RORKE’S DRIFT.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume V, Issue 572, 19 November 1897, Page 4

RORKE’S DRIFT.

The death of Lieut.-Colonel Chard, which was announced in our cablegrains, will revive recollections of a f.inioii. i xhibitiou of British courage and i ndurano . I In doceai edoflieer w.i in command of the little band of bruvi fellow., who held lb,ike's Drift during the /.iilu War against an advancing hoi de i.f the victorious tlictny. it WBI in the afternoon of .luimary 22, 1*71), just after the <I. c . :.it .. 1 ;■ n<! ll iit that ho received ( nil I ■ ii cm the , in charge of the I bird Ce loin lo ii >id the post at the Drift •• at nil is s,” and he at on e si about mak ng preparations for bis de perate task. Hi i avniluidi iutcc amounted to only In.l men, and although he was joined, before the arrival of the enemy, by a del. elnmnt i.f Dunford's Horse and tin Natal Native ( on ingent, be lost the ■■ ..stance of the allies directly the van of the Zulu army made its appearance in the immediate neighborhood of the fort. They [ recipitatoly retired aero.the fid onto (iiey Town and llipniuk: •',! ere they spread the report li - Citew.tyo's warriors h..d annihilatin obstinate Englishmen. Li . ,t ( hard never wavered for a i uueiil s ays tin Cunieihin v Times; in his determination lo hold the place again .1 lie overwhelming odds by which lie w . opposed, and when llie Zulus r, acini! the I rill le a than un hour after the In ..1 alarm, lie ha I entrench.il Ins liny torn behind a w all of store, and biscuit bn\e.». It is cslimut. il that between three in ni and and fnisrthousand warriors, many ni them well armed from the booty secured ut Isandula, were thrown against the encampment,

and from half past four in the afternoon until four o’clock next morning the defenders had to resist a succession of assaults. All through the long night there was no pause in the fighting; the enemy swarmed on every side, and early in the evening succeeded in firing the hospital, wbero four men of the 24th Keginient held the doorway against the Zulus with bayonets while the sick and dying were removed. At four o'clock the enemy drew off, but three hours later were about to resume the attack, when the main body of the British force arrived on the scene, and the assailants finally retired. In recognition of their splendid services Lieutenant Chard and his second in command, Lieutenant Broomhead, were advanced to the rank of Major and decorated with the Victoria Cross, while the chaplain—who was, perhaps, the greatest heio of them all—and a number of the rank and file received the iatter distinction.