыл бұрын

Knowlton's Rangers from 1776 would be the first special forces associated with the USA, formed by a once red coat George Washington.

@johnyoung663 2 жыл бұрын

What about Major Robert Rogers and his Rangers? Dating from the French-Indian War, aka the Seven Years War.

@patrickcooper7629 2 жыл бұрын

@@johnyoung663 I anticipated a verbal flanking, which is why I wrote USA instead of North American british colonies.