George Smith (chaplain) George Smith (chaplain) 'Padre' George Smith (8 January 1845 – 26/27 November 1918), Army Chaplain, was a defender of Rorke's Drift during the Zulu War of 1879, an action which saw the winning of eleven Victoria Crosses. Born in Docking in Norfolk in 1845, 'Padre' George Smith served as a missionary in South Africa from 1870. However, he is best remembered for his part in the famous defence of Rorke's Drift during the Zulu War of 1877–79 which won him the praise of several officers involved in that action in their reports. As an assistant army chaplain, and therefore a
Bolt action Army in 1841. However, it was not the first bolt-action weapon to see combat, for it was not fielded until 1864. The United States purchased 900 Greene rifles (an under-hammer, percussion-capped, single-shot bolt action that utilized paper cartridges and an ogivial-bore rifling system) in 1857, which saw service at the Battle of Antietam in 1862, during the American Civil War; however, this weapon was ultimately considered too complicated for issue to soldiers, and was supplanted by the Springfield Model 1861, a conventional muzzle-loading rifle. During the American Civil War, the bolt-action Palmer carbine was patented in 1863, and by 1865,