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Cranston Fine Arts  Military Art and Artists Featured Current Military Artists Jason Askew  Zulu Wars |
[UP] - Napoleonic Art - Zulu Wars - World War One - World War Two - Original Paintings - Original Drawings - Postcards |
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Private Samuel Wassall of the 80th Regiment of Foot (Staffordshire Volunteers) at Fugitives Drift by Jason Askew. Private Wassall, whilst escaping the debacle of Isandhlwana, was being pursued by Zulu warriors as he made his way down the Buffalo River, the border between Zululand and Natal. Wassall rode his Basuto pony into the river, but upon hearing a cry for help and seeing a man from his own regiment drowning, he turned and made his way back to the Zulu side of the river, Quickly dismounting he tied his horse to a tress, swam into the river and rescued a private called Westwood as the Zulus were sweeping along the riverbank just at the moment the Zulus rushed forward. For his act of valour in the face of the enemy Private Samuel Wassall was awarded the first of the Zulu War Victoria Crosses. |
Hlobane 22nd March 1879 - Mossop's Leap, Trooper Mossop and Warrior by Jason Askew The painting shows a young 16 year old George Mossop of the Frontier Light Horse who escaped from the Zulu attack at Hlobane, thanks to his pony Warrior. Warrior was wounded during the battle, but the pony still managed to carry Mossop to safety at Vryheid. In the morning Warrior was found dying in the stable. The Battle of Hlobane had been a British defeat. Fifteen officers and 110 soldiers were killed, a further 8 wounded and 100 native soldiers died. |
Ulundi 4th July 1879 - Charge of the 17th Lancers by Jason Askew. The British force of 17,000 British and native troops, under the command of Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford engaged over 22,000 Zulu warriors on 4th July 1879 at Ulundi. During the battle several thousand Zulus surrounded the British infantry which formed a square with the 17th Lancers at its centre. When the Zulus attack faltered the 17th Lancers passed out of the back of the square and were ordered to charge. The impact of the charge broke up what was left of the Zulu formations and the Zulu army dissolved in flight. The British casualties at the Battle of Ulundi were 3 officers and 79 men. but it is believed the Zulu losses were around 1500. |
Rorkes Drift 22nd January 1879 - Defending the Store House by Jason Askew By about 6pm the Zulu attacks had extended all around the front of the post, and fighting raged at hand-to-hand along the mealie-bag wall. Lieutenant Chard himself took up a position on the barricade, firing over the mealie-bags with a Martini-Henry, whilst Lieutenant Bromhead directed any spare men to plug the gaps in the line. The men in the yard and on the front wall were dangerously exposed to the fire of Zulu marksmen posted in the rocky terraces on Shiyane (Oskarsberg) hill behind the post. Several men were hit, including Acting Assistant Commissary Dalton, and Corporal Allen of the 14th. Surgeon Reynolds treated the wounded as best he could despite the fire. Once the veranda at the front of the hospital had been abandoned, the Zulus had mounted a determined attack on the building itself, setting fire to the thatched roof with spears tied with burning grass. The defenders were forced to evacuate the patients room by room, eventually passing them out through a small window into the open yard. Shortly after 6pm Chard decided that the Zulu pressure was too great, and ordered a withdrawal to a barricade of biscuit boxes which had been hastily erected across the yard, from the corner of the store-house to the front mealie-bag wall. In this small compound the garrison would fight for their lives throughout most of the coming night. |
The Battle of Isandlwana by Jason Askew. The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British commenced their invasion of Zululand in South Africa, a Zulu force of some 10,000-12,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of about 1,800 British, colonial and native troops and perhaps 400 civilians. The Zulus were equipped mainly with the traditional Assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields, but also had a number of muskets and old rifles though they were not formally trained in their use. The British and colonial troops were armed with the state-of-the-art Martini-Henry breech-loading rifle and two 7 pounder artillery pieces as well as a rocket battery. Despite a vast disadvantage in weapons technology, the numerically superior Zulus ultimately overwhelmed the poorly led and badly deployed British, killing over 1,300 troops, including all those out on the forward firing line. The Zulu army suffered around 350 killed, and up to several hundred wounded. The battle was a crushing victory for the Zulus and caused the abandonment of the first British invasion of Zululand. |
Rorkes Drift 22nd January 1879 - Defending the Hospital by Jason Askew By about 6pm the Zulu attacks had extended all around the front of the post, and fighting raged at hand-to-hand along the mealie-bag wall. Lieutenant Chard himself took up a position on the barricade, firing over the mealie-bags with a Martini-Henry, whilst Lieutenant Bromhead directed any spare men to plug the gaps in the line. The men in the yard and on the front wall were dangerously exposed to the fire of Zulu marksmen posted in the rocky terraces on Shiyane (Oskarsberg) hill behind the post. Several men were hit, including Acting Assistant Commissary Dalton, and Corporal Allen of the 14th. Surgeon Reynolds treated the wounded as best he could despite the fire. Once the veranda at the front of the hospital had been abandoned, the Zulus had mounted a determined attack on the building itself, setting fire to the thatched roof with spears tied with burning grass. The defenders were forced to evacuate the patients room by room, eventually passing them out through a small window into the open yard. Shortly after 6pm Chard decided that the Zulu pressure was too great, and ordered a withdrawal to a barricade of biscuit boxes which had been hastily erected across the yard, from the corner of the store-house to the front mealie-bag wall. In this small compound the garrison would fight for their lives throughout most of the coming night. |
Rorkes Drift by Jason Askew. The painting depicts the climax of the Zulu attacks at the defence of Rorkes Drift. The Zulus were unable to effectively penetrate the mealie bag defenses at Rorkes Drift, even though they succeeded in burning down the hospital, and peppering the storehouse with bullet holes. The confined space available to the British garrison caused a certain degree of physical compression, but this in fact worked against the Zulus, as it drove the defenders closer together with the result being that the volley fire from the defenders was concentrated and subsequently very effective at close range, as opposed to the spread out skirmish line type formation used at Isandlwhana. The Zulu attacks also became uncoordinated, being driven forward by charismatic individuals, but lacking the support of the necessary numbers needed to overwhelm the desperate defenders, who now appreciated that they were literally fighting for their lives. |
Isandlwana 22nd January 1879 - The Death of Private W Griffiths VC by Jason Askew SOLD OUT. |
The Defence of Rorke's Drift by Jason Askew. The Battle at Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was an action in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, immediately followed the British Army's defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22nd January 1879, and continued into the following day, 23rd January. 150 British and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison against an intense assault by approximately 2000 Zulu warriors. The intense and noisy Zulu attacks on Rorke's Drift came very close to defeating the tiny garrison, but were ultimately repelled by blasts of Martini-Henry rifle fire-and some smart bayonet work-with some guts behind the bayonet thrusts! Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours. Of particular note in the painting is the dog 'Pip' - he survived Isandlwhana by retreating along the fugitive's trail to Rorke's Drift. During the Zulu attacks on Rorke's drift, Pip did his part in the defence - by jumping on the mealie bag parapets and barking at Zulus- who were hiding in the long grass and sneaking up to the defences, then biting any Zulu who came within range. Unfortunately Pip was not officially recognised for his part in the action. He was not awarded a VC, on the basis that he was a volunteer canine that accompanied an officer, rather than a War Office issued canine. Conversely, if Pip had been killed, then he would not have been officially listed as a casualty, as he accompanied the army in a strictly private capacity. British army horses were in a different category as they were War Office issue, therefore the loss of a horse in action, or to disease, carried a financial liability for the War Office. |
Isandlwana 22nd January 1879 - Saving The Guns by Jason Askew The painting shows one of the two seven pounder guns and gun team attempting to retreat at speed as they are overrun. The British force consisted of 2 guns and 70 men of N Battery, 5th Brigade, Royal Artillery, 5 companies of 1st Battalion, the 24th Foot, 1 company of 2nd Battalion, the 24th Foot and Mounted volunteers and Natal Police and two companies of the Natal Native Infantry. The losses during the battle were 52 British officers and 806 non-commissioned ranks killed and 471 Africans died fighting for the British. Zulu warrior dead were around 2,000 dead either on the field or from wounds. There were only around 60 Europeans survived the battle. |
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