Intombe

The Battle of Intombe (also Intombi or Intombi River Drift) was an action fought on 12 March 1879, between Zulu troops loyal to Mbilini waMswati and British soldiers and African civilian conductors, drivers and voorloopers (scouts) defending a convoy of wagons on the road from Derby to Lüneburg. The convoy straggled badly along the road due to the rains and bogged on both sides of the Intombe river, which had risen and was in spate due to the rains. Most of the wagons were laagered (parked close together as an obstacle), somewhat haphazardly, close to the river on the Derby side (the north bank) with a small party and two wagons on the Lüneburg side (the south bank). The Zulu leader Mbilini waMswati and his followers could see how vulnerable the convoy was from the high ground of the Tafelberg. Mbilini assembled a large force of Zulu irregulars and attacked the laager on 12 March. Using the early morning mist for camouflage, the Zulu were able to rush the laager and overrun the British and their African auxiliaries. A few men managed to reach the river and dived in, hoping to be washed across to the south bank, where the small British party there engaged the Zulus on the north bank with rifle-fire. About twelve men from the north bank got across the river and joined the force on the south bank. The officer commanding the party on the south bank mounted a horse and deserted his

Flows through: South Africa.

River data from Wikidata (CC0); lengths normalised to a common unit.