Almost overnight, firepower from muskets became the dominant force in war, and fully armoured soldiers almost disappeared from European battlefields toward the end of the 16th century.
They were apparently unable to ignite a small cannon because of rain, but probably mustered enough firepower from muskets to frighten the Indians, the historians suggested.
Wave after wave of Zulus charged, trying to use their short spears in close combat, but instead dying in heaps as smoke rose from muskets and cannons.
"The roadways and paths are strewn with every conceivable kind of Army material, from muskets and accoutrements to cannon, caissons, supply wagons, lumber, pontoon boots and planks, dead horses and mules," one man recalled.
And although the production does not shy away from muskets and fisticuffs, the violence takes place in slow motion, emphasizing that the story is a thrilling dream, not a ghoulish nightmare.
Armed only with swords and faced with overwhelming firepower from muskets and artillery, the Scots could do little else other than retreat.
Because of their circuitous route to the battle, however, the field was already covered by heavy smoke from muskets and a fire set by the British in a dry buckwheat field when they arrived; eventually, they and the other colonial forces were lost in the smoke and retreated.
Witness, botanist Joseph Banks, insisted that the obvious hole in the shield came from a "single pointed lance"; Indigenous Australians say the hole is from a musket round – more plausible, you'd have to agree, given Cook and his men shot at and wounded Gweagel that day.
