Zulu War VCs: Victoria Crosses of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879

by James W Bancroft

Overview

The Anglo-Zulu War lasted only six months in 1879, but in that relatively short time twenty-three men were awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry under most trying and dangerous circumstances. Zulu warriors gave no mercy and expected none in return, yet half of the awards were given to men who went back into the midst of fierce fighting to rescue stranded comrades, well-aware that they risked suffering a particularly brutal death.

Two men received posthumous awards for their efforts to save the Queen’s color of their regiment after the disastrous engagement against overwhelming numbers of warriors at Isandlwana, and perhaps the most famous of all awards of the Victoria Cross were the eleven gained for the immortal defence of Rorke’s Drift, the battle brought back to the public consciousness by the motion picture _Zulu!_

The conflict has never left the public’s imagination, and continues to stir hot debate among military historians and enthusiasts.

With information compiled over four decades by James W. Bancroft, a well-known and respected historian and author of several publications on the subject, this book brings together more information about the men than has ever before been collected together in one publication.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781526722645
Publisher:	Pen and Sword
Publication date:	11/30/2018
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

In the four decades James W. Bancroft has been writing he has produced more than 100 books and articles, the subjects of which reflect his varied interests. He contributed a number of articles for _The New Oxford Dictionary of National Biography,_ and his book _Rorke's Drift: The Zulu War, 1879_ has been re-printed seven times. When he is not writing James enjoys singing and playing and listening to music.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 The Victoria Cross Before 1879 1

Chapter 2 The Rise of the Zulu Nation 4

Chapter 3 The Disaster at iSandlwana 9

Lieutenant Nevill Josiah Aylmer Coghill VC 14

Lieutenant Teignmouth Melvill VC 17

Private Samuel Wassail VC 20

Chapter 4 The Defence of Rorke's Drift 24

Lieutenant John Rouse Merriott Chard VC 55

Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead VC 68

Corporal William Wilson Allan VC 75

Private Frederick Hitch VC 77

Private Alfred Henry Hook VC 79

Private Robert Jones VC 81

Private William Jones VC 83

Private John Williams (Fielding) VC 84

Surgeon James Henry Reynolds VC 86

Commissary James Langley Dalton VC 90

Corporal Frederick Schiess VC 94

Chapter 5 The iNtombe River Massacre 99

Sergeant Anthony Clarke Booth VC 102

Chapter 6 Hiobane Mountain 111

Lieutenant-Colonel Redvers Henry Buller VC 117

Major William Knox Leet VC 122

Lieutenant Henry Lysons VC 128

Private Edmund John Fowler VC 130

Chapter 7 Khambula Hill 139

Lieutenant Edward Stevenson Browne VC 145

Chapter 8 Operations at Ulundi 150

Captain William Leslie de la Poer Beresford VC 158

Captain Henry Cecil Dudgeon D'Arcy VC 165

Sergeant Edmund Joseph O'Toole VC 169

Appendix 173

Research Sources and Further Reading 176

Index 181