Rorke's Drift

by Adrian Greaves

  Anne Glyn, recovering from the terrible news, was incensed at the attempts to blame her husband and was outspoken in her criticism of Chelmsford. Glyn himself seemed too numb to do more than briefly give the facts, without comment, to the Board of Enquiry. Chelmsford then turned to Colonel Durnford as the conveniently dead scapegoat.

  When, eventually, a cavalry burial party went to Isandlwana in May, Glyn accompanied them. He made a rather unusual request that the remains of his regiment should be left to be buried by the regiment. This emotional request was allowed but it was not until the end of June, six months after the event, that the remains of the 1/24th at Isandlwana were interred under three large cairns.

  As the months passed, so reinforcements began to reach South Africa and Chelmsford could put his new invasion plans into effect. Chelmsford wrote to Evelyn Wood from the assembly point at Dundee, ‘I am forced to make Glyn a Brigadier with Newdigate, as there is absolutely no one who is better!’

  After several delays, the Second Invasion finally got under way on 31 May when Glyn led his brigade across the border and back into Zululand. Within a day, Chelmsford was further devastated by the news that Louis Napoleon, the Prince Imperial, had been killed while on a patrol led by Captain J.B. Carey. A Field Court Martial was convened and Glyn was appointed president. The court listened to the evidence regarding the culpability of Carey and found him guilty but did not publish its findings, preferring to refer the matter to Horse Guards in London. Carey was sent home to face the music but was exonerated.

  The advance into Zululand towards the capital of Ulundi continued at a snail’s pace. Eventually, they arrived within sight of Ulundi. Much to the disappointment of the 1/24th, they were ordered to remain guarding the camp by the White Mfolozi river, while the rest of the brigade advanced on Ulundi. Glyn did take with him eight officers of the old 1/24th and they were with him in the huge square against which Cetshwayo’s army was finally destroyed.

  For the 24th, the war was over and they began the long march back to Pietermaritzburg, where the Glyns were reunited. Then they travelled to the encampment at Pinetown, where Colonel Glyn had the pleasant duty of presenting the Victoria Cross to Lieutenant Edward Browne 1/24th for his bravery at Hlobane and Khambula.

  Finally the 24th embarked on the troopship Egypt and set sail for England on 27 August. Because of mechanical problems the journey took four weeks to complete. During that time the redoubtable Anne Glyn used her needlework skills to repair the tattered Queen’s Colour. In May 1880 Glyn relinquished his command of the 1/24th and took charge of the brigade depot at Brecon. The following year the regiment was given the new title of ‘The South Wales Borderers’.

  In 1882 Richard Glyn was promoted to major general and appointed a KCB. He eventually retired as a lieutenant general and lived at Mortimer in Berkshire. A sad and stooped little man, Glyn’s remaining years were overshadowed by the memory of his lost regiment on the rocky slopes of Isandlwana. In 1898 he was honoured with the title of Colonel of the South Wales Borderers. It was in this capacity that he saw off his old regiment as they went off to South Africa again, this time to fight the Boers. He died on 22 November 1900, within a few months of their departure, and was buried in the family grave at Ewell, Surrey.

  Lieutenant Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard VC, Royal Engineers (Lieutenant during the action)

  John Chard was born on 21 December 1847 at Boxhill, near Plymouth. He was the son of William and Jane Chard and he had two brothers and four sisters. His older brother, Wheaton Chard, became Colonel of the 7th Royal Fusiliers and his younger brother, Charles, joined the Church. Chard attended school in Plymouth and was a pupil at the town grammar school. Following a lengthy period of private tuition, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich – which he struggled to pass; he was mainly remembered for his ability to arrive late for meals. In any event, he was commissioned on 14 July 1868 and after two further years of training with the Royal Engineers at Chatham he was posted to Bermuda in October 1870. He returned to England in 1874 in order to attend his father’s funeral and was then posted to Malta where he was engaged in the construction of the island’s sea defences. In 1876 he was posted back to England where he held a number of minor positions before being posted to the 5th Company Royal Engineers at Aldershot. On 2 December 1878 Chard and the unit sailed from Gravesend for South Africa, arriving at Durban on 5 January 1879. He was then detailed to take a small party of men to assist with the river crossing at Rorke’s Drift, where he arrived on the evening of the 19th January, three days before the Zulu attack.

  Chard remained at Rorke’s Drift after the battle and for several weeks he assisted with the collection of stone and the construction of more permanent stone walls around the fort. Due to the atrocious weather conditions (it was the rainy season) and the unsanitary cramped living inside the fort, Chard and many of the men succumbed to fever during early February and incorrect reports of Chard’s death appeared in Natal newspapers. He was sent to Ladysmith to recover, staying with a Dr Hyde and his wife and, in spite of several newspaper reports to the contrary, he did recover sufficiently to rejoin 5th Company for the re-invasion of Zululand where he was present in the British square for the final battle against the Zulus at Ulundi on 4 July.

  Chard resumed duty at Devonport at the end of January 1880, before proceeding to Cyprus in December 1881 and returning home in March 1887. During this time the brevet majority he had gained at Rorke’s Drift was substantiated with effect from 17 July 1886. In England he was posted to Preston in April 1887, remaining there until being ordered to Singapore in December 1892. His promotion to lieutenant colonel followed a month later. He returned to England in January 1896 and in September of that year he assumed his final post, that of Chief Royal Engineer (CRE), at Perth, Scotland.

  It was whilst serving as the CRE Scottish Command that he was found to have cancer of the mouth. In November 1896 Chard underwent an operation in Edinburgh. Whilst recuperating from this, he received his promotion to colonel on 8 January 1897. His doctors realized that a second operation was necessary. In March 1897 surgeons removed Chard’s tongue; it is reputed that despite having this operation he was able to converse to a remarkable degree. He made a third visit to Edinburgh in August 1897, and the doctors’ prognosis was dire – the cancer was terminal. John Chard returned to the rectory at Hatch Beauchamp, Taunton, Somerset, the home of his younger brother, the Revd Charles E. Chard. Chard bravely accepted the fact that all hope of recovery was gone. Whilst at Hatch Beauchamp he was attended by Dr Brown of Taunton and Dr Hatherall of Hatch Beauchamp. Despite terrible suffering and great distress over the last fortnight of his life, borne it must be added with remarkable fortitude and great strength of character, Colonel John Rouse Merriott Chard VC, hero of Rorke’s Drift, died peacefully in his sleep shortly after 9.30 p.m. on Monday 1 November 1897.

  Chard’s death brought an immediate response from all over the country and his passing was widely reported in the press. Many telegrams of condolence arrived at Hatch Beauchamp. Her Majesty Queen Victoria had asked for and received reports of his condition. In July 1897 she had dispatched her Diamond Jubilee Medal to Chard, and an exceedingly kind letter accompanied it from General Sir Fleetwood Edwards. It was as recently as 30 October 1897 that Her Majesty had sent a message to the Revd Chard asking for a report on his brother’s progress and expressing her sympathy for his suffering.

  Other messages of sympathy were received by the Revd Chard including one from HRH the Duke of Connaught who had attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich with Chard; and Lord Chelmsford, the military commander of the Anglo-Zulu War.

  The funeral service and burial took place on 5 November 1897, at his brother’s church, the Parish Church of St John the Baptist at Hatch Beauchamp. The grave had been prepared on the south-east side of the church, close to the wall of the transept vestry. It was lined with moss and creeper and studded with white chrysanthemums, white geraniums and violets. At the head was a larg
e cross of white chrysanthemums.

  There were a great number of wreaths delivered to the graveside, which produced a magnificent floral display. Her Majesty Queen Victoria sent a wreath of laurel leaves tied with long streamers of white satin. The tribute bore a card in Her Majesty’s own handwriting:

  A mark of admiration and regard for a brave soldier.

  From his Sovereign,

  Victoria R.I.

  It is worthy of note that Queen Victoria’s wreath lay for many years beneath the Chard Memorial Window, which was installed in 1899 and located on the south side of the chancel, near to the altar.

  Other principal wreaths were from the Deputy Adjutant General RE on behalf of the Corps of Royal Engineers, In sorrow for the loss of their gallant brother officer; from fellow Zulu War VC, Colonel E.S. Browne and the officers of the Depot, South Wales Borderers, 24th Regiment, With deep sympathy; from the officers of the Royal Engineers, Scottish District; from fellow Rorke’s Drift defender Colonel Walter Dunne, Assistant Adjutant General York; The Countess of Camperdown, With heartfelt sympathy; Lady Frere, widow of Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere, Governor of Cape Colony during the Zulu Campaign, In memory of the heroic defender of Rorke’s Drift; and an anonymous wreath bore the legend, In remembrance of Rorke’s Drift, 22nd January 1879 – That day he did his duty.

  The tolling of the church bell at half-past two in the afternoon signalled the departure of the funeral cortege from the rectory, a little over half a mile from the church. The coffin had reposed in the hall of the rectory, with the Sovereign’s wreath placed upon it; at either end were two other wreaths; one anonymous, the other from the rectory’s servants. On the hall table lay Colonel Chard’s dress cocked hat and sword; his Victoria Cross, together with his South Africa Medal with the bar 1879 and his Diamond Jubilee Medal. Beside these was a signed photograph of Queen Victoria, sent in commemoration of her Diamond Jubilee of 1897.

  The coffin was of polished oak, with brass mountings. It had been made by James Mills of Hatch Beauchamp and bore the following inscription:

  John R.M. Chard

  Born 21st December 1847

  Died 1st November 1897

  The coffin was borne on the North Curry bier and the procession was entirely on foot. Flanking the coffin marched an escort of Royal Engineers. The Dean of St Andrew’s conducted the service. The organist, Miss Alice Rich, played the aria ‘O Rest in the Lord’. The Dean proceeded with the service and read the lesson. The hymn ‘Days and Moments Quickly Flying’ was sung, and as the procession left the church the organist played the ‘Dead March’ from Saul. The remainder of the service was completed at the graveside and closed with the Benediction and thanks on behalf of the Revd Chard to the assembled gathering, for all their kindness and the sympathy they had expressed by their presence.

  In due course a headstone was placed on the grave. Some years later this headstone was replaced by the present one, which consists of a cross on a three-tiered plinth, surrounded by a rail and all in rose-coloured marble. The headstone is inscribed:

  In Memoriam

  Col. J.R.M. Chard, VC, RE.

  The Hero of Rorke’s Drift

  Born 21st Dec. 1847. Died 1st Nov. 1897

  Son of W.W. Chard of Pathe, Somerset

  And Mount Tamar, Devon.

  Major Gonville Bromhead, VC, B Company 2/24th (Warwickshire) Regiment (Lieutenant during the action)

  Born on 29 August 1845 at Versailles, France, he was the third son of Edmund de Gonville Bromhead, 3rd Baronet, who had fought at Waterloo, and his wife Judith Christine Cahill, daughter of James Wood of Woodville, County Sligo. The family home was Thurlby Hall at Newark. He was educated at Magnus Grammar School, Newark and entered the 24th Foot as an ensign, by purchase, on 20 April 1867. On 28 October 1871 he was promoted by selection to lieutenant. In 1878 he was posted to South Africa and embarked at Plymouth on 2 February. Bromhead has unfairly been portrayed elsewhere as a ‘duffer’ with poor mental acuity and little enthusiasm for activity; in reality he was very popular with his men, being a champion boxer, wrestler and an accomplished top scoring regimental cricketer. He served in the Frontier War 1878 and the Zulu War 1879, and commanded B Company 2/24th Foot at the defence of Rorke’s Drift, being mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Victoria Cross for his conduct on that occasion. Lieutenant Chard also mentioned him in his letter to Queen Victoria. Lieutenant Bromhead received his Victoria Cross from Sir Garnet Wolseley at Utrecht on 11 September 1879, the citation (LG 2/5/79) reading: ‘For gallant conduct at the defence of Rorke’s Drift, 22nd and 23rd January 1879’. He was promoted captain and brevet major on 23 January 1879, and major on 4 April 1883. From South Africa he was posted to Gibraltar, where he served until August 1880, then to the East Indies until March 1881. On being posted home he attended the School of Musketry, Hythe, from 1 October to 5 December 1882, gaining a First Class Extra Certificate. On 2 January 1883 he embarked at Portsmouth in the Serapis to join the 2nd South Wales Borderers at Secunderabad, India. He served in Burma from 27 October 1886 to 24 May 1888 (IGS Medal with clasps ‘Burma 1885–7’ and ‘Burma 1887–89’), returning to the East Indies. He died of enteric fever on 9 February 1891, aged 45 years, at Camp Dabhaura, Allahabad, India. He was unmarried.

  Bromhead received an address and a revolver presented to him by the tenants of Thurlby Hall. (He must have treasured the revolver, for it remained with him for the next twelve years.) The people of Lincoln gave him a sword, and Queen Victoria a photograph of herself. On 7 November 1891, in his will, originally drawn up at Taunton, Somerset, in 1869, he left these items, together with his Victoria Cross and a watch belonging to his late father, to his brother, Colonel Charles J. Bromhead. The residue of his estate went to his sisters Alice Margaret Bromhead and Elizabeth Frances Pocklington.

  James Langley Dalton VC: Commissariat

  James Dalton was born about 1833 – the exact year is unknown – and it was when working as a printer’s apprentice that he enlisted into the 85th (Shropshire) Regiment at Victoria, London, on 20 November 1849, giving his age as 17 years and 11 months. Like many young recruits, he was underage and should have initially joined as a ‘boy’. Even so, many of his friends believed he was younger still, by possibly as much as two years. Military records reveal that the recruiting party who attested him received 2s. 6d. as their bounty while Dalton received the handsome amount of £3 to join the 85th Regiment at Waterford in Ireland. After six months the regiment returned to Preston and he stayed with the regiment during subsequent postings to Hull and Portsmouth and when in 1853 the regiment sailed in the Marion to Mauritius. By 1855 he had reached the rank of sergeant and three years later he sailed with his regiment to the Cape of Good Hope where he was engaged in a number of frontier disputes.

  In March 1862 he returned to England and transferred into the Commissariat Corps. While stationed at Aldershot he was promoted to colour sergeant on 1 June 1863. From 1868 to 1871 he served in Canada and on the reorganization of the Commissariat Corps he was transferred to the Army Service Corps in 1870 with promotion to staff sergeant. He received his discharge from the army in London on 20 November 1871 after nearly twenty-two years’ service, being awarded the LSGC Medal.

  Then, as a civilian, Dalton sailed for South Africa. Exactly where he went and what he did is uncertain although on the outbreak of the Ninth Cape Frontier War in 1877, he was employed on commissariat duties. Commissary Furze, who had signed Dalton’s discharge six years before and knew him as a very experienced man, was a senior officer in the area where Dalton was working and, knowing his reputation, he appointed Dalton as an acting assistant commissary on 13 December 1877. It was in this role that he met Colonel Glyn of the 24th Regiment. Dalton’s skill at successfully supplying the British columns did not go unnoticed and at the end of the campaign Dalton was the only civilian to be mentioned in dispatches.

  With the preparations for the invasion of Zululand during 1878 came the requirement for experienced commissariat officers. Dalto
n moved to Natal and along with Acting Storekeeper Louis Byrne, he arrived at Rorke’s Drift on New Year’s Day 1879. There can be little doubt that Dalton’s appointment was due to Glyn’s influence. The senior Commissariat officer with Glyn’s No. 3 Column was Assistant Commissary Walter Dunne, who had also served in the Ninth Cape Frontier War with Glyn’s columns.

  Dalton was severely wounded in the action at Rorke’s Drift and spent the following six months on sick leave before being appointed as the senior commissariat officer at Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg, for the remainder of the Zulu War campaign. It was while Dalton was recuperating from his injuries at Pietermaritzburg that, on 16 October, the 24th Regiment marched into town on their way back to Durban. When B Company saw Dalton in the crowd they gave him a spontaneous cheer. Dalton was promoted assistant commissary on 13 December 1879 and was placed on half pay, sailing to England in February 1880, whereupon he passed into obscurity. Little is known of his remaining years other than the fact that he returned to South Africa and worked in, and was a part owner of, the Little Bess gold mine. He was taken ill and died on 7 January 1887 while staying with his friend ex-sergeant John Williams, who paid for his funeral and memorial. He is buried in Russell Road Catholic Cemetery, Port Elizabeth. On 26 September 1986, Dalton’s medals were auctioned at Spink and Son in London. The Royal Corps of Transport purchased them for £62,000.