The Defence of Rorke's Drift having fought in the battle from Lady Butler's sketch of him taken at Portsmouth among the other survivors; his name has subsequently been added to the roll of those who fought at Rorke's Drift. The Defence of Rorke's Drift The Defence of Rorke's Drift is an 1880 painting by Elizabeth Thompson, Lady Butler depicting the 1879 Battle of Rorke's Drift which took place during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1877 to 1879. The battle and the men who fought in it were made famous in the 1964 film "Zulu". The Battle of Rorke's Drift caused a wave of patriotic fever in
South African Wars (1879–1915) during the Bantu migrations. The Zulu tribe traditionally resided in the Natal province on the eastern side of South Africa. The Zulu were involved in two major wars. They fought against the British colonials in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. The Zulu were eventually overpowered by superior British technology. The Anglo-Zulu war resulted in the absorption of traditional Zululand into the British Cape Colony. The second conflict also involved Zulu and British colonials. Bambatha, a leader of the Zondi clan led a rebellion against British authority in the Natal province. The rebellion was suppressed by British colonial forces. The British