Battle of Isandlwana

01British soldiers reportedly ran out of accessible ammunition because the regimental quartermaster refused to issue rounds without signed chits during the battle.
02Zulu warriors disemboweled British dead — a ritual requirement to release the spirit — leaving a field of eviscerated corpses stretching half a mile.
03The eclipse of the sun began during the battle, and Zulu accounts describe fighting in a strange half-darkness as the red-coated soldiers were overwhelmed.

At Isandlwana on January 22, 1879, 20,000 Zulu warriors overran a British camp of 1,800 in 90 minutes with spears. The British had rifles and artillery and still lost 1,300 men. Some accounts blame the ammunition boxes.