Rorke's Drift

Situated 46 km southeast of Dundee, is the site of one of the most famous battles of the Anglo-Zulu War.

The well-known drift through the Buffalo River, Rorke's Drift was named after James Rorke, a ferryman who drowned in its waters and whose remains lie buried at the foot of a nearby hillside.

If you look at the unspoilt, majestic beauty of the surrounding countryside today, it's hard to imagine the bloody battles that once raged in the area.

A mission station was established by the Reverend Otto Witt of the Swedish Missionary Society, who built a small church, mission house and cattle kraal at the foot of a rocky mountain 1 km west of Rorke's Drift. In honour of the King of Sweden, he called it Oscarsberg. The Rorkes's Drift house was used as a hospital and the chapel as a surgery during the battle. The original, thatched roof was set ablaze and the house destroyed.

The battle at Rorke's Drift during the afternoon of 22 January 1879, is among the most famous in the history of the British Army. Approximately 4000 Zulus, under the command of Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande, King Cetshwayo's half-brother, were opposed by 95 effectives of Company B of the 2d Battalion, 24th Warwickshire Regiment, commanded by Lt. Gonville Bromhead. Commissary troops, medical personnel, and hospital patients, brought the total number to 139 men.
Cetshwayo specifically forbade any incursion into Natal. Dabulamanzi, however, because his troops were part of the "loins" in the Zulu battle formation at Isandlwana and were not involved in the battle, wanted to give his men the opportunity to "wash their spears," and so disobeyed Cetshwayo's order.

The battle began at 4:30 PM and continued for twelve hours. The British were armed with .45 calibre Martini-Henry breechloading rifles, while the Zulus were armed with throwing spears (assegais), short, stabbing spears (iKlawa), oxhide shields (isiHlangu), war clubs (iWisa), and many rifles in various calibres. Just prior to the battle, Lt. John Chard (5th Field Company, Royal Engineers), who ranked Bromhead, took overall command. The British beat off repeated charges as the Zulus bravely pressed the attack. In fact, the Zulus were not fearful of the rifle fire, but were of the bayonet. The defenders were driven from the hospital/house and rallied aroung the storehouse/chapel. Fifteen defenders were killed, and two died later of their wounds. It is estimated that the Zulus lost 600 men. Eleven of Rorke's Drift's defenders were awarded the Victoria Cross, more than for any other single battle in history. Cpl. Friederich Schiess, a Swiss, belonging to the Natal Native Contingent (NNC), was awarded the first Victoria Cross given to a non-regular soldier.

The result was that on 22nd January a British force of seventeen hundred strong, was attacked and only some four hundred men, of whom only some eighty Europeans, survived at a place called Isandlwana.