On 22 January 1879, a force of 5,000 Zulu warriors attacked the mission station and temporary hospital at Rorke's Drift, Natal, South Africa. The small British garrison of 140 men, many of whom came from Brecknockshire and Monmouthshire, held out for over 12 hours until the Zulus withdrew. Eleven members of the garrison were subsequently awarded the Victoria Cross.