 3 (Centre) Column, under Lord Chelmsford, arrived and encamped at the drift.On 11 January, the day after the British ultimatum to the Zulus expired, the column crossed the river and encamped on the Zulu bank.A small force consisting of B Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot (2nd/24th) under Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead was detailed to garrison the post, which had been turned into a supply depot and hospital under the overall command of Brevet Major Henry Spalding, 104th Foot, a member of Chelmsford's staff.