Qualla: Battle of Rorke's Drift https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:25 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/v/w/battle-of-rorke-s-drift-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Rorke's Drift https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift Battle of Rorke's Drift: Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. At 3:15 on the afternoon of 22 January 1879, two exhausted riders reached the mission station at Rorke's Drift with news that seemed impossible: the British camp at Isandlwana, just ten miles away, had been overrun. The main Zulu army had destroyed an entire column. And now, a force of 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors was heading straight for the drift. Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers had about 150 men, a storehouse full of supplies, and a small hospital packed with sick soldiers. He had roughly an hour to decide: run for the garrison at Helpmekaar, or stand and fight behind walls of mealie bags and biscuit boxes. He chose to stay.

Read more: Battle of Rorke's Drift on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/v/w/battle-of-rorke-s-drift-wp/kdvw-battle-of-rorkes-drift-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Rorke's Drift: A Trader's Ford, A Missionary's House https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Rorke's Drift took its name from James Rorke, an Irish merchant from the Eastern Cape who had established a trading post near a ford on the Buffalo River - the border between Natal and the Zulu Kingdom. The Zulu knew it as kwaJimu, 'Jim's Land.' By January 1879, the Church of Swe...

Read more: Battle of Rorke's Drift on Qualla

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/v/w/battle-of-rorke-s-drift-wp/kdvw-battle-of-rorkes-drift-a-traders-ford-a-missionarys-house.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Rorke's Drift: The Night the Walls Burned https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift/ Photo credit RedNovember82, CC BY-SA 3.0. The iNdluyengwe regiment, 600 strong, struck the south wall at 4:30 p.m. The British opened fire at 500 yards, but the Zulu advance barely slowed. Waves of warriors surged against the mealie-bag barricades, crouching beneath the walls to grab at rifle barrels, thrusting assegais ...

Read more: Battle of Rorke's Drift on Qualla

Image: RedNovember82 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/v/w/battle-of-rorke-s-drift-wp/kdvw-battle-of-rorkes-drift-the-night-the-walls-burned.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Rorke's Drift: A Garrison of Individuals https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift/ Photo credit RedNovember82, CC BY-SA 3.0. The eleven Victoria Crosses awarded after Rorke's Drift remain the most ever given to a single regiment for a single action -- seven went to soldiers of the 2nd/24th Foot alone. Chard and Bromhead received theirs for overall command, but the individual stories reveal the nature o...

Read more: Battle of Rorke's Drift on Qualla

Image: RedNovember82 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/v/w/battle-of-rorke-s-drift-wp/kdvw-battle-of-rorkes-drift-a-garrison-of-individuals.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Rorke's Drift: The Zulu Perspective https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift/ Photo credit RedNovember82, CC BY-SA 3.0. The warriors who attacked Rorke's Drift were the uThulwana, iNdlondlo, uDloko, and iNdluyengwe regiments - reserve forces denied their share of the fighting at Isandlwana, many of them older veterans seeking to prove themselves. Prince Dabulamanzi kaMpande, King Cetshwayo's half-...

Read more: Battle of Rorke's Drift on Qualla

Image: RedNovember82 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/v/w/battle-of-rorke-s-drift-wp/kdvw-battle-of-rorkes-drift-the-zulu-perspective.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Rorke's Drift: What Remains at the Drift https://qualla.com/battle-of-rorke-s-drift/ Photo credit RedNovember82, CC BY-SA 3.0. The storehouse still stands; the hospital was rebuilt. Stone walls mark the old defences, and a museum tells the story from both British and Zulu perspectives. The Buffalo River runs below, shallow enough in the dry season to wade across as James Rorke's customers once did. Acros...

Read more: Battle of Rorke's Drift on Qualla

Image: RedNovember82 | CC BY-SA 3.0

]]> Mon, 09 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/k/d/v/w/battle-of-rorke-s-drift-wp/kdvw-battle-of-rorkes-drift-what-remains-at-the-drift.mp3 0:06 6 full