about due west of Zunguin. Their arrival on 31 January was met with a message from Chelmsford informing Wood that all orders were cancelled, he was now on his own with no expectation of reinforcements and he must be prepared to face the whole Zulu Army. Kambula February 1879 passed quietly, save for mounted patrols sent out daily to raid the kraals of Zulus harassing No. 5 Column across the eastern Transvaal border. At Kambula, a hexagonal laager was formed with wagons locked together; a separate kraal for the cattle was constructed on the edge of the southern face of the ridge. Trenches and earth parapets surrounded both and a stone-built redoubt was built on a rise just north of the kraal. A palisade blocked the between the kraal and redoubt and four 7-pounders were positioned between the redoubt and the laager to cover the northern approaches. Two more guns in the redoubt covered the north-east. Wood received much needed reinforcements in the form of Transvaal Rangers, mounted troops, a troop of German settlers and five companies of the 80th Regiment of Foot. Wood had hoped to detach the Zulus in the area from their allegiance to Cetshwayo, particularly uHamu kaNzibe, Cetshwayo's half-brother, who had always been friendly towards the British and at odds with the Zulu King. On 13 March, uHamu entered the camp with about 700 followers, requesting escorts to bring the rest of his people out of hiding. They were in caves near the headwaters of the Black Umfolozi, to the east and only from Ulundi. It would be risky to escort large numbers to safety over this area but Wood considered the advantages made it worthwhile. An escort of mounted troops and about 200 of uHamu's warriors returned to Kambula with another Shortly afterwards, Wood received a request from Chelmsford to create a distraction to draw off some of the Zulu strength, while he tried to intervene in the Battle of Eshowe. Knowing that an Impi was preparing to leave Ulundi and attack either Kambula or the British fort at Utrecht, Wood reckoned that by attacking Hlobane on 28 March he could drive cattle off the mountain, prompting the Impi to attack him in his prepared position at Kambula. Battle Hlobane consisted of two plateaux, the lower and smaller of which rose to a height of about at the eastern end of the -long col (nek)