Rorke's Drift.- England (Edward Lutwyche, army officer serving with Col Evelyn Wood's column, later Major-General, d. 1910) Autograph Letter signed to his sister Frances Catherine England, 5pp., 8vo, Camp Col Woods Column [South Africa], 28th January [1879], a contemporary account of the Battle of Isandlwhana and the subsequent action at Rorke's Drift, Battle of Isandlwhana, "I suppose you will have read in the papers before you received this of the terrible disaster that has befallen the Generals Column on the 22nd... as far as we can make out the Generals camp was about 7 miles in advance of Rorke's drift and having heard of a large body of Kaffirs in the neighbourhood left the camp in charge of Col Pulleine 24 Regt with 4 companies and two guns... He seems to have missed the Kaffirs but Col Durnford... fell in with them in another direction and being hard pressed sent to Col Pulleine for assistance the Col went out with 3 companies but in the meantime Col Durnfords force had been defeated. The Kaffirs then fell on the camp and destroyed it taking the guns and killing all the gunners and nearly every man in it...", Rorke's Drift, "A few fugitives fled to Rorkes drift where there was one company of the 24th Reg. under a subaltern named Bromhead (brother of the officer who married Miss Huntington...) this one company threw up a defence of bags of grain and held out against 4000 Kaffirs from 4 oclock in the afternoon until 4 next morning when they were relieved by the general they lost 9 killed and 13 wounded. Several officers that I knew will have lost their lives a good many of them will be remembered in Dover where the regiment was quartered...", describing the fall back across the blood river and a skirmish at Ingwe, "I am still in capital health but the disaster to the other columns have cast a gloom over all nothing else is talked of", folds.

⁂ A contemporary account of the disaster of Isandlwhana and the subsequent heroic action at Rorke's Drift. England served with the Somerset Light Infantry in the Indian Mutiny, and in the Transvaal and Zulu Wars. Succeeded to command of 2nd Battalion, May, 1880, and exchanged to 1st Battalion December, 1880, and commanded it to May, 1885. Retired pay, Hon. Major-General in 1900.