Last Stand

Assigned to Evelyn Wood’s flying column, Blackwood takes part in raids and patrols along the north-western frontier of Zululand. The disastrous fighting at Hlobane leaves the column exposed and shaken, but there is no time to recover before a large Zulu army advances on the fortified camp at Kambula. Blackwood and the Monmouthshire Fusiliers must help hold the laager as rifle fire, artillery and repeated assaults turn the position into a killing ground.

Last Stand links two consecutive engagements that transformed the campaign. Hlobane demonstrates the danger of divided forces and difficult terrain; Kambula shows the defensive power of a prepared position and concentrated fire. Through Blackwood, the novel presents victory not as a clean reversal of fortune but as an achievement bought by severe losses on both sides.