Posted on 09/02/2009 2:59:57 PM PDT by kingattax
May I recommend the following:
“Against These Three: a biography of Paul Kruger, Cecil Rhodes, and Lobengula” by Stuart Cloete (if it can be found)
and
“The Scramble for Africa, 1876-1912” By Thomas Pakenham
You may ! Thank you !
>>> Ironically the real Lt Chard and Bromhead were regarded as being dull,unimaginative and generally not considered to be very good material by their superiors.
The actual post commander was offsite leading a hunting party. He missed the whole show. A captain was left in command, who when he heard the Zulus were approaching jumped on his horse and went to secure the rear some miles away. He was cashiered from the army the next week, and missed his chance to figure in a really cool movie. Chard and Bromhead were all that were left. Their military careers afterward were ordinary. Both died in early middle age, “lifelong bachelors”.
>>>Colour Sergeant Bourne: It’s a miracle
Unlike the middle aged actor who gave such a fine performance as the Color Sgt, the real man was young, in his mid 20s. After the battle he was offered a direct commission, and declined the advancement. He later was commissioned anyway and went on to serve in a long career, retiring as a Lt Col. He outdid them all.
It is a fantastic movie. I remember seeing it for the first time in the 70’s and it blowing me away (the topless zulu dancers in the opening scene helped as well)
No to pee on anyone’s parade here but Men of Harlech wasn’t sung at the real battle. In fact the number of welshmen in the company was not much more than 15%. Good info here:
http://www.rorkesdriftvc.com/myths/myths.htm
And the lyrics that were sung in the movie are not the original, but were written specifically for the film. The March of the Men of Harlech is an old tune that predates the movie by almost 200 years.
Thanks for the recommendation.
Thanks for the head’s up. Fascinating.
A very comprehensive book on the subject.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Washing-of-the-Spears/Donald-R-Morris/e/9780306808661
Men of Harlech wasn’t sung at the real battle.
That's okay --we know the difference between classic cinema and hard history.
While what you say is true to a point, it is not totally factual. While the Americans could not stand up to the British fighting in the British style, that is standing out in the open while simply standing there and letting the enemy have at you, and using volley fire, once the learned they would have to fight differently they won battles. Later in the war they were better trained in volley fire. The volley fire was mainly effective with muskets because muskets were notoriously inaccurate.
At the battle of kings mountain in which Ferguson got his butt kicked by American frontiersman using mostly rifles there was no volley fire, the Americans fought from cover.
The British had the technological edge on the Americans in that battle because they were using the Ferguson rifle, the first practical breech loading rifle to be used in combat. Luckily for the us the British high command didn't think much of the new fangled rifles and when Ferguson was defeated it just cemeted their beliefs and all use of the Ferguson was suspended at that point.
The frontier soldiers used hiding and rifles to great effect, the main troops fighting the British were not frontiersmen and eventually learned to fight standing out in the open like idiots.
The reason volley fire worked so well at Rourke's Drift is because the Zulus were mostly armed with spears. Accurate fast loading breech loaders pretty much killed the need and the effectiveness for volley fire.
Along the same lines...the heroic Brits...did you ever see "Khartoum" about General Gordon?
Charleton Heston always plays a good hero even when playing a Brit.
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