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The Prince Imperial of France dies in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879

10 January 1879

The 22-year-old Prince Imperial of France, Eugene Louis Jean Joseph Napoleon, who studied in England at the Royal Military Academy and joined the British forces, was killed in the Anglo-Zulu War when he and a British reconnaissance party were attacked by about forty Zulus in the vicinity of Itelezi Mountain and Ityotyozi River in Zululand. The prince's horse, "Fate", bolted and the prince, in attempting to mount his fleeing horse tripped and fell and was speared to death. A memorial, now a historical monument, was erected to him by Queen Victoria at the place where he had been killed.

Sources: Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa , Cape Town: NASOU, v. 8, p. 40.