The Battle of Rorkes Drift is amongst the most famous actions in the history of the British Army. On 22 January 1879, only hours after the Zulu success at Isandlwana, approximately 4,000 Zulus attack the mission station at Rorkes Drift located close to the Buffalo River in Natal.

With around 140 men defending Rorkes Drift, you would be pardoned for thinking they’d little chance of survival, particularly looking at what happened with their fellow soldiers at Isandlwana. Yet, as well as in addition to being exceedingly brave soldiers, the defenders of Rorkes Drift were in possession of a gun that would provide them with an edge over the Zulu warriors. That weapon was the Martini Henry rifle.

The .45 calibre rifle was efficient at inflicting terrible injuries and when discharged at a range of below 200 yards, a round could possibly easily go through a body striking the person behind as well. The Martini Henry was a single shot, breech loading rifle and offered the British a large advantage over the Zulu warriors who were basically armed with short stabbing spears (iklaws).

Despite the fact that the Martini Henry was held responsible partly for the defeat at Isandlwana, if properly looked after, it was an excellent weapon. To single the weapon out as the reason for the defeat at Isandlwana is extreme as there were many additional factors that contributed towards the defeat.

At Rorkes Drift, the Martini Henry was essential for the British. Being a store, there was a lot of ammunition together with extra weapons plus the defensive area was a lot smaller and so was much simpler to defend in comparison to the position at Isandlwana. Brought to the British Army in 1871, the Martini Henry may well fire up to 10 rounds a minute in the possession of the properly trained soldier. The Martini Henry offered an efficient range of around 500m that resulted in providing the British could spot the Zulus, they could start eliminating them before they got close enough for hand to hand fighting.

Regardless of the over-bearing odds at Rorkes Drift, the British only lost around 10% of their number while at the same time, they laid to rest nearly four hundred Zulus and it was believed a similar number could have later died of their wounds. The soldiers had beaten back the Zulu assault and were thankful to the Martini Henry rifle.

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