About: Ferdinand Schiess   Sponge Permalink

An Entity of Type : dbkwik:resource/57M61t8UhqnTfVDn1WHt-A==, within Data Space : 134.155.108.49:8890 associated with source dataset(s)

He was 22 years old, and a corporal in the Natal Native Contingent, South African Forces during the Zulu War. On 22 January 1879, at Rorke's Drift, Natal, Corporal Schiess, in spite of having been wounded in the foot a few days previously, displayed great gallantry when the garrison had retired to the inner line of defence and the Zulus had occupied the wall of mealie bags which had been abandoned. He crept along the wall in order to dislodge one of the enemy and succeeded in killing him and two others before returning to the inner defences.

AttributesValues
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • Ferdinand Schiess
rdfs:comment
  • He was 22 years old, and a corporal in the Natal Native Contingent, South African Forces during the Zulu War. On 22 January 1879, at Rorke's Drift, Natal, Corporal Schiess, in spite of having been wounded in the foot a few days previously, displayed great gallantry when the garrison had retired to the inner line of defence and the Zulus had occupied the wall of mealie bags which had been abandoned. He crept along the wall in order to dislodge one of the enemy and succeeded in killing him and two others before returning to the inner defences.
sameAs
Unit
dcterms:subject
dbkwik:military/pr...iPageUsesTemplate
serviceyears
  • 1877(xsd:integer)
Birth Date
  • 1856-04-07(xsd:date)
death place
  • South Atlantic
Name
  • Christian Ferdinand Schiess
Caption
  • Memorial to Friederich Schiess
Birth Place
  • Burgdorf, Switzerland
Awards
death date
  • 1884-12-14(xsd:date)
Rank
Allegiance
  • Colony of Natal
Battles
placeofburial
  • Buried at sea
abstract
  • He was 22 years old, and a corporal in the Natal Native Contingent, South African Forces during the Zulu War. On 22 January 1879, at Rorke's Drift, Natal, Corporal Schiess, in spite of having been wounded in the foot a few days previously, displayed great gallantry when the garrison had retired to the inner line of defence and the Zulus had occupied the wall of mealie bags which had been abandoned. He crept along the wall in order to dislodge one of the enemy and succeeded in killing him and two others before returning to the inner defences. Schiess was the first man serving with South African Forces under British Command to receive the VC. After the volunteer forces were disbanded, he failed to find work, even from British authorities. In 1884, he was found on the streets of Cape Town suffering from exposure and malnutrition. The Royal Navy found him, gave him food, and offered him a passage to England on board the Serapis. He accepted, but became ill during the voyage and died. His remains were buried at sea at approximately . It is unknown if there was a portrait of Corporal Schiess. According to some, in Lady Butler's painting of "Rorke's Drift" he is shown lying at left against the mealie bags.[citation needed]
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