British military commander Lord Chelmsford had intended to raise a large auxiliary force to support his invasion of the Zulu Kingdom but was opposed by the civilian government of the Colony of Natal, led by its governor Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer, who would have to finance the unit.

This would supplement the existing Natal Native Contingent (NNC) auxiliary which was under military control and expected to participate in the forthcoming invasion.

[2] The existing Natal volunteer military units were insufficient to ensure defence of the colony as many had been earmarked to form part of the invading force.

[2] The Natal Border Guard was raised from 20 December 1878 by a levy on the African men residing in each defensive district; officers were white volunteers.

[6] Those on reserve were allowed to return home to tend to their crops and livestock, a measure that limited costs by reducing the need for the government to provide food, shelter and clothing.

[7] The men initially received no formal training, uniform or weapons and were expected to fight in their traditional tribal style with spears and shields.

[13] The same day as the battle, the Klip River Border Guard district commandant was told by the leader of the unit stationed 8 miles (13 km) downstream from Rorke's Drift that a large Zulu force was massing at the Mangeni Valley to raid into Natal.

The district commandant doubted this intelligence which came from a Natal native and was passed on by a farmer acting in a temporary capacity as a stand-in for a Border Guard officer.

The district commandant gathered his Border Guard on the Natal side of the river to counter the threat but a reconnaissance party concluded that the informant had mistaken men of Chelmsford's 3rd Regiment of NNC for Zulu forces.

[14] The Border Guard had acted in support of a British raid into Zululand in March by garrisoning the drifts on a 60-mile (97 km) stretch of river.

[21] A unit of African Amangwani Scouts formed part of the Border Guard reserve until April 1879 when they were brought under military control to augment the cavalry of the second invasion force.

[3] The dispute between Bulwer and Chelmsford over the deployment of the Border Guard came to an end on 15 July 1879 when Garnet Wolseley assumed the role of supreme British civil and military commander in the region.

[26][27] In August Henry Fynn, who had raised the Border Guard of the Umsinga region, negotiated the submission of the Zulu chiefs along the Mzinyathi River.