The Defense of Rorke's Drift mission station in South Africa was raging, January 22-23 1879, after the disastrous British defeat at Isandlwana earlier in the day.
From "The Washing of the Spears" by Donald R. Morris - "The fight flickered and flared along the front wall for an hour with remorseless intensity. Before one rush subsided, another took its place, to be shattered in its turn, and the battle rippled back and forth along the barricade. The defenders stood shoulder to shoulder, crouching to fire as fast as they could load and rising to jab downward with their bayonets when the attackers reached the wall and there was no time to fumble for cartridges ..."
From "The Washing of the Spears" by Donald R. Morris - "The fight flickered and flared along the front wall for an hour with remorseless intensity. Before one rush subsided, another took its place, to be shattered in its turn, and the battle rippled back and forth along the barricade. The defenders stood shoulder to shoulder, crouching to fire as fast as they could load and rising to jab downward with their bayonets when the attackers reached the wall and there was no time to fumble for cartridges ..."