21 . . . Washington Stonehenge; Zulu Wars
Date: 1/22/2021
Dad Joke: A slice of apple pie is $2.50 in Jamaica,
$3.00 in the Bahamas and $3.50 in the Virgin Islands. (Pause)
These are the Pie Rates of the Caribbean.
Random Thoughts on a
Passing Scene:
As we generally agree to track the passage of time in the
modern western world, last night there was a rare moment. The moment was 21/21/21/21/21/21. Before you ponder this too much, this is the
“brief-moment-in-the-history-of-time” that occurred at 21 minutes and 21
seconds after 9 PM PST. For a very
short moment in military time, it was hour/minute/second 21:21:21, of the 21st
day, of the 21st year, of the 21st Century.
(Of course, I was sound asleep then. Jan was likely awake and reading a book on
her Kindle. As I drifted off, I vaguely
recall her commenting that she needed a new upgraded Kindle and I of course
muttered something about “….not in the budget….wait till your birthday, or
Christmas”….did she say “Valentines is upcoming”?)
As a side note: Stephen Hawkins’ book “A Brief History of
Time” is worth reading and, for me, was most interesting to ponder.
More to do than can
ever be done: Travel the North
Shore – the Washington State side – of the Columbia River Gorge. Most travel along the South Shore’s Interstate
84 in Oregon.
More to see than can
ever be seen: Along this North
Shore, you will see a pretty full-sized replication of the famous Stonehenge Monument.
(I think JLOB and the girls have actually been to the original in the British
Isles.) As I remember, this “Washington
Stonehenge” was erected about a hundred years ago to honor the young men of the
area that lost their lives in World War I.
https://www.maryhillmuseum.org/outside/stonehenge-memorial
More to know than can
ever be known:
For this Day in History, I will write about a battle that
ranks as the worst defeat suffered by the British Empire at the hands of a
native army. This was the Battle of
Isandlwana on January 22 of 1879 in South Africa.
During the late 19th Century, Great Britain was
at the height of its World and Colonial Power.
In South Africa at this time, Britain and their sometimes allies, the
Boers, clashed with the expanding Zulu nation.
On pretty shaky grounds – like so many Colonial versus Native casus
belli – Britain declared war and invaded Zululand.
The British Invading force of about 2000 British and Native
Contingents were caught, relatively unaware that the main Zulu Army – called
Impi – of 20,000+ was boiling for a fight and closing fast. Although the Zulus were armed with shields
and stabbing spears, their numbers, bravery and rapidity of advance overwhelmed
the modern-firearms of the British.
Over 1600 British troops were annihilated once the Zulu regiments crashed
into the British Lines and hand-to-hand combat ensued. Zulu casualties are not precisely known, but
estimates range into the “few thousands”.
This astounding defeat by the Zulus sent shockwaves through
the British government and public much like our “Custer’s Last Stand” Battle
(for another time perhaps?). The
British went back at the Zulus with more men and bigger guns, etc. Thus, the Zulu armed nation came to its end
with repercussions that continue culturally and politically in South African to
this day.
Side Note: As the horrific
British defeat at Isandlwana was winding down, a company of British troops
fortified a nearby mission station at Rorke’s Drift and successfully held a few
thousand Zulus at bay.
Related Movies: “Zulu
Dawn” covers Isandlwana and is fairly true to the events that unfolded. “Zulu”
covers the battle of Rorke’s Drift and is a bit “Hollywoodized”, but remains a
rousing action movie and gets the main facts correct. (My Mom and Dad took my brother and me to see
“Zulu” at one of those old large
capacity magnificent movie theatres in Mt. Clemens, MI.)
Related Books: On
one of my bookshelves, there is a row of Zulu War related histories. Much has been written about King Shaka and
the rise of the Zulu Nation. More has
been written about the Boer and British conflicts with the Zulu. I am sure that there are now very in depth
and scholarly histories of the time, but as a young man I was introduced to one
book that was (maybe still is) considered the benchmark military history of
this arena – “The Washing of the Spears” by Donald R. Morris, copyright
1965.
Also see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Isandlwana
There you have it.
TAB
Confession of a reading failure: I could not get in to A Brief History of Time. Hawking even wrote A Briefer History of Time, but that too was beyond my comprehension. Perhaps I will try again.
ReplyDeleteI remember watching Zulu Dawn, or at least remember the name.
Question: Was this one of the Boer Wars? If not, what are the Boer Wars, and who are the Boers?
I think this comment was from my oldest daughter. In regard to the TIME comment, I can't say I got it all....for most of the concepts presented by Hawking, I too just scratched my head. Big Bangs...Expanding Universe....the exact moment of creation...what was there\here just the instant before the Big Bang...what\who caused the Bang....why was this TIME put in motion in the first place... It is beyond me to answer those question - let alone to continue to seek those answers like today's leading astrophysicists. For me, it is enough to have faith in a Creator that did all this in the Biblical Fashion.
ReplyDeleteThe Zulu - British - Boer questions are easier to address. South Africa's first inland colonists were Dutch Protestants that were historically referred to as Boers. The British overseeing came later and Boers did not take kindly to British rule. Many of the Boers trekked inland and this spread resulted in clashes with the equally land-hungry and expanding Zulu Nation. British and Boer clashes with the Zulus culminated in the Zulu War of 1879 - 80 as described in the Isandlwana posting.
I am not sure of the origin or meaning behind the designation Boer. I do know that the "Boer War" was at the turn of the 20th century. This conflict pitted British against Boers over land and gold and diamonds etc. Boers lost eventually. Finally, our surname BASSIER shows up in South Africa - likely in descendants of Dutch Boer colonists.