The Battle of Rorkes Drift is without doubt one of the more well-known actions from the history belonging to the British Army. On 22 January 1879, just hours immediately after the Zulu victory at Isandlwana, approximately 4,000 Zulus assault the mission station at Rorkes Drift just along the Buffalo River in Natal.
With around 140 men defending Rorkes Drift, you would be pardoned for guessing the men had little possibility of survival, especially bearing in mind what happened with their fellow soldiers at Isandlwana. Of course, along with being very brave troops, the defenders of Rorkes Drift were in possession of a weapon what would give them an advantage over the Zulu warriors. That weapon was the Martini Henry rifle.
The .45 calibre rifle was very effective at inflicting awful injuries and when fired at a range of under 200 yards, a round may well easily pass through a body and strike the man behind as well. The Martini Henry was a single shot, breech loading rifle and offered the British a major advantage over the Zulus who were basically armed with short stabbing spears (iklaws).
Even though the Martini Henry was at fault partly for the defeat at Isandlwana, if looked after, it had been an excellent rifle. To single the rifle out as the cause for the defeat at Isandlwana is harsh as there were a lot of other factors that contributed to the defeat.
At Rorkes Drift, the rifle was essential to the British. As a store, there was clearly a good amount of ammo as well as extra rifles plus the defensive area was a great deal more compact and for that reason was less difficult to defend in comparison to the site at Isandlwana. Introduced to the British Army in 1871, the Martini Henry may well fire up to ten rounds per minute in the possession of a skilled soldier. The rifle had an efficient range of around 500 metres which resulted in providing the British could identify the Zulu warriors, they might possibly start eliminating them long before they got close enough for hand to hand fighting.
Despite the overwhelming odds at Rorkes Drift, the British only lost approximately 10% of their men while at the same time, they buried roughly four hundred Zulu warriors and it was viewed a similar number might have later died of their injuries. The British had beaten back the Zulu attack and were grateful to the Martini Henry rifle
With around 140 men defending Rorkes Drift, you would be pardoned for guessing the men had little possibility of survival, especially bearing in mind what happened with their fellow soldiers at Isandlwana. Of course, along with being very brave troops, the defenders of Rorkes Drift were in possession of a weapon what would give them an advantage over the Zulu warriors. That weapon was the Martini Henry rifle.
The .45 calibre rifle was very effective at inflicting awful injuries and when fired at a range of under 200 yards, a round may well easily pass through a body and strike the man behind as well. The Martini Henry was a single shot, breech loading rifle and offered the British a major advantage over the Zulus who were basically armed with short stabbing spears (iklaws).
Even though the Martini Henry was at fault partly for the defeat at Isandlwana, if looked after, it had been an excellent rifle. To single the rifle out as the cause for the defeat at Isandlwana is harsh as there were a lot of other factors that contributed to the defeat.
At Rorkes Drift, the rifle was essential to the British. As a store, there was clearly a good amount of ammo as well as extra rifles plus the defensive area was a great deal more compact and for that reason was less difficult to defend in comparison to the site at Isandlwana. Introduced to the British Army in 1871, the Martini Henry may well fire up to ten rounds per minute in the possession of a skilled soldier. The rifle had an efficient range of around 500 metres which resulted in providing the British could identify the Zulu warriors, they might possibly start eliminating them long before they got close enough for hand to hand fighting.
Despite the overwhelming odds at Rorkes Drift, the British only lost approximately 10% of their men while at the same time, they buried roughly four hundred Zulu warriors and it was viewed a similar number might have later died of their injuries. The British had beaten back the Zulu attack and were grateful to the Martini Henry rifle
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The most famous battle of the Anglo Zulu War of 1879 is definitely Rorkes Drift. The British soldiers were able to fight off the Zulu warriors using the iconic Henry Martini rifile.. Check here for free reprint license: The Martini Henry Rifle That Rescued The Men At Rorkes Drift.