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50-508: Ladysmith may refer to: Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal , South Africa Ladysmith, British Columbia , Canada Ladysmith, Wisconsin , United States Ladysmith, New South Wales , Australia Ladysmith, Virginia , United States Ladysmith Island, Queensland, Australia, an island in Smith Islands National Park Other [ edit ] Ladysmith (novel) ,

100-444: A 1999 novel by Giles Foden Ladysmith Black Mambazo , a South African choral group Siege of Ladysmith (South Africa), 1900 Smith & Wesson Ladysmith , a small handgun See also [ edit ] Lady Smith (disambiguation) List of people with surname Smith Ladismith , Western Cape, South Africa Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

150-580: A land deal for the voortrekkers. In November, about 1,000 Voortrekker wagons began descending the Drakensberg mountains from the Orange Free State into what is now KwaZulu-Natal . Dingane asked that Retief and his party retrieve some cattle stolen from him by a local chief as part of the treaty for land for the Boers. This Retief and his men did, returning on 3 February 1838. The next day,

200-610: A murderous campaign against other Nguni tribes and clans, setting in motion what became known as Difaqane or Mfecane , a mass-migration of tribes fleeing the remnants of the Ndwandwe fleeing the Zulu. The Ngoni people fled as far north as Tanzania and Malawi. The death toll has never been satisfactorily determined, but the whole region became nearly depopulated. By 1822, Shaka had conquered an empire covering an area of around 80,000 square miles (210,000 km ), covering Pongola to

250-598: A new leader, Andries Pretorius , who led a successful defence of the Voortrekker position from the Zulu forces and Dingane at the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, when 15,000 Zulu impis (warriors) attacked a group of 470 Voortrekker settlers led by Pretorius. Following his defeat, Dingane burned his royal household and fled north. Mpande , the half-brother who had been spared from Dingane's purges, defected with 17,000 followers, and, together with Pretorius and

300-731: A redirection of the war effort, and the British, though outnumbered, began winning small engagements and later larger setpiece encounters. The fighting culminated in the Siege of Ulundi , the Zulus' capital city, and the subsequent defeat of the Zulu Kingdom. Cetshwayo was captured a month after his defeat, and then exiled to Cape Town . The British passed rule of the Zulu kingdom onto 13 "kinglets", each with his own subkingdom. Conflict soon erupted between these subkingdoms, and in 1882, Cetshwayo

350-649: A strong presence in the town, which is well known for the Soofie Mosque on the banks of the Klip River . Built in 1969, it is regarded as one of the finest in the country. The origins of the structure date back to 1895 when Hazrath Soofie Saheb arrived in South Africa. He made it his mission to build as many as 12 mosques along the east coast of Durban. Ladysmith was also the home of a revered saint known as Hazrath Soofie Sayed Mahomed Abed Mia Osmani , who

400-692: A treaty was signed, wherein Dingane ceded all the land south of the Tugela River to the Mzimvubu River to the Voortrekkers. Celebrations followed. On 6 February, at the end of the celebrations, Retief's party were invited to a dance, and asked to leave their weapons behind. At the peak of the dance, Dingane leapt to his feet and yelled "Bambani abathakathi!" ( isiZulu for "Seize the wizards"). Retief and his men were overpowered, taken to

450-611: A wave of Boer (also known as Voortrekkers) migration northwards from 1836 onwards in order to establish autonomous Boer states independent of British control. The Boers settlers began moving across the Orange River northwards. While travelling they first collided with the Ndebele kingdom, and then with Dingane's Zulu kingdom. In October 1837, the Voortrekker leader Piet Retief visited Dingane at his royal kraal to negotiate

500-477: Is 639 mm (25 in), with most rainfall occurring during summer. Since it was established the town has suffered severely from flooding of the Klip River . During the 110 years up to 1997 with the completion of the Qedusizi Dam , 29 serious floods occurred. Minor flooding occurred almost every year. The worst flooding in 30 years occurred in 1996 leading to R 500 million in damages and

550-664: Is buried in the Ladysmith Muslim Cemetery. For Hinduism , Sanathan Dharma Sabha was inaugurated to promote religious, social, cultural and education activities in Ladysmith in 1902. The oldest Hindu temple resulted from the amalgamation of Hindu Thirukootam (1910) with the Shree Ganaser Temple and hall erected in 1916. It was declared a national monument in November 1990. The present site of

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600-652: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal The town was named after Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith , also known as "Lady Smith," the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith , the Governor of the Cape Colony from 1847-1852. It saw numerous actions during the Second Boer War , when after numerous small skirmishes

650-719: Is located on the Free State main line and the Glencoe – Vryheid line and acts as a depot for train marshalling and maintenance as well as rail maintenance. The passenger station is located some distance away from Danskraal close to the Central Business District. The N11 links Ladysmith with Newcastle in the north and with the N3 Freeway in the south-west, while the R103 provides access to Colenso in

700-652: Is now designated as the R103 . The only sold local newspaper in Ladysmith is the Ladysmith Gazette . It is believed to have been established in 1902, and is part of the Caxton Group of newspapers. Two free local newspapers are the Ladysmith Herald and the Times of Ladysmith .. 5 South African Infantry Battalion is based in Ladysmith. A military shooting range is located on the outskirts of

750-589: The Union of South Africa . Shaka was the illegitimate son of Senzangakhona , Chief of the Zulus. He was born c. 1787. He and his mother, Nandi , were exiled by Senzangakhona, and found refuge with the Mthethwa . Shaka fought as a warrior under Dingiswayo , leader of the Mthethwa Paramountcy . When Senzangakona died, Dingiswayo helped Shaka become king of the Zulu. After Dingiswayo 's death at

800-657: The Zulu Empire, was a monarchy in Southern Africa . During the 1810s, Shaka established a standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following which ruled a wide expanse of Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to the Pongola River in the north. A bitter civil war in the mid-19th century erupted which culminated in

850-623: The 1856 Battle of Ndondakusuka between the brothers Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi. In 1879, a British force invaded Zululand, beginning the Anglo-Zulu War . After an initial Zulu victory at the Battle of Isandlwana in January, the British regrouped and defeated the Zulus in July during the Battle of Ulundi , ending the war. The area was absorbed into the Colony of Natal and later became part of

900-518: The British and the Boers, resulting in the British annexation of Natalia. Mpande shifted his allegiance to the British, and remained on good terms with them. In 1843, Mpande ordered a purge of perceived dissidents within his kingdom. This resulted in numerous deaths, and the fleeing of thousands of refugees into neighbouring areas (including the British-controlled Natal ). Many of these refugees fled with cattle. Mpande began raiding

950-438: The British suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 where the Zulu army killed more than 1,000 British soldiers in a single day. The Zulu deployment at Isandhlwana showed the well-organized tactical system that had made the Zulu kingdom successful for many decades. This constituted the worst defeat the British army had ever suffered at the hands of a native African fighting force. The defeat prompted

1000-773: The SDS temple (Sanathan Dharma Sabha aka Lord Vishnu Temple) also housed Mahatma Gandhi who established a non-White Stretcher-bearer service in the Ambulance Corps in the Ladysmith and Spioenkop during the Anglo-Boer War. There are also Rastafarian devotees within the areas surrounding Ladysmith, residing in Waters Meet, Peace Town, eZakheni, Steadville, Saint Chads, Acaciaville and Roosbom. Zulu Kingdom The Zulu Kingdom ( / ˈ z uː l uː / ZOO -loo ; Zulu : KwaZulu ), sometimes referred to as

1050-581: The Tugera Rivers. An offshoot of the Zulu, the amaNdebele, better known to history as the Matabele , created an even larger empire under their king Mzilikazi , including large parts of the highveld and modern-day Zimbabwe . [1] Shaka was succeeded by Dingane , his half-brother, who conspired with Mhlangana, another half-brother, and Mbopa, an induna , to murder him in 1828. Following this assassination, Dingane murdered Mhlangana, and took over

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1100-626: The Union of South Africa was formed, Louis Botha became its first prime minister, and he arranged for his old ally Dinuzulu to return to South Africa and live in exile on a farm in the Transvaal, where he died in 1913. Dinuzulu's son Solomon kaDinuzulu was never recognised by South African authorities as the Zulu king, only as a local chief, but he was increasingly regarded as king by chiefs, by political intellectuals such as John Langalibalele Dube and by ordinary Zulu people. In 1923, Solomon founded

1150-563: The Voortrekkers, went to war with Dingane. Dingane was assassinated near the modern Swaziland border. Mpande then took over rulership of the Zulu nation. Following the campaign against Dingane, in 1839 the Voortrekkers, under Pretorius, formed the Boer republic of Natalia , south of the Tugela, and west of the British settlement of Port Natal (now Durban ). Mpande and Pretorius maintained peaceful relations. However, in 1842, war broke out between

1200-642: The battles have been erected at most of them. Two RML 6.3 inch Howitzers used by the British during the Siege stand in front of the Town Hall. Located just south of the town, the Platrand/Wagon Hill area saw action during the Relief of Ladysmith. The Burgher Memorial on Wagon Hill, a sculpture of six hands pointing upwards and one downwards, was erected in 1979 in honour of 781 Boer forces killed in

1250-649: The battles in Natal during the Second Boer War . A crypt at the center contains the remains of 310 re-interred burghers. On Platrand there are memorials to the Imperial Light Horse , the Devonshire Regiment , the Earl of Ava and a number of others. Ladysmith is the hometown of Joseph Shabalala , founder of the group Ladysmith Black Mambazo . Thulani "Sugar Boy" Malinga , a champion boxer,

1300-560: The central business district and a large part of the residential areas located within the flood basin of the river. It is on the foothills of the Drakensberg mountains, about 26 km from the Van Reenen's Pass . The town has a subtropical highland climate ( Cwb , according to the Köppen climate classification ), with warm summers and cool, dry winters. It borders on a humid subtropical climate ( Cwa ). The average annual precipitation

1350-524: The east coast of Vancouver Island , British Columbia, Canada, was renamed Ladysmith by James Dunsmuir in honour of the lifting of the siege of Ladysmith. In 2023, it was proposed to renamed the city to uMnambithi. In 1847, after buying land from the Zulu king Mpande , a number of Boers settled in the area and called it the Republic of Klip River with Andries Spies as their commandant. The republic

1400-583: The evacuation of 400 families. Efforts to control the flooding date back to the 1940s. In 1949 the Windsor Dam was completed, but this dam silted up very quickly and was not an effective means of flood control. Ladysmith is served by a small airport, ( IATA : LAY , ICAO : FALY ) is located on the outskirts of town just below Platrand at 28°34′48″S 29°45′10″E  /  28.58000°S 29.75278°E  / -28.58000; 29.75278  ( Ladysmith Aerodrome ) . The Danskraal Yard

1450-460: The hands of Zwide , king of the Ndwandwe , around 1816, Shaka assumed leadership of the entire Mthethwa alliance. Shaka's clan at first numbered no more than a few thousands, but eventually grew in size to 45,000 after absorbing neighboring clans. His military reforms included new battle techniques, training, and tough discipline, as well as the replacement of long-throwing spears in exchange for

1500-522: The independent Republic of Vryheid. This alarmed the British who wanted to prevent the Boers access to a harbour. The British then annexed Zululand in 1887. Dinuzulu became involved in later conflicts with rivals. In 1906 Dinuzulu was accused of being behind the Bambatha Rebellion . He was arrested and put on trial by the British for "high treason and public violence". In 1909, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment on St Helena island. When

1550-400: The intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, Sir Henry Bartle Frere , on his own initiative and without the approval of the British government, presented an ultimatum to the Zulu king Cetshwayo in terms with which he could not possibly comply: that the Zulu army be disbanded and the Zulus accept a British resident. British forces crossed the Tugela river at the end of December 1878. Initially,

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1600-425: The more effective short-stabbing spears. Conscripted men were segregated from the rest of Zulu society to be trained as an organized standing army called the amabutho . The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the Battle of Gqokli Hill (1818). Within two years, Shaka had defeated Zwide at the Battle of Mhlatuze River (1820) and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance, some of whom in turn began

1650-424: The nearby hill kwaMatiwane, and executed. Some allege that they were killed for withholding some of the cattle they recovered, but it is likely that the deal was a plot to overpower the Voortrekkers. Dingane's army then attacked and massacred a group of 250 Voortrekker men, women and children camped nearby. The site of this massacre is today called Weenen , ( Dutch for "to weep"). The remaining Voortrekkers elected

1700-528: The new province of KwaZulu-Natal . The name KwaZulu translates roughly as Place of Zulus , or more formally Zululand . The Zulu Kingdom is currently part of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (of which the King of the Zulu Nation is the monarch), one of the country's nine provinces, under the leadership of King MisuZulu ka Zwelithini . A large portion of the territory is made up of wildlife reserves and

1750-624: The organisation Inkatha YaKwaZulu to promote his royal claims, which became moribund and then was revived in the 1970s by Mangosuthu Buthelezi , chief minister of the KwaZulu bantustan. In December 1951, Solomon's son Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolomon was officially recognised as the Paramount Chief of the Zulu people, but real power over ordinary Zulu people lay with South African government officials working through local chiefs who could be removed from office for failure to cooperate. KwaZulu

1800-422: The siege by taking the town before the British could launch another attempt to break the siege. This led to the battle of Platrand (or Wagon Hill) south of the town. British forces under Buller finally broke the siege on 28 February 1900 after defeating the Boers by using close cooperation between his infantry and artillery. Winston Churchill , then a young war correspondent for The Morning Post of London,

1850-481: The south and the N3 Freeway in the west. Traffic traveling between Durban and Johannesburg used to pass through Ladysmith up until the late 1980s, but the completion of the N3 Toll Highway , bypassing Ladysmith 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the west, has caused a dramatic drop in traffic volumes through this town as well as others that are now bypassed. In that regard, the old main road through Ladysmith

1900-496: The surrounding areas, culminating in the invasion of Swaziland in 1852. However, the British pressured him into withdrawing, which he did shortly. At this time, a battle for the succession broke out between two of Mpande's sons, Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi. This culminated in 1856 with the Battle of Ndondakusuka , which left Mbuyazi dead. Cetshwayo then set about usurping his father's authority. When Mpande died of old age in 1872, Cetshwayo took over as ruler. On 11 December 1878, with

1950-544: The throne. The academic Roberto Breschi notes that Zululand had a flag from 1884 to 1897 but this is pure conjecture as A.P. Burgers notes in his book. It consisted of three horizontal bands in equal width of gold, green and red. Dinuzulu made a pact with the Boers of his own, promising them land in return for their aid. The Boers were led by Louis Botha . Dinuzulu and the Boers defeated Zibhebhu in 1884. They were granted about half of Zululand individually as farms, and formed

2000-479: The throne. One of his first royal acts was to execute all of his royal kin. In the years that followed, he also executed many past supporters of Shaka in order to secure his position. One exception to these purges was Mpande , another half-brother, who was considered too weak to be a threat at the time. In the Cape Colony , increasing tensions between some Dutch Settlers and the British colonial authorities led to

2050-404: The title Ladysmith . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ladysmith&oldid=980316558 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Title and name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

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2100-428: The town was besieged by Boer forces on 2 November 1899. After three British attempts to relieve the defenders and one Boer attempt to take the town all failed, the siege was eventually broken on 28 February 1900. Both Winston Churchill and Mahatma Gandhi were present at the siege, the former as a war correspondent and the latter as a stretcher-bearer. In 1900, the unincorporated town of Oyster Harbour on

2150-789: The town between the Aerodrome and Platrand. Other buildings of interest are the Siege Museum, built in 1884 as a marketplace and opened as a museum in 1995. Detailing the battles and history at the time of the Siege, the museum holds around 60,000 documents related to the Siege and the Boer War. The Town Hall was damaged by Boer artillery during the Second Boer War . A large number of the Second Boer War Battlefields around Ladysmith have been preserved as memorial sites. Monuments and memorials to those who died during

2200-561: The town. Following the battles, while British forces under White regrouped in the town, the Boers surrounded Ladysmith. The siege of Ladysmith lasted 118 days, from 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900, during the most crucial stage of the war. Three attempts by General Sir Redvers Buller to break the siege resulted in Boer victories at the battles of Colenso , Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz . On 6 January 1900, Boer forces under Commandant-General Piet Joubert attempted to end

2250-480: The villagers from the Zulu. During the Second Boer War , British Lieutenant-General Sir George White made Ladysmith his centre of operations for the protection of Natal against Boer forces. Starting on 29 October 1899, a number of short-lived battles were fought for control of the town, but after suffering heavy casualties British forces retreated to Ladysmith, though the Boers did not make use of this opportunity to follow up their successes and take control of

2300-544: Was a bantustan in South Africa , intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Zulu people. The capital was moved from Nongoma to Ulundi in 1980. It was led until its abolition in 1994 by Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Zulu royal family and head of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). It was merged with the surrounding South African province of Natal to form

2350-566: Was allowed to visit England. He had audiences with Queen Victoria and other famous personages before being allowed to return to Zululand to be reinstated as king. In 1883, Cetshwayo was put in place as king over a buffer reserve territory, much reduced from his original kingdom. Later that year, however, Cetshwayo was attacked at Ulundi by Zibhebhu , one of the 13 kinglets. Cetshwayo was wounded and fled. Cetshwayo died in February 1884, possibly poisoned. His son, Dinuzulu , then 15, inherited

2400-419: Was annexed by the British in the same year and on 20 June 1850 was proclaimed a township called Windsor. On 11 October 1850, the name was changed to Ladysmith after Juana María de los Dolores de León Smith , also known as "Lady Smith," the Spanish wife of Sir Harry Smith , the Governor of the Cape Colony and high commissioner in South Africa from 1847 to 1852. A fort was built in 1860 to protect

2450-546: Was born in Ladysmith. Thamsanqa Gabuza , a soccer player, who plays for Orlando Pirates, was born in Ladysmith. Christianity has a strong presence in and around Ladysmith. It can be seen through the places of worship built around the time of the Anglo Boer wars. One such structure includes the Anglican All Saints Church, built in 1902 from cut flagstones from a quarry in the area. Islam also has

2500-423: Was present at the relief of Ladysmith after having been taken prisoner (between Ladysmith and Colenso) and escaping earlier during the war. Mohandas Gandhi , along with the stretcher-bearing corps that he had established earlier during the war, was involved in a number of actions that took place in and around Ladysmith during the relief. Ladysmith is located on the banks of the Klip River ("stone river"), with

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