The Dash with the Colours by John Charles Dollman (1851-1934). The Graphic (15 March 1879), 265. Wood engraving.
This dramatic illustration shows the attempt of Lts. Nevill Coghill and Teignmouth Melvill to break out with the colours at the Battle of Isandlwana – a symbolic act of significance to the British army, but pointless to the Zulus. Both men were killed. The image depicts the mayhem of close quarters with the Zulus shown as a dynamic mass of writhing bodies with the soldiers at the centre. The effect is again one of racist differentiation: the White men are the valiant individuals, while their enemies are a veritable mass of maniacal energy, a swarm, it is implied, of the unthinking. It is nevertheless inaccurate as an historical document – Coghill and Melvill were pulled down some distance from the main encounter and were killed in what was essentially a skirmish.
Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke, Ph.D. This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose without prior permission as long as you credit the person who scanned it and link to this page in a web document or cite it in a print one.
Created 27 February 2025