, 1879-03-09
THE CAPE DISASTER.
The Gallant TWenty.fourth and
the Terrible Affair at
Rorke's Drift.
EIGHTY Soldiers Resist a Zulu Army,
and Kill Ten Times Their
Own Number.

~
that the details keep coming to London in |
fragments, and that the story is not yet
complete, nor will it be, until the news
Cane Journals come in. It Is worth
while in the interval. dealing with the
bare teegraphic facts, to put the narrative into
consecutive shape. On the 21st OF January the
main body Of the British advance, under Lord
Chelmsford, penetrated considerable distance
into Zululand. over twenty miles beyond
Rorkc's Drift, near which camp had been es-
tablished, with u convoy, consisting OF luz.
wagons, 1,4o0 oxen. two guus, 400 shot and
shell, 1900 rifles, 250, 900 rounds Of ammunticn'
and rocket-trough,-the whole valued ae :
$500, 600. len miles beYound Korke's Drltt
Lord Chelmsford left the convoy guard and I'D
vanced with the remainder Of his forces some
ten or twelve miles further into Zululand, "to
look for the enemy,'' who, it afterward turned
out, were at the same time 10000 strong. LORD
Chelmsford being well out Of the way they fell
upon the convoy. The British fought hard, and
retreated gradually upon the camp and its yal11,,
able stores, thus getting the support OF oil
their immediate forces. The Zulus fell fast be-
fore the deadly rifle; but they carried out their
courageous tactics with 4 bravery WHICH "ill
not be forgotten when the historian comes TO
tell their story. 10 hurry an encnun1er 10 .ne
dcath-strugglc, hand to hand, is the Zulu idea.
They advance in a body, the men III the rear
rushing into the gaps made IN front by the enc
my's fire. Then the men, with short knives anu
shields, sling back their rifles and leap upon the
foe Those who are armed with spears break
them off short and convert them into short
swords. This is what happened ut 1sandu1a and
the camp at Rorke's Drift. The overwhelming
numbers of the Zulus, taking the troops at .
moment when there seemed to nave ocen
4F fnr $haTnEa1CQE
Entertainments or barricadcs, enabled them
to oyerpower the red-coats. The British,
both officers and men. fought and fell where
they stood, each OF them, however. Staying N MS
two or three to one in the unequal nsn5. !ne
colors Of the regiment and the stores fell to ule
vctors, who thus came into possession OF Valu-
able weapons aud ammunition, which they
could aleo show to possible allies Us induce
ments to join them. Not less than nitY-one
sacked camp before the Zulus carried of the
spoils. In the meanwhile Lord Chelmsford was
still ..looling for the enemy!" When it was
all over the news reached him and he fastened
back, to discover that The 1o5ce ne ne nad le's N
not held the camp, but had carried on
literally everything that made it q camp.
1t was an awful scene of slaughter.
There was not Lying e. SOU Ind IN nnccdt 1T:
Quarter had neither been asked nor given.
Black aud white lay together in the death,erip.
Both had fought with equal courage and des-
pcration. The sturdy Epglishmen had met IN
the athletic Zulu foeman worthy Of nls steel.
The underrated savage had shown himself
creature upon whom drill and discipline may DO
as effective in the direction Of natural courage
as on Europeans. Lord Chelmsford encampcd
among the dead, making dispositions to meet
any renewed attack Some IL Ten hon m'1eG amdy
massacred, he is also quietly awaiting morning
in the slamb1es, while further in his rear an-
thcr desperate fight is going on. Ia that ~
quiry which he is institutng touching the above
EXPLANATION from him touching the question
how it is a British General is found ndVancins
into the heart OF IN enemy's territory while that
cnemy's army is allowed to congrcgate on Ills
rear and destroy his base OF operations
HEROES FOR THE VICTORIA CROSS.
Drift proper, ! small commissariat post mad been
stationed, near the Tugcla River, and not far
| from the frontier towns OF Helpmakaar and
| G1eytown. Here, without any intrenched sys-
| tenn Of defense, utterly unprepared to resist
anything like serious attack, and never dream
| inc Of danger, there we're handful OF Volutl-
| teers. some men OF the Twenty-fourth, and some
civilians, about eighty, all told. They were
under the command OF a couple OF young
maep'eaaL ana Ghard, Of the Royal Engineers: They
knew nothing Of the bitter business saa that
aae fher 0fss zst Rntation R ~ Of trouble arose
| from seeing fugitiVes making LOT the
| river, and in the distance, natives in pursuit.
Seeing danger, the young Llentenants called
| their men to arms and commenced to turn theil
commissariat stores to account, They had
vast quantity Of meal in bags and large store
Engineers direction, they hastily formed int
barricade, with loop-holcs for the rifles
Alean,yhil the outlook saw several OF thu
fugitives fall under the Zulu fire, more par
ticularly Lieut.. Coghll, while crossing the river
tie officers intention being to warn Grcytowl
and Helpnlakaar Of the danger they were ii
from Zulu advance. Coghill and sonns
half dozen or more had got away from thu
camp charged with the duty OF carrying news
OF the Zulu attack to the rear. the little pos
! ut Rorkc's Drift appears to have been altogether
forgotten, except BY the Zulu army. Tor the
natives who had pursued Coghill turned out X
be the vanguard OF another portion OF the vic
torious force which had captured the Chelms
| ford convoy. 1t was sunset on the .ss.u, just q:
his lordship was beginning to realize what hat
happened at the camp, and utterly nnconsclou!
of the situation Of tile post at the Drift, thai
petv cen 1900 and !, 900 Of the eccmY appeared
before Chard and Bromhead,s breastwork o Q
meal-baes and biscuit-tins. Waiting calmly To-
their advance, the little garrison poured int
them rolleY that staggered them. The fir
was repeated, and the Zulus, swarming owe
their dead charged for the most Vulnerable par
Of the barricadc entered IL anu WE gein n1e' on'
| Q.CA ak tuE po4A1 ~ 1AAI -
again they returned to the breach, which wl
closed up with their dead. The garrison Tough
like devils. The dubbed their rifles, they usc'
their bayoncts, the young Lieutenants tough
| with their swords After each repulse the me1
returned to their rifle practice, Keeping up
deadly fire. At the rear Of the barrlcadcs was
| small wooden hospital. There were tive patient
in it and a servant Of Col. Harness. lie zulu
fred the hospital, and the inmates were burne'
to death, except Harness. servant, who crep
out and escaped in the bush. The light OF til
flames helped the garrison to see the 1oe' an or
enabled them to ayengc over and over AGAIN ID
poor fellows in the hospital. AL through th'
night the unequal contest went on, the An4u
more than once coming up to the brcas'
work and scizing the rifle barrels WING
flung among them constant ana deaol
hail OF bullets Some OF them got IL
side the lmprompru fortress six ditfereu
times, but they were slaughtered to a man
for his bravery. He was killed. But few OF til
| others fell, sheltered by the bags and tics
admirably engineered oy Lieut.. Chard: 1owar
dawn Lord Chelmsford continued bis retrea
and reached Rorke's Drift shortly after the a
lacking hosts had withdrawn. The Zulus eV
IDENTITY had good information of Lord ,Cheim
fori,s movements, for as he came up, they n
1ircd: and at first the men at the beleagure
most thought the fresh force appearing agalns
~ --,, cf.,--tiue was Il new body OF the cneml