Lieutenant John Chard

Biography

John Rouse Merriot Chard was a Royal Engineers lieutenant stationed at Rorke's Drift to supervise a ponting bridge when Isandlwana fell. His seniority over Lieutenant Bromhead — by a few months — placed him in command by default. He had roughly two hours' warning from the riders from Isandlwana before 4,000 Zulus appeared. His decision not to flee — he briefly considered taking to the river and marching out — was correct: the loaded wagons couldn't have moved fast enough. He organized the fortification of the mission station with mealie bags and biscuit boxes, positioned his 139 men, and held the post through a twelve-hour night battle. When the hospital caught fire, men knocked through walls room by room to extract patients as the flames advanced. By dawn the attacks had broken off. Chard received the Victoria Cross, was promoted, and received a personal letter of congratulation from Queen Victoria. He was later criticized by Garnet Wolseley as an 'unimpressive' soldier — which says more about Wolseley than Chard.

Key Battles