The Defence of Rorke’s Drift
Yes, for old England’s honour
And for her periled might,
We strove with vast and ’whelming odds,
From eve till morning light;
And thus with front unflinching,
One hundred strong we stood,
And held the post ’gainst maddened host,
Drunken with British blood.
BERTRAM MITFORD, 1879
RORKE’S DRIFT
ADRIAN GREAVES
CASSELL
In Memory of Norman Holme
Whose original research fired my own interest
Contents
Cover
Epigraph
Title page
Dedication
List of Illustrations and Maps
Acknowledgements
Chronology
PART ONE
Introduction
Chapter 1 The Invaders of Zululand
Chapter 2 The Zulus
Chapter 3 Springboard to War
Chapter 4 Isandlwana, 22 January 1879
Chapter 5 Rorke’s Drift; The Prelude
Chapter 6 The Battle of Rorke’s Drift
Chapter 7 The Aftermath of Battle
Chapter 8 Helpmekaar
Chapter 9 Explanations
Chapter 10 Pulling the Strings – Awards and Campaign medals
Chapter 11 War’s End
PART TWO
Chapter 12 Medical Treatment of the Wounded
Chapter 13 Personalities and Defenders at Rorke’s Drift
Chapter 14 An Examination of the Rolls of Rorke’s Drift Defenders
Chapter 15 The Rorke’s Drift Medal Citations
Chapter 16 Origins and History of the 24th Regiment
Chapter 17 Archaeological Investigations at the Battlefield
Chapter 18 A Visitor’s Guide to Rorke’s Drift
APPENDICES
Appendix A The Two Chard Reports
Appendix B The Bromhead Report and Letters
Appendix C Colonel Glyn’s Report
Appendix D Surgeon Reynolds’s Report
Appendix E The Bourne Report
Appendix F Assessment of Martini-Henry Rifle use by the Zulus at Rorke’s Drift
Appendix G Application from the Swedish Government for Protection of its Mission Station
Bibliography
Notes
Index
Illustrations
Copyright
List of Illustrations and Maps
PICTURE SECTION
1. Lord Chelmsford (Brian Best Collection)
2. Colonel Richard Glyn (24th Regimental Museum, Brecon)
3. Ultimatum being read, 11 December 1878 (Author’s collection)
4. B Company, the defenders of Rorke’s Drift, post-battle (24th Regimental Museum, Brecon)
5. Rorke’s Drift from the direction of Helpmekaar (Author’s collection)
6. Rorke’s Drift homestead before the battle (Killie Campbell Africana Library)
7. Ponts over Rorke’s Drift (Killie Campbell Africana Library)
8. John Chard (Ron Sheeley Collection)
9. Gonville Bromhead (Ron Sheeley Collection)
10. James Langley Dalton (Illustrated London News)
11. Major Spalding (National Army Museum)
12. Colour Sergeant Bourne and family (24th Regimental Museum, Brecon)
13. Natal Native Contingent at Rorke’s Drift (Killie Campbell Africana Library)
14. Present day view of Rorke’s Drift from Oskarsberg (Author’s collection)
15. Contemporary engraving of the defence of Rorke’s Drift (London Graphic)
16. Contemporary impression of the battle of Rorke’s Drift based on survivor’s reports (Author’s collection)
17. Painting of Rorke’s Drift by Henri Duprey (Ron Sheeley Collection)
18. The relief of Rorke’s Drift (Illustrated London News)
19. Helpmekaar (Killie Campbell Africana Library)
20. Modern representation of the battle of Rorke’s Drift (Jason Askew)
21. The morning after (London Graphic)
22. King Cetshwayo (Mary Evans Picture Library)
23. The Mission Station today (Author’s collection)
24. Modern church built on the site of the old store room (Author’s collection)
25. Excavations at Rorke’s Drift (courtesy Dr Lita Webley)
MAPS AND PLANS
South Africa 1878
Zululand 1878
Isandlwana
Rorke’s Drift
Rorke’s Drift hospital at 4 p.m. (before the attack)
Zulu attack 5–6 p.m.
First withdrawal 6 p.m.
Rorke’s Drift hospital at time of attack
Second withdrawal 7 p.m.
Final Assault
Acknowledgements
An account of ‘The Defence of Rorke’s Drift’, signed by Major J.R.M. Chard VC, RE, at the personal request of Queen Victoria and first published in The Silver Wreath, copyright reserved. By gracious permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
I also gratefully acknowledge the kind and generous permission of the following people without whose co-operation and assistance this work would have been incomplete: Freda Holme who kindly allowed me to reproduce the nominal rolls and associated material from The Silver Wreath; Dr Lita Webley of the Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa, for kind permission to reproduce parts of her archaeological report concerning Rorke’s Drift; Jack Karran and Tony Lucking for the Curling letters; Nicky von der Heyde for the drawings of Rorke’s Drift, and Brian Best for his generous assistance relating to the Victorian period and medals.
For the use of photographs, I gratefully acknowledge Major Martin Everett of the 24th Regimental Museum; Ian Knight; the Curator of the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum; Ron Sheeley; Brian Best; the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society and the Killie Campbell Library in Durban.
For general guidance and advice, I gratefully acknowledge Ian Knight. I also owe much to David and Nicky Rattray and to David and Sue Charles at Fugitives’ Drift for their assistance and wonderful hospitality. I especially acknowledge Consultant Surgeon Clifford Stossel and his wife Katie who have supported me with their professional skill and human kindness during a long and painfull period of my life.
Needless to say, no one else had any direct control or influence over the final draft. I alone accept responsibility for any factual errors or omissions. I know others more expert and learned in the field will regard some of my conclusions as errors of interpretation but it is the uncertainty of knowing exactly what happened at Rorke’s Drift that enhaces the excitment of the event.
Finally, I acknowledge the sacrifice of precious family time due to my reclusive study in preparation for this book. My wife, Debbie, and our three sons have all been especially patient and stoically accepted my need for frequent visits to Rorke’s Drift for yet more research.
Chronology
11 December 1878 British ultimatum to Zulu King Cetshwayo.
11 December onwards British assemble along Zulu border in preparation for invasion.
11 January 1879 British invade Zululand leaving small garrison and hospital at Rorke’s Drift.
20/21 January British establish camp at Isandlwana.
22 January Zulu army defeats British at Isandlwana; Zulu reserves attack Rorke’s Drift.
Rorke’s Drift battle timetable
8 a.m. Lt Chard RE rides the 10 miles to Isandlwana to check his orders. On hearing of the reports of approaching Zulus from mounted sentries and seeing that a party of Zulus was moving across the Nqutu Plateau towards Rorke’s Drift, Chard starts back, arriving at the Drift at noon. Chard holds a brief discussio
n with Maj. Spalding but no action is taken.
2 p.m. Maj. Spalding, the officer commanding Rorke’s Drift, leaves for Helpmekaar to speed the relieving companies to the mission station. Lt Chard given command at the mission station but stays at the river crossing. Distant rifle fire is then heard and men are seen crossing the Buffalo river.
2.30 p.m. At the river crossing, Lts Vane and Adendorff report the defeat at Isandlwana to Lt Chard. They carry Chard’s orders to Lt Bromhead at the mission station, and then ride off to Helpmekaar.
3 p.m. Lt Chard assumes command of the mission station while Mr Dalton organizes the construction of defence walls of bags of mealies and boxes of biscuits strengthened with two wagons built into the south wall.
3.30 p.m. Chard returns to the Drift to urge his men to retire with the water cart and tools. Lt Henderson with a large party of Durnford’s Horse appears and is ordered to guard the ferry.
4.30 p.m. Chard returns to the mission station and orders six men to guard the hospital, reserve ammunition is made ready and bayonets are fixed. A lookout is posted on the ridgepole of the store.
5 p.m. On the approach of the Zulus, Lt Henderson and the native horse depart whereupon Capt. Stevenson and his native contingent also desert. The effective strength is now reduced from 350 to about 139 (including 30 sick). Men now taken from the line to construct a wall between the perimeter and the corner of the store (this became the famous wall of biscuit boxes providing the second and final line of defence).
5.30 p.m. The Zulus appear on the terraces of the Oskarsberg. The initial attack on the south of the defences is contained and the leading ranks of Zulus are pinned down by rifle fire. The main attack is diverted to the west of the hospital and along the thinly held northern wall. Zulu sniping from the Oskarsberg begins.
6 p.m. In desperate hand-to-hand fighting the defenders are forced to retire into the yard – the hospital becomes vulnerable.
Hospital 6.20 p.m. to 7.15 p.m. Pte Cole (suffering from claustrophobia), Gnr Howard and Ptes Beckett and Waters flee the hospital; Cole, Adams (who had remained inside the hospital) and Beckett are killed, Howard and Waters survive the night in bushes. John Williams cuts a hole through the wall whilst Joseph Williams and Horrigan hold the Zulus at bay. John Williams pulls two patients through the hole before the Zulus burst in; they kill the four men in the room. The two Joneses help four patients to escape through the window in the corner room. The sick are assisted to safety by Pte Hitch and Cpl Allen (both already wounded).
6.45 p.m. Thatch fired.
7 p.m.until midnight The Zulus continue to attack in intermittent waves.
4 a.m. The Zulus retire.
8 a.m. Mission station is relieved by Lord Chelmsford and remnants of his Centre Column.
PART ONE
Introduction
It is more than probable that active steps will have to be taken to check the arrogance of Cetywayo, Chief of the Zulus.1
LORD CHELMSFORD. COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, SOUTH AFRICA.
Since prehistoric times the area of land around Rorke’s Drift has been of considerable importance to mankind, primarily because it is one of the few crossing points of the Buffalo River, which in 1879 formed the 200 mile border between Zululand and British controlled Natal. Immediately down stream of Rorke’s Drift the Buffalo river becomes impassable where it enters a precipitous gorge that speeds it into a fast-flowing torrent until its confluence with the predominant Tugela river. From this gorge onwards the Tugela surges through a steep-sided valley that hems it in until it reaches the sea. This physical barrier ensured that there were only two points of access into Zululand, either at Rorke’s Drift some 60 miles from the sea, or at the coast where the Tugela river meets the Indian Ocean. At Rorke’s Drift a rocky outcrop in the riverbed provided a reasonably safe and level crossing point for wagons, as well as a series of small islands that can, even today, be traversed by people jumping from rock to rock at low water. When the river was in flood, Rorke’s Drift was the one place where a small boat could still be rowed across. This natural crossing point, or drift, and the comparatively level nature of the country on both sides have jointly contributed to the settlement of the area since prehistoric times. On the dominating rocky hillock that overlooks the river, rock paintings, stone artefacts and the remains of ancient human dwellings evidence a long history of human occupation.
The area was named after James Rorke, a settler who started a trading store in addition to his farming activities. Born in 1821, James Rorke was the son of an Irish immigrant to South Africa who had fled the poverty of his homeland. At the age of 28 years the young Rorke made his way inland and purchased a remote farm called ‘Tyeana’ bordering the Buffalo river and towards the end of 1849 he established a small trading store known to the Zulus as KwaJimu (Kwa ‘of’, hence KwaJimu, KwaZulu etc.). Rorke led an uneventful life that ended when he committed suicide on 24 October 1875, allegedly by shooting himself when his source of gin ran dry. In accordance with Rorke’s final wishes, his body was placed in a rough wooden coffin and buried under a yard of concrete. Rorke fully understood the Zulu penchant for excavating European graves for ‘treasure’ or body parts for their ‘muti’ or medicine. Rorke’s funeral was attended by the few local white people in the area, some having travelled 40 miles to attend the burial service that was conducted by a Scottish missionary from the settlement of Dundee, some 25 miles distant. Rorke’s penniless wife was forced to sell the farm and a Swedish missionary, Otto Witt, purchased the property on behalf of the Swedish Missionary Service. The farm possessed two small buildings and was protected by a hill known to the local Zulus as Shiyane, meaning eyebrow. Witt renamed the hill ‘Oskarsberg’ after his Swedish king and the missionaries’ patron saint – Saint Ansgar (Oscar). Rorke’s Drift remains an active mission station to this day.
The surrounding area of Rorke’s Drift is also historically important. It witnessed the events that led to the onset of the Zulu War and the river crossing that took its name formed the start line of the initial British invasion of Zululand on 11 January 1879. A few days later, on 22 January, two of the most famous military battles in the history of the British Army were fought to the death; a stunning British victory took place at the mission station itself while, within sight at nearby Isandlwana, the British suffered the humiliation of both a total defeat and the massacre of its invasion force. Without doubt, little would have been known of this isolated yet picturesque location but for the fierce and bitter war that broke out at the beginning of 1879 when Britain invaded Zululand. Rorke’s Drift was also destined to play an ongoing role in the harshly fought series of Boer Wars that followed the Zulu War.
Very few people, even those born in South Africa, know much about the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. South Africans tend to have a hazy idea that, once upon a time, there was a short war between the Zulu people and redjacketed Imperial troops reinforced by locally recruited Colonial units. They may also know that the war produced, on the very same day, a terrible British defeat at Isandlwana followed by an equally spectacular victory at nearby Rorke’s Drift. Most South Africans would maintain that these events were purely British in their nature and the consequences of the war had little to do with their own domestic history. Indeed, even today, over 70 per cent of visitors to the relatively unchanged battlefields of Zululand are from Britain.
By the 1960s the Zulu War had long been forgotten within the British Isles. Only military men and historians would be able to recall that the battle of Rorke’s Drift had resulted in the highest number of Victoria Crosses ever awarded to one regiment for one battle, a unique feat unsurpassed by events in either of the World Wars. Beyond that fact little was known. Then, in 1964, the highly successful feature film ZULU was released; it recreated the battle of Rorke’s Drift using spectacular South African scenery and a group of highly competent actors that included Michael Caine, Stanley Baker and Jack Hawkins in the lead roles, supported by Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Due to a combination of other cruci
al factors such as the powerful storyline, haunting music and psychological tension, the film had a dramatic effect on the public that ensured that the film enjoyed lasting popularity. The history of Rorke’s Drift had been resurrected; sadly, numerous myths and falsehoods within the film became firmly established in the minds of the public and some historians.
At the time news of the battle of Rorke’s Drift reached home, hardly anyone in Britain knew of King Cetshwayo or where Zululand was. Judging from comments made in the press and Parliament, even the nation’s leaders were temporarily unsure of its exact geographical location. They and the British people were soon to find out. On 11 February 1879 the official dispatch containing the news of the terrible military defeat of the British invasion force, including the loss of the 1st Battalion 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment,2 finally reached London and the press. The magnitude of the catastrophe had a stunning effect on the nation; no one could understand how an unsophisticated army of Zulus could inflict such a crushing defeat on a highly trained British force armed with the most modern rifles and supported with equally modern artillery. Many questions were asked, all were difficult to answer; the defeat was totally incomprehensible. Not since the sanguinary events of the Indian Mutiny in 1857 had such devastating and humiliating losses been reported to an incredulous and previously overconfident British public.
The loss of fifty British officers and virtually a whole battalion of the famous 24th Regiment stunned the nation and created a hive of activity in the press. The Daily News commented:
Death had prematurely visited hundreds of peaceful and happy homes in England. British treasure and blood would now be expended on a scale the authors of the war had not contemplated, and burdens, heavy in all cases and ruinous in many, will be inflicted on struggling industries, and all for what? Lord Beaconsfield’s answer was awaited.
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