The Battle of Rorke's Drift, also known as the Defence of Rorke's Drift, was a battle in the Anglo-Zulu War. The defence of the mission station of Rorke's Drift, under the command of Lieutenant John Chard of the Royal Engineers, immediately followed the British Army's defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, and continued into the following day, 23 January. just over 150 British and colonial troops successfully defended the garrison against an intense assault by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors. The massive, but piecemeal, Zulu attacks on Rorke's Drift came very close to defeating the tiny garrison but were ultimately repelled. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours. (Please note that it was largely a Welsh /Irish contingent based at Rorke's Drift, under the British army and the defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana also included 800 boers who were labeled as 2nd/3rd Natal Native Contingent incorrectly stated 350. This was before the Boer War, the above corrections were given to Wikipedia by myself .
Martin Henri Rifle (Isandlwana / Rorke's Drift) , fires only one shot but was able to pass through two Zulus and wound the third. The metal inlay gets so hot that most of the soldiers had third degree burns from days of firing
