One of the most famous battles in British history took place on Jan. 22, 1879.
The Battle of Rorke’s Drift took place during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. The war was brought about because of British desire to expand its South African colony into Zululand. They manufactured a threat from the Zulus as their provocation and used it as justification for an invasion. King Cetshwayo wanted peace, but could not meekly accept his own overthrow and annexation of his land.
Lord Chelmsford led the British invasion. The British central invading column got wiped out by 20,000 Zulu warriors at the Battle of Isandlwana earlier in the day. The attack on Rorke’s Drift was the idea of his glory-seeking half-brother whose unit had not gotten to Isandlwana in time to participate. In fact, the King had forbidden his forces to go on the offensive into British territory.
The camp at Rorke’s Drift was leased by the British government from a missionary named Witt. There were 139 British soldiers stationed there under the command of Lt. John Chard. The men were armed with breech-loading, single shot Martini-Henry rifles. The Zulu used stabbing spears and shields, although they had a limited number of muskets and some rifles from Isandlwana. There were about 4,000 of them.
The first warning was from survivors of Isandlwana. Chard ordered the desperation fortifying of the camp using mealy bags to connect the key buildings to create a defensible perimeter. The first assault was blunted by British rifle fire. After this, the Zulus probed the perimeter from various directions. The hospital was the focus of the fighting and ended up being set on fire. The defense was led by five future Victoria Cross winners. The hospital burned down and the garrison retreated to an inner wall for the last stand. During the night, the Zulus kept up a heavy fire, but failed to break through. Suddenly, around midnight, the firing dropped off and around 4 A.M., the Zulus withdrew. They had suffered around 500 casualties. The British lost 17 dead and 10 wounded.
To soften the bad defeat at Isandlwana, the British press played up the Battle of Rorke’s Drift and lionized the defenders. 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded. The aftermath was the British came back and conquered Zululand. What did you expect?
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