Rorke's Drift

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{{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict=Rorke's Drift |partof=the Anglo-Zulu War |image=Image:The defense of Rorke's Drift.jpg |caption= |date=January 22 – January 23, 1879 |place=Rorke's Drift, South Africa |result=British victory |combatant1=Britain |combatant2=Zulu Nation |commander1=John Rouse Merriott Chard |commander2=Prince Dabulamanzi |strength1=139 |strength2=4,000–5,000 |casualties1=17 killed, 15 wounded |casualties2=about 550 killed }} Template:Campaignbox Anglo-Zulu War Rorke's Drift was a mission station in Natal, South Africa situated near a natural ford (drift) on the Buffalo River. The defence of Rorke's Drift (January 22 – January 23, 1879) during the Anglo-Zulu War immediately followed the British Army's humiliating defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana earlier in the day. At Rorke's Drift 139 British soldiers successfully defended their garrison against an intense assault by 4,000–5,000 Zulu warriors.

1 The Prelude
2 The battle
3 Victoria Crosses
4 Depictions and dramatisations
5 References
6 External links

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The Prelude

At two o'clock in the afternoon on the 22nd Major Spalding, still unaware of the disaster at Isandlwana, left the station in order to ascertain the whereabouts of no.1 company the 24th regiment of foot[1] due two days earlier, while Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers rode down to the drift itself in order to inspect the work being carried out there. At roughly 3.30 two officers of the Natal Native Contingent - Lieutenants Vane and Adendorff - came upon the drift bearing the news of Isandlwana and that one wing of the Zulu impi was bearing down on the drift. Further news arrived in the form of a note from Captain Essex, but it bore no news of the approaching Zulu force. While the exact origin of the decision to stay and fight is unknown, the three officers at the station - Lieutenant Chard and Lieutenant Bromhead, and Assistant Commissioner Dalton - soon decided that this was the only acceptable course. Undoubtedly they were right; any British column, especially one laden with carts full of wounded, would be badly outpaced by a Zulu force, and in open country the British force would easily be dismembered by the numerically superior Zulus, a fact pointed out by Dalton.

The approaching Zulu force was numerically superior to a vast degree; the uDloko, uThulwana and inDlu-yengwe regiments mustered over 4,000 warriors, none of whom had been drained by the battle at Isanwalda. Contrary to popular belief, the Zulu force also contained a large number of firearms, though most were flintlock muskets, inferior to the British Martini-Henry.

British preparations continued unabated. A defensive perimeter was constructed out of two-foot high biscuit boxes (which weighed almost a hundred pounds) and mealie bags (see Lt. Chard's Map) which encompassed the storehouse, the hospital, the Witt homestead, and a stout stone kraal. The inclusion of the hospital had made the perimeter dangerously large and Chard had ordered the construction of a second line of boxes through the middle in order to facilitate a withdrawal if the need arose. The buildings were fortified, with makeshift loopholes knocked in the walls and doors facing out of the perimeter barricaded with spare furniture. In all Chard had 350 men available to him, drawn from 'B' Company of the 2/24th, Stephenson's detachment of the Natal Native Contingent and the mounted natives under Lieutenant Vause - a force sufficient, in Chard's estimation, to be able to beat off the approaching Zulus.

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The battle

Chard had not counted on the fickleness of the natives, however. At 4.30 Sgt James Reynolds, Otto Witt - a Boer who lived in the Drift - and the Reverend George Smith came scampering down from Oscarberg, a hill overlooking the station, with the news that the Zulus were fording the river and were 'no more than five minutes away.' Soon after one of the mounted natives under Vause reported that the Zulus were about a minute away. At this point, the natives broke. Having already seen the slaughter at Isandlwana, the natives - and Vause - headed for the rear. Upon seeing their comrades retreat, Stephenson's NNC contingent leapt as one over the barricades and followed. Outraged that Stephenson and his European NCOs were following their charges, a few British soldiers fired after them, killing a Corporal Anderson. At a stroke, the defending force had been reduced by more than half - 140 men, of which only the 80 of 'B' Company could be considered a cohesive unit and 30 of which were incapacitated. Chard immediately realised the need to shorten the perimeter, and gave orders for a new line bisecting the post to be constructed, with the hospital being evacuated. As the natives disappeared, Private Fredrick Hitch, posted as lookout atop the storehouse, reported a Zulu column of four to six thousand approaching. Almost immediately after the Zulu vanguard, a 'mere' 600 men, appeared from behind Oscarberg and attacked the south wall which joined the hospital and the storehouse. It was now that the most famous quote of the battle was uttered, as Corporal Gallagher yelled 'Here they come, black as hell and thick as grass!'

Immediately a hot fire was opened at 500 yds, and while at first ragged the British fire soon steadied, piling up the Zulu dead. The majority of the attacking force swept around the wall as a small few took cover, from where they were either pinned by continuing British fire or retreated to the terraces of Oscarberg, where they began a harassing fire of their own. As this occurred, a large force swept onto the hospital and northwest wall, and those on the barricades - including Dalton and Bromhead - were soon engaged in fierce hand to hand fighting. The British wall was too high for the Zulus to scale, and instead they resorted to crouching under the wall, trying to get hold of rifles, slashing at British soldiers with assegai or firing their weapons through the wall. At places the Zulus clambered over each others bodies to drive the British defenders off the walls, but a 'peculiar aversion to the bayonet' defeated these breaches of the perimeter. It was here Zulu fire, both from those under the wall and around Oscarberg, became apparent. Corporal Schiess was shot in the leg, and then lost his hat to a Zulu shot; Commissary Dalton, leaning over the parapet to shoot a Zulu, was wounded in the shoulder by a bullet and dragged out of the line to have his wound dressed; Keefe, 'B' Company's drummer, suffered a skin wound to the head; Corporal Scammel, of the NNC, was shot in the back, and Private Byrne, attempting to help him, was killed by a shot to the head, as was 'Old King Cole', another private in 'B' Company. The fire from the mountain only grew worse, as Privates Scanlon, Fagan and Chick were killed. It became clear to Chard the front wall, under almost constant Zulu attack, could not be held, and at 6.00 Chard pulled his men back into the yard, abandoning the front two rooms of the hospital in the process. The hospital was becoming virtually untenable; the loopholes had become a liability, as rifle poked through were grabbed at by the Zulus - but if the holes were left empty the enterprising warriors stuck through own weapons through to fire into the rooms. As it became clear that the front of the building was being abandoned, John Williams began to hack his way through the wall dividing the central room and the back of the hospital. As he made a passable hole the door into the central room came under furious attack from the Zulus, and Williams only had time to drag two bedridden patients out before the door gave way, pitting Joseph Williams against the Zulus. Williams managed to kill several before being overwhelmed - and the remaining men in the room, Private Horrigan, Adams, and two more patients, were stabbed to death by the rampaging Zulus. Williams then dragged his patients into one of the corner rooms, where he linked with Private Hook and another nine patients. The previous scene was played out again; as Williams hacked at the wall to the next room with his pick-axe, as Hook held off the Zulus. A firefight erupted as the Zulus fired through the door and Hook returned the compliment - but not without a bullet smashing into his helmet and stunning him. Williams made the hole big enough to get into the next room, occupied only by Private Waters, and dragged the patients through. The last man out was Hook, who having killed the Zulus who had knocked down the door dove through the hole. Williams once again went to work, spurred by the knowledge that the roof was now on fire, as Hook defended the hole and Waters continued to fire through the loophole. After fifty minutes the hole had been created and the patients dragged through, and the men - save Private Waters, who instead hid in the wardrobe - were in the last room, defended by a pair of privates going by the name Jones. From here, the patients clambered out a window and then ran across the yard to the barricade. Of the eleven patients, nine survived the trip, as did all the able bodied men.

The evacuation of the hospital completed the shortening of the perimeter. As night fell, the Zulu attacks grew stronger as the snipers on Oscarberg - now devoid of targets - joined the attack. The cattle kraal came under renewed assault and had been evacuated by ten o'clock, leaving the remaining men in a small bastion around the storehouse. Throughout the night the Zulus kept up a constant assault against British positions; Zulu attacks only began to slacken after midnight, and finally ended by two o'clock, instead being replaced by a constant harassing fire from the Zulu firearms and assegai - a fire that in turn only ended at four o'clock. Chard's force had lost fifteen dead, eight more - including Dalton - seriously wounded, and virtually every man carried some kind of minor wound. They were all exhausted, having fought for the better part of ten hours, and were running low on ammunition as well. As dawn broke, the British could see the Zulus were gone; all that remained were the vast piles of dead - over 370 bodies were counted. Patrols were dispatched to scout the battlefield, recover rifles, and look for survivors. At roughly 7.00 an impi of Zulus suddenly appeared, and the weary redcoats manned their positions once again. Yet no attack materialised. The Zulus were utterly spent, having been on the move for six days prior to the battle and having not eaten properly for two. In their ranks were hundreds of wounded, and they were several days march from any supplies. Soon after their appearance, the Zulus left the way they had come. Around 8.00, another force appeared, and the redcoats abandoned their makeshift breakfast of rum, tea and biscuits to man their positions once again. This was no Zulu force, however; Lord Chelmsford and the column he commanded had arrived. The battle was over. 11 soldiers, including seven of the 2/24th, were awarded the Victoria Cross - the most awarded in a single action in the Commonwealth's history.

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Victoria Crosses

Image:Zulusmall.jpg Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the British defenders, the most ever received in a single action. This high number may be interpreted as a reaction to the earlier British defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana. The extolling of the victory at Rorke's Drift took the public's attention away from the massive defeat at Isandlwana and the fact that Lord Chelmsford had disobeyed orders by entering Zululand.

Dalton was not originally named among the VC recipients, eventually receiving his medal in January 1880 after an outcry because a number of accounts had credited Dalton, rather than Chard or Bromhead, for initiating the defence at Rorke's Drift.

See the list of Zulu War Victoria Cross recipients for a full list of VCs awarded during the war, and also list of Victoria Cross recipients by Campaign

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Depictions and dramatisations

The events surrounding the assault on Rorke's Drift were dramatised in the film Zulu in 1964. In 1979 the Battle of Isandlwana was dramatised in the film Zulu Dawn. The battle was given a chapter in military historian Victor Davis Hanson's book Carnage and Culture as one of several landmark battles demonstrating the superior effectiveness of western military practices.

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References

Military Heritage discussed Rorke's Drift and the politics of the Victoria Cross (Roy Morris Jr., Military Heritage, August 2005, Volume 7, No. 1, p. 8).