They could have abandon Rorkes Drift.

Hi chard1879,
I have read that at about 1400 hours Spalding set of for Helpmakaar, gunfire could be heard and Smith, Reynolds and a private climb the Oskarberg to try and identify the source. The first riders came into the camp around 1515 hours to raise the alarm.
cheers
Richie

They would have had about an hour to try and retreat, no chance against the Zulus, who would easily have
catched up with them.




Cheers

You seem to be forgetting. That the Zulus that attacked RD were also at Isandlwana. They may not have taken part in the main battle, but they were killing at the run those solders that escaped. So by my reckoning those Zulu must have been about pretty tired. If they had arrived at the drift, they would not have continued.

First reason being they were ordered not to enter Natal.

Second. They would not have known what was waiting for them, the risk would have been to great. They probably would have raised RD to the ground. But they would not have hung around waiting, for the fear of repercussions. For all they knew thousands of soldiers could have been on thier way. The Zulus were tired and hungry before the battle of RD. and that would still apply wether the soldiers were at RD or not.

Hi Littlehand .
There are a couple of points which need to be clarified in this thread ; the zulu's that attacked R.D had every intention of killing all that were there ( R.D) - for the simple fact / reason they werent part of the main battle
and weren't happy at not being given the chance to take part in the main attack . Your first reason doesnt mean anything as R.D is in Natal !! . they were insructed not to cross the river , They did . They were insructed not to attack
fortified positions , They Did . The Zulu's that attacked RD may have been a little tired but certainly not as weary as the main army who attacked the camp . Your second point , the zulu would have known or had some idea of what they could expect across the river in Natal . If they thought there were thousands of soldiers there , they wouldnt have attacked in the first place - They only attacked RD because they knew it was defended by a small force
and thought it would be a walk - over . The zulu army could travel at three times the speed of the British troops possibly a lot quicker , they are not impeded by wounded , sick , injured or wagons etc etc . One could expect the British with only an hours notice to be not much more than a mile or so from the camp by the time they had put the wounded onto / in wagons etc etc . The Zulu would certainly have attacked a group of 100 or so troops moving at a crawl as that is the only speed they were capable of performing . The British troops would have been wiped out in the first attack as 100 or so into 4,000 or so doesnt match !. I'm guessing from the start of the attack to the end would be measured in only minutes . They had no choice but to stay and fight as anything else would've been suicidal .
Cheers 90th.

Greetings all
I climbed the Nostrop Pass a few days ago from Rd to Helpmakaar.
Im still trying to sort out over 2000 photos taken on the trip. I have a series of photos taken from the heights showing the road leading up to the hills that guard the pass. In the hour that the defenders had the would not have got to the hills and would be in clear sight of the Zulu impi. There chances of suvival would have been nil. The pass itself is a very very steep bit of road. I will send some photos of to admin over the next few days for him to post.

Cheers

Send the whole 2000. :lol:

Littlehand , I'm sure he will . :lol: :lol: :lol: .
Cheers 90th.

Springbok9

Did you stick to the road/track when you travelled, or did you take a more direct route, across the open ground ?

Cheers

There are actually two routes one, for want of a better word the pedestrian route and the second for the wagons. I did the wagon route, getting a bit lazy Im afraid.

Cheers

littlehand wrote:

those Zulu must have been about pretty tired.

They had energy enough to fight a 12 hour battle, so they could easily have run an extra mile to catch the british as
they withdrew.




Cheers

But it wouldn't be easy running after men there are shooting at you.

Just out of interest how many men were in Rainforths company and did they just have rifles.

24th

130 or so men running form 4,500 madened Zulus, no chance.

Thinking along the same lines as Littlehand. I don't think they would have gave chase, for fear of consequences from Chetewayo. They pushed thier luck crossing to RD.

24th

They went to rorke's drift looking for a fight, there not just going to give up and go home to shame.

If they were tired how did they manage to fight a 12 hour battle ?