Lieutenant Adendorff 1-3 N.N.C.

hi johnb / oh2.
I am not disputing the fact of Adendorff being at R.D and Isand , He is certainly mentioned in all reports , but he
isnt in the ' South African War Medal Roll 1877-78- 79 - The Medal Roll by D.R.Forsyth. Which I find a little strange
dont you all agree ?. .
cheers 90th.

Hi 90th,

If Adendorff is not on the medal roll, do you know whether other members of the NNC present at Rorkes Drift are included?

Apart from Schiess who won the VC, the other NNC present were:-

Cpl M Doughty
Cpl J Mayer
Cpl C Scammell
Cpl J Wilson
Plus an unkown Xhosa

If they are included, the mystery remains!

JohnB

Hi JohnB

You bring up a very good point here, I have just had a very quick look on the medal roll and cannot find the following:-

Corporal William Doughty, Natal Native Contingent 3rd Regiment - 2nd Battalion
Corporal Jessy H Mayer, Natal Native Contingent 1st Battalion - 3rd Regiment
Corporal Carl Scammel, Natal Native Contingent 2nd Battalion - 3rd Regiment
Corporal John Wilson, Natal Native Contingent 2nd Battalion - 3rd Regiment
Rank Not Known Xhosa Native, Natal Native Contingent 1st Battalion - 3rd Regiment

The Xhosa native was one of Sihayo’s retainers shot through the thigh and taken prisoner and convalescing in a cubby-hole by himself. Source ‘The Washing of the Spears’ (p 390)

Hi JohnB

Is this the same roll as the one you have a copy of?

There is a whole topic/thread relating to Lt Ardendorff

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thanks joe

Did he not refuse the medal, on account he was accused of desertion.

HI graves .
Having a quick look through Forsythe and found , NNC 3rd Batt , Corp . J.H. Mayor ( mayer ? ) 78-79 Clasp .
couldnt locate the others in Forsythe .
cheers 90th.

I refer back to my translation of Lt Müller printed in red at the beginning of this discussion. Lt Müller knew Lt Adendorff well and had him as his Coy Commander in the Gaika WAr. He concludes his comment on Lt Adendorff by saying he excelled himself in the defense of RD. Surely he had nothing to cover up!

Just out of curiosity. Doe's anyone on the forum have doubt's that Adendorff did stayed at R.D

Not for one second,do I doubt he was there. And in my mind, he was the only one to have taken part in both Battles. Apaet from the Zulu's of course.

Its down to whether any of the Rorkes Drift defemder can place him at the battle in any of the accounts of the battle.

If anyone knows of an account with Ardendorff in please let all of us know so we can clear it all up

thanks Joe

This from Trooper Fred Symons, Natal Carbineers

“When the hospital was fired by the Zulus the men at once set to work to pull off the thatch from the dwelling house. A German, or some foreigner, who was with the garrison, saved the building from fire for he saw the Zulu with a lighted bunch of grass on the end of a stick just raising it up to the eaves and promptly shot him. Had that building caught alight it would have been all up with the garrison.

Might this have been Lt Adendorff perhaps......

Just found this, from Chards reprot to the Queen

"Seeing the hospital burning, and the attempts of the enemy to fire the roof of the store (one man was shot, I believe by Lt. Adendorff who had a light almost touching the thatch), we converted two large heaps of mealie bags into a sort of redoubt which gave a second line of fire all around, in case the store building had to be abandoned, or the enemy broke through elsewhere."

Joe

Good work Sherman and Joe! Well let's award him the VC posthumously and the Star of Africa! [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Thankyou,
But lets not say he deserved a VC, as there is overwhelming evidence that he left Isandlwana well before he should of.

Any other views would be interesting.

Thanks joe

With his troops having bolted and knowing what was coming as an experienced colonial I suppose he knew what was best for the colony and the garrison at RD. I am also not convinced that he left much before everybody else: he might just have been more experienced and knowledgable than the rest having taken a different route!

I go with johann on this. Joe you say there is

Quote :

overwhelming evidence that he left Isandlwana well before he should of.

Could you post or point me to where this evidence is.

Thanks in advance.

Hi Littlehand,
Again this was all dicussed on the other Adendorff thread some time ago, however I will list some of the major points made.

The Zulu right horn advance was along the river bed and the advance had been going for some time, the line of advance would have totally blocked the road to Rorkes Drift. Which means they must have left very early to avoid the right horn.
The other argument is that they took a different route, however other routes werew very long and would have taken well over 2 hours which would not fit with the time Chard said they arrived.

As I say this is all posted on the other thread, Ive posted the link to it further up this page in a previous post

For the record, I am not saying he definatley left Isandlwana early or saying he didnt stay for Rorkes Drift, there is evidence for both stories.

Hope this helps

Joe

Two accounts by John Chard.

"But one of the fugitives remained with us - Lieutenant Adendorff, whom I have before mentioned. He remained to assist in the defence, and from a loophole in the store building, flanking the wall and hospital, his rifle did good service."

"Seeing the hospital burning, and the attempts of the enemy to fire the roof of the store (one man was shot, I believe by Lt. Adendorff who had a light almost touching the thatch"


4.20pm do we have a time when the Hospital was set on fire.

hi MrGreaves.
Without going to the books I am sure Corp Francis Attwood DCM I think of the Army Service Corp is also
attributed with shooting a zulu or possibly the same one as Adendorff was said to have shot by Chard .
I am positive in a letter home , Attwood mentions how he shot a zulu who very nearly set the store's roof ablaze .
cheers 90th.

Hi 1879 Graves,

Yes, this is the roll of defenders I have a copy of.

Hi Admin,

1879 Graves has kindly posted a copy of the defenders roll we both have a copy of. Is this the roll you mention that Chard added to? It is dated 3rd feb 1879, some 10 days after the battle.


I think it was Morris in " Washing of the Spears" that first cast doubt on whether Adendorff was present. However several subsequent books seem to find evidence that he remained. Personally I go along with the James Bancroft book " Rorkes Drift" in which he states " I find it impossible to accept that Lt James Adendorff left Rorkes Drift before the Zulu attack and I believe it would be doing him an injustice if I did not include him in the narrative."

JohnB

Hi All

The one thing I do know is that Lt Adendorff was present at Rorke's Drift upon the disbandment of the NNC - Charlie Harford did a sketch of him with NNC members.

David

Was he arrested for desertion, because I cannot find anything anywhere to substantiate he was. I’m sure that if Rorkes Drift defenders were arrested for desertion there would be lots of information available.

Quote :

Charlie Harford did a sketch of him with NNC members.

David do you have a copy available you could post.

Yes please! I would also like to see the sketch!

hi littlehand.
I have never come across any reference material which states Adendorff was arrested for any wrong doings .
The authorities may or may not have wanted to speak to him regarding Isandlwana or R. Drift , but as far as
I am aware he didnt actually speak to them .
cheers 90th.

Again we will never know the real truth. Another mystery from Isandlwana.

There is a reference to him being charged with Assault, it was after this that he dissapears from the stage. I will try and find the reference and post it.

Regards

Still waiting for the sketch made by Charlie Harford, Mr Payne!

Hi Johann

Sorry about the delay I have been working away this week - I am going to photograph the one in the book and send it to Peter to upload.

Trust you are keeping well

David

David is it in your book Harford.

Hi

Yes it is on page 135

David

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Source: Harford. Posted with the kind permission of David Payne. Author.

Admin. Thanks for posting. David and thanks for allowing the photo to be posted.

Came across this. It doe's mentioned the charge of assault. But also mentions desertion, but not sure if its relating to Rorkes Drift.

WHAT HAPPENED AFTER???
by Graham "Sapper" Mason

As the Autumn mists swirl round the coast of Anglesey I often think of what it must have been like months and years after the battles of the Zulu war were over. What pressures were felt by the surviving participants as they tried to pick up lives torn apart from the rigours of campaign. What long-term effects did those 9 months have on the men who came back home? Upon further research I have found out, especially in the case of the men who fought at "Kwajimu" in that intense 12 or 13 hours back in January 1879, that a great deal DID happen to those soldiers when they arrived back in the UK .

As stated before the British army does not like two disasters in one day and hence the, some would say, unwarranted attention covering the action at Rorke's Drift. As in any battle there are casualties not seen or felt until well after the engagement was over. With the advances in medical practices, I feel the mental strain on the men under CHARD and BROMHEAD would have had the term "syndrome" applied to the undoubted after-effects of keeping a determined foe at bay for so many hours. Even today after 125 years many graves of the men who fought at Rorke's Drift are still to be discovered and a public grave with no marker is often the case .

There are groups and organisations such as the 1879 Group who amongst their activities search out these final resting places and hopefully leave a marker behind. Recently in Ruddington in Nottinghamshire TWO headstones were laid in one cemetery as both men came from Ruddington and were mates, these being Pte Caleb WOOD and Pte Robert TONGUE both of B Coy 2 / 24th Foot. The final resting place of one Pte John SMITH is proving a tad difficult to locate, but I try! I do have his birth details, however, and am in the process of obtaining his birth certificate (he was born in Wigan). The other fact which has come to light is that many soldiers who were not in any of the prominent engagements suddenly stated they were at Rorke's Drift on that fateful day when in fact, after careful checking, it was found they were not. One example being Pte COMBERTON 1/24th whose glowing account of his actions on Jan 22/23 is to be found in a publication printed in 1966 and which has been found to be false from the outset. Had he done any of the things mentioned he would have been awarded 2 VCs at the very least! Pte Comberton, by the way, did not arrive in South Africa till April 1879.

Another example was a certain "Sgt JONES VC" who was at the training camp in Pochefstroom and in contemporary papers of the time is shown quite clearly as being at Rorke's Drift and winning a VC there. Careful research revealed this was not the case. I have avoided mentioning one Lt ADENDORF because that is a whole different set of circumstances to go into. I am intrigued, however, that after his arrest for assault and desertion he vanished and to this day we do not know the full story. Apologies to any of his descendants, but that is one mystery I would love to resolve. Back to the main theme.

Research has proven that nearly all who took part in the campaign on Jan 22/23 1879 were affected in a mental capacity. To a man, any mention of those terrible 12 hours brings out anger or denial if mentioned in later years. Pte William COOPER who was over eighty gassed himself in the 1940's because, coupled with his physical condition and memories, his mind could take no more. Pte William JONES VC was seen towards the end of his life wandering the streets of Manchester with his granddaughter in his arms to protect her from the Zulu, quite obviously suffering from the pangs of that terrible day. Another VC winner (Pte Robert JONES VC) allegedly shot himself with a shotgun while the balance of his mind was disturbed. Quite how he managed to shoot himself twice is a fact I find difficult to accept. What is true is that the gun he was carrying was known to have a hair trigger, that the area where the accident took place was uneven and that Robert was not concentrating on his business at the time as it was proven that he was "disturbed" about events back in 1879 and this fatal combination resulted in him losing his life. To add insult to injury his coffin was taken over the cemetery wall and when buried the headstone faced the other way round! I feel a campaign is in order to investigate the true causes of his death and to reverse the suicide verdict raised against him. Fred HITCH VC on the other hand was known to have been quiet and unobtrusive when he lived the remainder of his life out in Chiswick, London and never once boasted that he won this highest honour. There is even a case where a defender was assaulted by fellow soldiers for just being part of that little garrison that day, jealousy I believe was the cause that resulted in that particular assault. One figure I recall sticks out in particular: this was the sad story of Sgt Joseph Lenford WINDRIDGE. First promoted to Sgt in 1862 he suffered various demotions and promotions during his career but at the time of Rorke's Drift was the senior Sgt. Incidentally, the majority of the men promoted shortly after the battle lost that rank for all sorts of reasons and Windrige even went down to a Pte at some stage. Recent research has proved that he married twice and his first marriage ended as he lost his wife, with his second he had no less than 13 children, 6 died within three weeks of each other. It was thought at one time that his wife poisoned them but it was proved not the case. Can you imagine what must have been going through his mind at this stage? Windridge eventually died in 1902 in Birmingham and is buried in this city under an unmarked grave. One day it is hoped that he too will get a marker to show he was at Kwajimu on that day so long ago. It was said that Pte DUNBAR dispatched 8 Zulus with 8 shots, quite a remarkable feat considering the pressure and heat on that day. He saw his last days out in South Africa, as did C/ Sgt George William MABIN the Fighting Clerk as he became known, the sad case of Gunner CANTWELL DCM, buried somewhere in Durban, who after winning the Silver Medal, as it was known, became a Prison guard in Durban goal, was assaulted by a lifer (DUBOIS) and eventually left the service, became a toilet cleaner and eventually died in Addington Hospital in August 1900, an oft-forgotten hero of that fateful day on the Buffalo River. Maybe one day his grave location will be found and a marker placed at the site, "Here lies John Cantwell DCM , hero of Rorke's Drift."


Graham Mason - Anglo-Zulu War Researcher.

hi pete / David.
Thanks for posting and sharing the sketch .
cheers 90th.

Thank you David and Admin for the sketch!!

Hello all,
This may sound a bit stupid, but what was Adendorffs first name, Ive heard him being called Josef, and also being called James, in other sources.

Can anyone help.

thanks joe

Hi Joe

James is what I have as his first name.

Last year we created an run/walk to recreate the Fugitives' Trail, with the first runner hitting Fugitives' Drift in under 35 minutes. A tough trail run, but was also completed by a plucky 70+ year old lady who was the star of the day. This year we will follow in the footsteps of Ardendorff and rather than ending up at Fugitives' Drift, the race will finish at Rorke's Drift. Having run various routes from Isandlwana, you may be intersted in my observations. I'm of the opinion the fugitive's took a number of routes (even members of the rocket battery survived). The broken ground would have allowed one fugitive to survive while another would have been slaughted. Also, the right horn was a dynamic structure (think of a defensive line in rugby), opening and closing as warriors ran from one position to another, with gaps opening and closing as they moved. The general assumption that every Zulu is a super athlete is not based on fact, Paula Radcliff will outrun 99.9% of any Impi. A large group of Zulus could easily have moved into the camp or after the bulk of the fugitives leaving a massive gap for someone to escape on the direct route to Rorke's Drift. The man with the ball (i.e. cannon) might just have been the distraction required for another to take the gap.

I found Shepstone's grave with the help of Rob Gerard at Isandlwana Lodge last fall. It is hard to locate, but is in good shape. If I could figure out how to post a picture, I have a picture of it.

DSL

maussie wrote:

Last year we created an run/walk to recreate the Fugitives' Trail, with the first runner hitting Fugitives' Drift in under 35 minutes. A tough trail run, but was also completed by a plucky 70+ year old lady who was the star of the day. This year we will follow in the footsteps of Ardendorff and rather than ending up at Fugitives' Drift, the race will finish at Rorke's Drift. Having run various routes from Isandlwana, you may be intersted in my observations. I'm of the opinion the fugitive's took a number of routes (even members of the rocket battery survived). The broken ground would have allowed one fugitive to survive while another would have been slaughted. Also, the right horn was a dynamic structure (think of a defensive line in rugby), opening and closing as warriors ran from one position to another, with gaps opening and closing as they moved. The general assumption that every Zulu is a super athlete is not based on fact, Paula Radcliff will outrun 99.9% of any Impi. A large group of Zulus could easily have moved into the camp or after the bulk of the fugitives leaving a massive gap for someone to escape on the direct route to Rorke's Drift. The man with the ball (i.e. cannon) might just have been the distraction required for another to take the gap.

I'd love to do this - can you tell me how far it is roughtly?

many thanks

maussie, did you take any photo's during this trip.

The race this year is on 20 August 2011. Starts at Isandlwana, 14km cross country (Ardendorff route) to Rorke's Drift. Trail runners and walkers welcome. Finish on the Natal bank at the new Rorke's Drift Hotel.

maussie wrote:

The race this year is on 20 August 2011. Starts at Isandlwana, 14km cross country (Ardendorff route) to Rorke's Drift. Trail runners and walkers welcome. Finish on the Natal bank at the new Rorke's Drift Hotel.

14K cross country in under 35 mins? They must have been going some!

Is this a yearly event? Maybe next year I'll make it to SA and have a stab at this.

cheers

Last year we ran the route from Isandlwana, crossing the river at Fugitives Drift and finishing at FD Lodge (Melvill & Coghill route).
The distance from the wagon park at Isandlwana to the river is about 9 kilometres and this is what was run in 35 mins. Apart from one hill, it is mostly downhill, but the time was a good one as in places the path is very difficult underfoot. A very "moving" experience!

So 35 mins to run. What would you say it could be done in, on horseback

Hi all.
For those wanting to know more on Adendorff .

From the entry on Gert Wilhelm Adendorff in Greaves and Knight, ‘Who’s Who in the Zulu War’;

Adendorff’s role in the subsequent fighting has been the subject of particularly intense mythologizing, but in fact there is no reason to doubt a considerable body of evidence which suggests he was present at the battles of both Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift. He was certainly present in the camp at Isandlwana on the morning of the 22nd, and is mentioned by name as having brought a report from the piquet on the iNyoni escarpment regarding Zulu movements on the heights. It is possible that, as a German speaker, his command of English was not good, and this may have been the first of many elements that has led to confusion regarding his role. His own account of the day - in a letter published anonymously - is entirely consistent with other sources, and indeed brutally honest. Adendorff says he stayed in the camp until the British line collapsed, then tried to make his escape. His horse was killed as he rode down into the Manzimnyama valley, but he commandeered another at gunpoint from a mounted auxiliary. He then attached himself to Hlubi’s Tlokoa, one of the few mounted groups who escaped the battlefield in any order. Hlubi’s men forced a way through the Zulu right ‘horn’ and rode across country to Rorke’s Drift. When they approached the river, Adendorff and another survivor rode ahead to warn Chard’s party at the ponts; Hlubi’s men crossed by the Drift downstream, then dismounted to rest.
The doubts about Adendorff’s presence at Rorke’s Drift seem to have started early enough, as whispers among officers of his own regiment, and have been enshrined in Donald Morris’ classic account of the war, The Washing of the Spears. Morris claimed to have evidence to this effect, but never published it. Chard himself, however, went out of his way to single out Adendorff as the only man among the Isandhlwana survivors who stayed to assist in the defence; the fact that he was a complete stranger to the rest of the garrison, and occupied a post inside the storehouse during the battle, accounts for his apparent invisibility otherwise. Trooper Fred Symons of the Natal Carbineers - part of Lord Chelmsford’s command - confirms Adendorff’s presence at the mission on the morning of the 23rd, while Walter Stafford - himself an Isandlwana survivor, who served with Adendorff’s brother in August in 1880 and knew Adendorff himself in later life - had no doubts about his story. It is also significant that Lieutenant Henry Harford, acting as adjutant of the 3rd NNC, noted in his almanac that Adendorff was present at Rorke’s Drift. Nor is there any evidence to suggest that he was ever considered for official censure regarding his conduct on 22-23 January.
The fact that Adendorff’s account, when published, was greeted with contempt by the settler community in Natal probably accounts for his later reticence on the subject. He took little part in the rest of the war, giving up military service when the 3rd NNC was disbanded for poor performance in the aftermath of Isandlwana.
cheers 90th.

Note correct spelling - Adendorff. Family still alive and well and living in KwaZulu-Natal...
Ken

This is from wikipedia
"Soon thereafter, two survivors from Isandlwana – Lieutenant Gert Adendorff of the 1st/3rd NNC and a trooper from the Natal Carbineers – arrived bearing the news of the defeat and that a part of the Zulu impi was approaching the station."