The Battles of Isandlwana, and Rorke's Drift

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The Battles of Isandlwana, and Rorke's Drift
The Battle of Isandlwana was a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War in which a Zulu army wiped out a British force on January 22, 1879. The British were commanded by Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pulleine.
The British presented an ultimatum on December 11, 1878, to the Zulu king Cetshwayo. Cetshwayo did not accede, which led the British to declare war. Lord Chelmsford, the Commander-in-Chief of British forces during the war, moved his troops from where they were stationed in Pietermaritzburg to a forward camp at Helpmekaar, past Greytown. On January 9, 1879 they moved to Rorke's Drift, and early on January 11 commenced crossing the Buffalo River into Zululand.
The British pitched camp at Isandlwana, but because of the size of the force (precluding a laager, or circling of the wagons), the hard ground, and lack of entrenching tools, did not fortify the camp. The British relied instead on their superior weapons and organisation. Though the British posted lookout pickets, these did not have a full field of view, so the British sent out reconnaissance parties as well. Although these parties skirmished with some Zulus, they did not discover the full magnitude of the Zulu force, which consisted of numerous impis (regiments).
The British army consisted mostly of regular infantry, a large number of local African auxiliaries of the Natal Native Contingent, some irregular cavalry units, and a detachment of artillery consisting of two field guns and several Congreve rockets. The support columns - oxen pulling wagon trains that needed prepared roads in order to progress - caused much delay.
Once he had established the camp at Isandlwana, Chelmsford divided his army and set out to find the Zulus. He left the 1st battalion of the 24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment of Foot (later the South Wales Borderers) behind to guard the camp, under the command of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Henry Pulleine. Pulleine was an administrator and had no experience of front-line command on a campaign. Around 10:30, Colonel Anthony Durnford arrived from Rorke's Drift with 5 troops of the Natal Native horse. This put the issue of command to the fore because Durnford was senior and by tradition would have assumed command. However, he did not seem to have over-ruled Pulleine's dispositions and after lunch he moved off with his mounted troopers to reconnoitre in front of the British positions leaving Pulleine in command. When the attack started, he retreated to the right of the British position and fought the battle on the right wing. At no time did Durnford take command of the main British position during the battle.
While Chelmsford was in the field seeking them, the entire Zulu army attacked the British camp. Pulleine's 1,400 soldiers were totally overwhelmed. The Zulus took no prisoners and killed any they could including Pulleine and Durnford. Approximately 60 British regulars escaped, none of whom were wearing red coats -- Cetshwayo had specifically ordered his men to kill all the men wearing the red coats. The surviving British soldiers were either officers wearing their dark blue field uniforms, troopers with the Royal Artillery (who wore light blue uniforms), or members of irregular cavalry units such as the Natal Mounted Police.
One of the survivors was Lieutenant Horace Smith-Dorrien, who would go on to command the British II Corps in Flanders more than 35 years later during the First World War. Two other officers, Lieutenants Teignmouth Melvill and Nevill Coghill, were killed after escaping across the Buffalo River 5 miles away back into Natal but subsequently awarded posthumous Victoria Crosses for their attempt to save the regiment's colours. Because the medal was not at that time awarded posthumously, these awards were not made until 1907. It is however unclear why Lieutenant Melvill took the colours. A story which circulated after the battle among the 24th Regiment is that when all was lost, Pulleine ordered Melvill to save the colours to prevent the disgrace of them being captured by the enemy. However, Pulleine was likely dead by the time Melvill retrieved them and so it is likely that no such order was given. Another possible reason was that he had intended to rally the remnants of the battalion using the colours, however if this was so, why did he not uncase the colours and ride towards one of the points of resistance still holding out against the Zulus? The most likely reason is that he took the colours as an excuse to abandon his men, and was later joined by Coghill. A Victoria Cross was also awarded to another survivor, Private Samuel Wassall, for the rescue of a fellow soldier; he received it the following September.
The traditional view is that the British had difficulty unpacking their ammunition fast enough, causing a lull in the defence and a subsequent rout.[1] Modern researchers [1] are of the opinion that South Wales Borderers retreated, and that the fleet-footed Zulu took advantage. Other recent research indicates that the British skirmish line was too long; instead of standing shoulder to shoulder, the British soldiers were separated from each other by a few metres. Also, weapons experts have discovered that the standard rifle employed by the British was prone to jamming after firing several volleys in hot weather. This could have resulted in a loss of firepower in an already overstretched line.
However, none of these possibilies can be said to be the definite reason for the British defeat, as a variety of evidence of wildly varying credibility (from newspaper articles written at the time to modern archaeological evidence) exists to support each theory.
The Natal Native Contingent broke, and led the flight to Fugitive's Drift. After the battle, the Zulus, as was their tradition, ripped open the dead bodies of their casualties and those of their enemies to free the spirits.
Chelmsford, who was by now about 11km away had two indications that the camp was being attacked, but due to the hilly terrain had a poor view of the theatre of action. Unable to see anything amiss he apparently discounted both reports. One of the standard orders for the British, when attacked in camp, was to loosen the guy ropes on the tents so that soldiers would not get tangled up in them. This was not done and the upright tents were visible in the field glasses of the young officers with Chelmsford. Chelmsford took this to be an indication that the camp was not under attack and that the shots which could be heard in the distance were firing practice. Even when the Zulu main attack started it was assumed that the Zulu impi which could be seen chasing Durnford cavalry was the native contingent being drilled. Chelmsford returned on the night of January 22, and his troops were forced to bivouac amongst the battle dead. The troops also could hear the sounds of battle at Rorke's Drift.
Isandlwana was a Pyrrhic victory for the Zulus not only because of the heavy casualties suffered in the battle but also because, as King Cetshwayo feared, it forced the policy makers in London, who to this point had not supported the war, to rally to the support of the pro-war contingent in the Natal government and commit whatever resources were needed to defeat the Zulu.
The British government's reasoning was three fold. The first was jingoistic: the British did not like to be beaten by anyone, particularly by people whom they considered inferior, and national honour demanded that the enemy, victors in one battle, should lose the war. The second concerned the domestic political implications which could have ramifications at the next parliamentary elections. Thirdly, there were considerations affecting the Empire: unless the British were seen to win a clear-cut victory against the Zulus, it would send a signal that the British Empire was not invulnerable and that the defeat of a British field army could alter policy. The British saw obvious parallels between their own position and that of the Roman Empire after the Battle of Teutoburg Forest. Until then, one of the arguments against a war with the Zulu was that the costs could not be justified, but if the Zulu victory at Isandlwana encouraged rebellion elsewhere in the Empire, then committing the resources necessary to defeat the Zulu would in the long term prove cheaper than suppressing other rebellions in other parts of the Empire.
The field army was reinforced and re-invaded Zululand, defeating the Zulus in a number of engagements, the last of which was the Battle of Ulundi and the capture of King Cetshwayo. The subkings of the Zulus were encouraged by the British to rule their subkingdoms without acknowledging a central Zulu power and by the time King Cetshwayo was allowed to return home, the Zulu kingdom was no longer perceived to be a threat to the British Empire.

Rorke's Drift
Britain 139 troops
Zulus 4,000-5,000
Casualties, Britain 17 killed, 15 wounded
Zulus 450 found dead immediately after battle, Hundreds more believed also died (2000+)
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 four to five thousand Zulu warriors.
At two o'clock in the afternoon on the 22nd, Major Spalding, still unaware of the disaster at Isandlwana, left the mission station in order to ascertain the whereabouts of No.1 company the 24th Regiment of Foot. 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 a Zulu impi was bearing down on the mission station. 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 Acting Assistant Commissary Dalton - soon decided that this was the only acceptable course; any British column, especially one laden with carts full of wounded, would be easily 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 vastly superior numerically; the uDloko, uThulwana and inDlu-yengwe regiments mustered more than 4,000 warriors, none of whom had been drained by the battle at Isandlwana. 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. It is probable, however, that the Zulu picked up one or two Martinis when they wiped out the force at Isandlwana.
Once the British Officers decided to stay, Chard and Bromhead directed their few forces to make preparations to defend the mission station. A defensive perimeter was constructed out of two-foot (0.6 m) high biscuit boxes weighing almost a hundred pounds (45 kg) 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 roughly 100 healthy men (not counting wounded 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.

However, the native contingent deserted their post. At 4.00 Surgeon James Reynolds, Otto Witt - the Swedish missionary who ran the mission at Rorkes 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 Corporal Bill Anderson who was shot in the head.
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, 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 Sergeant Henry Gallagher yelled 'Here they come, as thick as grass and as black as thunder!'
Immediately a hot fire was opened at 500 yd, 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 that the front wall, under almost constant Zulu attack, could not be held, and at 6 o'clock Chard pulled his men back into the yard, abandoning the front two rooms of the hospital in the process. The hospital was becoming untenable; the loopholes had become a liability, as rifles poked through were grabbed at by the Zulus - but if the holes were left empty the enterprising warriors stuck their 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, dived 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 that 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 7am 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 8am, 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. Eleven soldiers, including seven of the 2/24th, were awarded the Victoria Cross - the most awarded in a single action in the history of the British Empire.

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