Status Updates From A Handful of Heroes, Rorke’...

The controversy is softened by the observation of former police officer Adrian Greaves: eyewitnesses had "Honest Lying Trauma" , simply misremembered. Writing analysis between the two Chard reports, letters to Major Clery & the 1936 transcript by C-Sgt. Bourne conclude the book.

The Mythology of Rorke's Drift came from all directions. Otto Witt's bizarre speaking tour, whitewashing by a (left-behind) staff officer of Chelmsford, a certain major Clery ...Apparently, it's even open to question if the grand Boer advisor on the spot Addendorf was really there?

No soldier of Welsch extraction won a VC at the Drift, because there were none! The only link - apart from the movie- exists between the 24th & the later South Wales Borderers. Wales' sparse , largely pre-industrial population, made for a thin recruiting ground.

Trooper William Baker of the Natal Carabiniers escaped Isandwana on horse via a rugged 6 mile long fugitive trail to the swollen river, where on both banks Zulus killed survivors. It nearly won him a Victoria Cross.

Trooper William Baker of the Natal Carabiniers escaped Isandwana on horse via a rugged 6 mile long fugitive trail to the swollen river, where on both banks Zulus killed survivors. It nearly won him a Victoria Cross.

There was, in short, some routine army traffic up & down the road past the Drift that faithful day. For those moving along it, chance alone dictated whether they were present when the battle unfolded.[It also explains the latitude for false claimants a bit] Chard was a recent arrival & Bourne knew only his own regiment well; neither has a 100% accurate list & we have no originals of either for a fresh reconstruction.

Chelmsford's double mistake [make shitty camp, then chase campfires] came up for questioning once the royal support & press clamour winded down. Colonel Glynn, first officer on the scene responsible for the lay-out of the camp at Isandlwana, was unsuccesfully scapegoated, but his remaining years were nevertheless overshadowed by the memory of his lost regiment.

Isandlwana has its odd secrets. Lieutenants Coghill & Melvill, who rode the Queen's Colours to safety but were hunted down at the river, came with two extra bodies, both Rankers. One may be a Sgt. Cooper, based on a letter retrieved from his pocket, a rare personal object which commonly doubled as ID tag for non-commissioned officers. A major of 1/24th Foot wrote his sister based on the return adress.

The ordeal of the 24th wasn't dispelled instantly by the 700 ghostly apparitions of Chelmsford relief column out of the Natal morning mist.
Weeks spent in rain & mud bred endemic dystentery & "fevers" for which neither Victorian or 21st century medicine could identify the numerous underlying diseases. Muddy mealie sacks served as replacement jackets. Worse for historiography; there's no paper for written orders.

The issue of the spent ammo - with only 1 case unopened - is forever lost in the mud. Donald Morris' classic number of 20.000 bullets, based upon regulations, works out to 40 per Zulu but Stossel doesn't cite alternatives, she just credits more bayonet kills.

Out of the frying pan & into the fire: Chard rode up to Isandlwana for fresh orders but received none, and rode back just in case "something were to happen" under his command . His authority was appointed, by the way, there was no comparison of commissions with Bromhead.

the Drift covered a very small area about the size of 3 tennis courts. The defensive measures taken aren't detailed here, but they were not as ad hoc as in the movie (thank you, regulations) it was Dalton who upped the existing walls with extra boxes&bags. The big pyramid was a last hour addition. No word on whether the bag wall through the middle of the kraal was also a hurried improvisation [I think yes]

The Zulus followed up their semi-spontaneous victory (restraining the younger Impis had been difficult, but the Horn drill paid off) with mandatory rituals: they devoured the gall bladder and/or disembowled the corpses to release its Spirit, which is visibly 'trapped' by expanding gas.

Less than 10 miles distant, visible to the north from Isandlwana mountain, lay the Drift....

15.000 Zulus poured on, throwing themselves flat to minimize the effects of artillery rounds* at 300 yards, volley fire came into play. In spite of 40°C heat & on an empty stomach, the redcoats were in high spirits. But after 3 volleys the black powder cloud 10 feet in front acted as a tenebrous smokescreen for both Horns.
Zulu casualties: 300 dead, 5000 badly wounded out of 30.000

*not specified: schrapnel, other?

Chelmsford overruled the first camp CO who wanted standard defence measures, such as entrenching in front of wagons & strewn broken glass. Good natural protection from mountain in the rear & rocky sides would do with Ulundi in view 50 mls distant. Once again Zulu decoy camp fires worked, setting Chelmsford off with 2.500 men in the wrong direction to clash with an approaching enemy.

Widow's pension was introduced together with the abolition of flogging in 1881; rotten teeth were treated with gunpowder at risk of facial injury & troops imported new strains of syphilis. Such were the lives of the ranks fighting a war sanctioned not by London but by South Africa's High Commissioner...Via the open ford at Rorke's Drift rather than the protection of Fort Pine 4 ml upstream...