Fugitives Drift

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Isandlwana lies 5 miles off to the north east of Fugitives Drift. Five miles of deeply dissected, boulder strewn, bush clad terrain. For the British this was terra incognito - there were no maps, they were not sure about where they were going. The Zulu right horn had blocked the road to Rorkes Drift, and they were pushed into this rough country, caught as they were between the closing horns of the Zulu army. All the white soldiers on foot had been killed, but a fair number of men on horseback and large numbers of Natal Native Contingent managed to get down to the river.

A small number of troops from the 24th Warwickshires and the Natal Native Contingent managed to escape the slaughter pen at Isandlwana and make for the Buffalo River. Among these were Lts. Teignmouth Melvill and Nevill Coghill. The fugitives did not escape the notice of the Zulus and Dabulamanzi kaMpandes inDlu-yengewe Regiment, which had been held in reserve (the "loins") gave chase, killing many as they fled. The survivors crossed the Buffalo River at a point called Sothondoses Drift, and now known as Fugitives Drift.

When Queen Victoria heard what had happened after the battle at Fugitives Drift she said that had Melvill and Coghill survived, they would have been awarded the Victoria Cross, but in 1879 there was no provision for the posthumous award of the V.C. and it was only 28 years later, during the reign of King Edward VII that these awards were approved. They were the first posthumous Victoria Crosses earned in history.

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