[Illustration: "FIGHTING AT THE DOOR."]
At the gallant defence of the fort at Rorke's Drift, every man fought
like a hero, but some were fortunate enough to attract the particular
attention of their superiors. Among these was a private of the 24th
Regiment, named Robert Jones, who obtained the Victoria Cross for his
conduct on the occasion. His story is as follows:--
"On the 22nd January, 1879, the Zulus attacked us, we being only
a small band of English soldiers and they in very strong and
overwhelming numbers. On commencing fighting, I was one of the
soldiers who were in the hospital to protect it. I and another
soldier of the name of William Jones were on duty at the back of
the hospital, trying to defeat and drive back the rebels, and
doing our endeavours to convey the wounded and sick soldiers out
through a hole in the wall, so that they might reach in safety
the small band of men in the square. On retiring from one room
into another, after taking a wounded man by the name of Mayer,
belonging to the volunteers, to join William Jones, I found a
crowd in front of the hospital and coming into the doorway. I
said to my companion, 'They are on top of us,' and sprang to one
side of the doorway. There we crossed our bayonets, and as fast
as they came up to the doorway we bayoneted them, until the
doorway was nearly filled with dead and wounded Zulus. In the
meanwhile, I had three assegai wounds, two in the right side and
one in the left of my body. We did not know of anyone being in
the hospital, only the Zulus, and then after a long time of
fighting at the door, we made the enemy retire, and then we made
our escape out of the building. Just as I got outside, the roof
fell in--a complete mass of flames and fire. I had to cross a
space of about twenty or thirty yards from the ruins of the
hospital to the leagued company where they were keeping the
enemy at bay. While I was crossing the front of the square, the
bullets were whishing past me from every direction. When I got
in, the enemy came on closer and closer, until they were close
to the outer side of our laager, which was made up of boxes of
biscuits on sacks of Indian corn. The fighting lasted about
thirteen hours, or better. As to my feelings at the time, they
were that I was certain that if we did not kill them they would
kill us, and after a few minutes' fighting I did not mind it
more than at the present time; my thought was only to fight as
an English soldier ought to for his most gracious Sovereign,
Queen Victoria, and for the benefit of old England."