Colenso 1880, pp. 261–262 says "the terms...are evidently such as he (Cetshwayo) may not improbably refuse, even at the risk of war...to preclude you from incurring the delay...involved in consulting Her Majesty's Government upon a subject of so much importance as the terms..." Colenso, Frances E. (1880). History of the Zulu War and Its Origin. Assisted by Edward Durnford. London: Chapman & Hall.
Colenso 1880, pp. 263–264 gives 7,800: 1,752 Imperial and Colonial troops and 6,054 Native Contingent and 377 Conductors and Drivers for the Number 2 Column under Durnford and the Number 3 Column under Glyn which made up Chelmsford's Main Column. The strength of the entire invasion force is given as a total of 16,506 for the five columns: 6,669 Imperial and Colonial troops; 9,035 troops in the Native Contingent; 802 Drivers, etc. Colenso, Frances E. (1880). History of the Zulu War and Its Origin. Assisted by Edward Durnford. London: Chapman & Hall.
Lock & Quantrill 2002, p. 62 quote John Shepstone, Acting Secretary for Native Affairs at the time on the Zulu army: saying "Equipment: Each man carries his shield and assegais, and a kaross or blanket if he possesses one, he may also have a war dress of monkey skins or ox tails, this is all." Lock, Ron; Quantrill, Peter (2002). Zulu Victory: The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-up. Greenhill. ISBN978-1-85367-505-8.
Archer et al. 2008, p. 462 state "They had a national army of twenty-five thousand men equipped with cowhide shields, assegais and clubs. Archer, Christon I.; Ferris, John R.; Herwig, Holger H.; Travers, Timothy H. E. (2008). World History of Warfare. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN978-0-8032-1941-0.