wow thats news must have shocked you at first brit
I must admit it did, as I visited the site of the battle with my son a few years ago and have studied the battle pretty much in detail.
As I walked onto the battle field I had an overwhelming feeling that I cannot really explain, it was almost a feeling of hopelessness. Every where I looked were stone cairns covering the bodies of those who were killed. On the mountain itself are the stone cairns of Captain Younghusband and a number of troops who fought the Zulu hand to hand until each one was speared and disembowled.
For years after the battle, Zulu's living near the site reported sounds of battle at night, sometimes heard today.
The battle has been discussed over and over for over 130 years with various conclusions, in my opinion for what its worth, there were two main errors were the cause of the disaster,
(1) Instead of forming a defensive laager, the troops were spread out in a single line, instead of defence in depth.
(2) Problems of getting ammunition to the men in the firing line.
The Battle of Rorkes Drift which is situated about 9 miles from Isandlwana had a totally different outcome, the men were deployed correctly and ammunition was readily available.