Rorke's Drift

by Adrian Greaves

  Chapter 2

  1 Some modern writers have used the term ‘assegai’ to mean a stabbing spear. In fact, the word ‘assegai’ has nothing to do with the Zulu language. The word is Berber and was widely used by the Spanish and Portuguese and later adopted by the French and English. In fourteenth-century French such a weapon was known as the ‘archegaie’, while in English, Chaucer used the term ‘lancegay’. The word ‘assegai’ never existed south of the Sahara.

  2 Zulus avoided swimming at all times for cultural reasons; the survivors, including the old men, were forced into the river or put to death. AZWHS, June 1997.

  Chapter 3

  1 Originally spelled Helpmekaar by the Boers and subsequently as Helpmakaar by British settlers and troops. In Dutch it means ‘help one another’ whereas it was popularly known as ‘help m’ cart up’ by the British troops due to the steep hill climb to the settlement. Following the defeat at Isandlwana and the defence of Rorke’s Drift, Helpmekaar received numerous wounded soldiers. Due to the heavy rains, unhygienic conditions and lack of medical supplies (all lost at Isandlwana) which followed these battles, many of the troops suffered illness and disease. Those that died of their injuries or disease subsequent to these actions on 22 January 1879 are buried in the now neglected cemetery behind the modern police station. This work retains the original spelling throughout main text.

  2 C. T. Atkinson, The South Wales Borderers 24th Foot 1689-1937, Cambridge 1937.

  3 ibid.

  4 A. H. Swiss, Records of the 24th Regiment, London 1892.

  5 The following is an extract from the official orders issued by Lord Chelmsford in November 1878. Item 145 deals with ‘Cattle and other prize’ and reveals why all ranks had a vested interest in the price obtained from the contractors.

  The following rules, having reference to the capture of cattle, or other prize, will be adhered to by all forces serving under the orders of the Lieutenant-general commanding –

  On any cattle or other prize being taken, the officer commanding the corps or party making the same will at once report the circumstances and number or nature of the prize to the officer in charge of the operations, who will thereupon determine what troops will share, and will appoint prize agents to arrange for the disposal of the cattle, &c., and to distribute the proceeds according to the following scale, viz.–

  Private or trooper – 1 share.

  NCO – 2 shares.

  Captain or subaltern – 3 shares.

  Field officer – 4 shares.

  Officer in command of the operations – 6 shares.

  Officers of the staff – shares according to their rank.

  6 Boys were permitted to join the regular army, but those under the age of 17 were enlisted as ‘boy soldiers’ and only entitled to half pay until reaching that age.

  7 At the age of 18 years, Charles Robson was languishing in Bow Street police cells when he elected to join the Royal Engineers rather than go to prison.

  8 Most of Chard’s men remained sick at Durban suffering the after-effects of smallpox vaccinations.

  Chapter 4

  1 Pte Richard Stevens, Natal Mounted Police, who survived Isandlwana – letter to family dated 27 January. See Frank Emery, The Red Soldier.

  2 A. H. Swiss, Records of the 24th Regiment, London 1892.

  3 ibid.

  4 ibid.

  5 I. Knight, There Will Be An Awful Row At Home About This, Shoreham 1987.

  6 I. Knight, The Zulu War – Then and Now, Plaistow Press 1993.

  7 Adrian Greaves, Isandlwana, Cassell 2001.

  8 Account by Mehlokazulu, 27 September 1879 Natal Mercury.

  9 Richard Stevens, letter dated 27 January 1879.

  10 Archibald Forbes, The Daily News 10 July 1879.

  Chapter 5

  1 Smith-Dorrien returned to Isandlwana in time for the Zulu attack, which he survived, being one of only five Imperial officers to escape the massacre.

  2 Lieutenant W. Heaton of Upcher’s Company, l/24th Regiment later wrote:

  22 Wednesday January 1879

  Orders came in for Rainforths Coy to leave as well as ours. Col Hapard & Baxter came in for breakfast. All goods bar light field kit and one blanket stay with stores. A lot of canteen stores for both Battns came in, made arrangements to forward them to the Drift. Rainforths Coy left 2.30 ours just after 3. Met Spalding outside, after him, any number of mounted men from the camp of Col Glyn’s Column, where the Zulus had cut up 5 Coys of ours. Killed Col Pulleine Wardell Anstey Daly Dyson White Pullen. Coghill & Melvill escaped with Battns Colour. Hospital at the Drift and detachment 2/24th cut up. Got orders to retire to Helpmekaar got in about 11 and made laagar then put on outpost duty 12.30 to 3am.

  3 Spalding justified his actions on 22 January when he wrote:

  Capt Rainforth’s Company l/24th Regiment was ordered from Helpmekaar to Rorke’s Drift by OC No. 3 Column for the purpose of taking up and entrenching a position commanding and defending the ponts on the Buffalo River.

  I know of no other orders touching the erection of work for such a purpose.

  This company should have been in the required position on the 20th January the day of the departure of No. 3 Column from Rorke’s Drift for Isandhlwana. They did not arrive on that day nor even on the 21st. Seeing this on the 22nd I rode over to Helpmekaar with a written order in my pocket directing Capt Rainforth positively to reach the points by sundown on that day. I met his company together with that of Major Upcher of the same Regiment on their march down to Rorke’s Drift. I accompanied them. The intelligence from Isandhlwana met us on the way.

  4 See Introduction – Ref. 7.

  5 Numerous primary sources reveal that Dalton strongly assisted with the command during the battle at Rorke’s Drift – only to revert to his official subservient role the following day. Although his role was acknowledged by Chard, Dalton’s role was overlooked in official reports and his actions officially ‘downgraded’ when medals were awarded. For further evidence on this aspect, see chapter 15. See also Padre George Smith of Rorke’s Drift by Canon Lummis MC (Wensome, 1978).

  6 By a surprising coincidence, on the following day Mrs and Revd Witt each learned from different sources that the Zulus had killed the other. Convinced by the news, both made their way to Durban in abject sadness – only to meet each other on the outskirts of the town.

  7 It is popularly believed that Dalton had been a sergeant major in the 85th Regiment. He left the 85th in March 1862 having achieved the rank of Sergeant. He then transferred to the Commissariat Staff where he reached the rank of 1st class staff sergeant before he retired in 1871 with the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal for nearly twenty-two years’ service. He then emigrated to South Africa.

  8 Corporal Anderson was buried with those killed at Rorke’s Drift. By shooting him, the soldiers of the 24th had dealt with the matter to their satisfaction. Captain Stephenson was detained by the British two days later and returned to Rorke’s Drift. He was informally court-martialled and dismissed from his position.

  9 The attack on Rorke’s Drift was initially unintended – the Zulus had crossed the river into Natal merely for short-term plunder. See – John Laband Oh! Let’s Go and Have a Fight at Jim’s.

  Chapter 6

  1 C. 2242.

  2 Two separate supply wagons were in the vicinity of Helpmekaar when they learned of the British defeat at Isandlwana and the attack at Rorke’s Drift. One was carrying Martini-Henry rifles and ammunition under escort by Colonel Bray and men of the 4th (King’s Own Royal) Regiment. One or more wagons got stuck so, as a precaution, the escort offloaded the rifles and buried them to prevent them being lost to the Zulus. The escort marked the hiding place and retraced their tracks; but on their return several days later and after several heavy rainstorms, they could not find the location. The rifles were never recovered. The other wagon under escort was near Greytown and on receipt of the same information, they unloaded two extremely heavy boxes marked ‘Horseshoes’ and deposited
them in the town store. Following the Zulu War a mounted troop halted outside the store. The troop captain entered the store and reclaimed the two boxes, which the store owner had meanwhile used as steps to reach his upper shelves. He reluctantly relinquished the two useful boxes and signed the necessary papers. As the two boxes were being carried out of his store, he noticed that the requisition paper stated ‘two boxes of Gold sovereigns marked HORSESHOES’.

  Chapter 7

  1 Letter from Gunner Howard February 1879.

  2 Many readers will have noticed the emphasis placed on horses in contemporary letters, diaries and journals relating to nineteenth-century warfare. Harness understood the position and importance of horses and gave meticulous attention to this aspect of his command. Through 1878 Stuart Smith, Harness’s captain, scoured southern Africa to buy suitable horses. On 6 March of that year Harness wrote that his captain had returned the previous day with forty-eight horses at an average cost of £24 13s. 7d. The artillerymen who mastered the care of horses in southern Africa – with small feeds and the use of every opportunity for grazing – criticized the failure of the regular cavalry to adapt to local conditions during the Zulu campaign. On 19 July 1878 Harness wrote that he congratulated himself on the condition of the horses, and, ‘if we get through the march as I hope we shall, it will be a creditable thing to the officers and men of the battery’. Colonel J. T. B. Brown, RA, complimented Harness on the condition of his horses on another march, to Ulundi, almost a year later: ‘Lieutenant-Colonel Harness’s horses were all native, and principally bought in the Orange Free State and Old Colony, before there had been so great a demand. They were useful and handy horses for the light guns, and Harness had them so well trained that they were very little trouble. A few mounted men used to drive them to water, or out to feed just like a herd of cattle instead of having a man to every two or three horses.’

  3 Donald Morris, The Washing of the Spears, Cape 1996.

  4 See Chapter 17, Archaeological Investigations at the Battlefield.

  5 See Colonel Bourne’s BBC Radio Transcription in Appendix E.

  6 The Curling Letters – courtesy AZWHS.

  7 Norman Holme, The Silver Wreath, reference Private 913 James Ashton.

  8 Following the publication in the British press of letters from Sergeant Jervis 90th Light Infantry and Private Snook 13th Light Infantry reporting the massacre of hundreds of Zulu wounded following the battle of Khambula, numerous questions were asked in the British Parliament. For the full reports, see House of Commons Hansard, 3rd Series, vol. 246 cc. 1708-1718 of 12 June 1879; vol. 247 cc. 693-694 of 26 June 1879 and vol. 247 cc. 723-724 of 26 June 1879 and Frank Emery, The Red Soldier, Johannesburg 1977. Although the British military commanders in Zululand initially denied the routine killing of Zulu wounded, most subsequent reports and letters from participants in these battles confirmed the policy – especially following the battles of Khambula on 26 March and Ulundi on 4 July 1879.

  9 Hamilton-Browne A Lost Legionary in South Africa, London 1890.

  10 Column Orders Feb 2nd By Order Banister Act. Adj.2/24th Regt. Until further orders, 3 patrols of 1 NCO and 1 section of fours each will leave the fort immediately after Reveille sounds every morning and proceed to reconnoitre as follows. One to the first sluit [ditch] on the road to Helpmakaar. One round the North end of the hill behind the fort and one round the south side of the hill. These patrols to reconnoitre for the enemy not further than a mile from the fort and then return at once and report. The parties to be detailed over night.

  11 Letter from Captain Walter Parke Jones. See Frank Emery, The Red Soldier, Johannesburg 1977.

  12 Paton, Glennie and Penn Symons Records of the 24th Regiment, London 1892:

  On 4th February 1879, Lieutenant Colonel Black, who in a previous reconnaissance had found the bodies of Melvill and Coghill close to a large boulder, against which they appear to have stood to fight, for around them lay several dead Zulus, set out with a search-party, to endeavour to find the Queen’s Colour. After erecting a cairn of stones over the bodies of the two officers where they lay, the party descended into a glen through which the Buffalo runs in deep curves, about four hundred yards below where Melvill crossed. First the case was found, then the crest; lastly, at a spot fifty yards higher up, the colour itself was lifted from the water where it had become wedged between the stones. The party returned to Rorke’s Drift and handed over the colour to Colonel Glyn, the men of the 2nd battalion turned out and gave a hearty cheer as the trophy was brought in. Next day it was taken under escort to Helpmekaar and given over to the two companies then representing the 1st battalion.

  On 14th April 1879, the bodies of Lieutenants Melvill and Coghill were buried beside where they fell. A marble cross was subsequently placed over the spot by Sir Bartle Frere and his staff, bearing the inscription:–

  In Memory of Lieutenant and Adjutant Teignmouth Melvill and Lieutenant N. J. A. Coghill, 1st battalion 24th regiment, who died on this spot, on 22nd January 1879, to save the Queen’s Colour of their regiment.

  (And on the reverse side)

  For Queen and Country. Jesu Mercy.

  While the 1st Battalion was at Gosport during the summer after its return home, Queen Victoria expressed a wish to see the rescued colour. Accordingly, on 28th July 1880, Lieutenant Colonel J. M. G. Tongue, with Lieutenants Weallens and Phipps, and an escort of four colour sergeants, carried the colours to Osborne, where Her Majesty attached a wreath of immortelles to the pole of the Queen’s Colour. The case bears the following inscription:–

  This wreath

  was placed on the

  Queen’s Colour of the 1st Battalion 24th Regiment

  by

  Her majesty Queen Victoria,

  to commemorate the devoted gallantry of

  Lieut, and Adjutant T. Melvill and Lieut. N. J. A. Coghill,

  who gave their lives to save the Colour from the hands

  of the enemy on 22 January, 1879, and in recognition

  of the noble defence of Rorke’s Drift.

  As a lasting memorial of Her Gracious Act,

  a facsimile of the wreath in silver was commanded

  to be borne on the

  Queen’s Colour of both Battalions of the Regiment.

  Authority dated 15th Deer., 1880.

  Queen and Country.

  (NB The original wreath of flowers had been attached to the Colour by the ladies of Durban prior to the regiment embarking for England. Queen Victoria initially replaced their wreath pending the presentation of the silver wreath).

  13 According to the incomplete diary of a passing traveller, a Mr Leyland. (See The Buffalo Border 1879 by Laband, Thompson and Henderson, University of Natal, Durban 1983.)

  Chapter 8

  1 Adrian Greaves, Isandlwana, Cassell 2001.

  2 Ian Knight, The Sun Turned Black, Watermans 1995.

  3 Adrian Greaves, Isandlwana, Cassell 2001.

  4 Later in the war, when rumours that Spalding had deserted his men began to spread, Chelmsford intervened on Spalding’s behalf. He wrote a memo to the adjutant general in which he exonerated Spalding; Chelmsford believed that Spalding was acting correctly when he left Rorke’s Drift to trace the overdue replacements. Chelmsford wrote that it was ‘the non-arrival of this detachment that caused major Spalding to go to Helpmakaar to hasten its departure’. He went on, ‘I refer to this latter point in justice to Major Spalding as I have heard that remarks have been made relative to his absence from this post at the time’. Chelmsford’s letter dated 19 May 1879.

  5 War Office Précis of Information. 1879.

  6 Other participants were also badly affected by what they experienced, both physically and mentally. In an age when mental trauma was misunderstood, there was little sympathy or understanding for those who broke under the strain of witnessing the savagery of fighting Zulus. In an institution like the army it was expected that emotions should be kept on a tight rein, especially amongst the senior officers; the ’sti
ff upper lip’ syndrome prevailed. It is well documented that Chelmsford underwent a period of severe depression in the aftermath of Isandlwana – see WO 32/7709 – and requested that he be replaced. Colonel Glyn suffered a breakdown at Rorke’s Drift but eventually recovered sufficiently to take a limited part in the second invasion of Zululand. Colonel Hassard, Officer Commanding Royal Engineers, had such a severe nervous breakdown that he was replaced. Colonel Pearson, the defender of Eshowe, was invalided home suffering from mental and physical exhaustion. By the end of September 1879 the last detachments of the British Army had left Zululand with their baggage. Durban became chock-a-block, with the bars doing a roaring trade. In the general confusion one story put the finishing touch to the war.

  Lieutenant General Sir William Butler wrote that just before one crowded transport was due to sail home, the captain received an order to delay sailing; six soldiers found to be insane during the course of the war (including Rorke’s Drift defender Private Wall) were about to be embarked under escort for consignment to a British lunatic asylum. The captain, nervous at losing a tide, waited impatiently. Presently a boat containing the six additional passengers arrived alongside. On the transport a mass of men of different units, many already demobilized, lined the sides, having a last look at Durban. The lunatics, still in their uniforms, scrambled up the ladder and immediately vanished into the crowd to the consternation of the escort and ship’s captain.

  The shore escort wanted to depart before the ship sailed and rapidly gave such descriptive details as they could remember before rowing back to shore. On board, the ship’s officers held an emergency conference with the military. For fear of starting a general panic, news of the occurrence was kept a close secret. A select group of observers was enrolled, from men known to the officers or wearing decorations, and these were sworn to secrecy and detailed to watch different portions of the ship. All the way to Cape Town the observations continued. Any man sitting in isolation or in the throes of seasickness found himself under suspicion. At frequent intervals some man would be tapped on the shoulder and led to an inspection by a panel consisting of the ship’s doctor, captain and an army officer. By the time the ship reached Cape Town there were twenty-six men in detention.