Imperial armies had been extremely successful in their invasions of the Americas, Asia and the 'Dark Continent' of Africa between the 15th and late 19th centuries. Great Britain was among the more successful. It is with this in mind that we can see just what a shock it was that a column of 1,200 well armed, well trained British soldiers and native levies had been wiped out by a Zulu army at Isandhlwana in Southern Africa.

This would be due to an arrogant complacency and this was perhaps the main reason for this reverse. It was the battle which came next which has captured the imagination of many ever since.

The British had been attempting to strengthen their hold on the southern part of Africa but to do this they had to face up to the strength of the Zulu King Cetawayo. The Zulus were a highly organised fighting force but to the majority of the British force sent to subdue them they were just 'heathen natives'.

It was in the aftermath of the massacre at Isandhlwana that a small force of 104 British soldiers found themselves stationed at a mission at crossing point of the Buffalo River known as Rorke's Drift facing some 4,000 Zulu warriors.

Two riders brought the British garrison at Rorke's Drift the news of the column's defeat. The officers in charge, Lieutenant Chard and Lieutenant Bromhead, initially considered withdrawing from the Drift. Nobody could blame them, if 1,200 men could not stop the Zulus what chance did 100 men have?

They altered their plans after advice from a man from the Commissariat Department, Mister Dalton, who said that if the detachment left the relative safety of the mission they would almost certainly be killed. Mister Dalton knew the Zulus better than the two officers.

At this time the defenders had no knowledge that the Zulus had been instructed by their king, Cetawayo, to restrict their hostile actions to Isandhlwana. They need not know either as 4,000 Zulus disobeyed this command.

The defenders got to work quickly, the Zulu were renown for their ability to cover great expanses quickly and still fight a battle. The defenders stacked bags of Indian corn, weighing some 200 pounds, and other large and bulky food packages to form a barricade that would, with a bit of luck, help stop the Zulu wave.

The Zulus were heard firing the rifles they had acquired from earlier encounters, perhaps even from the dead at Isandhlwana, behind Oskarsberg Hill to the rear of the Drift just after four o'clock that afternoon. The native levies and their European officers took this as an indication that now was a good time to make their escape. They ran.

The defensive perimeter which had been hastily but deliberately erected was now too large for the number of defenders to man effectively. One of the strongpoints of the mission was the hospital. This was the temporary home to some who had succumbed to the various malignancies common to the South African campaign.

It was relatively small but still key to at least one quarter of the mission which was now a fortress of sorts.

The Zulus rushed onto the defences. Many being killed before they could use their famed assegais to any effect. The first wave was beaten back without undue concern, but the Zulu generals were merely using their warriors to count the defenders' guns.

The Zulus then employed the captured rifles to snipe down at the redcoated troops from the hilltop. At another corner of the perimeter stood a storehouse and this was also the target for the Zulu warriors. In the intensity of battle the thatched roof of the hospital caught fire with the men who had been ordered to protect both the building and those in hospital beds fighting a close quarters battle with the Zulus in order to get their comrades out.

Desperation proved a strong incentive to fight and the men of the 24th Regiment continued to beat off Zulu attack after Zulu attack until the attackers stopped.

The Henry-Martini rifles of the 104 men of the 24th Regiment at Rorke's Drift had proved, when marshalled with any competence, to be more than a match for the short spears, the assegais, of the Zulus. Volley after volley was fired into the massed Zulu ranks. Many assegais did find their targets and many redcoated soldiers lay dead on the African soil with many more Zulu warriors alongside them. With the calm the survivors fully expected the assault to begin again, perhaps for the final time.

One may imagine the relief, the sheer joy and yet total exhaustion of those who had survived a battle in which, on paper at least, they had no chance when a relief column was spotted heading their way.

The Zulus were brave, they were not foolish, they had lost too many men to this small detachment to face a larger number of British troops and so they withdrew. The mission station at Rorke's Drift was held.