The Rorke's Drift VC Discussion Forum
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Date	Original Topic
8th June 2005	Lord Chelmsford By pdg317 Question...Why did he divide his command? General Custer attempted that at the "Little Bighorn". And He was annihilated. And that was three years before Islandwanah and Rorke's Drift!
Date	Replies
8th June 2005	PDG317 Forget about Rorke's Drift! Remember instead the Stand of the 1st Miinnesota Regiment at Gettysburg!.. The Rebs had outflanked the Union Line on day 2 of the battle...The Battles of The Peach Orhard and the Wheatfield were consuming hundreds of soldier's lives...Suddenly...the momemtum of the battle shifted to the left...A Union General "rode down the Line" "What Regiment is This?"..."1st Minnesota!" was the reply! "Hold The Line" was the command. And They held the line. Of 560 Officers and Enlisted...15 minutes later, only 7 Officers and and 123 Enlisted stood at "roll call". As much as I admire the action at Rorke's Drift....the 1st Minnesota "held the line"!
8th June 2005	markw I dont see much wrong with Chelmsford splitting his command , there were more than enough rifles to defend isandlwana , providing a square was formed at the risk of being murdered ... pulliene made a rather big mistake,so it was his fault the regiment was butchered and i prefer this quote from the battle ... "fix bayonets and die like british soldiers do"
8th June 2005	Michael Boyle We're not actually holding a contest here although there are sites where heated discussions ensue for 'bravest' stands. This site began as a tribute to the Rorke's Drift defenders and has since grown to encompass the whole of the Anglo-Zulu War 1879. In answer to your question many feel that both Col. Custer's and Gen. Lord Chelmsford's unfortunate deployments were the result of over-confidence, under-estimation of their foes abilities and over-eagerness to come to blows with an enemy whose stregnth and disposition they didn't take the time to learn.