The Martini Henry Rifle That Rescued The Soldiers At Rorkes Drift

By Rob Atherton

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 only 140 soldiers manning Rorkes Drift, you’d be forgiven for saying they had little prospects for survival, particularly taking into account what happened with their colleagues at Isandlwana. Even so, along with being exceedingly brave soldiers, the defenders of Rorkes Drift were in possession of a gun that would let them have an edge over the Zulu warriors. The weapon in question was the Martini Henry rifle.

This .45 calibre rifle was able to inflicting unpleasant injuries and when fired at a range of under 200 yards, a round could very well very easily go through a body and hit the man behind as well. The Martini Henry was a single shot, breech loading rifle and afforded the British a huge advantage over the Zulus who were only carrying their short stabbing spears (iklaws).

Even if the Martini Henry was held responsible partly for the defeat at Isandlwana, when properly taken care of, it had been a superb rifle. To single the rifle out for the defeat at Isandlwana is severe as there were a number of other factors that contributed towards the defeat.

At Rorkes Drift, the Martini Henry was essential for the British. As a store, there was a lot of ammo plus extra weapons plus the defensive area was a good deal more compact and so was less of a challenge to defend compared to the position at Isandlwana. Brought to the British Army in 1871, the Martini Henry could well fire up to 10 rounds a minute in the possession of a properly trained soldier. The rifle had a highly effective range of beyond 500m that resulted in providing the British could spot the Zulu warriors, they could possibly start killing them before they were close enough for hand to hand fighting.

Despite the tremendous odds at Rorkes Drift, the British only lost nearly 10% of their men while at the same time, they buried almost 400 Zulus and it was thought a similar number might have later died of their wounds. The soldiers had beaten back the Zulu assault and were grateful to the Martini Henry rifle.

The most well known action of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 is certainly Rorkes Drift. The British defenders were able to see off the Zulus using the iconic Henry Martini rifile.. Check here for free reprint license: The Martini Henry Rifle That Rescued The Soldiers At Rorkes Drift.

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