The Battle of Isandlwana, fought on January 22, 1879, was the first major battle in the Anglo-Zulu War. While both sides suffered heavy losses at the sphinx-shaped hill, the encounter was a humiliating defeat for the British Army. Zulu warriors, poorly armed but roughly 25,000 strong, wiped out an entire British camp killing some 1400 Imperial soldiers, colonial volunteers and Native levies. White cairns mark the graves of British soldiers and a memorial, erected in 1999, pays tribute to the fallen Zulu warriors.