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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16466-8.txt b/16466-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ead2804 --- /dev/null +++ b/16466-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6288 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Four Months Besieged, by H. H. S. Pearse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Four Months Besieged + The Story of Ladysmith + +Author: H. H. S. Pearse + +Release Date: August 7, 2005 [EBook #16466] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUR MONTHS BESIEGED *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Taavi Kalju and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Illustration: SIR GEORGE STEWART WHITE, V.C., G.C.S.I. + +_From a Photograph by Window & Grove_] + + +Four Months Besieged + +THE STORY OF LADYSMITH + +BEING UNPUBLISHED LETTERS + +FROM + +H.H.S. PEARSE +THE 'DAILY NEWS' SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT + + +_WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS MADE BY THE +AUTHOR_ + +London +MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED +NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +1900 +_All rights reserved_ + + + + +PREFACE + + +The siege of Ladysmith will long remain in the memories of the age. The +annals of war furnish the record of many fierce struggles, in which men +and women have undergone sufferings more terrible and possibly shown a +devotion rising to sublimer heights. But the Boer War of 1899-1900 will +mark an epoch, and throughout its opening stage of four months the minds +of men, and the hopes and fears of the whole British race, centred upon +the little town in mid-Natal where Sir George White with his army +maintained a valiant resistance against a strenuous and determined foe +without, and disease and hunger and death within, until, to use his own +words, that slow-moving giant John Bull should pass from his slumber and +bestir himself to take back his own. For that reason alone the story of +Ladysmith will remain memorable. But it is a story which is brilliant in +brave deeds, which tells of danger boldly faced, of noble self-sacrifice +to duty, in calm endurance of many and growing evils--a story worth the +telling. Yet so far it has been told only in the necessarily disjointed +telegrams and letters of the press correspondents in the town. Native +runners who were captured and otherwise went astray, and the ruthless +pencil of the censor, were accountable for many gaps. Two or three of +the letters contained in the following pages escaped these perils, and +were published in the columns of the _Daily News_. The rest of the book +now appears for the first time. + +The volume consists of pages from the letters and diaries of Mr. Henry +H.S. Pearse, the Special Correspondent of the _Daily News_. Mr. Pearse +was in Natal when the war broke out, and he was in Ladysmith during the +whole of the siege. He was fortunate enough to enjoy good health +throughout, and though he had some narrow escapes he was never hit. His +letters contain a complete story of the siege. + +_April 1900._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I PAGE + +INTRODUCTORY + +The declaration of war--Sir George White and the defence of +Natal--The force at Glencoe--Battle of Talana Hill--General +Yule's retirement--Battle of Elandslaagte--Useless victories-- +The enemy's continued advance 1 + + +CHAPTER II + +LOMBARD'S KOP AND NICHOLSON'S NEK + +General White forced to fight--The order of battle--Leviathan-- +The Boers reinforced--A retrograde movement--How Marsden met his +death--Naval guns in action--A night of disaster--Who showed the +white flag?--A truce declared--A humiliating position 5 + + +CHAPTER III + +LADYSMITH INVESTED + +The exodus of the townsfolk--Communications threatened--Slim +Piet Joubert--Espionage in the town--Neglected precautions--A +truce that paid--British positions described--Big guns face to +face--Boers hold the railways--French's reconnaissance--The +General's flitting--A gauntlet of fire--An interrupted telegram-- +Death of Lieutenant Egerton--"My cricketing days are over"--Under +the enemy's guns--"A shell in my room"--Colonials in action--The +sacrifice of valuable lives 15 + + +CHAPTER IV + +EARLY DAYS OF THE SIEGE + +Moral effects of shell fire--General White appeals to Joubert-- +The neutral camp--Attitude of civilians--Meeting at the Town +Hall--A veteran's protest--Faith in the Union Jack--An impressive +scene--Removal of sick and wounded--Through the Boer lines--How +the posts were manned--Enemy mounting big guns--More about the +spies--Boer war ethics--In an English garden--Throwing up +defences--A gentlemanly monster--The Troglodytes--Humorous and +pathetic--"Long Tom" and "Lady Anne"--Links in the chain of fire-- +A round game of ordnance 30 + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FIRST BOER ASSAULT + +Joubert's boast--The preliminaries of attack--Shells in the town-- +A simultaneous advance--Observation Hill threatened--A wary +enemy--A prompt repulse--Attack on Tunnel Hill--The colour-sergeant's +last words--Manchesters under fire--Prone behind boulders--A Royal +salute--The Prince of Wales's birthday--Stretching the Geneva +Convention--The redoubtable Miss Maggie--The Boer Foreign Legion-- +Renegade Irishmen--A signal failure 58 + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MONTH UNDER SHELL FIRE + +The first siege-baby--An Irish-American deserter--A soldierly +grumble--Boer cunning and Staff-College strategy--An ammunition +difficulty--The tireless cavalry--A white flag incident--What +the Boer Commandant understood--The Natal summer--Mere sound +and fury--Boer Sabbatarianism--Naval guns at work--"Puffing +Billy" of Bulwaan--Intrepid Boer gunners--The barking of +"Pom-Poms"--Another reconnaissance--"Like scattered bands of Red +Indians"--A futile endeavour--A night alarm--Recommended for the +V.C.--A man of straw in khaki--The Boer search-light--Shelling +of the hospital--General White protests--The first woman hit-- +General Hunter's bravado--"Long Tom" knocked out--A gymkhana +under fire--Faith, Hope, and Charity--Flash signals from the +south--A new Creusot gun 69 + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SORTIES OF DECEMBER + +Retribution--Sir Archibald Hunter's bold scheme--A night attack-- +Silently through the darkness--At the foot of Gun Hill--A broken +ascent--"Wie kom dar?" "The English are on us!"--Major Henderson +thrice wounded--Destroying "Leviathan"--Hussars suffer under +fire--Rejoicings in town--Sir George White's address to the +troops--Boer compliments--A raid for provender--A second sortie-- +The Rifles' bold enterprise--An unwelcome light--Cutting the +wires--Surprise Hill reached--The sentry's challenge--Rifles' +charge with the bayonet--Boer howitzer destroyed--The return to +camp--Cutting the way home--Serious losses 103 + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AFTER COLENSO + +The Town-Guard called out--Echoes of Colenso--Heliograms from +Buller--The Boers and Dingaan's Day--Disappointing news--Special +correspondents summoned--Victims of the bombardment--Shaving +under shell fire--Tea with Lord Ava--Boer humour: "Where is +Buller?"--Sir George White's narrow escape--A disastrous shot-- +Fiftieth day of the siege--Grave and gay--"What does England +think of us?"--Stoical artillerymen--The moral courage of +caution--How Doctor Stark was killed--Serious thoughts--Gordons +at play--Boers watch the match--A story by the way--"My name is +Viljoen"--How Major King won his liberty--A tribute to Boer +hospitality--"We rely on your Generals"--General White and +Schalk-Burger--A coward chastised--"Sticking it out" 128 + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CHRISTMAS UNDER SIEGE + +Husbanding supplies--Colonel Ward's fine work--Our Christmas +market--A scanty show--Some startling prices--A word to cynics-- +The compounding of plum-puddings--The strict rules of +temperance--Boer greetings "per shell"--A lady's narrow escape-- +Correspondents provide sport--"Ginger" and the mules--The sick +and wounded--Some kindly gifts--Christmas tree for the children-- +Sir George White and the little ones--"When the war is over"--Some +empty rumours--A fickle climate--Eight officers killed and +wounded--More messages from Buller--Booming the old year out 155 + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREAT ASSAULT + +Why the Boers attacked--Interesting versions--A general surprise-- +Joubert's promise--Boer tactics reconsidered--Erroneous estimates-- +Under cover of night--A bare-footed advance--The Manchesters +surprised--The fight on Waggon Hill--In praise of the Imperial +Light Horse--A glorious band--The big guns speak--Lord Ava falls-- +Gordons and Rifles to the rescue--A perilous position--The death of +a hero--A momentary panic--Man to man--A gallant enemy--Burghers +who fell fighting--The storming of Cæsar's Camp--Shadowy forms in +the darkness--An officer captured--"Maak Vecht!"--Abdy's guns in +play--"Well done, gunners!"--Taking water to the wounded-- +Dick-Cunyngham struck down--Some anxious moments--The Devons charge +home--A day well won 180 + + +CHAPTER XI + +WATCHING FOR BULLER + +Sir Redvers Buller's second attempt--A message from the Queen--Last +sad farewells--Burial of Steevens and Lord Ava--At dead of night-- +Relief army north of the Tugela--Water difficulties surmised--A +look in at Bulwaan--Spion Kop from afar--What the watchers saw-- +The Boers trekking--Buller withdraws--The "key" thrown away-- +Good-bye to luxuries--Precautions against disease--"Chevril"--The +damming of the Klip--Horseflesh unabashed--One touch of pathos-- +Vague memories of home--Sweet music from the south--Buller tries +again--Disillusionment--The last pipe of tobacco 209 + + +CHAPTER XII + +AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS + +Boer pæan of victory--Rations cut down--Sausage without mystery-- +The "helio" moves east--Sick and dying at Intombi--Famine prices +at market--Laughter quits the camps--A kindly thing by the enemy-- +Good news at last--Heroes in tatters--The distant tide of battle-- +Pulse-like throb of rifles--Two sons for the Empire--British +infantry on Monte Cristo--Boer ambulances moving north--"'Ave you +'eard the noos?"--Rations increased--Bulwaan strikes his tents-- +"With a rifle and a red cross"--Buller "going strong"--Cronje's +surrender--A sorry celebration--"A beaten army in full retreat"-- +"Puffing Billy" dismantled--General Buller's message--belief at +hand 224 + + +CHAPTER XIII + +RELIEF AT LAST + +The beginning of the end--Buller's last advance--Heroic +Inniskillings--The coming of Dundonald--A welcome at Klip River +Drift--A weather-stained horseman--The Natal troopers--Cheers +and tears--A grand old General--Sir George White's address-- +"Thank God, we have kept the flag flying!"--"God save the Queen"-- +Arrival of Buller--Looking backward--Within four days of +starvation--Horseflesh a mere memory--Eight hundred sick and +wounded--A word of tribute--Conclusion 237 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Sir George Stewart White, V.C., G.C.S.I. (from a +photograph by Window & Grove) _Frontispiece_ + +The Royal Hotel, Ladysmith (showing the ruins of +Mr. Pearse's bedroom wrecked by a shell from "Long +Tom," 3rd Nov. 1899) _Face page 26_ + +A shell-proof resort (a culvert under a road used +as a living place by day for civilians, who returned +to their houses when the shelling ceased after sunset) 50 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking north towards +Rietfontein and the Newcastle Road) 96 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking nearly due south) 128 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking south-east) 162 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking eastward) 202 + + + + +PLANS + + +Sketch-map of positions round Ladysmith, Nov. 1899 _Face page 60_ + +Siege of Ladysmith, after two months of bombardment 175 + +The environs of Ladysmith 180 + +Military map of Ladysmith _End of vol._ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + + The declaration of war--Sir George White and the defence of + Natal--The force at Glencoe--Battle of Talana Hill--General Yule's + retirement--Battle of Elandslaagte--Useless victories--Enemy's + continued advance. + + +Before taking up the history of the siege proper it will be well here to +pass briefly in review the events which led up to the isolation and +investment of Ladysmith. When war was declared by the Government of the +Transvaal in its despatch of the 9th October 1899, it found Her +Majesty's Government in very great measure unprepared. A month earlier, +however, reinforcements of 10,000 troops had been ordered to Natal from +India and elsewhere, and the major part of these were already in the +Colony. General Sir George White, who had arrived at Durban on 7th +October, had strongly advocated the abandonment of the northern district +of Natal, but allowed himself to be overborne by the urgent +representations of Sir W.F. Hely-Hutchinson, who believed the withdrawal +would involve grave political results. Sir William Penn Symons believed +that the districts in question could be defended by a comparatively +small force, and he was allowed to make the experiment. At that time +there were with him at Glencoe three battalions of infantry, a brigade +division of the Royal Artillery, the 18th Hussars, and a small body of +mounted infantry. The enemy crossed the borders immediately upon the +expiry of the term stipulated in the ultimatum, and on the 20th October +was fought the battle of Talana Hill. + +This first battle of the campaign demonstrated at once the soundness of +Sir George White's views. General Symons's little army worthily +maintained the military traditions of their race, and in the face of a +terrible fire from modern rifles, in the hands of the stubbornest of +foes, rushed the enemy's position and swept him from the heights. But +victory demanded heavy toll. The gallant commander nobly expiated the +mistaken judgment which had led him so seriously to underrate the +strength of the invaders, and nearly forty officers killed, wounded, and +taken prisoners, figured on a list of about 430 casualties. So heavy a +price was paid for a brief success and the knowledge that the enemy was +too strong to make it safe to hold the Glencoe position longer. + +General Yule, who now took command of the column, abandoned his camp on +the 22nd October, and withdrew by a circuitous route to Ladysmith, +which was reached on the 26th. In the meantime, however, on the 21st, +the Boers marched from the north-west, having cut the railway and +captured a train of supplies at Elandslaagte to the north of Ladysmith. +Sir George White therefore ordered out a force, under General French, to +clear them from the line and to restore communication. Here again the +hostile positions were stormed with reckless gallantry, and the Boers +were swept back in headlong flight, suffering heavy losses. But again +our loss, especially in officers, was very serious, and again it soon +became apparent that victory, quite apart from the price of it, had not +improved our position. The Boers, thrust back for the moment at one +point, steadily continued their advance. General White's force was again +engaged on the 24th October, when, in order to prevent the enemy +crossing the Newcastle road from west to east, and falling on the flank +of General Yule's retiring column, an attack was made in force upon the +enemy at Rietfontein, near Elandslaagte, and the Boers, after six hours' +fighting, were driven from the hills. + +The object aimed at was thus secured. Whether, had the effort been +pushed home, a definite check might at this stage have been imposed upon +the Boer advance, is doubtful. Stopping where it did, it did not prevent +the steady and unceasing movements of the enemy to surround Ladysmith. +One more fight and they were to circle the town in a ring of metal +which was long to withstand all the blows that could be levelled against +it. The battle of Lombard's Kop, or Farquhar's Farm, as it is officially +styled, ended in disaster to the British arms, and drew tight the +threads in the entanglement of Ladysmith. The evil fortunes of the day +were described vividly by Mr. Pearse in a letter written on the +following day. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +LOMBARD'S KOP AND NICHOLSON'S NEK + + General White forced to fight--The order of battle--Leviathan--The + Boers reinforced--A retrograde movement--How Marsden met his + death--Naval guns in action--A night of disaster--Who showed the + white flag?--A truce declared--A humiliating position. + + +_October 31._--If the action on Rietfontein, or Pepworth's Farm ridges, +a week ago was the great score for us that official reports represent, +in that it checkmated all possible efforts of the Boers to intercept +Brigadier-General Yule's column on its march from Dundee, there can be +no doubt that the tables were turned upon us effectually yesterday. Not +only did our attempt to beat one of the enemy's columns in detail, and +capture the heavy Creusot guns that had been harassing us, fail through +misdirection, but when attacked in turn by Boer reinforcements, our +troops were untimely ordered to abandon a position that they had held +for four hours without serious loss, and this gave moral, if not +material victory to the enemy. Successful in every fight up to that +point, we are now in the humiliating position of finding ourselves +practically invested by a Boer force that will not attack except by +artillery fire at long range, and whose leader has the power +temporarily, at any rate, to choose the fighting ground that suits Boer +tactics best if we decide to take the offensive. Not only so, but our +little army here has suffered a great disaster in the loss of two +gallant regiments, one of which had only ten days earlier gained for +itself proud distinction by being first to crown the heights of Talana, +near Dundee, where British infantry proved worthy of its most glorious +traditions. As a purely defensive measure, if nothing more, the fight of +yesterday was forced upon us. Like some other operations in this brief +but eventful campaign, it came too late, but, whether timely or not, +a battle was inevitable unless we meant to sit down tamely and be +battered at. + +Yesterday morning, long before daybreak, our force was on the move, +intent upon outflanking positions which the Boers held two days earlier. +Colonel Grimwood, with one brigade consisting of the 1st and 2nd King's +Royal Rifles, the Leicestershire and the Liverpool battalions, took up a +position on open ground near Lombard's Kop, supported by a regiment of +cavalry, the Border Mounted Rifles, and the Natal Carbineers with three +batteries. A fourth battery was posted on a green kopje almost directly +in line between Lombard's Kop and Rietfontein Hill. Colonel Ian +Hamilton, with the second infantry brigade, consisting of the Gordon +Highlanders, Rifle Brigade, Manchesters, and 1st Devons, formed a +strong reserve behind the long ridge connecting these points with their +left on the Newcastle road, where the Imperial Light Horse were held +ready for action when the proper time should come. + +At four o'clock in the morning our infantry were all in position for the +fight, as it had been originally planned. Half an hour later they +exchanged shots with a few Boers scattered about kopjes in their front, +and from that moment, until nearly noon, they remained practically under +fire, never budging an inch, but remaining immovable, except when a +change of front became necessary to meet the Boer reinforcements, and +that was effected by an advance. Up to that point everything seemed to +be going in our favour. When there was daylight enough for gunners to +see clearly, the 42nd Battery, posted at the eastern end of a green +kopje that forms an irregular spur of Rietfontein Hill, but at a much +lower elevation, opened fire on that ridge where the Boers had planted +Long Tom. + +It was interesting to watch shot after shot fall nearer the mark around +it as the gunners picked up the range, until one shell struck and burst +close to "Long Tom's" embrasure. Then the battery took to firing +shrapnel, which were so well timed that one could see projectiles from +the six guns in succession bursting at intervals along Rietfontein's +level crest, which must have been raked from end to end with a shower of +shrapnel bullets. The enemy's leviathan sent two shots at this battery, +without effect, and then turned its fire upon Ladysmith town again, not +with malicious intent, perhaps, but aiming to hit either the balloon or +the railway station, where, in addition to naval guns, there happened to +be stores of forage and other things that might easily have been set +aflame by shells. + +Notwithstanding this demonstration, our force was making steady progress +towards an envelopment of the main Boer position at half-past seven in +the morning. Immediately after that, however, prospects changed with the +appearance of formidable reinforcements for the Boers, marching +apparently from the direction in which a large camp had been seen two +days earlier. They came into action on our right flank with a brisk +rifle fire, followed by the deep notes of artillery. In intervals +between the regular roar of field guns came the sledgehammer "thud! +thud! thud!" from an automatic gun, which Tommy Atkins, with his +aptitude for expressive phrases, promptly christened "Pom! Pom!" and +that name sticks to it with unpleasant associations, for the Boers had +not only one but many automatons of the same pattern. Like the heavier +field-piece, "Pom! Pom!" throws shells that burst badly, but throws them +with great accuracy, so that scores of shots in rapid succession fell +among our batteries whenever they advanced to a fresh position, or +changed ground in hope of keeping down that harassing fire. + +At this time the Border Mounted Infantry and Natal Carbineers made +frequent dashes to secure advantageous points, and the Boers were at one +time so hard pressed that they gave ground hurriedly before an attempt +of the 60th Rifles to gain a rough crest which took the long hollow +behind Lombard's Kop in reverse. Then the enemy's reinforcements falling +back somewhat threatened our right flank, and Sir George White, +reluctant to prolong his already attenuated line, met that movement only +by sending the Carbineers round Lombard's Kop, and bringing up the +Imperial Light Horse in support. + +About this time the Gordon Highlanders and Manchester battalion were +drawn forward from Hamilton's Brigade to the green tree-fringed kopje, +on the ridge of which our 42nd Battery still maintained its position, +playing effectively upon "Long Tom." It looked as if Sir George meant to +reinforce his fighting line, and try a decisive counter-stroke, by +throwing all the weight he could against the Boer left wing, which was +either wavering or executing some wily movement that had the appearance +of a retirement. But unluckily at this critical moment the 60th Rifles +and Leicestershire men began to fall back from the position they had +gained, which was immediately occupied by Boer riflemen, and the 60th, +exposed to a storm of bullets from three sides, came across open ground +in very loose formation. We presently learned that the order had been +sent for them "to retire on the balloon," Sir George White having +apparently resolved upon concentration by a retrograde movement. + +Receiving a message in the words quoted, men naturally assumed that it +meant a hasty retreat and not a retirement by successive lines of +resistance. In some cases nerves overstrained by hours of inaction gave +way, and a few men threw down arms or equipment in a momentary panic, +abandoning even their Maxim gun for a time. This, however, was quickly +checked by the example of cool comrades, who, spreading out in obedience +to commands from their officers so that there might be wide intervals +for the shots to pass through, walked slowly and steadily across the +open veldt, where bullets were raining like hailstones. In that +retirement Major Myres, of the 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifles (60th), +fell mortally wounded. Young Marsden, of the same battalion, going to +the Major's assistance, knelt beside him, and bent over as if to bind up +a wound. In that position he remained motionless so long that Lieutenant +Johnson, who had been firing steadily with a wounded soldier's rifle +until twice hit himself, went to see if he could give any help. He found +his brother subaltern dead in the act of binding up a wound as he knelt +over the dying field-officer's body. At that moment Lieutenant Johnson +received his third wound, and had to be carried from the field by +ambulance men. + +Mounted infantry of the King's Royal Rifles and Leicestershire +Regiment, with Natal and Border Mounted Rifles, covered this retirement +until it passed beyond the new line formed by Gordons and Manchesters, +so that Colonel Grimwood's Infantry Brigade, looking rather like broken +troops in the loose irregularity of every company, was not called upon +to rally or turn to face the enemy, but marched straight back towards +the balloon, "Long Tom" opening fire upon them as they crossed a ridge, +with marvellously exact knowledge of the range. Three shells burst close +to groups of the 60th, many men being hit. + +At that moment, however, the Boer gunners' attention was diverted to +another point, where, from hills just in front of the town, and facing +Rietfontein, Captain Lambton's 12-pounders opened. It was as great a +surprise for us as for the Boers. We saw the shell explode just in front +of "Long Tom's" epaulement, and heard a cheer from spectators, scores of +the townspeople having gathered on a slope by Cove Hill to watch the +scene, among them a crippled gentleman who has to be wheeled about in a +Bath-chair. Nobody who does not know what sailors will accomplish in +spite of difficulties could have believed that Captain Lambton would +bring his guns into action so soon after reaching Ladysmith, and +especially, as we heard afterwards, as one had been upset by a shell +from "Long Tom" as it was being drawn across level ground slowly by a +team of oxen. Evidently, however, the mishap had done no harm, for the +bluejackets were manning two 12-pounders that showed no sign of damage, +and both of them were making excellent practice. At the third round it +planted a shell in the enemy's battery, and the fifth put "Long Tom" out +of action for a time by disabling some of its gunners. Sir George +White's gradual withdrawal of his forces to positions prepared for +defence was therefore not harassed by shell fire from beyond the range +of our own field batteries. + +Quite apart from these operations, but intended to fit in with them, was +the despatch of a flying column late on Sunday night to turn the enemy's +right flank or cut off his line of retreat in the direction of Van +Reenan's Pass. For either purpose, two battalions of infantry, though +they might be the bravest and the best, with a mountain-battery of +7-pounders carried on mules, did not seem quite adequate, but Major +Adye, of the Royal Irish Rifles, who acted as staff-officer guiding the +column, was confident of success, and glad of the chance to be with two +such battalions as the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Gloucesters in such +an enterprise. + +Possibly all might have gone well with it but for a deplorable accident. +In the dead of night some boulders rolling down from a hill startled the +transport and mountain-battery mules, which stampeded, taking with them +nearly all the reserve rifle ammunition. As to what happened after that, +accounts vary greatly. Few of the Gloucester men or Royal Irish +Fusiliers got back to tell the story, except as wounded men on parole, +and they had not seen the whole thing through. It seems certain, +however, from concordance of evidence, that the Gloucesters and +Fusiliers, instead of outflanking the Boers, were actually between two +strong bodies of Free State men, when they seized a strong position and +established themselves there. At any rate, they were attacked in turn +soon after daybreak by Boers who crept up the slopes in rear, firing on +them from both flanks--some say all round. Notwithstanding this, the +thousand men held their ground against odds until nearly every round of +ammunition had been expended, and the casualties numbered nearly a +hundred and fifty killed or wounded. + +Both regiments begged that they might be allowed to charge the rough +slopes from which the ceaseless stings of rifle-fire came, and the +Fusiliers, whose colonel would have led them willingly enough, had their +bayonets fixed, when some one hoisted the white flag, and by this act +the remnants of two gallant regiments became prisoners of war. "Flags of +truce!" said an "old brag" who recounted the story, with tears in his +voice; "I wish they would leave the damned rags at home, or dye them all +khaki colour, so that neither Dutchmen nor us could ever see them." + +News of that disaster travelled fast. It was told on the battlefield in +front of Ladysmith two hours later, and it probably had some effect on +the fortunes of a fight that cannot be recalled by Englishmen with +unmixed satisfaction. The result may be regarded as a drawn battle, in +that each side remained at the finish in possession of its own position, +but on us who watched every phase, first with confidence and then with +increasing anxiety, the impression made was a very unpleasant one, +closely akin to humiliation. + +The Boers were left in command of heights on which, if given time, they +may plant artillery to shell the town and camp with a fire to which we +can make no effective reply until the quick-firing naval guns of heavy +calibre and long range are mounted. Bluejackets have been working hard +to that end all day, unmolested by the enemy, who have declared a truce +for twenty-four hours in order that the wounded of both sides may be +placed in comparative safety. + +General Joubert has sent to us an ambulance with wounded under parole +from the captured column, and in exchange his surgeons have taken a +similar number of Boer wounded from our hospitals. All who have come in +speak highly of the treatment they have received at the enemy's hands. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LADYSMITH INVESTED + + The exodus of the townsfolk--Communications threatened--Slim Piet + Joubert--Espionage in the town--Neglected precautions--A truce that + paid--British positions described--Big guns face to face--Boers + hold the railways--French's reconnaissance--The General's + flitting--A gauntlet of fire--An interrupted telegram--Death of + Lieutenant Egerton--"My cricketing days are over"--Under the + enemy's guns--"A shell in my room"--Colonials in action--The + sacrifice of valuable lives. + + + October closed without further hostilities, and its last day was + uneventful in a military sense, though full of forebodings in the + town, because all knew that the Boers were taking advantage of a + brief armistice to bring up reinforcements. On this last day of the + month civilians eager to get away from Ladysmith crowded every + train. Writing on November 1st, Mr. Pearse said:-- + +All Saints' Day is observed with some strictness by Boers who do not +show similar veneration for other festivals in the Church Calendar. +There have at any rate been no hostilities to-day, but from Captain +Lambton's Battery on Junction Hill, where the naval 4.7-inch +quick-firing gun is being mounted, we have by the aid of the signalman's +powerful telescope watched a significant Boer movement going on for +hours. We can see them among the scrubby trees between Lombard's Kop and +Umbulwaana (or Bulwaan as it is more generally called), and hurrying off +behind that hill along the road that leads southwards. That road cuts +the railway not more than six or seven miles out, and their movement +threatens our line of communications that way, unless we can manage to +check it by judicious use of cavalry and mounted troops. The flight of +townsfolk southward continues. They do not even trouble about luggage +now, but lock their doors and clear off. Half the houses are empty, and +many shops closed. + + It was early shown that the enemy had not undertaken the war in a + half-hearted manner. He let no possible opportunity escape to + better his position; and in the choice of means he was not inclined + to risk his reputation for "slimness." On this point Mr. Pearse has + a good deal to say in his next letter:-- + +_November 2._--For two whole days after the battle of Lombard's Kop +there was absolute cessation of hostilities, and this lull the Boers +turned to account in a manner very characteristic. There can be hardly +any doubt that we might have taken advantage of it also to safeguard our +line of communications by posting a force where it might have checkmated +one of the enemy's obvious moves. Anything would have been better than +the inaction, which simply allowed the Boers to mature their own plans +and put them into execution without risk of interference from us. That +might almost have been foreseen when General Joubert on 31st October hit +upon a characteristic plan for finding out what was the exact state of +affairs in Ladysmith, and we, with a delightful naïveté, suspecting no +guile, seem to have played into his hands. It will be remembered that +the most painful incident of "Black" or "Mournful Monday" was the +surrender of all but a company or two of the Gloucesters and Royal Irish +Fusiliers, which with a mountain battery had been detached to turn the +enemy's flanks, with consequences so humiliating and disastrous to us. +Under pretence of treating the wounded from this column with great +consideration, Joubert sent them into camp here, taking their parole as +a guarantee that they would not carry arms again during this campaign. +With the ambulance waggon was an escort of twenty Boers, all wearing the +Red Cross badge of neutrality. Their instructions were to demand an +exchange of wounded, and on the plea of being responsible for the proper +care of their own men, they claimed to be admitted within our lines. +Such a preposterous request would not have been listened to for a moment +by some generals, but Sir George White, being anxious apparently to +propitiate an enemy whose guns commanded the town, full as it was of +helpless women and children, yielded that point, and so the ambulance +with its swaggering Boer escort came into town neither blindfolded nor +under any military restrictions whatever. Among this mounted escort +Ladysmith people recognised several well-known burghers, who were +certainly not doctors or otherwise specially qualified for attendance on +wounded men. They were free to move about the town, to talk with Boer +prisoners, and to drink at public bars with suspected Boer +sympathisers--all this while they probably picked up many interesting +items as to the number of troops in Ladysmith, the position of ordnance +stores and magazines, and the general state of our defences, which were +chaotic at that moment. One among the visitors was particularly curious +about the names of officers who dined habitually at the Royal Hotel +mess, and very anxious to have such celebrities as Colonel Frank Rhodes, +Dr. Jameson, and Sir John Willoughby pointed out to him. Does anybody in +his senses believe that such careful inquiries were made without an +object, or that the Red Cross badge was regarded as a sacred symbol +sealing the lips of a Boer as to all he had seen and heard in Ladysmith? + +When Joubert's artillery began shelling the town their fire was directed +on important stores, the locality of which could only have been +indicated to them by secret agents, and on places where officers are +known to assemble at certain hours. These may all have been merely +strange coincidences, but, at any rate, they are noteworthy as showing +that in some way, whether by accident or cunning design, General +Joubert's gunners were able to profit by the truce that was agreed upon +without any exact stipulation on either side as to its duration. The +tacit understanding seems to have been that both forces should have time +to collect their wounded and bury their dead. + +It is certain that the Boers took a little more time than was necessary +for this purpose, and turned it to good use for themselves by +strengthening the earthworks behind which "Long Tom" is mounted, while +we in turn were enabled to get a second naval gun of heavy calibre into +position before the bombardment began again. The necessity for doing +this was probably chief among reasons which kept our artillery silent +during the last two days, though it seemed to mere spectators that a +chance was thus being given for the enemy to mount batteries on heights +that commanded nearly every part of our camp. + +To make this perfectly clear without the aid of a map showing contours +of all ridges and hollows is very difficult, and one can only attempt to +give in words a rough idea of the general position. If the reader will +bear in mind what a horse's hoof inverted looks like, he may get a +mental picture of Ladysmith and its surroundings--the heels of the +horse-shoe pointing eastward, where, five miles off, is the long, flat +top of steep Bulwaan, like the huge bar of a gigantic horse-shoe magnet. +The horse's frog approximately represents a ridge behind which, and +facing Bulwaan, but separated from it by broad stretches of meadow, with +the Klip River winding a serpentine course through them, between high +banks, is Ladysmith town. Between the frog and the horse-shoe lie our +various camps, mostly in radiating hollows, open either to the east or +west, but sheltered from cross fires by rough kopjes of porphyritic +boulders that have turned brown on the surface by exposure to sunshine. +Bushy tangles of wild, white jasmine spring from among these boulders +with denser growth of thriving shrubs bearing waxen flowers that blaze +in brilliant scarlet and orange, and the coarse grass that begins to +show on every patch of earth between the rocks is dotted with clusters +like dwarf petunias, or purple bells of trailing convolvulus. A rich +storehouse this for the botanist, whose contemplative studies, however, +might be rudely disturbed by the shriek and boom of shells bursting +about him, for, as I have said, the enemy's guns command most of these +ridges, though they cannot always search the hollows in which our camps +are as much as possible hidden. + +The horse-shoe, in its irregular curve, is dotted here and there with +outposts, whose duty it is to keep the enemy's sharpshooters from +getting within rifle range of our artillery positions encrusting the +ridges at several points like nails of the horse-shoe. Without locating +them exactly, one may say that the Naval batteries are on rough +eminences of the northern heel, facing Rietfontein Hill, where the +Creusot gun, known as "Long Tom," is mounted behind earthworks at a +range of 6800 yards, which is well within compass of the _Powerful's_ +12-pounders and at least 3000 yards less than the extreme distance at +which shells from her 4.7-inch quick-firing guns would be effective. + +Positions for field batteries are prepared at other points round the +wide sweep, but only to be occupied as occasion may arise, and therefore +one does not care at present to locate them more precisely. The enemy, +having heavy artillery of various calibre mounted on Bulwaan, is able to +enfilade certain posts held by our infantry pickets on the heels of the +horse-shoe, but there are folds among the rocky kopjes where men can lie +comparatively screened from shells, which at that distance give timely +notice of their coming, as sound travels rather faster than the +projectiles do at the end of their flight. + +We have outposts on Intombi or Maiden's Castle, which forms the +horse-shoe's southern heel, others stretching westward thence to a gap +in the toe of the shoe, through which a wood runs nearly due west until +it branches off to the Drakensberg Passes in one direction and +Maritzburg in the other, and pickets on the north-western and northern +heights, with a detached post at Observation Hill, an elongated kopje +outside the general defences, overlooking a wide valley of mimosa scrub +towards Rietfontein, which is the enemy's main stronghold, commanding +as it does the railways to Van Reenan's Pass in the west, and to +Newcastle in the north. Except for a distance of two miles from +Ladysmith, therefore, both these railways are in the hands of the Boers, +who can use them as uninterrupted lines of communication with the Orange +Free State and the Transvaal respectively. That they were being so used +to some purpose we had reason for believing, during the two peaceful +days following the one which from its associations has come to be known +among soldiers as "Mournful Monday." Standing on the naval battery, one +could watch Boers hard at work preparing positions near Lombard's Kop, +and along the crest of Bulwaan, for artillery that was probably then +being brought by railway from Laing's Nek, and at the same time columns +of Boer horsemen were moving behind Bulwaan southwards, evidently intent +upon cutting our own lines of communication. That they would be allowed +to accomplish it without a timely effort on our part to prevent them +seemed inconceivable. + +For most of us it was a shock to realise that ten or twelve thousand +British soldiers could be shut up by an army of Boer farmers before any +attempt at a counter-stroke had been made. The mobility of our enemies, +however, gives them a wonderful advantage in such movements over a force +that consists mainly of slow-moving infantry, and unless opportunity is +taken to attack them promptly, when they may be beaten in detail, their +power for mischief is very far-reaching. Possibly Sir George White was +quite right to put his trust in defensive tactics, knowing that he could +hold Ladysmith against all attempts of the Boers to capture it +notwithstanding their numerical superiority, but it is none the less +vexatious and unpleasant to find ourselves beleaguered and bombarded. + +Whether the enemy had power to invest Ladysmith effectually, and keep a +strong force across our lines of communication would only be ascertained +by a reconnaissance. Directly and without any warning except to officers +commanding detachments, a force assembled at the earliest hour this +morning (Nov. 2). There was so little fuss that soldiers lying in tents +on bivouac slept undisturbed by the clanking of bits as horses were +saddled, or the rumble of wheels when a battery moved to their places in +the column. Artillery, 5th Lancers, 18th Hussars, Natal Carbineers, +Border Mounted and Natal Mounted Rifles get together silently, the +volunteers vieing with regulars in this proof of discipline, which +indeed comes natural to men many of whom know by sporting experience on +the veldt that silence is a virtue. General French takes command of this +mobile little force, and at two o'clock it moves out through the +darkness for a reconnaissance along the Colenso Road, where it comes in +touch with the enemy soon after daybreak. A brisk skirmish against Boer +riflemen, who as usual have been quick to occupy commanding kopjes; +showers of shrapnel hurled among them from our field battery; a few +shells tearing up the dust in clouds in their distant camp; and two of +our own Lancers hit, makes up the story of this affair, which serves to +show conclusively that communication by road in that direction is +barred, if not effectually cut. General French therefore brought his +column back, reaching Ladysmith in time to take train for Durban, +handing over the cavalry command before he left to General Brocklehurst. + +That train was the last to get through, and even then had to run the +gauntlet of rifle and artillery fire from Boers who were on both sides +of the line. An hour later the railway was cut by the Boers, whose light +guns completely commanded a defile through which the line passes; and at +two o'clock telegraphic communication stopped short in the middle of an +important despatch, while private and press messages innumerable await +their turn. The thread of that interrupted telegram will probably not be +taken up for many days, and we realise that our isolation is complete. +Communications might have been kept open for days longer by an energetic +use of artillery and mounted troops, but now it is too late to reopen +them without incurring risk of serious losses. We must be content to +wait the development of events in other quarters, for the Boers are all +round us now, and, blink the fact as we may, it must be admitted that +Ladysmith is under siege. + +While General French was making his reconnaissance our naval 12-pounders +opened fire on "Long Tom" a few minutes after six o'clock, as a flash +and puff of white smoke from his muzzle told that the bombardment was +about to begin. For an hour and a half the artillery duel went on +briskly, Captain Lambton's naval battery answering shot for shot, or +rather anticipating each, as the shells from our guns travel with +greater velocity, and get home three seconds before "Long Tom's" can +take effect. + +Unfortunately one of the enemy's shells fell close to Lieutenant +Egerton, instructor in gunnery of H.M.S. _Powerful_, who was mortally +wounded. "My cricketing days are over now," he said, with a plucky +attempt to make light of his agony as the bluejackets lifted him gently +on to a stretcher. The Naval Brigade also had one bluejacket wounded, +but not seriously. There was only one other casualty, though shells fell +frequently into the camps of Gordon Highlanders and Imperial Light Horse +in rear of our main battery, the former having one man hit by a splinter +as he lay in his tent. The two regiments were thereupon ordered to shift +their quarters, which they did with great promptitude, having no +particular fancy to play the part of targets for ninety-four-pound +shells. + +_November 3._--Misfortunes press upon each other quickly. This morning +Lieut. Egerton, R.N., a young sailor, not less distinguished for skill +in his profession than for personal gallantry, died. His requiem rang +out from the naval battery in its duel with the enemy's heaviest +artillery. Soon other Boer guns joined in from Lombard's Kop and the +slopes of Bulwaan, throwing shells about the town as if resolved to +compass its ruin. + +To-day, indeed, for the first time, we have had brought home to us the +dangers and discomforts, if not the horrors, of what a bombardment may +be in an unfortified town under the fire of modern artillery. We cannot +accuse the Boers of having deliberately thrown shells into the houses of +peaceful inhabitants, or over buildings on which the Geneva Cross was +flying. These are, unfortunately, just in the line of "Long Tom's" fire +from Rietfontein Hill, and the shells may have been aimed at our naval +battery, but, if so, they went very high, or their trajectory at that +range would not have carried them half a mile beyond the mark. + +[Illustration: THE ROYAL HOTEL, LADYSMITH + +Showing ruins of Mr. Pearse's bedroom, wrecked by a shell from "Long +Tom," Nov. 3, 1899] + +Several fell near the hospital, others went 500 yards farther in the +direction of Sir George White's headquarters, and one came crashing into +my bedroom at the Royal Hotel, not ten yards from where many officers +were then lunching. The hotel is a prominent building, that can be seen +from "Long Tom's" battery, and many people, giving Boer gunners credit +for astonishing accuracy, suggested that the shot must have been aimed +to strike where it did, in the hope of bagging Colonel Frank Rhodes and +Doctor Jameson, whose ordinary hour for meals was known to every spy +frequenting the place, and might easily have been communicated by +them to the artillerist Mattey, who was recognised among a group +drinking at the bar on Tuesday evening. Of slight materials do the +Ladysmith townsmen weave romances, but one can hardly be surprised, +seeing how long they have lived in strained relations with neighbours +whose Boer sympathies were well known. But whether intended for the +Royal Hotel or not, the shell came very near to causing several +vacancies in the senior ranks of this force. Passing through the ceiling +and partition wall of a colleague's bedroom, it burst in mine with such +force that it blew out the whole end-wall, hurling bricks across a +narrow court, all about the dining-room windows, which were smashed by +the explosion; but of those sitting close inside only one was slightly +scratched by broken glass. Clouds of dust, mingled with fumes of powder, +poured in through the open casement, so that those in farther corners +were for some moments in much anxiety as to the fate of their friends. +When they found that no harm had been done there was an assumption of +mirth all round, but nobody cared to stay much longer in that room. At +the moment of explosion I had risen from the table to resume work in my +chamber, which presented to my astonished eyes anything but the +characteristics of a quiet study then. Papers scattered in every +direction were buried with clothes and kit under a wreckage of building +materials. One fragment of iron shell had gone clean through a bag and +all its contents to bury itself beneath the floor in earth. Another had +crushed my precious Kodak flat, and there was scarcely a thing exposed +in the place that had not been torn by the blast of powder or cut by +splinters. The diminished population of Ladysmith began to gather about +that spot when they found that no other shells fell there. "What a lucky +escape for you!" they all said, and I devoutly agreed with them. + +That was "Long Tom's" last attempt at bombarding Ladysmith to-day. He +had been frequently silenced, and once apparently disabled in his heavy +duel with "Lady Anne," as Captain Lambton names the naval quick-firing +gun, and a final lucky shot either put him out of action for the day or +injured so many Boer gunners that their comrades did not care to "face +the music" again. While all this bombardment was going on, the telegraph +staff and post-office clerks, having no work to do, amused themselves by +playing cricket on the raceground within sight of the Boers on Bulwaan, +and well within range of guns mounted near the crest of that hill, +whence a hot fire was for some time directed towards the town. And they +played their match to a finish, though one shell burst very close to +them. + +Meanwhile General Brocklehurst having succeeded General French in the +cavalry command, took out another flying column composed of 5th Dragoon +Guards, Imperial Light Horse, Border Mounted Rifles, and one field +battery, to keep the enemy in play and prevent them from mounting other +guns. He attacked the ridges about Lancer's Nek and all his troops +behaved brilliantly. The Border Mounted Rifles in squadrons, wave behind +wave, charged a kopje as if they meant to ride full tilt to its crest, +but halting at its base to dismount they scaled its rugged slopes and +drove the Boers back to another ridge, exchanging shots at short range +with effect on both sides. The Imperial Light Horse had meanwhile got +into a tight place, and the 5th Dragoon Guards, dashing forward to their +assistance were badly galled by fire from Boers concealed among rocks in +front and flank. Out of this difficulty they had to run the gauntlet for +their lives, but not so hurriedly that they could not stop to help +comrades in distress, and many deeds of heroism under fire made the +spectators of this episode forget that some one had blundered. The Boers +got no more guns into position to-day, but we had only gained a brief +respite, and at the sacrifice of some valuable lives. Major Taunton of +the Border Mounted Rifles and Captain Knapp and Lieutenant Brabant of +the Imperial Light Horse were killed, and many of lower rank wounded. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +EARLY DAYS OF THE SIEGE + + Moral effects of shell-fire--General White appeals to Joubert--The + neutral camp--Attitude of civilians--Meeting at the Town Hall--A + veteran's protest--Faith in the Union Jack--An impressive + scene--Removal of sick and wounded--Through the Boer lines--How the + posts were manned--Enemy mounting big guns--More about the + spies--Boer war ethics--In an English garden--Throwing up + defences--A gentlemanly monster--The Troglodytes--Humorous and + pathetic--"Long Tom" and "Lady Anne"--Links in the chain of fire--A + round game of ordnance. + + + The reconnaissance under General Brocklehurst, above described, + brought home to the garrison of Ladysmith their utter helplessness + to prevent the isolation and investment of the town. Any doubt that + may have lingered among them or the civil inhabitants was dispelled + by the action promptly taken by Sir George White to try and secure + the safety of these latter and his sick and wounded. The + circumstances are related by Mr. Pearse in a letter dated 5th + November:-- + +Sunday, _5th November_.--There can be no doubt about the first effects +of shell-fire on a beleaguered town. Let men try to disguise the fact as +they may, it gets on the nerves of the most courageous among us, +producing a sense of helplessness in the presence of danger. Nobody +likes sitting still to be battered at without power of effective reply. +Still less would he be content to stand inactive by while the wounded +and defenceless were being shelled. These considerations no doubt +influenced Sir George White yesterday when he sent a message to General +Joubert asking that non-combatants with sick and wounded might be +allowed to leave Ladysmith without molestation. It must have been +bitterly humiliating for a soldier in command of ten or twelve thousand +British troops, who have been twice victorious in battle, to feel that +one reverse had resulted in making him a suitor for so much favour at +the hands of an adversary. Whether the request ought ever to have been +made or not, to say nothing of whether we ought to have been in the +abject position of having to make it, is a question about which most +civilians are at variance with the military authorities, seeing that the +answer was a foregone conclusion. Its exact purport we do not know yet, +but it amounted to a flat refusal, as most of us had foreseen, and was +accompanied by alternative proposals which placed Joubert in the +position of a potential conqueror--dictating terms, and our acceptance +of these cannot be read by the Boers in any other light than as an +admission of weakness or pusillanimity. Of course we know that it means +nothing of the kind, but simply that Sir George White would not expose +sick and wounded, with helpless women, children, and non-combatants +generally, to the possible horrors of a prolonged bombardment. So long +as they remained in town he would be righting with one hand tied, +because he could not in that case place batteries in certain +advantageous positions without the risk of drawing fire from Boer guns +on Ladysmith and its civilian inhabitants. Whether this state of things +has been mended much by Sir George White's acceptance of Boer conditions +and Ladysmith's practical repudiation of them may well be doubted. As +the matter is generally understood, General Joubert, while declining to +grant Sir George's request, consented that a neutral camp for sick, +wounded, and non-combatants should be formed at Intombi Spruit, five +miles out on the railway line to Colenso, and practically within the +Boer lines. They were to be supplied with food, water, and all +necessaries from Ladysmith by train daily, under the white flag, and to +be on parole not to take any part thenceforth in this war. + +As a set-off against these conditions, Joubert undertook that the camp +should not be fired upon by any of his men, or its occupants molested, +so long as they observed the regulations imposed upon them. And he +promised further that they should all be released, but still on parole, +whenever the siege of Ladysmith might be raised or the Boer forces +withdrawn. He gave no pledge, however, that his batteries should not be +placed in such a position that they would be screened by the hospital +camp from the fire of our guns, or that when he might choose to attack, +the Boer forces would not advance from a point where we could not shoot +at them without danger of sending shells and bullets among our own +comrades and fellow-subjects. + +Ladysmith's most representative men were dead against the acceptance of +conditions which seemed to them all in favour of one side. They +expressed freely, and without reserve, doubts as to General Joubert's +good faith, and saw in his proposals only fresh instances of Boer +cunning. Their sturdy manhood rebelled against arbitrary terms dictated +by an enemy whose superiority, except in mere numbers, they naturally +enough declined to admit. The weaker spirits might yield, if they would, +out of timid respect for "Long Tom" and other heavy artillery, the +shells from which, though they have done little harm so far, have a +distinctly demoralising effect when they come screeching through the air +and crashing into houses day after day. + +In earlier stages of the bombardment people showed little alarm after +they had got over the first shock of hearing a shell burst. Children +were allowed to play about the streets, and women went shopping, +according to the custom of their sex all the world over. Kaffir girls +stood in groups at street corners, swaying their bodies as they beat +noiseless time with their bare feet to the monotonous drone of +mouth-organs or Jews'-harps, which most of them carry strung about their +necks, wherewith to banish dull care in the many moments of leisure +snatched from toil, and beaming broad smiles on every dusky swain who +passed. But the rumour got about that General Joubert had threatened to +bombard the town indiscriminately if our guns fired lyddite at his +batteries, and this threat had unknown terrors for the simple, who did +not realise that, whether discriminately or indiscriminately, Boer +shells would continue to fall in Ladysmith streets all the same. + +So far as I can find out, General Joubert never sent such a foolish +message, but the rumour--possibly put about by Boer agents--served its +purpose by inducing a timorousness in some minds, and men who had no +fear for themselves began to get very anxious about the safety of wives +and children. That was the keynote of a speech made by Mr. Farquhar at +the public meeting yesterday, when he, as Mayor of Ladysmith, made +official announcement of General Joubert's proposals. Mr. Farquhar is a +cautious Scotsman, whose sense of responsibility in such a crisis would +compel him to put the gravest phase of the case first. The Boer +conditions, however, met with nothing but indignant protests, nobody +venturing to raise his voice in favour of them except by way of comment +on the utterances of some fiery orator, who was for asking the General +to send back threats of dire punishment on every Boer if a shot should +be fired into the town. Mr. Charles Jones, who was a transport rider in +the Boer war of 1881, and carried Sir Evelyn Wood's despatches through +the enemy's lines to a beleaguered garrison, was first to express in +calm, manly words what was afterwards found to be the general feeling of +the townsmen present at that meeting. Mr. Jones has won the respect of +every Englishman who knows him by the steadfastness with which he stuck +to his post when others were seeking safety in migration to Maritzburg +or Durban. With firm faith in the leader under whom, as a volunteer, he +saw active service, Mr. Jones believes that we should see our +difficulties through, without asking or accepting doubtful favours from +a foe. Somebody in the crowd ventured to say, "But your wife and +children are not here now." "No," was the answer; "and I have no wish +nor right to speak for fathers and husbands, who are at liberty to do as +they please. But I can still say that if my wife and children were here, +I would rather they should trust to protection under the Union Jack with +British soldiers than under the white flag at Joubert's mercy." + +There were men in that crowd who had to speak for those near and dear to +them. Anxious-eyed and pale, with muscles knit into hard lines on their +faces, one after another declared in voices that may have faltered, but +still rang true as steel, that they and theirs would face their fate +under the Union Jack. Archdeacon Barker, who has been ceaseless in his +ministrations among the afflicted since fighting began, gave eloquent +expression to the prevalent sentiment, as one who had kith and kin +about him, and finished by saying that he would neither go to the camp +selected by General Joubert, nor allow his wife and family to go. To +this conclusion the meeting also came by general agreement, the +dissentient minority being still free to do as they wished, except that +no man who had taken up arms in defence of Ladysmith could accept the +terms offered by General Joubert. Then the people gave three lusty +cheers, and ended by singing "God Save the Queen," with an effect, the +impressiveness of which was deepened by the thought that within a few +hours Ladysmith would be under bombardment from all the thundering +artillery our enemy could muster. But the resolution of this public +meeting made no difference to Sir George White's decision, which was a +practical acceptance of the terms formulated. + +To-day has passed in peace, but marked by a very natural depression as +we have seen train after train laden with sick, wounded, and +non-combatants, go out to the neutral camp at Intombi Spruit, where +these people will have to remain under a white flag so long as this +humiliating investment of Ladysmith may last. To make the matter worse +they were sent out at first with insufficient supplies for urgent needs, +and with so few attendants that tents for all could not be pitched the +same night. Even now many non-combatants have to lie in small patrol +tents of thin canvas with a double slope, under the ridge of which +there is barely room for a child to stand upright, and the camp is +placed on ground so flat, near the river bank, that heavy rains might +convert it into a mere swamp. There, however, General Joubert decided +that the neutral camp must be pitched, and those who were too weak or +spiritless to help themselves, must needs be thankful for such gracious +concessions. Some, not quite satisfied with the protection this affords, +are digging burrows deep into clay banks by the river side, where they +will be even more liable to be flooded out. In strict justice it must be +said that many sick and wounded went out, not of their own free will, +but because, being under medical care, they had no option. The result of +this is that men suffering from slight ailments, or whose wounds would +not incapacitate them from duty longer than a week or so, are virtually +prisoners of war, only to be released at the pleasure of the Boers, or +until we reclaim them by force of arms. These are unpleasant things to +write, but they are true none the less. + +The Boer guns have preserved all along an absolute silence, which was +not broken on our side until ten at night, when a sentry set off his +rifle. This roused the whole camp, and soldiers everywhere stood to +their arms until the cause of this false alarm was discovered. + +_November 6._--At daybreak this morning, Second Lieutenant Hopper, 5th +Lancers, came into camp, having got through the Boer lines by a ruse as +clever as it was sportsmanlike. He brought despatches from the General +commanding at Estcourt. His difficulties show that though a soldier may +get through the Boer lines, they are now tightening round us, and unless +a British force strong enough to break through can be assembled quickly, +we are in for a long siege here. Nobody gave the Boers credit for so +much enterprise, and if Sir George White made a mistake, as I think he +did, in not sending all the women and children away from Ladysmith when +Dundee was abandoned, this error probably arose from faulty information, +for which those who thought they knew the Boers and their resources were +in the first instance responsible. + +Our defences begin to take shape, so that their strong and weak points +can be estimated. Southward is a long brown hog-backed hill, which the +local people call Bester's Ridge, though military authorities divide it +into Cæsar's Camp, with Maiden's Castle forming a spur in the inner +curve towards Ladysmith, and Waggon Hill. Altogether it is three miles +in length, and being the key of the position will want holding. For that +purpose the trusty Manchester battalion is placed there, having roughly +constructed sangars for rallying points. This ridge forms one horn of +the roughly-shaped horse-shoe which I have already spoken of, the toe of +which sweeps round from Maiden's Castle in low but rugged kopjes +overlooking slopes of open veldt to where Klip River loops the old camp +which, being constructed of corrugated iron, is called "Tin Town." That +would be a weak point, but that it is protected by an outlying kopje +known as Rifleman's Post on the far side of the river. This is occupied +by a small body of the King's Royal Rifles, the other companies of which +hold King's Post, an eminence from which the northern horn of the +horse-shoe bends along by Cove Ridge, Junction Hill, Tunnel Hill, and +Cemetery Hill, to Helpmakaar Hill. Here the Devons are posted at the +heel of the shoe, which juts into a scrubby flat pointing towards the +neck between Lombard's Kop and Bulwaan. These hills are respectively +four and five miles distant from our outworks. Bulwaan stands across the +opening afar off like a huge, bevelled, flat-topped bar placed, as it +might be, for a horse-shoe magnet to attract it. The whole curve of our +defensive works must stretch nearly nine miles. In addition, there is an +undefended opening nearly two miles long, where the straggling town lies +naked to its enemies, or rather screened by nothing more formidable than +belts of mimosa, Australian willow, and eucalyptus trees. Between the +town and Bulwaan, however, flows Klip River, with many windings through +a broad plain, mostly pasturage, but with mimosa scrub closing it in +towards the gorge where river and railway converge at Intombi Spruit. + +Long as our defensive line is for 10 or 12,000 men to occupy +effectively, it must be held at all costs, and a post must be kept on +Observation Hill north-west of the Cove Ridge, for if once the Boers got +possession of that kopje they might make other positions untenable. As +matters stand, they have planted guns on an outer ring of hills, whence +they can throw shells into the town. Sir George White was blamed for +giving up Lombard's Kop and Bulwaan, but these could not have been held +without weakening more important points. They seemed, moreover, too far +off to serve as artillery positions for the enemy's smaller guns, and +almost inaccessible for big Creusot 94-pounders. Against attacks by +riflemen from that direction the hard plain is a sufficient obstacle. +Any body of Boers attempting to cross that open could be met by +overwhelming infantry fire and the shrapnel of field-batteries. The idea +that Bulwaan is beyond effective range of anything but the heaviest +artillery has, however, been dispelled to-day. The enemy got a high +velocity 40-pounder into position there, and its shell, travelling +faster than sound, whistles over the town, to burst near the balloon +detachment which is moving with the guy ropes up a valley towards the +outer defences. This gun must have a range of nearly six miles, and we +have nothing that can reach it but our naval 4.7-inch and 12-pounders +mounted on Junction Hill, both of which have enough to do in keeping +down the fire of "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill. + +_November 8._--In previous letters and telegrams I have referred +frequently to the presence of known Boer sympathisers who were suspected +of being in constant communication with our enemies. No steps were taken +to test the truth of these suspicions until numberless facts, which the +most sceptical could not ignore, proved that every movement made by our +troops within or near the camp was known very soon afterwards to Boers +outside, who could not have discovered these things by mere observation +without the aid of secret agents. Several people were understood to be +shadowed, but nothing came of this except an order that no person should +be allowed to remain in Ladysmith without an official permit. This was +practically set at naught by farmers, who considered themselves free to +enter and leave the town without let or hindrance, until it was +practically surrounded by Boers, and they often gathered about the hotel +doors listening furtively to every scrap of gossip or news that fell +from officers. + +At length the course was taken that might have saved much trouble if put +into practice days earlier, by making peremptory the order that all +non-residents who could not show the necessary permit to remain should +clear out within twenty-four hours, or be subject to arrest and +imprisonment. At the same time a warning went round that none would, +after the allotted time, be allowed to pass our outposts coming or +going, and so perforce many who would have been glad to get away +remained, having missed their last chance of going southwards by train. +What has become of them since then I do not know, unless they have taken +refuge with non-combatants, and sick and wounded, in the neutral camp. +At any rate, they are not here now, and that is something to be thankful +for, though they could give little information to the enemy, except that +shelling has done surprisingly little harm, and killed or wounded very +few in proportion to the enormous number of projectiles thrown. This in +spite of good guns, aimed with most accurate skill, is attributable +solely to the fact that the shells were too weakly charged to burst with +much destructive effect. + +But the spies--for they were certainly nothing less--had done their work +in locating every point of military importance or personal interest in +Ladysmith, and it is hardly possible to doubt that this knowledge was +imparted to Boer gunners, who promptly began training their heaviest +artillery in the direction of supply depots, ordnance stores, +headquarters, intelligence offices, and other places not visible from +the enemy's positions, though within easy range of, and therefore +commanded by them, if the gunners knew exactly where to aim so that +projectiles might drop over intervening houses and trees. When the most +destructive shell burst in my bedroom most people regarded it as an +accidentally erratic shot, intended for some other mark. Those who +suggested that time and place had been deliberately chosen because +Colonel Frank Rhodes, Doctor Jameson, Sir John Willoughby, General +French with his staff, and other officers, were known to have lunched in +the Royal Hotel on several previous days, met with nothing but ridicule. +Colonel Rhodes especially made light of the idea that any gun could +shoot so accurately as to get within a few feet of hitting the exact +mark aimed at from a range of nearly five miles. Since then, however, +the hotel has been nearly struck several times, and on each occasion +about the same hour, so that the most sceptical are now changing their +opinions in favour of a belief that the Royal Hotel has been marked for +destruction. Out of consideration for other guests, therefore, Colonel +Rhodes, "the Doctor," Sir John Willoughby, and Lord Ava have taken up +their quarters elsewhere. + +It may be a mere coincidence, but since their departure shells have +fallen less frequently in this part of the town, though a great many +have passed close over the Town Hall, on which a Red Cross flag floats, +denoting its use as a refuge for sick and wounded, and the Convent +Hospital, conspicuously placed on a ridge behind, has been completely +wrecked inside. Fortunately, however, the convalescent patients and +nurses were got away before that happened. It will probably be pleaded +in justification of the Boers that these buildings, being directly in +the line of fire behind our naval batteries, were liable to be hit by +high shots from "Long Tom." The same excuse, however, cannot be made in +other cases when shells fell among houses that are not in line with any +defensive work, camp, or arsenal. One cannot suppose that a mere desire +for wanton destruction of life and property directed the shots, which +were probably aimed on the off-chance of hitting officers known or +believed to be living in those houses. That would be sufficient +justification according to all the accepted ethics of war, and some +military men contend even that the Boers would be quite right to shell +Ladysmith until it was reduced to ruins if they hoped to accelerate +thereby the work they have taken in hand. It must be remembered that +Joubert's main object just now is to gain possession of the town, which +it is said he has sworn to capture, and if he thought that end could be +hastened by ceaseless bombardment of the place, involving possible +slaughter of many unarmed people, there is nothing in the law of nations +to prevent him, so long as a military force remains here ostensibly for +the defence of Ladysmith. + +So runs the argument, but it would be preposterous to assume that +General Joubert thinks he can reduce British troops to submission or +bring about an evacuation by such feeble means. Sir George White has, +from humane motives, yielded points to his adversary which most of us +would have thought worth fighting for, but he is every inch a gallant +soldier, as we who have watched him under heavy fire all know full +well, and nobody here needs to be assured that he will never surrender +Ladysmith or abandon its stubborn defence as long as there is any reason +for holding it. + +Ample provision is made for the safety of all non-combatants, where they +will not be exposed to shell fire from any quarter, or other dangers +except unlikely accidents, and against these no foresight can guard +entirely. There are some people who continue to take all risks rather +than forsake their property by day or night. These, however, are +comparatively few. The great majority got away while there was yet time, +leaving their houses, full of furniture, locked up or in charge of +Kaffir servants. Curiously enough, they were in many cases the first to +suffer loss by shell fire, and are probably now congratulating +themselves on the timely desertion that enabled them to escape worse +evils. + +Mr. Fortescue Carter, the most famous of Ladysmith's townsmen, whose +_History of the Boer War in 1881_ is well known, had scarcely left his +home, next door to the Intelligence Department's headquarters, when +shells began to fall in his beautiful garden among rose trees, +hollyhocks, dahlias, verbenas, and other familiar English flowers, which +he cultivated with much care. Neighbours might be content to surround +their houses with fences of almond-scented oleander, and let the hundred +varieties of South African shrubs bloom in wild profusion under the +shadowing eucalyptus tree, but his gardens were laid out with +well-ordered primness, and in them he delighted to see growing the +fragrant flowers that reminded him and his visitors of home life in +England. All this is in danger of becoming a shell-fretted wilderness +now. "Long Tom" once having turned his attention in this direction +continued to pound away until two shots struck the house itself, and, +bursting inside, shattered the dainty contents of several rooms to +atoms. + +Meanwhile, in a picturesque, vine-trellised cottage, not fifty yards +off, ladies went about their domestic duties as usual, apparently +oblivious of all danger. One I saw quietly knitting in the cool, shaded +stoep, and her busy needles only stopped for one moment, when a shell +burst in the roadway beyond, then went on again as nimbly as ever. After +the first shock, some people, who seem least fitted to bear a continuous +strain on their nerves, become so accustomed to the hurtling of huge +projectiles through the air that they show no sign of fear when danger +is close to them. Women are often braver than men in these +circumstances. There is one whose courageous example alone keeps native +servants and coolie waiters at their posts, but she, when little more +than a child, saw some of the horrors of the Zulu War, and she speaks +with pride of her father as one of the few farmers who, refusing to quit +their homes, kept wives and families about them, and fought like heroes +in defence of all they held dear. + +Not all in Ladysmith are of this heroic temper, but very few make open +parade of fear if they have any, and though precautions are taken +against exposure to unnecessary risks, there is no sign of panic yet. +Soldiers, every one of whom may be very valuable as a fighting unit +before this siege closes, are ordered to protect themselves by such +shelter trenches or bomb-proofs as can be constructed out of loose +stones, sandbags, forage bales, or other material that lies ready at +hand. The works have to be built under shell-fire, but when finished +they will be an inestimable advantage to regiments that occupy day and +night hill-crests where they might be enfiladed by long-range artillery +fire. That risk must, of course, be taken if the enemy's riflemen should +harden their hearts for a determined frontal attack upon any position +supported by flank fire from guns, but until such a critical moment +arrives the men not actually on duty as sentries or outlying pickets +will be little harassed by bursting shells or flying splinters or +showers of shrapnel bullets, if they dig themselves good pits to lie in, +with sufficiently thick coverings overhead. + +The 1st Devon battalion, which, as one of the best here, and trusted for +its steadiness in all circumstances, was given the most vulnerable point +to hold, has busied itself in the formation of works that promise to +make Helpmakaar Hill impregnable, though its long, low spur is exposed +to artillery fire from Bulwaan and Lombard's Kop and the scrub-screened +nek between them. The works there show what can be done under +difficulties by a good regiment toiling cheerfully to carry out the +orders of good officers. The original breastworks were traced by +engineers who had in view rather the necessity of throwing up light +defences against rifle fire than the probability that these works would +be battered at by heavy artillery from one side and taken in reverse +from another. It soon became evident that the entrenchments if left in +that state would be untenable, and yet they could not be abandoned +without serious risk that Boers might then be able to advance under +cover near enough to threaten other posts, if not to command by rifle +fire, within twelve hundred yards or so, the heights on which naval guns +are mounted. Only by holding the contours of extreme spurs on Helpmakaar +Hill could the Devons hope to sweep by rifle fire a wide zone of +slightly undulating veldt, and thus command all possible approaches from +Lombard's Kop or Bulwaan in that direction. So they stuck generally to +the lines traced by engineers for their outer defences, but deepened the +trenches, widened the banks in front of them, built bomb-proof +traversers overlaid with balks and earth to neutralise the effects of +enfilading fire, and then began to form for themselves dug-out huts in +which to sleep, with solid earth roofs supported on railway sleepers. + +All this means enormous labour, carried on frequently under a galling +cannonade from the enemy's smaller guns, and interrupted occasionally by +the necessity of having to keep down the rifle-fire that comes from a +distant kopje, while standing on the front of these works. + +Yesterday, watching a cavalry patrol that tried in vain to feel for a +way through the scrubby nek into more open ground beyond, General +Brocklehurst and his staff were nearly hit by a shell from some +newly-mounted battery the exact position of which could not be located, +for its smokeless powder made no flash that anybody could see in broad +daylight, nor generated even the faintest wreath of vapour. Its +projectile travelled faster than sound, so that the range could not have +been great, but there was nothing by which our own batteries might have +been directed to effective reply. We all abused "Long Tom" at first +because of his unprovoked attack on a defenceless town, but by contrast +with what is known among Devon men as the "Bulwaan Sneak," and among +bluejackets as "Silent Susan," the big Creusot gun with its loud report, +the low velocity of its projectiles, and the puff of white smoke giving +timely warning when a shot is on its way, is regarded as quite a +gentlemanly monster. + +Following the example thus set by regiments on the main defensive +positions, others temporarily in reserve have begun to build or dig for +themselves splinter-or bomb-proof retreats, in which they may take +shelter when the shelling becomes too hot. The Imperial Light Horse were +first to hit upon the idea of burrowing into the river-banks. They began +by forming mere niches, in which there was only just room enough for +three or four men to stand huddled together when they heard a shell +coming. Finding, however, that the soil could be easily dug out, they +set gangs of natives to work lengthening the tunnels and connecting them +by "cross drives," in the planning of which several Johannesburg mine +managers found congenial occupation. This went on until the river-bank +for a hundred yards in length was honeycombed by dark caves, in which a +whole regiment might have been hidden with all its ammunition, secure +from shell fire, the walls and roofs being so formed that they needed no +additional support. There was no danger of the stiff alluvial soil +falling in even if a shell had buried itself and burst above the +entrance to any of these cool grottoes. + +[Illustration: A SHELL-PROOF RESORT + +A culvert under a road used as a living-place by day for civilians, who +returned to their houses when the shelling ceased after sunset] + +I spent half an hour in one of them, and found the air there delightful +by contrast with scorching sunshine outside. What it will be, however, +after many people have been crowded together for some time is less +pleasant to contemplate, but even for that the resourceful Imperial +Light Horse are prepared, and they already begin to talk of air-shafts +so cunningly contrived that light and air may enter, but shells be +rigidly excluded. Civilians in their turn emulate the Light Horse, but +with unequal success, and their excavations assume such primitive +forms that future archæologists may be puzzled to invent satisfactory +explanations of curious differences in the habits of the cave-dwellers +of Ladysmith, as exemplified by the divergent types of their underground +abodes. + +And, indeed, these habits are strangely various even as presented to the +eyes of a contemporary student. Some people, having spent much time and +patient labour in making burrows for themselves, find life there so +intolerably monotonous that they prefer to take the chances above +ground. Others pass whole days with wives and families or in solitary +misery where there is not light enough to read or work, scarcely showing +a head outside from sunrise to sunset. They may be seen trooping away +from fragile tin-roofed houses half an hour before daybreak carrying +children in their arms, or a cat, or monkey, or a mongoose, or a cage of +pet birds, and they come back similarly laden when the night gets too +dim for gunners to go on shooting. There would be a touch of humour in +all this if it were not so deeply pathetic in its close association with +possible tragedies. One never knows where or at what hour a stray shot +or splinter will fall, and it is pitiful sometimes to hear cries for +dolly from a prattling mite who may herself be fatherless or motherless +to-morrow. We think as little as possible of such things, putting them +from us with the light comment that they happen daily elsewhere than in +besieged towns, and making the best we can of a melancholy situation. + +There are, I believe, many good reasons why Sir George White should +allow his army to be hemmed in here defending a practically deserted +town, apart from the ignominy that abandonment would entail, and it is +probably sound strategy to keep Boer forces here as long as possible +while preparations are being matured for attacking them from other +directions. On the latter point one cannot express an opinion without +full knowledge of the circumstances such as we cannot hope to get while +communications are cut off. But nobody can pretend to regard our present +inaction following investment as anything but a disagreeable necessity, +or affect a cheerful endurance of conditions that become more +intolerable day after day. Now and then we have hopes that the Boers may +risk everything in a general attack with the object of carrying this +place by storm, when they would most certainly be beaten off and lose +heavily. + +They did something to encourage this hope yesterday. It began with a +heavy artillery duel between "Long Tom" and the naval gun that is known +as "Lady Anne." After vain attempts to silence our battery, the enemy's +fire, generally so accurate, became wild, several shells going so high +that they struck the convent hospital hundreds of yards in rear. This, +at any rate, is the most charitable explanation of acts that would +otherwise be inexcusable. The Red Cross was at that time, and for days +before, flying above the convent, in which Colonel Dick-Cunyngham and +Major Riddell were patients, under the care of nursing sisters. +Fortunately, good shelter was found for them in the convent cellars +until they could be removed to safer quarters, but before this much of +the upper rooms had been reduced to ruins by persistent shelling. When +the Boers thought they had sufficiently demoralised our defensive forces +by artillery "preparation," a brisk attack by riflemen began to develop +against Maiden's Castle, Cæsar's Camp, and Waggon Hill, a continuous +range forming the southern key to our position, and held by the +Manchester Regiment. Brigadier-General Hamilton and his staff were there +from the outset, ready, if need be, to call up the Gordons in support. +This necessity, however, never arose, though the attack, as I can +testify from personal observation on the spot, was pushed for some time +with great persistence, the Boers trying again and again to creep up by +the western slopes of Waggon Hill, while shells raked the whole face of +Cæsar's Camp to Maiden's Castle, and burst repeatedly among the tents of +the Manchester battalion, without doing serious harm. + +A colour-sergeant with only fourteen men defended the crest of Waggon +Hill until nightfall, when the Boers retired sullenly. To repeated +offers of reinforcements the sergeant warmly replied that he had men +enough for the job, and proved it by repelling every attack, the Boers +declining to face the steady fire that was poured upon them whenever +they showed themselves. Colonel Hamilton, however, had a firm conviction +that the Boer movement against that flank was only a feeler for more +determined enterprises to follow, and he accordingly stiffened the +defensive lines there by mounting half a field battery in strong +earthworks during the night, and sending up bodies of mounted infantry +to support the Manchesters. + +As the sun was setting in clouded splendour behind Mount Tinwa's noble +crags and peaks, throwing their dark shadows across the lower hills near +us, a flash so quick, that it could hardly be seen, darted from out the +gloom there, and with the crashing report that followed came a shell +plump into one of our most crowded camps. This was evidently from a gun +newly mounted on Blaauwbank. Two other shells burst in quick succession +about the same place, but fortunately nobody was hit. Then, satisfied +with having got the range to a nicety, our enemy left us in undisturbed +quiet for the night, but with an uncomfortable consciousness that fresh +links were being forged in the chain of artillery fire by which +Ladysmith is now completely girdled, for two batteries that cannot be +exactly located have been shelling steadily all day from each end of +Bulwaan, with accurate aim and far-reaching effect, as if to disprove +all the theories that led to the error of abandoning that position. + +This morning fallacious prophecies were further shattered by a shell +from works placed far back on the table top of Bulwaan. It did not +demolish anything else, but it makes us very chary now about predicting +what the Boers can or cannot do. Through telescopes they had been +watched building that strong fort, and everybody knew it was being +thrown up as an emplacement for heavy artillery, yet few people thought +that another gun, akin to "Long Tom" in calibre and range, could have +been mounted there so soon, until they saw the dense cloud of smoke from +a black powder charge, and heard the familiar gurgling screech of a big +shell, followed by the thundering report. + +"Puffing Billy" was the appropriate name bestowed on this new enemy by +Colonel Rhodes, who has an amusing faculty for applying quaintly +descriptive phrases to every fresh development in this state of siege. I +am told on high authority that the word "siege" is not quite applicable +to our case here, but if the Boers are not sitting down before Ladysmith +in a very leisurely way, intent upon keeping us under bombardment as +long as they may choose to stay, I do not know the meaning of such +movements. It was we who provoked "Puffing Billy" to his first angry +roar by a trial shot from one of our big naval guns into the Bulwaan +battery. "Long Tom" presently joined in the chorus, and it took our two +4.7 quick-firers all their time to keep down that cross-fire. Though +"Lady Anne's" twin-sister had been mounted some days, her voice was +seldom heard, until this morning, when, after a few rounds, "Long Tom" +paid silent homage to her sway, and in celebration of that temporary +knock-out, Captain Lambton christened his new pet "Princess Victoria," +but the bluejackets called it by another name, to indicate their faith +in its destructive effect. + +It was interesting to watch these weapons at work. Their gunners would +wait until they saw a flash from "Long Tom" or "Puffing Billy" and then +fire, their shells getting home first by two or three seconds, owing to +the greater velocity imparted by cordite charges. Soon after ten o'clock +the enemy's artillery fire from different directions grew brisker. The +damage, whatever it may have been, inflicted on "Long Tom," or his crew, +having been made good under cover of a white flag, which the Boers seem +to think they are at liberty to use whenever it suits them, Rietfontein +called to Bulwaan, and Blaauwbank in the west echoed the dull boom that +came from the distant flat-topped hill in the east. Then along our main +positions, against the Leicesters and Rifles on one side, and the +Manchesters on another, an attack by rifles developed quickly. + +Intermittently these skirmishes lasted most of the day, our enemy never +pressing his attack home, but contenting himself with long-range +shooting from good cover. Neither heavy guns nor small arms did much +damage. Major Grant, R.E., of the Intelligence Staff, was slightly +wounded as he sat coolly sketching the scene of hostilities as he saw it +from the front of Cæsar's Camp. A lieutenant of the Manchesters and +three men of the Leicester Regiment were also hit by rifle bullets or +shell splinters, but none very seriously. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FIRST BOER ASSAULT + + Joubert's boast--The preliminaries of attack--Shells in the town--A + simultaneous advance--Observation Hill threatened--A wary enemy--A + prompt repulse--Attack on Tunnel Hill--The colour-sergeant's last + words--Manchesters under fire--Prone behind boulders--A Royal + salute--The Prince of Wales's birthday--Stretching the Geneva + Convention--The redoubtable Miss Maggie--The Boer Foreign + Legion--Renegade Irishmen--A signal failure. + + +From the first moment of complete investment here my belief (continues +Mr. Pearse, writing on 9th November) has been that the Boers would never +venture to push an infantry attack against this place to the point of a +determined assault. This opinion is strengthened by to-day's events. Yet +it is said that Joubert believes he could take Ladysmith by a _coup de +main_ at any time were it not for his fear of mines, which he believes +have been secretly laid at many points round our positions. His riflemen +certainly did not come close enough to test the truth of this belief +to-day, but contented themselves with shooting from very safe cover at +long ranges. If they could have shaken our troops at any point they +would doubtless have taken advantage of it to push forward and take up +other equally sheltered positions, whence they might have practised +their peculiar tactics with possibly greater effect. These methods, +however, lack the boldness necessary for an assault on positions held by +disciplined troops, and having no single objective they are gradually +frittered away in isolated and futile skirmishes, whereby the defenders +are to some extent harassed, but the defences in no way imperilled. + +Our enemies began at five o'clock this morning with artillery fire from +Bulwaan and Rietfontein on Pepworth's Hill. This unusual activity so +early warned us that some movement of more than ordinary importance +might be expected. All preparations for the possibility of an attack +more determined than the feeble feelers of yesterday had been made in +good time, so that there was no hurrying of forces to take up or +strengthen positions that might be threatened, and the Boers were +evidently somewhat puzzled where to look for the masses of men who +showed no sign of movement They thereupon took to shelling the town as +if they thought our troops might be concentrating there, and under cover +of this vigorous bombardment their riflemen advanced, so far as caution +would permit them, against several points wide apart. It must have been +with the idea of a feint that they made the first attack from westward +against Observation Hill, which was held by outposts of the 5th +Lancers, dismounted and trusting to their carbine fire, the +ineffectiveness of which, when opposed to Mauser rifles of greater +accuracy at long range, soon became evident. + +Two companies of the Rifle Brigade had, however, been moved forward to +support the cavalry, and their steady shooting checked the enemy's +frontal attack. Several officers and other picked shots, lying prone +behind boulders, took on the Boers at their own game with perceptible +effect at 1200 yards or more, thereby keeping down a fire that might +otherwise have harassed our men, who were necessarily exposed at times +in taking up positions to meet some change of tactics on the other side. +Boers never expose themselves when they find bullets falling dangerously +close to them. They will be behind a rock all day if need be, waiting +for the chance of a pot-shot, and stay there until darkness gives them +an opportunity to get away unseen. They give no hostages to fortune by +taking any risks that can be avoided. The game of long bowls and sniping +suits them best. When one place gets too hot for them to pot quickly at +our men without risk of being potted in turn, they will steal away one +by one, wriggling their way between boulders, creeping under cover of +bushes, doing anything rather than show themselves as targets for other +men's rifles. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF POSITIONS ROUND LADYSMITH, NOVEMBER 1899] + +They have made the most of physical features, that in this country lend +themselves to such tactics, by occupying hills with heavy artillery, in +front of which are rough kopjes strewed with trap rock, and round +these the Boer riflemen can always move for advance or retirement well +screened from our fire. They have, however, to reckon sometimes with the +far-reaching power of shrapnel shells. When they ignore that we may +manage to catch them in a cluster. + +So it happened to-day. After being beaten off from the direct attack on +Observation Hill they began feeling round its left flank by way of +kopjes, between which and our outposts there is a long bare nek, and in +rear of that the railway line to Van Reenan's Pass runs through a deep +cutting with open ground beyond. To effect a turning movement of any +significance the Boers had choice of two things: either they must show +themselves on spurs where there was scant cover, or take to the cutting; +and we knew by experience which they would prefer. In anticipation of +such a development one field-battery had been placed on the rough slope +that juts northward from Range Post, through which runs the main road to +Colenso in the south and to several of the Drakensberg passes in the +west. Up through a gorge deeply fretted by Klip River this battery +commanded the long bare nek. Two other guns, the Maxim-Nordenfelts of +Elandslaagte, manned by a comparatively weak detachment, took up a +position on their own account at the foot of King's Post near our old +permanent, but now disused, camp, whence they could bring a fire to bear +on the same point. All tried a few percussion shells by way of testing +the range and then turned to the use of shrapnel, which, admirably +timed, burst just beyond the nek, searching its reverse slopes and +enfilading the railway ravine with a hail of bullets, where apparently +the Boers must have been caught in some numbers. At any rate they are +said to have lost heavily there, and from that time the attack or rather +fusilade directed against Observation Hill began to slacken. We had not +many men hit considering that the skirmish had begun soon after daybreak +and continued with little cessation up to nine o'clock, when the Rifle +Brigade reported three wounded, one being young Lieutenant Lethbridge, +who is so badly injured that recovery in his case can hardly be hoped +for. + +We had not, however, done with the enemy by repulsing him at one point. +His big guns opened again presently from Blaauwbank and Rietfontein to +the west and north. A smaller battery on Long Hill echoed the deep boom +from "Long Tom," who was carrying on a duel with our naval gun, and +throwing shells over the town, to burst very near Sir George White's +headquarters. Field-guns from the nek near Lombard's Kop joined in +chorus, shooting with effect on Tunnel Hill, held by the Liverpools, +several of whom were hit. Colour-Sergeant Macdonald went out of the +bomb-proof to mark where one shell had struck, when another burst on the +same spot, and he fell terribly mangled by jagged fragments of iron. His +comrades rushed to aid him, but he died in their arms, saying simply, +"What a pity it was I went out to see." In truth the shells did not want +looking for to-day. They were falling in rapid succession from one end +of Bulwaan on Helpmakaar Hill, where the Devons, thanks to having taken +wise precautions in making bomb-proof shelters, suffered little, though +"Puffing Billy" turned occasionally to hurl a 94-pounder in that +direction when tired of raking Cæsar's Camp and Maiden's Castle, where +the Manchesters had not only their flank exposed to this fire, but were +smitten in front by a heavy gun the Boers had mounted on Flat-Top +Mountain, some three miles off, and by smaller shells that came from +automatic guns hidden among scrub on the nearer slopes across Bester's +Farm. These did little harm, though the repeated thuds of their +discharge, like the rapid strokes of a Nasmyth hammer on its anvil, +might have shaken the resolution of any but the steadiest troops, seeing +that our field-battery on Maiden's Castle could not for a long time +locate the exact hiding-place of those vicious little weapons, and when +they did get a chance, the enemy's heavy artillery replied to their fire +with a more persistent cannonade than ever. The Manchesters stood +manfully the test of long exposure to this galling storm of iron and +lead, their fighting line continuing to hold the outer slopes, where +from behind boulders they could overlook the hollow between them and +their foes, and get occasionally shots at any Boer who happened to show +himself incautiously. That did not happen often, and their chances of +effective reply to the bullets or shells that lashed the ground about +them were few at first. + +When an attack of riflemen did begin to develop with some show of being +pressed home, the Manchesters were still lying there ready to meet it +with a fire steadier than that of the Boers and if anything more deadly. +Being secure from flanking movements, since the Border Mounted Rifles +were on their right sweeping round Waggon Hill and some companies of the +60th in support, the Manchesters could devote all their attention to +that long front, and beat back every attempt of the Boers to cross the +valley where a tributary of the Klip River winds past Bester's Farm down +to the broad flats by Intombi Spruit. These hostile demonstrations were +never very determined or long sustained, and they slackened down to +nothing for a time just before noon. + +At that hour a curiously impressive incident astonished many of us in +camp not less than it did the Boers. Guns, big and small, of our Naval +Battery having shotted charges were carefully laid with the enemy's +artillery for their mark, and at a given signal they began to fire +slowly, with regular intervals between. When twenty-one rounds had been +counted everybody knew that it was a Royal salute, in celebration of the +Prince of Wales's birthday. Then loud cheers, begun as of right by the +bluejackets, representing the senior service, ran round our chains of +outposts and fighting men, shaken into light echoes by the jagged +rocks, to roll in mightier chorus through the camps, thence onward by +river-banks, where groups emerged from their burrows, strengthening the +shouts with even more fervour, and into the town, where loyalty to the +Crown of England has a meaning at this moment deeper than any of us +could ever have attached to it before. "What do you make of it all?" was +the signal flashed from hill to hill along the Boer lines, and +interpreted by our own experts who hold the key. And well they might +wonder, for in all probability a Prince of Wales's birthday has never +been celebrated before with a Royal salute of shotted guns against the +batteries of a besieging force, and all who are here wish most heartily +that the experience may remain unique. + +Our enemy's astonishment, however, had the effect of producing a +temporary cessation of hostilities. The bombardment was not carried on +with its previous vigour, possibly because some detachments, taken +unaware by the prolonged artillery fire from our side, had been +partially disabled. But the rifle attack against Maiden's Castle and +Cæsar's Camp was kept up until near sunset. + +In the midst of this cross-fire a flag, with the Geneva emblem of mercy +on it, was hoisted at the topmost twig of a low mimosa bush in front of +Bester's Farm, which must not be confounded with the other Bester's away +to westward, near the Harrismith Railway, and giving its name to a +station on that line. There are many branches of the Bester family +holding farms in Natal, and nearly all are under a cloud of suspicion at +this moment because of their known sympathy with the Boers. That +red-cross flag was taken as a sign that the farmstead had been occupied +as a hospital, and we respected it accordingly, but, as on other +occasions in this curiously conducted campaign, the Boers, who stretch +the Geneva Convention for all it is worth in their own favour, made it +cover something else. While our soldiers scrupulously avoided firing +anywhere near the farmstead that bore that emblem of neutrality, they +saw herds of cattle and horses being driven off, and these were followed +presently by a trek waggon on which also the red-cross flag waved +conspicuously. + +In that waggon were several women carrying white sunshades, and among +them, it is said, the redoubtable Miss Maggie who used to ride her +bicycle through our lines to the enemy's, even after war had been +declared and Free State burghers had crossed the border into Natal. If +that is so, she and many of her relations have crossed our lines +finally, to throw in their lot with the Boers, accompanied by very +valuable herds of live-stock. The only Besters who remained in our hands +as hostages have, I believe, been allowed to take refuge with sick and +wounded at Intombi Spruit camp, where they at least are safe enough +under the protection of their Boer friends. Other curious flags were +seen about the same place to-day. Lieutenant Fisher of the Manchesters, +who though wounded soon after sunrise refused to quit his post, and with +half a company held one shoulder of Waggon Hill until the last attack +had spluttered out, sent a careful report to his colonel before the +ambulance men took him to their field hospital. In this report he gives +details of some curious movements among the enemy. One contingent, +apparently some foreign legion, showing traces of elementary discipline +and evidently not numbering in its ranks many Boers of the old school, +advanced boldly across ground that afforded them little cover, and there +began to "front form" in fairly good order. They were well within range +of Lee-Enfield rifles, and a few volleys well directed sent them to the +right-about in anything but good order. Soon after, a second column +advanced with even more bravado, headed by a standard-bearer, who +carried a red flag. These were said to be Irishmen, who, having elected +to serve a republic, and being debarred from fighting under the green +banner of their own country, yet not quite ready to acknowledge the +supremacy of another race, may have flaunted the emblem of liberty by +way of compromise. More probably, however, they were a mixed lot owning +no common country, but willing or unwilling to serve under any colours +with equal impartiality. Two or three shrapnels bursting in front of +them to a vibrato accompaniment of rifle fire many were seen to fall, +but whether badly hit or not nobody on our side could say. At any rate, +these adventurous auxiliaries are likely to learn discretion from the +wily Boer after such an experience. + +The attack, such as it was, had failed on both the positions threatened. +It was never pressed home with energy at any point, and unless the Boers +prove to be as good at concentration as they are in mobility, there is +not the remotest chance for them to achieve even a temporary success by +rifle attack against infantry whose discipline and steadiness have not +been shaken in the slightest degree by shell fire yet. What losses our +foes suffered we have no means of knowing, but they were probably much +heavier than our own, which numbered five killed and twenty-four +wounded, mostly by shells, in the twelve hours of intermittent +fighting. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MONTH UNDER SHELL FIRE + + The first siege-baby--An Irish-American deserter--A soldierly + grumble--Boer cunning and Staff-College strategy--An ammunition + difficulty--The tireless cavalry--A white flag incident--What the + Boer Commandant understood--The Natal summer--Mere sound and + fury--Boer Sabbatarianism--Naval guns at work--"Puffing Billy" of + Bulwaan--Intrepid Boer gunners--The barking of "Pom-Poms"--Another + reconnaissance--"Like scattered bands of Red Indians"--A futile + endeavour--A night alarm--Recommended for the V.C.--A man of straw + in khaki--The Boer search-light--Shelling of the hospital--General + White protests--The first woman hit--General Hunter's + bravado--"Long Tom" knocked out--A gymkhana under fire--Faith, + Hope, and Charity--Flash signals from the south--A new Creusot gun. + + + The garrison and inhabitants of Ladysmith now began to realise that + they were doomed to a long period of inactivity if to nothing more + serious. The days immediately following the Boer attempt of 9th + November were quiet, rain and mist interfering with the enemy's + bombardment. November 12 was, however, a somewhat eventful day, + owing to the birth of the first siege-baby, and the arrival in camp + of an Irish-American deserter from the Boers. + +The baby, says Mr. Pearse in his diary (12th November), was born, not in +a dug-out by the river, but at a farm on a hill in the centre of +defensive works, where Mr. and Mrs. Moore, with their other children, +have elected to take the chances, near where I and other correspondents +have pitched our tents. Mrs. Moore made one trial of an underground +shelter, and then gave it up, saying that she should certainly die in +that damp atmosphere, so that it would be better to take the risk of +living where one could get fresh air, even though exposed to shells. The +Irish-American's story, though not to be swallowed without salt, tended +to confirm some things that seemed strange in the fight of three days +earlier, when, as will be remembered, Lieutenant Fisher's detachment +claimed to have shot many of a body that marched into action boldly with +a red flag flaunting at their head. The deserter said that the Irish +brigade that day lost heavily, having now only seventy-three left of the +original three hundred and fifty, and that ten Irishmen were killed by +one of our shells. + + It was not with a good grace that Sir George White's garrison + resigned themselves to inaction. Their state of mind is shown + clearly enough by Mr. Pearse in a letter written on 14th November, + and describing the situation at this period. + +_November 14._--The British troops here have their backs up now, and +grumble at the fate that chains them to a passive defence, when they +would wish for nothing better than to try conclusions with their foes at +close quarters. Sir George White knows best the part that he is expected +to play in the general strategy of this campaign, and there may be +reasons for not forcing the Boers to abandon any of their positions +round Ladysmith until the time ripens for a decisive action. It is +impossible, however, to ignore the effect that this produces on the +temper of soldiers, who say with characteristic energy of expression +that they would rather a hundred times take their chances with death in +a fair fight than remain idle under a shell fire that is trying to the +strongest nerves, though it does little material harm. Sir George is +naturally reluctant to sacrifice valuable lives in capturing positions +which we have not men enough to hold, but it would be something gained +if we could attack one point at a time, seize the Boer gun there, and +put it permanently out of action. Instead of that, we have allowed our +adversary to increase the number of artillery works and rifle sangars, +girding us about until his grip is so strong that even cavalry scouts +cannot push five miles from camp in any direction without having to run +the gauntlet of shells or Maxim bullets. + +There are three positions which we might have held, or at least +prevented the enemy from occupying, and thereby frustrated all attempts +for at least a week longer, so that our communications southward would +have remained open until ample supplies of war material of various +kinds, much needed here, and especially appliances for long-distance +signalling or wireless telegraphy, could be brought up. But the time for +that went by while we were engaged in preparing positions for the +passive defence of Ladysmith, and the Boers, with the "slimness" that +has always characterised them in such operations, slipped round our +flank to cut us off from railway or telegraphic communication with lower +Natal. Even the guns of H.M.S. _Powerful_, on which we rely for keeping +down the enemy's long-range fire, did not get their full supply of +ammunition before the line was closed, and if any signalling appliances +more far-reaching than those ordinarily in use with a field force were +applied for in accordance with Captain Lambton's suggestion, they never +came. + +As events have turned out, this was the gravest mischance of all, since +the next step which our wily enemies took was to close every means of +egress from this camp by placing their lighter artillery or mounted +riflemen on kopjes whence all open ground over which troops might move +could be swept by cross-fire. In other words, they took all the rough +eminences of the outer ranges best adapted for their own tactics, and +left the bare, shelterless plains or ridges to us. So far, therefore, +Boer cunning has proved itself more than a match for Staff-College +strategy, and nothing can restore the balance now but a strong blow +struck quickly and surely from our side. Against that the Boers are +naturally weak in proportion to the thinness of their investing line, +which stretches round a perimeter of nearly twenty miles; but on the +other hand, their greater mobility, owing to the fact that every +rifleman is mounted, gives them a surprising power of rapid +concentration on any point that happens to be threatened. This is a +factor that will have to be reckoned with in European warfare of the +future, if I mistake not the meaning of lessons we are learning here. +Nevertheless we might harass our enemies, giving them little rest day or +night. Here, however, the ammunition difficulty comes in again. We have +enough to last through a siege, but none to waste on doubtful +enterprises. This reduces us to the contemplation of night attacks, and +to trust in no weapon but the bayonet for capturing guns in positions +which we have not men enough to hold. + +Tommy is ready and eager to try conclusions with the enemy on these +terms, if his leaders will only give him the chance, but meanwhile our +movements take the form of reconnaissances that lead to no tangible +advantages either in lessening the vigour of our adversary's bombardment +or in loosening any links in the chain of investment by which we are +bound. The situation is certainly curious and interesting historically +as an event for which no exact parallel can be found in the annals of +England's wars. + +In writing of futile reconnaissances it is hardly necessary that I +should disclaim all intention of ignoring the excellent work done by +individual regiments on which the duties of patrolling have by turns +fallen. Dragoon Guards, Lancers, Hussars, Imperial Light Horse, Natal +Carbineers, and Border Mounted Rifles, have known little real rest for +days past. When not actually scouting the cavalry have been either on +outpost within touch of the enemy, or bivouacked beside their horses +ready for any emergency. The extreme tension necessitating all these +precautions may be relaxed somewhat now, but still we rely on the +mounted troops for information of every movement among the besiegers, +and so far trust in their alertness has been fully justified. The +morning after last Thursday's attack Major Marling pushed his patrols of +the 18th Hussars farther westward than they had been able to get since +communications were interrupted. Rumours, since confirmed, that the +Boers had suffered very heavily in their fruitless attack the previous +day, suggested the possibility of their having evacuated some positions. +Major Marling may have begun to take that view too when he saw a white +flag showing above the serrated crest of Rifleman's Ridge, which is +generally but too vaguely described as Blaauwbank, where the Boers have +at least one powerful field-gun mounted. Under a responsive flag of +truce Major Marling and a non-commissioned officer advanced to parley +with the enemy, whose pacific, if not submissive, spirit was thus +manifested. The field-cornet in charge said he understood there were to +be no hostilities that day. The English officer knew nothing of any +armistice, but agreed to retire without pushing the patrol farther in +that particular direction. As he and his comrades went back to join +their main body, Boer sharpshooters opened fire on them treacherously +from the rocks and sangars of Rifleman's Ridge. It is difficult to +understand such wanton violations of every principle recognised by +civilised belligerents, unless we assume that the Boers really thought +that their General had claimed a truce in order that his dead might be +buried, and that our cavalry were therefore at fault. It is, however, +impossible to find excuses, or give the Boers credit for good intentions +always in their use of the white flag. They seem to regard it as an +emblem to be hoisted for their own convenience or safety, and to be put +aside when its purpose has been served, without any consideration for +the other party. Even while this Boer officer pretended to think there +was a general truce that forbade scouting operations on our part there +was a gun being got into position by men of the same commando, and other +of the enemy's batteries were being either strengthened or moved to more +advantageous points. The work was, however, interrupted by a furious +thunderstorm and a night of heavy rain that brought the waters roaring +down from the Drakensberg ravines to flood the Klip River far above the +level at which some of its spruits can be crossed without difficulty at +other times. + +English people, as a rule, picture early summer in South Africa as a +time of heat and drought. According to the calendar this is Natal's +summer, when hills and veldt, refreshed by genial showers, should be +green with luxurious growth of young grass, or brightened by a profusion +of brilliant wild flowers. But the seasons are out of joint just now. We +get days of torrid heat, bringing a plague of flies from which there is +no escape, and then a sudden thunderstorm sends the temperature down to +something that reminds one of chill October among English moorlands. The +sun hides its face abashed behind a misty veil, but the flies remain. +Drizzling rain, with white mists in the valleys, and heavy clouds +dragging their torn skirts about the mountains, also put a stop to the +bombardment until an hour past noon next day. + +Probably these conditions were less favourable to us than to the enemy, +whose movements were completely masked, and when the clouds cleared some +of his batteries on new positions were ready to join the diabolical +concert that went on at intervals until dark. The concert, however, was +mere sound and firing signifying nothing--except in its effect on nerves +already unstrung--as we had no serious casualties that day. And the next +brought peace, for the Boers do not willingly fight on Sunday, and we +have no reasons at present for provoking them to a breach of the +tacitly-recognised ordination that gives us one day's rest in seven with +welcome immunity from shells. Their observance of the Sabbath, however, +does not run to a total cessation of labour on the seventh day, and if +they do not want to fight then they have no scruples about turning it +to account in preparations for a fight next morning. On this particular +Sunday, while we were getting all the rest that a shell-worried garrison +can reasonably expect, some of our enemies were labouring hard to mount +a big gun on Surprise Hill, which rises from a series of stone-roughened +kopjes where the Harrismith Railway winds nearly due west of Rietfontein +or Pepworth's Hill, and about 4000 yards north of King's Post--one of +our most important defensive works. In anticipation of this we had +shifted one heavy naval gun to Cove Redoubt, which is well within that +weapon's range of Surprise Hill, but can hardly be said to command it, +as the latter has an advantage in point of height. We had also, however, +lighter artillery bearing on Surprise Hill, and in some measure +enfilading its main battery, behind which, and in echelon with it, they +had apparently placed a howitzer. + +Cannonading opened from many quarters soon after daybreak, the enemy's +fire being mainly directed against our naval guns, one of which, +however, devoted itself exclusively for a time to the Surprise Hill +battery where the Boers were preparing for action. + +Before they could get many shots out of the new gun, we were pounding +away at it. Our first two shells fell short, but they were followed by +three others, clean into the battery's embrasure, with such obvious +effect that the big weapon inside must either have been dismantled or +put out of action. Since then it has not spoken, and the sailors +therefore naturally claim that they have silenced it for good and all. +An hour later the other naval gun--"Lady Anne" by name--silenced +"Puffing Billy of Bulwaan" for a time, and we have evidence that the +Boers must have suffered some serious losses before noon, when General +Joubert sent in a flag of truce, according to a custom which seems to be +in favour with him, whenever things are going a bit awry from his point +of view. + +The Irish-American, who has been mentioned as having given himself up as +a deserter, described how the Boer gunners, terrorised by shrapnel fire, +had to be forced into the batteries under threats. But if the Boer +gunners are panic-stricken they have a curious way of showing it, for +some of them stood boldly on the parapets to watch the effect of a shot, +and the accuracy of their return fire does not betray much nervousness. +We are inclined to believe, however, that the Boer losses from artillery +fire have been greater than ours, partly because their shots have been +widely distributed in a speculative way with no particular object in +view, while ours have been aimed directly at the enemy's batteries, or +at sangars, to which their gun-crews retire between the rounds; and +partly, if not mainly, because our naval guns fire common shell with +bursting charges of black powder, the effect of which--though not so +violent locally as that of the Boer shells, charged with melinite +explosive--is spread over a much wider area. It is not much +satisfaction, however, for the losses and worry we endure here to know +that the investing force suffers even more severely so long as it +continues to harass us while we remain inactively helpless. + +The men were beginning to say that they had stood this sort of thing +long enough, when the measure of their discontent was filled to +overflowing this morning by a bombardment fiercer than ever. It opened +with the barking of "Pom-Poms" as early as half-past five, and ran +through the whole gamut from lowest bass of a big gun's boom to the +shrillest scream of smaller projectiles and the whip-like whistle of +shrapnel bullets lashing the air with so little intermission that within +two hours no less than seventy-five shells had burst in and about +Ladysmith camp. This was too much to be borne patiently, and every +soldier welcomed the order for an offensive movement, their only regret +being that infantry were to play no part in the affair. General +Brocklehurst, with a force of cavalry, Imperial Light Horse, and +artillery, moved out of camp soon after nine o'clock, taking the road +that leads westward and southward through the gap at Range Post. The +object of that movement was generally believed to be an attack oh +Blaauwbank, or Rifleman's Hill, as it is officially called, and the +capture of a Boer battery there, from which our defensive lines between +King's Post and Cove Redoubt had been repeatedly enfiladed. If +successful in driving the enemy back, our troops would then swing round +to their left and go for the big gun on Middle Hill, against which +General Brocklehurst's brilliant but futile reconnaissance of the +previous Friday had been directed. + +Three field batteries, posted on spurs along the line from Waggon Hill +towards Rifleman's Post, covered the advance by shelling in turn all the +Boer guns that could be brought to bear on the open ground across which +our troops had to pass. Thus challenged, the enemy's artillery replied +briskly, but their fire was a bit wild, and, regardless of shells that +fell thick about them, the Imperial Light Horse, numbering no more than +ninety rifles, led by Colonel Edwardes, who has succeeded the heroic +Chisholm in command of this dashing corps, pushed forward to seize Star +Kopje and prevent any Boer movement towards that point from Thornhill's +Farm. + +Hussars went forward in support of the Imperial Horse, galloping like +scattered bands of Red Indians across the green veldt, where a spruit +runs down to Klip River, until they had passed the zone of hostile fire, +and then re-forming squadrons with a precision that was very pretty to +watch. Other cavalry were in reserve, massed behind folds of the +undulating slopes hidden from some Boer guns and beyond the effective +range of others. There was force enough for any work in hand, but not +quite of the right composition. To drive Boer riflemen off a rough ridge +along which they can retire from one position, when it gets too hot for +them, to another, nothing will do but infantry of some sort, and +preferably with a bayonet sting left in them for final emergencies. This +was an occasion of all others when infantry regiments might have changed +the whole course of events to our advantage, but for some reason they +had been left in camp. + +For nearly three hours our batteries shelled the Boer kopjes, expending +much ammunition with perceptible effect on the brown boulders and +presumably on anything animate that might be hidden behind them; we +watched many Boers gallop away in haste across the plain, as if unable +to stand the leaden hail longer, and one of our batteries advancing +boldly got into position, whence it should have enfiladed that of the +enemy and wrought havoc among their horses if any were concealed in the +adjacent hollows. What effect the terrific shrapnel fire really produced +we had no means of knowing. Hardly a Boer showed himself while that +hurricane of bullets fell, but when General Brocklehurst meditated an +assault on the hill his troops were met by a furious rifle fire. The +ninety Imperial Light Horsemen of Colonel Edwardes's command were +obviously too few to dislodge the Boers from the ground they had held so +stubbornly. Further waste of artillery ammunition seemed useless, and +the time for employing cavalry to any purpose had not come. We therefore +had the chagrin of watching another force retire without accomplishing +its object, and most of us felt from that moment grave doubts whether +another such chance of breaking the bonds that envelop us could come +again until reinforcements were at hand for the relief of Ladysmith. As +our troops withdrew they were shelled right and left by Boer guns that +had been almost silent until then. Our batteries, aided by Captain +Kinnaird-Smith's two Maxim-Nordenfelts, covered the retirement, but they +could not put Surprise Hill out of action, or even attempt a reply to +the redoubtable "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, who on this occasion +surpassed himself by throwing three shells in succession on the road by +Range Post Gap from a distance that must be well over 9000 yards. The +bit of hilly road where these shells fell and burst is no more than +fifty yards long by fifteen wide, and could not have been visible to +gunners five or six miles off without the aid of telescopic sights. Yet +the aim was so accurate that one shell fell between two hussar squadrons +and another just in rear of a battery, but without hitting man, horse, +or gun. "Long Tom" has done better in long-distance shooting, having +thrown one shell nearly to Cæsar's Camp, and the range-finders make that +out to be 11,500 yards from Pepworth's Hill, but these three shots +to-day hold the record for range and accuracy combined. + + During the following three weeks the already wearisome progress of + the siege was broken by no large event. The Boers, discouraged by + their want of success on 9th November, went on from day to day + shelling the town with the guns already in position, and mounting + others on the hills with which to make the bombardment more + effective. They hoped to do slowly at a safe distance what they had + failed to accomplish by a more daring procedure. The period, + notwithstanding, is full of minor incidents, the record of which + must be read with the greatest interest. Mr. Pearse wrote:-- + +_November 15._--Half an hour after midnight all Ladysmith woke from +peaceful slumber on troubled sleep at the sound of guns, from which +shells came screaming about the town and into camps that had not been +reached by them before. What it all meant nobody could say, but the +firing did not cease until every Boer cannon round about our position +had let off a shot. Some of us began to dress, thinking that the misty +diffused moonlight was the coming of dawn. Women, huddling in shawls and +wraps, rushed off with children in their arms to "tunnels" by the +riverside, and there would have been something very like a panic among +civilians if soldiers had not reassured them. The staff officer, who had +been upon the watch for possibilities, until he heard the first Boer gun +fire, and then got into pyjamas for a good night's rest, saying, "There +will be no attack now," was a philosopher. Everybody cannot look at +things in that cool way when shells are flying about, but a good many of +us went back to bed again on discovering what the time was, puzzled to +account for the evening's extraordinary freak, but confident that it +would not be repeated until daybreak. That brought drizzling rain and +mists that have veiled the hills all day, putting a complete stop to all +hostilities. We know nothing yet that can account for the firing of so +many guns, and only attempt to explain it on the supposition that our +enemies, being apprehensive of a renewal of yesterday's attack, were +startled by some false alarm. Not knowing from which direction the +expected blow might be struck, they fired guns all round to keep +everybody on the alert. + +_November 16._--We are becoming accustomed to the daily visitation of +shells that do not burst, and perhaps familiarity is beginning to breed +carelessness. If so, the 40-pounder on Lombard's Kop gave us timely +reminder this morning that he is not to be ignored with impunity. One +shell thrown over the railway station burst in air, as it was intended +to do, and scattered its hail of shrapnel bullets about that building. +One guard, a white man, was killed on the spot or only breathed a few +minutes after being hit, and two Kaffir labourers were wounded. Scores +of bullets went into the station-master's office, and the desk at which +he generally sits was perforated like a cullender. In these times of +siege that official would not be always on duty, and he was just then +taking a lucky hour off. A Boer movement, probably of some convoy with +loot from down country, was going on along the road froth Bulwaan +towards Elandslaagte. Boer field guns covered it, keeping our scouts in +check on the plain, and riflemen created a diversion with pretence of an +attack on Observation Hill, which spluttered out slowly. Major Howard, +5th Dragoon Guards, has been recommended for the Victoria Cross in +recognition of his gallantry on "Mournful Monday," when, seeing a +trooper fall, he walked back where bullets were falling thick, and +brought the wounded man back on his shoulders in full view of several +regiments. The Boers, inappreciative of pluck in that form, kept up a +steady fire on the wounded trooper and his heroic officer until they +were safe out of range. + +_November 17._--The 5th Lancers, who, with a company of King's Royal +Rifles, are holding Observation Hill, have hit upon a happy idea for +drawing Boer fire by deputy. They keep a man of straw for that purpose +with khaki coat and helmet. By showing this now and then, they not only +find out exactly where the Boers are, but get occasional chances of +putting in a pot shot with effect. The suggestion probably came from +Devonshire Hill, where Colonel Knox, who commands all divisional troops +on that defensive line, had a dummy battery mounted. This drew fire from +Boer guns at once, and gave Colonel Knox a good suggestion as to the +sort of earthworks best adapted to resist the artillery fire that could +be brought to bear upon them. At three o'clock this afternoon rain began +to fall steadily, and mists crept about the hills, putting a stop to +further bombardment. + +_Sunday, November 19._--Just after midnight Boer guns again fired from +every position round Ladysmith. What this may mean nobody knows. Perhaps +it is a device for keeping Boer sentries on the alert, or there may have +been a false alarm causing the enemy's batteries to boom off a shot each +by way of signal, or probably the guns, fired at certain intervals, were +sending on a code message to Colenso. Rumours, having their origin in +the fertile imaginations of those who think that British troops can +achieve wonderful things for our relief, crowd fast upon us. Now we hear +of a column marching into Bloemfontein and an hour later men tell +gravely of a force under General French having captured Dundee But by +some means ill news travels faster even than these absurdly impossible +rumours. A Boer doctor has been to Intombi Camp this morning and told +the people there that our armoured train was captured yesterday of on +Friday near Colensa, and many prisoners taken, including Lord Randolph +Churchill's son. That was the doctor's way of cheering up our sick and +wounded. We might have doubted the story, but circumstances confirm it, +and we have so little faith in armoured trains that it seems quite +natural for them to fall into the enemy's hands. + +_November 20._--Dense white mists rising from the river-bends, and +spreading across the plains to hang in a thinner haze about the shady +sides of hills, put a stop to bombardment most of the morning. Up to +noon there had been practically no shelling, but only an exchange of +rifle-shots between Bell's Spruit by Pepworth and Observation Hill. The +enemy, however, made up for lost time later by sending several shells +into town and camp. One fell near Captain Vallentin's house, where +Colonel Rhodes and Lord Ava shared the brigade mess; another, passing +close to Mr. Fortescue Carter's house, where several officers of the +Intelligence Staff live, shattered the church porch beyond; from +Surprise Hill several came into the 18th Hussar camp, where three men +were hit, one so badly that his leg had to be amputated; one into the +Gordon camp, wounding Lieutenant Maitland and a private; and one from +"Long Tom" of Pepworth's into the little group of tents that now serve +for all that are left here of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. This shot must +have been fired at a range of over 11,000 yards. It came down like a +bolt straight from the blue overhead, penetrated the stiff soil to a +depth of five feet seven inches, and rebounded on impact with some more +solid substance at the bottom so quickly that it left the mark of its +penetration perfect, and only broke up on reaching the surface again. In +this case there was no burst, but only a detonation of the fuse. After +nine at night we were astonished to see the beams of a searchlight +sweeping Observation Hill. Our foes apparently had got an engine on the +railway between Surprise Hill and Thornton's Kop with an electric light +attached to it. They are evidently prepared to bring against us all the +scientific appliances of modern warfare. Two hours later artillery and +rifle fire began, and continued for nearly an hour, but apparently +nobody was any the worse for it. + +_November 21._--The cannonade begins again at daybreak with some shots +at our scouts, who are trying to feel their way out through the scrub +between Bulwaan and Lombard's Kop. The Boers have mounted a 40-pounder +high-velocity gun on the spur of the latter, and give us a taste of its +quality by throwing several shells into the Fusilier camp at Range Post +and bursting shrapnel over the town. The bombardment finishes about dusk +with some vicious shots from Bulwaan. After this we sit and watch the +lightning which plays in forks and zig-zags and chains about the hills +between us and Tugela River. For such picturesque effects there is a +great advantage in being encamped on a height, so that the whole +panorama of rugged kopjes, deep ravines where spruits or rivers sing, +silent camp, and sleeping town stretches round one, bounded only by an +amphitheatre of higher hills. + +_November 22._--From half-past eleven last night there was heavy +musketry fire near the north-eastern line of our defensive works, and we +thought the Devons were being attacked hotly, but it turned out to be +nothing more than a fusilade from Boer rifles at some unknown objects. +Our foes are evidently getting a little jumpy and apprehensive of a +surprise by night. Sir George White sends out later a flag of truce to +protest against the persistent shelling of the Town Hall, where our sick +and wounded are lodged temporarily under the protection of a Red Cross +flag. Commandant Schalk-Burger is said to have replied somewhat +insolently that he understands the Geneva flag is being used by us to +shelter combatants. At any rate Intombi is the place for our sick and +wounded, and he will not respect any other hospital flag. Curiously +enough we accept this humiliation, so far as to remove the patients and +provide for them a camping-ground where the tents cannot be seen; but +the Red Cross flag still flies on the Town Hall. Again we watch the +beautiful effects of almost continuous lightning, brilliant as +moonlight, and then turn in before black clouds break in a terrific +thunderstorm. I have remarked before on the advantage of being on a hill +to watch the picturesque effects of a storm such as we have here. But +there are some disadvantages, especially if you have to sleep in a +patrol tent no higher than a fair-sized dog-kennel, and a tent-pole +happens to give way. Then you wake with wet canvas flapping about you. +The rain pours down in a deluge that makes you shiver at the mere +thought of turning out to put the tent-pole right. Let the rain drift +and the canvas flap with sounds like gunshots. It is better at any rate +than lying as Tommy does on the hillside yonder with only one blanket to +roll himself in, and with that thought, perhaps, you may be able to +cuddle yourself off to sleep again in spite of the storm. + +_November 23._--Notwithstanding Sir George White's protest, Boer guns +are still laid to bear on the Town Hall, and shells frequently fall in +the enclosure near it, and have hit the building, sending splinters in +all directions, by one of which a dhoolie-bearer was killed. This seems +to me a scandalous violation of all the rules of civilised warfare, +which certainly entitle us to a field-hospital in addition to one at the +base. If Schalk-Burger had objected on the ground that the Town Hall so +long as it was used for sick and wounded came in the line of fire from +his guns to our batteries or defensive works, he would have been within +his rights, but all the same there would have been no truth in that +contention, and at any rate it rests with him to clear himself from the +charge of having fired on a Red Cross flag without warning. Meanwhile +other guns on Surprise Hill have been searching for the 18th Hussars in +their bivouac where Klip River runs through a deep ravine, and "Long +Tom" of Pepworth's has thrown a shell into Mrs. Davy's house, opposite +Captain Vallentin's, wounding its owner, who is the first woman hit, +though numbers of them, having got over their first panic, go about +their domestic duties all day as if there were no such thing as a +bombardment, and never think of taking shelter in a riverside cave now. +This shot brought upon "Long Tom" the vengeance of oar Naval Battery, +which must have battered him or his gunners severely. + +All the afternoon Boer rifles have been dropping bullets into posts +held by the Rifle Brigade and Leicesters. Perhaps the men were showing +signs of being harassed when General Hunter visited them. With a laugh +he stood bolt upright on a rock, saying, "Now let us see whether these +Boers can shoot or not;" and there he remained in full view of them for +nearly a minute, while Mauser bullets hummed about him like a swarm of +wasps. Such an act may seem like senseless bravado, but those who know +Archibald Hunter well know that he had an object in giving this example +of coolness and pluck. + +_November 24._--The Boers made a clever cattle-raid this morning. Twenty +spans of trek-oxen had been sent to graze on the veldt between our +outposts and Rifleman's Ridge in charge of Kaffir herd-boys. Slowly they +grazed towards better pasturage, nearer and nearer to the Boer lines, +from which shells in rapid succession were sent to burst just in rear of +the herds. Mounted infantry of the Leicesters attempted again and again, +to herd the cattle back, but they were met each time by heavy +rifle-fire, and at last two or three Boers dashing down the slope +rounded up herd after herd with the dexterity of expert "cow-boys." Thus +no less than 250 valuable trek-oxen fell into the enemy's hands, and we +had the humiliation of looking on helpless while it was being done. + +The bombardment has been going on at intervals all day, from seven +o'clock this morning until dusk, when Bulwaan sent several shells on to +Junction Hill, killing three men of the Liverpool Regiment and wounding +eight. This is the most fatal half-hour we have experienced since the +siege began, but there was one lucky escape from a shell which burst in +the guard tent among four men without hurting any of them. For the +depression caused by these serious casualties there is some consolation +in the rumour that "Long Tom" of Pepworth's has been knocked out for +good and all. At any rate his last shot into the town was answered +effectively by the naval 4·7, which sent a shell straight into "Long +Tom's" embrasure, and he has not spoken or given any sign of life since. +Without wearisome iteration it would be impossible to do justice day by +day to the good work of the Naval Brigade under Captain Lambton. Without +the heavy guns of H.M.S. _Powerful_ our state here would be much worse +than it is, and everybody in besieged Ladysmith appreciates the +bluejackets, who are always cheery, always ready for any duty, and whose +good shooting has done much to keep down the fire of Boer artillery. + +_November 25._--No hostilities disturb the quietness of morning or early +afternoon, but it is never safe to count on this, and look-out men are +kept constantly on the alert in each camp to give warning by sound of +high whistle or gong when one of the big guns has been fired. Against +"Silent Susan" such precautions avail nothing, for she wears no +white-cloud signal--the flash of discharge can only be seen if you +happen to be looking for it intently in the right place. Close upon the +heels of her report comes a shrill, fiendish whisper in the air, and by +the time you hear that, the shell is overhead or has burst elsewhere. +The Gordons and Imperial Light Horse, however, are not to be debarred +from sport by considerations of that kind. They take all reasonable +precautions and leave the rest to chance, with the result that they +snatch some amusement out of circumstances that seem unpromising. This +afternoon the Gordons had a Gymkhana, and got through it merrily to the +entertainment of many friends before a discordant note was heard from +Boer batteries. The bombardment did not begin until half-past six, and +lasted only until dusk, the final shot being fired by our naval gun into +some new works on Bulwaan. + +_November 26._--The Boers are busy preparing an emplacement for heavy +artillery on Middle Hill, south of and flanking Bester's Ridge. +Apparently they suspect us of doing similar work on the plain in front +of Devonshire Hill, and their strict regard for the Sabbath does not run +to toleration of Sunday labour on our part, so they send three shells in +among some Kaffirs who are digging trenches with the harmless object of +burying dead horses there. + +_November 27._--The Boers, grown bold with the success of their first +raid, try another--this time with the object of cutting out horses that +graze loose on the plain towards Bulwaan. But they have to do now with +Natal Carbineers, many of whom, like themselves, are veldt farmers, +familiar with every trick of rounding up horses or oxen. In vain do the +gunners of "Puffing Billy" throw percussion shells to drive the herd +towards their lines. In vain are shrapnels timed to burst in a shower +where Carbineers sweep round like Indian scouts to herd the startled +horses back. The Volunteers do their work neatly, coolly, quickly, to +the chagrin of Boers who wait in kloofs beyond Klip River for a chance +of carrying off some valuable horses. In their disappointment the +Bulwaan battery tries to get some consolation by shelling the camp of +the Carbineers. The new gun which Boers were mounting yesterday on +Middle Hill opened to-day, shelling first the Rifle Brigade piquets on +King's Post and then the sangar of the Manchesters in Cæsar's Camp. It +enfilades both positions with equal ease. + +The Rifles had a narrow escape as they were at work on a wall, the top +of which was struck by a shell, and splinters flew all round without +hitting anybody. The Manchesters were not so fortunate, having three men +wounded, but none seriously. While I write, smoking concerts are being +held in the camps of Imperial Light Horse and Natal Volunteers, from +whose strong lungs the notes of "God Save the Queen" roll in a volume +that can be heard a mile off. Perhaps some faint echoes of it may stir +the air about sleeping Boers on Bulwaan. + +_November 28._--A misty morning with rain, which does not prevent the +enemy from sending a few shots into town. Middle Hill, Rifleman's +Ridge, Telegraph Hill, with its three 9-pounders, which the Rifle +Brigade men, for quaint reasons of their own, name Faith, Hope, and +Charity, all have a turn at us, and our batteries reply; but there is +not much vigour in it on either side until Middle Hill, with its Creusot +94-pounder, and the howitzer on Surprise Hill, begin to shell our naval +12-pounders. There they touch Captain Lambton on a tender point, and he +lets them have it back with a will. To-day we have been cheered by news +of the victory over the Boers near Mooi River, but for Natal people +satisfaction is dashed by the thought that if Boers are so far down they +have raided the most fertile part of the Colony, and probably carried +off pedigree cattle that are priceless. + +_November 29._--The night has been passed in preparing a surprise for +the big Creusot gun on Middle Hill, which, because of his propensity for +throwing shells into everybody's mess, has come to be known as the +"Meddler." Deep gun-pits are dug on the northern slope of Waggon Hill, +where on a nek they are screened by the higher spur from view of Middle +Hill. In these pits two old-fashioned howitzers, throwing shells with +sixty pounds of black powder for bursting charge, are mounted. Captain +Christie, R.A., takes command of them and waits his chance, which does +not come for a long time, the cannonade being at first confined to a +duel between Captain Lambton's pet, "Lady Anne," and "Puffing Billy" of +Bulwaan. At length, however, the "Meddler" chimes in, and Captain +Christie immediately looses off his two howitzers in succession. They +cannot be laid by sights on the object aimed at, which is hidden from +view. All has to be done by calculation of angles, and a fraction of +error may make all the difference. So we watch anxiously while the +shell--a long time in flight--follows its allotted parabola. One bursts +just short of the work; but its companion, a second later, goes over the +parapet and sends debris flying upwards in a mighty cloud. Thereupon the +howitzers are christened promptly "The Great Twin Brethren," "Castor and +Pollux," and "Puffing Pals," everybody selecting the name that appeals +to his imagination most strongly. It matters little by what name men +call them, so long as they can throw shells truly into the enemy's +battery, and this they do steadily. The "Meddler" cannot reply to them +effectively, and other Boer guns try in vain to reach them. At night a +curious palpitating light on the clouds southward attracts attention. +One Rifle Brigade man who has a smattering of the Morse Code watches it +for some time and mutters to himself, "X.X.X. Why, they're calling us +up"; and before a signalman can be roused we see clearly enough these +palpitations resolving themselves into dots and dashes. It is a signal +from the south, flashed by searchlight across miles of intervening +hills, but in a cypher which only those who have the key can read. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS +RIETFONTEIN AND THE NEWCASTLE ROAD] + +_November 30._--Day breaks across white mists on the plain, and then +comes gorgeous sunshine, with a glow of colour all round, brilliant +orange in the east above Bulwaan, deepening to blood-red in the west +behind the rugged crest of Mount Tintwa and the pitted peaks of Mont aux +Sources. From daybreak onward there is heavy artillery fire on camp and +town from every gun the Boers have mounted. Our howitzers and the +"Meddler" began it with a merry little set-to between themselves, doing +no harm. Then Surprise Hill, Telegraph Hill, Rifleman's Ridge, Bulwaan, +and Lombard's Kop joined in, the last aiming straight for the hospital, +with its Red Cross flag. Two shells had fallen close to that building, +from which all haste was made to remove the helpless patients. Most of +them had been got out when the third shot came crashing into the largest +ward, and from among the ruins one dead man and nine freshly wounded +were taken. Rifle fire quickened then about Observation Hill, and +bullets flying overhead made many think that the Boers were coming on, +but it all died away into silence without further casualties on our +side. At night the column southward flashes another long signal on the +clouded sky, and Boer search-lights try to obliterate it by throwing +their feeble rays across the beam that shines like a comet athwart the +darkness above Tugela heights. + +_December 1._--"Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, which has not fired since +"Lady Anne" silenced it days ago, is now reported to be cracked and +useless, but the Boers are preparing emplacements for another heavy +piece of ordnance on a flat-topped nether spur of Lombard's Kop, where +they have a persistently disagreeable 40-pounder already mounted. We do +nothing to prevent this increase of hostile artillery, but content +ourselves with inventing new names for the batteries, so that the +intelligence map may be kept up to date with fullest details. This spur +henceforth is to be known as Gun Hill, probably because the weapon +already in position there has made itself conspicuously unpleasant by +shelling the headquarters and intelligence offices. From it three +successive shells were fired this morning into or near the convent where +Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, Major Riddell, and other convalescent wounded +have their quarters. Middle Hill gun only fired a few rounds to-day, and +was promptly silenced by our "Great Twin Brethren," the howitzers of +Waggon Hill. + +_December 2._--We are not left long in doubt as to the meaning of those +new works on Gun Hill. A Creusot 94-pounder has opened from there, +shelling in rapid succession Sir George White's headquarters camp, the +Royal Artillery, and the Imperial Light Horse, who have their parade and +playground pitted by marks of this fire. People say that "Long Tom" has +been shifted from Pepworth's to the new position, but the shells, with +their driving-bands grooved deep and sharp, tell another story. It is a +new gun, or little used, and probably fresh from Pretoria. Its range is +great, and gives easy command of the ravine in which our cavalry are +bivouacked by the riverside. One shell has already burst there, wounding +a man of the 18th Hussars, but fortunately the enemy cannot see the +result of this fire, the river for a mile in length being screened from +his view by intervening hills. + +_December 4._--One may skip Sunday when it is uneventful in its perfect +peace, as yesterday was, and be deeply thankful for the rest that is +given to us once a week when shells cease from troubling. The weather +has changed suddenly from brilliant sunshine and almost tropical heat to +cloudy skies that send the temperature down to shivering point. Few +shells fell in the town this morning, when groups gathered at street +corners discussing rumours of Lord Methuen's victory on Modder River, +which are now officially confirmed. General Clery is also said to have +defeated the Boers near Estcourt, but if so he did not get back the +cattle they had looted, for we have watched them for hours driving great +herds from southward up the roads that lead to Van Reenan's Pass. + +Our batteries here have for once been most aggressive, shelling the +enemy's position at Rifleman's Ridge vigorously, while the howitzers +directed their fire on Middle Hill without drawing a reply from the +6-inch Creusot, which Captain Christie and his gunners believe to have +been put out of action completely. His twin brother, "Puffing Billy" of +Bulwaan, was also silenced for a time, but has come back to quite his +old form this evening, and threw several shells into the town and camps, +where troops assembled to cheer the news of Lord Methuen's victory when +it was read out in general orders. + +_December 5._--The bombardment has been slack again to-day: all the +enemy's big guns silent. But there is great movement among the Boers, +who are apparently holding a great council of war at General Joubert's +headquarters. This may account for rumours of dissensions between the +Free State and Transvaal commandos. + +_December 6._--Now we know what the firing of Boer guns all round +Ladysmith at midnight of 19th November meant. It was a night alarm +magnified by imagination into a desperate sortie from Ladysmith, and a +correspondent of the _Diggers' News_ telegraphed his version of the +affair in glowing terms to that paper, giving full details of things +that never happened. A copy just received in camp causes much amusement. +Reference to my notes for the 19th of last month will show that we were +at perfect peace here. Not a man of this force except the ordinary +patrols moved on the night when we are reported to have made that +strenuous but futile effort to break through the enemy's lines, and not +a shot was fired on our side. The Boers must have been startled at their +own shadows or at the movements of a subaltern's patrol which they +magnified into an army, and having beat the big drum they perhaps tried +to justify themselves by sending that cock-and-bull story to Pretoria. + +To-night our troops are out for exercise, marching through the streets, +and singing or whistling merrily as they march. If the Boers get word of +this they may have another scare. The daily bombardment is now so much a +matter of course that one hardly makes a note of it unless some casualty +brings home to us the fact that nobody is safe while shells fly about. + +_December 7._--During a heavy cannonade in which our naval batteries +engaged Gun Hill and Bulwaan from six o'clock until ten this morning, +women and children were walking about the streets quite unconcerned. +Hundreds of shells have already fallen in the town, and there are some +zealous statisticians who compile charts showing exactly where each +shell struck and the direction from which it was fired, but the majority +of us do not concern ourselves much about any that burst beyond a radius +of fifty yards from our own camps or houses, and so many fall harmless +that we seldom ask whether anybody has been hit, and it sometimes +happens therefore that one does not hear of serious casualties except by +accident. It comes rather as a surprise to find that our losses since +the siege began, thirty-six days ago, amount to thirteen killed and one +hundred and forty-eight wounded. A battle might have been won at less +cost. + +This evening the 6-inch Creusot on Gun Hill was very active, directing +its fire toward headquarters at first, and then turning it on a building +which has just been selected for the new Post Office, to be opened when +communications are restored. It had a narrow escape of being blown to +ruins by a shell that entered through the roof and exploded inside. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SORTIES OF DECEMBER + + Retribution--Sir Archibald Hunter's bold scheme--A night + attack--Silently through the darkness--At the foot of Gun Hill--A + broken ascent--"Wie kom dar?" "The English are on us!"--Major + Henderson thrice wounded--Destroying "Leviathan"--Hussars suffer + under fire--Rejoicings in town--Sir George White's address to the + troops--Boer compliments--A raid for provender--A second + sortie--The Rifles' bold enterprise--An unwelcome light--Cutting + the wires--Surprise Hill reached--The sentry's challenge--The + Rifles' charge--Boer Howitzer destroyed--The return to + camp--Cutting the way home--Serious losses. + + + This constant shelling of the town could not go on for ever without + some attempt being made to stop it. Mr. Pearse had himself urged + the practicability of capturing or putting out of action at close + quarters the Boer big gun which could not be dealt with by our + shell-fire. This was now to be done. The Creusot gun just mounted + on Gun Hill, which like its neighbours had been given a name and + endowed with a personality by the nimble-witted among the garrison, + was to pay the penalty of its crimes, and the enterprise of which + this was the result formed one of the most brilliant incidents in + the history of the siege. + +Probably (writes Mr. Pearse) no corps within our lines has been more +deliberately shelled than the Imperial Light Horse, who were driven out +of one camp by "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, only to pitch their tents +by the river bank within sight of "Puffing Billy's" gunners, who had got +the range from Bulwaan to a nicety, so that they could pitch shell after +shell into the new encampment. Even their "Long Tom" also still pounded +at them by way of varying the monotony of a daily duel with our naval +guns. But the most annoying fire of all came from the newly-mounted +6-inch Creusot on Little Bulwaan, which, for the sake of distinction, is +known officially as Gun Hill, in front of Lombard's Kop. Having an +effective range that enables it to search with shell every part of our +camp that is visible, this weapon fired first in one direction, then in +another, changing its aim so frequently that nobody could predict where +the next shell might fall until it came hurtling through the air, in +dangerous proximity, with a sound that suggests the half-throttled +scream of a steam siren, and it generally finished, as it began, with a +few shots at the Imperial Light Horse, or their near neighbours the +Gordon Highlanders. + +I do not know whether the idea of putting an end to the career of this +worrying monster originated at headquarters, or grew out of the wish, +frequently expressed by Imperial Light Horse and Natal Volunteers, to +"have a go" at the enemy's guns--Sir George White has given the credit +to General Sir Archibald Hunter, and such an enterprise is worthy of +the man who stormed the Dervish stronghold at Abu Hamed, and led his +troops up to the flame of rifle fire that fringed Mahmud's zeriba on the +Atbara. He kept the whole scheme so secret that he did not even let his +aide-de-camp know anything about it until some time after dinner last +night. Then he sent round a brief message to Colonel Royston commanding +the Volunteer Forces of Natal, and to Colonel Edwardes of the Imperial +Light Horse. In accordance with this order the troops detailed got under +arms very quietly, taking all the ammunition they could carry, but +leaving their horses and cumbersome equipment in the lines, for Sir +Archibald had wisely resolved that all taking part in this expedition +must march the five miles out, and get back as best they could on foot, +neither troop horses nor officers' chargers being allowed to join the +column. Lord Ava, who is attached to Brigadier-General Hamilton's staff, +happened to be a guest of the Light Horse. Getting an inkling of some +mysterious movement, for which officers were arming themselves like +their men with rifles, he stole away to get a night free from galloper's +duties, shouldered a Lee-Enfield, crammed a bandolier full of +cartridges, and came back in time to join the ranks before they marched +off. + +It was then past ten o'clock; the crescent moon was "sloping slowly +towards the west" behind a bank of dark clouds, and in another hour the +faint light would have gone, giving place to a gloom that makes rocks, +trees, rough knolls, and deep dongas one shapeless black. General +Hunter's instructions were brief and simple, silence being the point +most strongly insisted on. For the rest, Imperial Light Horse and +Carbineers, to whom he entrusted the attack, were to follow their guides +and keep line if possible. These two corps contributed about one hundred +men each. The Border Mounted Rifles, Natal Volunteers, and a small field +force of Colonel Dartnell's Border Police, making altogether about four +hundred, were to be in reserve, the Border Mounted furnishing supports +and pushing them up the hill as each step in the ascent was gained. The +fourteen guides, with Major Henderson of the Intelligence branch as +staff officer, went ahead, and then the column moved off silently, the +order being passed from section to section in whispers. The Boers, five +miles off, would not have heard if a full band had played the +adventurous six hundred out; but we know that there are Boer emissaries +still in camp who might, by preconcerted signal, have given the alarm if +the unusual movement had aroused them and their suspicions. It was well, +therefore, to let such sleeping dogs lie. So the column marched in +silence along town roads, where nearly every house is deserted, and deep +dust muffled the tread of many feet until they were clear of the town, +and passing our outposts on Helpmakaar Hill. The forms of massed men +could be made out dimly where the Devon battalion rested under arms, +ready to give assistance in case of any reverse. + +From that point the Helpmakaar road leads straight round a scrubby nek +where the Boers have thrown up a formidable series of earthworks. To +avoid these, the column struck off across open veldt into a hollow where +men had to feel their way among stunted bushes of the "Wacht een bichte" +thorn, and across dongas where the sandy banks crumbled under weights +incautiously placed, and slid down with men into depths of six feet or +more. After floundering about there they climbed out again to re-form +with such regularity as was possible in the circumstances. But for the +guides, who seemed to know every inch of ground, right directions would +almost inevitably have been lost. As it was, however, they reached the +foot of Little Bulwaan (or Gun Hill) at twenty minutes to two, and +preparations were made for an immediate assault lest daylight should +come before the work could be accomplished. Everybody knew full well how +impossible it would be to get away from the position without terrible +losses, if the Boers could see to shoot It was pretty well known that +not many of them occupied Gun Hill, but the number encamped within reach +of it was a matter of pure speculation, dependent on the accuracy of +Kaffir stories which might be true of one day, but quite untrustworthy +twenty-four hours later; so rapid are the Boers in their movements, if +they get any suspicion that an attack is impending. + +Notwithstanding the difficulties of keeping touch across rough ground, +where silence was imposed, the different detachments, each with a guide +to lead it, marched so quietly that not a word was spoken, and all +arrived at their proper posts in admirable order, worthy of trained +troops. That, however, became somewhat broken as the ascent began, and +little wonder, for the boulders, rounded and worn smooth by the storms +of ages, were slippery to tread on, and occasionally a man's foot would +become wedged between them in a deep cleft. Here and there progress was +painfully slow, and the hill so steep that it had to be climbed on hands +and knees. The higher they climbed the worse it became, until, as one +man describing his own experiences said, they were like a lot of lizards +crawling over rocks. Half-way up the hill they had a narrow escape from +stumbling on a Boer picket. The sentry heard if he did not see the line +of crouching figures that passed him like ghosts in the darkness with +stealthy steps that must have sounded weird across the night stillness. +In a voice huskily vibrant, he challenged, "Wie kom dar?" Getting no +reply, he called again twice in louder tones, and then fired his rifle +at nothing in particular. Then, the whole picket waking, or beginning to +realise that danger was near, let off a volley, and voices were heard +shouting to comrades on the ridge. "The English are on us, Hans, Carl. +Shoot! shoot!" A few shots came from so close to one flank of the +Imperial Light Horse that Boers must have been lying there almost under +the feet of our men, if they did not actually join the ranks for a time +to escape detection. But a sound greeted their ears at that moment, and +knowing what it meant, they scampered downhill without waiting to hear +more. It was a ringing British cheer followed by strident commands to +"Fix bayonets and give the devils cold steel." Begun by Major Karri +Davis, the order ran along from Imperial Light Horse to Carbineers, who +had not a bayonet amongst them, for irregular mounted infantry in this +country do not carry such weapons. But they struck the butts of their +rifles on rocks, and made a great clatter as if preparing for a bayonet +charge, and cheered again and again for a good deal more than their +actual numbers, while crags on each hand tossed the shouts to and fro in +a mighty tumult. This was apparently too much for the small number of +Boers who held the crest. Letting off bullets in rapid succession, until +the magazines were exhausted, they turned and bolted, having hit only +ten of our men, one of whom, the tallest trooper in the Imperial Light +Horse, was badly wounded. In proportion to their numbers the guides +suffered most, having four out of fourteen hit, though none very +severely. The worst wound of all was from an explosive bullet similar to +those used in Express rifles for big-game shooting, and many missiles of +the same kind were seen to burst with a flash like shells as they +struck on stones round about, thus proving that the use of explosive +bullets by Boers is not quite so rare as most of us have believed +hitherto. Major Henderson received three wounds from buck-shot or +"loupalin," one of which penetrated deeply, but caused so little shock +at the time that he was able to keep pace with the best uphill. +Nevertheless, "scatter guns" are not weapons proper to be used in +warfare between civilised combatants. + +Halting for a brief breathing space, now and again, at General Hunter's +command, then following with all the speed they could muster where he +and his aide-de-camp, Major King, led the Imperial Light Horse on the +left, the Carbineers on their right made a final dash for the steepest +climb of all, and, breathless, gained the ridge, to find that the Boers +had quitted it, leaving not a man in defence of the guns. A great stroke +of luck befell the Imperial Light Horse, who crossed the heights with +their left flank opposite a Boer 12-pounder and Maxim gun. The latter +they made a clean capture of, but the field-piece, being too heavy for +them to carry off, was left to the tender mercies of the engineers, who +soon had bracelets of gun-cotton round it, and the breech-pieces damaged +beyond repair. + +Meanwhile the right flank was sweeping round towards the main battery in +expectation of meeting with some resistance from the gun's crew of "Big +Ben of Little Bulwaan." That weapon had, in virtue of similar qualities, +succeeded to "Long Tom's" second title, but did not live long to enjoy +it. The end of his active career was at hand when the Light Horse made +their dash for him and found that he had been deserted by all his +friends. It was poetical justice that Colonel Edwardes and Major Karri +Davis of the corps which Big Ben had shelled most persistently should be +first to lay hands on him and claim every part that could be taken away +as a rightful trophy for the Imperial Light Horse. But Major Henderson, +in spite of his wounds, General Sir Archibald Hunter, and Major King +were in the redoubt at that moment, and therefore the honours are +divided. Doctor Platt, of the Border Mounted, claims to have been among +the first four in. Some of the Carbineers are also under the impression +that they captured a gun, and though there is nothing to show for it, +they deserve full credit for an important share in the night's success. +A line was formed in rear of the battery, while engineers put rings of +gun-cotton round Big Ben's muzzle and breech. Then fuses were set +alight, and our men retired hastily beyond reach of the imminent +explosion. After that engineers and artillerymen went back to make sure +that their work had not been bungled, and saw with satisfaction that the +gun-cotton had rent great holes through Big Ben's breech in two places, +rendering him totally unfit for foreign service. This was the crowning +act of a great achievement, and the force that had aided in its +accomplishment marched back to camp triumphantly just as day broke. + +As a precautionary measure, in case there should be a reverse, and with +the object also of cutting off any fugitive Boers who might fly +panic-stricken from Gun Hill, the 19th Hussars had gone earlier to make +a demonstration by way of Limit Hill, towards Modder's Spruit, and +destroy some Boer stores. With characteristic faith in the luck that has +favoured bold cavalry enterprises so often, they pushed far forward and +gained some valuable information at the risk of being cut off, but +fortunately that did not happen. Meanwhile the 18th, jealous for the +great reputation they have won as scouts, attempted a movement even more +hazardous. In advance of General Brocklehurst's reconnoitring force one +squadron of this regiment made straight for a position which the enemy +was believed to hold in strength between Pepworth's and Surprise Hill. +To do this they crossed near a deep cutting through which the Harrismith +railway passes, and there came under a terribly heavy fire, against +which even their hardihood was not proof. Retiring, they made a detour +to avoid unnecessary exposure, and swept round two small kopjes, where +not a Boer had been seen previously. But, as it happened, the stony +ridges were full of riflemen, who, without emerging from their +concealment, brought a furious fusillade to bear on the Hussars, who had +to run the gauntlet at full speed, all but one, and he, with gallant +self-sacrifice, rode straight towards the nearer kopje, drawing the +whole fire on himself, and thus giving his comrades time to get clear. +Fortunately not a bullet touched him as he wheeled about, lay flat on +his saddle-bow, and galloped after the squadron. Its retreat was covered +by a very pretty movement of the main body and by salvos of shrapnel +from our field batteries, with the naval guns chiming in. Then the +reconnoitring force slowly withdrew across the plain towards Junction +Hill, still under a rifle fire heavier even than we had to face on the +slopes of Elandslaagte, though not so well directed. Several saddles, +however, were emptied, bringing our losses in this affair up to five +killed and seventeen wounded. Of these considerably more than half were +18th Hussars, whose ranks have been seriously thinned since they marched +to Dundee less than eight weeks ago. + +In camps and town everybody is elated to-day. Casting aside the sombre +garb that was suitable to retirement, ladies have come forth clad in +raiment that is festively bright to go a-shopping, as if there were no +such things as shells to disturb them, and no cares greater than +feminine frivolities. If the siege were at an end, and peace within +sight, we could hardly be more joyously animated, and all because two +hundred gallant fellows, led by a dashing General, have shown how Boer +positions may be captured at night, and Boer siege guns silenced for +ever with small loss. + +Sir George White ordered special parades for the afternoon of all +volunteers, guides, Irregular Horse, and Frontier Police Force who had +taken part in the attack on Gun Hill. Each corps had its own appointed +place for the ceremony, and Sir George visited them in turn to +congratulate them on their brilliant achievement. For the guides, who +are attached as scouts, interpreters, and field orderlies to the +Intelligence Staff, the General had special words of praise. Without +their valuable aid the enterprise might have been doomed to failure, and +he expressed high appreciation of their gallantry, not less than of the +skill they had shown in guiding a column over difficult ground when +there was not light enough to make a single landmark visible except the +sky-line of Gun Hill. To the Imperial Light Horse he paid an equally +flattering tribute. As the men of three companies were drawn up in line +to receive him, "Puffing Billy" tried to put a spoke in their wheel by +sending a shell very near one flank, and the line was accordingly broken +into close column with a short front, so that it be hidden by house and +trees from sight of the gunners on Bulwaan. At that moment Sir George +White, with General Sir Archibald Hunter, General Brocklehurst, and a +number of staff officers, rode to the ground, and were received by a +general salute, to which the presence of two or three wounded men with +arms in blood-stained slings gave emphasis, as they had no rifles +wherewith to shoulder and present. + +The officers on parade were Colonel Edwardes, commanding, Major Karri +Davis, Major Doveton, Lieutenant Fitzgerald, adjutant, Captain Fowler, +commanding F Company, Captain Mullins, B Company, and Captain +Codrington, E Company, with their subalterns, Lieutenants Brooking, +Normand, Matthias, Pakeman, Kirk, and Huntley, all of whom had been in +the fight except Major Doveton, who volunteered for it, but was +compelled to stay in camp for field-officer's duties. His seniors had +the privilege of first choice, and insisted on it, so there was nothing +left for him but submission to the inevitable. As a tribute to the men +whose heroic achievement is the brightest episode in this long siege, +Sir George White's soldierly speech will interest readers at home. +Addressing Colonel Edwardes, he said: + +"General Hunter, who planned and carried out the very successful +movement of this morning, has reported to me the very efficient help +that he received from the men of the Imperial Light Horse as well as the +other corps who were employed. When he told me last night that he was +anxious to have a shy at the gun on Gun Hill, there was one thing that I +determined on, and that was, that I would give him the best support that +I could. I knew I could trust you to help on account of your knowledge +of the business which you have taken in hand in this campaign, and on +account of your bravery and your steadiness. I was also confident of +your intelligent individual action in case there might be any +difficulty to overcome. I have come here to express to you my +appreciation of the value of the work you did last night, and also to +thank you for it. It will be a great pleasure to me to report to General +Sir Redvers Buller, whose name brings confidence wherever it is +mentioned, on the work you have done, not only on this occasion, but on +every occasion when it has been my good luck to have your assistance. I +have no doubt there is a great deal more hard fighting before us, and my +only hope is that you will do as well in the future as in the past, so +that I may be able to say at the end of this campaign as I now say in +the middle of it, that your behaviour is an honour not only to your own +country and colony, but to the whole empire. Colonel Edwardes, I don't +wish to keep you any longer, owing to the circumstance that 'Long Tom' +of Bulwaan may interfere in this conference, but once more I thank you +one and all." + +Lusty cheers were then given for Sir George White, General Hunter, +General Brocklehurst, and Colonel Edwardes. Sir George White's +appreciation of the heroic achievement is shared by Boer leaders, and in +their case it is all the more flattering because expressed while they +are smarting under the humiliation of a great loss. Dr. Davis, with +another medical officer and some ambulance men, went up Gun Hill at +daybreak under a flag of truce, to look after the wounded men who could +not be found when their comrades came down in the dark. Giving no heed +to the Geneva Cross, some Boers made Dr. Davis and his companions +prisoners, and they were taken before Commandant Schalk-Burger, who +received them with scant courtesy at first. In the end, however, he paid +a great compliment to the Light Horse on their plucky deed. One Boer +officer who stood by said he thought they all deserved the Victoria +Cross, and another showed familiarity with English habits of thought by +describing the night attack as "a devilish sporting thing." They wanted +to know who led it, and the answer has given Sir Archibald Hunter a +place in Boer estimation among the British soldiers whom they would +rather meet as friends than as enemies. + +The Imperial Light Horse are celebrating their achievement by a +brilliant gathering to-night, and have feasted their guests on so many +good things that one begins to doubt whether there can be much scarcity +in camp, though ordinary articles of food, and especially drink, are +running up rapidly to famine prices. + +Plenty in the Imperial Light Horse larder may however be accounted for +by success in another night attack about which one did not hear so much, +though it was carried out with characteristic dash as a preliminary to +the greater enterprise that followed twenty-four hours later. One +company of the Imperial Light Horse, being on outpost duty south of +Waggon Hill, had conceived the idea of a midnight raid on Bester's Farm, +whence the Boers, after an effective occupation of several weeks, had +retired, leaving a Red Cross flag still attached to a thorn bush in the +garden, by way of suggesting that poultry and pigs should be regarded as +under the protection of the Geneva Convention. They did not go far, +however, and parties of them came down to the farm nearly every night +for supplies. The Light Horse, having impartial minds, thought they +might as well "chip in" for some of the good things. So they made their +raid, and came back laden with provender. Much of this they distributed +with a liberality that has won for them and for all Natal Volunteers +concurrently the title of "friendlies," which will certainly stick as +long as British troops and Colonial Irregulars campaign together. Some +fat turkeys were part of the loot, and they helped to make a right royal +feast to-night, when the gallant "friendlies" had their cup of happiness +filled by warm congratulations from the Gordons, the Devons, and every +cavalry regiment with which they are brigaded. + + Such brilliant achievements as the above might, it was soon felt, + be more difficult in future, the enemy having been put upon his + guard; but all the good-comradeship in the world could not prevent + some jealousy being felt, and nobody can pretend to regret that a + spirit of noble emulation has thus been roused. There had never + been any lack of men ready for work of that kind from the first day + of investment. Devons and Gordons had volunteered weeks before to + take the Boer guns from which the defenders suffered most + annoyance, any night the General might give them permission; but + those fine battalions were wanted for important duties in the + purely defensive scheme, and so they had to lie behind earthworks + or in bomb-proof structures, half tent, half cave, shelled when + they ventured to move out by day, kept on the alert through many + hours of weary night, and called to arms again an hour before dawn. + They had shown--and the same is true of every corps and detachment + in the garrison--the most splendid endurance. Indeed, the only + signs of impatience seen among the troops were the outcome of an + eager desire to be led out against the enemy, that they might get + some satisfaction for the losses and annoyance to which they had + been subjected from the long-range fire of Boer artillery. + + Now, however, the regulars, who had long been ready for any + service, in view of the brilliant performance of the irregulars, + regarded inaction as a slur upon their particular regiments. The + feeling resulted in a second attempt being made, this time to + destroy the enemy's big gun on Surprise Hill. Though it failed to + win an equal success, it was a hardly less brilliant performance, + and forms another engrossing page in Mr. Pearse's story. Writing on + 11th December, he thus describes the enterprise from its inception:-- + +Lieut.-Colonel Metcalfe of the 2nd Rifle Brigade gave expression +yesterday to a general desire that the regulars should be allowed a +chance to prove their mettle, by sending to Sir George White a request +that his battalion might be allowed to attack the Boer position on +Surprise Hill and silence the howitzer there. This request had to be +sanctioned by Brigadier-General Howard, who, as an old Rifle Brigade +officer, was nothing loth to add strong reasons why the step should be +taken. Other corps might be panting for opportunities of distinction, +but the Rifle Brigade, having held the post on Cove Hill which now bears +its name under fire from this howitzer for weeks past, had a right to +claim that their chance should come first. + +Sir George White, fully appreciating Colonel Metcalfe's plea of +privilege and the spirit that animated it, gave consent at once, and +left Colonel Metcalfe free to carry out his plan unhampered by any +conditions save those of ordinary military prudence. He did not even +give the direction of it to a staff officer, and though the Intelligence +Department furnished guides it took no active part in the affair, for +the success or failure of which Colonel Metcalfe alone held himself +responsible. Major Altham saw the column off and accompanied it for some +distance, but only as a spectator, and that no farther than the initial +stage, beyond which everything was shrouded in darkness. The new moon, +sinking behind heavy clouds, gave little light when the men fell into +rank by companies for their march. There were about 450 rifles all told. +To these must be added two small detachments of artillery and engineers, +taking with them charges of gun-cotton. The whole command numbered no +more than 469, and they were going for one of the strongest Boer +positions by which our force is ringed about. + +Captain Gough's company was detached to lead the right assault, and +Major Thesiger's the left, each having with it a section of C Company. +Captains Paley and Stephens were to bring their companies close up in +support, while Lieutenant Byrne was in command of E Company, forming the +reserve. Only a small detachment of ambulance men with four stretchers +followed the column as it moved off a few minutes after ten o'clock, +across open ground by Observation Hill, and turned westward towards its +objective, which could just be seen, a dim rounded mass like a darker +cloud in the dark sky. The guides Ashby and Thornhill had no difficulty +in finding their way without other landmarks, for every inch of the +ground is familiar to them both. An unlooked-for obstacle, however, +presented itself as they neared the nek that joins Thornhill's Kop with +Rietfontein on Pepworth's Ridge. A break in clouds that hung behind +Surprise Hill let light through from the crescent moon that was still +well above the rugged Drakensberg Crags. + +In that light, subdued though it was, a man crossing the nek would have +shown up sharply, and Boer sentries always keep well down where they can +watch the sky-line. Our troops, naturally anxious not to discover +themselves prematurely, lay down in a convenient donga and waited for +darkness. There they had to lie an hour or longer, until the nearest +ridges were again merged in the gloom of their surroundings, and the +more distant hills became vague shadows, perceptible only to the second +sight of men who are familiar with Nature in all aspects. Then the +column, moving silently, advanced towards the railway line, which few +could see until they were stopped by the barbed wire that fences it on +each side. The necessity for cutting this was another awkward hindrance. +All officers, however, had come provided for such an emergency with +wire-nippers. The anxiety was painfully tense as men listened to the +sharp click of these instruments, and heard the severed wires drop with +a clatter that struck harp-like across the deep silence, and went +vibrating along the fence towards a Boer camp where perhaps some sentry, +more alert than his comrades, might catch the meaning of such sounds. No +alarm followed, however, as the work of wire-cutting went on across the +railway and from enclosure to enclosure, care being taken to bend the +wires only in one place so that they could be bent back, leaving a space +just wide enough for successive companies in fours to defile through. + +Thus by slow degrees they gained the foot of Surprise Hill, and began +the difficult ascent. Colonel Metcalfe, and probably most of his men, +expected that they would have been met by Boer rifle fire long before +this and compelled to win their way with the bayonet. It seemed almost +impossible to believe that the Boers, after one sharp lesson, would keep +no better watch than to let us creep up to their stronghold unopposed. +Suddenly a challenge "Wie kom dar?" rang out from half-way up the hill. +Silence would serve no longer, and indeed it had been broken again and +again by the clang of iron-heeled boots on loose stones. So the order to +fix swords was given, and passed in stentorian tones along the front. +Sword-bayonets rattled sharply against rifle barrels to show that there +was no deception this time, and then with lusty cheers the assaulting +companies sprang forward, floundering at times in deep clefts between +boulders, then re-forming to continue their advance, while the supports +and reserves fell as quickly as they could into the formation that is +roughly indicated in the accompanying diagram. That plan had been +adopted to guard against flank attacks by the oblique fire from two +companies, between which an opening was left for the assaulting +companies to retire through in case of reverses. But neither flank +attack nor reverses came at this critical point. Major Thesiger and +Captain Gough, following their respective guides, gained the crest +before their enemies had time to fire many shots from magazine rifles, +and the battery was won. But it contained neither gun nor gunners. Was +the whole expedition therefore fruitless? No! there came sounds as of +men at work stealthily a few yards off. + +For that point a sergeant led his section, and found the howitzer with a +few men round it as escort, bearing rifles. The men threw down their +arms in token of submission, but that trick has been played too often. +"This damned nonsense is too late," said the sergeant, and with +levelled bayonets his sections swept away the chance of treachery. So +the story runs, and at any rate our men pushed forward without further +opposition until they formed a half-moon overlooking the darkness in a +deep valley that might have been full of foes. Into that darkness, +therefore, they poured steady volleys for half an hour, while the +engineers were trying to destroy the captured howitzer. Their first +attempt failed owing to a defective fuse, but with the next gun-cotton +charge a fracture was made so deep that the howitzer will never be able +to fire a shot again. Then the riflemen retired, and as they reached a +safe distance downhill they heard a mightier explosion. This also was +the work of our engineers, who had found a magazine and blown it up with +all the ammunition there. + +But now from flanks and rear came heavy rifle fire. Colonel Metcalfe, +thinking he was being fired on by his own supports, rode towards them, +calling upon Captains Paley and Stephen by name to cease firing. But he +was met by a withering volley, and knew it must have come from enemies. +At the same time a sergeant going off in another direction, and calling, +"Second Rifle Brigade, are you there?" was received by answers in +English, and before he had discovered his mistake three rifle-bullets +stung him, but for all that he managed to get back in safety to his +company. Then the Adjutant-Captain Dawnay, assisted by Major Wing of the +Artillery, who had come out from camp as a volunteer unattached, did +successful work in getting together sections that had gone astray in the +intense darkness. + +It was almost impossible to see anything a yard off. One man felt +something brush against him, and said by way of precaution, "Third Rifle +Brigade?" "Yes," was the response, but at that moment the rattle of a +rifle warned him. He saw something white, which was certainly not part +of a British soldier's campaigning uniform, and, driving at that, got +his bayonet into a Dutchman's shirt just in time to save himself from +being shot. An officer had an exciting bout with a Kaffir who was +fighting on the Boer side, the weapon on one side being a broomstick +that had been used as an alpenstock for hill-climbing, and on the other +a Mauser rifle which the Kaffir had no chance to reload, so quickly were +the blows showered upon him, and a bayonet-thrust delivered at hazard as +he ran put an end to his fighting for the time at least. Our men were +dropping fast from rifle shots, and they had somehow missed touch with +Captain Paley's company. That officer's name was called several times, +but no answer came until the Boers on one side began shouting in good +English, "Captain Paley, here is your company, sir," and a few men +decoyed that way were shot down. The difficulty of finding wounded +comrades in the darkness was great, but still several gallant fellows +made the attempt, and brought no less than thirty-five out of the fight +over ground so broken that they frequently stumbled and fell with their +groaning burdens. One of them begged to be left there, but his +entreaties were met with the response, "Oh, cheer up, old chum; a +stretcher in camp is better than a cell in Pretoria." + +While these gallant acts of mercy were being done by men whose blood had +been at fighting heat but a few minutes before, their comrades were +forming for a charge on dongas thick with Boers, whose rifles rang out +incessantly. Bayonets soon did their work. Before that charge the Boers +would not stand, but fled off to fire from a safer distance. One lying +wounded held some papers up, and said, "I am an American correspondent"; +but unfortunately for him he had a rifle in his hand and it was hot. +Captain Paley, at first returned as missing, was, as it happens, leading +that charge at one point. Hearing calls for him he led his company +towards them, but likewise found himself discovered, and had just +ordered the charge when three bullets bowled him over, and he lay there +until the enemy came at dawn and found him with other wounded; but his +fall was quickly avenged, for his company charged gallantly, and made a +way for themselves clean through the Boers. Colonel Metcalfe succeeded +in bringing the main body of his troops away in unbroken formation, the +detached sections following, and quickly falling into order ready for +another fight; but the Boers did not molest them again, though we know +now that reinforcements numbering over 2000 had been specially sent +that night to guard against a possible attack on Surprise Hill. + +When our ambulance detachments went forward at daybreak they were fired +upon, though Commandant Erasmus had sent under a flag of truce asking +that surgeons and burying parties should go out from our camp. The +medical staff were also made prisoners, and sent before Erasmus and +Schalk-Burger, who, after many questions, released them with the most +seriously wounded, among whom was Captain Paley. Lieutenant Ferguson +died before he could be brought in. Our losses in this night attack, or +rather in the fight that followed it, were 11 killed and 43 wounded, +including Colonel Metcalfe slightly, Captain Paley, Captain Gough, +Lieutenant Brand, and Lieutenant Davenport. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AFTER COLENSO + + The Town-Guard called out--Echoes of Colenso--Heliograms from + Buller--The Boers and Dingaan's Day--Disappointing news--Special + correspondents summoned--Victims of the bombardment--Shaving under + shell fire--Tea with Lord Ava--Boer humour: "Where is Buller?"--Sir + George White's narrow escape--A disastrous shot--Fiftieth day of + the siege--Grave and gay--"What does England think of us?"--Stoical + artillerymen--The moral courage of caution--How Doctor Stark was + killed--Serious thoughts--Gordons at play--Boers watch the match--A + story by the way--"My name is Viljoen"--How Major King won his + liberty--A tribute to Boer hospitality--General White and + Schalk-Burger--A coward chastised--"Sticking it out." + + + The week that followed the sortie to Surprise Hill must have been + one of intense anxiety to Sir George White and his Staff. The + attack on the enemy's gun positions coincided with General Sir + Redvers Buller's preparations to force the passage of the Tugela at + Colenso, and to march to the relief of Ladysmith. This, however, + was not generally known in the town, which was engaged by what was + taking place nearer at hand. On 12th December Mr. Pearse wrote:-- + +The big gun on Middle Hill, which the great "Twin Brethren" had put out +of action some days before, was taken to Telegraph Hill and mounted in +a strong position, whence its shells reached Cove Ridge, King's +Point, and other defensive works with unpleasant persistency. Captain +Christie's howitzers were therefore removed to a bend of Klip River, +with the object of subduing this gun's fire again, if possible. It was +apparently expected that the Boers would attempt reprisals for our night +attacks. The Town Guard and local Rifle Association, having been duly +embodied, were called out to line the river bank facing Bulwaan, and to +assist in the defence of their town, but the Commandant still remained +at Intombi Camp with sick, wounded, and non-combatants. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NEARLY DUE +SOUTH] + + On December 15, the day of the disastrous attempt at Colenso, + General Buller's guns could be plainly heard. Mr. Pearse has the + following entries in his note-book:-- + +_December 16._--Except for a bombardment heavier than ordinary, the past +three days have been uneventful. Sounds of battle reached us in a dull +roar from the distant southward. They grew more continuous yesterday, +but rolled no nearer, and therefore told us nothing except that Sir +Redvers Buller was making a vigorous effort to join hands with +beleaguered Ladysmith, and that the Boers were with equal stubbornness +trying to beat him back along the banks of the Tugela. From far-off +Umkolumbu Mountain heliograph signals were flashed to us occasionally, +but in cipher, the meaning of which is known only at headquarters. At +dawn this morning the Boers celebrated Dingaan's Day by a royal salute +from the big Creusot on Bulwaan and fourteen other guns. All fired +shells, which fell thick about the camps, killing one Artilleryman, one +Gordon Highlander, and a civilian; several other men were slightly +wounded by splinters, but none seriously. + +_December 17._--Depressing news is now made public from Sir Redvers +Buller, who made his effort on Friday for the relief of Ladysmith and +failed. He bids us wait in patience for another month until siege +artillery can reach him. The special correspondents were summoned in +haste this morning to hear an abridged version of the heliograph message +read. They were asked to break this news gently to the town before +unauthorised editions could get abroad, but somehow the ill tidings had +travelled fast and with more fulness of detail than the Intelligence +Department thought fit to divulge. There has been gloom over Ladysmith +to-day, which blazing sunshine cannot dispel, and Colonials in their +anger use strong language, for which a temperature of 107° in the shade +may be in some measure accountable. + + Mr. Pearse's notes for the next few days are mainly devoted to the + bombardment, which now became hotter and more persistent than ever, + their success at the Tugela having inspired the enemy with new + hopes of reducing the town. On Monday the 18th + +the shelling began at daybreak, and lasted with little intermission +until nearly dark from Boer guns all round our positions. Bulwaan began +by throwing a shrapnel, which burst low over the camp of Natal +Carabineers when the men were at morning stables. Four of them were +killed, seven wounded, and a private of the Royal Engineers so badly hit +that he lingered only a few hours. The same shell killed eleven horses +in the Carabineer lines. In the town many people had narrow escapes when +Bulwaan's 6-inch Creusot swept round, bringing its fire to bear with +destructive effect on several prominent houses. One man lying in bed had +a shell pass over him from head to foot within a few inches of his body. +It burst on striking the floor, and well-nigh stifled him with dust and +sulphurous fumes. When Bulwaan ceased Telegraph Hill began throwing +shells even to the Manchester sangars on Cæsar's Camp, wounding three or +four men, and one private of that regiment was killed by a Pom-Pom shot +from the ridge beyond Bester's Farm. + +On the following day, an hour after dawn, the shelling became hot about +headquarters, then, however, changed its direction nearer to Captain +Vallentin's house, in which Colonel Rhodes was generally found about +breakfast, lunch, and dinner-time as a member of the 7th Brigade mess. +Later the Police Station, or some building near it, seemed to have a +curious fascination for the gunners of Bulwaan. They dropped shells now +in front, then in rear, of the Court-house, but always in the same line, +so that, for half an hour or so, Colonel Dartnell and his men had a warm +time. One of their tents was hit, but luckily nobody happened to be in +it at that moment. On Wednesday the 20th, too, one of the first shells +from Bulwaan burst close to the Police Camp after passing through a row +of slender trees and along the fence, inside which Colonel Dartnell's +orderly was just preparing to shave. He had his looking-glass on a rail +of the fence, when between it and himself, a distance of not more than +two feet, the shell ripped with a deafening shriek, to bury itself and +burst by the root of a tree not three yards off. How this man escaped +death is a wonder. The wall behind him was scarred by splinters, the +iron fence in front torn and twisted into strange shapes, the rails +crushed to matchwood by the force of concussion. Yet there he stood +unscathed in the midst of it all. He had not heard the shell coming +until its burst stunned, and for nearly a minute afterwards he remained +motionless, too dazed to know what had happened. + +In the afternoon (writes Mr. Pearse) Lord Ava and I rode out to have +afternoon tea with the officers of Major Goulburn's battery on Waggon +Hill. Some Boers apparently had a larger and more festive gathering in +the dismantled fort on Middle Hill. They were well within range of our +12-pounder, and the middy in charge was very anxious to have a shot, but +Major Goulburn decided not to waste ammunition in breaking up that tea +party or 'dop raad.' I confess this seemed to me a mistake, for Boers +were sniping across Bester's Valley with such persistency that we had to +keep a sharp watch on our knee-haltered ponies lest they should stray +towards the dangerous zone, where one man of the Manchesters was killed +directly he showed himself. There would have been some satisfaction in a +reprisal, but orders are very strict against wasting ammunition, of +which by the way we have none to spare that might not be wanted if the +enemy should venture on a general attack. + +On the same evening the Boers on Bulwaan signalled to the Gordons at Fly +Kraal Post--"Where is Buller now? He has presented us with ten guns in +place of three you took." + + What seemed like the answer came on the following day, the 21st, + when we have the following entry:-- + +Sir Redvers Buller's heavy batteries opened fire early this morning from +some position south-west of Colenso. We feel, though we have no means of +knowing for certain, that large reinforcements must have been sent that +way recently from round about Ladysmith, leaving the lines of investment +comparatively weak. Our enemy, however, makes a great show of being +strong here by keeping up a more vicious bombardment when the situation +threatens to become warm for him along the Tugela. His object, of +course, is to discourage any diversion on our part, and it succeeds, +because we have no motive for action yet. It is hard to have been cooped +up for fifty days under fire, but we must make the best of it. + +After trying in vain to reach the ordnance stores this morning Bulwaan +got the range of headquarters. One shell burst a few yards short, the +next crashed into Sir Henry Rawlinson's room, smashing all the furniture +to atoms. Sir George White was lying in another room ill of a low fever, +and there was naturally much anxiety on his account. For a long time he +refused to be moved, but at length, under pressure of the whole staff, +gave way, and consented to change his quarters to a camp less exposed. +Immunity from shell fire is hardly possible within our lines now, for +the Boers have mounted another howitzer on Surprise Hill to-day, and +this, with the big Creusot still on Telegraph Hill, will probably search +many places that have hitherto been comparatively safe, for our +howitzers cannot keep down the fire of both. + +_December 22._--This was a day of heavy calamity for one regiment, and +marked by more serious casualties than any other since the siege began. +At six o'clock this morning a shell from Bulwaan struck the camp of the +ill-fated Gloucesters on Junction Hill just as the men were at +breakfast. It killed six and wounded nine, of whom three are very +seriously hurt. A little later the big gun on Telegraph Hill threw a +shell into the cavalry lines. It burst among the 5th Lancers, who were +at morning inspection, and wounded Colonel Fawcett, Major King, a +captain, the adjutant, a senior lieutenant, the regimental +sergeant-major, a troop sergeant-major, and a sergeant. The last had an +eye knocked out, but the others were only slightly wounded, and when +their injuries had been looked to, they all formed in a group to be +photographed. + +_December 23._--After early morning on Saturday came a strange lull in +the bombardment, and people who count the shells as they fall, for lack +of other employment, found their favourite occupation gone. Even the +pigeons that are kept in training here for future military use seemed +reluctant to fly in the still air, missing probably the excitement of +sounds that urge them to revel in multitudinous cross-currents when +shells are about; and long-tailed Namaqua doves flitted mute about the +pine branches, as if unable to coo an amorous note without the usual +accompaniment. Quiet did not reign all day, however. Towards evening the +enemy's gun on Rifleman's Ridge, or Lancer's Nek, opened straight over +the general's new quarters, to which Sir George White had only changed +half an hour earlier. This may be merely a coincidence, but it is +strange that no shells have fallen near his house at the foot of Port +Road since he quitted it. Artillery could be heard southward at +intervals pounding away with dull thuds like the beats of time on a big +drum muffled. But we have almost ceased to speculate on the meaning of +such sounds--while they come no nearer this way there is no message of +relief to us in them, and we are getting reconciled to the idea of +waiting, irksome though it may be and heavy with many unpleasant +possibilities. + + Ladysmith had now been for fifty days under the fire of the enemy's + guns. The situation after Sir Redvers Buller's first failure to + relieve the town, as has been seen, grew more serious, and although + it was very far indeed from what could be regarded as critical, + there is to be remarked in telegrams and letters of this period a + growing appreciation of its irksomeness. But dark as the sky looked + it was flecked by many a brighter patch. There was a gay as well as + a grave side to life in the besieged town, and to both Mr. Pearse + does justice in a letter written on 21st December under the + heading, "Amenities of a Siege." It is as follows:-- + +We have done our best to endure shells, privations, and the approach of +a sickly season with fortitude if not absolute cheerfulness, and our +hope is that though the position here may not seem a very glorious one, +it will be recognised henceforth as an example of the way in which +British soldiers and colonists of British descent can bear themselves in +circumstances that try the best qualities of men and women. + +"I wonder what they think of us in England now? Do they regard us as +heroes or damned fools for stopping here?" asked an officer of the +King's Royal Rifles with comic seriousness. This question was +transmitted in a slightly varied form by heliograph signal to our +comrades south of the Tugela one day, and the answering flashes came +back, "You are heroes; not----" Here the message was interrupted by +clouds, and lost in a series of confused dashes which the receiving +signaller could not read. We flatter ourselves, however, that the +missing words were full of generous appreciation. + +There is little enough reaching us from the outer world calculated to +"buck up" troops who feel the ignominy of having a passively defensive +role thrust upon them for "strategic reasons," cribbed, cabined, and +confined within a ring of hills by forces believed to be inferior to +their own, and exposed daily to shell fire, which, if not so destructive +as our enemies intend it to be, brings a possible tragedy with every +fragment of the thousands that fall about us. Counting eight hundred +bullets and jagged bits of iron within the bursting area of one shrapnel +shell from Bulwaan, a civilian expressed wonder that anybody should be +left alive in Ladysmith after forty days of bombardment. Since then the +shelling has been even hotter and more destructive; but, fortunately, +Boer guns do not fire many shrapnel, nor do the shells burst always in +places where they can do most damage. Many portions of the camp +unprotected by works in any shape cannot be seen from the enemy's +batteries, and though often searched for by shells thrown at haphazard, +our Cavalry, Artillery, and Army Service lines have frequently escaped +being hit by a good fortune that seems almost miraculous. One day three +successive shells fell and burst between the guns of a battery, but the +artillerymen, standing by their harnessed horses, did not move or seem +to take any notice of the vicious visitors. Such is the etiquette of a +service which, while firmly believing in the efficacy of its own fire, +is trained to ignore that of an enemy's guns. Nevertheless gunners, like +less stoical mortals, appreciate the value of bomb-proof shelters when +shells are flying about; and experience, during this siege of Ladysmith, +should have taught us all the dangers of carelessness when by timely +discretion many calamities might have been averted. + +But many people have not the moral courage to show caution when warned +that shots are coming, so they stand still and take their chance instead +of seeking shelter; or possibly it might be more just to say that +fatalism in some form arms them with a fortitude which cannot be shaken +by shells. Soldiers on duty stick, as a matter of course, to their +posts, or go straight on with work that has to be done whatever the +dangers may be; but just now I am not thinking so much of them as of +civilians and troops in their leisure moments, for whom exposure is not +a necessity. The townsfolk can, if they choose, find almost absolute +safety by spending their days in cool caverns beside the river, or +bomb-proof shelters cleverly constructed near their own houses; and care +has been taken by the military authorities to provide every defensive +position round the open camp and town with shelter trenches and covered +ways, where soldiers off duty may rest secure from the heaviest shell +fire. Yet after all there is much to be said in favour of the fatalists +who put their trust in a Power greater than human agencies or foresight +can control. They, at any rate, do not meet troubles half-way or suffer +the terrible depression that leaves its traces on those who pass their +days in dark damp caves, and only venture forth at night when danger +seems to have passed, though that is by no means certain. + +In one of my early telegrams to the _Daily News_, sent by Kaffir runner, +I told briefly how Dr. Stark met his death at a time of apparent +security. Descended, I believe, from one of the most famous of +West-Country Nonconformists, he held views strongly in sympathy with +what he regarded as the legitimate aspirations of an eminently religious +community, and he came here as a visitor from England with the avowed +object of giving medical care to any wounded enemies who might fall into +our hands. When Boer shells began to burst about our ears Dr. Stark was +the most practical advocate of caution. He would leave the Royal Hotel +at daybreak every morning or even earlier, carrying with him a pet +kitten in a basket, and sufficient supplies for a whole day up to +dinner-time. When the light began to fade so that gunners could hardly +see to shoot straight, and therefore ceased firing, he would emerge from +his riverside retreat and return to the hotel. Foresight could not +suggest more complete precautions against accident than he took on +common-sense principles. But, unhappily, one evening the Boer artillery +carried on practice later than usual, aiming with fixed sights steadily +at the Royal Hotel, in the evident hope of hitting some staff officers +who were supposed to hold their mess there. It was nearly dark when two +shells came in rapid succession from the big gun near Lombard's Kop, and +the second, passing clean through Dr. Stark's empty bedroom into the +hall below, went out by an open door and hit the doctor, who was coming +in at that moment. A special correspondent, Mr. McHugh, who happened to +be standing near, rendered first-aid by the application of a tourniquet; +and trained nurses came quickly to his assistance, but too late to save +the kindly gentleman, who had been shot through both legs, and whose +life-blood was ebbing fast, though he remained alive and conscious of +everything that passed for an hour afterwards. The hand of fate seemed +there, but whether it was more merciful to him or to those who, having +escaped shot and shell, are now stricken by disease in an unhealthy +camp, who shall say? + +Incidents of this kind turn our thoughts to a serious complexion at +times, and if a stranger could come suddenly into our midst in the +moments of depression we should not perhaps strike him as a particularly +cheerful community. Yet war even under these conditions has its +amenities, and our mirthful moods, though chastened by events that +thrust themselves upon us with unpleasant insistence, are not +infrequent. For many welcome breaks in the monotony of daily life we are +indebted to the officers and men of regiments that will not allow +themselves or their neighbours to get into the doldrums for lack of such +sports and entertainments as ingenuity can improvise. In this respect +the Natal Carbineers, Imperial Light Horse, and Gordon Highlanders have +shown a praiseworthy zeal, being encamped near each other, and having so +far an advantage over regiments like the Devon, Liverpool, Gloucester, +Leicester, Rifle Brigade, Royal Irish Fusiliers, King's Royal Rifles, +and Manchester, which since the first day of investment have been +detached for the defence of important positions, where they can hardly +venture to expose themselves in groups without a certainty of drawing +the enemy's artillery fire upon them, and where the necessity for +ceaseless watchfulness at night puts a severe strain on all ranks. Not +that the Gordons and Irregular Horse lead a leisurely life, or have any +especial immunity from shells. On the contrary, they take a full share +of duties in many forms, and they have been rather singled out as marks +for the enemy's guns to aim at; but they have not to rough it as a whole +battalion on hillsides without tents day after day, as their outpost +lines or patrols can be relieved from standing camps in the hollows, and +in those camps the main bodies, at any rate, get a fair allowance of +undisturbed sleep, for it is only by day that they are bombarded. When +the fire is not too hot, Gordons, and Light Horse especially, have merry +times at regimental sports or friendly contests. + +In a despatch sent out by a Kaffir runner, who has never come back to +claim the reward for success, I gave a description of sports in the +Gordon camp, when they and the Imperial Light Horse had a football match +in the presence of many spectators, Sir George White and several members +of his staff being of the number. Such a gathering in full sight of +Bulwaan was too tempting for the enemy's gunners to resist. People were +so absorbed in the game that they did not at first notice a cloud of +smoke from "Puffing Billy," and when they did understand what the Kaffir +warning "Boss up" meant, there was only time for the spectators to +scatter hurriedly among tents before a shell fell plump between the +goals and burst there,--the spectators flying in all directions,--but +fortunately without harm to anybody. The men coolly filled up the pit +where the missile, that had so nearly "queered their pitch," fell, and +then played their game out; but care was taken to prevent onlookers from +getting into a dense crowd again, and mule races were substituted for +football, as presenting a less favourable mark for the aim of Boer +gunners. These, however, seemed to be quite satisfied for a time with +having made one good shot. They ceased firing, and stood or sat on the +battery parapets, where, with the aid of glasses, they could be clearly +seen watching the sports through telescopes and binoculars with +sympathetic interest. But that did not prevent them from turning their +gun with malicious intent on the town after these camp sports ended. It +was nearly dark when two shots fell near the Royal Hotel, and the third +went through it to find a victim in poor Dr. Stark. + +The Gordons, for some reason or other, seem to have a curious +fascination for our foes, who single this battalion out for special +attentions, some of which could be dispensed with. In the form of +frequent shells they are distinctly embarrassing, as it is impossible at +present for the Highlanders to acknowledge such courtesies by an +appropriate reply. If they are intended as invitations to closer +acquaintance I am quite sure our kilted comrades will be happy to oblige +any night by kind permission of the General commanding. The Boers, +however, indulge at times in pleasantries that show no bitterness of +feeling, but rather a desire to be playfully satirical in a way which is +suggestive of the intellectual nimbleness of a humorous elephant. Their +inquiries after Sir Redvers Buller have already been mentioned. As to +the ostentatious friendliness of our enemies for British soldiers, with +whom a temporary truce brings them in contact, some amusing stories are +told. One day a field officer of Hussars was in command of cavalry on +outpost, when a Boer travelling-cart, flying the white flag, came +rapidly up to the examining picket, and its only occupant made a cool +request that he should be allowed to enter our camp, in virtue of the +Red Cross badge on his arm, as he wanted an ambulance sent out for some +of our wounded, who had fallen into the enemy's hands. The Boer +emissary was detained at the outposts until his message could be sent to +headquarters and an answer brought back. "As I must wait here an hour," +said he blandly, "won't you dismount and take a seat beside me under the +shade of the awning?" Military regulations having made no provision for +a refusal in such cases, the Englishman accepted, and the two were +presently carrying on an animated conversation about many subjects not +connected with the siege of Ladysmith. Now, the major has a remarkably +youthful appearance, and when he chooses to assume the devil-may-care +manner of a light-hearted subaltern, it fits him easily. Moreover, his +shoulder-chains bore no distinctive badge of rank. There was nothing, in +fact, to show that he was anything more than a cavalry lieutenant, whom +no sense of responsibility oppressed. So the Boer felt his way quickly +to subjects in which one who serves under the Geneva Convention has no +right to be interested. Answers were given glibly enough, and at the end +of that hour, with profuse assurances of amicable consideration, he +departed, probably laying the flattering unction to his soul that much +valuable information had been unconsciously imparted to him. He did not +know that the free-and-easy young cavalry soldier who talked with such +apparent frankness had learned a staff officer's duties as aide-decamp +to one of our most astutely cautious Generals. This is the story as it +was told to me at second hand, and if only well invented it is too good +to be lost. + +Still better is Major King's own narrative, of the adventures that +befell him when, as the bearer of a flag of truce without credentials, +he found himself practically a prisoner among the Boers. He had gone out +to the Boer outposts to make inquiries about another staff affair--the +bearer of a flag of truce whose prolonged absence was causing some +uneasiness, as the message taken by him to General Schalk-Burger did not +demand any answer. Major King had no intention of going inside the Boer +lines, and therefore took with him no letter or written authority for +his mission, but simply rode towards the enemy's piquets unarmed and +carrying a white flag, to show that for once he was not playing the part +of a combatant, though wearing a staff officer's undress uniform. When +his purpose was explained to the Boers on duty, they suggested that he +should accompany some of their number to the commandant's camp, and, +without taking the precaution to blindfold him, they led the way +thither, chatting pleasantly all the way about every topic except +fighting. On reaching a group of tents, the exact position of which he +for honourable reasons will not mention even to his own chief, Major +King was confronted by a Boer leader, who was at first very wroth with +the escort for bringing an English officer through the lines in that +unceremonious way. When matters had been explained, however, the +commandant, as he turned out to be, introduced himself, saying: + +"My name is Viljoen. You have probably heard a great deal about me, if +not much that is good. Some of your countrymen in the Transvaal thought +me a very bad lot, and as they are now with the Imperial Light Horse in +Ladysmith, I daresay there are many queer stories told about me; but I +am not quite so bad as they make out. Your presence here without papers, +however, is very awkward, and I have no alternative but to make you a +prisoner." + +"Oh, that's d----d nonsense," said Major King. "I had no wish to come +here, but your men insisted on bringing me. My only object was to find +out what had become of a brother-officer who should have got back to +camp long before this. I give you the word of a soldier that I did not +want to find out anything about your position, and whatever I may have +seen, which is precious little, will be told to no one." + +The commandant was in a difficulty, but agreed to send for one who is +his senior in rank and submit the case to him. During the messenger's +absence Major King was hospitably entertained, and his hosts, or +captors, talked about sport, suggesting that some day might be set apart +for an armistice, so that Boers and English might have a friendly +race-meeting. The commandant, by way of showing that he does not bear +resentment for the things that have been said about him, described his +experiences after the battle of Elandslaagte, from which he was a +fugitive, and said: + +"I walked that night until I could go no farther, thinking that the +Colonial volunteers were in pursuit. If I had known they were English +cavalry I should have given myself up, for I was nearly done." + +As pronounced by him, "Fiyune," his name does not sound familiar to +English ears, and it was therefore not until some time afterwards that +Major King knew he had been entertained by the notorious Ben Viljoen, +who was first reported among the killed at Elandslaagte, then as wounded +and a prisoner, but who in fact got away from the fight almost +unscathed, and now holds a command in the Boer force outside Ladysmith. +Interviews with a senior commandant, who was by no means complaisant, +and finally with Schalk-Burger, followed. The latter, after raising many +difficulties and dangling prospects of imprisonment in Pretoria before +Major King, finally consented to release that officer on condition that +he would not take any military advantage of what he had seen or heard in +the Boer lines. That condition has been honourably kept, but the Major +does not feel himself bound to make any secret of the fact that while +the Boers kept him under detention they treated him "devilish well." +This way of putting it may seem a little ambiguous, but those who know +General Hunter's light-hearted A.D.C. will understand the sincerity of +his tribute to the hospitality of Commandants Schalk-Burger and Ben +Viljoen. + +Another Boer, who may be credited with a desire to say pleasant things, +was talking under a flag of truce with an English officer about the +prospects on each side. "We admit," he said, "that the British soldiers +are the best in the world, and your regimental officers the bravest, +but--we rely on your generals." + +Even on the battlefield, when men are apt to be carried away by the lust +of fighting, many incidents have happened that touch the chords of +sympathy. The Boers have curious notions about white flags and Geneva +Crosses, but so far as our experience goes nobody can accuse them of +inhumanity to a fallen or helpless foe, except in the matter of firing +on hospitals when they think there are military reasons to justify them. +They shelled the Town Hall of Ladysmith persistently while sick and +wounded were lying there and the Red Cross flag waved above its +clock-tower. In reply to a protest from Sir George White, Commandant +Schalk-Burger defended his gunners on the plea that we had no right to a +hospital in Ladysmith while there was a neutral camp at Intombi Spruit +for their reception. The contention was, of course, preposterous, and +based moreover on the insulting assumption that our General had been +guilty of sheltering effective combatants behind an emblem which all +civilised nations have agreed to respect. Possibly the enemy may seek to +show that we are not above suspicion in such things, by reference to a +skirmish in which one of our batteries did open from a position +directly in front of ambulance waggons. These were outspanned near a +field hospital when the affair began, and as it was thought necessary to +get the wounded out of possible danger quickly, they had to be removed +some little distance in dhoolies. Meanwhile the Boers were getting guns +on to a kopje where they might have enfiladed one of our most important +lines of defence. To stop them in time a battery had to be brought into +action, and the only ground from which it could have shelled the kopje, +to frustrate the enemy's purpose of mounting a gun there, was just in +front of the ambulance waggons. Care, however, had been taken in that +case to lower the Red Cross flag, so that our artillery cannot be +accused of using it as a "stalking horse," though each waggon bears the +same symbol painted conspicuously on its canvas awning. These are +matters about which some ill-feeling has been aroused, but they do not +lessen our appreciation of acts by which individual Boers have shown +magnanimity while smarting under losses that must have been bitterly +humiliating to them. + +When our cavalry reconnaissance was pushed forward after the successful +night attack on Gun Hill, the Hussars got into a very tight place, from +which they extricated themselves by a dash that cost many lives, and +some wounded were left on the field with their dead comrades. Ambulances +were sent out for them under a flag of truce. As one Hussar was being +carried on a stretcher, a young Boer jeered at him, using epithets that +were so coarse and cowardly that they roused the ire of a bearded +veteran who probably fought against our troops nineteen years ago. With +one blow he felled the youngster, and thereby gave him an object-lesson +in the treatment that is meet for those who abuse a helpless foe. To +chivalry of a similar kind Captain Paley owed his life when wounded +after the night attack on Surprise Hill, according to the story told by +one who heard it while the wounded officer was being brought back to +camp next day. In the confusion and darkness Captain Paley's men did not +see him fall directly after he had given the order for them to charge. +He was left there sorely wounded, and one of the many foreigners now +fighting against us in the enemy's ranks levelled a rifle at him, but +was stopped before he could pull the trigger by a blow from the butt-end +of a rifle that sent him reeling. Again it was a grey-bearded veteran +who had come so timely to the rescue of an Englishman. If many such +stories are told we must either come to the conclusion that the older +Boers do not entertain against us the hatred with which they are +credited, or that there is one of their number who goes about the +battlefield from fight to fight seeking opportunities to succour British +soldiers in distress. At any rate, all this is simply history repeating +itself. Mr. Carter, in his impartial narrative of the former Boer war, +tells us:-- + +"Similar evidence was furnished after every encounter our troops had +with the Dutch. It was the young men--some mere boys of fifteen--who +displayed, with pardonable ignorance, bragging insolence. The men of +maturer years, with very few exceptions, behaved like men, and in the +hour of victory in many instances restrained the braggarts from +committing cowardly acts. In this fight at the Nek, Private Venables of +the 58th, who was one of the prisoners taken by the Boers, owed his life +to Commandant De Klerck, who intervened at a moment when several Boers +had their guns pointed at the wounded soldier." + +It is not, however, very reassuring to find that but for such timely +intervention wounded men might possibly be shot or ill-treated, and +therefore our soldiers will not be restrained from risking their lives +to rescue a fallen comrade merely by the announcement that "we are at +war with a civilised foe, to whose care the wounded in battle may be +confidently left." We may be thankful for the fact that saving life +under fire is still regarded as an act worthy of the Victoria Cross "for +valour." + +In other respects, we do not owe much gratitude to the Boers. If we were +dependent upon them for anything that could help to make life in a +bombarded town tolerable, Ladysmith's plight to-day would be pitiful. +They have tried their hardest--though not successfully--to make every +house in the place untenable between sunrise and sunset, doing +infinitely more damage to private property than to military defences; +and they have thrown shells about some parts of the long open town with +a persistence that would seem petty in its spitefulness if we could be +sure that the shots strike near what they are aimed at. So long as the +Boers do not violate any laws of civilised warfare nobody has a right to +blame them for trying the methods that may seem most likely to bring +about the fall of Ladysmith. They have, however, simply wrecked a few +houses, disfigured pretty gardens, mutilated public buildings, destroyed +private property, and disabled by death or wounds a small percentage of +our troops, without producing the smallest effect on the material +defences, or weakening the garrison's powers of endurance in any +appreciable degree. Such a bombardment day after day for seven weeks +would doubtless get on the nerves if we allowed ourselves to think about +it too much; but happily the civilians--men and women--who resolved to +"stick it out" here rather than accept from their country's enemies the +questionable benefits of a comparatively peaceful existence under the +white flag at Intombi Spruit have shown a fortitude and cheerfulness +that win respect from every soldier. Shelters are provided for them and +their children, but they do not always take advantage of these, even +when a bugle or whistle from the look-out post warns them that a shell +is coming. Ladies still go their daily round of shopping just as they +did in the early days of bombardment, indeed more regularly, and with a +cool disregard of danger that brave men might envy. Though more than +5000 shells have been thrown within our defensive lines, and a vast +number of these into the town itself, only one woman has been wounded so +far, and not a single child hit. For all this we have every reason to be +thankful. + +When the sun goes down people who have taken shelter elsewhere during +the day return to their homes, and have pleasant social gatherings, from +which thoughts of Boer artillery are banished by innocent mirth and +music. Walking along the lampless streets, at an hour when camps are +silent, one is often attracted by the notes of fresh, young voices, +where soft lights glow through open casements, or the singers sit under +the vine-traceried verandah of a "stoup," accompanying the melody with +guitar or banjo. Occasionally stentorian lungs roar unmelodious +music-hall choruses that jar by contrast with sweeter strains, but +sentiment prevails, and who can wonder if there are sometimes tears in +the voices that sing "Swanee River" and "Home, Sweet Home," or if a +listener's heart is deeply moved as he hears the words, "Mother come +back from the Echoless Shore," sung amid such surroundings in the still +nights of days that are hoarse with the booming of guns. Few of us, +however, despise comic songs here when time and scene fit. We have them +at frequent smoking-concerts that help to enliven a routine of duty that +would be dull without these entertainments. There are no regimental +bands to cheer us, but the Natal Volunteers have improvised one in which +tin whistles and tambourines make a fair substitute for fifes and drums. +The pipes of the Gordon Highlanders we have always with us, too. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CHRISTMAS UNDER SIEGE + + Husbanding supplies--Colonel Ward's fine work--Our Christmas + market--A scanty show--Some startling prices--A word to cynics--The + compounding of plum-puddings--The strict rules of temperance--Boer + greetings "per shell"--A lady's narrow escape--Correspondents + provide sport--"Ginger" and the mules--The sick and wounded--Some + kindly gifts--Christmas tree for the children--Sir George White and + the little ones--"When the war is over"--Some empty rumours--A + fickle climate--Eight officers killed and wounded--More messages + from Buller--Booming the old year out. + + + It needed perhaps all the music that could be mustered in the town + to remind the beleaguered garrison and inhabitants that the festive + season was upon them. It was inevitable that at such a time the + thoughts of all should turn a little regretfully to other scenes. + But it takes a great deal to depress the British soldier to the + point at which he is willing to forego his Christmas; and on all + hands, in spite of adverse fortune, preparations were made to keep + the day in as fitting a manner as the restricted means + allowed--with what success is described by Mr. Pearse in the + following letter:-- + +Thanks to the perfect organisation which Colonel Ward, C.B., brings into +all branches of the department over which he is chief here, and the +attention paid to innumerable details by his second in command, Colonel +Stoneman, there has never been any danger of necessary supplies being +exhausted, even if this place were invested for a much longer time than +seems likely now, but these two officers seem to have more than absolute +necessaries in reserve. When Colonel Ward was appointed Military +Governor of Ladysmith his measures for preserving health in the town and +camps surrounding it took a very comprehensive form. He not only made +provision for ample water-supply, in place of that which the Boers had +cut off, but his ideas of sanitary precaution embraced inquiry into +sources of food-supply and kindred subjects. To the end that he might +know whether wholesome meat and drink were being sold, it was obviously +necessary that he should have reports as to the articles in which +various proprietors of stores traded. Information on these points was +collected with so much care that, when the pinch came, he knew exactly +where to put his hand on provisions for the healthy and medical comforts +for the sick and wounded. He had only to requisition a certain number of +shops and hotels that were scheduled as having ample supplies of the +things wanted, and the trick was done. Some tradesmen were glad enough +to have their old stock taken over wholesale by the military authorities +at a profitable price, but others, who foresaw chances of a richer +harvest, were inclined to grumble at the arbitrary exercise of power of +officials whose acts they regarded as little better than confiscation, +and, unfortunately, some of these managed to evade the first call, so +that they were allowed to go on selling privately, and running up the +prices to a fabulous extent. + +This was a mistake. All should have been treated alike, so that none +might complain that kissing goes by favour, even in the most immaculate +and best regulated armies. As it was, the military commissariat secured +much that would add to the comfort of soldiers, but for what was left +civilians had to pay dearly. Some idea of the way in which this worked +may be given by a quotation from the prices bid at our Christmas market +on Saturday. We have no Covent Garden or Leadenhall here, but it was +felt that some sort of show ought to be made at this festive season, and +accordingly everything in the form of Christmas fare that could be got +together was brought out for sale by auction. It did not amount to much. +The whole barely sufficed to fill one long table, which was placed in a +nook between the main street and a side alley, where fifty people or so +might crowd together without attracting the notice of Bulwaan's gunners, +who would delight in nothing so much as the chance of throwing a +surprise shell into the midst of such a gathering. + +The time for holding this auction had been fixed with a view to the +enemy's ordinary practice of closing hostilities about sunset each +evening, but he does not allow this to become a hard and fast rule, nor +does he recognise "close time" that may not be broken in upon at will, +if sufficient temptation to shoot presents itself. So the sale was held, +not only in a secluded corner, but in the brief half-light between +sunset and night. Some civilians came as a matter of curiosity to look +on, but the majority were soldiers, regular or irregular, on business +intent, and they soon ran up with a rapidity that gave the good traders +of Ladysmith a lesson in commercial possibilities when it was too late +for them to profit by it to the full. Eggs sold readily at nine +shillings a dozen, their freshness being taken on trust and no questions +asked. Ducks that had certainly not been crammed with good food were +considered cheap at half a guinea each, and nobody grumbled at having to +give nine shillings and sixpence for a fowl of large bone but scanty +flesh. Imported butter in tins fetched eight and sixpence a pound, jam +three and sixpence a tin, peaches boiled that morning in syrup, and +classified therefore as preserves, went freely for seven and sixpence a +bottle, and condensed milk at five shillings a tin. But these prices +were low compared with the five shillings given for three tiny cucumbers +no longer than one's hand. The crowning bid of all, however, was thirty +shillings for twenty-eight new potatoes, that weighed probably three or +four pounds. The buyers were mostly mess-presidents of regiments, whose +officers began to crave for some change from the daily rations of tough +commissariat beef and compressed vegetables; or troopers of the Imperial +Light Horse, who will rough it with the best when necessity compels, but +not so long as there are simple luxuries to be had for the money that is +plentiful among them. + +Cynics dining sumptuously in their clubs may jeer at the idea of +campaigners attaching so much importance to creature comforts. Let them +try a course of army rations for two months, and then say what price +they would set against a fresh egg or a new potato. Two privates of the +Gordon Highlanders stopped beside the auctioneer's stall as if +meditating a bid for some fruit. They listened in wonderment as the +prices went up by leaps and bounds. Then said one to the other, "Come +awa, mon! We dinna want nae sour grapes." For them, however, and for +others whose means did not run to Christmas market prices, there was +consolation in store. Colonel Ward had taken care that there should be a +reserve of raisins and other things necessary for the compounding of +plum-puddings; and officers of the Army Service Corps were able to +report for Sir George White's satisfaction that sufficient could be +issued for every soldier in this force to have a full ration. The only +thing wanting was suet, which trek oxen do not yield in abundance after +eking out a precarious existence on the shortest of short commons; and +half-fed commissariat sheep have not much superfluous fat about them. +What substitutes were found it boots not to inquire too curiously, +seeing that Tommy did not trouble to ask so long as he got his Christmas +pudding in some form. There was no rum for flavouring, as all liquors +have to be carefully hoarded for possible emergencies. So for once the +British soldier had to celebrate Christmas according to the rules of +strict temperance. Yet he managed to have a fairly festive time for all +that. + +Boer guns sent us greeting in the shape of shells that did not explode. +When dug up they were found to contain rough imitations of plum-pudding +that had been partly cooked by the heat of explosion in gun barrels. On +the case of each shell was engraved in bold capitals, "With the +Compliments of the Season." This was the Boer gunner's idea of subtle +irony, he being under the impression that everybody in Ladysmith must be +then at starvation point. In all probability it did not occur to him +that he was throwing into the town a number of curious trophies which +collectors were eager to buy on the spot for five pounds each, with the +certainty of being able to sell them again if they cared to at an +enormous profit some day. After wasting some ammunition for the sake of +this practical joke, our enemies began a bombardment in earnest. Most of +this was directed at the defenceless town. One shell burst in a private +house, wounding slightly the owner, Mrs. Kennedy, whose escape from +fatal injuries seemed miraculous, for the room in which she stood at +that moment was completely wrecked, the windows blown out, and furniture +reduced to a heap of shapeless ruin. + +Shells notwithstanding, the troops had their Christmas sports following +a substantial dinner of roast beef and plum-pudding. There were high +jinks in the volunteer camps, where Imperial Light Horse, Natal +Carbineers, and Border Mounted Rifles, representing the thews and sinews +of Colonial manhood, vied with Regular regiments in strenuous tugs of +war and other athletic exercises, preparatory to the tournament, which +is fixed for New Year's Day--"weather and the enemy's guns permitting." +Three special correspondents, whose waggons are outspanned to form a +pleasant little camp in the slightly hollowed ridge of a central hill, +where they cannot be seen from the Boer batteries, and are therefore +comparatively safe except from stray shells, organised a series of novel +sports for the benefit of their nearest neighbours--the Rifle Brigade +transport "South Africa," in the person of its genial representative, +put up most of the prize-money, and together we arranged a succession of +events, offering inducements enough to secure full entries for +competitions that lasted from ten o'clock in the morning until near +sunset, allowing sufficient intervals for the mid-day meal and other +refreshments. We flatter ourselves that our gymkhana, in which races +ridden on pack and transport mules furnished the liveliest incidents, +would take a lot of beating--as a humorous entertainment at any rate. +In order to avoid drawing fire from "Puffing Billy" or "Silent Sue" of +Bulwaan, the course had to be laid in a semicircle that passed the +picketing line for mules. Up to that point they would gallop like +thoroughbreds, then cut it to their customary feeding-places with a +promptness that sent several good riders to ground as if they had been +shot. There are several good jockeys in the Rifle Brigade transport, and +among them one who spent many days in racing stables at home and abroad +before he took it into his head to follow the fifes and drums of +"Ninety-Five." But even the redoubtable "Ginger," with all his +horseman's skill and powers of persuasion in French, Hindustani, and +English, could not prevail over a mule's will. It was more by luck than +good riding that anybody managed to get past the post without two or +three falls by the way. But this only added to the fun of the thing, for +Tommy when in sportive mood takes hard knocks with infinite good-humour. +When at the finish successful and unsuccessful competitors assembled to +cheer their hosts, the three correspondents had the gratification of +feeling that for a few of the many besieged soldiers in Ladysmith they +had helped to make Christmas merry. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST] + +You may be sure that sick and wounded at Intombi hospital were not +forgotten in the midst of our wild festivities. For them the morning +train was laden with fruit, flowers, and such delicacies as the +resources of this beleaguered town can still furnish. There are many +unselfish people here who do not want to make money by selling things at +market prices, or to keep for their own use the dainties that might be +nectar to the lips of suffering soldiers. And there are officers also +who have given of their abundance so freely that they will have to be +dependent on similar generosity if the chances of war should number them +among the sick or wounded. I must guard myself against being +misunderstood. The hospital patients at Intombi Camp are not reduced to +meagre fare yet, nor likely to be, but medical comforts are not all that +a sick man craves for, and the simplest gifts sent from Ladysmith's +store that day must have been like a ray of sunshine brightening the lot +of some poor fellow with the assurance that, though far from home, he +was still among friends who cared for him. Nor were the weakly and the +children who still remain in this town forgotten. Colonel Dartnell, a +soldier of wide experience, who commands the Field Force of Natal +Police, and is beloved by every man serving under him; Major Karri +Davis, of the Imperial Light Horse; Colonel Frank Rhodes, Lord Ava, and +a few others got together the materials for a great Christmas tree, to +which all the little ones between babyhood and their teens were invited. +The Light Horse Major's long imprisonment with his brother officer +Sampson in Pretoria, far from embittering him against humanity in +general, has only made him more sympathetic with the trials and +sufferings of others; just as heavy fines and a death sentence seemed to +bring out the most lovable characteristics of Colonel Rhodes. It was +Karri Davis who bought up all the unbroken toys that were to be found in +Ladysmith shops; and the ready hands of ladies, who are always +interested in such work, decorated the Christmas trees or adorned the +hall in which this gathering was to be held with gay devices and hopeful +mottoes. There were four trees. Round their bases respectively ran the +words, "Great Britain," "Australia," "Canada," and "South Africa," and +above them all the folds of the Union Jack were festooned. Contributors +sent bon-bons and crackers in such profusion that each tree bore a +bewildering variety of fruit. To avoid confusion in distributing prizes, +these were numbered to correspond with the tickets issued; and Santa +Claus, who patronised the ceremony, in a costume of snowy swansdown, +that shed flakes wherever he walked, was content to play his part in +dumb show, while the children walked round after him to receive the toys +that were plucked for them, with many jests, by Colonel Dartnell and his +genial colleagues. Over two hundred children were there, and many of +them so young that it seemed as if the one precluded from attendance on +the score of extreme youthfulness must have been the siege baby, who was +then only a few days old. Generals Sir George White and Sir Archibald +Hunter, with their aides-de-camp and many staff officers, came to take +part in the interesting scene. + +Looking at the little ones as they trooped through the hall, in their +white finery, Sir George said he had no idea that so many children +remained in Ladysmith, and perhaps at that moment his heart was heavy +with a deeper sense of the responsibility thrust upon him. But +fortunately we have been spared the worst horrors of a bombardment. +Though Boer gunners have never hesitated, but rather preferred, to turn +their fire on the open town, with a probability of hitting some house in +which were women and children, none of the latter, and only two of the +former, have been hit through the whole siege. Mrs. Kennedy, to whose +narrow escape I have already referred, suffered so little bodily injury +or nerve shock that she was present with her children at the Christmas +tree entertainment, and took the congratulations of her friends quite +coolly. After the children had gone home trees and trappings were +dismantled, and the hall cleared for dancing, which the young people of +Ladysmith and a few subalterns off duty kept up with much spirit until +near midnight. In days to come we may look back to our Christmas under +siege in Ladysmith, and think that after all we had not a very bad time. +At this moment, however, there is probably nobody outside who envies our +lot, or grudges us any enjoyment we may manage to get out of it. +Soldiers, at any rate, deserve every chance of relaxation that can be +found for them. There are several regiments of this force that have been +practically on outpost duty since the investment began, often exposed to +rain-storms during the day, because they could not pitch even shelter +tents without drawing the enemy's fire on them. When the honours for +this campaign come to be distributed I hope the services of these +regiments will not be ignored. + +Some Boxing Day sports had to be postponed for a more convenient +opportunity, because shells were falling too thick about the camp, and +since then the Boer guns have been so busy that men find occupation +enough in fatigue duties at strengthening defensive works without +thinking about amusements. The bombardment that day began with the first +flush of roseate sunrise--when our enemies brought some smokeless guns +to bear on us from new positions--and went on steadily for hours until +"Puffing Billy" of Bulwaan left off shelling in this direction, and +turned to fire several shells eastward. Rumour, as usual, was equal to +the occasion, circulating stories that Sir Charles Warren's patrols were +known to be moving that way. These inventions are worth nothing unless +the names of corps or their commanding officers can be given, so their +originators always take care to give such realistic touches. They give +you "the lie circumstantial" or none at all. Possibly there may have +been in this firing more method than we imagine, the idea being to +mislead us by a pretended engagement with some force on the other side +of Bulwaan. Another rational theory is that the gunners were simply +expending a little ammunition in practice at range-finding for their +guidance in future eventualities. Any story proved acceptable as a +relief to the weariness of life in camp, that day when the thermometer +registered 108° in the shade. What a climate Natal has! For fickleness +it beats anything we have to grumble about in England. At night the +temperature went down to 65°, and the brilliant summer weather broke up +suddenly in a fierce thunderstorm. For a time every object roundabout +would be blotted out by inky blackness, and for the next two or three +minutes the lowering angry clouds would pulsate with dazzling light that +leaped upward like life-blood from the throbbing heart of the storm. +Each thundering peal was followed by a momentary lull, and then +spasmodic gusts shook the air, as if Nature were drawing a deep breath +for another effort. Before daybreak yesterday the storm had cleared, +leaving a clouded sky, but no mists about the hilltops, to prevent a +continuance of the bombardment. + +Surprise Hill's howitzer surpassed previous performances by throwing +three shells over Convent Ridge into the town, and the Bulwaan guns, +having done with imaginary foes eastward, turned their attention to us +once more. One of the earliest shells from that battery struck the mess +tent of the Devon Regiment, and burst among officers at breakfast with +disastrous results. Captain Lafone, who had been wounded at +Elandslaagte, was killed; Lieutenant Price-Dent so seriously injured +that there is little hope of his recovery; six other subalterns +wounded--one being hit by shrapnel bullets or splinters in four +places--and the mess waiter struck down by a heavy splinter that +embedded itself beneath the ribs in a cavity too deep for probing at +present. There was a curiously spiteful touch in the bombardment all +day, and at midnight we were roused by sounds of rapid rifle-firing that +began from Bell's Spruit and the railway cutting against Observation +Hill and ran along to Rifleman's Ridge on one flank, and Devonshire Hill +on the other. It was all Boer firing, but no shots came into the line of +defences, and our men did not reply by letting off so much as one rifle. +A thunder-storm raged to the accompaniment of heavy rain for some time, +and perhaps the enemy thought we might choose such a night for attacking +them under cover of intense darkness. + + The last few days of the closing year were, on the whole, quiet, + though, as Mr. Pearse seems to have felt, important events were + brewing. We make the following extracts from his notebook:-- + +_December 28._--This morning there was just a pale glimmer of dawn when +our large naval gun assumed the aggressive part, and sent six shells in +rapid succession on to Bulwaan battery and the hillside, where Boers +were moving about. A little later stretcher parties could be seen +collecting apparently wounded men. As "Puffing Billy" made no reply to +this challenge, but remained silent all day, it is probable that many of +the gunners were injured. "Silent Susan," otherwise "Bulwaan Sneak," +however, fired several shots, and the bombardment was kept up from +Rifleman's Ridge, Telegraph Hill, and a 12-pounder on Middle Hill, while +Pom-Poms at two points barked frequently, but all this fuss and fury +happily did no harm to anybody. At night a brilliant beam, like the tail +of a comet, appeared in the southern sky. Presently the tail began to +wag systematically, and experts were able to spell out the words of a +cipher message. It was General Buller talking to us across fifteen miles +of hills, and the conversation, all on one side, was kept up until +lowering clouds shut out the light. We had no means of replying, but at +eleven o'clock our guns fired two shots as a signal that the message had +been seen and understood. + +_December 29._--Yesterday and to-day the bombardment has been vigorous +in spite of heavy rain, and directed mainly on houses in town. Colonel +Dartnell had a narrow escape on Friday, a shell bursting close to his +tent in the Police Camp behind the Court-House. Next morning one came +into and through my old room at the Royal, completing its ruin. To all +this shooting the naval guns have replied effectively at intervals. +Ammunition for them is precious, and Captain Lambton's gunners take care +not to waste it on chance shots, as the Boer artillerymen do. From five +o'clock last evening until dawn this morning rain fell heavily. The +river rose four feet in one hour at midnight, flooding out the 18th +Hussars, who are bivouacked by its banks, and carrying away the bridge +that had been built by the Imperial Light Horse. Many horses and mules +were swept down-stream by the roaring torrent, and drowned before +anybody could attempt to save them. + +_December 31._--The old year closes in a quiet that is probably +deceptive. More Boers than we have seen for weeks past are gathered +behind Bulwaan, many having returned from leave which Joubert is said to +have granted them to visit their home, with a liberality that shows his +confidence in our inactivity. It has not been so quiet all day. The +Boers disregarded their customary Sabbath rule of refraining from +hostilities unless provoked by some apparently menacing movement on our +part. There was nothing of that kind to incense them this morning, but +their gunners, unable to resist the temptation offered by herds of +cattle on Manchester Hill (as Cæsar's Camp is sometimes called), sent +one shell from "Silent Susan" on to that ridge. They missed their mark, +however, and did not get another chance until the afternoon, when +several "Sneakers" were aimed at the old camp, and one burst close to a +group of officers who were exercising themselves and their ponies for a +polo match. This may have been meant as a rebuke to the +Sabbath-breakers. Boer riflemen were engaged at that time in the more +reprehensible pastime of sniping our outposts at long range, and they +kept this up until near sunset, as if engaged in the most laudable duty; +but we have long since learned that the Boer judges his own conduct by +one standard and ours by another. + +To-day the sun shone brilliantly, bringing back tropical heat, in +contrast to the cold that always accompanies violent thunder-storms in +Natal. + + And so Christmas-tide was past, and the New Year broke upon the + beleaguered garrison. So great is the influence of times and + seasons that we may well believe that even in Ladysmith the first + day of 1900 brought a brighter ray of hope. But hope must yet for + long be deferred, and the daily round of tasks grow wearisome by + repetition--the daily dole of eked-out rations, the daily tale of + bursting shells, were for many weeks, with one day's startling + break, to be the sole preoccupation of the defenders. The enemy, + even on this first day of January, were not willing to leave the + garrison in doubt as to their presence, although, despite the + possible touch of sarcasm, there was a grim sort of friendliness in + their reminder. It again took the form of blind shells--this time + fired from the Free State batteries--inscribed "Compliments of the + Season." The sarcasm (writes Mr. Pearse) + +seems the more pointed because we hear that the Boers believe us to be +starving and unable to hold out much longer. We should, at any rate, +appreciate the good wishes more if they were sent in another form. +Shells, even without fuses or powder-charges, are not quite harmless; +and though these have done no damage so far, there is always a chance +that they may hit somebody when fired into the heart of a town where +people still carry on their customary occupations in spite of +bombardment. + + Whatever change favourable to their hopes was believed in by the + Boers, there was none in the spirit with which soldiers and + civilians alike in the invested township faced the duties placed + upon them. Writing on New Year's Day Mr. Pearse has a timely and a + generous word for the humbler heroes of the siege:-- + +We have among us one little saddler for whose services there is so much +demand that he has steadily stitched away for hours together every +working day since the siege began, heedless of shells. There are +tailors, too, who have done their best to keep officers and civilians +clothed, not even quitting their benches when shrapnels burst near them, +and I know of at least one poor seamstress who, by working night and +day, has earned enough to buy something more than bare rations even at +famine prices. Cynics do not look for heroes or heroines among such as +these. They toil for gain, that is all. But they have stuck to their +notion of duty in the midst of danger, and no soldier could have done +more. Not all the shells fired into town on New Year's Day were +harmless, however. One from Bulwaan burst near Captain Vallentin's +house, which has been a favourite since Colonel Rhodes took up his +quarters there, and at last one hit just over the front door. It smashed +the drawing-room wall, passed thence to the kitchen, and mortally +wounded a soldier servant, whose last words to his master were, "I hope +you've had your breakfast, sir!" + + Up to this time the subject of food supply, though it had long + seriously occupied the attention of the authorities, had not + gravely added to the anxieties of the siege. Under the date of 1st + January Mr. Pearse has the following entry:-- + +Colonel Ward tells me that rations are holding out well. Neither +soldiers nor civilians, who number altogether over 20,000, have suffered +privations yet, and, thanks to Colonel Stoneman's admirable system of +distribution, something more than beef, bread, and groceries can still +be issued to those who are too weak to be nourished by rough campaigning +fare. + + Forage for horses was, however, getting very scarce, and the poor + beasts suffered greatly. + +Four hundred men, including natives, are sent out every day to cut grass +on the hillsides that are least exposed to Boer rifle fire, and they +manage to bring in about 32,000 lbs. daily, but this does not go far +among all the cavalry horses, transport animals, and cattle. Many must +be left to pick up their own food by grazing under guard. The old +troop-horses, however, break away from their allotted pasturages when +feeding-time comes. Perhaps their quick ears catch the familiar bugle +call to stables sounding afar off. At all events, neither knee-halters +nor other devices are of any avail. They get back to the old lines +somehow at feeding-time, and it is pitiful to see them standing +patiently, in a row, waiting for the corn or chaff that is not for them, +trying by a soft whinny to coax a little out of the hands of soldiers +who pass them, or sidling up to an old stable chum who is better fed +because better fit for work, in the hope of getting a share of his +forage for the sake of auld lang syne. Those who know how the cavalry +soldier loves a horse that has carried him well will not need to be told +how hard Tommy found it to resist the appeal of a dumb comrade in +distress; and who shall blame him if he shortened by just a handful or +so the allowance for horses that are rationed on a special scale rather +than turn a half-starved outcast empty away? But sentiment is a mistake +when kindness can do no more than prolong misery. There is no horse +sickness yet in the epidemic form. They simply pine for want of +nourishment until, too weak even to nibble the grass about them, they +drop and die. Some day we may have a use for them before things come to +that extremity, but at present the difficulty is to dispose of their +carcases. Sanitary considerations forbid that they shall be buried in +town or near camp. The enemy shells working parties, who begin to dig +pits on the open plain, and so an incinerating furnace has been built +for the cremation of horses. + +[Illustration: SIEGE OF LADYSMITH, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF BOMBARDMENT] + + In the early days of the year the Boer batteries became much more + active. We shall see that they were preparing for a climax, which, + however, by the splendid bravery and determination of the garrison, + was to be turned into one of disaster for the enemy rather than for + the defenders. We are now within three days of the hottest ordeal + Sir George White and his gallant army had to pass through. + Happenings in the short interval are thus described in Mr. Pearse's + notes:-- + +_January 3._--For two days the Boer fire from Bulwaan has been directed +mainly at the Town Hall or buildings near it, with occasional diversions +towards the Intelligence Offices on one side, or the Indian Ordnance +Laager on the other. Within these limits of deviation are the busiest +parts of Ladysmith, bakeries for the supply of all who are invested, +depots at which civilians assemble to draw their daily rations beside +the Market Square, where lank-sided dogs snarl over refuse, and such +stores as have still something to sell that has not been requisitioned +for military uses. The Royal Hotel seems to be a mark once more. Several +shells have come near hitting it to-day, and not twenty yards from the +room in which I am making these notes a shrapnel has just burst through +the wall of a stable. One horse standing there seems to be badly +wounded, but curiously enough hardly shows any signs of terror, though +the explosion close to him must have sounded terrific, and he was half +blinded by dust mingled with fumes of melinite. The fact that Boers use +high explosives for bursting charges has been questioned, but this +shrapnel, and others I have seen burst at close quarters, undoubtedly +contained melinite or some similar villainous compound, to which our own +lyddite is near akin. A little later two ladies were driving down the +main street when a shell burst just in front of their trap. The pony +swerved as if to bolt, but his driver pulled him up with a steady hand +and soothed him without a tremor in her voice. At the next corner, fully +exposed to Bulwaan's battery, these ladies stopped, waiting to watch the +effect of another shot. + +It must not be thought that our own guns, though seldom mentioned, are +idle all this while. They do not waste ammunition, for a very good +reason, but wait their opportunity for effective reply to the enemy's +batteries, and when a naval 12-pounder or the "Lady Anne" comes into +action the Boer fire is apt to be hurried and wildly inaccurate if it +does not cease for a time. The Boers have however mounted a new gun near +Pepworth's, which sends "sneakers" into town and about Mount Hill with +irritating persistency, and its smokeless powder makes a flash so small +that the exact position cannot be located. + +_January 5._--Days in succession pass unbroken by any incidents +dissimilar to the routine which in the very constancy of danger becomes +monotonous. Yesterday and to-day are so much alike that one hardly +remembers which was which unless some personal adventure or a friend's +narrow escape makes a nick in the calendar. Yesterday, for instance, one +of several shells bursting about the same spot shattered the water tanks +behind a chemist's shop, and its splinters came in curious curves over +the housetops, one grazing an officer of the Imperial Light Horse, to +whom I was at that moment talking. The next shell was into the police +camp, where it burst with destructive force, completely wrecking Colonel +Dartnell's tent with all its contents, but injuring nobody. Had that +genial and most popular officer followed the almost invariable practice +of his everyday life, there would have been an end of the man to whom +more than to anybody else we owe the timely retirement from Dundee. He +it was who told General Yule, "You must go to-night or you will not be +able to go at all," and whose advice, being acted upon, brought back +several thousand men to strengthen the garrison of Ladysmith just before +its investment. The loss of such a man would have been irreparable, for +he knows more than any other officer in this country about Boers and +their methods of fighting, and he has every thread of information at +command if he were allowed to use native scouts in his own way. He would +have made the best possible chief of an Intelligence Staff, but +unfortunately military etiquette or jealousy bars his employment in that +capacity. If his advice is asked for he gives it readily as at Dundee, +and though he has no authority to act in the way that would be most +congenial to his fearless and active nature, he is as ready as ever to +render a service when wanted. Some of us know too how much civilians +have been encouraged in their endurance of a long siege by Colonel +Dartnell's cheery example. Nothing disheartens him. He is always the +same whether the day's news be good or bad, and perhaps his +unostentatious services will be adequately recognised in the end. If +they had been taken advantage of in the beginning there would be fewer +blunders to regret. + +To-day Colonel Stoneman had more than one narrow escape. Two shells +burst within splinter range of the office in which he and his assistants +have worked steadily at supply details since the bombardment began. A +third passed through the roof over that office after a ricochet, and +then, without bursting, rolled to the ground in front of a stoup where +several Army Service officers were sitting. That shell will be cherished +after extraction of its fuse and melinite charge. Fire from other Boer +guns proved more disastrous. Surprise Hill's howitzer threw one shell to +the little encampment behind Range Point, where it killed one man and +wounded four of the unfortunate Royal Irish Fusiliers. + + But the time seems now ripe for larger events. On the following day + the Boers made their supreme attempt upon the defences of the town. + Their best and their bravest were pitted against the siege-worn + British soldier; but though they gained all the advantage of a + night surprise, though their fierce energy placed them at this + point and that several times within an inch of victory, they were + hurled back by a foeman whose determination was greater than their + own, and whose courage and spirit of self-sacrifice rose superior. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREAT ASSAULT + + Why the Boers attacked--Interesting versions--A general + surprise--Joubert's promise--Boer tactics reconsidered--Erroneous + estimates--Under cover of night--A bare-footed advance--The + Manchesters surprised--The fight on Waggon Hill--In praise of the + Imperial Light Horse--A glorious band--The big guns speak--Lord Ava + falls--Gordons and Rifles to the rescue--A perilous position--The + death of a hero--A momentary panic--Man to man--A gallant + enemy--Burghers who fell fighting--The storming of Cæsar's + Camp--Shadowy forms in the darkness--An officer captured--"Maak + Vecht!"--Abdy's guns in play--"Well done, gunners!"--Taking water + to the wounded--Dick-Cunyngham struck down--Some anxious + moments--The Devons charge home--A day well won. + + + When Mr. Pearse spoke of the comparative calm which marked the + closing days of 1899 as deceptive, he was right, and events + promptly proved him so. On 6th January the Boers, as has been said, + made a most determined attempt to bring the siege of Ladysmith to + an end by storming the British defences. Why the enemy should have + allowed so long an interval to elapse since their half-hearted + effort of 9th November, is difficult to imagine. Dingaan's Day + (16th December) was originally fixed for the attack, but + Schalk-Burger was diverted from his purpose by the attempt made by + Sir Redvers Buller to force the passage of the Tugela. The + projected onslaught on the besieged town having once been + abandoned, it was generally believed that the Boers would be too + intent on watching the movements of the relief column to trouble + about attacking Ladysmith in force. According to one report an + imperative order from President Kruger precipitated matters, while + another story is to the effect that a bogus despatch purporting to + be from Sir George White to Sir Redvers Buller, brought about the + sudden change in the enemy's tactics. This despatch, so the story + runs, asked that relief might be sent at once as the ammunition was + exhausted, and it was impossible for the garrison to hold out in + the event of the town being attacked. The native runner, to whom + the document was entrusted, was instructed to proceed in the + direction of the Boer lines, and so faithfully complied with his + orders that both runner and despatch fell into the hands of the + enemy. If the Boers were led to attack by any such ruse they were + completely disillusioned as to the capabilities of Sir George + White's forces. Be it said to their credit that, whatever their + hopes of an easy victory, they quitted themselves like men when + they realised their tremendous mistake. The long fierce struggle is + vividly described in the following letter written two days after:-- + +[Illustration: THE ENVIRONS OF LADYSMITH] + +Saturday's stubborn fight was a surprise in more senses than one. Nobody +here had credited the Boers with a determination to attack, unless +chance should give them overwhelming superiority in all respects, and +for that chance they have waited so supinely that it seemed probable the +game of long bowls with heavy artillery, varied by "sniping" from behind +rocks a mile off, would continue to be played day after day in the hope +of starving us into subjection, before Sir Redvers Buller could bring +up his relieving force. Everybody knew that issue to be well-nigh +impossible, because our resources are far from starvation point yet, and +it is inconceivable that eight or ten thousand British soldiers could be +hemmed in by three times their number of Boers, and compelled to yield +without a desperate fight in the last extremity. We were fully aware +that if ever an opening offered for the Boers to creep up within shorter +range, under cover, and without being seen, they would be prompt to take +advantage of it, in expectation of bringing off another Majuba, and that +is a danger to which our extenuated defensive lines necessarily expose +us, but we trusted with justice, as events have proved, to the +steadiness and discipline of well-trained troops, to hold the Boers in +check wherever they might gain any temporary advantage, and drive them +back at the bayonet's point. That they would even push an attack to +storming point few if any among us believed, for the simple reason that +rifles are of no use against cold steel when combatants come to close +quarters. The Boers know that well enough. Their only hope in attack +therefore rests on the chance of being able by stealth to seize an +advantageous position whence they may bring a deadly rifle fire to bear +on the defenders, whom they hope by this means to throw into panic. + +That was the plan they tried on Saturday, being urged to it, as we have +since learned, by peremptory orders and fair promises from Joubert, who +is said to have watched the fight from a distance. That, however, seems +improbable, if Sir Redvers Buller was at the same time threatening a +movement against the Tugela Heights, though it is certain that Joubert +attached great importance to this attack on Ladysmith, because he had +written a letter ordering De Villiers to capture Bester's Ridge, at all +costs, with his commando of Free State Boers, and promising that those +who succeeded in winning that position should be released from further +service. This anxiety to get hold of a range which includes Cæsar's Camp +and Waggon Hill, and commands Ladysmith at a range of 5000 yards, can be +easily understood, but the urgency demanding any sacrifice of life, +provided that end were attained, suggests many possibilities, and gives +to Saturday's fight exceptional significance as a probable turning-point +in the Natal Campaign, which has hitherto gone in favour of our foes, +notwithstanding the victories we have gained over them in isolated +actions. Dundee and Elandslaagte, like Lord Methuen's fights on the +Modder River, added lustre to our army, by showing what British soldiers +can do in assaulting positions against the terrific fire from modern +magazine rifles, but it cannot be said that we have profited by them +while our enemies are able to keep us here cut off from all +communications except by heliograph or search-light signals, and have +yet force enough to interpose a formidable line of resistance between +Ladysmith and Sir Redvers Buller's column. + +There cannot be many Boers in any position surrounding this place, but +their mobility gives them the power of concentrating quickly at any +point that might be threatened, and this for all practical purposes +increases their numbers threefold. As Colonel F. Rhodes put it in one of +his quaintly appropriate phrases, "We are a victorious army besieged by +an inferior enemy." But there are Boers in twice our own strength near +at hand, if, not actually all in the investing lines. The Tugela Heights +are scarcely twelve miles off as the crow flies, and this distance might +be covered by a Boer commando in less than two hours, so that a thousand +men or more moving from one of our enemy's columns to another, could be +brought into a fight in time to turn the tide against either Ladysmith +or its relieving force as occasion might prompt. For attacking a +particular point this mobility would give enormous advantages if the +Boers only knew how to make full use of them, and carried arms on which +they could rely for hand-to-hand fighting, in the critical moment of +pushing an attack home. + +As it is they trust to tactics that have stood them well in previous +campaigns against British soldiers and natives, their object being to +gain some commanding position, whence, without being seen, they may pour +a deadly fire on their astonished foes, and thus cause a panic retreat +that might be turned into a disorderly rout by a sudden rush of +reinforcing Boers or a terrific storm of bullets from several quarters +at once. Reasoning from experience they hope to make history repeat +itself in another Majuba Hill. One would have thought that the fights at +Elandslaagte and Dundee would dispel delusions of that kind based on the +assumption that Tommy Atkins will not stand up against rifle bullets at +short range from Boers whom he cannot see if they but steal upon him and +open fire where he least expects to find them. + +Probably there were erroneous estimates on both sides, but at any rate +it is certain that our foes were confident of being able to win by +massed surprise, and their effort was made with an adroitness not less +astonishing than the audacity of its conception. After this it will be +ridiculous for anybody to contend that the Boers are not brave fighters, +though they lack the daring by which alone fights like that of Saturday +can be decided. Their tactics have changed little since the old days, +and it remains true now as then that they are an offensive but not an +attacking force. Having gained by stealth the positions that were +supposed to command our outpost defences on Cæsar's Camp and Waggon +Hill, they acted from that moment as if on the defensive, trusting for +victory not to any forward movement of their own but to the belief that +our men would give way, and might then be rolled back in panic upon +Ladysmith by thousands of mounted Boers who awaited that turn of events +to make their meditated dash. Such undoubtedly was the plan conceived by +Free State and Transvaal commanders at the Krygsraad when Joubert, +Prinsloo, Schalk-Burger, Viljoen, and other leaders met together in +council some days ago. The manner of its execution may be conjectured by +the light of subsequent events. + +The attack began before daybreak with a determined attempt to capture +the whole range of Bester's Ridge, which is divided officially into +Cæsar's Camp and Waggon Hill, forming the southern chain of our +defences, and held by the outposts of Colonel Ian Hamilton's Brigade. +Seventy of the Imperial Light Horse held Waggon Hill with a small body +of bluejackets and a few Engineers having charge of the 4.7 naval gun, +which they had brought up overnight for mounting in that position, but +it still remained on a bullock waggon. Next to them were several +companies of the King's Royal Rifles under Colonel Gore-Browne, while +the Manchester Regiment held Cæsar's Camp with pickets pushed forward to +the southern crest and eastern shoulder. Nearly the whole length of +ridge hence to Waggon Hill is a rough plateau, strong but presenting +little cover from artillery fire or the rifles of any foe bold enough to +scale the heights under cover of darkness. It was scarcely entrenched at +all, having only a few sangars dotted about as rallying-points. The +Boer movements were marked by a searchlight from Bulwaan, which played +for hours in a curious way across Intombi Hospital Camp to the posts +occupied by our men, intensifying the obscurity of all-surrounding +blackness. + +All we know absolutely is that long before dawn Free Staters were in +possession of the western end of Bester's Ridge, where Waggon Hill dips +steeply down from the curiously tree-fringed shoulder in bold bluffs to +a lower neck, and thence on one side to the valley in which Bester's +Farm lies amid trees, and on the other to broad veldt that is dominated +by Blaauwbank (or Rifleman's Ridge), and enfiladed by Telegraph +Hill--both Boer positions having guns of long range mounted on them; and +at the same time Transvaalers, mostly Heidelberg men, had gained a +footing on the eastern end of the same ridge where boulders in Titanic +masses, matted together by roots of mimosa trees, rise cliff-like from +the plain where Klip River, emerging from thorny thickets, bends +northward to loop miles of fertile meadow-land before flowing back into +the narrow gorge past Intombi Spruit Camp. How the Boers got there one +can only imagine, for neither the Imperial Light Horse pickets on Waggon +Hill, nor the Manchesters holding the very verge of that cliff which we +call Cæsar's Camp and the Kaffirs Intombi, nor the mixed force of +volunteers and police watching the scrub lower down, saw any form or +heard a movement during the night. It was intensely dark for two or +three hours, but in that still air a steenbok's light leap from rock to +rock would have struck sharply on listening ears. Those on picket duty +aver that not a Boer could have shown himself or passed through the +mimosa scrub without being challenged. Yet four or five hundred of them +got to the jutting crest, of Cæsar's Camp somehow, and to reach it they +must either have crossed open ground or climbed with silent caution up +the boulder-roughened steeps. + +An explanation may perhaps be found in the fact that a Boer takes off +his boots or vel-schoon when there is noiseless stalking to be done. +Going over the battlefield afterwards I noticed that where dead Boers +were lying thickest about the salient angle of that eastern space, all +were bare-footed. Boots and even rubber-soled canvas shoes had been +taken off for the climb, and these lay in pairs beside the bodies, just +as they had been placed when the fight began. And the spots on which +these Boers lay seemed to indicate that they must have scaled the steep +just where a sentry among the rocks on top would have found most +difficulty in seeing anything as he peered over jutting edges into the +darkness below. At any rate the Manchester picket was surprised before +dawn, as I shall describe presently, though it should have been put on +the alert by rifle firing an hour earlier away on Waggon Hill, where +the fight began between two and three o'clock. Then, however, it seemed +little more than the sniping between outposts, to which custom has made +all of us somewhat inattentive, and nobody thought for a moment that a +picket of Imperial Light Horse had been practically cut off before the +Boers fired a shot or our own men had given an alarm. + +Waggon Hill was at that moment the key of a very critical situation, and +had the Light Horse been seized by panic, or given way an inch, the +Boers might possibly have brought enormous numbers up to that commanding +crest and enfiladed the rear of Cæsar's Camp. We know now that thousands +of Free Staters were waiting in the kloofs between Mounted Infantry Hill +and Middle Hill, not two miles distant, for the opportunity which, they +had no doubt, would be opened up to them by the success of five or six +hundred tough veterans who had volunteered to win that position or die +in the attempt. They had, however, to reckon with men whose gallantry +was proved at Elandslaagte and the night attack on Gun Hill--men who are +endowed with the rare quality which Napoleon the Great called "two +o'clock in the morning courage." One has to praise the Imperial Light +Horse so often, that reiteration may sound like flattery. But they +deserve every distinction that can be given to them for having by superb +steadiness, against great odds, saved the force on Bester's Ridge from a +very serious calamity, if not from actual disaster. They must share the +credit to some extent, however, with two small bodies of men already +mentioned, who happened to be on Waggon Hill neither for fighting nor +watch-keeping--the few bluejackets of H.M.S. _Powerful_ in charge of the +big gun which had been brought up that night for mounting there, and the +handful of Royal Engineers under Lieutenants Digby-Jones and Dennis, +preparing the necessary epaulements for that weapon. When firing began, +the gun being still on its waggon, all that could be done was to outspan +its team of oxen. Then bluejackets and sappers, seizing each his rifle, +took their places behind slight earthworks, prepared to fight it out +manfully. The only tribute they need ask for is that their roll of dead +and wounded may be borne in memory. Out of thirty all told, the Royal +Engineers lost two officers killed and fifteen men wounded. Of the few +sailors, one was killed and one wounded. This record seems hard to beat; +but the Imperial Light Horse could point to heaps of dead and maimed in +proof of the dauntless stand they made, for the living continued to +fight where their gallant comrades fell, scorning to quit an inch of +ground to the Boers, though they knew by the rifle fire flashing round +them in the darkness that they were hopelessly outnumbered from the +first. Their brigadier speaks of them as men with no nerves at all. When +one was hit, another stepped quietly up to his place and went on +shooting as if at target-practice, though he had no more cover than a +small stone to lie behind; and this happened not once but a score of +times, the officers taking an equal share in the fight with their men, +who speak with pride of the gallantry shown by Captains de Rothe and +Codrington, Lieutenants Webb, Pakeman, Adams, Campbell, and Richardson, +and the active veteran Major Doveton, who cheered his men on after he +had received two bullet wounds, one of which shattered his fore-arm and +shoulder. + +By that time the sun was rising above Bulwaan in a halo of orange, +crimson, and purple, and men could count the grim faces of their +enemies. Ladysmith was aroused at dawn by the rattle of incessant rifle +fire rolling along Bester's Ridge from end to end. Up to that time no +big guns had spoken on either side, and people came out of their houses +slowly, in sulky humour at having their rest disturbed before the +conventional hour for shelling to begin. While they listened to the +continuous crackling as of damp sticks in a huge bonfire, few among them +realised that the sounds indicated anything more serious than a Boer +demonstration which would fizzle out quickly, and even when bullets +began to fall in the town itself, or went whistling away overhead, the +only comment made was that Mauser rifles must have a marvellous range if +they could send bullets so far beyond the ridge aimed at. + +Bulwaan's 6-inch Creusot opened fire as the sun rose behind it in a +splendour of orange and crimson clouds. The white smoke changed to +wreaths of blue and deep purple against that glowing sky, while people +waited to hear the gurgling scream of a shell. It did not come the way +they expected, but burst above the dark crest of Cæsar's Camp. Then the +watchers, relieved because the big guns had found other occupation than +battering down houses, went back to bed or to their morning baths, +little thinking that the fate of Ladysmith was at the moment dependent +on men who lay among rocks, or behind grass tussocks, looking through +rifle sights at such short range that they could almost see the colour +of each other's eyes. + +Colonel Hamilton, who had ridden out with his staff, and accompanied by +Colonel F. Rhodes, to the highest knoll of Bester's Ridge, grasped the +situation quickly and ordered up reinforcements. The Boers who had crept +round the crest of the eastern steep, which I have called by its Kaffir +name Intombi, were even then almost up to the camp that Colonel Hamilton +had quitted half an hour earlier, but screened from the Manchester +battalion's fire by a swell of the ground in front. Their further +progress, however, was stayed by a counter attack from Border Mounted +Rifles and Natal Volunteers whom Colonel Royston brought up to reinforce +the Frontier Police under Major Clark, who had been holding that point +with dogged determination since dawn. The brigadier, seeing that for a +time no headway was being made by the enemy against Cæsar's Camp, +turned his attention towards Waggon Hill and sent Lord Ava forward to +reconnoitre from the spot where Colonel Edwardes, with the main body of +Imperial Light Horse, reduced to less than half its original strength by +losses in former actions, was making a gallant effort to relieve the +remnants of two squadrons from their perilous plight on Waggon Hill. +Lord Ava watched its issue from the fighting line beside men with whom +he had scaled the rough heights of Elandslaagte and the stiffer steeps +of Gun Hill. As he raised himself upon a small boulder to look through +glasses at the enemy, who were pouring in a hail of bullets from a +distance of little more than 150 yards, a bullet struck him in the +forehead, and there he lay, apparently lifeless, with every sense dead +to the din of war about him. A few minutes later Colonel Frank Rhodes +heard that a staff-officer had been hit. He came at once to the +conclusion that it was the young friend who had been his companion daily +since they sailed from England early in September. As he went forward to +make sure, Lieutenant Lannowe, of the 4th Dragoon Guards, aide-de-camp +to Colonel Hamilton, joined him, and these two, passing unscathed across +the shot-torn slopes, found Lord Ava lying sorely wounded, but still +alive, where Boer bullets were falling thickest about the Imperial Light +Horse. They carried him to a place of less danger, and there Colonel +Rhodes bandaged the wound, while a skilful surgeon's aid was being +summoned. By that time Majors Julian, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, +and Davis, medical officer of the Imperial Light Horse, had their hands +full, having rendered aid to many wounded men under the heaviest fire, +utterly regardless of danger to themselves. The first operation, without +which recovery would have been hopeless, was, however, performed there, +while Mauser bullets whistled through the air, and Lord Ava, still +unconscious, was borne from the field. + +The few bluejackets, Gordons, Imperial Light Horse, and Engineers, under +Lieutenant Digby-Jones, R.E., were still holding their ground manfully +on the extreme westerly crest of Waggon Hill. The Boers were within +point-blank range of them on two sides, while beyond the crest and down +into Bester's Valley hundreds of others were waiting for the first sign +of panic among our men to rush the position, but held in check by a +company of the 60th Rifles and a few Light Horse occupying a small +sangar on that side. The ridge, however, was being shelled by the +enemy's guns from Middle Hill and Blaauwbank with such accuracy that +many of our men were wounded by that fire, but not a Boer was hit, +though the fighting lines were less than 100 yards apart. The 21st +Battery Field Artillery, out in comparatively open ground beyond Range +Post, swept with shrapnel the slopes and kloofs of Mounted Infantry Hill +on one side, and Major Goulburn's battery, the 42nd, searched the +reverse slope of that knoll, smiting the head of a movement by which our +foes tried to strengthen their attack. The Natal artillery had done +similar service at an earlier stage against another body, and though +under heavy rifle fire they still stuck to their guns manfully. Our +naval 12-pounder mounted near this battery, but having double the range, +played upon Middle Hill, trying by rapid and accurate fire to silence +the big Creusot gun there, or baffle its aim. + +This was the favourable opportunity seized by Colonel Hamilton for +sending forward Major Miller-Wallnutt with one company of Gordons to +reinforce the little group of bluejackets, Light Horse, Engineers, and +Highlanders who were fighting so desperately hard to beat the Boers +back. A little later Major Campbell reached Waggon Hill with four +companies of the "Second Sixtieth," but their fire failed to dislodge +the Boers, and the Gordons, under Miller-Wallnutt, were being sorely +pressed, the Boers having a number of picked shots among the rocks on +two sides whence they could bring a deadly fire to bear on the flanks of +any force that might attempt to cross the open ground between. General +Hamilton, however, seeing that risks must be taken, or the Gordons would +be in perilous plight, sent two companies of Rifles forward in +succession, but smitten in front by artillery fire from Middle Hill and +Blaauwbank, while their flanks were raked by rifle bullets, they halted +and took such cover as could be found among small stones. A company +being then called upon to rush the open space, Lieutenant Todd asked for +permission to try first with a small body, and this being granted he led +a mere handful of ready volunteers forward. The gallant young officer, +however, had not gone many yards before he was shot dead, and the men +fell back disheartened by the loss of one whom they would have followed +anywhere, because they recognised in him the qualities of a born leader. + +After that there were moments of humiliation when it seemed as if the +possibility of holding Waggon Hill hung upon a mere chance. Once +surprised by finding Boers within fifty yards, the whole forward line of +Rifles and Highlanders gave way, retiring over the crest with a +precipitancy that threatened to sweep back supports and all in a general +confusion. But it was no more than a momentary panic, such as the best +troops in the world may be subject to, and our men were quick to rally +when they heard themselves called upon for another effort, and saw +officers springing up the hill again towards that shot-fretted crest +where several Engineers and bluejackets, with the Imperial Light Horse, +still clung as if they had looked on Medusa's head, and become part of +the rocks among which they lay, only that their forefingers were playing +about the triggers, ready in a moment to give back shot for shot to the +Boers. And when deeds of heroism were being performed by Major +Miller-Wallnutt; Lieutenant Digby-Jones, R.E., Gunner Sims of the Royal +Navy, and Lieutenant Fitzgerald, 11th Hussars, who met their enemies +face to face, the irregular troopers were not slow to take their part in +fighting at close quarters. Trooper Albrecht, of the Imperial Light +Horse, especially distinguished himself by shooting two of the Boers who +were at that moment within a few yards of Digby-Jones with rifles +levelled, and the young Engineer lieutenant, whose repeated acts of +bravery might have merited the Victoria Cross, accounted for the other +before he in turn was mortally wounded. Many tough old Free State Boers, +who took all the brunt of fighting on this hill, behaved with the +greatest intrepidity, winning admiration from foes who were yet eager to +try a death-grip with them. + +Here Hendrick Truiter fought as he did at Majuba in the forefront, and +got off scot-free, though he presents a target many cubits broad; +gigantic John Wessels of Van Reenan's; Commandants De Jaagers and Van +Wyck, both killed; Wepenaar, who seemed to exercise authority above them +all; and Japic de Villiers, Commandant of the Wetzies Hoek district, a +man among men in his disregard of danger. When he fell dead, after +making his way close up to our sangar and shooting Major +Miller-Wallnutt, the Orange Free State lost one of its foremost citizens +and bravest fighters. If the supports swarming thickly in Bester's +Valley and the kloofs behind Mounted Infantry Hill had come on with +anything like the determination shown by the intrepid 500 who first +seized Waggon Hill, there must have been many anxious moments for our +General. As it was we had regained and still held the position, but +without driving the Boers from their hiding-places within fifty yards of +the crest. + +But now it is time that we should turn our attention to a post three +miles eastward, where an equally stubborn fight had been waged about +Intombi Spur, and the fringes of a plateau, 800 yards wide, in front of +the Manchester Battalion sangars on Cæsar's camp. There the pickets had +been surprised, just about the time of relief, half an hour before dawn. +There are differences of opinion, and some acrimonious discussions as to +the means by which 500 Boers of the Heidelberg Commando, under Greyling, +had succeeded in getting to a position which commanded much of that +plateau before anybody had the slightest suspicion that enemies were +near. At the outset I suggested an explanation which seems to be +strengthened by every fact that I can gather. They came barefooted up +the cliff-like face of Intombi Spur on its southern side, and crept +round near its crest until they had command of the whole shoulder, +practically cutting off the Manchester sentries from their pickets, but +taking care to raise no premature alarm. Their rule apparently was to +wait for the sound of firing on Waggon Hill, whereby our attention +might be diverted that way, and then to begin their own attack on a +weakened flank. + +This is nearly what happened, except that the Manchesters were put on +the alert by signs of an attack about Waggon Hill more serious than any +preceding it, and made preparations for strengthening their own outpost +line. But it was then too late. The Boers were upon them, ready to open +fire from behind rocks. As Lieutenant Hunt-Grubbe was coming forward to +examine the sentries, shadowy forms sprang out of the darkness and +surrounded him. Then one who was in the uniform of a Border Mounted +Rifleman called to the picket, "We are the Town Guard! surrender!" The +sergeant, however, was not to be caught in that trap, but replied, "We +surrender to nobody," and then ordered his men to fire. In a moment the +air was torn by bullets from all sides, and the picket fell back +fighting towards its own supports, not knowing then that the young +officer had been left a prisoner in the enemy's hands. He was well +treated by his captors, except that they kept him under fire from his +own men so long as a forward position could be maintained, and when that +became too hot they forced him to creep back with them to the cover of +other rocks. He did not want much forcing, being glad enough to wriggle +across the intervening space, where bullets fell unpleasantly thick, as +fast as possible. There he lay close, but kept his eyes open, and saw +something that may furnish a key to the success of Transvaal Boers in +scaling a difficult height that must have been quite strange to them. + +Prominent in one group was a young man whom Hunt-Grubbe thought he +recognised. For a long time the face puzzled him, but at last he +remembered having seen a counterfeit presentment of it, or one very +similar, in a photographic group of the Bester family. A Bester would +know every rock and cranny of that hill with a familiarity which would +make light or darkness indifferent to him. Lieutenant Hunt-Grubbe made +mental notes also of Boer tactics, by which they gave a great impression +of numbers. A group would gather at one point and keep up rapid firing +for some time, then double under cover to some rocks thirty yards off, +and discharge their rifles there, but always taking care not to throw +any shots away. + +In spite of these dodges and good shooting, however, the Boers could +make no headway against the Manchesters, who were by this time extended +across the stony plateau under fire from Boer guns posted among trees on +the far side of Bester's Valley. Neither side in fact could move either +to advance or retire without exposing itself on open ground. Therefore +they stayed blazing away at each other until the grey dawn gave place to +swift sunrise. Then the Boers, who had a heliograph with them behind +Intombi Spur, flashed to Bulwaan the signal "Maak Vecht," and our friend +"Puffing Billy"--as the big 6-inch Creusot is called--promptly made +fight in a way that was astonishing in a weapon whose grooves must be +worn nearly smooth by frequent firing. He threw shell after shell with +vicious rapidity and remarkable accuracy on to the plateau of Cæsar's +Camp, but the shells fortunately did not fall among our men or burst +well. + +Just as Colonel Metcalfe arrived at Cæsar's Camp, with four companies of +the Rifle Brigade to reinforce and prolong our fighting line, the Boer +gunners turned their attention to another point, where, in the low +ground among trees by Klip River, Major Abdy was bringing the 53rd Field +Battery into action. This proved to be the turning-point of the fight on +the eastern spur of Bester's Ridge. + +Those six guns began throwing time-shrapnel with beautiful precision +just where Boers were thickest. Not a shell seemed to be misplaced, so +far as one could judge, and successive bursts and showers of shrapnel +seemed to wither the immense thickets near Intombi's crest. "Puffing +Billy" turned with an angry growl on Abdy's battery, and this was +followed by many shells fired so rapidly that one began to think the gun +must split under that strain. It went on firing, however, and shell +after shell dropped close to our battery when it was unlimbered on an +open space among mimosa trees. At last a shell burst under one of the +guns, shrouding it and the gunners in a cloud of mingled smoke and mud. +Everybody watched anxiously to see who was hit or what had happened. The +gun, they thought, must surely be disabled, but just as they were saying +so there came a flash out from that cloud. The artillerymen had coolly +taken aim while splinters were flying round them or hitting comrades, +and we saw the shell, aimed under those conditions, burst exactly in the +right place. It was a splendid example of nerve and steadiness under +difficulties, and some spectators, at least, cheered it with cries of +"Well done, gunners." So the 53rd Battery remained in action, doing +splendid service by shelling the Boers on Intombi Spruit and beating +back all attempts of Boer supports to scale the height that way. +"Puffing Billy" went on firing from Bulwaan all this while, and is said +to have got off over 120 rounds during the fight, but its shooting +became very erratic and totally ineffective, while our guns were doing +great execution. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING EASTWARD] + +It was from smaller Boer guns and Mauser rifles that the four companies +of the Rifle Brigade suffered heavily in their attempt to drive the +enemy from Cæsar's Camp plateau into Bester's Valley. One party was +smitten heavily while moving forward in a gallant advance to get within +charging distance. The shattered remnant took cover behind a small ridge +of stones, beyond which there was a little open ground, where Lieutenant +Hall and another wounded officer lay. Repeated attempts made to bring +in these officers failed, because directly a man lifted himself above +the stones he became the target for twenty Boer rifles. The +colour-sergeant of Mr. Hall's company, however, crawled across that +ground, to and fro, three times in as many hours, taking water to the +wounded officers, who lay there under scorching sunshine, unable to move +because even an uplifted hand was enough to draw the Boer fire on +helpless wounded. Lieutenant Hall, whose arm was bleeding badly, turned +over, apparently to bandage it, and another bullet struck him. Such was +the fate of many brave fellows that day, whose stricken state should +have appealed to the mercy of their enemies, but the Boers, unable to +advance, and afraid to retreat so long as daylight lasted, were +seemingly so suspicious of all movements that they saw in every wounded +man a possible foe lurking there for his chance to get a shot at them. +The same excuse, however, cannot be pleaded for one Free State burgher, +who, lying down behind a maimed trooper of the Light Horse, kept up a +fire to which our own men could not reply without fear of hitting their +unlucky comrade. + +After the Rifle Brigade had got into action, Colonel Dick-Cunyngham +advanced with three companies of Gordon Highlanders from their camp in +the plain to take the Boers on Intombi spur in flank. He had scarcely +ridden two hundred yards when he fell mortally wounded by a stray +bullet, and the Gordons marched on, leaving behind them the intrepid +leader whom every man would have followed cheerfully into the thickest +fight. They gained the crest, and Captain Carnegie's company sprang +eagerly forward to charge in among the Boers who held Lieutenant +Hunt-Grubbe prisoner. Him they recovered after close conflict, in which +Captain Carnegie was wounded and Colour-Sergeant Price had three +bullet-holes in him, but not before he sent a bayonet-thrust into the +forehead of one Boer with the full force of his strong arm. But the +Gordons could do no more then than lie down among the rocks they had +gained and take part in pot-shooting at the enemy, who dared not budge. + +Up to nearly four o'clock the position about Cæsar's Camp did not +change, but on Waggon Hill there had been some alternations and anxious +movements, while the Boers took positions only to be driven from them +again. Then suddenly a great storm of thunder, hail, and rain swept over +the hills, shrouding them in gloom, amid which the rifle fire broke out +with greater fury than ever across Bester's Valley and the ground that +had been stubbornly fought for so long. This sounded like an attack in +force by fresh bodies of Boers who had made their way round from Bulwaan +under cover of the hospital camp at Intombi Spruit. But they never came +within a thousand yards of our position, and though their rifle fire at +that range galled sorely, it was nothing more than a demonstration made +in hope of enabling their comrades on the heights to extricate +themselves. Interest then turned again to Waggon Hill, where, when the +storm was raging most fiercely, part of our line fell back in error, but +the Brigadier and his officers, going forward until within revolver +range of the enemy, restored confidence at that point. + +Then three companies of the Devon Regiment marching from their post at +Tunnel Hill, a distance of four miles or more, ascended Waggon Hill, led +by Colonel Park, to whom Brigadier-General Hamilton gave but one laconic +order. Wanting no more than the word to go, the Devons shook themselves +into loose column and swarmed forward for their first rush across the +zone of Boer fire. Having gained a little cover they lay there a while, +and began shooting steadily with slow, deliberate aim, even adopting +quaint subterfuges to draw shots from the Boers before pulling trigger +themselves. Then in the same loose but unwavering formation they dashed +forward in another rush, the sergeants calling upon their comrades to +remember that they were Devons, and every company cheering as it ran +towards the enemy, whose fire began to get a bit wild. Another halt for +firing in the same steady way, and then rising with unbroken front, +though their company leaders had all been hit, the Devons straightened +themselves for a charge. With bayonets bristling they sprang to the +crest, and their cheers rang loud across the hills. A hail of bullets +made gaps in their ranks, but they closed up and pressed forward, +eagerly following their colonel. The Boers, unable to withstand any +longer the sight of that fine front sweeping like fate upon them, fired +a few hundred shots and fled down hill, followed by shots from the +victorious Devons, who in a few minutes more had cleared the position of +every Boer. That was the end of the fight, and though some enemies still +clung to Intombi's crest waiting for darkness, their fire soon +slackened, and the hard-fought battle ended in a complete defeat of the +enemy at all points. + + This brilliant victory, demonstrating to the Boers the vast + difference between firing from cover on British assailants and + attempts to storm positions held in force by our troops, cost the + army at Lady smith 420 men in killed and wounded. The large + proportion slain on the spot was remarkable, and was due, no doubt, + to the close fighting. Fourteen officers were killed and 33 + wounded, while the non-commissioned officers and men killed + numbered 167, and the wounded 284. The killed included, besides + Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, Major Mackworth of the 2nd Queen's; + Lieutenant Hall, Rifle Brigade; Major Miller-Wallnutt, Gordon + Highlanders; Lieutenant Digby-Jones and Lieutenant Dennis of the + Royal Engineers, all of whom met death heroically; Captains Lafone + and Field, who were shot down as they charged at the head of their + regiment; and many gallant volunteers serving in the ranks of the + Imperial Light Horse. One company of the Gordons at the close of + the battle was commanded by a lance-corporal, who was the senior + officer unwounded. The Imperial Light Horse was commanded by a + junior captain, and could only muster about 100 men fit for duty + out of nearly 500. As to the Boer losses, it is difficult to arrive + at the truth. The Boer has to be badly beaten before he will + acknowledge having suffered a reverse, and even in such cases every + endeavour is made to hide the real facts of the case, and the + acknowledgment is tardily and reluctantly offered. As supplementing + his description of the memorable struggle, we take the following + extracts from Mr. Pearse's diary:---- + +_January 7._--I rode to-day over the battlefield, where dead Boers still +lay unclaimed, but bearing on them cards that left no doubt about their +identity. I learn that one of that brave little band, the Imperial Light +Horse, wounded early in the fight, was tended gently by a Boer parson, +who bound up his wounds and brought him water under a terrific fire. +Struck by these acts of humanity and devotion to a high sense of duty, I +made inquiries as to the Dutch parson's name. It was Mr. Kestel, pastor +of the Dutch Reformed Church at Harrismith, a Boer only by adoption, a +Devonshire man by birth and descent. + +There was to-day a solemn service of thanksgiving in the English Church. +A _Te Deum_ was impressively sung,--Sir George White and his Staff, at +the Archdeacon's invitation, standing at the altar rails,--and was +followed by "God Save the Queen." + +_January 8._--Sir Redvers Buller heliographed, congratulating Sir +George White on the gallant defence of Ladysmith by this force, giving +especial praise to the Devons for their behaviour, but making no mention +of the Imperial Light Horse. An unfortunate omission. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WATCHING FOR BULLER + + Sir Redvers Buller's second attempt--A message from the Queen--Last + sad farewells--Burial of Steevens and Lord Ava--At dead of + night--Relief army north of the Tugela--Water difficulties + surmised--A look in at Bulwaan--Spion Kop from afar--What the + watchers saw--The Boers trekking--Buller withdraws--The "key" + thrown away--Good-bye to luxuries--Precautions against + disease--"Chevril"--The damming of the Klip--Horseflesh + unabashed--One touch of pathos--Vague memories of home--Sweet music + from the south--Buller tries again--Disillusionment--The last pipe + of tobacco. + + + Whatever may have been the precise cost to the Boers of their bold + attempt to rush the British defences on 6th January, it was + certainly heavy enough to prevent its being renewed. From this time + forward they settled themselves resignedly to wait until disease + and starvation in the town should have done for them what their + best and bravest had failed to do, man against man. And, indeed, + disease following upon many long weeks of privation, of nights and + days passed in the trenches under drenching rain, or the fierce + rays of the African sun, began now to make havoc among the troops. + Many a brave fellow, who had fought and won at Dundee or at + Elandslaagte, who with fierce, courage had endured in the foremost + line in the struggle at Bester's Ridge, now fell a victim to + enteric fever or dysentery in the camp at Intombi. The lists of the + sick and the mortality returns grew daily more formidable, rations + soon had to be reduced, and all within the town, patient as had + been their endurance, now began to look eagerly towards the relief + that Sir Redvers Buller had promised in a month. As the time + approached at which his second attempt to force the Tugela might be + expected, hope revived. The relieving column, it was known, had + been reinforced, and it seemed impossible that the enemy could once + again bar its progress. + + During the fierce fighting at Ladysmith there were times when Sir + George White had grave fears that he would not be longer able to + hold the defences against the enemy. The fortunes of the day, as + the hours lengthened, were reflected in a series of telegrams which + were flashed through by him to Sir Redvers Buller in his camp south + of the Tugela. One of these brief heliograms reported that the + defenders were "hard pressed," and in the afternoon, somewhat + tardily as it seems, General Buller made a demonstration with all + his available force towards the enemy's trenches. The object was to + hold the Boers to their positions on the river, and to prevent the + commandos attacking Ladysmith from being reinforced. As far as + could be ascertained the enemy, however, were in full strength on + the north side of the river, and after ineffectual efforts had been + made to draw their fire the British force returned to camp. Within + four days of this movement, Sir Redvers Buller advanced westward + from Chieveley to make his second attempt to cross the Tugela and + to relieve the town; and it is with the hopes inspired there by the + news and with the tense anxiety with which every indication of + advance or retreat on the distant hills was watched by the + beleaguered garrison, that Mr. Pearse's notes at this time in great + measure deal. + +_January 11._--The bombardment has gone on vigorously for several days, +and the Boers are busy on new works, probably with the idea of +"bluffing" us into the belief that they mean to mount new guns, while in +reality they are sending reinforcements southward to intercept General +Buller. The reception yesterday of a message from the Queen thanking the +troops here for their gallant defence aroused much enthusiasm. Lord +Ava's death to-day causes profound regret in every regiment of +Hamilton's Brigade and other camps, where his soldierly qualities and +manly bearing made him a favourite with men and officers alike. +Conspicuous for pluck among the bravest, he met death--where he had +faced it in nearly every action since joining this force--with the +righting line. Of all who fell dead or mortally wounded in the heroic +defence of Bester's Ridge, none will be more sincerely mourned than he. +The civilians of Ladysmith join with the troops in expressions of +respectful sympathy to Lord Dufferin and his family. To-night Lord Ava's +body was buried in the little cemetery, a scene impressive in its simple +solemnity. Brigadier-General Hamilton with his staff; Colonel Rhodes; +Major King, A.D.C., representing the Headquarters Staff, with Sir George +White's personal aide-de-camp; several officers of the Imperial Light +Horse, among whom Lord Ava was wounded; Captain Tilney of Lord Ava's +old regiment; officers of the 5th Lancers, Gordon Highlanders, and Royal +Artillery; several prominent townsmen, and five war correspondents stood +beside the grave. + +_January 15._--Early this morning sixty shots from heavy guns were heard +far off to the southward, giving us hope that General Buller had begun +his promised advance for our relief. A few hours later I received a +heliograph message from my eldest son, whom I supposed to be still in +England, saying that he was with the South African Light Horse on +probation for a lieutenancy. To-night there was another sorrowful +gathering of correspondents in the cemetery, round the grave of our +brilliant colleague, G.W. Steevens, who died this afternoon from a +sudden relapse, when most of us hoped that he was on the way to +recovery. Bulwaan searchlight, shining on us like a Cyclops' eye, +followed the sad procession along miles of winding road to the cemetery, +then left us in darkness beside the grave where our comrade was buried +at midnight. He had been tenderly nursed throughout his long illness by +Mr. Maud of the _Graphic_, who was chief mourner. He died in the house +of Mr. Fortescue Carter, the historian of the previous Boer War. + +_January 18._--Kaffir runners report that General Lyttelton's division +crossed the Tugela at Potgieter's Drift yesterday, and Sir Charles +Warren's at Trichard's Drift to-day. We also hear of Lord Dundonald +being near Acton Homes with a force of Irregular Horse, some of whom +wear sakkabulu feathers in their hats and carry "assegais." Possibly +these are Lancers, but we cannot identify them. These stories may be +true, for we hear heavy firing in the south-west at frequent intervals. +The Intelligence Department expects an attack on one of our outposts +to-night. Therefore we may go to bed and sleep in peace. + +_January 22._--Since Friday Sir Redvers Buller's guns have been pounding +away for several hours of every day, beginning sometimes at dawn or +carrying on far into the night. The throbbing vibrations of heavy +artillery afar off seemed to fill the air all through Sunday, and we +have seen shells bursting along the heights of Intaba Mnyama or Black +Mountain, not much more than twelve miles in a straight line from +Ladysmith. If our troops are attacking positions successively where +there is no more water than can be brought to them from the Tugela they +must be having a hard time, for the shade temperature at midday rises to +104°, and we know by experience what that means in the full blaze of +sunshine on bare kopjes where the smooth boulders feel scorchingly hot +to the touch. I watch the distant cannonade with a keen personal +interest, for when there is fighting along the Tugela the South African +Light Horse are surely in it. + +Before daybreak this morning Colonel Knox, in command of Mounted +Infantry, Carabiniers, Border Mounted Rifles, and a detachment of +Colonel Dartnell's Frontier Field Force went out to make a +reconnaissance round one shoulder of Bulwaan. They got up through the +wooded neck, had a look into the Boer position but saw not an enemy, and +got back without having a shot fired at them until they showed in the +plain again. Then ping! ping! came the Mauser bullets, and a "Pom-Pom" +opened on them. Colonel Knox gave an order for his men to form loose +order and gallop, and thus they got out of danger with not a man hit. + +_January 24._--All day long I have watched from Observation Buller's +batteries shelling the whole range of Intaba Mnyama from the peaked +"paps" or "sisters," past the Kloof north-west of them, and along the +more commanding Hog's Back. The Boers call part of this range Spion Kop, +and that name has been adopted by our Intelligence Staff as presenting +less difficulties of orthography than the Zulu designation. So Spion Kop +it must be henceforth. From a laager behind one peak I saw an ambulance +cart with its Red Cross flag go up to the crest, which seemed a +dangerous place for it, especially as a piece of light artillery opened +beside the cart a moment later. I could see needles of light flashing +out like electric sparks, only redder, but could hear no report. Nothing +but a "Pom-Pom" could have made those quivering flashes, yet how it got +there with an ambulance cart beside it I must leave the Boers to +explain. The shelling of heights with Lyddite and shrapnel went on hour +after hour, and towards evening some thought they heard a faint sound +as of rifle volleys. The Boers came hurrying down in groups from Spion +Kop's crest, their waggons were trekking from laagers across the plain +towards Van Reenan's, and men could be seen rounding up cattle as if for +a general rearward movement. To us watching it seemed as if the Boers +were beaten and knew it. + +_January 25._--The Boer trek continued for several hours this morning +and well on into the afternoon, when it slackened. Then we saw some +horsemen turn back to make for the cleft ridge of Doorn Kloof, where one +of the big Creusots had opened fire, Buller's naval guns or howitzers +replying with Lyddite shells. The roar of our field-guns has died away +instead of drawing nearer, and we look in vain for any sign of British +cavalry on the broad plain, where they should be by now if Sir Redvers +Buller's infantry attack had succeeded. + +_January 26._--The Boers are back in their former laagers. There is no +sound of fighting this side of the Tugela, only a few shells falling on +Spion Kop, where Boer tents can be seen once more whitening the steep. +We need no heliograph signal to tell us the meaning of all this. For us +there is to be another sickening period of hope deferred; but we try to +hide our dejection, and persuade the anxious townsfolk that it is only a +necessary pause while General Buller brings up his big guns and +transport. + +_January 28._--It is now no longer possible to conceal the fact that the +fight on Spion Kop ended in another reverse for General Buller, though +from our side it seemed as if he had the enemy beaten and demoralised. +It is now published in orders that he captured the heights with part of +one brigade which, however, retired after General Woodgate was wounded, +when the Boers retook it. From Kaffir runners we hear another version +which makes out that our troops were complete masters of the situation +if there had been any one in command at that moment, with a soldier's +genius, prompt to take advantage of the enemy's discomfiture. Had +reinforcements been sent up in time Spion Kop need never have been +abandoned, and Buller might have kept the key to Ladysmith which was +then in his hands. Not another position between him and us remained for +the Boers to make a stand on. He would then have outflanked and made +untenable the entrenched heights facing Colenso. But perhaps he was +anxious about his own line of communications. We only know that he has +gone back, and the work accomplished at much sacrifice of life must be +done over again from some other point. + +_January 30._--In spite of all we know, there are still persistent +rumours rosy-hued but all equally improbable. According to these +Kimberley has been relieved, and Lord Roberts is marching on +Bloemfontein. Sir Redvers Buller has retaken Spion Kop. He has gained a +victory at some other point, but where or when nobody knows. Four +hundred Boers are surrounded south of the Tugela with no chance of +escape. A similar rumour reached us weeks ago. Those four hundred Boers +must be getting short of food by this time. And yet another story makes +out that numbers of the enemy attempting to fall upon Buller's supply +column at Skiet's Drift were completely annihilated. The _Standard and +Diggers' News_ could hardly beat this for imaginative ingenuity. It does +not reassure us. On the contrary a general feeling of depression seems +to have set in, caused perhaps by the ennervating weather. A deluge of +rain has drenched the land, from which mephitic vapours rise to clog our +spirits. The knowledge that rations are running short may also have some +effect. We have not felt the strain severely yet. There is no reduction +in the issue of meat or bread, but luxuries drop out of the list one by +one, and the quantities of tea, sugar, coffee, and similar things +diminish ominously. Vegetables were exhausted long ago, and a daily +ration of vinegar has been ordered for every man, whose officer must see +that he gets it, as a precaution against scurvy. + +_February 1._--It has come at last. Horseflesh is to be served out for +food, instead of being buried or cremated. We do not take it in the +solid form yet, or at least not consciously, but Colonel Ward has set up +a factory, with Lieutenant McNalty as managing director, for the +conversion of horseflesh into extract of meat under the inviting name +of Chevril. This is intended for use in hospitals, where nourishment in +that form is sorely needed, since Bovril and Liebig are not to be had. +It is also ordered that a pint of soup made from this Chevril shall be +issued daily to each man. I have tasted the soup and found it excellent, +prejudice notwithstanding. We have no news from General Buller beyond a +heliogram, warning us that a German engineer is coming with a plan in +his pocket for the construction of some wonderful dam which is to hold +back the waters of the Klip River and flood us out of Ladysmith. + +_February 3._--Horseflesh was placed frankly on the bill of fare to-day +as a ration for troops and civilians alike, but many of the latter +refused to take it. Hunger will probably make them less squeamish, but +one cannot help sympathising with the weakly, who are already suffering +from want of proper nourishment, and for whom there is no alternative. +Market prices have long since gone beyond the reach of ordinary purses. + +_February 4._--One pathetic incident touched me nearly this morning, as +a forerunner of many that may come soon. I found sitting on a doorstep, +apparently too weak to move, a young fellow of the Imperial Light +Horse--scarcely more than a boy--his stalwart form shrunken by illness. +He was toying with a spray of wild jasmine, as if its perfume brought +back vague memories of home. I learned that he had been wounded at +Elandslaagte and again on Waggon Hill. Then came Intombi and malaria. He +had only been discharged from hospital that morning. His appetite was +not quite equal to the horseflesh test, so he had gone without food. I +took him to my room and gave him such things as a scanty store could +furnish, with the last dram of whisky for a stimulant, and I never felt +more thankful than at that moment for the health and strength that give +an appetite robust enough for any fare. + +_February 5._--Just now one could not be wakened by a more welcome sound +than the boom of Buller's guns. It stirred the hazy stillness at dawn +this morning like sweet music. It grew louder and apparently nearer as +the morning advanced, until in imagination one could mark the positions +of individual batteries pounding away opposite Colenso and Skiet's +drift. At last the roar died away in sullen growls, giving us the hope +that a position had been gained. + +_February 6._--Again at daybreak we hear the guns of our relieving force +at work in a vigorous cannonade away to the south-west, where Skiet's +Drift lies. They quicken at times to twenty shots a minute, the field +batteries chiming in faintly between the rounds of heavier artillery. +From Observation Hill we can see the enemy's Creusot on a notched ridge +by Doom Kloof replying. Soon after seven o'clock a lyddite shell bursts +there. Its red glare is followed by flame that does not come from +lyddite. Above this darts a black dense cloud speckled with solid +fragments that shoot into the air like bombs. Before we have time to +think that a magazine has been blown up a double report, merging into a +low rumble, reaches our ears. Something has happened to the Boer +battery, and the big gun there remains silent. Buller's artillery +continues firing, more slowly but steadily, at the rate of eight shots a +minute, and rifle fire can be heard rolling nearer all the afternoon. +Boers are reported to be inspanning their teams and collecting cattle on +the plains. The distance is dulled by mists, and the Drakensberg peaks +are only dimly visible, but there are clouds of dust winding that way, +and we know that the Boer waggons are trekking on the off-chance that a +general retirement may be forced upon them. Is this hundredth day of +siege to be the last, or shall we wake to-morrow to hear that the Boer +laagers are back again, and the relieving force once more south of the +Tugela? + +_February 7._--Sir Redvers Buller evidently finds that the new key of +the road to Ladysmith fits no better than the old, and we begin to doubt +whether he will be able to force the lock yet. Skiet's Drift is a +difficult way, leading through a bushy country scarred with dongas and +commanded by successive ridges, of which the Boers, with their great +mobility and rapidity of concentration, know how to make the most. They +still hold Monger's Hill, and their big gun has opened again from the +notched ridge by Doom Kloof. Buller's guns are hammering at these +positions, but apparently with little effect, for to every salvo from +them the big Creusot makes reply. Nor is there any sign now of a Boer +movement towards the rear. On the contrary, they have a new camp, +possibly of hospital tents, where Long Valley merges into Doom Kloof, +and almost within range of our naval guns if we had them mounted on +Waggon Hill. + +While the fight rages near Tugela heights we are left in comparative +peace here. "Puffing Billy" has not opened to-day, and his twin brother +of Telegraph Hill has been silent many days. Probably he was taken away +to reinforce the artillery now opposing General Buller's advance. If +relief does not come soon we shall have something worse than privation +to dread, for scurvy has broken out at Intombi camp, where medical +comforts are scarce, having been frittered away by the negligence or +dishonesty of hospital attendants, over whom nobody seems to exercise +proper control. The mismanagement of affairs there and the whole system +of hospital administration at Ladysmith will have to be investigated +after the siege. At noon to-day we had hopes that the Boer right flank +was being hard pressed. That is the only practicable way in, but the +effort has apparently not been pushed far. The heliograph has begun to +blink out a long message, and that is always a bad sign. + +_February 8._--Small things assume an importance altogether out of +proportion just now, and one worries about a last pipe of tobacco when +issues of vital moment to us are being fought out ten miles off. I have +come to the end of mine, and there is no more to be got for love or +money. A ton of Kaffir leaf has just been requisitioned from coolies, +who were selling it at twelve shillings the pound to soldiers, and who +have now to accept a twelfth of that price. There are thus thirty-six +thousand ounces for distribution, but even that quantity will not last +long. Nobody would have the heart to take any of it from soldiers who +have been reduced for weeks past to smoking dried sun-flower leaves and +even tea-leaves. Six shots were fired from Bulwaan battery this +afternoon after a silence of nearly two days. We generally accept such +sudden outbursts as indicating that something has gone wrong with our +enemies elsewhere, but we can see no signs of hurried movement among +them, and though General Buller's guns have been active half the day +they sound no nearer. A long message was heliographed through just +before sunset, and rumours of ill news are whispered about with bated +breath by people who wish to establish a reputation for early knowledge, +but at the risk of being charged before a court-martial with the +dissemination of news calculated to cause despondency. We had a case of +that kind the other day when Foss, the champion swimmer of South Africa, +was rightly convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for deprecating the +skill of our generals in conversation with soldiers. Tommy may hold his +own opinions on that point, but he resents hearing them expressed for +him through a pro-Boer mouthpiece, and this man may consider himself +lucky to escape summary chastisement as a preliminary to the durance +vile which is intended to be a wholesome warning for others of like +tendency. + + And indeed the garrison and civilians of Ladysmith, who now began + to feel the sharp pinch of hunger, had need to silence any whose + voices might be raised to rob them of their attenuated hopes. No + official statement had yet been made on the subject, but it was + already becoming evident that they had yet a time of painful + waiting before relief could come. To the hundred days which they + had trusted might complete the period of their trial a score were + to be added before their sufferings could be forgotten in the joy + of deliverance. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS + + Boer pæan of victory--Rations cut down--Sausage without + mystery--The "helio" moves east--Sick and dying at Intombi--Famine + prices at market--Laughter quits the camps--A kindly thing by the + enemy--Good news at last--Heroes in tatters--The distant tide of + battle--Pulse-like throb of rifles--Two sons for the + Empire--British infantry on Monte Cristo--Boer ambulances moving + north--"'Ave you 'eard the noos?"--Rations increased--Bulwaan + strikes his tents--"With a rifle and a red cross"--Buller "going + strong"--Cronje's surrender--A sorry celebration--"A beaten army in + full retreat"--"Puffing Billy" dismantled--General Buller's + message--Relief at hand. + + + Sir Redvers Buller's third attempt to force his way through to + Ladysmith failed on 8th February, when he withdrew his forces from + Vaalkranz to the south side of the Tugela. Their success was + announced by the Boers about Ladysmith in their own way. At + half-past two on the morning of 9th February, night was rent by the + sudden glare of a search-light from Bulwaan, and soon came the + scream of shells hurtling over the town. It was the Boer pæan of + victory, and it sent the people hurrying to their underground + refuges, to which the unco' guid had given the name of + "funk-holes," but did no damage. Its purport was half-divined by + the defenders. The news was still said to be good, but there were + head-shakings, and even the stoutest optimism found itself unequal + to the strain when it was announced that rations were to be cut + down. If things were going well, "Why, in the name of success," + asks Mr. Pearse in his notes for 9th February, "should our + universal provider, Colonel Ward, take this occasion to reduce + rations? We are now down to 1 lb. of meat, including horse, four + ounces of mealie meal, four ounces of bread, with a sausage ration + daily 'as far as possible.' Sausages may be mysteries elsewhere, + but we know them here to be horse-flesh, highly spiced, and nothing + more. Bread is a brown, 'clitty' mixture of mealie meal, starch, + and the unknown. Vegetables we have none, except a so-called wild + spinach that overgrew every neglected garden, and could be had for + the taking until people discovered how precious it was. Tea is + doled out at the rate of one-sixth of an ounce to each adult daily, + or in lieu thereof, coffee mixed with mealie meal." + + February 10 was the day which had been looked forward to as the one + on which relief would arrive. It did not come, and though the + messages flashed over the hills from the beleaguered town at the + time were full of an heroic cheerfulness, the disappointment was + hard to bear. For with rations reduced, with disease harvesting for + death where fire and steel had failed, the defenders were now face + to face with the grimmer realities of war. Yet hope was never + absent, and never at any time did the stern determination to bid + the enemy defiance to the last flicker or grow fainter. Mr. + Pearse's diary for this period gives many details of the highest + interest of the position in the town, and suggests the sufferings, + while it does justice to the splendid spirit of the garrison:-- + +_February 10._--Heliograph signals have been twinkling spasmodically, +but their language is written in a sealed book. We only know that these +"helios" come not from kopjes this side of Tugela, nor from the former +signal-station south of Potgieter's and Skiet's Drifts, as they did a +few days ago, but from hills near Weenen, as in the months before Buller +crossed the Tugela, thus indicating a retrograde movement. It may be a +hopeful sign of communication with some flanking column away eastward, +and therefore kept secret, but we have our doubts. Depression sets in +again, and, as always happens when there is bad news or dread of it, the +death-rate at Intombi Hospital camp has gone up to fifteen in a single +day. Since the date of investment four hundred and eighty patients have +died there from all causes. It does not seem a large proportion out of +the eighteen thousand under treatment from time to time, but it is very +high in view of the fact that we have only had thirty-six soldiers and +civilians in all killed by the thousands of shells that have been hurled +at us in fifteen weeks. + +The market's sensitive pulse also shows that there is a suspicion of +something wrong. Black tobacco in small quantities may still be had by +those who care to pay forty-five shillings for a half-pound cake of it, +as one Sybarite did to-day. A box of fifty inferior cigars sold for +£6:10s., a packet of ten Virginia cigarettes for twenty-five shillings, +and eggs at forty-eight shillings a dozen. Soldiers who cannot hope to +supplement their meagre rations by private purchases at this rate stroll +about the streets languid, hungry, silent. There is no laughter among +them. + +_February 12._--The enemy have done a courteous, kindly thing in +allowing Mrs. Doveton, whose husband lies wounded and dying at Intombi, +to pass through their lines. Not only so, but the General placed an +ambulance-cart at her disposal, with an escort, from whom she received +every mark of respectful sympathy. Yet Major Doveton was well known as +one of their most strenuous opponents, a prominent member of the Reform +Committee, and a leader who has played his part manfully in every fight +where the Imperial Light Horse has been engaged. He was badly wounded +among the band of heroes who held Waggon Hill. + +_February 13._--Good news at last. It comes by heliograph, telling us +that Lord Roberts has entered the Free State with a large force, mainly +of mounted troops and artillery, wherewith he hoped to relieve the +pressure round Ladysmith in a few days. + +This afternoon I paid a visit to Brigadier-General Hamilton in his tent +beside the Manchesters on Cæsar's Camp. Through all the glorious history +of their services in Flanders, the Peninsula, the Crimea, or +Afghanistan, men of the gallant 63rd have never done harder work than on +breezy Bester's Ridge, where they have furnished outposts and fatigue +parties every day for four weary months. Is it any wonder that they are +the raggedest, most weather-stained, and most unkempt crowd who ever +played the part of soldiers? There is not a whole shoe or a sound +garment among them. They are ill-fed and overworked, yet they go to an +extra duty cheerfully, knowing that their General has faith in their +watchfulness and grit. All honour to them! Like "the dirty half-hundred" +of Peninsular fame, they have been too busy to have time for washing and +mending. + +Kaffirs report that the Free State Boers are all trekking towards Van +Reenan's. + + This native report, true or false, marked the beginnings of a + renewed hope that was not again to suffer defeat, but was now + quickly to grow into the substantial expectation and the certainty + of relief. Lord Roberts was already across the borders of the Free + State, and simultaneously Sir Redvers Buller was preparing for his + last attempt to roll back the burghers from the Tugela, and to + break down the barrier so long maintained between his army and + Ladysmith. His operations during the week following were watched + with intense anxiety, but with growing confidence. On 20th February + Mr. Pearse wrote the following:-- + +For a whole week daily we have heard the roar of artillery southward and +westward along the Tugela, seen Lyddite shells bursting on Boer +positions, and watched the signs of battle, from which we gather hope +that slowly but surely Buller's army is drawing nearer to us, though by +a different and harder road from the one it tried last. We know that for +a whole week on end those troops have been fighting their way against +entrenched positions that might baulk the bravest soldiers, and still +the roar of battle rolls our way, until between the muffled boom of +heavy guns we can hear faintly the pulse-like throb of rifle volleys. + +Amid all this strain, intent upon vital issues, one hardly takes note of +trivialities. Even the daily bombardment seems of little importance, and +nobody cares how many shots "Puffing Billy" fired yesterday. For me the +strain is tightened by news heliographed this morning that another son +has come round from Bulawayo and joined the relieving force as a +lieutenant of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry. I don't know whether +pride or anxiety is paramount when I think of these two boys fighting +their way towards me. Both are with Lord Dundonald's Irregular Horse, of +which we have heard much from Kaffirs, who tell us that Thorneycroft's +Rifles and the "Sakkabulu boys," who are now identified as the South +African Light Horse, have been in the front of every fight. It may seem +egotistical to let this personal note stand, but I take the incident to +be an illustration of the spirit that animates English youth at this +moment. + +On Saturday (February 17) the artillery fire sounded far off on the +other side of the Tugela. Next morning we could see shells bursting +along the nearer crest of Monte Cristo, and up to eleven o'clock the +fierce cannonade was ceaseless. How the action had ended we could only +judge by Boer movements. From Observation Hill I saw their ambulance +waggons trekking heavy across the plain behind Rifleman's Ridge, then a +bigger waggon, uncovered, drawn by a large span of oxen. There may have +been a long gun in that waggon, its movements were so slow and +cumbersome. Two ambulance waggons passed in the opposite direction, +light and moving at a gallop. + +Yesterday came news of General Buller's success in the capture of +Cingolo Hill, but before it was signalled we had seen from Cæsar's Camp +British infantry crowning the nearer ridge of Monte Cristo. They came up +in column, and deployed with a steadiness that showed them to be masters +of the position. In the evening I met Sir George White, who told me that +he believed Sir Redvers had gained another success. To-day, again, +shells from the southern guns have been bursting about ridges south of +Cæsar's Camp, where the Boers are still in force. This afternoon, and +well on to evening, we could hear the busy hum of field guns in action +firing very rapidly, as if a fresh attack were about to develop. Sir +Redvers is evidently resolved not to give the enemy any rest or time for +fortifying other positions. + + The above was written on 20th February. General Buller had captured + Hlangwane Hill, the real key of the enemy's position, and on the + following day the whole of Warren's Division crossed the Tugela by + a pontoon bridge thrown across by the Royal Engineers. The + significance of the fact was at once recognised at Ladysmith, and + that day saw the last of the hated horse-flesh ration. Events were + now moving fast. The Boers were preparing for flight, hope began to + beat high in the town, and already the memory of past sufferings + and the irk of those still being borne seemed little in the light + of oncoming deliverance. Mr. Pearse's notes at this last stage in + the long stand for the Empire are interesting reading:-- + +_February 22._--Trivialities are supreme after all. Yesterday we were +all more jubilant at the announcement that horse-flesh would not be +issued as rations again than on the score of General Buller's signal +telling us he had driven the Boers from all their positions across the +Tugela. To-day soldiers greeted each other with a cheery "'Ave you 'eard +the noos? They say there'll be full rations to-day." An extra half-pound +of meat, five biscuits instead of one and a quarter, and a few +additional ounces of mealie meal, were more to them at that moment than +a British victory. + +_February 23._--For several days past the naval 12-pounder on Cæsar's +Camp has shelled Boers at work on the dam below Intombi Camp, causing +much consternation. One result of this is that Bulwaan tries to keep +down the 12-pounder's fire and leaves the town in comparative quiet. +This afternoon there was another surprise for the Boers. "Lady Anne," +one of the big twin sisters of the naval armament to which we owe so +much, had not fired for just a month until she astonished the gunners on +Bulwaan by planting a shell in their works to-day. They ran in all +directions, not knowing where to hide, and at the second shot bolted +back across the hill. Their tents have disappeared from Bulwaan now. +To-day a Boer, or rather a German fighting for the Boers, was caught by +our patrols. He had a rifle, a bandolier, pockets full of cartridges, +and a red-cross badge, concealed, but ready for use when fighting might +be inconvenient. + +_February 26._--Yesterday numbers of Boers were seen retiring from +Pieter's Station across the ridges towards Bester's Valley, but no sign +of a general retreat yet beyond the report of scouts, who say that +several guns have been seen going back at a gallop behind Bulwaan, +followed by nearly two hundred waggons. Last night we heard rifle-firing +on the ridges south of Cæsar's Camp and Waggon Hill. It sounded so near +that for a time we thought our own outposts were engaged with the enemy. +Kaffirs say this was a Boer attack on Pieter's Station, but their story +is not confirmed. General Buller heliographs that he is still going +strong, but the country is difficult and progress slow. Lord Roberts, +according to another helio-signal, has Cronje surrounded. Two attempts +to relieve him have been frustrated. All this puts new life into the +garrison here. A newspaper telegram was also heliographed announcing +that Cronje had surrendered with 6000 men, after losing 1700 killed and +wounded. This is probably a bit of journalistic enterprise in +anticipation of events. + +_February 27._--Majuba Day. We expected the Boers to celebrate it at +daybreak or before by a salute of shotted guns, but they are silent, +apparently watching as we watch, and awaiting the issue of events +elsewhere. We know that a fierce fight is raging not twelve miles +distant. The thuds of big guns are frequent, we hear the booming of +field artillery in salvos, and the shrill ripple of rifles is almost +incessant. But our view is narrowed by hills, and we can only see shells +bursting on the crests of Grobelaar's Kloof and about flat-topped Table +Hill. From their commanding position on Bulwaan the Boers can overlook +Pieter's Station to the earthworks that girdle Grobelaar's Kloof, and +part of the road by which our troops must advance from Colenso if they +advance at all. Noon passed without any Majuba Day salute, but an hour +later Bulwaan battery fired twelve shots up Bester's Valley at cattle +and men cutting grass, then turned to shell Cove Ridge and Observation +Hill, on which one of Captain Christie's howitzers had been mounted +during the night. Thus they made up a salute of twenty-one guns. +"Puffing Billy" seemed bent on showing what he could do. Three shells +burst near where I stood, on the extreme western shoulder of Observation +Hill, just missing the howitzer, and one went far beyond the longest +range yet reached by any of the enemy's Creusots. For a long time I +watched Boer movements, and saw their waggons hurrying back in some +confusion from the Helpmakaar road across Conrad Pieter's farm towards +Elandslaagte. + +At night came a signal from General Buller, "Doing well," followed by a +longer message announcing that Cronje was a prisoner in Lord Roberts's +camp, having surrendered with all his army unconditionally this morning. +Hurrahs are ringing through every camp at this news. Majuba Day has +brought glad tidings to us after all! + +_February 28._--The fortune of war is on our side now. Every sign points +to that conclusion. Ladysmith was alarmed soon after midnight by what +seemed to civilians the beginning of another attack. Rifles rang out +sharply round the whole of our positions. The furious outburst began on +Gun Hill. Surprise Hill took it up. It ran along the dongas in which +Boer pickets lie hidden, and was carried on to the south beyond Bester's +Valley. Our troops did not fire a shot, but still the fusillade +continued for half an hour. The Boers were evidently in a state of +nervous excitement, brought on by nothing more formidable than twelve +men of the Gloucesters who, under Lieutenant Thesbit, had gone out to +destroy a laager at the foot of Limit Hill. This incident showed clearly +enough that no news had come from Colenso to give our enemies +confidence. Few of us, however, were prepared for the sight that met our +eyes as we looked from Observation Hill across the broad plain towards +Blaauwbank when the mists of morning cleared. There we saw Boer convoys +trekking northward from the Tugela past Spion Kop in columns miles long. +Others emerged from the defile by Underbrook like huge serpents twining +about the hillsides. Waggons were crowded together by hundreds. If one +could not go fast enough it had to fall out of the road, making way for +others. Above them hung dense dust clouds. Elsewhere in the open, dust +whirled in thinner, higher wreaths above groups of horsemen hurrying off +in confusion, and paying no heed to the straits of their transport. A +beaten army in full retreat if I have ever seen one! Still people +doubted and grew uneasy, because of General Buller's silence. Bulwaan +fired a single shot by way of parting salute, and then a tripod was +rigged up for lifting "Puffing Billy" from his carriage. It was a bold +thing to do in broad daylight, and our naval 12-pounders made short work +of it by battering the tripod over. After that a steady fire was kept up +on the battery to prevent, if possible, the Boers from moving their +guns. + +Afternoon sunshine enabled General Buller to heliograph the reassuring +message for which Ladysmith had been waiting so anxiously. He said: "I +beat the enemy thoroughly yesterday, and am sending my cavalry on as +fast as very bad roads will admit to ascertain where they are going. I +believe the enemy to be in full retreat." + + It was even so. General Buller and his gallant army, by dint of + heroic qualities, with an unshakable determination which faltered + before nothing; with a patient endurance which bore all things + unmurmuringly; with a sublime courage face to face with the enemy + which has earned them the often unwilling praise of the world, had + overcome at last. On the night of 28th February, when the above + note was written, the head of the relief column, under Lord + Dundonald, arrived in the town. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +RELIEF AT LAST + + The beginning of the end--Buller's last advance--Heroic + Inniskillings--The coming of Dundonald--A welcome at Klip River + Drift--A weather-stained horseman--The Natal troopers--Cheers and + tears--A grand old General--Sir George White's address--"Thank God, + we have kept the flag flying!"--"God save the Queen"--Arrival of + Buller--Looking backward--Within four days of + starvation--Horseflesh a mere memory--Eight hundred sick and + wounded--A word in tribute--Conclusion. + + + The beginning of the end had come on 13th February, when General + Buller's army of relief had opened the attack on Hussar Hill. From + that day fighting had been fierce and practically continuous, the + enemy giving way only after the most stubborn resistance, and + taking advantage of every opportunity to make a stand. During that + fortnight over 2000 officers and men of General Buller's force paid + the price of their dauntless courage; and in all the glorious story + no page is brighter than that which puts on undying record the + devoted gallantry of the Inniskillings, who were, to all practical + intents, wiped out in attacking Pieter's Hill, the last bar across + the road to Ladysmith, on the 23rd. Wounded and dying and dead lay + out together uncomforted, uncared for throughout the long hours of + Saturday until Sunday morning, when a truce was agreed to. Still + the hill was not won, and was to be held by the enemy until the + 27th, the nineteenth anniversary of Majuba, a day no longer to be + held in shameful memory. On the following day the Boers were in + full retreat; and Lord Dundonald, with a small body of mounted + troops, made a dash across the hills to Ladysmith. Their coming was + hailed by the long-isolated town with the wildest outbursts of + delight. Its effect is graphically suggested by Mr. Pearse in a + number of jottings in his diary on the same night:-- + +As night closes in there are cheers rolling towards us from the plain +beyond Klip River, where our volunteers are on patrol. Ladysmith, so +quiet and undemonstrative in its patient endurance of a long siege, goes +wild at the sound. Everybody divines its meaning. Our friends from the +victorious army of the south are coming! All the town rushes out to meet +them, where they must cross a drift. The voices of strong men break into +childish treble as they try to cheer, women laugh and cry by turns, and +all crowd about the troopers of Lord Dundonald's escort, giving them +such a welcome as few victors from the battlefield have ever known. The +hour of our deliverance has come. After a hundred and twenty-two days of +bombardment--a hundred and nineteen of close investment--the Siege of +Ladysmith is at an end. What a hero our gallant old General is to all of +us, when he rides forward to greet Lord Dundonald, and how voices +tremble with deep thankfulness while we sing "God Save the Queen"! + + In a letter written on the following day, Mr. Pearse describes in + greater detail the arrival of relief, and summarises his + impressions at the time:-- + +LADYSMITH, _March 1._--The relieving force joined hands with us last +night, and Ladysmith gave itself away to an outburst of wild enthusiasm +at the sight of troops so long expected and so often heard fighting in +the distance, that some despondent people had almost begun to think they +would never come. After the roar of battle ceased on Tuesday, we knew by +signs that could not be mistaken that Sir Redvers Buller had gained a +great victory even before the heliograph flashed to us the glad tidings +in his own words. I had come to the conclusion, watching from +Observation Hill, soon after daybreak on Wednesday morning, and seeing +the enemy's convoys in three columns, miles long, trekking northwards, +that they were in full retreat. Their guns were hurrying to the rear +also, and horsemen in scattered groups, to the number of thousands, were +galloping past positions on which some stand might still have been made, +a sure sign that they were beaten and did not mean to rally. But the +best indication of all was the attempt to remove the big gun from +Bulwaan that has shelled us persistently and destructively for a hundred +and twelve days, causing us much anxiety but comparatively small loss of +life. Our artillery of the Naval Brigade, to which Ladysmith owes a deep +debt of gratitude, tried to prevent the guns from being carried off, but +apparently their admirably aimed and accurate fire was too late to +effect that object. + +Just before nightfall Sir Redvers Buller's cavalry were reported in +sight. The first token of their coming were loud cheers away on the +plain towards Intombi neutral camp, where some of Colonel Dartnell's +Frontier Police, with Border Mounted Rifles and Natal Carbineers, had +been patrolling since early morning. With joy on their faces, and many +with tears in their eyes, the people rushed towards a drift by which the +Klip River must be crossed. There General Brocklehurst was waiting, and +as a horseman, weather-stained and begrimed by days of bivouacking, +floundered from deep water on to the slippery bank, he was received with +a hearty hand-grip and welcomed to Ladysmith. Then loud cheers went up +for Lord Dundonald, commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade, whose +irregular horsemen have made for themselves a great name as scouts. We +have often heard from Kaffirs about ubiquitous troopers who were +described as wearing sakkabulu feathers in their hats and carrying +assegais. We were all anxious to see these men, and I especially had +often looked out for them, since some one had told me that they were the +South African Light Horse, in which, as I think I have mentioned +elsewhere, a son of mine commands a troop. We had heard of them and +Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry in the thick of the fight at Spion Kop, +and in many other affairs, but only one came with Lord Dundonald and +the advance guard, in which were Imperial Light Horse, Carbineers, Natal +Police of the Frontier Field Force, and Border Mounted Rifles, numbering +only one hundred and seventy, under Major Mackenzie. They had pushed +forward after the last feeble resistance of the Boer rearguard was +overcome, and Lord Dundonald brought to Sir George White the good news +that Ladysmith's relief was accomplished. + +The crowd of soldiers and civilians shouted itself hoarse in cheering +Sir George White when he came with the object of meeting Lord Dundonald. +He could not get through this crowd outside the gaol, where Boer +prisoners were standing on the balcony curious to know what all this +commotion might mean. When a lull gave him an opportunity of speaking, +he said in a voice trembling with emotion, but clear and soldierly for +all that:-- + +"I thank you men, one and all, from the bottom of my heart, for the help +and support you have given to me, and I shall always acknowledge it to +the end of my life. It grieved me to have to cut your rations, but I +promise you that I will not do it again. I thank God we have kept the +flag flying." + +Three cheers were given for Sir Redvers Buller and General Sir Archibald +Hunter, and then the whole crowd joined in singing "God Save the Queen," +with an effect that was strangely impressive in the circumstances. This +morning, after a reconnaissance had been sent out to watch the enemy's +retirement, and if possible intercept convoys, Sir Redvers Buller with +his staff rode into town and met Sir George White before any +demonstration could be made in his honour, and after remaining at +headquarters a short time only, he rode back to camp, or rather bivouac, +with the troops who had fought so heroically under him for the honour of +England. + +Only those who have been under siege and so closely invested that all +communications with the outer world, except through Kaffir runners, were +cut off for 119 days, can imagine what the first sight of a relieving +column means to the beleaguered garrison. Happily such experiences have +been rare in the history of British campaigns, and nobody here would +care to repeat them, though all are proud enough now of having seen it +through. Those who went away while they had a chance in the first rush +for safety, when shells began to burst in the town, may claim credit for +foresight, but we do not envy them. All hardships, dangers, and +privations seem light now that they are things of the past. Our +enthusiasm in welcoming the first detachment of the relieving force has +swept away the impression of discomforts, and, for a time at least, +induced us to forget everything except the reflected honour that is ours +in having suffered with British troops. + + Relief had come none too soon. Mr. Pearse, who had weathered the + storm unscathed and in good health, on 1st March stated in a + telegram that when Lord Dundonald's troops arrived in the town only + four days' full rations were available, and there were 800 sick and + wounded in hospital, by far the larger proportion being down with + dysentery and enteric fever. Truly it seemed that deliverance had + come in the nick of time. "Thank God," Sir George White had said, + "we have kept the flag flying." Thank God also that the brave + defenders had been spared the worst horrors of a siege, and that + help had not longer been withheld in their extremity. Only a + concluding word remains to be said. On 6th February, when relief + seemed imminent, Mr. Pearse wrote the following in his diary:-- + +In this moment I want to place it on record how cordially we all +recognise the fact that Sir George White has done everything that an +able commander could do, not only for the defence of a town whose +inhabitants are entrusted to his charge, but also for the larger issues +of a campaign that might have been seriously jeopardised by any false +move on his part. In many respects, when his critics, including myself, +thought he lacked the enterprise of a great leader, events have proved +that his more cautious course was right. If mistakes were made at the +outset they have been nobly atoned for. + + All who have so far followed Mr. Pearse through his brilliant pages + will acclaim his words. Such a commander was worthy of such troops, + and they no less worthy. During the whole dreary four months of the + siege they had proved themselves men in whom any General in the + world and any people might feel an exultant pride. In long days of + wearisome monotony, broken only by the scream and thud and burst of + shells, at noon beneath the fierce glow of the African sun, at + night in the sodden trenches, in season and out, they had been + patient, vigilant, ready, bearing all things, braving all things, + hoping all things and always. In the midnight attack through dark + defiles and over rugged heights, where the broken boulders made + every step a toil and a danger, they trod with a grim tenacity of + purpose, and struck with a daring that wrested a tribute from the + unaccustomed lips of their enemy. On the rocky ridges of Waggon + Hill and Cæsar's Camp, when the burghers in one supreme effort + dashed against them the pick and pride of the commandos, they + fought through the hours of night till dawn gave place to day, and + the daylight waxed and waned, with a dogged, half-despairing + courage that laughed to scorn even the regardless valour of a + worthy foeman. Who shall do justice to soldiers like these? + Wherever, and as long as, the fame of the British arms is + cherished, so long, and as widely, will the story of the defence of + Ladysmith be held in glorious memory. + + + + +THE END + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_ + + +[Illustration: MILITARY MAP OF LADYSMITH] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Four Months Besieged, by H. H. S. 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H. S. Pearse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Four Months Besieged + The Story of Ladysmith + +Author: H. H. S. Pearse + +Release Date: August 7, 2005 [EBook #16466] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUR MONTHS BESIEGED *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Taavi Kalju and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image01" name="image01"> + <img src="images/01.jpg" + alt="SIR GEORGE STEWART WHITE, V.C., G.C.S.I." + title="SIR GEORGE STEWART WHITE, V.C., G.C.S.I." /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">SIR GEORGE STEWART WHITE, V.C., G.C.S.I.<br /><i>From a Photograph by Window & Grove</i></span> +</div> + + +<h1>Four Months Besieged</h1> + +<h3>THE STORY OF LADYSMITH</h3> + +<h3>BEING UNPUBLISHED LETTERS</h3> + +<h4>FROM</h4> + +<h2>H.H.S. PEARSE</h2> + +<h3>THE 'DAILY NEWS' SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT</h3> + + +<h4><i>WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS MADE BY THE +AUTHOR</i></h4> + +<h5> +London<br /> +MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED<br /> +NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> +1900<br /> +<i>All rights reserved</i></h5> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagev" name="pagev"></a>Pg v</span></p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>The siege of Ladysmith will long remain in the memories of the age. The +annals of war furnish the record of many fierce struggles, in which men +and women have undergone sufferings more terrible and possibly shown a +devotion rising to sublimer heights. But the Boer War of 1899-1900 will +mark an epoch, and throughout its opening stage of four months the minds +of men, and the hopes and fears of the whole British race, centred upon +the little town in mid-Natal where Sir George White with his army +maintained a valiant resistance against a strenuous and determined foe +without, and disease and hunger and death within, until, to use his own +words, that slow-moving giant John Bull should pass from his slumber and +bestir himself to take back his own. For that reason alone the story of +Ladysmith will remain memorable. But it is a story which is brilliant in +brave deeds, which tells of danger boldly faced, of noble self-sacrifice +to duty, in calm endurance of many and growing evils—a story worth the<span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevi" name="pagevi"></a>Pg vi</span> +telling. Yet so far it has been told only in the necessarily disjointed +telegrams and letters of the press correspondents in the town. Native +runners who were captured and otherwise went astray, and the ruthless +pencil of the censor, were accountable for many gaps. Two or three of +the letters contained in the following pages escaped these perils, and +were published in the columns of the <i>Daily News</i>. The rest of the book +now appears for the first time.</p> + +<p>The volume consists of pages from the letters and diaries of Mr. Henry +H.S. Pearse, the Special Correspondent of the <i>Daily News</i>. Mr. Pearse +was in Natal when the war broke out, and he was in Ladysmith during the +whole of the siege. He was fortunate enough to enjoy good health +throughout, and though he had some narrow escapes he was never hit. His +letters contain a complete story of the siege.</p> + +<p><i>April 1900.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagevii" name="pagevii"></a>Pg vii</span></p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + +<table summary="Contents"> + <tr> + <td><a href="#PREFACE"><b>PREFACE</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CONTENTS"><b>CONTENTS</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#ILLUSTRATIONS"><b>ILLUSTRATIONS</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#PLANS"><b>PLANS</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_I"><b>CHAPTER I</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>INTRODUCTORY</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The declaration of war—Sir George White and the defence of<br /> +Natal—The force at Glencoe—Battle of Talana Hill—General<br /> +Yule's retirement—Battle of Elandslaagte—Useless victories—<br /> +The enemy's continued advance</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_II"><b>CHAPTER II</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>LOMBARD'S KOP AND NICHOLSON'S NEK</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>General White forced to fight—The order of battle—Leviathan—<br /> +The Boers reinforced—A retrograde movement—How Marsden met his<br /> +death—Naval guns in action—A night of disaster—Who showed the<br /> +white flag?—A truce declared—A humiliating position</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_III"><b>CHAPTER III</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>LADYSMITH INVESTED</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The exodus of the townsfolk—Communications threatened—Slim<br /> +Piet Joubert—Espionage in the town—Neglected precautions—A<br /> +truce that paid—British positions described—Big guns face to<br /> +face—Boers hold the railways—French's reconnaissance—The<br /> +General's flitting—A gauntlet of fire—An interrupted telegram—<br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageviii" name="pageviii"></a>Pg viii</span> +Death of Lieutenant Egerton—"My cricketing days are over"—Under<br /> +the enemy's guns—"A shell in my room"—Colonials in action—The<br /> +sacrifice of valuable lives</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IV"><b>CHAPTER IV</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>EARLY DAYS OF THE SIEGE</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Moral effects of shell fire—General White appeals to Joubert—<br /> +The neutral camp—Attitude of civilians—Meeting at the Town<br /> +Hall—A veteran's protest—Faith in the Union Jack—An impressive<br /> +scene—Removal of sick and wounded—Through the Boer lines—How<br /> +the posts were manned—Enemy mounting big guns—More about the<br /> +spies—Boer war ethics—In an English garden—Throwing up<br /> +defences—A gentlemanly monster—The Troglodytes—Humorous and<br /> +pathetic—"Long Tom" and "Lady Anne"—Links in the chain of fire—<br /> +A round game of ordnance</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_V"><b>CHAPTER V</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>THE FIRST BOER ASSAULT</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Joubert's boast—The preliminaries of attack—Shells in the town—<br /> +A simultaneous advance—Observation Hill threatened—A wary<br /> +enemy—A prompt repulse—Attack on Tunnel Hill—The colour-sergeant's<br /> +last words—Manchesters under fire—Prone behind boulders—A Royal<br /> +salute—The Prince of Wales's birthday—Stretching the Geneva<br /> +Convention—The redoubtable Miss Maggie—The Boer Foreign Legion—<br /> +Renegade Irishmen—A signal failure</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VI"><b>CHAPTER VI</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>A MONTH UNDER SHELL FIRE</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The first siege-baby—An Irish-American deserter—A soldierly<br /> +grumble—Boer cunning and Staff-College strategy—An ammunition<br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="pageix" name="pageix"></a>Pg ix</span> +difficulty—The tireless cavalry—A white flag incident—What<br /> +the Boer Commandant understood—The Natal summer—Mere sound<br /> +and fury—Boer Sabbatarianism—Naval guns at work—"Puffing<br /> +Billy" of Bulwaan—Intrepid Boer gunners—The barking of<br /> +"Pom-Poms"—Another reconnaissance—"Like scattered bands of Red<br /> +Indians"—A futile endeavour—A night alarm—Recommended for the<br /> +V.C.—A man of straw in khaki—The Boer search-light—Shelling<br /> +of the hospital—General White protests—The first woman hit—<br /> +General Hunter's bravado—"Long Tom" knocked out—A gymkhana<br /> +under fire—Faith, Hope, and Charity—Flash signals from the<br /> +south—A new Creusot gun</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VII"><b>CHAPTER VII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>THE SORTIES OF DECEMBER</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Retribution—Sir Archibald Hunter's bold scheme—A night attack—<br /> +Silently through the darkness—At the foot of Gun Hill—A broken<br /> +ascent—"Wie kom dar?" "The English are on us!"—Major Henderson<br /> +thrice wounded—Destroying "Leviathan"—Hussars suffer under<br /> +fire—Rejoicings in town—Sir George White's address to the<br /> +troops—Boer compliments—A raid for provender—A second sortie—<br /> +The Rifles' bold enterprise—An unwelcome light—Cutting the<br /> +wires—Surprise Hill reached—The sentry's challenge—Rifles'<br /> +charge with the bayonet—Boer howitzer destroyed—The return to<br /> +camp—Cutting the way home—Serious losses</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII"><b>CHAPTER VIII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>AFTER COLENSO</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The Town-Guard called out—Echoes of Colenso—Heliograms from<br /> +Buller—The Boers and Dingaan's Day—Disappointing news—Special<br /> +correspondents summoned—Victims of the bombardment—Shaving<br /> +under shell fire—Tea with Lord Ava—Boer humour: "Where is<br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagex" name="pagex"></a>Pg x</span> +Buller?"—Sir George White's narrow escape—A disastrous shot—<br /> +Fiftieth day of the siege—Grave and gay—"What does England<br /> +think of us?"—Stoical artillerymen—The moral courage of<br /> +caution—How Doctor Stark was killed—Serious thoughts—Gordons<br /> +at play—Boers watch the match—A story by the way—"My name is<br /> +Viljoen"—How Major King won his liberty—A tribute to Boer<br /> +hospitality—"We rely on your Generals"—General White and<br /> +Schalk-Burger—A coward chastised—"Sticking it out"</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_IX"><b>CHAPTER IX</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>A CHRISTMAS UNDER SIEGE</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Husbanding supplies—Colonel Ward's fine work—Our Christmas<br /> +market—A scanty show—Some startling prices—A word to cynics—<br /> +The compounding of plum-puddings—The strict rules of<br /> +temperance—Boer greetings "per shell"—A lady's narrow escape—<br /> +Correspondents provide sport—"Ginger" and the mules—The sick<br /> +and wounded—Some kindly gifts—Christmas tree for the children—<br /> +Sir George White and the little ones—"When the war is over"—Some<br /> +empty rumours—A fickle climate—Eight officers killed and<br /> +wounded—More messages from Buller—Booming the old year out</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_X"><b>CHAPTER X</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>THE GREAT ASSAULT</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Why the Boers attacked—Interesting versions—A general surprise—<br /> +Joubert's promise—Boer tactics reconsidered—Erroneous estimates—<br /> +Under cover of night—A bare-footed advance—The Manchesters<br /> +surprised—The fight on Waggon Hill—In praise of the Imperial<br /> +Light Horse—A glorious band—The big guns speak—Lord Ava falls—<br /> +Gordons and Rifles to the rescue—A perilous position—The death of<br /> +a hero—A momentary panic—Man to man—A gallant enemy—Burghers<br /><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexi" name="pagexi"></a>Pg xi</span> +who fell fighting—The storming of Cæsar's Camp—Shadowy forms in<br /> +the darkness—An officer captured—"Maak Vecht!"—Abdy's guns in<br /> +play—"Well done, gunners!"—Taking water to the wounded—<br /> +Dick-Cunyngham struck down—Some anxious moments—The Devons charge<br /> +home—A day well won</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XI"><b>CHAPTER XI</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>WATCHING FOR BULLER</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Sir Redvers Buller's second attempt—A message from the Queen—Last<br /> +sad farewells—Burial of Steevens and Lord Ava—At dead of night—<br /> +Relief army north of the Tugela—Water difficulties surmised—A<br /> +look in at Bulwaan—Spion Kop from afar—What the watchers saw—<br /> +The Boers trekking—Buller withdraws—The "key" thrown away—<br /> +Good-bye to luxuries—Precautions against disease—"Chevril"—The<br /> +damming of the Klip—Horseflesh unabashed—One touch of pathos—<br /> +Vague memories of home—Sweet music from the south—Buller tries<br /> +again—Disillusionment—The last pipe of tobacco</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#CHAPTER_XII"><b>CHAPTER XII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Boer pæan of victory—Rations cut down—Sausage without mystery—<br /> +The "helio" moves east—Sick and dying at Intombi—Famine prices<br /> +at market—Laughter quits the camps—A kindly thing by the enemy—<br /> +Good news at last—Heroes in tatters—The distant tide of battle—<br /> +Pulse-like throb of rifles—Two sons for the Empire—British<br /> +infantry on Monte Cristo—Boer ambulances moving north—"'Ave you<br /> +'eard the noos?"—Rations increased—Bulwaan strikes his tents—<br /> +"With a rifle and a red cross"—Buller "going strong"—Cronje's<br /> +surrender—A sorry celebration—"A beaten army in full retreat"—<br /> +"Puffing Billy" dismantled—General Buller's message—belief at<br /> +hand</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexii" name="pagexii"></a>Pg xii</span><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII"><b>CHAPTER XIII</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><b>RELIEF AT LAST</b></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>The beginning of the end—Buller's last advance—Heroic<br /> +Inniskillings—The coming of Dundonald—A welcome at Klip River<br /> +Drift—A weather-stained horseman—The Natal troopers—Cheers<br /> +and tears—A grand old General—Sir George White's address—<br /> +"Thank God, we have kept the flag flying!"—"God save the Queen"—<br /> +Arrival of Buller—Looking backward—Within four days of<br /> +starvation—Horseflesh a mere memory—Eight hundred sick and<br /> +wounded—A word of tribute—Conclusion</td> + </tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexiii" name="pagexiii"></a>Pg xiii</span></p> +<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> + +<table summary="Illustrations"> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image01"><b>Sir George Stewart White, V.C., G.C.S.I. (from a<br /> +photograph by Window & Grove)</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image02"><b>The Royal Hotel, Ladysmith (showing the ruins of<br /> +Mr. Pearse's bedroom wrecked by a shell from "Long<br /> +Tom," 3rd Nov. 1899)</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image03"><b>A shell-proof resort (a culvert under a road used<br /> +as a living place by day for civilians, who returned<br /> +to their houses when the shelling ceased after sunset)</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image05"><b>The British position at Ladysmith (looking north towards<br /> +Rietfontein and the Newcastle Road)</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image06"><b>The British position at Ladysmith (looking nearly due south)</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image07"><b>The British position at Ladysmith (looking south-east)</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image10"><b>The British position at Ladysmith (looking eastward)</b></a></td> + </tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="pagexiv" name="pagexiv"></a>Pg xiv</span></p> +<h2><a name="PLANS" id="PLANS"></a>PLANS</h2> + +<table summary="Plans"> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image04"><b>Sketch-map of positions round Ladysmith, Nov. 1899</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image08"><b>Siege of Ladysmith, after two months of bombardment</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image09"><b>The environs of Ladysmith</b></a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#image11"><b>Military map of Ladysmith</b></a></td> + </tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page1" name="page1"></a>Pg 1</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>INTRODUCTORY</h3> + +<h4>The declaration of war—Sir George White and the defence of +Natal—The force at Glencoe—Battle of Talana Hill—General Yule's +retirement—Battle of Elandslaagte—Useless victories—Enemy's +continued advance.</h4> + + +<p>Before taking up the history of the siege proper it will be well here to +pass briefly in review the events which led up to the isolation and +investment of Ladysmith. When war was declared by the Government of the +Transvaal in its despatch of the 9th October 1899, it found Her +Majesty's Government in very great measure unprepared. A month earlier, +however, reinforcements of 10,000 troops had been ordered to Natal from +India and elsewhere, and the major part of these were already in the +Colony. General Sir George White, who had arrived at Durban on 7th +October, had strongly advocated the abandonment of the northern district +of Natal, but allowed himself to be overborne by the urgent +representations of Sir W.F. Hely-Hutchinson, who believed the withdrawal +would involve grave political<span class="pagenum"><a id="page2" name="page2"></a>Pg 2</span> results. Sir William Penn Symons believed +that the districts in question could be defended by a comparatively +small force, and he was allowed to make the experiment. At that time +there were with him at Glencoe three battalions of infantry, a brigade +division of the Royal Artillery, the 18th Hussars, and a small body of +mounted infantry. The enemy crossed the borders immediately upon the +expiry of the term stipulated in the ultimatum, and on the 20th October +was fought the battle of Talana Hill.</p> + +<p>This first battle of the campaign demonstrated at once the soundness of +Sir George White's views. General Symons's little army worthily +maintained the military traditions of their race, and in the face of a +terrible fire from modern rifles, in the hands of the stubbornest of +foes, rushed the enemy's position and swept him from the heights. But +victory demanded heavy toll. The gallant commander nobly expiated the +mistaken judgment which had led him so seriously to underrate the +strength of the invaders, and nearly forty officers killed, wounded, and +taken prisoners, figured on a list of about 430 casualties. So heavy a +price was paid for a brief success and the knowledge that the enemy was +too strong to make it safe to hold the Glencoe position longer.</p> + +<p>General Yule, who now took command of the column, abandoned his camp on +the 22nd October, and withdrew by a circuitous route to Ladysmith,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page3" name="page3"></a>Pg 3</span> +which was reached on the 26th. In the meantime, however, on the 21st, +the Boers marched from the north-west, having cut the railway and +captured a train of supplies at Elandslaagte to the north of Ladysmith. +Sir George White therefore ordered out a force, under General French, to +clear them from the line and to restore communication. Here again the +hostile positions were stormed with reckless gallantry, and the Boers +were swept back in headlong flight, suffering heavy losses. But again +our loss, especially in officers, was very serious, and again it soon +became apparent that victory, quite apart from the price of it, had not +improved our position. The Boers, thrust back for the moment at one +point, steadily continued their advance. General White's force was again +engaged on the 24th October, when, in order to prevent the enemy +crossing the Newcastle road from west to east, and falling on the flank +of General Yule's retiring column, an attack was made in force upon the +enemy at Rietfontein, near Elandslaagte, and the Boers, after six hours' +fighting, were driven from the hills.</p> + +<p>The object aimed at was thus secured. Whether, had the effort been +pushed home, a definite check might at this stage have been imposed upon +the Boer advance, is doubtful. Stopping where it did, it did not prevent +the steady and unceasing movements of the enemy to surround Ladysmith. +One more fight and they were to circle the town in a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page4" name="page4"></a>Pg 4</span> ring of metal +which was long to withstand all the blows that could be levelled against +it. The battle of Lombard's Kop, or Farquhar's Farm, as it is officially +styled, ended in disaster to the British arms, and drew tight the +threads in the entanglement of Ladysmith. The evil fortunes of the day +were described vividly by Mr. Pearse in a letter written on the +following day.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page5" name="page5"></a>Pg 5</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>LOMBARD'S KOP AND NICHOLSON'S NEK</h3> + +<h4>General White forced to fight—The order of battle—Leviathan—The +Boers reinforced—A retrograde movement—How Marsden met his +death—Naval guns in action—A night of disaster—Who showed the +white flag?—A truce declared—A humiliating position.</h4> + + +<p><i>October 31.</i>—If the action on Rietfontein, or Pepworth's Farm ridges, +a week ago was the great score for us that official reports represent, +in that it checkmated all possible efforts of the Boers to intercept +Brigadier-General Yule's column on its march from Dundee, there can be +no doubt that the tables were turned upon us effectually yesterday. Not +only did our attempt to beat one of the enemy's columns in detail, and +capture the heavy Creusot guns that had been harassing us, fail through +misdirection, but when attacked in turn by Boer reinforcements, our +troops were untimely ordered to abandon a position that they had held +for four hours without serious loss, and this gave moral, if not +material victory to the enemy. Successful in every fight up to that +point, we are now in the humiliating position of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page6" name="page6"></a>Pg 6</span> finding ourselves +practically invested by a Boer force that will not attack except by +artillery fire at long range, and whose leader has the power +temporarily, at any rate, to choose the fighting ground that suits Boer +tactics best if we decide to take the offensive. Not only so, but our +little army here has suffered a great disaster in the loss of two +gallant regiments, one of which had only ten days earlier gained for +itself proud distinction by being first to crown the heights of Talana, +near Dundee, where British infantry proved worthy of its most glorious +traditions. As a purely defensive measure, if nothing more, the fight of +yesterday was forced upon us. Like some other operations in this brief +but eventful campaign, it came too late, but, whether timely or not, +a battle was inevitable unless we meant to sit down tamely and be +battered at.</p> + +<p>Yesterday morning, long before daybreak, our force was on the move, +intent upon outflanking positions which the Boers held two days earlier. +Colonel Grimwood, with one brigade consisting of the 1st and 2nd King's +Royal Rifles, the Leicestershire and the Liverpool battalions, took up a +position on open ground near Lombard's Kop, supported by a regiment of +cavalry, the Border Mounted Rifles, and the Natal Carbineers with three +batteries. A fourth battery was posted on a green kopje almost directly +in line between Lombard's Kop and Rietfontein Hill. Colonel Ian +Hamilton, with the second infantry brigade, consisting of the Gordon +Highlanders, Rifle Brigade,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page7" name="page7"></a>Pg 7</span> Manchesters, and 1st Devons, formed a +strong reserve behind the long ridge connecting these points with their +left on the Newcastle road, where the Imperial Light Horse were held +ready for action when the proper time should come.</p> + +<p>At four o'clock in the morning our infantry were all in position for the +fight, as it had been originally planned. Half an hour later they +exchanged shots with a few Boers scattered about kopjes in their front, +and from that moment, until nearly noon, they remained practically under +fire, never budging an inch, but remaining immovable, except when a +change of front became necessary to meet the Boer reinforcements, and +that was effected by an advance. Up to that point everything seemed to +be going in our favour. When there was daylight enough for gunners to +see clearly, the 42nd Battery, posted at the eastern end of a green +kopje that forms an irregular spur of Rietfontein Hill, but at a much +lower elevation, opened fire on that ridge where the Boers had planted +Long Tom.</p> + +<p>It was interesting to watch shot after shot fall nearer the mark around +it as the gunners picked up the range, until one shell struck and burst +close to "Long Tom's" embrasure. Then the battery took to firing +shrapnel, which were so well timed that one could see projectiles from +the six guns in succession bursting at intervals along Rietfontein's +level crest, which must have been raked from end to end with a shower of +shrapnel bullets. The enemy's leviathan<span class="pagenum"><a id="page8" name="page8"></a>Pg 8</span> sent two shots at this battery, +without effect, and then turned its fire upon Ladysmith town again, not +with malicious intent, perhaps, but aiming to hit either the balloon or +the railway station, where, in addition to naval guns, there happened to +be stores of forage and other things that might easily have been set +aflame by shells.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this demonstration, our force was making steady progress +towards an envelopment of the main Boer position at half-past seven in +the morning. Immediately after that, however, prospects changed with the +appearance of formidable reinforcements for the Boers, marching +apparently from the direction in which a large camp had been seen two +days earlier. They came into action on our right flank with a brisk +rifle fire, followed by the deep notes of artillery. In intervals +between the regular roar of field guns came the sledgehammer "thud! +thud! thud!" from an automatic gun, which Tommy Atkins, with his +aptitude for expressive phrases, promptly christened "Pom! Pom!" and +that name sticks to it with unpleasant associations, for the Boers had +not only one but many automatons of the same pattern. Like the heavier +field-piece, "Pom! Pom!" throws shells that burst badly, but throws them +with great accuracy, so that scores of shots in rapid succession fell +among our batteries whenever they advanced to a fresh position, or +changed ground in hope of keeping down that harassing fire.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page9" name="page9"></a>Pg 9</span></p> + +<p>At this time the Border Mounted Infantry and Natal Carbineers made +frequent dashes to secure advantageous points, and the Boers were at one +time so hard pressed that they gave ground hurriedly before an attempt +of the 60th Rifles to gain a rough crest which took the long hollow +behind Lombard's Kop in reverse. Then the enemy's reinforcements falling +back somewhat threatened our right flank, and Sir George White, +reluctant to prolong his already attenuated line, met that movement only +by sending the Carbineers round Lombard's Kop, and bringing up the +Imperial Light Horse in support.</p> + +<p>About this time the Gordon Highlanders and Manchester battalion were +drawn forward from Hamilton's Brigade to the green tree-fringed kopje, +on the ridge of which our 42nd Battery still maintained its position, +playing effectively upon "Long Tom." It looked as if Sir George meant to +reinforce his fighting line, and try a decisive counter-stroke, by +throwing all the weight he could against the Boer left wing, which was +either wavering or executing some wily movement that had the appearance +of a retirement. But unluckily at this critical moment the 60th Rifles +and Leicestershire men began to fall back from the position they had +gained, which was immediately occupied by Boer riflemen, and the 60th, +exposed to a storm of bullets from three sides, came across open ground +in very loose formation. We presently learned that the order had been +sent for them "to retire on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page10" name="page10"></a>Pg 10</span> balloon," Sir George White having +apparently resolved upon concentration by a retrograde movement.</p> + +<p>Receiving a message in the words quoted, men naturally assumed that it +meant a hasty retreat and not a retirement by successive lines of +resistance. In some cases nerves overstrained by hours of inaction gave +way, and a few men threw down arms or equipment in a momentary panic, +abandoning even their Maxim gun for a time. This, however, was quickly +checked by the example of cool comrades, who, spreading out in obedience +to commands from their officers so that there might be wide intervals +for the shots to pass through, walked slowly and steadily across the +open veldt, where bullets were raining like hailstones. In that +retirement Major Myres, of the 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifles (60th), +fell mortally wounded. Young Marsden, of the same battalion, going to +the Major's assistance, knelt beside him, and bent over as if to bind up +a wound. In that position he remained motionless so long that Lieutenant +Johnson, who had been firing steadily with a wounded soldier's rifle +until twice hit himself, went to see if he could give any help. He found +his brother subaltern dead in the act of binding up a wound as he knelt +over the dying field-officer's body. At that moment Lieutenant Johnson +received his third wound, and had to be carried from the field by +ambulance men.</p> + +<p>Mounted infantry of the King's Royal Rifles and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page11" name="page11"></a>Pg 11</span> Leicestershire +Regiment, with Natal and Border Mounted Rifles, covered this retirement +until it passed beyond the new line formed by Gordons and Manchesters, +so that Colonel Grimwood's Infantry Brigade, looking rather like broken +troops in the loose irregularity of every company, was not called upon +to rally or turn to face the enemy, but marched straight back towards +the balloon, "Long Tom" opening fire upon them as they crossed a ridge, +with marvellously exact knowledge of the range. Three shells burst close +to groups of the 60th, many men being hit.</p> + +<p>At that moment, however, the Boer gunners' attention was diverted to +another point, where, from hills just in front of the town, and facing +Rietfontein, Captain Lambton's 12-pounders opened. It was as great a +surprise for us as for the Boers. We saw the shell explode just in front +of "Long Tom's" epaulement, and heard a cheer from spectators, scores of +the townspeople having gathered on a slope by Cove Hill to watch the +scene, among them a crippled gentleman who has to be wheeled about in a +Bath-chair. Nobody who does not know what sailors will accomplish in +spite of difficulties could have believed that Captain Lambton would +bring his guns into action so soon after reaching Ladysmith, and +especially, as we heard afterwards, as one had been upset by a shell +from "Long Tom" as it was being drawn across level ground slowly by a +team of oxen. Evidently, however, the mishap had done no<span class="pagenum"><a id="page12" name="page12"></a>Pg 12</span> harm, for the +bluejackets were manning two 12-pounders that showed no sign of damage, +and both of them were making excellent practice. At the third round it +planted a shell in the enemy's battery, and the fifth put "Long Tom" out +of action for a time by disabling some of its gunners. Sir George +White's gradual withdrawal of his forces to positions prepared for +defence was therefore not harassed by shell fire from beyond the range +of our own field batteries.</p> + +<p>Quite apart from these operations, but intended to fit in with them, was +the despatch of a flying column late on Sunday night to turn the enemy's +right flank or cut off his line of retreat in the direction of Van +Reenan's Pass. For either purpose, two battalions of infantry, though +they might be the bravest and the best, with a mountain-battery of +7-pounders carried on mules, did not seem quite adequate, but Major +Adye, of the Royal Irish Rifles, who acted as staff-officer guiding the +column, was confident of success, and glad of the chance to be with two +such battalions as the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Gloucesters in such +an enterprise.</p> + +<p>Possibly all might have gone well with it but for a deplorable accident. +In the dead of night some boulders rolling down from a hill startled the +transport and mountain-battery mules, which stampeded, taking with them +nearly all the reserve rifle ammunition. As to what happened after that, +accounts vary greatly. Few of the Gloucester men or Royal Irish<span class="pagenum"><a id="page13" name="page13"></a>Pg 13</span> +Fusiliers got back to tell the story, except as wounded men on parole, +and they had not seen the whole thing through. It seems certain, +however, from concordance of evidence, that the Gloucesters and +Fusiliers, instead of outflanking the Boers, were actually between two +strong bodies of Free State men, when they seized a strong position and +established themselves there. At any rate, they were attacked in turn +soon after daybreak by Boers who crept up the slopes in rear, firing on +them from both flanks—some say all round. Notwithstanding this, the +thousand men held their ground against odds until nearly every round of +ammunition had been expended, and the casualties numbered nearly a +hundred and fifty killed or wounded.</p> + +<p>Both regiments begged that they might be allowed to charge the rough +slopes from which the ceaseless stings of rifle-fire came, and the +Fusiliers, whose colonel would have led them willingly enough, had their +bayonets fixed, when some one hoisted the white flag, and by this act +the remnants of two gallant regiments became prisoners of war. "Flags of +truce!" said an "old brag" who recounted the story, with tears in his +voice; "I wish they would leave the damned rags at home, or dye them all +khaki colour, so that neither Dutchmen nor us could ever see them."</p> + +<p>News of that disaster travelled fast. It was told on the battlefield in +front of Ladysmith two hours later, and it probably had some effect on +the fortunes<span class="pagenum"><a id="page14" name="page14"></a>Pg 14</span> of a fight that cannot be recalled by Englishmen with +unmixed satisfaction. The result may be regarded as a drawn battle, in +that each side remained at the finish in possession of its own position, +but on us who watched every phase, first with confidence and then with +increasing anxiety, the impression made was a very unpleasant one, +closely akin to humiliation.</p> + +<p>The Boers were left in command of heights on which, if given time, they +may plant artillery to shell the town and camp with a fire to which we +can make no effective reply until the quick-firing naval guns of heavy +calibre and long range are mounted. Bluejackets have been working hard +to that end all day, unmolested by the enemy, who have declared a truce +for twenty-four hours in order that the wounded of both sides may be +placed in comparative safety.</p> + +<p>General Joubert has sent to us an ambulance with wounded under parole +from the captured column, and in exchange his surgeons have taken a +similar number of Boer wounded from our hospitals. All who have come in +speak highly of the treatment they have received at the enemy's hands.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page15" name="page15"></a>Pg 15</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>LADYSMITH INVESTED</h3> + +<h4>The exodus of the townsfolk—Communications threatened—Slim Piet +Joubert—Espionage in the town—Neglected precautions—A truce that +paid—British positions described—Big guns face to face—Boers +hold the railways—French's reconnaissance—The General's +flitting—A gauntlet of fire—An interrupted telegram—Death of +Lieutenant Egerton—"My cricketing days are over"—Under the +enemy's guns—"A shell in my room"—Colonials in action—The +sacrifice of valuable lives.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>October closed without further hostilities, and its last day was +uneventful in a military sense, though full of forebodings in the +town, because all knew that the Boers were taking advantage of a +brief armistice to bring up reinforcements. On this last day of the +month civilians eager to get away from Ladysmith crowded every +train. Writing on November 1st, Mr. Pearse said:—</p></div> + +<p>All Saints' Day is observed with some strictness by Boers who do not +show similar veneration for other festivals in the Church Calendar. +There have at any rate been no hostilities to-day, but from Captain +Lambton's Battery on Junction Hill, where the naval 4.7-inch +quick-firing gun is being mounted, we have by the aid of the signalman's +powerful<span class="pagenum"><a id="page16" name="page16"></a>Pg 16</span> telescope watched a significant Boer movement going on for +hours. We can see them among the scrubby trees between Lombard's Kop and +Umbulwaana (or Bulwaan as it is more generally called), and hurrying off +behind that hill along the road that leads southwards. That road cuts +the railway not more than six or seven miles out, and their movement +threatens our line of communications that way, unless we can manage to +check it by judicious use of cavalry and mounted troops. The flight of +townsfolk southward continues. They do not even trouble about luggage +now, but lock their doors and clear off. Half the houses are empty, and +many shops closed.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It was early shown that the enemy had not undertaken the war in a +half-hearted manner. He let no possible opportunity escape to +better his position; and in the choice of means he was not inclined +to risk his reputation for "slimness." On this point Mr. Pearse has +a good deal to say in his next letter:—</p></div> + +<p><i>November 2.</i>—For two whole days after the battle of Lombard's Kop +there was absolute cessation of hostilities, and this lull the Boers +turned to account in a manner very characteristic. There can be hardly +any doubt that we might have taken advantage of it also to safeguard our +line of communications by posting a force where it might have checkmated +one of the enemy's obvious moves. Anything would have been better than +the inaction, which simply allowed the Boers to mature their own<span class="pagenum"><a id="page17" name="page17"></a>Pg 17</span> plans +and put them into execution without risk of interference from us. That +might almost have been foreseen when General Joubert on 31st October hit +upon a characteristic plan for finding out what was the exact state of +affairs in Ladysmith, and we, with a delightful naïveté, suspecting no +guile, seem to have played into his hands. It will be remembered that +the most painful incident of "Black" or "Mournful Monday" was the +surrender of all but a company or two of the Gloucesters and Royal Irish +Fusiliers, which with a mountain battery had been detached to turn the +enemy's flanks, with consequences so humiliating and disastrous to us. +Under pretence of treating the wounded from this column with great +consideration, Joubert sent them into camp here, taking their parole as +a guarantee that they would not carry arms again during this campaign. +With the ambulance waggon was an escort of twenty Boers, all wearing the +Red Cross badge of neutrality. Their instructions were to demand an +exchange of wounded, and on the plea of being responsible for the proper +care of their own men, they claimed to be admitted within our lines. +Such a preposterous request would not have been listened to for a moment +by some generals, but Sir George White, being anxious apparently to +propitiate an enemy whose guns commanded the town, full as it was of +helpless women and children, yielded that point, and so the ambulance +with its swaggering Boer escort came into town neither blindfolded nor<span class="pagenum"><a id="page18" name="page18"></a>Pg 18</span> +under any military restrictions whatever. Among this mounted escort +Ladysmith people recognised several well-known burghers, who were +certainly not doctors or otherwise specially qualified for attendance on +wounded men. They were free to move about the town, to talk with Boer +prisoners, and to drink at public bars with suspected Boer +sympathisers—all this while they probably picked up many interesting +items as to the number of troops in Ladysmith, the position of ordnance +stores and magazines, and the general state of our defences, which were +chaotic at that moment. One among the visitors was particularly curious +about the names of officers who dined habitually at the Royal Hotel +mess, and very anxious to have such celebrities as Colonel Frank Rhodes, +Dr. Jameson, and Sir John Willoughby pointed out to him. Does anybody in +his senses believe that such careful inquiries were made without an +object, or that the Red Cross badge was regarded as a sacred symbol +sealing the lips of a Boer as to all he had seen and heard in Ladysmith?</p> + +<p>When Joubert's artillery began shelling the town their fire was directed +on important stores, the locality of which could only have been +indicated to them by secret agents, and on places where officers are +known to assemble at certain hours. These may all have been merely +strange coincidences, but, at any rate, they are noteworthy as showing +that in some way, whether by accident or cunning design,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page19" name="page19"></a>Pg 19</span> General +Joubert's gunners were able to profit by the truce that was agreed upon +without any exact stipulation on either side as to its duration. The +tacit understanding seems to have been that both forces should have time +to collect their wounded and bury their dead.</p> + +<p>It is certain that the Boers took a little more time than was necessary +for this purpose, and turned it to good use for themselves by +strengthening the earthworks behind which "Long Tom" is mounted, while +we in turn were enabled to get a second naval gun of heavy calibre into +position before the bombardment began again. The necessity for doing +this was probably chief among reasons which kept our artillery silent +during the last two days, though it seemed to mere spectators that a +chance was thus being given for the enemy to mount batteries on heights +that commanded nearly every part of our camp.</p> + +<p>To make this perfectly clear without the aid of a map showing contours +of all ridges and hollows is very difficult, and one can only attempt to +give in words a rough idea of the general position. If the reader will +bear in mind what a horse's hoof inverted looks like, he may get a +mental picture of Ladysmith and its surroundings—the heels of the +horse-shoe pointing eastward, where, five miles off, is the long, flat +top of steep Bulwaan, like the huge bar of a gigantic horse-shoe magnet. +The horse's frog approximately represents a ridge behind which, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page20" name="page20"></a>Pg 20</span> +facing Bulwaan, but separated from it by broad stretches of meadow, with +the Klip River winding a serpentine course through them, between high +banks, is Ladysmith town. Between the frog and the horse-shoe lie our +various camps, mostly in radiating hollows, open either to the east or +west, but sheltered from cross fires by rough kopjes of porphyritic +boulders that have turned brown on the surface by exposure to sunshine. +Bushy tangles of wild, white jasmine spring from among these boulders +with denser growth of thriving shrubs bearing waxen flowers that blaze +in brilliant scarlet and orange, and the coarse grass that begins to +show on every patch of earth between the rocks is dotted with clusters +like dwarf petunias, or purple bells of trailing convolvulus. A rich +storehouse this for the botanist, whose contemplative studies, however, +might be rudely disturbed by the shriek and boom of shells bursting +about him, for, as I have said, the enemy's guns command most of these +ridges, though they cannot always search the hollows in which our camps +are as much as possible hidden.</p> + +<p>The horse-shoe, in its irregular curve, is dotted here and there with +outposts, whose duty it is to keep the enemy's sharpshooters from +getting within rifle range of our artillery positions encrusting the +ridges at several points like nails of the horse-shoe. Without locating +them exactly, one may say that the Naval batteries are on rough +eminences of the northern heel, facing Rietfontein Hill, where the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page21" name="page21"></a>Pg 21</span> +Creusot gun, known as "Long Tom," is mounted behind earthworks at a +range of 6800 yards, which is well within compass of the <i>Powerful's</i> +12-pounders and at least 3000 yards less than the extreme distance at +which shells from her 4.7-inch quick-firing guns would be effective.</p> + +<p>Positions for field batteries are prepared at other points round the +wide sweep, but only to be occupied as occasion may arise, and therefore +one does not care at present to locate them more precisely. The enemy, +having heavy artillery of various calibre mounted on Bulwaan, is able to +enfilade certain posts held by our infantry pickets on the heels of the +horse-shoe, but there are folds among the rocky kopjes where men can lie +comparatively screened from shells, which at that distance give timely +notice of their coming, as sound travels rather faster than the +projectiles do at the end of their flight.</p> + +<p>We have outposts on Intombi or Maiden's Castle, which forms the +horse-shoe's southern heel, others stretching westward thence to a gap +in the toe of the shoe, through which a wood runs nearly due west until +it branches off to the Drakensberg Passes in one direction and +Maritzburg in the other, and pickets on the north-western and northern +heights, with a detached post at Observation Hill, an elongated kopje +outside the general defences, overlooking a wide valley of mimosa scrub +towards Rietfontein, which is the enemy's main stronghold, commanding<span class="pagenum"><a id="page22" name="page22"></a>Pg 22</span> +as it does the railways to Van Reenan's Pass in the west, and to +Newcastle in the north. Except for a distance of two miles from +Ladysmith, therefore, both these railways are in the hands of the Boers, +who can use them as uninterrupted lines of communication with the Orange +Free State and the Transvaal respectively. That they were being so used +to some purpose we had reason for believing, during the two peaceful +days following the one which from its associations has come to be known +among soldiers as "Mournful Monday." Standing on the naval battery, one +could watch Boers hard at work preparing positions near Lombard's Kop, +and along the crest of Bulwaan, for artillery that was probably then +being brought by railway from Laing's Nek, and at the same time columns +of Boer horsemen were moving behind Bulwaan southwards, evidently intent +upon cutting our own lines of communication. That they would be allowed +to accomplish it without a timely effort on our part to prevent them +seemed inconceivable.</p> + +<p>For most of us it was a shock to realise that ten or twelve thousand +British soldiers could be shut up by an army of Boer farmers before any +attempt at a counter-stroke had been made. The mobility of our enemies, +however, gives them a wonderful advantage in such movements over a force +that consists mainly of slow-moving infantry, and unless opportunity is +taken to attack them promptly, when they may be beaten in detail, their +power for mis<span class="pagenum"><a id="page23" name="page23"></a>Pg 23</span>chief is very far-reaching. Possibly Sir George White was +quite right to put his trust in defensive tactics, knowing that he could +hold Ladysmith against all attempts of the Boers to capture it +notwithstanding their numerical superiority, but it is none the less +vexatious and unpleasant to find ourselves beleaguered and bombarded.</p> + +<p>Whether the enemy had power to invest Ladysmith effectually, and keep a +strong force across our lines of communication would only be ascertained +by a reconnaissance. Directly and without any warning except to officers +commanding detachments, a force assembled at the earliest hour this +morning (Nov. 2). There was so little fuss that soldiers lying in tents +on bivouac slept undisturbed by the clanking of bits as horses were +saddled, or the rumble of wheels when a battery moved to their places in +the column. Artillery, 5th Lancers, 18th Hussars, Natal Carbineers, +Border Mounted and Natal Mounted Rifles get together silently, the +volunteers vieing with regulars in this proof of discipline, which +indeed comes natural to men many of whom know by sporting experience on +the veldt that silence is a virtue. General French takes command of this +mobile little force, and at two o'clock it moves out through the +darkness for a reconnaissance along the Colenso Road, where it comes in +touch with the enemy soon after daybreak. A brisk skirmish against Boer +riflemen, who as usual have been quick to occupy commanding kopjes; +showers of shrapnel<span class="pagenum"><a id="page24" name="page24"></a>Pg 24</span> hurled among them from our field battery; a few +shells tearing up the dust in clouds in their distant camp; and two of +our own Lancers hit, makes up the story of this affair, which serves to +show conclusively that communication by road in that direction is +barred, if not effectually cut. General French therefore brought his +column back, reaching Ladysmith in time to take train for Durban, +handing over the cavalry command before he left to General Brocklehurst.</p> + +<p>That train was the last to get through, and even then had to run the +gauntlet of rifle and artillery fire from Boers who were on both sides +of the line. An hour later the railway was cut by the Boers, whose light +guns completely commanded a defile through which the line passes; and at +two o'clock telegraphic communication stopped short in the middle of an +important despatch, while private and press messages innumerable await +their turn. The thread of that interrupted telegram will probably not be +taken up for many days, and we realise that our isolation is complete. +Communications might have been kept open for days longer by an energetic +use of artillery and mounted troops, but now it is too late to reopen +them without incurring risk of serious losses. We must be content to +wait the development of events in other quarters, for the Boers are all +round us now, and, blink the fact as we may, it must be admitted that +Ladysmith is under siege.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page25" name="page25"></a>Pg 25</span></p> + +<p>While General French was making his reconnaissance our naval 12-pounders +opened fire on "Long Tom" a few minutes after six o'clock, as a flash +and puff of white smoke from his muzzle told that the bombardment was +about to begin. For an hour and a half the artillery duel went on +briskly, Captain Lambton's naval battery answering shot for shot, or +rather anticipating each, as the shells from our guns travel with +greater velocity, and get home three seconds before "Long Tom's" can +take effect.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately one of the enemy's shells fell close to Lieutenant +Egerton, instructor in gunnery of H.M.S. <i>Powerful</i>, who was mortally +wounded. "My cricketing days are over now," he said, with a plucky +attempt to make light of his agony as the bluejackets lifted him gently +on to a stretcher. The Naval Brigade also had one bluejacket wounded, +but not seriously. There was only one other casualty, though shells fell +frequently into the camps of Gordon Highlanders and Imperial Light Horse +in rear of our main battery, the former having one man hit by a splinter +as he lay in his tent. The two regiments were thereupon ordered to shift +their quarters, which they did with great promptitude, having no +particular fancy to play the part of targets for ninety-four-pound +shells.</p> + +<p><i>November 3.</i>—Misfortunes press upon each other quickly. This morning +Lieut. Egerton, R.N., a young sailor, not less distinguished for skill +in his profession than for personal gallantry, died. His<span class="pagenum"><a id="page26" name="page26"></a>Pg 26</span> requiem rang +out from the naval battery in its duel with the enemy's heaviest +artillery. Soon other Boer guns joined in from Lombard's Kop and the +slopes of Bulwaan, throwing shells about the town as if resolved to +compass its ruin.</p> + +<p>To-day, indeed, for the first time, we have had brought home to us the +dangers and discomforts, if not the horrors, of what a bombardment may +be in an unfortified town under the fire of modern artillery. We cannot +accuse the Boers of having deliberately thrown shells into the houses of +peaceful inhabitants, or over buildings on which the Geneva Cross was +flying. These are, unfortunately, just in the line of "Long Tom's" fire +from Rietfontein Hill, and the shells may have been aimed at our naval +battery, but, if so, they went very high, or their trajectory at that +range would not have carried them half a mile beyond the mark.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image02" name="image02"> + <img src="images/02.jpg" + alt="THE ROYAL HOTEL, LADYSMITH" + title="THE ROYAL HOTEL, LADYSMITH" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">THE ROYAL HOTEL, LADYSMITH<br />Showing ruins of Mr. Pearse's bedroom, wrecked by a shell from "Long +Tom," Nov. 3, 1899</span> +</div> + +<p>Several fell near the hospital, others went 500 yards farther in the +direction of Sir George White's headquarters, and one came crashing into +my bedroom at the Royal Hotel, not ten yards from where many officers +were then lunching. The hotel is a prominent building, that can be seen +from "Long Tom's" battery, and many people, giving Boer gunners credit +for astonishing accuracy, suggested that the shot must have been aimed +to strike where it did, in the hope of bagging Colonel Frank Rhodes and +Doctor Jameson, whose ordinary hour for meals was known to every spy +frequenting the place, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page27" name="page27"></a>Pg 27</span> might easily have been communicated by +them to the artillerist Mattey, who was recognised among a group +drinking at the bar on Tuesday evening. Of slight materials do the +Ladysmith townsmen weave romances, but one can hardly be surprised, +seeing how long they have lived in strained relations with neighbours +whose Boer sympathies were well known. But whether intended for the +Royal Hotel or not, the shell came very near to causing several +vacancies in the senior ranks of this force. Passing through the ceiling +and partition wall of a colleague's bedroom, it burst in mine with such +force that it blew out the whole end-wall, hurling bricks across a +narrow court, all about the dining-room windows, which were smashed by +the explosion; but of those sitting close inside only one was slightly +scratched by broken glass. Clouds of dust, mingled with fumes of powder, +poured in through the open casement, so that those in farther corners +were for some moments in much anxiety as to the fate of their friends. +When they found that no harm had been done there was an assumption of +mirth all round, but nobody cared to stay much longer in that room. At +the moment of explosion I had risen from the table to resume work in my +chamber, which presented to my astonished eyes anything but the +characteristics of a quiet study then. Papers scattered in every +direction were buried with clothes and kit under a wreckage of building +materials. One fragment of iron shell had gone clean through<span class="pagenum"><a id="page28" name="page28"></a>Pg 28</span> a bag and +all its contents to bury itself beneath the floor in earth. Another had +crushed my precious Kodak flat, and there was scarcely a thing exposed +in the place that had not been torn by the blast of powder or cut by +splinters. The diminished population of Ladysmith began to gather about +that spot when they found that no other shells fell there. "What a lucky +escape for you!" they all said, and I devoutly agreed with them.</p> + +<p>That was "Long Tom's" last attempt at bombarding Ladysmith to-day. He +had been frequently silenced, and once apparently disabled in his heavy +duel with "Lady Anne," as Captain Lambton names the naval quick-firing +gun, and a final lucky shot either put him out of action for the day or +injured so many Boer gunners that their comrades did not care to "face +the music" again. While all this bombardment was going on, the telegraph +staff and post-office clerks, having no work to do, amused themselves by +playing cricket on the raceground within sight of the Boers on Bulwaan, +and well within range of guns mounted near the crest of that hill, +whence a hot fire was for some time directed towards the town. And they +played their match to a finish, though one shell burst very close to +them.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile General Brocklehurst having succeeded General French in the +cavalry command, took out another flying column composed of 5th Dragoon +Guards, Imperial Light Horse, Border Mounted<span class="pagenum"><a id="page29" name="page29"></a>Pg 29</span> Rifles, and one field +battery, to keep the enemy in play and prevent them from mounting other +guns. He attacked the ridges about Lancer's Nek and all his troops +behaved brilliantly. The Border Mounted Rifles in squadrons, wave behind +wave, charged a kopje as if they meant to ride full tilt to its crest, +but halting at its base to dismount they scaled its rugged slopes and +drove the Boers back to another ridge, exchanging shots at short range +with effect on both sides. The Imperial Light Horse had meanwhile got +into a tight place, and the 5th Dragoon Guards, dashing forward to their +assistance were badly galled by fire from Boers concealed among rocks in +front and flank. Out of this difficulty they had to run the gauntlet for +their lives, but not so hurriedly that they could not stop to help +comrades in distress, and many deeds of heroism under fire made the +spectators of this episode forget that some one had blundered. The Boers +got no more guns into position to-day, but we had only gained a brief +respite, and at the sacrifice of some valuable lives. Major Taunton of +the Border Mounted Rifles and Captain Knapp and Lieutenant Brabant of +the Imperial Light Horse were killed, and many of lower rank wounded.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page30" name="page30"></a>Pg 30</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>EARLY DAYS OF THE SIEGE</h3> + +<h4>Moral effects of shell-fire—General White appeals to Joubert—The +neutral camp—Attitude of civilians—Meeting at the Town Hall—A +veteran's protest—Faith in the Union Jack—An impressive +scene—Removal of sick and wounded—Through the Boer lines—How the +posts were manned—Enemy mounting big guns—More about the +spies—Boer war ethics—In an English garden—Throwing up +defences—A gentlemanly monster—The Troglodytes—Humorous and +pathetic—"Long Tom" and "Lady Anne"—Links in the chain of fire—A +round game of ordnance.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The reconnaissance under General Brocklehurst, above described, +brought home to the garrison of Ladysmith their utter helplessness +to prevent the isolation and investment of the town. Any doubt that +may have lingered among them or the civil inhabitants was dispelled +by the action promptly taken by Sir George White to try and secure +the safety of these latter and his sick and wounded. The +circumstances are related by Mr. Pearse in a letter dated 5th +November:—</p></div> + +<p>Sunday, <i>5th November</i>.—There can be no doubt about the first effects +of shell-fire on a beleaguered town. Let men try to disguise the fact as +they may, it gets on the nerves of the most courageous among us, +producing a sense of helplessness in the presence of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page31" name="page31"></a>Pg 31</span> danger. Nobody +likes sitting still to be battered at without power of effective reply. +Still less would he be content to stand inactive by while the wounded +and defenceless were being shelled. These considerations no doubt +influenced Sir George White yesterday when he sent a message to General +Joubert asking that non-combatants with sick and wounded might be +allowed to leave Ladysmith without molestation. It must have been +bitterly humiliating for a soldier in command of ten or twelve thousand +British troops, who have been twice victorious in battle, to feel that +one reverse had resulted in making him a suitor for so much favour at +the hands of an adversary. Whether the request ought ever to have been +made or not, to say nothing of whether we ought to have been in the +abject position of having to make it, is a question about which most +civilians are at variance with the military authorities, seeing that the +answer was a foregone conclusion. Its exact purport we do not know yet, +but it amounted to a flat refusal, as most of us had foreseen, and was +accompanied by alternative proposals which placed Joubert in the +position of a potential conqueror—dictating terms, and our acceptance +of these cannot be read by the Boers in any other light than as an +admission of weakness or pusillanimity. Of course we know that it means +nothing of the kind, but simply that Sir George White would not expose +sick and wounded, with helpless women, children, and non-combatants<span class="pagenum"><a id="page32" name="page32"></a>Pg 32</span> +generally, to the possible horrors of a prolonged bombardment. So long +as they remained in town he would be righting with one hand tied, +because he could not in that case place batteries in certain +advantageous positions without the risk of drawing fire from Boer guns +on Ladysmith and its civilian inhabitants. Whether this state of things +has been mended much by Sir George White's acceptance of Boer conditions +and Ladysmith's practical repudiation of them may well be doubted. As +the matter is generally understood, General Joubert, while declining to +grant Sir George's request, consented that a neutral camp for sick, +wounded, and non-combatants should be formed at Intombi Spruit, five +miles out on the railway line to Colenso, and practically within the +Boer lines. They were to be supplied with food, water, and all +necessaries from Ladysmith by train daily, under the white flag, and to +be on parole not to take any part thenceforth in this war.</p> + +<p>As a set-off against these conditions, Joubert undertook that the camp +should not be fired upon by any of his men, or its occupants molested, +so long as they observed the regulations imposed upon them. And he +promised further that they should all be released, but still on parole, +whenever the siege of Ladysmith might be raised or the Boer forces +withdrawn. He gave no pledge, however, that his batteries should not be +placed in such a position that they would be screened by the hospital +camp from the fire of our<span class="pagenum"><a id="page33" name="page33"></a>Pg 33</span> guns, or that when he might choose to attack, +the Boer forces would not advance from a point where we could not shoot +at them without danger of sending shells and bullets among our own +comrades and fellow-subjects.</p> + +<p>Ladysmith's most representative men were dead against the acceptance of +conditions which seemed to them all in favour of one side. They +expressed freely, and without reserve, doubts as to General Joubert's +good faith, and saw in his proposals only fresh instances of Boer +cunning. Their sturdy manhood rebelled against arbitrary terms dictated +by an enemy whose superiority, except in mere numbers, they naturally +enough declined to admit. The weaker spirits might yield, if they would, +out of timid respect for "Long Tom" and other heavy artillery, the +shells from which, though they have done little harm so far, have a +distinctly demoralising effect when they come screeching through the air +and crashing into houses day after day.</p> + +<p>In earlier stages of the bombardment people showed little alarm after +they had got over the first shock of hearing a shell burst. Children +were allowed to play about the streets, and women went shopping, +according to the custom of their sex all the world over. Kaffir girls +stood in groups at street corners, swaying their bodies as they beat +noiseless time with their bare feet to the monotonous drone of +mouth-organs or Jews'-harps, which most of them carry strung about their +necks, wherewith to banish dull<span class="pagenum"><a id="page34" name="page34"></a>Pg 34</span> care in the many moments of leisure +snatched from toil, and beaming broad smiles on every dusky swain who +passed. But the rumour got about that General Joubert had threatened to +bombard the town indiscriminately if our guns fired lyddite at his +batteries, and this threat had unknown terrors for the simple, who did +not realise that, whether discriminately or indiscriminately, Boer +shells would continue to fall in Ladysmith streets all the same.</p> + +<p>So far as I can find out, General Joubert never sent such a foolish +message, but the rumour—possibly put about by Boer agents—served its +purpose by inducing a timorousness in some minds, and men who had no +fear for themselves began to get very anxious about the safety of wives +and children. That was the keynote of a speech made by Mr. Farquhar at +the public meeting yesterday, when he, as Mayor of Ladysmith, made +official announcement of General Joubert's proposals. Mr. Farquhar is a +cautious Scotsman, whose sense of responsibility in such a crisis would +compel him to put the gravest phase of the case first. The Boer +conditions, however, met with nothing but indignant protests, nobody +venturing to raise his voice in favour of them except by way of comment +on the utterances of some fiery orator, who was for asking the General +to send back threats of dire punishment on every Boer if a shot should +be fired into the town. Mr. Charles Jones, who was a transport rider in +the Boer war of 1881,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page35" name="page35"></a>Pg 35</span> and carried Sir Evelyn Wood's despatches through +the enemy's lines to a beleaguered garrison, was first to express in +calm, manly words what was afterwards found to be the general feeling of +the townsmen present at that meeting. Mr. Jones has won the respect of +every Englishman who knows him by the steadfastness with which he stuck +to his post when others were seeking safety in migration to Maritzburg +or Durban. With firm faith in the leader under whom, as a volunteer, he +saw active service, Mr. Jones believes that we should see our +difficulties through, without asking or accepting doubtful favours from +a foe. Somebody in the crowd ventured to say, "But your wife and +children are not here now." "No," was the answer; "and I have no wish +nor right to speak for fathers and husbands, who are at liberty to do as +they please. But I can still say that if my wife and children were here, +I would rather they should trust to protection under the Union Jack with +British soldiers than under the white flag at Joubert's mercy."</p> + +<p>There were men in that crowd who had to speak for those near and dear to +them. Anxious-eyed and pale, with muscles knit into hard lines on their +faces, one after another declared in voices that may have faltered, but +still rang true as steel, that they and theirs would face their fate +under the Union Jack. Archdeacon Barker, who has been ceaseless in his +ministrations among the afflicted since fighting began, gave eloquent +expression to the prevalent<span class="pagenum"><a id="page36" name="page36"></a>Pg 36</span> sentiment, as one who had kith and kin +about him, and finished by saying that he would neither go to the camp +selected by General Joubert, nor allow his wife and family to go. To +this conclusion the meeting also came by general agreement, the +dissentient minority being still free to do as they wished, except that +no man who had taken up arms in defence of Ladysmith could accept the +terms offered by General Joubert. Then the people gave three lusty +cheers, and ended by singing "God Save the Queen," with an effect, the +impressiveness of which was deepened by the thought that within a few +hours Ladysmith would be under bombardment from all the thundering +artillery our enemy could muster. But the resolution of this public +meeting made no difference to Sir George White's decision, which was a +practical acceptance of the terms formulated.</p> + +<p>To-day has passed in peace, but marked by a very natural depression as +we have seen train after train laden with sick, wounded, and +non-combatants, go out to the neutral camp at Intombi Spruit, where +these people will have to remain under a white flag so long as this +humiliating investment of Ladysmith may last. To make the matter worse +they were sent out at first with insufficient supplies for urgent needs, +and with so few attendants that tents for all could not be pitched the +same night. Even now many non-combatants have to lie in small patrol +tents of thin canvas with a double slope, under the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page37" name="page37"></a>Pg 37</span> ridge of which +there is barely room for a child to stand upright, and the camp is +placed on ground so flat, near the river bank, that heavy rains might +convert it into a mere swamp. There, however, General Joubert decided +that the neutral camp must be pitched, and those who were too weak or +spiritless to help themselves, must needs be thankful for such gracious +concessions. Some, not quite satisfied with the protection this affords, +are digging burrows deep into clay banks by the river side, where they +will be even more liable to be flooded out. In strict justice it must be +said that many sick and wounded went out, not of their own free will, +but because, being under medical care, they had no option. The result of +this is that men suffering from slight ailments, or whose wounds would +not incapacitate them from duty longer than a week or so, are virtually +prisoners of war, only to be released at the pleasure of the Boers, or +until we reclaim them by force of arms. These are unpleasant things to +write, but they are true none the less.</p> + +<p>The Boer guns have preserved all along an absolute silence, which was +not broken on our side until ten at night, when a sentry set off his +rifle. This roused the whole camp, and soldiers everywhere stood to +their arms until the cause of this false alarm was discovered.</p> + +<p><i>November 6.</i>—At daybreak this morning, Second Lieutenant Hopper, 5th +Lancers, came into camp, having got through the Boer lines by a ruse<span class="pagenum"><a id="page38" name="page38"></a>Pg 38</span> as +clever as it was sportsmanlike. He brought despatches from the General +commanding at Estcourt. His difficulties show that though a soldier may +get through the Boer lines, they are now tightening round us, and unless +a British force strong enough to break through can be assembled quickly, +we are in for a long siege here. Nobody gave the Boers credit for so +much enterprise, and if Sir George White made a mistake, as I think he +did, in not sending all the women and children away from Ladysmith when +Dundee was abandoned, this error probably arose from faulty information, +for which those who thought they knew the Boers and their resources were +in the first instance responsible.</p> + +<p>Our defences begin to take shape, so that their strong and weak points +can be estimated. Southward is a long brown hog-backed hill, which the +local people call Bester's Ridge, though military authorities divide it +into Cæsar's Camp, with Maiden's Castle forming a spur in the inner +curve towards Ladysmith, and Waggon Hill. Altogether it is three miles +in length, and being the key of the position will want holding. For that +purpose the trusty Manchester battalion is placed there, having roughly +constructed sangars for rallying points. This ridge forms one horn of +the roughly-shaped horse-shoe which I have already spoken of, the toe of +which sweeps round from Maiden's Castle in low but rugged kopjes +overlooking slopes of open veldt to where Klip River<span class="pagenum"><a id="page39" name="page39"></a>Pg 39</span> loops the old camp +which, being constructed of corrugated iron, is called "Tin Town." That +would be a weak point, but that it is protected by an outlying kopje +known as Rifleman's Post on the far side of the river. This is occupied +by a small body of the King's Royal Rifles, the other companies of which +hold King's Post, an eminence from which the northern horn of the +horse-shoe bends along by Cove Ridge, Junction Hill, Tunnel Hill, and +Cemetery Hill, to Helpmakaar Hill. Here the Devons are posted at the +heel of the shoe, which juts into a scrubby flat pointing towards the +neck between Lombard's Kop and Bulwaan. These hills are respectively +four and five miles distant from our outworks. Bulwaan stands across the +opening afar off like a huge, bevelled, flat-topped bar placed, as it +might be, for a horse-shoe magnet to attract it. The whole curve of our +defensive works must stretch nearly nine miles. In addition, there is an +undefended opening nearly two miles long, where the straggling town lies +naked to its enemies, or rather screened by nothing more formidable than +belts of mimosa, Australian willow, and eucalyptus trees. Between the +town and Bulwaan, however, flows Klip River, with many windings through +a broad plain, mostly pasturage, but with mimosa scrub closing it in +towards the gorge where river and railway converge at Intombi Spruit.</p> + +<p>Long as our defensive line is for 10 or 12,000 men to occupy +effectively, it must be held at all<span class="pagenum"><a id="page40" name="page40"></a>Pg 40</span> costs, and a post must be kept on +Observation Hill north-west of the Cove Ridge, for if once the Boers got +possession of that kopje they might make other positions untenable. As +matters stand, they have planted guns on an outer ring of hills, whence +they can throw shells into the town. Sir George White was blamed for +giving up Lombard's Kop and Bulwaan, but these could not have been held +without weakening more important points. They seemed, moreover, too far +off to serve as artillery positions for the enemy's smaller guns, and +almost inaccessible for big Creusot 94-pounders. Against attacks by +riflemen from that direction the hard plain is a sufficient obstacle. +Any body of Boers attempting to cross that open could be met by +overwhelming infantry fire and the shrapnel of field-batteries. The idea +that Bulwaan is beyond effective range of anything but the heaviest +artillery has, however, been dispelled to-day. The enemy got a high +velocity 40-pounder into position there, and its shell, travelling +faster than sound, whistles over the town, to burst near the balloon +detachment which is moving with the guy ropes up a valley towards the +outer defences. This gun must have a range of nearly six miles, and we +have nothing that can reach it but our naval 4.7-inch and 12-pounders +mounted on Junction Hill, both of which have enough to do in keeping +down the fire of "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill.</p> + +<p><i>November 8.</i>—In previous letters and telegrams<span class="pagenum"><a id="page41" name="page41"></a>Pg 41</span> I have referred +frequently to the presence of known Boer sympathisers who were suspected +of being in constant communication with our enemies. No steps were taken +to test the truth of these suspicions until numberless facts, which the +most sceptical could not ignore, proved that every movement made by our +troops within or near the camp was known very soon afterwards to Boers +outside, who could not have discovered these things by mere observation +without the aid of secret agents. Several people were understood to be +shadowed, but nothing came of this except an order that no person should +be allowed to remain in Ladysmith without an official permit. This was +practically set at naught by farmers, who considered themselves free to +enter and leave the town without let or hindrance, until it was +practically surrounded by Boers, and they often gathered about the hotel +doors listening furtively to every scrap of gossip or news that fell +from officers.</p> + +<p>At length the course was taken that might have saved much trouble if put +into practice days earlier, by making peremptory the order that all +non-residents who could not show the necessary permit to remain should +clear out within twenty-four hours, or be subject to arrest and +imprisonment. At the same time a warning went round that none would, +after the allotted time, be allowed to pass our outposts coming or +going, and so perforce many who would have been glad to get away +remained, having<span class="pagenum"><a id="page42" name="page42"></a>Pg 42</span> missed their last chance of going southwards by train. +What has become of them since then I do not know, unless they have taken +refuge with non-combatants, and sick and wounded, in the neutral camp. +At any rate, they are not here now, and that is something to be thankful +for, though they could give little information to the enemy, except that +shelling has done surprisingly little harm, and killed or wounded very +few in proportion to the enormous number of projectiles thrown. This in +spite of good guns, aimed with most accurate skill, is attributable +solely to the fact that the shells were too weakly charged to burst with +much destructive effect.</p> + +<p>But the spies—for they were certainly nothing less—had done their work +in locating every point of military importance or personal interest in +Ladysmith, and it is hardly possible to doubt that this knowledge was +imparted to Boer gunners, who promptly began training their heaviest +artillery in the direction of supply depots, ordnance stores, +headquarters, intelligence offices, and other places not visible from +the enemy's positions, though within easy range of, and therefore +commanded by them, if the gunners knew exactly where to aim so that +projectiles might drop over intervening houses and trees. When the most +destructive shell burst in my bedroom most people regarded it as an +accidentally erratic shot, intended for some other mark. Those who +suggested that time and place had been de<span class="pagenum"><a id="page43" name="page43"></a>Pg 43</span>liberately chosen because +Colonel Frank Rhodes, Doctor Jameson, Sir John Willoughby, General +French with his staff, and other officers, were known to have lunched in +the Royal Hotel on several previous days, met with nothing but ridicule. +Colonel Rhodes especially made light of the idea that any gun could +shoot so accurately as to get within a few feet of hitting the exact +mark aimed at from a range of nearly five miles. Since then, however, +the hotel has been nearly struck several times, and on each occasion +about the same hour, so that the most sceptical are now changing their +opinions in favour of a belief that the Royal Hotel has been marked for +destruction. Out of consideration for other guests, therefore, Colonel +Rhodes, "the Doctor," Sir John Willoughby, and Lord Ava have taken up +their quarters elsewhere.</p> + +<p>It may be a mere coincidence, but since their departure shells have +fallen less frequently in this part of the town, though a great many +have passed close over the Town Hall, on which a Red Cross flag floats, +denoting its use as a refuge for sick and wounded, and the Convent +Hospital, conspicuously placed on a ridge behind, has been completely +wrecked inside. Fortunately, however, the convalescent patients and +nurses were got away before that happened. It will probably be pleaded +in justification of the Boers that these buildings, being directly in +the line of fire behind our naval batteries, were liable to be hit by +high shots from "Long<span class="pagenum"><a id="page44" name="page44"></a>Pg 44</span> Tom." The same excuse, however, cannot be made in +other cases when shells fell among houses that are not in line with any +defensive work, camp, or arsenal. One cannot suppose that a mere desire +for wanton destruction of life and property directed the shots, which +were probably aimed on the off-chance of hitting officers known or +believed to be living in those houses. That would be sufficient +justification according to all the accepted ethics of war, and some +military men contend even that the Boers would be quite right to shell +Ladysmith until it was reduced to ruins if they hoped to accelerate +thereby the work they have taken in hand. It must be remembered that +Joubert's main object just now is to gain possession of the town, which +it is said he has sworn to capture, and if he thought that end could be +hastened by ceaseless bombardment of the place, involving possible +slaughter of many unarmed people, there is nothing in the law of nations +to prevent him, so long as a military force remains here ostensibly for +the defence of Ladysmith.</p> + +<p>So runs the argument, but it would be preposterous to assume that +General Joubert thinks he can reduce British troops to submission or +bring about an evacuation by such feeble means. Sir George White has, +from humane motives, yielded points to his adversary which most of us +would have thought worth fighting for, but he is every inch a gallant +soldier, as we who have watched him under heavy fire all know<span class="pagenum"><a id="page45" name="page45"></a>Pg 45</span> full +well, and nobody here needs to be assured that he will never surrender +Ladysmith or abandon its stubborn defence as long as there is any reason +for holding it.</p> + +<p>Ample provision is made for the safety of all non-combatants, where they +will not be exposed to shell fire from any quarter, or other dangers +except unlikely accidents, and against these no foresight can guard +entirely. There are some people who continue to take all risks rather +than forsake their property by day or night. These, however, are +comparatively few. The great majority got away while there was yet time, +leaving their houses, full of furniture, locked up or in charge of +Kaffir servants. Curiously enough, they were in many cases the first to +suffer loss by shell fire, and are probably now congratulating +themselves on the timely desertion that enabled them to escape worse +evils.</p> + +<p>Mr. Fortescue Carter, the most famous of Ladysmith's townsmen, whose +<i>History of the Boer War in 1881</i> is well known, had scarcely left his +home, next door to the Intelligence Department's headquarters, when +shells began to fall in his beautiful garden among rose trees, +hollyhocks, dahlias, verbenas, and other familiar English flowers, which +he cultivated with much care. Neighbours might be content to surround +their houses with fences of almond-scented oleander, and let the hundred +varieties of South African shrubs bloom in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page46" name="page46"></a>Pg 46</span> wild profusion under the +shadowing eucalyptus tree, but his gardens were laid out with +well-ordered primness, and in them he delighted to see growing the +fragrant flowers that reminded him and his visitors of home life in +England. All this is in danger of becoming a shell-fretted wilderness +now. "Long Tom" once having turned his attention in this direction +continued to pound away until two shots struck the house itself, and, +bursting inside, shattered the dainty contents of several rooms to +atoms.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, in a picturesque, vine-trellised cottage, not fifty yards +off, ladies went about their domestic duties as usual, apparently +oblivious of all danger. One I saw quietly knitting in the cool, shaded +stoep, and her busy needles only stopped for one moment, when a shell +burst in the roadway beyond, then went on again as nimbly as ever. After +the first shock, some people, who seem least fitted to bear a continuous +strain on their nerves, become so accustomed to the hurtling of huge +projectiles through the air that they show no sign of fear when danger +is close to them. Women are often braver than men in these +circumstances. There is one whose courageous example alone keeps native +servants and coolie waiters at their posts, but she, when little more +than a child, saw some of the horrors of the Zulu War, and she speaks +with pride of her father as one of the few farmers who, refusing to quit +their homes, kept wives and families about<span class="pagenum"><a id="page47" name="page47"></a>Pg 47</span> them, and fought like heroes +in defence of all they held dear.</p> + +<p>Not all in Ladysmith are of this heroic temper, but very few make open +parade of fear if they have any, and though precautions are taken +against exposure to unnecessary risks, there is no sign of panic yet. +Soldiers, every one of whom may be very valuable as a fighting unit +before this siege closes, are ordered to protect themselves by such +shelter trenches or bomb-proofs as can be constructed out of loose +stones, sandbags, forage bales, or other material that lies ready at +hand. The works have to be built under shell-fire, but when finished +they will be an inestimable advantage to regiments that occupy day and +night hill-crests where they might be enfiladed by long-range artillery +fire. That risk must, of course, be taken if the enemy's riflemen should +harden their hearts for a determined frontal attack upon any position +supported by flank fire from guns, but until such a critical moment +arrives the men not actually on duty as sentries or outlying pickets +will be little harassed by bursting shells or flying splinters or +showers of shrapnel bullets, if they dig themselves good pits to lie in, +with sufficiently thick coverings overhead.</p> + +<p>The 1st Devon battalion, which, as one of the best here, and trusted for +its steadiness in all circumstances, was given the most vulnerable point +to hold, has busied itself in the formation of works that promise to +make Helpmakaar Hill impregnable, though<span class="pagenum"><a id="page48" name="page48"></a>Pg 48</span> its long, low spur is exposed +to artillery fire from Bulwaan and Lombard's Kop and the scrub-screened +nek between them. The works there show what can be done under +difficulties by a good regiment toiling cheerfully to carry out the +orders of good officers. The original breastworks were traced by +engineers who had in view rather the necessity of throwing up light +defences against rifle fire than the probability that these works would +be battered at by heavy artillery from one side and taken in reverse +from another. It soon became evident that the entrenchments if left in +that state would be untenable, and yet they could not be abandoned +without serious risk that Boers might then be able to advance under +cover near enough to threaten other posts, if not to command by rifle +fire, within twelve hundred yards or so, the heights on which naval guns +are mounted. Only by holding the contours of extreme spurs on Helpmakaar +Hill could the Devons hope to sweep by rifle fire a wide zone of +slightly undulating veldt, and thus command all possible approaches from +Lombard's Kop or Bulwaan in that direction. So they stuck generally to +the lines traced by engineers for their outer defences, but deepened the +trenches, widened the banks in front of them, built bomb-proof +traversers overlaid with balks and earth to neutralise the effects of +enfilading fire, and then began to form for themselves dug-out huts in +which to sleep, with solid earth roofs supported on railway sleepers.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page49" name="page49"></a>Pg 49</span></p> + +<p>All this means enormous labour, carried on frequently under a galling +cannonade from the enemy's smaller guns, and interrupted occasionally by +the necessity of having to keep down the rifle-fire that comes from a +distant kopje, while standing on the front of these works.</p> + +<p>Yesterday, watching a cavalry patrol that tried in vain to feel for a +way through the scrubby nek into more open ground beyond, General +Brocklehurst and his staff were nearly hit by a shell from some +newly-mounted battery the exact position of which could not be located, +for its smokeless powder made no flash that anybody could see in broad +daylight, nor generated even the faintest wreath of vapour. Its +projectile travelled faster than sound, so that the range could not have +been great, but there was nothing by which our own batteries might have +been directed to effective reply. We all abused "Long Tom" at first +because of his unprovoked attack on a defenceless town, but by contrast +with what is known among Devon men as the "Bulwaan Sneak," and among +bluejackets as "Silent Susan," the big Creusot gun with its loud report, +the low velocity of its projectiles, and the puff of white smoke giving +timely warning when a shot is on its way, is regarded as quite a +gentlemanly monster.</p> + +<p>Following the example thus set by regiments on the main defensive +positions, others temporarily in reserve have begun to build or dig for +themselves splinter-or bomb-proof retreats, in which they may<span class="pagenum"><a id="page50" name="page50"></a>Pg 50</span> take +shelter when the shelling becomes too hot. The Imperial Light Horse were +first to hit upon the idea of burrowing into the river-banks. They began +by forming mere niches, in which there was only just room enough for +three or four men to stand huddled together when they heard a shell +coming. Finding, however, that the soil could be easily dug out, they +set gangs of natives to work lengthening the tunnels and connecting them +by "cross drives," in the planning of which several Johannesburg mine +managers found congenial occupation. This went on until the river-bank +for a hundred yards in length was honeycombed by dark caves, in which a +whole regiment might have been hidden with all its ammunition, secure +from shell fire, the walls and roofs being so formed that they needed no +additional support. There was no danger of the stiff alluvial soil +falling in even if a shell had buried itself and burst above the +entrance to any of these cool grottoes.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image03" name="image03"> + <img src="images/03.jpg" + alt="A SHELL-PROOF RESORT" + title="A SHELL-PROOF RESORT" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">A SHELL-PROOF RESORT<br />A culvert under a road used as a living-place by day for civilians, who +returned to their houses when the shelling ceased after sunset</span> +</div> + +<p>I spent half an hour in one of them, and found the air there delightful +by contrast with scorching sunshine outside. What it will be, however, +after many people have been crowded together for some time is less +pleasant to contemplate, but even for that the resourceful Imperial +Light Horse are prepared, and they already begin to talk of air-shafts +so cunningly contrived that light and air may enter, but shells be +rigidly excluded. Civilians in their turn emulate the Light Horse, but +with unequal<span class="pagenum"><a id="page51" name="page51"></a>Pg 51</span> success, and their excavations assume such primitive +forms that future archæologists may be puzzled to invent satisfactory +explanations of curious differences in the habits of the cave-dwellers +of Ladysmith, as exemplified by the divergent types of their underground +abodes.</p> + +<p>And, indeed, these habits are strangely various even as presented to the +eyes of a contemporary student. Some people, having spent much time and +patient labour in making burrows for themselves, find life there so +intolerably monotonous that they prefer to take the chances above +ground. Others pass whole days with wives and families or in solitary +misery where there is not light enough to read or work, scarcely showing +a head outside from sunrise to sunset. They may be seen trooping away +from fragile tin-roofed houses half an hour before daybreak carrying +children in their arms, or a cat, or monkey, or a mongoose, or a cage of +pet birds, and they come back similarly laden when the night gets too +dim for gunners to go on shooting. There would be a touch of humour in +all this if it were not so deeply pathetic in its close association with +possible tragedies. One never knows where or at what hour a stray shot +or splinter will fall, and it is pitiful sometimes to hear cries for +dolly from a prattling mite who may herself be fatherless or motherless +to-morrow. We think as little as possible of such things, putting them +from us with the light comment that they happen daily elsewhere<span class="pagenum"><a id="page52" name="page52"></a>Pg 52</span> than in +besieged towns, and making the best we can of a melancholy situation.</p> + +<p>There are, I believe, many good reasons why Sir George White should +allow his army to be hemmed in here defending a practically deserted +town, apart from the ignominy that abandonment would entail, and it is +probably sound strategy to keep Boer forces here as long as possible +while preparations are being matured for attacking them from other +directions. On the latter point one cannot express an opinion without +full knowledge of the circumstances such as we cannot hope to get while +communications are cut off. But nobody can pretend to regard our present +inaction following investment as anything but a disagreeable necessity, +or affect a cheerful endurance of conditions that become more +intolerable day after day. Now and then we have hopes that the Boers may +risk everything in a general attack with the object of carrying this +place by storm, when they would most certainly be beaten off and lose +heavily.</p> + +<p>They did something to encourage this hope yesterday. It began with a +heavy artillery duel between "Long Tom" and the naval gun that is known +as "Lady Anne." After vain attempts to silence our battery, the enemy's +fire, generally so accurate, became wild, several shells going so high +that they struck the convent hospital hundreds of yards in rear. This, +at any rate, is the most charitable explanation of acts that would +otherwise be inexcusable.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page53" name="page53"></a>Pg 53</span> The Red Cross was at that time, and for days +before, flying above the convent, in which Colonel Dick-Cunyngham and +Major Riddell were patients, under the care of nursing sisters. +Fortunately, good shelter was found for them in the convent cellars +until they could be removed to safer quarters, but before this much of +the upper rooms had been reduced to ruins by persistent shelling. When +the Boers thought they had sufficiently demoralised our defensive forces +by artillery "preparation," a brisk attack by riflemen began to develop +against Maiden's Castle, Cæsar's Camp, and Waggon Hill, a continuous +range forming the southern key to our position, and held by the +Manchester Regiment. Brigadier-General Hamilton and his staff were there +from the outset, ready, if need be, to call up the Gordons in support. +This necessity, however, never arose, though the attack, as I can +testify from personal observation on the spot, was pushed for some time +with great persistence, the Boers trying again and again to creep up by +the western slopes of Waggon Hill, while shells raked the whole face of +Cæsar's Camp to Maiden's Castle, and burst repeatedly among the tents of +the Manchester battalion, without doing serious harm.</p> + +<p>A colour-sergeant with only fourteen men defended the crest of Waggon +Hill until nightfall, when the Boers retired sullenly. To repeated +offers of reinforcements the sergeant warmly replied that he had men +enough for the job, and proved it by repelling<span class="pagenum"><a id="page54" name="page54"></a>Pg 54</span> every attack, the Boers +declining to face the steady fire that was poured upon them whenever +they showed themselves. Colonel Hamilton, however, had a firm conviction +that the Boer movement against that flank was only a feeler for more +determined enterprises to follow, and he accordingly stiffened the +defensive lines there by mounting half a field battery in strong +earthworks during the night, and sending up bodies of mounted infantry +to support the Manchesters.</p> + +<p>As the sun was setting in clouded splendour behind Mount Tinwa's noble +crags and peaks, throwing their dark shadows across the lower hills near +us, a flash so quick, that it could hardly be seen, darted from out the +gloom there, and with the crashing report that followed came a shell +plump into one of our most crowded camps. This was evidently from a gun +newly mounted on Blaauwbank. Two other shells burst in quick succession +about the same place, but fortunately nobody was hit. Then, satisfied +with having got the range to a nicety, our enemy left us in undisturbed +quiet for the night, but with an uncomfortable consciousness that fresh +links were being forged in the chain of artillery fire by which +Ladysmith is now completely girdled, for two batteries that cannot be +exactly located have been shelling steadily all day from each end of +Bulwaan, with accurate aim and far-reaching effect, as if to disprove +all the theories that led to the error of abandoning that position.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page55" name="page55"></a>Pg 55</span></p> + +<p>This morning fallacious prophecies were further shattered by a shell +from works placed far back on the table top of Bulwaan. It did not +demolish anything else, but it makes us very chary now about predicting +what the Boers can or cannot do. Through telescopes they had been +watched building that strong fort, and everybody knew it was being +thrown up as an emplacement for heavy artillery, yet few people thought +that another gun, akin to "Long Tom" in calibre and range, could have +been mounted there so soon, until they saw the dense cloud of smoke from +a black powder charge, and heard the familiar gurgling screech of a big +shell, followed by the thundering report.</p> + +<p>"Puffing Billy" was the appropriate name bestowed on this new enemy by +Colonel Rhodes, who has an amusing faculty for applying quaintly +descriptive phrases to every fresh development in this state of siege. I +am told on high authority that the word "siege" is not quite applicable +to our case here, but if the Boers are not sitting down before Ladysmith +in a very leisurely way, intent upon keeping us under bombardment as +long as they may choose to stay, I do not know the meaning of such +movements. It was we who provoked "Puffing Billy" to his first angry +roar by a trial shot from one of our big naval guns into the Bulwaan +battery. "Long Tom" presently joined in the chorus, and it took our two +4.7 quick-firers all their time to keep down that cross-fire. Though +"Lady Anne's" twin-<span class="pagenum"><a id="page56" name="page56"></a>Pg 56</span>sister had been mounted some days, her voice was +seldom heard, until this morning, when, after a few rounds, "Long Tom" +paid silent homage to her sway, and in celebration of that temporary +knock-out, Captain Lambton christened his new pet "Princess Victoria," +but the bluejackets called it by another name, to indicate their faith +in its destructive effect.</p> + +<p>It was interesting to watch these weapons at work. Their gunners would +wait until they saw a flash from "Long Tom" or "Puffing Billy" and then +fire, their shells getting home first by two or three seconds, owing to +the greater velocity imparted by cordite charges. Soon after ten o'clock +the enemy's artillery fire from different directions grew brisker. The +damage, whatever it may have been, inflicted on "Long Tom," or his crew, +having been made good under cover of a white flag, which the Boers seem +to think they are at liberty to use whenever it suits them, Rietfontein +called to Bulwaan, and Blaauwbank in the west echoed the dull boom that +came from the distant flat-topped hill in the east. Then along our main +positions, against the Leicesters and Rifles on one side, and the +Manchesters on another, an attack by rifles developed quickly.</p> + +<p>Intermittently these skirmishes lasted most of the day, our enemy never +pressing his attack home, but contenting himself with long-range +shooting from good cover. Neither heavy guns nor small arms did much +damage. Major Grant, R.E., of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page57" name="page57"></a>Pg 57</span> Intelligence Staff, was slightly +wounded as he sat coolly sketching the scene of hostilities as he saw it +from the front of Cæsar's Camp. A lieutenant of the Manchesters and +three men of the Leicester Regiment were also hit by rifle bullets or +shell splinters, but none very seriously.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page58" name="page58"></a>Pg 58</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>THE FIRST BOER ASSAULT</h3> + +<h4>Joubert's boast—The preliminaries of attack—Shells in the town—A +simultaneous advance—Observation Hill threatened—A wary enemy—A +prompt repulse—Attack on Tunnel Hill—The colour-sergeant's last +words—Manchesters under fire—Prone behind boulders—A Royal +salute—The Prince of Wales's birthday—Stretching the Geneva +Convention—The redoubtable Miss Maggie—The Boer Foreign +Legion—Renegade Irishmen—A signal failure.</h4> + + +<p>From the first moment of complete investment here my belief (continues +Mr. Pearse, writing on 9th November) has been that the Boers would never +venture to push an infantry attack against this place to the point of a +determined assault. This opinion is strengthened by to-day's events. Yet +it is said that Joubert believes he could take Ladysmith by a <i>coup de +main</i> at any time were it not for his fear of mines, which he believes +have been secretly laid at many points round our positions. His riflemen +certainly did not come close enough to test the truth of this belief +to-day, but contented themselves with shooting from very safe cover at +long ranges. If they could have shaken our troops at any point<span class="pagenum"><a id="page59" name="page59"></a>Pg 59</span> they +would doubtless have taken advantage of it to push forward and take up +other equally sheltered positions, whence they might have practised +their peculiar tactics with possibly greater effect. These methods, +however, lack the boldness necessary for an assault on positions held by +disciplined troops, and having no single objective they are gradually +frittered away in isolated and futile skirmishes, whereby the defenders +are to some extent harassed, but the defences in no way imperilled.</p> + +<p>Our enemies began at five o'clock this morning with artillery fire from +Bulwaan and Rietfontein on Pepworth's Hill. This unusual activity so +early warned us that some movement of more than ordinary importance +might be expected. All preparations for the possibility of an attack +more determined than the feeble feelers of yesterday had been made in +good time, so that there was no hurrying of forces to take up or +strengthen positions that might be threatened, and the Boers were +evidently somewhat puzzled where to look for the masses of men who +showed no sign of movement They thereupon took to shelling the town as +if they thought our troops might be concentrating there, and under cover +of this vigorous bombardment their riflemen advanced, so far as caution +would permit them, against several points wide apart. It must have been +with the idea of a feint that they made the first attack from westward +against Observation Hill, which was held by outposts of the 5th +Lancers,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page60" name="page60"></a>Pg 60</span> dismounted and trusting to their carbine fire, the +ineffectiveness of which, when opposed to Mauser rifles of greater +accuracy at long range, soon became evident.</p> + +<p>Two companies of the Rifle Brigade had, however, been moved forward to +support the cavalry, and their steady shooting checked the enemy's +frontal attack. Several officers and other picked shots, lying prone +behind boulders, took on the Boers at their own game with perceptible +effect at 1200 yards or more, thereby keeping down a fire that might +otherwise have harassed our men, who were necessarily exposed at times +in taking up positions to meet some change of tactics on the other side. +Boers never expose themselves when they find bullets falling dangerously +close to them. They will be behind a rock all day if need be, waiting +for the chance of a pot-shot, and stay there until darkness gives them +an opportunity to get away unseen. They give no hostages to fortune by +taking any risks that can be avoided. The game of long bowls and sniping +suits them best. When one place gets too hot for them to pot quickly at +our men without risk of being potted in turn, they will steal away one +by one, wriggling their way between boulders, creeping under cover of +bushes, doing anything rather than show themselves as targets for other +men's rifles.</p> + +<table summary="Contents"> + <tr> + <td><a id="image04" name="image04"></a> +<div class="figcenter"> + <a href="images/04large.jpg"> + <img src="images/04.jpg" + alt="SKETCH MAP OF POSITIONS ROUND LADYSMITH, NOVEMBER 1899" + title="SKETCH MAP OF POSITIONS ROUND LADYSMITH, NOVEMBER 1899" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">SKETCH MAP OF POSITIONS ROUND LADYSMITH, NOVEMBER 1899</span> +</div> + </td> + <td> +<p>EXPLANATION TO SKETCH MAP OF POSITIONS +ROUND LADYSMITH, NOVEMBER 1899</p> + +<p>1. Maiden's Castle, Cæsar's Camp, and Waggon Hill--held +by Manchester Battalion, 2nd King's Royal Rifles, and +one battery; Gordons in support.</p> + +<p>2. Range Post Ridge--held by two companies of Royal Irish +Fusiliers.</p> + +<p>2A. Rifleman's Ridge--held by King's Royal Rifles.</p> + +<p>3. Rifleman's Post detached signal station--held by King's +Royal Rifles.</p> + +<p>4. King's Post detached signal station--held by King's +Royal Rifles.</p> + +<p>5. Cove Hill--held by Rifle Brigade; Cove redoubt; at its +eastern end is a battery for one 4.7-in. naval gun.</p> + +<p>6. Junction Hill---held by Leicesters and naval 12-pounder.</p> + +<p>7. Tunnel Hill and Cemetery Hill--held by naval battery in +redoubt, 4.7-in. gun, two companies of Gloucesters, and +the Liverpool Regiment.</p> + +<p>8. Helpmakaar Hill--held by 1st Devons, who have entrenched themselves strongly, +and one battery field artillery, protected by epaulements, traverses, etc.</p> + +<p>9. Convent Hill.</p> + +<p>10. Headquarters.</p> + +<p>11. Intombi Spruit, camp for sick and wounded and non-combatants, +close to Boer lines.</p> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p>They have made the most of physical features, that in this country lend +themselves to such tactics, by occupying hills with heavy artillery, in +front of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page61" name="page61"></a>Pg 61</span> which are rough kopjes strewed with trap rock, and round +these the Boer riflemen can always move for advance or retirement well +screened from our fire. They have, however, to reckon sometimes with the +far-reaching power of shrapnel shells. When they ignore that we may +manage to catch them in a cluster.</p> + +<p>So it happened to-day. After being beaten off from the direct attack on +Observation Hill they began feeling round its left flank by way of +kopjes, between which and our outposts there is a long bare nek, and in +rear of that the railway line to Van Reenan's Pass runs through a deep +cutting with open ground beyond. To effect a turning movement of any +significance the Boers had choice of two things: either they must show +themselves on spurs where there was scant cover, or take to the cutting; +and we knew by experience which they would prefer. In anticipation of +such a development one field-battery had been placed on the rough slope +that juts northward from Range Post, through which runs the main road to +Colenso in the south and to several of the Drakensberg passes in the +west. Up through a gorge deeply fretted by Klip River this battery +commanded the long bare nek. Two other guns, the Maxim-Nordenfelts of +Elandslaagte, manned by a comparatively weak detachment, took up a +position on their own account at the foot of King's Post near our old +permanent, but now disused, camp, whence they could bring a fire to bear +on the same point.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page62" name="page62"></a>Pg 62</span> All tried a few percussion shells by way of testing +the range and then turned to the use of shrapnel, which, admirably +timed, burst just beyond the nek, searching its reverse slopes and +enfilading the railway ravine with a hail of bullets, where apparently +the Boers must have been caught in some numbers. At any rate they are +said to have lost heavily there, and from that time the attack or rather +fusilade directed against Observation Hill began to slacken. We had not +many men hit considering that the skirmish had begun soon after daybreak +and continued with little cessation up to nine o'clock, when the Rifle +Brigade reported three wounded, one being young Lieutenant Lethbridge, +who is so badly injured that recovery in his case can hardly be hoped +for.</p> + +<p>We had not, however, done with the enemy by repulsing him at one point. +His big guns opened again presently from Blaauwbank and Rietfontein to +the west and north. A smaller battery on Long Hill echoed the deep boom +from "Long Tom," who was carrying on a duel with our naval gun, and +throwing shells over the town, to burst very near Sir George White's +headquarters. Field-guns from the nek near Lombard's Kop joined in +chorus, shooting with effect on Tunnel Hill, held by the Liverpools, +several of whom were hit. Colour-Sergeant Macdonald went out of the +bomb-proof to mark where one shell had struck, when another burst on the +same spot, and he fell terribly mangled by jagged fragments of iron. His +comrades rushed to aid him, but he died<span class="pagenum"><a id="page63" name="page63"></a>Pg 63</span> in their arms, saying simply, +"What a pity it was I went out to see." In truth the shells did not want +looking for to-day. They were falling in rapid succession from one end +of Bulwaan on Helpmakaar Hill, where the Devons, thanks to having taken +wise precautions in making bomb-proof shelters, suffered little, though +"Puffing Billy" turned occasionally to hurl a 94-pounder in that +direction when tired of raking Cæsar's Camp and Maiden's Castle, where +the Manchesters had not only their flank exposed to this fire, but were +smitten in front by a heavy gun the Boers had mounted on Flat-Top +Mountain, some three miles off, and by smaller shells that came from +automatic guns hidden among scrub on the nearer slopes across Bester's +Farm. These did little harm, though the repeated thuds of their +discharge, like the rapid strokes of a Nasmyth hammer on its anvil, +might have shaken the resolution of any but the steadiest troops, seeing +that our field-battery on Maiden's Castle could not for a long time +locate the exact hiding-place of those vicious little weapons, and when +they did get a chance, the enemy's heavy artillery replied to their fire +with a more persistent cannonade than ever. The Manchesters stood +manfully the test of long exposure to this galling storm of iron and +lead, their fighting line continuing to hold the outer slopes, where +from behind boulders they could overlook the hollow between them and +their foes, and get occasionally shots at any Boer who happened to show +himself incautiously. That did<span class="pagenum"><a id="page64" name="page64"></a>Pg 64</span> not happen often, and their chances of +effective reply to the bullets or shells that lashed the ground about +them were few at first.</p> + +<p>When an attack of riflemen did begin to develop with some show of being +pressed home, the Manchesters were still lying there ready to meet it +with a fire steadier than that of the Boers and if anything more deadly. +Being secure from flanking movements, since the Border Mounted Rifles +were on their right sweeping round Waggon Hill and some companies of the +60th in support, the Manchesters could devote all their attention to +that long front, and beat back every attempt of the Boers to cross the +valley where a tributary of the Klip River winds past Bester's Farm down +to the broad flats by Intombi Spruit. These hostile demonstrations were +never very determined or long sustained, and they slackened down to +nothing for a time just before noon.</p> + +<p>At that hour a curiously impressive incident astonished many of us in +camp not less than it did the Boers. Guns, big and small, of our Naval +Battery having shotted charges were carefully laid with the enemy's +artillery for their mark, and at a given signal they began to fire +slowly, with regular intervals between. When twenty-one rounds had been +counted everybody knew that it was a Royal salute, in celebration of the +Prince of Wales's birthday. Then loud cheers, begun as of right by the +bluejackets, representing the senior service, ran round our chains of +outposts and fighting men, shaken into<span class="pagenum"><a id="page65" name="page65"></a>Pg 65</span> light echoes by the jagged +rocks, to roll in mightier chorus through the camps, thence onward by +river-banks, where groups emerged from their burrows, strengthening the +shouts with even more fervour, and into the town, where loyalty to the +Crown of England has a meaning at this moment deeper than any of us +could ever have attached to it before. "What do you make of it all?" was +the signal flashed from hill to hill along the Boer lines, and +interpreted by our own experts who hold the key. And well they might +wonder, for in all probability a Prince of Wales's birthday has never +been celebrated before with a Royal salute of shotted guns against the +batteries of a besieging force, and all who are here wish most heartily +that the experience may remain unique.</p> + +<p>Our enemy's astonishment, however, had the effect of producing a +temporary cessation of hostilities. The bombardment was not carried on +with its previous vigour, possibly because some detachments, taken +unaware by the prolonged artillery fire from our side, had been +partially disabled. But the rifle attack against Maiden's Castle and +Cæsar's Camp was kept up until near sunset.</p> + +<p>In the midst of this cross-fire a flag, with the Geneva emblem of mercy +on it, was hoisted at the topmost twig of a low mimosa bush in front of +Bester's Farm, which must not be confounded with the other Bester's away +to westward, near the Harrismith Railway, and giving its name to a +station<span class="pagenum"><a id="page66" name="page66"></a>Pg 66</span> on that line. There are many branches of the Bester family +holding farms in Natal, and nearly all are under a cloud of suspicion at +this moment because of their known sympathy with the Boers. That +red-cross flag was taken as a sign that the farmstead had been occupied +as a hospital, and we respected it accordingly, but, as on other +occasions in this curiously conducted campaign, the Boers, who stretch +the Geneva Convention for all it is worth in their own favour, made it +cover something else. While our soldiers scrupulously avoided firing +anywhere near the farmstead that bore that emblem of neutrality, they +saw herds of cattle and horses being driven off, and these were followed +presently by a trek waggon on which also the red-cross flag waved +conspicuously.</p> + +<p>In that waggon were several women carrying white sunshades, and among +them, it is said, the redoubtable Miss Maggie who used to ride her +bicycle through our lines to the enemy's, even after war had been +declared and Free State burghers had crossed the border into Natal. If +that is so, she and many of her relations have crossed our lines +finally, to throw in their lot with the Boers, accompanied by very +valuable herds of live-stock. The only Besters who remained in our hands +as hostages have, I believe, been allowed to take refuge with sick and +wounded at Intombi Spruit camp, where they at least are safe enough +under the protection of their Boer friends. Other curious flags were +seen about the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page67" name="page67"></a>Pg 67</span> same place to-day. Lieutenant Fisher of the Manchesters, +who though wounded soon after sunrise refused to quit his post, and with +half a company held one shoulder of Waggon Hill until the last attack +had spluttered out, sent a careful report to his colonel before the +ambulance men took him to their field hospital. In this report he gives +details of some curious movements among the enemy. One contingent, +apparently some foreign legion, showing traces of elementary discipline +and evidently not numbering in its ranks many Boers of the old school, +advanced boldly across ground that afforded them little cover, and there +began to "front form" in fairly good order. They were well within range +of Lee-Enfield rifles, and a few volleys well directed sent them to the +right-about in anything but good order. Soon after, a second column +advanced with even more bravado, headed by a standard-bearer, who +carried a red flag. These were said to be Irishmen, who, having elected +to serve a republic, and being debarred from fighting under the green +banner of their own country, yet not quite ready to acknowledge the +supremacy of another race, may have flaunted the emblem of liberty by +way of compromise. More probably, however, they were a mixed lot owning +no common country, but willing or unwilling to serve under any colours +with equal impartiality. Two or three shrapnels bursting in front of +them to a vibrato accompaniment of rifle fire many were seen to fall, +but whether badly hit or<span class="pagenum"><a id="page68" name="page68"></a>Pg 68</span> not nobody on our side could say. At any rate, +these adventurous auxiliaries are likely to learn discretion from the +wily Boer after such an experience.</p> + +<p>The attack, such as it was, had failed on both the positions threatened. +It was never pressed home with energy at any point, and unless the Boers +prove to be as good at concentration as they are in mobility, there is +not the remotest chance for them to achieve even a temporary success by +rifle attack against infantry whose discipline and steadiness have not +been shaken in the slightest degree by shell fire yet. What losses our +foes suffered we have no means of knowing, but they were probably much +heavier than our own, which numbered five killed and twenty-four +wounded, mostly by shells, in the twelve hours of intermittent +fighting.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page69" name="page69"></a>Pg 69</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>A MONTH UNDER SHELL FIRE</h3> + +<h4>The first siege-baby—An Irish-American deserter—A soldierly +grumble—Boer cunning and Staff-College strategy—An ammunition +difficulty—The tireless cavalry—A white flag incident—What the +Boer Commandant understood—The Natal summer—Mere sound and +fury—Boer Sabbatarianism—Naval guns at work—"Puffing Billy" of +Bulwaan—Intrepid Boer gunners—The barking of "Pom-Poms"—Another +reconnaissance—"Like scattered bands of Red Indians"—A futile +endeavour—A night alarm—Recommended for the V.C.—A man of straw +in khaki—The Boer search-light—Shelling of the hospital—General +White protests—The first woman hit—General Hunter's +bravado—"Long Tom" knocked out—A gymkhana under fire—Faith, +Hope, and Charity—Flash signals from the south—A new Creusot gun.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The garrison and inhabitants of Ladysmith now began to realise that +they were doomed to a long period of inactivity if to nothing more +serious. The days immediately following the Boer attempt of 9th +November were quiet, rain and mist interfering with the enemy's +bombardment. November 12 was, however, a somewhat eventful day, +owing to the birth of the first siege-baby, and the arrival in camp +of an Irish-American deserter from the Boers.</p></div> + +<p>The baby, says Mr. Pearse in his diary (12th November), was born, not in +a dug-out by the river, but at a farm on a hill in the centre of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page70" name="page70"></a>Pg 70</span> +defensive works, where Mr. and Mrs. Moore, with their other children, +have elected to take the chances, near where I and other correspondents +have pitched our tents. Mrs. Moore made one trial of an underground +shelter, and then gave it up, saying that she should certainly die in +that damp atmosphere, so that it would be better to take the risk of +living where one could get fresh air, even though exposed to shells. The +Irish-American's story, though not to be swallowed without salt, tended +to confirm some things that seemed strange in the fight of three days +earlier, when, as will be remembered, Lieutenant Fisher's detachment +claimed to have shot many of a body that marched into action boldly with +a red flag flaunting at their head. The deserter said that the Irish +brigade that day lost heavily, having now only seventy-three left of the +original three hundred and fifty, and that ten Irishmen were killed by +one of our shells.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It was not with a good grace that Sir George White's garrison +resigned themselves to inaction. Their state of mind is shown +clearly enough by Mr. Pearse in a letter written on 14th November, +and describing the situation at this period.</p></div> + +<p><i>November 14.</i>—The British troops here have their backs up now, and +grumble at the fate that chains them to a passive defence, when they +would wish for nothing better than to try conclusions with their foes at +close quarters. Sir George White knows best the part that he is expected +to play in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page71" name="page71"></a>Pg 71</span> the general strategy of this campaign, and there may be +reasons for not forcing the Boers to abandon any of their positions +round Ladysmith until the time ripens for a decisive action. It is +impossible, however, to ignore the effect that this produces on the +temper of soldiers, who say with characteristic energy of expression +that they would rather a hundred times take their chances with death in +a fair fight than remain idle under a shell fire that is trying to the +strongest nerves, though it does little material harm. Sir George is +naturally reluctant to sacrifice valuable lives in capturing positions +which we have not men enough to hold, but it would be something gained +if we could attack one point at a time, seize the Boer gun there, and +put it permanently out of action. Instead of that, we have allowed our +adversary to increase the number of artillery works and rifle sangars, +girding us about until his grip is so strong that even cavalry scouts +cannot push five miles from camp in any direction without having to run +the gauntlet of shells or Maxim bullets.</p> + +<p>There are three positions which we might have held, or at least +prevented the enemy from occupying, and thereby frustrated all attempts +for at least a week longer, so that our communications southward would +have remained open until ample supplies of war material of various +kinds, much needed here, and especially appliances for long-distance +signalling or wireless telegraphy, could be brought up. But the time for +that went by while we were engaged in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page72" name="page72"></a>Pg 72</span> preparing positions for the +passive defence of Ladysmith, and the Boers, with the "slimness" that +has always characterised them in such operations, slipped round our +flank to cut us off from railway or telegraphic communication with lower +Natal. Even the guns of H.M.S. <i>Powerful</i>, on which we rely for keeping +down the enemy's long-range fire, did not get their full supply of +ammunition before the line was closed, and if any signalling appliances +more far-reaching than those ordinarily in use with a field force were +applied for in accordance with Captain Lambton's suggestion, they never +came.</p> + +<p>As events have turned out, this was the gravest mischance of all, since +the next step which our wily enemies took was to close every means of +egress from this camp by placing their lighter artillery or mounted +riflemen on kopjes whence all open ground over which troops might move +could be swept by cross-fire. In other words, they took all the rough +eminences of the outer ranges best adapted for their own tactics, and +left the bare, shelterless plains or ridges to us. So far, therefore, +Boer cunning has proved itself more than a match for Staff-College +strategy, and nothing can restore the balance now but a strong blow +struck quickly and surely from our side. Against that the Boers are +naturally weak in proportion to the thinness of their investing line, +which stretches round a perimeter of nearly twenty miles; but on the +other hand, their greater mobility, owing to the fact that every +rifleman is mounted,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page73" name="page73"></a>Pg 73</span> gives them a surprising power of rapid +concentration on any point that happens to be threatened. This is a +factor that will have to be reckoned with in European warfare of the +future, if I mistake not the meaning of lessons we are learning here. +Nevertheless we might harass our enemies, giving them little rest day or +night. Here, however, the ammunition difficulty comes in again. We have +enough to last through a siege, but none to waste on doubtful +enterprises. This reduces us to the contemplation of night attacks, and +to trust in no weapon but the bayonet for capturing guns in positions +which we have not men enough to hold.</p> + +<p>Tommy is ready and eager to try conclusions with the enemy on these +terms, if his leaders will only give him the chance, but meanwhile our +movements take the form of reconnaissances that lead to no tangible +advantages either in lessening the vigour of our adversary's bombardment +or in loosening any links in the chain of investment by which we are +bound. The situation is certainly curious and interesting historically +as an event for which no exact parallel can be found in the annals of +England's wars.</p> + +<p>In writing of futile reconnaissances it is hardly necessary that I +should disclaim all intention of ignoring the excellent work done by +individual regiments on which the duties of patrolling have by turns +fallen. Dragoon Guards, Lancers, Hussars, Imperial Light Horse, Natal +Carbineers, and Border Mounted<span class="pagenum"><a id="page74" name="page74"></a>Pg 74</span> Rifles, have known little real rest for +days past. When not actually scouting the cavalry have been either on +outpost within touch of the enemy, or bivouacked beside their horses +ready for any emergency. The extreme tension necessitating all these +precautions may be relaxed somewhat now, but still we rely on the +mounted troops for information of every movement among the besiegers, +and so far trust in their alertness has been fully justified. The +morning after last Thursday's attack Major Marling pushed his patrols of +the 18th Hussars farther westward than they had been able to get since +communications were interrupted. Rumours, since confirmed, that the +Boers had suffered very heavily in their fruitless attack the previous +day, suggested the possibility of their having evacuated some positions. +Major Marling may have begun to take that view too when he saw a white +flag showing above the serrated crest of Rifleman's Ridge, which is +generally but too vaguely described as Blaauwbank, where the Boers have +at least one powerful field-gun mounted. Under a responsive flag of +truce Major Marling and a non-commissioned officer advanced to parley +with the enemy, whose pacific, if not submissive, spirit was thus +manifested. The field-cornet in charge said he understood there were to +be no hostilities that day. The English officer knew nothing of any +armistice, but agreed to retire without pushing the patrol farther in +that particular direction. As he and his comrades went back to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page75" name="page75"></a>Pg 75</span> join +their main body, Boer sharpshooters opened fire on them treacherously +from the rocks and sangars of Rifleman's Ridge. It is difficult to +understand such wanton violations of every principle recognised by +civilised belligerents, unless we assume that the Boers really thought +that their General had claimed a truce in order that his dead might be +buried, and that our cavalry were therefore at fault. It is, however, +impossible to find excuses, or give the Boers credit for good intentions +always in their use of the white flag. They seem to regard it as an +emblem to be hoisted for their own convenience or safety, and to be put +aside when its purpose has been served, without any consideration for +the other party. Even while this Boer officer pretended to think there +was a general truce that forbade scouting operations on our part there +was a gun being got into position by men of the same commando, and other +of the enemy's batteries were being either strengthened or moved to more +advantageous points. The work was, however, interrupted by a furious +thunderstorm and a night of heavy rain that brought the waters roaring +down from the Drakensberg ravines to flood the Klip River far above the +level at which some of its spruits can be crossed without difficulty at +other times.</p> + +<p>English people, as a rule, picture early summer in South Africa as a +time of heat and drought. According to the calendar this is Natal's +summer, when hills and veldt, refreshed by genial showers,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page76" name="page76"></a>Pg 76</span> should be +green with luxurious growth of young grass, or brightened by a profusion +of brilliant wild flowers. But the seasons are out of joint just now. We +get days of torrid heat, bringing a plague of flies from which there is +no escape, and then a sudden thunderstorm sends the temperature down to +something that reminds one of chill October among English moorlands. The +sun hides its face abashed behind a misty veil, but the flies remain. +Drizzling rain, with white mists in the valleys, and heavy clouds +dragging their torn skirts about the mountains, also put a stop to the +bombardment until an hour past noon next day.</p> + +<p>Probably these conditions were less favourable to us than to the enemy, +whose movements were completely masked, and when the clouds cleared some +of his batteries on new positions were ready to join the diabolical +concert that went on at intervals until dark. The concert, however, was +mere sound and firing signifying nothing—except in its effect on nerves +already unstrung—as we had no serious casualties that day. And the next +brought peace, for the Boers do not willingly fight on Sunday, and we +have no reasons at present for provoking them to a breach of the +tacitly-recognised ordination that gives us one day's rest in seven with +welcome immunity from shells. Their observance of the Sabbath, however, +does not run to a total cessation of labour on the seventh day, and if +they do not want to fight then they have no scruples about<span class="pagenum"><a id="page77" name="page77"></a>Pg 77</span> turning it +to account in preparations for a fight next morning. On this particular +Sunday, while we were getting all the rest that a shell-worried garrison +can reasonably expect, some of our enemies were labouring hard to mount +a big gun on Surprise Hill, which rises from a series of stone-roughened +kopjes where the Harrismith Railway winds nearly due west of Rietfontein +or Pepworth's Hill, and about 4000 yards north of King's Post—one of +our most important defensive works. In anticipation of this we had +shifted one heavy naval gun to Cove Redoubt, which is well within that +weapon's range of Surprise Hill, but can hardly be said to command it, +as the latter has an advantage in point of height. We had also, however, +lighter artillery bearing on Surprise Hill, and in some measure +enfilading its main battery, behind which, and in echelon with it, they +had apparently placed a howitzer.</p> + +<p>Cannonading opened from many quarters soon after daybreak, the enemy's +fire being mainly directed against our naval guns, one of which, +however, devoted itself exclusively for a time to the Surprise Hill +battery where the Boers were preparing for action.</p> + +<p>Before they could get many shots out of the new gun, we were pounding +away at it. Our first two shells fell short, but they were followed by +three others, clean into the battery's embrasure, with such obvious +effect that the big weapon inside must either have been dismantled or +put out of action. Since then it has not spoken, and the sailors +there<span class="pagenum"><a id="page78" name="page78"></a>Pg 78</span>fore naturally claim that they have silenced it for good and all. +An hour later the other naval gun—"Lady Anne" by name—silenced +"Puffing Billy of Bulwaan" for a time, and we have evidence that the +Boers must have suffered some serious losses before noon, when General +Joubert sent in a flag of truce, according to a custom which seems to be +in favour with him, whenever things are going a bit awry from his point +of view.</p> + +<p>The Irish-American, who has been mentioned as having given himself up as +a deserter, described how the Boer gunners, terrorised by shrapnel fire, +had to be forced into the batteries under threats. But if the Boer +gunners are panic-stricken they have a curious way of showing it, for +some of them stood boldly on the parapets to watch the effect of a shot, +and the accuracy of their return fire does not betray much nervousness. +We are inclined to believe, however, that the Boer losses from artillery +fire have been greater than ours, partly because their shots have been +widely distributed in a speculative way with no particular object in +view, while ours have been aimed directly at the enemy's batteries, or +at sangars, to which their gun-crews retire between the rounds; and +partly, if not mainly, because our naval guns fire common shell with +bursting charges of black powder, the effect of which—though not so +violent locally as that of the Boer shells, charged with melinite +explosive—is spread over a much wider area. It is not much +satisfaction, however, for<span class="pagenum"><a id="page79" name="page79"></a>Pg 79</span> the losses and worry we endure here to know +that the investing force suffers even more severely so long as it +continues to harass us while we remain inactively helpless.</p> + +<p>The men were beginning to say that they had stood this sort of thing +long enough, when the measure of their discontent was filled to +overflowing this morning by a bombardment fiercer than ever. It opened +with the barking of "Pom-Poms" as early as half-past five, and ran +through the whole gamut from lowest bass of a big gun's boom to the +shrillest scream of smaller projectiles and the whip-like whistle of +shrapnel bullets lashing the air with so little intermission that within +two hours no less than seventy-five shells had burst in and about +Ladysmith camp. This was too much to be borne patiently, and every +soldier welcomed the order for an offensive movement, their only regret +being that infantry were to play no part in the affair. General +Brocklehurst, with a force of cavalry, Imperial Light Horse, and +artillery, moved out of camp soon after nine o'clock, taking the road +that leads westward and southward through the gap at Range Post. The +object of that movement was generally believed to be an attack oh +Blaauwbank, or Rifleman's Hill, as it is officially called, and the +capture of a Boer battery there, from which our defensive lines between +King's Post and Cove Redoubt had been repeatedly enfiladed. If +successful in driving the enemy back, our troops would then swing round +to their left and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page80" name="page80"></a>Pg 80</span> go for the big gun on Middle Hill, against which +General Brocklehurst's brilliant but futile reconnaissance of the +previous Friday had been directed.</p> + +<p>Three field batteries, posted on spurs along the line from Waggon Hill +towards Rifleman's Post, covered the advance by shelling in turn all the +Boer guns that could be brought to bear on the open ground across which +our troops had to pass. Thus challenged, the enemy's artillery replied +briskly, but their fire was a bit wild, and, regardless of shells that +fell thick about them, the Imperial Light Horse, numbering no more than +ninety rifles, led by Colonel Edwardes, who has succeeded the heroic +Chisholm in command of this dashing corps, pushed forward to seize Star +Kopje and prevent any Boer movement towards that point from Thornhill's +Farm.</p> + +<p>Hussars went forward in support of the Imperial Horse, galloping like +scattered bands of Red Indians across the green veldt, where a spruit +runs down to Klip River, until they had passed the zone of hostile fire, +and then re-forming squadrons with a precision that was very pretty to +watch. Other cavalry were in reserve, massed behind folds of the +undulating slopes hidden from some Boer guns and beyond the effective +range of others. There was force enough for any work in hand, but not +quite of the right composition. To drive Boer riflemen off a rough ridge +along which they can retire from one position, when it gets too hot for +them, to another, nothing<span class="pagenum"><a id="page81" name="page81"></a>Pg 81</span> will do but infantry of some sort, and +preferably with a bayonet sting left in them for final emergencies. This +was an occasion of all others when infantry regiments might have changed +the whole course of events to our advantage, but for some reason they +had been left in camp.</p> + +<p>For nearly three hours our batteries shelled the Boer kopjes, expending +much ammunition with perceptible effect on the brown boulders and +presumably on anything animate that might be hidden behind them; we +watched many Boers gallop away in haste across the plain, as if unable +to stand the leaden hail longer, and one of our batteries advancing +boldly got into position, whence it should have enfiladed that of the +enemy and wrought havoc among their horses if any were concealed in the +adjacent hollows. What effect the terrific shrapnel fire really produced +we had no means of knowing. Hardly a Boer showed himself while that +hurricane of bullets fell, but when General Brocklehurst meditated an +assault on the hill his troops were met by a furious rifle fire. The +ninety Imperial Light Horsemen of Colonel Edwardes's command were +obviously too few to dislodge the Boers from the ground they had held so +stubbornly. Further waste of artillery ammunition seemed useless, and +the time for employing cavalry to any purpose had not come. We therefore +had the chagrin of watching another force retire without accomplishing +its object, and most of us felt from that moment grave<span class="pagenum"><a id="page82" name="page82"></a>Pg 82</span> doubts whether +another such chance of breaking the bonds that envelop us could come +again until reinforcements were at hand for the relief of Ladysmith. As +our troops withdrew they were shelled right and left by Boer guns that +had been almost silent until then. Our batteries, aided by Captain +Kinnaird-Smith's two Maxim-Nordenfelts, covered the retirement, but they +could not put Surprise Hill out of action, or even attempt a reply to +the redoubtable "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, who on this occasion +surpassed himself by throwing three shells in succession on the road by +Range Post Gap from a distance that must be well over 9000 yards. The +bit of hilly road where these shells fell and burst is no more than +fifty yards long by fifteen wide, and could not have been visible to +gunners five or six miles off without the aid of telescopic sights. Yet +the aim was so accurate that one shell fell between two hussar squadrons +and another just in rear of a battery, but without hitting man, horse, +or gun. "Long Tom" has done better in long-distance shooting, having +thrown one shell nearly to Cæsar's Camp, and the range-finders make that +out to be 11,500 yards from Pepworth's Hill, but these three shots +to-day hold the record for range and accuracy combined.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>During the following three weeks the already wearisome progress of +the siege was broken by no large event. The Boers, discouraged by +their want of success on 9th November, went on from day to day +shelling the town<span class="pagenum"><a id="page83" name="page83"></a>Pg 83</span> with the guns already in position, and mounting +others on the hills with which to make the bombardment more +effective. They hoped to do slowly at a safe distance what they had +failed to accomplish by a more daring procedure. The period, +notwithstanding, is full of minor incidents, the record of which +must be read with the greatest interest. Mr. Pearse wrote:—</p></div> + +<p><i>November 15.</i>—Half an hour after midnight all Ladysmith woke from +peaceful slumber on troubled sleep at the sound of guns, from which +shells came screaming about the town and into camps that had not been +reached by them before. What it all meant nobody could say, but the +firing did not cease until every Boer cannon round about our position +had let off a shot. Some of us began to dress, thinking that the misty +diffused moonlight was the coming of dawn. Women, huddling in shawls and +wraps, rushed off with children in their arms to "tunnels" by the +riverside, and there would have been something very like a panic among +civilians if soldiers had not reassured them. The staff officer, who had +been upon the watch for possibilities, until he heard the first Boer gun +fire, and then got into pyjamas for a good night's rest, saying, "There +will be no attack now," was a philosopher. Everybody cannot look at +things in that cool way when shells are flying about, but a good many of +us went back to bed again on discovering what the time was, puzzled to +account for the evening's extraordinary freak, but confident<span class="pagenum"><a id="page84" name="page84"></a>Pg 84</span> that it +would not be repeated until daybreak. That brought drizzling rain and +mists that have veiled the hills all day, putting a complete stop to all +hostilities. We know nothing yet that can account for the firing of so +many guns, and only attempt to explain it on the supposition that our +enemies, being apprehensive of a renewal of yesterday's attack, were +startled by some false alarm. Not knowing from which direction the +expected blow might be struck, they fired guns all round to keep +everybody on the alert.</p> + +<p><i>November 16.</i>—We are becoming accustomed to the daily visitation of +shells that do not burst, and perhaps familiarity is beginning to breed +carelessness. If so, the 40-pounder on Lombard's Kop gave us timely +reminder this morning that he is not to be ignored with impunity. One +shell thrown over the railway station burst in air, as it was intended +to do, and scattered its hail of shrapnel bullets about that building. +One guard, a white man, was killed on the spot or only breathed a few +minutes after being hit, and two Kaffir labourers were wounded. Scores +of bullets went into the station-master's office, and the desk at which +he generally sits was perforated like a cullender. In these times of +siege that official would not be always on duty, and he was just then +taking a lucky hour off. A Boer movement, probably of some convoy with +loot from down country, was going on along the road froth Bulwaan +towards Elandslaagte. Boer field<span class="pagenum"><a id="page85" name="page85"></a>Pg 85</span> guns covered it, keeping our scouts in +check on the plain, and riflemen created a diversion with pretence of an +attack on Observation Hill, which spluttered out slowly. Major Howard, +5th Dragoon Guards, has been recommended for the Victoria Cross in +recognition of his gallantry on "Mournful Monday," when, seeing a +trooper fall, he walked back where bullets were falling thick, and +brought the wounded man back on his shoulders in full view of several +regiments. The Boers, inappreciative of pluck in that form, kept up a +steady fire on the wounded trooper and his heroic officer until they +were safe out of range.</p> + +<p><i>November 17.</i>—The 5th Lancers, who, with a company of King's Royal +Rifles, are holding Observation Hill, have hit upon a happy idea for +drawing Boer fire by deputy. They keep a man of straw for that purpose +with khaki coat and helmet. By showing this now and then, they not only +find out exactly where the Boers are, but get occasional chances of +putting in a pot shot with effect. The suggestion probably came from +Devonshire Hill, where Colonel Knox, who commands all divisional troops +on that defensive line, had a dummy battery mounted. This drew fire from +Boer guns at once, and gave Colonel Knox a good suggestion as to the +sort of earthworks best adapted to resist the artillery fire that could +be brought to bear upon them. At three o'clock this afternoon rain began +to fall steadily, and mists crept about the hills, putting a stop to +further bombardment.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page86" name="page86"></a>Pg 86</span></p> + +<p><i>Sunday, November 19.</i>—Just after midnight Boer guns again fired from +every position round Ladysmith. What this may mean nobody knows. Perhaps +it is a device for keeping Boer sentries on the alert, or there may have +been a false alarm causing the enemy's batteries to boom off a shot each +by way of signal, or probably the guns, fired at certain intervals, were +sending on a code message to Colenso. Rumours, having their origin in +the fertile imaginations of those who think that British troops can +achieve wonderful things for our relief, crowd fast upon us. Now we hear +of a column marching into Bloemfontein and an hour later men tell +gravely of a force under General French having captured Dundee But by +some means ill news travels faster even than these absurdly impossible +rumours. A Boer doctor has been to Intombi Camp this morning and told +the people there that our armoured train was captured yesterday of on +Friday near Colensa, and many prisoners taken, including Lord Randolph +Churchill's son. That was the doctor's way of cheering up our sick and +wounded. We might have doubted the story, but circumstances confirm it, +and we have so little faith in armoured trains that it seems quite +natural for them to fall into the enemy's hands.</p> + +<p><i>November 20.</i>—Dense white mists rising from the river-bends, and +spreading across the plains to hang in a thinner haze about the shady +sides of hills, put a stop to bombardment most of the morning. Up to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page87" name="page87"></a>Pg 87</span> +noon there had been practically no shelling, but only an exchange of +rifle-shots between Bell's Spruit by Pepworth and Observation Hill. The +enemy, however, made up for lost time later by sending several shells +into town and camp. One fell near Captain Vallentin's house, where +Colonel Rhodes and Lord Ava shared the brigade mess; another, passing +close to Mr. Fortescue Carter's house, where several officers of the +Intelligence Staff live, shattered the church porch beyond; from +Surprise Hill several came into the 18th Hussar camp, where three men +were hit, one so badly that his leg had to be amputated; one into the +Gordon camp, wounding Lieutenant Maitland and a private; and one from +"Long Tom" of Pepworth's into the little group of tents that now serve +for all that are left here of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. This shot must +have been fired at a range of over 11,000 yards. It came down like a +bolt straight from the blue overhead, penetrated the stiff soil to a +depth of five feet seven inches, and rebounded on impact with some more +solid substance at the bottom so quickly that it left the mark of its +penetration perfect, and only broke up on reaching the surface again. In +this case there was no burst, but only a detonation of the fuse. After +nine at night we were astonished to see the beams of a searchlight +sweeping Observation Hill. Our foes apparently had got an engine on the +railway between Surprise Hill and Thornton's Kop with an electric light +attached to it. They are evidently prepared to bring against us all<span class="pagenum"><a id="page88" name="page88"></a>Pg 88</span> the +scientific appliances of modern warfare. Two hours later artillery and +rifle fire began, and continued for nearly an hour, but apparently +nobody was any the worse for it.</p> + +<p><i>November 21.</i>—The cannonade begins again at daybreak with some shots +at our scouts, who are trying to feel their way out through the scrub +between Bulwaan and Lombard's Kop. The Boers have mounted a 40-pounder +high-velocity gun on the spur of the latter, and give us a taste of its +quality by throwing several shells into the Fusilier camp at Range Post +and bursting shrapnel over the town. The bombardment finishes about dusk +with some vicious shots from Bulwaan. After this we sit and watch the +lightning which plays in forks and zig-zags and chains about the hills +between us and Tugela River. For such picturesque effects there is a +great advantage in being encamped on a height, so that the whole +panorama of rugged kopjes, deep ravines where spruits or rivers sing, +silent camp, and sleeping town stretches round one, bounded only by an +amphitheatre of higher hills.</p> + +<p><i>November 22.</i>—From half-past eleven last night there was heavy +musketry fire near the north-eastern line of our defensive works, and we +thought the Devons were being attacked hotly, but it turned out to be +nothing more than a fusilade from Boer rifles at some unknown objects. +Our foes are evidently getting a little jumpy and apprehensive of a +surprise by night. Sir George White sends out<span class="pagenum"><a id="page89" name="page89"></a>Pg 89</span> later a flag of truce to +protest against the persistent shelling of the Town Hall, where our sick +and wounded are lodged temporarily under the protection of a Red Cross +flag. Commandant Schalk-Burger is said to have replied somewhat +insolently that he understands the Geneva flag is being used by us to +shelter combatants. At any rate Intombi is the place for our sick and +wounded, and he will not respect any other hospital flag. Curiously +enough we accept this humiliation, so far as to remove the patients and +provide for them a camping-ground where the tents cannot be seen; but +the Red Cross flag still flies on the Town Hall. Again we watch the +beautiful effects of almost continuous lightning, brilliant as +moonlight, and then turn in before black clouds break in a terrific +thunderstorm. I have remarked before on the advantage of being on a hill +to watch the picturesque effects of a storm such as we have here. But +there are some disadvantages, especially if you have to sleep in a +patrol tent no higher than a fair-sized dog-kennel, and a tent-pole +happens to give way. Then you wake with wet canvas flapping about you. +The rain pours down in a deluge that makes you shiver at the mere +thought of turning out to put the tent-pole right. Let the rain drift +and the canvas flap with sounds like gunshots. It is better at any rate +than lying as Tommy does on the hillside yonder with only one blanket to +roll himself in, and with that thought, perhaps, you may be able to +cuddle yourself off to sleep again in spite of the storm.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page90" name="page90"></a>Pg 90</span></p> + +<p><i>November 23.</i>—Notwithstanding Sir George White's protest, Boer guns +are still laid to bear on the Town Hall, and shells frequently fall in +the enclosure near it, and have hit the building, sending splinters in +all directions, by one of which a dhoolie-bearer was killed. This seems +to me a scandalous violation of all the rules of civilised warfare, +which certainly entitle us to a field-hospital in addition to one at the +base. If Schalk-Burger had objected on the ground that the Town Hall so +long as it was used for sick and wounded came in the line of fire from +his guns to our batteries or defensive works, he would have been within +his rights, but all the same there would have been no truth in that +contention, and at any rate it rests with him to clear himself from the +charge of having fired on a Red Cross flag without warning. Meanwhile +other guns on Surprise Hill have been searching for the 18th Hussars in +their bivouac where Klip River runs through a deep ravine, and "Long +Tom" of Pepworth's has thrown a shell into Mrs. Davy's house, opposite +Captain Vallentin's, wounding its owner, who is the first woman hit, +though numbers of them, having got over their first panic, go about +their domestic duties all day as if there were no such thing as a +bombardment, and never think of taking shelter in a riverside cave now. +This shot brought upon "Long Tom" the vengeance of oar Naval Battery, +which must have battered him or his gunners severely.</p> + +<p>All the afternoon Boer rifles have been dropping<span class="pagenum"><a id="page91" name="page91"></a>Pg 91</span> bullets into posts +held by the Rifle Brigade and Leicesters. Perhaps the men were showing +signs of being harassed when General Hunter visited them. With a laugh +he stood bolt upright on a rock, saying, "Now let us see whether these +Boers can shoot or not;" and there he remained in full view of them for +nearly a minute, while Mauser bullets hummed about him like a swarm of +wasps. Such an act may seem like senseless bravado, but those who know +Archibald Hunter well know that he had an object in giving this example +of coolness and pluck.</p> + +<p><i>November 24.</i>—The Boers made a clever cattle-raid this morning. Twenty +spans of trek-oxen had been sent to graze on the veldt between our +outposts and Rifleman's Ridge in charge of Kaffir herd-boys. Slowly they +grazed towards better pasturage, nearer and nearer to the Boer lines, +from which shells in rapid succession were sent to burst just in rear of +the herds. Mounted infantry of the Leicesters attempted again and again, +to herd the cattle back, but they were met each time by heavy +rifle-fire, and at last two or three Boers dashing down the slope +rounded up herd after herd with the dexterity of expert "cow-boys." Thus +no less than 250 valuable trek-oxen fell into the enemy's hands, and we +had the humiliation of looking on helpless while it was being done.</p> + +<p>The bombardment has been going on at intervals all day, from seven +o'clock this morning until dusk, when Bulwaan sent several shells on to +Junction<span class="pagenum"><a id="page92" name="page92"></a>Pg 92</span> Hill, killing three men of the Liverpool Regiment and wounding +eight. This is the most fatal half-hour we have experienced since the +siege began, but there was one lucky escape from a shell which burst in +the guard tent among four men without hurting any of them. For the +depression caused by these serious casualties there is some consolation +in the rumour that "Long Tom" of Pepworth's has been knocked out for +good and all. At any rate his last shot into the town was answered +effectively by the naval 4·7, which sent a shell straight into "Long +Tom's" embrasure, and he has not spoken or given any sign of life since. +Without wearisome iteration it would be impossible to do justice day by +day to the good work of the Naval Brigade under Captain Lambton. Without +the heavy guns of H.M.S. <i>Powerful</i> our state here would be much worse +than it is, and everybody in besieged Ladysmith appreciates the +bluejackets, who are always cheery, always ready for any duty, and whose +good shooting has done much to keep down the fire of Boer artillery.</p> + +<p><i>November 25.</i>—No hostilities disturb the quietness of morning or early +afternoon, but it is never safe to count on this, and look-out men are +kept constantly on the alert in each camp to give warning by sound of +high whistle or gong when one of the big guns has been fired. Against +"Silent Susan" such precautions avail nothing, for she wears no +white-cloud signal—the flash of discharge can only be seen if you +happen to be looking for it intently in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page93" name="page93"></a>Pg 93</span> right place. Close upon the +heels of her report comes a shrill, fiendish whisper in the air, and by +the time you hear that, the shell is overhead or has burst elsewhere. +The Gordons and Imperial Light Horse, however, are not to be debarred +from sport by considerations of that kind. They take all reasonable +precautions and leave the rest to chance, with the result that they +snatch some amusement out of circumstances that seem unpromising. This +afternoon the Gordons had a Gymkhana, and got through it merrily to the +entertainment of many friends before a discordant note was heard from +Boer batteries. The bombardment did not begin until half-past six, and +lasted only until dusk, the final shot being fired by our naval gun into +some new works on Bulwaan.</p> + +<p><i>November 26.</i>—The Boers are busy preparing an emplacement for heavy +artillery on Middle Hill, south of and flanking Bester's Ridge. +Apparently they suspect us of doing similar work on the plain in front +of Devonshire Hill, and their strict regard for the Sabbath does not run +to toleration of Sunday labour on our part, so they send three shells in +among some Kaffirs who are digging trenches with the harmless object of +burying dead horses there.</p> + +<p><i>November 27.</i>—The Boers, grown bold with the success of their first +raid, try another—this time with the object of cutting out horses that +graze loose on the plain towards Bulwaan. But they have to do now with +Natal Carbineers, many of whom, like<span class="pagenum"><a id="page94" name="page94"></a>Pg 94</span> themselves, are veldt farmers, +familiar with every trick of rounding up horses or oxen. In vain do the +gunners of "Puffing Billy" throw percussion shells to drive the herd +towards their lines. In vain are shrapnels timed to burst in a shower +where Carbineers sweep round like Indian scouts to herd the startled +horses back. The Volunteers do their work neatly, coolly, quickly, to +the chagrin of Boers who wait in kloofs beyond Klip River for a chance +of carrying off some valuable horses. In their disappointment the +Bulwaan battery tries to get some consolation by shelling the camp of +the Carbineers. The new gun which Boers were mounting yesterday on +Middle Hill opened to-day, shelling first the Rifle Brigade piquets on +King's Post and then the sangar of the Manchesters in Cæsar's Camp. It +enfilades both positions with equal ease.</p> + +<p>The Rifles had a narrow escape as they were at work on a wall, the top +of which was struck by a shell, and splinters flew all round without +hitting anybody. The Manchesters were not so fortunate, having three men +wounded, but none seriously. While I write, smoking concerts are being +held in the camps of Imperial Light Horse and Natal Volunteers, from +whose strong lungs the notes of "God Save the Queen" roll in a volume +that can be heard a mile off. Perhaps some faint echoes of it may stir +the air about sleeping Boers on Bulwaan.</p> + +<p><i>November 28.</i>—A misty morning with rain, which does not prevent the +enemy from sending a few shots<span class="pagenum"><a id="page95" name="page95"></a>Pg 95</span> into town. Middle Hill, Rifleman's +Ridge, Telegraph Hill, with its three 9-pounders, which the Rifle +Brigade men, for quaint reasons of their own, name Faith, Hope, and +Charity, all have a turn at us, and our batteries reply; but there is +not much vigour in it on either side until Middle Hill, with its Creusot +94-pounder, and the howitzer on Surprise Hill, begin to shell our naval +12-pounders. There they touch Captain Lambton on a tender point, and he +lets them have it back with a will. To-day we have been cheered by news +of the victory over the Boers near Mooi River, but for Natal people +satisfaction is dashed by the thought that if Boers are so far down they +have raided the most fertile part of the Colony, and probably carried +off pedigree cattle that are priceless.</p> + +<p><i>November 29.</i>—The night has been passed in preparing a surprise for +the big Creusot gun on Middle Hill, which, because of his propensity for +throwing shells into everybody's mess, has come to be known as the +"Meddler." Deep gun-pits are dug on the northern slope of Waggon Hill, +where on a nek they are screened by the higher spur from view of Middle +Hill. In these pits two old-fashioned howitzers, throwing shells with +sixty pounds of black powder for bursting charge, are mounted. Captain +Christie, R.A., takes command of them and waits his chance, which does +not come for a long time, the cannonade being at first confined to a +duel between Captain Lambton's pet, "Lady Anne," and "Puffing<span class="pagenum"><a id="page96" name="page96"></a>Pg 96</span> Billy" of +Bulwaan. At length, however, the "Meddler" chimes in, and Captain +Christie immediately looses off his two howitzers in succession. They +cannot be laid by sights on the object aimed at, which is hidden from +view. All has to be done by calculation of angles, and a fraction of +error may make all the difference. So we watch anxiously while the +shell—a long time in flight—follows its allotted parabola. One bursts +just short of the work; but its companion, a second later, goes over the +parapet and sends debris flying upwards in a mighty cloud. Thereupon the +howitzers are christened promptly "The Great Twin Brethren," "Castor and +Pollux," and "Puffing Pals," everybody selecting the name that appeals +to his imagination most strongly. It matters little by what name men +call them, so long as they can throw shells truly into the enemy's +battery, and this they do steadily. The "Meddler" cannot reply to them +effectively, and other Boer guns try in vain to reach them. At night a +curious palpitating light on the clouds southward attracts attention. +One Rifle Brigade man who has a smattering of the Morse Code watches it +for some time and mutters to himself, "X.X.X. Why, they're calling us +up"; and before a signalman can be roused we see clearly enough these +palpitations resolving themselves into dots and dashes. It is a signal +from the south, flashed by searchlight across miles of intervening +hills, but in a cypher which only those who have the key can read.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image05" name="image05"></a> + <a href="images/05large.jpg"> + <img src="images/05.jpg" + alt="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS RIETFONTEIN AND THE NEWCASTLE ROAD" + title="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS RIETFONTEIN AND THE NEWCASTLE ROAD" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS RIETFONTEIN AND THE NEWCASTLE ROAD</span> +</div> + + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page97" name="page97"></a>Pg 97</span></p> + +<p><i>November 30.</i>—Day breaks across white mists on the plain, and then +comes gorgeous sunshine, with a glow of colour all round, brilliant +orange in the east above Bulwaan, deepening to blood-red in the west +behind the rugged crest of Mount Tintwa and the pitted peaks of Mont aux +Sources. From daybreak onward there is heavy artillery fire on camp and +town from every gun the Boers have mounted. Our howitzers and the +"Meddler" began it with a merry little set-to between themselves, doing +no harm. Then Surprise Hill, Telegraph Hill, Rifleman's Ridge, Bulwaan, +and Lombard's Kop joined in, the last aiming straight for the hospital, +with its Red Cross flag. Two shells had fallen close to that building, +from which all haste was made to remove the helpless patients. Most of +them had been got out when the third shot came crashing into the largest +ward, and from among the ruins one dead man and nine freshly wounded +were taken. Rifle fire quickened then about Observation Hill, and +bullets flying overhead made many think that the Boers were coming on, +but it all died away into silence without further casualties on our +side. At night the column southward flashes another long signal on the +clouded sky, and Boer search-lights try to obliterate it by throwing +their feeble rays across the beam that shines like a comet athwart the +darkness above Tugela heights.</p> + +<p><i>December 1.</i>—"Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, which has not fired since +"Lady Anne" silenced it<span class="pagenum"><a id="page98" name="page98"></a>Pg 98</span> days ago, is now reported to be cracked and +useless, but the Boers are preparing emplacements for another heavy +piece of ordnance on a flat-topped nether spur of Lombard's Kop, where +they have a persistently disagreeable 40-pounder already mounted. We do +nothing to prevent this increase of hostile artillery, but content +ourselves with inventing new names for the batteries, so that the +intelligence map may be kept up to date with fullest details. This spur +henceforth is to be known as Gun Hill, probably because the weapon +already in position there has made itself conspicuously unpleasant by +shelling the headquarters and intelligence offices. From it three +successive shells were fired this morning into or near the convent where +Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, Major Riddell, and other convalescent wounded +have their quarters. Middle Hill gun only fired a few rounds to-day, and +was promptly silenced by our "Great Twin Brethren," the howitzers of +Waggon Hill.</p> + +<p><i>December 2.</i>—We are not left long in doubt as to the meaning of those +new works on Gun Hill. A Creusot 94-pounder has opened from there, +shelling in rapid succession Sir George White's headquarters camp, the +Royal Artillery, and the Imperial Light Horse, who have their parade and +playground pitted by marks of this fire. People say that "Long Tom" has +been shifted from Pepworth's to the new position, but the shells, with +their driving-bands grooved deep and sharp, tell another story. It is a +new gun, or little used, and probably fresh from Pretoria. Its<span class="pagenum"><a id="page99" name="page99"></a>Pg 99</span> range is +great, and gives easy command of the ravine in which our cavalry are +bivouacked by the riverside. One shell has already burst there, wounding +a man of the 18th Hussars, but fortunately the enemy cannot see the +result of this fire, the river for a mile in length being screened from +his view by intervening hills.</p> + +<p><i>December 4.</i>—One may skip Sunday when it is uneventful in its perfect +peace, as yesterday was, and be deeply thankful for the rest that is +given to us once a week when shells cease from troubling. The weather +has changed suddenly from brilliant sunshine and almost tropical heat to +cloudy skies that send the temperature down to shivering point. Few +shells fell in the town this morning, when groups gathered at street +corners discussing rumours of Lord Methuen's victory on Modder River, +which are now officially confirmed. General Clery is also said to have +defeated the Boers near Estcourt, but if so he did not get back the +cattle they had looted, for we have watched them for hours driving great +herds from southward up the roads that lead to Van Reenan's Pass.</p> + +<p>Our batteries here have for once been most aggressive, shelling the +enemy's position at Rifleman's Ridge vigorously, while the howitzers +directed their fire on Middle Hill without drawing a reply from the +6-inch Creusot, which Captain Christie and his gunners believe to have +been put out of action completely. His twin brother, "Puffing Billy" of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page100" name="page100"></a>Pg 100</span> +Bulwaan, was also silenced for a time, but has come back to quite his +old form this evening, and threw several shells into the town and camps, +where troops assembled to cheer the news of Lord Methuen's victory when +it was read out in general orders.</p> + +<p><i>December 5.</i>—The bombardment has been slack again to-day: all the +enemy's big guns silent. But there is great movement among the Boers, +who are apparently holding a great council of war at General Joubert's +headquarters. This may account for rumours of dissensions between the +Free State and Transvaal commandos.</p> + +<p><i>December 6.</i>—Now we know what the firing of Boer guns all round +Ladysmith at midnight of 19th November meant. It was a night alarm +magnified by imagination into a desperate sortie from Ladysmith, and a +correspondent of the <i>Diggers' News</i> telegraphed his version of the +affair in glowing terms to that paper, giving full details of things +that never happened. A copy just received in camp causes much amusement. +Reference to my notes for the 19th of last month will show that we were +at perfect peace here. Not a man of this force except the ordinary +patrols moved on the night when we are reported to have made that +strenuous but futile effort to break through the enemy's lines, and not +a shot was fired on our side. The Boers must have been startled at their +own shadows or at the movements of a subaltern's patrol which they +magnified into an army, and having beat the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page101" name="page101"></a>Pg 101</span> big drum they perhaps tried +to justify themselves by sending that cock-and-bull story to Pretoria.</p> + +<p>To-night our troops are out for exercise, marching through the streets, +and singing or whistling merrily as they march. If the Boers get word of +this they may have another scare. The daily bombardment is now so much a +matter of course that one hardly makes a note of it unless some casualty +brings home to us the fact that nobody is safe while shells fly about.</p> + +<p><i>December 7.</i>—During a heavy cannonade in which our naval batteries +engaged Gun Hill and Bulwaan from six o'clock until ten this morning, +women and children were walking about the streets quite unconcerned. +Hundreds of shells have already fallen in the town, and there are some +zealous statisticians who compile charts showing exactly where each +shell struck and the direction from which it was fired, but the majority +of us do not concern ourselves much about any that burst beyond a radius +of fifty yards from our own camps or houses, and so many fall harmless +that we seldom ask whether anybody has been hit, and it sometimes +happens therefore that one does not hear of serious casualties except by +accident. It comes rather as a surprise to find that our losses since +the siege began, thirty-six days ago, amount to thirteen killed and one +hundred and forty-eight wounded. A battle might have been won at less +cost.</p> + +<p>This evening the 6-inch Creusot on Gun Hill<span class="pagenum"><a id="page102" name="page102"></a>Pg 102</span> was very active, directing +its fire toward headquarters at first, and then turning it on a building +which has just been selected for the new Post Office, to be opened when +communications are restored. It had a narrow escape of being blown to +ruins by a shell that entered through the roof and exploded inside.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page103" name="page103"></a>Pg 103</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE SORTIES OF DECEMBER</h3> + +<h4>Retribution—Sir Archibald Hunter's bold scheme—A night +attack—Silently through the darkness—At the foot of Gun Hill—A +broken ascent—"Wie kom dar?" "The English are on us!"—Major +Henderson thrice wounded—Destroying "Leviathan"—Hussars suffer +under fire—Rejoicings in town—Sir George White's address to the +troops—Boer compliments—A raid for provender—A second +sortie—The Rifles' bold enterprise—An unwelcome light—Cutting +the wires—Surprise Hill reached—The sentry's challenge—The +Rifles' charge—Boer Howitzer destroyed—The return to +camp—Cutting the way home—Serious losses.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This constant shelling of the town could not go on for ever without +some attempt being made to stop it. Mr. Pearse had himself urged +the practicability of capturing or putting out of action at close +quarters the Boer big gun which could not be dealt with by our +shell-fire. This was now to be done. The Creusot gun just mounted +on Gun Hill, which like its neighbours had been given a name and +endowed with a personality by the nimble-witted among the garrison, +was to pay the penalty of its crimes, and the enterprise of which +this was the result formed one of the most brilliant incidents in +the history of the siege.</p></div> + +<p>Probably (writes Mr. Pearse) no corps within<span class="pagenum"><a id="page104" name="page104"></a>Pg 104</span> our lines has been more +deliberately shelled than the Imperial Light Horse, who were driven out +of one camp by "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, only to pitch their tents +by the river bank within sight of "Puffing Billy's" gunners, who had got +the range from Bulwaan to a nicety, so that they could pitch shell after +shell into the new encampment. Even their "Long Tom" also still pounded +at them by way of varying the monotony of a daily duel with our naval +guns. But the most annoying fire of all came from the newly-mounted +6-inch Creusot on Little Bulwaan, which, for the sake of distinction, is +known officially as Gun Hill, in front of Lombard's Kop. Having an +effective range that enables it to search with shell every part of our +camp that is visible, this weapon fired first in one direction, then in +another, changing its aim so frequently that nobody could predict where +the next shell might fall until it came hurtling through the air, in +dangerous proximity, with a sound that suggests the half-throttled +scream of a steam siren, and it generally finished, as it began, with a +few shots at the Imperial Light Horse, or their near neighbours the +Gordon Highlanders.</p> + +<p>I do not know whether the idea of putting an end to the career of this +worrying monster originated at headquarters, or grew out of the wish, +frequently expressed by Imperial Light Horse and Natal Volunteers, to +"have a go" at the enemy's guns—Sir George White has given the credit +to General Sir<span class="pagenum"><a id="page105" name="page105"></a>Pg 105</span> Archibald Hunter, and such an enterprise is worthy of +the man who stormed the Dervish stronghold at Abu Hamed, and led his +troops up to the flame of rifle fire that fringed Mahmud's zeriba on the +Atbara. He kept the whole scheme so secret that he did not even let his +aide-de-camp know anything about it until some time after dinner last +night. Then he sent round a brief message to Colonel Royston commanding +the Volunteer Forces of Natal, and to Colonel Edwardes of the Imperial +Light Horse. In accordance with this order the troops detailed got under +arms very quietly, taking all the ammunition they could carry, but +leaving their horses and cumbersome equipment in the lines, for Sir +Archibald had wisely resolved that all taking part in this expedition +must march the five miles out, and get back as best they could on foot, +neither troop horses nor officers' chargers being allowed to join the +column. Lord Ava, who is attached to Brigadier-General Hamilton's staff, +happened to be a guest of the Light Horse. Getting an inkling of some +mysterious movement, for which officers were arming themselves like +their men with rifles, he stole away to get a night free from galloper's +duties, shouldered a Lee-Enfield, crammed a bandolier full of +cartridges, and came back in time to join the ranks before they marched +off.</p> + +<p>It was then past ten o'clock; the crescent moon was "sloping slowly +towards the west" behind a bank of dark clouds, and in another hour the +faint<span class="pagenum"><a id="page106" name="page106"></a>Pg 106</span> light would have gone, giving place to a gloom that makes rocks, +trees, rough knolls, and deep dongas one shapeless black. General +Hunter's instructions were brief and simple, silence being the point +most strongly insisted on. For the rest, Imperial Light Horse and +Carbineers, to whom he entrusted the attack, were to follow their guides +and keep line if possible. These two corps contributed about one hundred +men each. The Border Mounted Rifles, Natal Volunteers, and a small field +force of Colonel Dartnell's Border Police, making altogether about four +hundred, were to be in reserve, the Border Mounted furnishing supports +and pushing them up the hill as each step in the ascent was gained. The +fourteen guides, with Major Henderson of the Intelligence branch as +staff officer, went ahead, and then the column moved off silently, the +order being passed from section to section in whispers. The Boers, five +miles off, would not have heard if a full band had played the +adventurous six hundred out; but we know that there are Boer emissaries +still in camp who might, by preconcerted signal, have given the alarm if +the unusual movement had aroused them and their suspicions. It was well, +therefore, to let such sleeping dogs lie. So the column marched in +silence along town roads, where nearly every house is deserted, and deep +dust muffled the tread of many feet until they were clear of the town, +and passing our outposts on Helpmakaar Hill. The forms of massed men +could<span class="pagenum"><a id="page107" name="page107"></a>Pg 107</span> be made out dimly where the Devon battalion rested under arms, +ready to give assistance in case of any reverse.</p> + +<p>From that point the Helpmakaar road leads straight round a scrubby nek +where the Boers have thrown up a formidable series of earthworks. To +avoid these, the column struck off across open veldt into a hollow where +men had to feel their way among stunted bushes of the "Wacht een bichte" +thorn, and across dongas where the sandy banks crumbled under weights +incautiously placed, and slid down with men into depths of six feet or +more. After floundering about there they climbed out again to re-form +with such regularity as was possible in the circumstances. But for the +guides, who seemed to know every inch of ground, right directions would +almost inevitably have been lost. As it was, however, they reached the +foot of Little Bulwaan (or Gun Hill) at twenty minutes to two, and +preparations were made for an immediate assault lest daylight should +come before the work could be accomplished. Everybody knew full well how +impossible it would be to get away from the position without terrible +losses, if the Boers could see to shoot It was pretty well known that +not many of them occupied Gun Hill, but the number encamped within reach +of it was a matter of pure speculation, dependent on the accuracy of +Kaffir stories which might be true of one day, but quite untrustworthy +twenty-four hours later; so rapid are the Boers in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page108" name="page108"></a>Pg 108</span> their movements, if +they get any suspicion that an attack is impending.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the difficulties of keeping touch across rough ground, +where silence was imposed, the different detachments, each with a guide +to lead it, marched so quietly that not a word was spoken, and all +arrived at their proper posts in admirable order, worthy of trained +troops. That, however, became somewhat broken as the ascent began, and +little wonder, for the boulders, rounded and worn smooth by the storms +of ages, were slippery to tread on, and occasionally a man's foot would +become wedged between them in a deep cleft. Here and there progress was +painfully slow, and the hill so steep that it had to be climbed on hands +and knees. The higher they climbed the worse it became, until, as one +man describing his own experiences said, they were like a lot of lizards +crawling over rocks. Half-way up the hill they had a narrow escape from +stumbling on a Boer picket. The sentry heard if he did not see the line +of crouching figures that passed him like ghosts in the darkness with +stealthy steps that must have sounded weird across the night stillness. +In a voice huskily vibrant, he challenged, "Wie kom dar?" Getting no +reply, he called again twice in louder tones, and then fired his rifle +at nothing in particular. Then, the whole picket waking, or beginning to +realise that danger was near, let off a volley, and voices were heard +shouting to comrades on the ridge. "The English are on us,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page109" name="page109"></a>Pg 109</span> Hans, Carl. +Shoot! shoot!" A few shots came from so close to one flank of the +Imperial Light Horse that Boers must have been lying there almost under +the feet of our men, if they did not actually join the ranks for a time +to escape detection. But a sound greeted their ears at that moment, and +knowing what it meant, they scampered downhill without waiting to hear +more. It was a ringing British cheer followed by strident commands to +"Fix bayonets and give the devils cold steel." Begun by Major Karri +Davis, the order ran along from Imperial Light Horse to Carbineers, who +had not a bayonet amongst them, for irregular mounted infantry in this +country do not carry such weapons. But they struck the butts of their +rifles on rocks, and made a great clatter as if preparing for a bayonet +charge, and cheered again and again for a good deal more than their +actual numbers, while crags on each hand tossed the shouts to and fro in +a mighty tumult. This was apparently too much for the small number of +Boers who held the crest. Letting off bullets in rapid succession, until +the magazines were exhausted, they turned and bolted, having hit only +ten of our men, one of whom, the tallest trooper in the Imperial Light +Horse, was badly wounded. In proportion to their numbers the guides +suffered most, having four out of fourteen hit, though none very +severely. The worst wound of all was from an explosive bullet similar to +those used in Express rifles for big-game shooting, and many missiles of +the same kind were<span class="pagenum"><a id="page110" name="page110"></a>Pg 110</span> seen to burst with a flash like shells as they +struck on stones round about, thus proving that the use of explosive +bullets by Boers is not quite so rare as most of us have believed +hitherto. Major Henderson received three wounds from buck-shot or +"loupalin," one of which penetrated deeply, but caused so little shock +at the time that he was able to keep pace with the best uphill. +Nevertheless, "scatter guns" are not weapons proper to be used in +warfare between civilised combatants.</p> + +<p>Halting for a brief breathing space, now and again, at General Hunter's +command, then following with all the speed they could muster where he +and his aide-de-camp, Major King, led the Imperial Light Horse on the +left, the Carbineers on their right made a final dash for the steepest +climb of all, and, breathless, gained the ridge, to find that the Boers +had quitted it, leaving not a man in defence of the guns. A great stroke +of luck befell the Imperial Light Horse, who crossed the heights with +their left flank opposite a Boer 12-pounder and Maxim gun. The latter +they made a clean capture of, but the field-piece, being too heavy for +them to carry off, was left to the tender mercies of the engineers, who +soon had bracelets of gun-cotton round it, and the breech-pieces damaged +beyond repair.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the right flank was sweeping round towards the main battery in +expectation of meeting with some resistance from the gun's crew of "Big<span class="pagenum"><a id="page111" name="page111"></a>Pg 111</span> +Ben of Little Bulwaan." That weapon had, in virtue of similar qualities, +succeeded to "Long Tom's" second title, but did not live long to enjoy +it. The end of his active career was at hand when the Light Horse made +their dash for him and found that he had been deserted by all his +friends. It was poetical justice that Colonel Edwardes and Major Karri +Davis of the corps which Big Ben had shelled most persistently should be +first to lay hands on him and claim every part that could be taken away +as a rightful trophy for the Imperial Light Horse. But Major Henderson, +in spite of his wounds, General Sir Archibald Hunter, and Major King +were in the redoubt at that moment, and therefore the honours are +divided. Doctor Platt, of the Border Mounted, claims to have been among +the first four in. Some of the Carbineers are also under the impression +that they captured a gun, and though there is nothing to show for it, +they deserve full credit for an important share in the night's success. +A line was formed in rear of the battery, while engineers put rings of +gun-cotton round Big Ben's muzzle and breech. Then fuses were set +alight, and our men retired hastily beyond reach of the imminent +explosion. After that engineers and artillerymen went back to make sure +that their work had not been bungled, and saw with satisfaction that the +gun-cotton had rent great holes through Big Ben's breech in two places, +rendering him totally unfit for foreign service. This was the crowning +act of a great achievement, and the force<span class="pagenum"><a id="page112" name="page112"></a>Pg 112</span> that had aided in its +accomplishment marched back to camp triumphantly just as day broke.</p> + +<p>As a precautionary measure, in case there should be a reverse, and with +the object also of cutting off any fugitive Boers who might fly +panic-stricken from Gun Hill, the 19th Hussars had gone earlier to make +a demonstration by way of Limit Hill, towards Modder's Spruit, and +destroy some Boer stores. With characteristic faith in the luck that has +favoured bold cavalry enterprises so often, they pushed far forward and +gained some valuable information at the risk of being cut off, but +fortunately that did not happen. Meanwhile the 18th, jealous for the +great reputation they have won as scouts, attempted a movement even more +hazardous. In advance of General Brocklehurst's reconnoitring force one +squadron of this regiment made straight for a position which the enemy +was believed to hold in strength between Pepworth's and Surprise Hill. +To do this they crossed near a deep cutting through which the Harrismith +railway passes, and there came under a terribly heavy fire, against +which even their hardihood was not proof. Retiring, they made a detour +to avoid unnecessary exposure, and swept round two small kopjes, where +not a Boer had been seen previously. But, as it happened, the stony +ridges were full of riflemen, who, without emerging from their +concealment, brought a furious fusillade to bear on the Hussars, who had +to run the gauntlet at full speed, all but one, and he, with gallant +self-<span class="pagenum"><a id="page113" name="page113"></a>Pg 113</span>sacrifice, rode straight towards the nearer kopje, drawing the +whole fire on himself, and thus giving his comrades time to get clear. +Fortunately not a bullet touched him as he wheeled about, lay flat on +his saddle-bow, and galloped after the squadron. Its retreat was covered +by a very pretty movement of the main body and by salvos of shrapnel +from our field batteries, with the naval guns chiming in. Then the +reconnoitring force slowly withdrew across the plain towards Junction +Hill, still under a rifle fire heavier even than we had to face on the +slopes of Elandslaagte, though not so well directed. Several saddles, +however, were emptied, bringing our losses in this affair up to five +killed and seventeen wounded. Of these considerably more than half were +18th Hussars, whose ranks have been seriously thinned since they marched +to Dundee less than eight weeks ago.</p> + +<p>In camps and town everybody is elated to-day. Casting aside the sombre +garb that was suitable to retirement, ladies have come forth clad in +raiment that is festively bright to go a-shopping, as if there were no +such things as shells to disturb them, and no cares greater than +feminine frivolities. If the siege were at an end, and peace within +sight, we could hardly be more joyously animated, and all because two +hundred gallant fellows, led by a dashing General, have shown how Boer +positions may be captured at night, and Boer siege guns silenced for +ever with small loss.</p> + +<p>Sir George White ordered special parades for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page114" name="page114"></a>Pg 114</span> afternoon of all +volunteers, guides, Irregular Horse, and Frontier Police Force who had +taken part in the attack on Gun Hill. Each corps had its own appointed +place for the ceremony, and Sir George visited them in turn to +congratulate them on their brilliant achievement. For the guides, who +are attached as scouts, interpreters, and field orderlies to the +Intelligence Staff, the General had special words of praise. Without +their valuable aid the enterprise might have been doomed to failure, and +he expressed high appreciation of their gallantry, not less than of the +skill they had shown in guiding a column over difficult ground when +there was not light enough to make a single landmark visible except the +sky-line of Gun Hill. To the Imperial Light Horse he paid an equally +flattering tribute. As the men of three companies were drawn up in line +to receive him, "Puffing Billy" tried to put a spoke in their wheel by +sending a shell very near one flank, and the line was accordingly broken +into close column with a short front, so that it be hidden by house and +trees from sight of the gunners on Bulwaan. At that moment Sir George +White, with General Sir Archibald Hunter, General Brocklehurst, and a +number of staff officers, rode to the ground, and were received by a +general salute, to which the presence of two or three wounded men with +arms in blood-stained slings gave emphasis, as they had no rifles +wherewith to shoulder and present.</p> + +<p>The officers on parade were Colonel Edwardes,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page115" name="page115"></a>Pg 115</span> commanding, Major Karri +Davis, Major Doveton, Lieutenant Fitzgerald, adjutant, Captain Fowler, +commanding F Company, Captain Mullins, B Company, and Captain +Codrington, E Company, with their subalterns, Lieutenants Brooking, +Normand, Matthias, Pakeman, Kirk, and Huntley, all of whom had been in +the fight except Major Doveton, who volunteered for it, but was +compelled to stay in camp for field-officer's duties. His seniors had +the privilege of first choice, and insisted on it, so there was nothing +left for him but submission to the inevitable. As a tribute to the men +whose heroic achievement is the brightest episode in this long siege, +Sir George White's soldierly speech will interest readers at home. +Addressing Colonel Edwardes, he said:</p> + +<p>"General Hunter, who planned and carried out the very successful +movement of this morning, has reported to me the very efficient help +that he received from the men of the Imperial Light Horse as well as the +other corps who were employed. When he told me last night that he was +anxious to have a shy at the gun on Gun Hill, there was one thing that I +determined on, and that was, that I would give him the best support that +I could. I knew I could trust you to help on account of your knowledge +of the business which you have taken in hand in this campaign, and on +account of your bravery and your steadiness. I was also confident of +your intelligent individual action in case there<span class="pagenum"><a id="page116" name="page116"></a>Pg 116</span> might be any +difficulty to overcome. I have come here to express to you my +appreciation of the value of the work you did last night, and also to +thank you for it. It will be a great pleasure to me to report to General +Sir Redvers Buller, whose name brings confidence wherever it is +mentioned, on the work you have done, not only on this occasion, but on +every occasion when it has been my good luck to have your assistance. I +have no doubt there is a great deal more hard fighting before us, and my +only hope is that you will do as well in the future as in the past, so +that I may be able to say at the end of this campaign as I now say in +the middle of it, that your behaviour is an honour not only to your own +country and colony, but to the whole empire. Colonel Edwardes, I don't +wish to keep you any longer, owing to the circumstance that 'Long Tom' +of Bulwaan may interfere in this conference, but once more I thank you +one and all."</p> + +<p>Lusty cheers were then given for Sir George White, General Hunter, +General Brocklehurst, and Colonel Edwardes. Sir George White's +appreciation of the heroic achievement is shared by Boer leaders, and in +their case it is all the more flattering because expressed while they +are smarting under the humiliation of a great loss. Dr. Davis, with +another medical officer and some ambulance men, went up Gun Hill at +daybreak under a flag of truce, to look after the wounded men who could +not be found when their comrades came down in the dark.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page117" name="page117"></a>Pg 117</span> Giving no heed +to the Geneva Cross, some Boers made Dr. Davis and his companions +prisoners, and they were taken before Commandant Schalk-Burger, who +received them with scant courtesy at first. In the end, however, he paid +a great compliment to the Light Horse on their plucky deed. One Boer +officer who stood by said he thought they all deserved the Victoria +Cross, and another showed familiarity with English habits of thought by +describing the night attack as "a devilish sporting thing." They wanted +to know who led it, and the answer has given Sir Archibald Hunter a +place in Boer estimation among the British soldiers whom they would +rather meet as friends than as enemies.</p> + +<p>The Imperial Light Horse are celebrating their achievement by a +brilliant gathering to-night, and have feasted their guests on so many +good things that one begins to doubt whether there can be much scarcity +in camp, though ordinary articles of food, and especially drink, are +running up rapidly to famine prices.</p> + +<p>Plenty in the Imperial Light Horse larder may however be accounted for +by success in another night attack about which one did not hear so much, +though it was carried out with characteristic dash as a preliminary to +the greater enterprise that followed twenty-four hours later. One +company of the Imperial Light Horse, being on outpost duty south of +Waggon Hill, had conceived the idea of a midnight raid on Bester's Farm, +whence the Boers, after an<span class="pagenum"><a id="page118" name="page118"></a>Pg 118</span> effective occupation of several weeks, had +retired, leaving a Red Cross flag still attached to a thorn bush in the +garden, by way of suggesting that poultry and pigs should be regarded as +under the protection of the Geneva Convention. They did not go far, +however, and parties of them came down to the farm nearly every night +for supplies. The Light Horse, having impartial minds, thought they +might as well "chip in" for some of the good things. So they made their +raid, and came back laden with provender. Much of this they distributed +with a liberality that has won for them and for all Natal Volunteers +concurrently the title of "friendlies," which will certainly stick as +long as British troops and Colonial Irregulars campaign together. Some +fat turkeys were part of the loot, and they helped to make a right royal +feast to-night, when the gallant "friendlies" had their cup of happiness +filled by warm congratulations from the Gordons, the Devons, and every +cavalry regiment with which they are brigaded.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Such brilliant achievements as the above might, it was soon felt, +be more difficult in future, the enemy having been put upon his +guard; but all the good-comradeship in the world could not prevent +some jealousy being felt, and nobody can pretend to regret that a +spirit of noble emulation has thus been roused. There had never +been any lack of men ready for work of that kind from the first day +of investment. Devons and Gordons had volunteered weeks before to +take the Boer guns from which the defenders suffered most +annoyance, any night the General might give<span class="pagenum"><a id="page119" name="page119"></a>Pg 119</span> them permission; but +those fine battalions were wanted for important duties in the +purely defensive scheme, and so they had to lie behind earthworks +or in bomb-proof structures, half tent, half cave, shelled when +they ventured to move out by day, kept on the alert through many +hours of weary night, and called to arms again an hour before dawn. +They had shown—and the same is true of every corps and detachment +in the garrison—the most splendid endurance. Indeed, the only +signs of impatience seen among the troops were the outcome of an +eager desire to be led out against the enemy, that they might get +some satisfaction for the losses and annoyance to which they had +been subjected from the long-range fire of Boer artillery.</p> + +<p>Now, however, the regulars, who had long been ready for any +service, in view of the brilliant performance of the irregulars, +regarded inaction as a slur upon their particular regiments. The +feeling resulted in a second attempt being made, this time to +destroy the enemy's big gun on Surprise Hill. Though it failed to +win an equal success, it was a hardly less brilliant performance, +and forms another engrossing page in Mr. Pearse's story. Writing on +11th December, he thus describes the enterprise from its inception:—</p></div> + +<p>Lieut.-Colonel Metcalfe of the 2nd Rifle Brigade gave expression +yesterday to a general desire that the regulars should be allowed a +chance to prove their mettle, by sending to Sir George White a request +that his battalion might be allowed to attack the Boer position on +Surprise Hill and silence the howitzer there. This request had to be +sanctioned by Brigadier-General Howard, who, as an old Rifle Brigade +officer, was nothing loth to add strong<span class="pagenum"><a id="page120" name="page120"></a>Pg 120</span> reasons why the step should be +taken. Other corps might be panting for opportunities of distinction, +but the Rifle Brigade, having held the post on Cove Hill which now bears +its name under fire from this howitzer for weeks past, had a right to +claim that their chance should come first.</p> + +<p>Sir George White, fully appreciating Colonel Metcalfe's plea of +privilege and the spirit that animated it, gave consent at once, and +left Colonel Metcalfe free to carry out his plan unhampered by any +conditions save those of ordinary military prudence. He did not even +give the direction of it to a staff officer, and though the Intelligence +Department furnished guides it took no active part in the affair, for +the success or failure of which Colonel Metcalfe alone held himself +responsible. Major Altham saw the column off and accompanied it for some +distance, but only as a spectator, and that no farther than the initial +stage, beyond which everything was shrouded in darkness. The new moon, +sinking behind heavy clouds, gave little light when the men fell into +rank by companies for their march. There were about 450 rifles all told. +To these must be added two small detachments of artillery and engineers, +taking with them charges of gun-cotton. The whole command numbered no +more than 469, and they were going for one of the strongest Boer +positions by which our force is ringed about.</p> + +<p>Captain Gough's company was detached to lead<span class="pagenum"><a id="page121" name="page121"></a>Pg 121</span> the right assault, and +Major Thesiger's the left, each having with it a section of C Company. +Captains Paley and Stephens were to bring their companies close up in +support, while Lieutenant Byrne was in command of E Company, forming the +reserve. Only a small detachment of ambulance men with four stretchers +followed the column as it moved off a few minutes after ten o'clock, +across open ground by Observation Hill, and turned westward towards its +objective, which could just be seen, a dim rounded mass like a darker +cloud in the dark sky. The guides Ashby and Thornhill had no difficulty +in finding their way without other landmarks, for every inch of the +ground is familiar to them both. An unlooked-for obstacle, however, +presented itself as they neared the nek that joins Thornhill's Kop with +Rietfontein on Pepworth's Ridge. A break in clouds that hung behind +Surprise Hill let light through from the crescent moon that was still +well above the rugged Drakensberg Crags.</p> + +<p>In that light, subdued though it was, a man crossing the nek would have +shown up sharply, and Boer sentries always keep well down where they can +watch the sky-line. Our troops, naturally anxious not to discover +themselves prematurely, lay down in a convenient donga and waited for +darkness. There they had to lie an hour or longer, until the nearest +ridges were again merged in the gloom of their surroundings, and the +more distant hills became vague shadows, perceptible only to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page122" name="page122"></a>Pg 122</span> second +sight of men who are familiar with Nature in all aspects. Then the +column, moving silently, advanced towards the railway line, which few +could see until they were stopped by the barbed wire that fences it on +each side. The necessity for cutting this was another awkward hindrance. +All officers, however, had come provided for such an emergency with +wire-nippers. The anxiety was painfully tense as men listened to the +sharp click of these instruments, and heard the severed wires drop with +a clatter that struck harp-like across the deep silence, and went +vibrating along the fence towards a Boer camp where perhaps some sentry, +more alert than his comrades, might catch the meaning of such sounds. No +alarm followed, however, as the work of wire-cutting went on across the +railway and from enclosure to enclosure, care being taken to bend the +wires only in one place so that they could be bent back, leaving a space +just wide enough for successive companies in fours to defile through.</p> + +<p>Thus by slow degrees they gained the foot of Surprise Hill, and began +the difficult ascent. Colonel Metcalfe, and probably most of his men, +expected that they would have been met by Boer rifle fire long before +this and compelled to win their way with the bayonet. It seemed almost +impossible to believe that the Boers, after one sharp lesson, would keep +no better watch than to let us creep up to their stronghold unopposed. +Suddenly a challenge "Wie kom dar?" rang out from half-way up the hill.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page123" name="page123"></a>Pg 123</span> +Silence would serve no longer, and indeed it had been broken again and +again by the clang of iron-heeled boots on loose stones. So the order to +fix swords was given, and passed in stentorian tones along the front. +Sword-bayonets rattled sharply against rifle barrels to show that there +was no deception this time, and then with lusty cheers the assaulting +companies sprang forward, floundering at times in deep clefts between +boulders, then re-forming to continue their advance, while the supports +and reserves fell as quickly as they could into the formation that is +roughly indicated in the accompanying diagram. That plan had been +adopted to guard against flank attacks by the oblique fire from two +companies, between which an opening was left for the assaulting +companies to retire through in case of reverses. But neither flank +attack nor reverses came at this critical point. Major Thesiger and +Captain Gough, following their respective guides, gained the crest +before their enemies had time to fire many shots from magazine rifles, +and the battery was won. But it contained neither gun nor gunners. Was +the whole expedition therefore fruitless? No! there came sounds as of +men at work stealthily a few yards off.</p> + +<p>For that point a sergeant led his section, and found the howitzer with a +few men round it as escort, bearing rifles. The men threw down their +arms in token of submission, but that trick has been played too often. +"This damned nonsense is too late,"<span class="pagenum"><a id="page124" name="page124"></a>Pg 124</span> said the sergeant, and with +levelled bayonets his sections swept away the chance of treachery. So +the story runs, and at any rate our men pushed forward without further +opposition until they formed a half-moon overlooking the darkness in a +deep valley that might have been full of foes. Into that darkness, +therefore, they poured steady volleys for half an hour, while the +engineers were trying to destroy the captured howitzer. Their first +attempt failed owing to a defective fuse, but with the next gun-cotton +charge a fracture was made so deep that the howitzer will never be able +to fire a shot again. Then the riflemen retired, and as they reached a +safe distance downhill they heard a mightier explosion. This also was +the work of our engineers, who had found a magazine and blown it up with +all the ammunition there.</p> + +<p>But now from flanks and rear came heavy rifle fire. Colonel Metcalfe, +thinking he was being fired on by his own supports, rode towards them, +calling upon Captains Paley and Stephen by name to cease firing. But he +was met by a withering volley, and knew it must have come from enemies. +At the same time a sergeant going off in another direction, and calling, +"Second Rifle Brigade, are you there?" was received by answers in +English, and before he had discovered his mistake three rifle-bullets +stung him, but for all that he managed to get back in safety to his +company. Then the Adjutant-Captain Dawnay, assisted by Major Wing of the +Artillery,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page125" name="page125"></a>Pg 125</span> who had come out from camp as a volunteer unattached, did +successful work in getting together sections that had gone astray in the +intense darkness.</p> + +<p>It was almost impossible to see anything a yard off. One man felt +something brush against him, and said by way of precaution, "Third Rifle +Brigade?" "Yes," was the response, but at that moment the rattle of a +rifle warned him. He saw something white, which was certainly not part +of a British soldier's campaigning uniform, and, driving at that, got +his bayonet into a Dutchman's shirt just in time to save himself from +being shot. An officer had an exciting bout with a Kaffir who was +fighting on the Boer side, the weapon on one side being a broomstick +that had been used as an alpenstock for hill-climbing, and on the other +a Mauser rifle which the Kaffir had no chance to reload, so quickly were +the blows showered upon him, and a bayonet-thrust delivered at hazard as +he ran put an end to his fighting for the time at least. Our men were +dropping fast from rifle shots, and they had somehow missed touch with +Captain Paley's company. That officer's name was called several times, +but no answer came until the Boers on one side began shouting in good +English, "Captain Paley, here is your company, sir," and a few men +decoyed that way were shot down. The difficulty of finding wounded +comrades in the darkness was great, but still several gallant fellows +made the attempt, and brought no less than thirty-five out of the fight +over ground<span class="pagenum"><a id="page126" name="page126"></a>Pg 126</span> so broken that they frequently stumbled and fell with their +groaning burdens. One of them begged to be left there, but his +entreaties were met with the response, "Oh, cheer up, old chum; a +stretcher in camp is better than a cell in Pretoria."</p> + +<p>While these gallant acts of mercy were being done by men whose blood had +been at fighting heat but a few minutes before, their comrades were +forming for a charge on dongas thick with Boers, whose rifles rang out +incessantly. Bayonets soon did their work. Before that charge the Boers +would not stand, but fled off to fire from a safer distance. One lying +wounded held some papers up, and said, "I am an American correspondent"; +but unfortunately for him he had a rifle in his hand and it was hot. +Captain Paley, at first returned as missing, was, as it happens, leading +that charge at one point. Hearing calls for him he led his company +towards them, but likewise found himself discovered, and had just +ordered the charge when three bullets bowled him over, and he lay there +until the enemy came at dawn and found him with other wounded; but his +fall was quickly avenged, for his company charged gallantly, and made a +way for themselves clean through the Boers. Colonel Metcalfe succeeded +in bringing the main body of his troops away in unbroken formation, the +detached sections following, and quickly falling into order ready for +another fight; but the Boers did not molest them again, though we know +now that reinforcements numbering<span class="pagenum"><a id="page127" name="page127"></a>Pg 127</span> over 2000 had been specially sent +that night to guard against a possible attack on Surprise Hill.</p> + +<p>When our ambulance detachments went forward at daybreak they were fired +upon, though Commandant Erasmus had sent under a flag of truce asking +that surgeons and burying parties should go out from our camp. The +medical staff were also made prisoners, and sent before Erasmus and +Schalk-Burger, who, after many questions, released them with the most +seriously wounded, among whom was Captain Paley. Lieutenant Ferguson +died before he could be brought in. Our losses in this night attack, or +rather in the fight that followed it, were 11 killed and 43 wounded, +including Colonel Metcalfe slightly, Captain Paley, Captain Gough, +Lieutenant Brand, and Lieutenant Davenport.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page128" name="page128"></a>Pg 128</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>AFTER COLENSO</h3> + +<h4>The Town-Guard called out—Echoes of Colenso—Heliograms from +Buller—The Boers and Dingaan's Day—Disappointing news—Special +correspondents summoned—Victims of the bombardment—Shaving under +shell fire—Tea with Lord Ava—Boer humour: "Where is Buller?"—Sir +George White's narrow escape—A disastrous shot—Fiftieth day of +the siege—Grave and gay—"What does England think of us?"—Stoical +artillerymen—The moral courage of caution—How Doctor Stark was +killed—Serious thoughts—Gordons at play—Boers watch the match—A +story by the way—"My name is Viljoen"—How Major King won his +liberty—A tribute to Boer hospitality—General White and +Schalk-Burger—A coward chastised—"Sticking it out."</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The week that followed the sortie to Surprise Hill must have been +one of intense anxiety to Sir George White and his Staff. The +attack on the enemy's gun positions coincided with General Sir +Redvers Buller's preparations to force the passage of the Tugela at +Colenso, and to march to the relief of Ladysmith. This, however, +was not generally known in the town, which was engaged by what was +taking place nearer at hand. On 12th December Mr. Pearse wrote:—</p></div> + +<p>The big gun on Middle Hill, which the great "Twin Brethren" had put out +of action some days before, was taken to Telegraph Hill and mounted in +a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page129" name="page129"></a>Pg 129</span> strong position, whence its shells reached Cove Ridge, King's +Point, and other defensive works with unpleasant persistency. Captain +Christie's howitzers were therefore removed to a bend of Klip River, +with the object of subduing this gun's fire again, if possible. It was +apparently expected that the Boers would attempt reprisals for our night +attacks. The Town Guard and local Rifle Association, having been duly +embodied, were called out to line the river bank facing Bulwaan, and to +assist in the defence of their town, but the Commandant still remained +at Intombi Camp with sick, wounded, and non-combatants.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image06" name="image06"></a> + <a href="images/06large.jpg"> + <img src="images/06.jpg" + alt="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NEARLY DUE SOUTH" + title="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NEARLY DUE SOUTH" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NEARLY DUE SOUTH</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>On December 15, the day of the disastrous attempt at Colenso, +General Buller's guns could be plainly heard. Mr. Pearse has the +following entries in his note-book:—</p></div> + +<p><i>December 16.</i>—Except for a bombardment heavier than ordinary, the past +three days have been uneventful. Sounds of battle reached us in a dull +roar from the distant southward. They grew more continuous yesterday, +but rolled no nearer, and therefore told us nothing except that Sir +Redvers Buller was making a vigorous effort to join hands with +beleaguered Ladysmith, and that the Boers were with equal stubbornness +trying to beat him back along the banks of the Tugela. From far-off +Umkolumbu Mountain heliograph signals were flashed to us occasionally, +but in cipher, the meaning of which is known only at headquarters. At +dawn this morning the Boers celebrated Dingaan's Day by a royal salute +from the big<span class="pagenum"><a id="page130" name="page130"></a>Pg 130</span> Creusot on Bulwaan and fourteen other guns. All fired +shells, which fell thick about the camps, killing one Artilleryman, one +Gordon Highlander, and a civilian; several other men were slightly +wounded by splinters, but none seriously.</p> + +<p><i>December 17.</i>—Depressing news is now made public from Sir Redvers +Buller, who made his effort on Friday for the relief of Ladysmith and +failed. He bids us wait in patience for another month until siege +artillery can reach him. The special correspondents were summoned in +haste this morning to hear an abridged version of the heliograph message +read. They were asked to break this news gently to the town before +unauthorised editions could get abroad, but somehow the ill tidings had +travelled fast and with more fulness of detail than the Intelligence +Department thought fit to divulge. There has been gloom over Ladysmith +to-day, which blazing sunshine cannot dispel, and Colonials in their +anger use strong language, for which a temperature of 107° in the shade +may be in some measure accountable.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Mr. Pearse's notes for the next few days are mainly devoted to the +bombardment, which now became hotter and more persistent than ever, +their success at the Tugela having inspired the enemy with new +hopes of reducing the town. On Monday the 18th</p></div> + +<p>the shelling began at daybreak, and lasted with little intermission +until nearly dark from Boer guns all round our positions. Bulwaan began +by throwing<span class="pagenum"><a id="page131" name="page131"></a>Pg 131</span> a shrapnel, which burst low over the camp of Natal +Carabineers when the men were at morning stables. Four of them were +killed, seven wounded, and a private of the Royal Engineers so badly hit +that he lingered only a few hours. The same shell killed eleven horses +in the Carabineer lines. In the town many people had narrow escapes when +Bulwaan's 6-inch Creusot swept round, bringing its fire to bear with +destructive effect on several prominent houses. One man lying in bed had +a shell pass over him from head to foot within a few inches of his body. +It burst on striking the floor, and well-nigh stifled him with dust and +sulphurous fumes. When Bulwaan ceased Telegraph Hill began throwing +shells even to the Manchester sangars on Cæsar's Camp, wounding three or +four men, and one private of that regiment was killed by a Pom-Pom shot +from the ridge beyond Bester's Farm.</p> + +<p>On the following day, an hour after dawn, the shelling became hot about +headquarters, then, however, changed its direction nearer to Captain +Vallentin's house, in which Colonel Rhodes was generally found about +breakfast, lunch, and dinner-time as a member of the 7th Brigade mess. +Later the Police Station, or some building near it, seemed to have a +curious fascination for the gunners of Bulwaan. They dropped shells now +in front, then in rear, of the Court-house, but always in the same line, +so that, for half an hour or so, Colonel Dartnell and his men had a warm +time. One of their tents was<span class="pagenum"><a id="page132" name="page132"></a>Pg 132</span> hit, but luckily nobody happened to be in +it at that moment. On Wednesday the 20th, too, one of the first shells +from Bulwaan burst close to the Police Camp after passing through a row +of slender trees and along the fence, inside which Colonel Dartnell's +orderly was just preparing to shave. He had his looking-glass on a rail +of the fence, when between it and himself, a distance of not more than +two feet, the shell ripped with a deafening shriek, to bury itself and +burst by the root of a tree not three yards off. How this man escaped +death is a wonder. The wall behind him was scarred by splinters, the +iron fence in front torn and twisted into strange shapes, the rails +crushed to matchwood by the force of concussion. Yet there he stood +unscathed in the midst of it all. He had not heard the shell coming +until its burst stunned, and for nearly a minute afterwards he remained +motionless, too dazed to know what had happened.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon (writes Mr. Pearse) Lord Ava and I rode out to have +afternoon tea with the officers of Major Goulburn's battery on Waggon +Hill. Some Boers apparently had a larger and more festive gathering in +the dismantled fort on Middle Hill. They were well within range of our +12-pounder, and the middy in charge was very anxious to have a shot, but +Major Goulburn decided not to waste ammunition in breaking up that tea +party or 'dop raad.' I confess this seemed to me a mistake, for Boers +were sniping across Bester's Valley with such persistency that we had to +keep<span class="pagenum"><a id="page133" name="page133"></a>Pg 133</span> a sharp watch on our knee-haltered ponies lest they should stray +towards the dangerous zone, where one man of the Manchesters was killed +directly he showed himself. There would have been some satisfaction in a +reprisal, but orders are very strict against wasting ammunition, of +which by the way we have none to spare that might not be wanted if the +enemy should venture on a general attack.</p> + +<p>On the same evening the Boers on Bulwaan signalled to the Gordons at Fly +Kraal Post—"Where is Buller now? He has presented us with ten guns in +place of three you took."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>What seemed like the answer came on the following day, the 21st, +when we have the following entry:—</p></div> + +<p>Sir Redvers Buller's heavy batteries opened fire early this morning from +some position south-west of Colenso. We feel, though we have no means of +knowing for certain, that large reinforcements must have been sent that +way recently from round about Ladysmith, leaving the lines of investment +comparatively weak. Our enemy, however, makes a great show of being +strong here by keeping up a more vicious bombardment when the situation +threatens to become warm for him along the Tugela. His object, of +course, is to discourage any diversion on our part, and it succeeds, +because we have no motive for action yet. It is hard to have been cooped +up for fifty days under fire, but we must make the best of it.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page134" name="page134"></a>Pg 134</span></p> + +<p>After trying in vain to reach the ordnance stores this morning Bulwaan +got the range of headquarters. One shell burst a few yards short, the +next crashed into Sir Henry Rawlinson's room, smashing all the furniture +to atoms. Sir George White was lying in another room ill of a low fever, +and there was naturally much anxiety on his account. For a long time he +refused to be moved, but at length, under pressure of the whole staff, +gave way, and consented to change his quarters to a camp less exposed. +Immunity from shell fire is hardly possible within our lines now, for +the Boers have mounted another howitzer on Surprise Hill to-day, and +this, with the big Creusot still on Telegraph Hill, will probably search +many places that have hitherto been comparatively safe, for our +howitzers cannot keep down the fire of both.</p> + +<p><i>December 22.</i>—This was a day of heavy calamity for one regiment, and +marked by more serious casualties than any other since the siege began. +At six o'clock this morning a shell from Bulwaan struck the camp of the +ill-fated Gloucesters on Junction Hill just as the men were at +breakfast. It killed six and wounded nine, of whom three are very +seriously hurt. A little later the big gun on Telegraph Hill threw a +shell into the cavalry lines. It burst among the 5th Lancers, who were +at morning inspection, and wounded Colonel Fawcett, Major King, a +captain, the adjutant, a senior lieutenant, the regimental +sergeant-major, a troop sergeant-major, and a sergeant. The last had an +eye knocked<span class="pagenum"><a id="page135" name="page135"></a>Pg 135</span> out, but the others were only slightly wounded, and when +their injuries had been looked to, they all formed in a group to be +photographed.</p> + +<p><i>December 23.</i>—After early morning on Saturday came a strange lull in +the bombardment, and people who count the shells as they fall, for lack +of other employment, found their favourite occupation gone. Even the +pigeons that are kept in training here for future military use seemed +reluctant to fly in the still air, missing probably the excitement of +sounds that urge them to revel in multitudinous cross-currents when +shells are about; and long-tailed Namaqua doves flitted mute about the +pine branches, as if unable to coo an amorous note without the usual +accompaniment. Quiet did not reign all day, however. Towards evening the +enemy's gun on Rifleman's Ridge, or Lancer's Nek, opened straight over +the general's new quarters, to which Sir George White had only changed +half an hour earlier. This may be merely a coincidence, but it is +strange that no shells have fallen near his house at the foot of Port +Road since he quitted it. Artillery could be heard southward at +intervals pounding away with dull thuds like the beats of time on a big +drum muffled. But we have almost ceased to speculate on the meaning of +such sounds—while they come no nearer this way there is no message of +relief to us in them, and we are getting reconciled to the idea of +waiting, irksome though it may be and heavy with many unpleasant +possibilities.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page136" name="page136"></a>Pg 136</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Ladysmith had now been for fifty days under the fire of the enemy's +guns. The situation after Sir Redvers Buller's first failure to +relieve the town, as has been seen, grew more serious, and although +it was very far indeed from what could be regarded as critical, +there is to be remarked in telegrams and letters of this period a +growing appreciation of its irksomeness. But dark as the sky looked +it was flecked by many a brighter patch. There was a gay as well as +a grave side to life in the besieged town, and to both Mr. Pearse +does justice in a letter written on 21st December under the +heading, "Amenities of a Siege." It is as follows:—</p></div> + +<p>We have done our best to endure shells, privations, and the approach of +a sickly season with fortitude if not absolute cheerfulness, and our +hope is that though the position here may not seem a very glorious one, +it will be recognised henceforth as an example of the way in which +British soldiers and colonists of British descent can bear themselves in +circumstances that try the best qualities of men and women.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what they think of us in England now? Do they regard us as +heroes or damned fools for stopping here?" asked an officer of the +King's Royal Rifles with comic seriousness. This question was +transmitted in a slightly varied form by heliograph signal to our +comrades south of the Tugela one day, and the answering flashes came +back, "You are heroes; not——" Here the message was interrupted by +clouds, and lost in a series of confused dashes which the receiving<span class="pagenum"><a id="page137" name="page137"></a>Pg 137</span> +signaller could not read. We flatter ourselves, however, that the +missing words were full of generous appreciation.</p> + +<p>There is little enough reaching us from the outer world calculated to +"buck up" troops who feel the ignominy of having a passively defensive +role thrust upon them for "strategic reasons," cribbed, cabined, and +confined within a ring of hills by forces believed to be inferior to +their own, and exposed daily to shell fire, which, if not so destructive +as our enemies intend it to be, brings a possible tragedy with every +fragment of the thousands that fall about us. Counting eight hundred +bullets and jagged bits of iron within the bursting area of one shrapnel +shell from Bulwaan, a civilian expressed wonder that anybody should be +left alive in Ladysmith after forty days of bombardment. Since then the +shelling has been even hotter and more destructive; but, fortunately, +Boer guns do not fire many shrapnel, nor do the shells burst always in +places where they can do most damage. Many portions of the camp +unprotected by works in any shape cannot be seen from the enemy's +batteries, and though often searched for by shells thrown at haphazard, +our Cavalry, Artillery, and Army Service lines have frequently escaped +being hit by a good fortune that seems almost miraculous. One day three +successive shells fell and burst between the guns of a battery, but the +artillerymen, standing by their harnessed horses, did not move or seem +to take any notice of the vicious visitors. Such<span class="pagenum"><a id="page138" name="page138"></a>Pg 138</span> is the etiquette of a +service which, while firmly believing in the efficacy of its own fire, +is trained to ignore that of an enemy's guns. Nevertheless gunners, like +less stoical mortals, appreciate the value of bomb-proof shelters when +shells are flying about; and experience, during this siege of Ladysmith, +should have taught us all the dangers of carelessness when by timely +discretion many calamities might have been averted.</p> + +<p>But many people have not the moral courage to show caution when warned +that shots are coming, so they stand still and take their chance instead +of seeking shelter; or possibly it might be more just to say that +fatalism in some form arms them with a fortitude which cannot be shaken +by shells. Soldiers on duty stick, as a matter of course, to their +posts, or go straight on with work that has to be done whatever the +dangers may be; but just now I am not thinking so much of them as of +civilians and troops in their leisure moments, for whom exposure is not +a necessity. The townsfolk can, if they choose, find almost absolute +safety by spending their days in cool caverns beside the river, or +bomb-proof shelters cleverly constructed near their own houses; and care +has been taken by the military authorities to provide every defensive +position round the open camp and town with shelter trenches and covered +ways, where soldiers off duty may rest secure from the heaviest shell +fire. Yet after all there is much to be said in favour of the fatalists +who put their<span class="pagenum"><a id="page139" name="page139"></a>Pg 139</span> trust in a Power greater than human agencies or foresight +can control. They, at any rate, do not meet troubles half-way or suffer +the terrible depression that leaves its traces on those who pass their +days in dark damp caves, and only venture forth at night when danger +seems to have passed, though that is by no means certain.</p> + +<p>In one of my early telegrams to the <i>Daily News</i>, sent by Kaffir runner, +I told briefly how Dr. Stark met his death at a time of apparent +security. Descended, I believe, from one of the most famous of +West-Country Nonconformists, he held views strongly in sympathy with +what he regarded as the legitimate aspirations of an eminently religious +community, and he came here as a visitor from England with the avowed +object of giving medical care to any wounded enemies who might fall into +our hands. When Boer shells began to burst about our ears Dr. Stark was +the most practical advocate of caution. He would leave the Royal Hotel +at daybreak every morning or even earlier, carrying with him a pet +kitten in a basket, and sufficient supplies for a whole day up to +dinner-time. When the light began to fade so that gunners could hardly +see to shoot straight, and therefore ceased firing, he would emerge from +his riverside retreat and return to the hotel. Foresight could not +suggest more complete precautions against accident than he took on +common-sense principles. But, unhappily, one evening the Boer artillery +carried on practice later than usual, aiming with fixed sights<span class="pagenum"><a id="page140" name="page140"></a>Pg 140</span> steadily +at the Royal Hotel, in the evident hope of hitting some staff officers +who were supposed to hold their mess there. It was nearly dark when two +shells came in rapid succession from the big gun near Lombard's Kop, and +the second, passing clean through Dr. Stark's empty bedroom into the +hall below, went out by an open door and hit the doctor, who was coming +in at that moment. A special correspondent, Mr. McHugh, who happened to +be standing near, rendered first-aid by the application of a tourniquet; +and trained nurses came quickly to his assistance, but too late to save +the kindly gentleman, who had been shot through both legs, and whose +life-blood was ebbing fast, though he remained alive and conscious of +everything that passed for an hour afterwards. The hand of fate seemed +there, but whether it was more merciful to him or to those who, having +escaped shot and shell, are now stricken by disease in an unhealthy +camp, who shall say?</p> + +<p>Incidents of this kind turn our thoughts to a serious complexion at +times, and if a stranger could come suddenly into our midst in the +moments of depression we should not perhaps strike him as a particularly +cheerful community. Yet war even under these conditions has its +amenities, and our mirthful moods, though chastened by events that +thrust themselves upon us with unpleasant insistence, are not +infrequent. For many welcome breaks in the monotony of daily life we are +indebted to the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page141" name="page141"></a>Pg 141</span> officers and men of regiments that will not allow +themselves or their neighbours to get into the doldrums for lack of such +sports and entertainments as ingenuity can improvise. In this respect +the Natal Carbineers, Imperial Light Horse, and Gordon Highlanders have +shown a praiseworthy zeal, being encamped near each other, and having so +far an advantage over regiments like the Devon, Liverpool, Gloucester, +Leicester, Rifle Brigade, Royal Irish Fusiliers, King's Royal Rifles, +and Manchester, which since the first day of investment have been +detached for the defence of important positions, where they can hardly +venture to expose themselves in groups without a certainty of drawing +the enemy's artillery fire upon them, and where the necessity for +ceaseless watchfulness at night puts a severe strain on all ranks. Not +that the Gordons and Irregular Horse lead a leisurely life, or have any +especial immunity from shells. On the contrary, they take a full share +of duties in many forms, and they have been rather singled out as marks +for the enemy's guns to aim at; but they have not to rough it as a whole +battalion on hillsides without tents day after day, as their outpost +lines or patrols can be relieved from standing camps in the hollows, and +in those camps the main bodies, at any rate, get a fair allowance of +undisturbed sleep, for it is only by day that they are bombarded. When +the fire is not too hot, Gordons, and Light Horse especially, have merry +times at regimental sports or friendly contests.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page142" name="page142"></a>Pg 142</span></p> + +<p>In a despatch sent out by a Kaffir runner, who has never come back to +claim the reward for success, I gave a description of sports in the +Gordon camp, when they and the Imperial Light Horse had a football match +in the presence of many spectators, Sir George White and several members +of his staff being of the number. Such a gathering in full sight of +Bulwaan was too tempting for the enemy's gunners to resist. People were +so absorbed in the game that they did not at first notice a cloud of +smoke from "Puffing Billy," and when they did understand what the Kaffir +warning "Boss up" meant, there was only time for the spectators to +scatter hurriedly among tents before a shell fell plump between the +goals and burst there,—the spectators flying in all directions,—but +fortunately without harm to anybody. The men coolly filled up the pit +where the missile, that had so nearly "queered their pitch," fell, and +then played their game out; but care was taken to prevent onlookers from +getting into a dense crowd again, and mule races were substituted for +football, as presenting a less favourable mark for the aim of Boer +gunners. These, however, seemed to be quite satisfied for a time with +having made one good shot. They ceased firing, and stood or sat on the +battery parapets, where, with the aid of glasses, they could be clearly +seen watching the sports through telescopes and binoculars with +sympathetic interest. But that did not prevent them from turning their +gun with malicious intent on the town after these camp sports<span class="pagenum"><a id="page143" name="page143"></a>Pg 143</span> ended. It +was nearly dark when two shots fell near the Royal Hotel, and the third +went through it to find a victim in poor Dr. Stark.</p> + +<p>The Gordons, for some reason or other, seem to have a curious +fascination for our foes, who single this battalion out for special +attentions, some of which could be dispensed with. In the form of +frequent shells they are distinctly embarrassing, as it is impossible at +present for the Highlanders to acknowledge such courtesies by an +appropriate reply. If they are intended as invitations to closer +acquaintance I am quite sure our kilted comrades will be happy to oblige +any night by kind permission of the General commanding. The Boers, +however, indulge at times in pleasantries that show no bitterness of +feeling, but rather a desire to be playfully satirical in a way which is +suggestive of the intellectual nimbleness of a humorous elephant. Their +inquiries after Sir Redvers Buller have already been mentioned. As to +the ostentatious friendliness of our enemies for British soldiers, with +whom a temporary truce brings them in contact, some amusing stories are +told. One day a field officer of Hussars was in command of cavalry on +outpost, when a Boer travelling-cart, flying the white flag, came +rapidly up to the examining picket, and its only occupant made a cool +request that he should be allowed to enter our camp, in virtue of the +Red Cross badge on his arm, as he wanted an ambulance sent out for some +of our wounded, who had fallen into the enemy's hands.<span class="pagenum"><a id="page144" name="page144"></a>Pg 144</span> The Boer +emissary was detained at the outposts until his message could be sent to +headquarters and an answer brought back. "As I must wait here an hour," +said he blandly, "won't you dismount and take a seat beside me under the +shade of the awning?" Military regulations having made no provision for +a refusal in such cases, the Englishman accepted, and the two were +presently carrying on an animated conversation about many subjects not +connected with the siege of Ladysmith. Now, the major has a remarkably +youthful appearance, and when he chooses to assume the devil-may-care +manner of a light-hearted subaltern, it fits him easily. Moreover, his +shoulder-chains bore no distinctive badge of rank. There was nothing, in +fact, to show that he was anything more than a cavalry lieutenant, whom +no sense of responsibility oppressed. So the Boer felt his way quickly +to subjects in which one who serves under the Geneva Convention has no +right to be interested. Answers were given glibly enough, and at the end +of that hour, with profuse assurances of amicable consideration, he +departed, probably laying the flattering unction to his soul that much +valuable information had been unconsciously imparted to him. He did not +know that the free-and-easy young cavalry soldier who talked with such +apparent frankness had learned a staff officer's duties as aide-decamp +to one of our most astutely cautious Generals. This is the story as it +was told to me at second hand, and if only well invented it is too good +to be lost.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page145" name="page145"></a>Pg 145</span></p> + +<p>Still better is Major King's own narrative, of the adventures that +befell him when, as the bearer of a flag of truce without credentials, +he found himself practically a prisoner among the Boers. He had gone out +to the Boer outposts to make inquiries about another staff affair—the +bearer of a flag of truce whose prolonged absence was causing some +uneasiness, as the message taken by him to General Schalk-Burger did not +demand any answer. Major King had no intention of going inside the Boer +lines, and therefore took with him no letter or written authority for +his mission, but simply rode towards the enemy's piquets unarmed and +carrying a white flag, to show that for once he was not playing the part +of a combatant, though wearing a staff officer's undress uniform. When +his purpose was explained to the Boers on duty, they suggested that he +should accompany some of their number to the commandant's camp, and, +without taking the precaution to blindfold him, they led the way +thither, chatting pleasantly all the way about every topic except +fighting. On reaching a group of tents, the exact position of which he +for honourable reasons will not mention even to his own chief, Major +King was confronted by a Boer leader, who was at first very wroth with +the escort for bringing an English officer through the lines in that +unceremonious way. When matters had been explained, however, the +commandant, as he turned out to be, introduced himself, saying:</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page146" name="page146"></a>Pg 146</span></p> + +<p>"My name is Viljoen. You have probably heard a great deal about me, if +not much that is good. Some of your countrymen in the Transvaal thought +me a very bad lot, and as they are now with the Imperial Light Horse in +Ladysmith, I daresay there are many queer stories told about me; but I +am not quite so bad as they make out. Your presence here without papers, +however, is very awkward, and I have no alternative but to make you a +prisoner."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's d——d nonsense," said Major King. "I had no wish to come +here, but your men insisted on bringing me. My only object was to find +out what had become of a brother-officer who should have got back to +camp long before this. I give you the word of a soldier that I did not +want to find out anything about your position, and whatever I may have +seen, which is precious little, will be told to no one."</p> + +<p>The commandant was in a difficulty, but agreed to send for one who is +his senior in rank and submit the case to him. During the messenger's +absence Major King was hospitably entertained, and his hosts, or +captors, talked about sport, suggesting that some day might be set apart +for an armistice, so that Boers and English might have a friendly +race-meeting. The commandant, by way of showing that he does not bear +resentment for the things that have been said about him, described his +experiences after the battle of Elandslaagte, from which he was a +fugitive, and said:</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page147" name="page147"></a>Pg 147</span></p> + +<p>"I walked that night until I could go no farther, thinking that the +Colonial volunteers were in pursuit. If I had known they were English +cavalry I should have given myself up, for I was nearly done."</p> + +<p>As pronounced by him, "Fiyune," his name does not sound familiar to +English ears, and it was therefore not until some time afterwards that +Major King knew he had been entertained by the notorious Ben Viljoen, +who was first reported among the killed at Elandslaagte, then as wounded +and a prisoner, but who in fact got away from the fight almost +unscathed, and now holds a command in the Boer force outside Ladysmith. +Interviews with a senior commandant, who was by no means complaisant, +and finally with Schalk-Burger, followed. The latter, after raising many +difficulties and dangling prospects of imprisonment in Pretoria before +Major King, finally consented to release that officer on condition that +he would not take any military advantage of what he had seen or heard in +the Boer lines. That condition has been honourably kept, but the Major +does not feel himself bound to make any secret of the fact that while +the Boers kept him under detention they treated him "devilish well." +This way of putting it may seem a little ambiguous, but those who know +General Hunter's light-hearted A.D.C. will understand the sincerity of +his tribute to the hospitality of Commandants Schalk-Burger and Ben +Viljoen.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page148" name="page148"></a>Pg 148</span></p> + +<p>Another Boer, who may be credited with a desire to say pleasant things, +was talking under a flag of truce with an English officer about the +prospects on each side. "We admit," he said, "that the British soldiers +are the best in the world, and your regimental officers the bravest, +but—we rely on your generals."</p> + +<p>Even on the battlefield, when men are apt to be carried away by the lust +of fighting, many incidents have happened that touch the chords of +sympathy. The Boers have curious notions about white flags and Geneva +Crosses, but so far as our experience goes nobody can accuse them of +inhumanity to a fallen or helpless foe, except in the matter of firing +on hospitals when they think there are military reasons to justify them. +They shelled the Town Hall of Ladysmith persistently while sick and +wounded were lying there and the Red Cross flag waved above its +clock-tower. In reply to a protest from Sir George White, Commandant +Schalk-Burger defended his gunners on the plea that we had no right to a +hospital in Ladysmith while there was a neutral camp at Intombi Spruit +for their reception. The contention was, of course, preposterous, and +based moreover on the insulting assumption that our General had been +guilty of sheltering effective combatants behind an emblem which all +civilised nations have agreed to respect. Possibly the enemy may seek to +show that we are not above suspicion in such things, by reference to a +skirmish in which one<span class="pagenum"><a id="page149" name="page149"></a>Pg 149</span> of our batteries did open from a position +directly in front of ambulance waggons. These were outspanned near a +field hospital when the affair began, and as it was thought necessary to +get the wounded out of possible danger quickly, they had to be removed +some little distance in dhoolies. Meanwhile the Boers were getting guns +on to a kopje where they might have enfiladed one of our most important +lines of defence. To stop them in time a battery had to be brought into +action, and the only ground from which it could have shelled the kopje, +to frustrate the enemy's purpose of mounting a gun there, was just in +front of the ambulance waggons. Care, however, had been taken in that +case to lower the Red Cross flag, so that our artillery cannot be +accused of using it as a "stalking horse," though each waggon bears the +same symbol painted conspicuously on its canvas awning. These are +matters about which some ill-feeling has been aroused, but they do not +lessen our appreciation of acts by which individual Boers have shown +magnanimity while smarting under losses that must have been bitterly +humiliating to them.</p> + +<p>When our cavalry reconnaissance was pushed forward after the successful +night attack on Gun Hill, the Hussars got into a very tight place, from +which they extricated themselves by a dash that cost many lives, and +some wounded were left on the field with their dead comrades. Ambulances +were sent out for them under a flag of truce. As one<span class="pagenum"><a id="page150" name="page150"></a>Pg 150</span> Hussar was being +carried on a stretcher, a young Boer jeered at him, using epithets that +were so coarse and cowardly that they roused the ire of a bearded +veteran who probably fought against our troops nineteen years ago. With +one blow he felled the youngster, and thereby gave him an object-lesson +in the treatment that is meet for those who abuse a helpless foe. To +chivalry of a similar kind Captain Paley owed his life when wounded +after the night attack on Surprise Hill, according to the story told by +one who heard it while the wounded officer was being brought back to +camp next day. In the confusion and darkness Captain Paley's men did not +see him fall directly after he had given the order for them to charge. +He was left there sorely wounded, and one of the many foreigners now +fighting against us in the enemy's ranks levelled a rifle at him, but +was stopped before he could pull the trigger by a blow from the butt-end +of a rifle that sent him reeling. Again it was a grey-bearded veteran +who had come so timely to the rescue of an Englishman. If many such +stories are told we must either come to the conclusion that the older +Boers do not entertain against us the hatred with which they are +credited, or that there is one of their number who goes about the +battlefield from fight to fight seeking opportunities to succour British +soldiers in distress. At any rate, all this is simply history repeating +itself. Mr. Carter, in his impartial narrative of the former Boer war, +tells us:—</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page151" name="page151"></a>Pg 151</span></p> + +<p>"Similar evidence was furnished after every encounter our troops had +with the Dutch. It was the young men—some mere boys of fifteen—who +displayed, with pardonable ignorance, bragging insolence. The men of +maturer years, with very few exceptions, behaved like men, and in the +hour of victory in many instances restrained the braggarts from +committing cowardly acts. In this fight at the Nek, Private Venables of +the 58th, who was one of the prisoners taken by the Boers, owed his life +to Commandant De Klerck, who intervened at a moment when several Boers +had their guns pointed at the wounded soldier."</p> + +<p>It is not, however, very reassuring to find that but for such timely +intervention wounded men might possibly be shot or ill-treated, and +therefore our soldiers will not be restrained from risking their lives +to rescue a fallen comrade merely by the announcement that "we are at +war with a civilised foe, to whose care the wounded in battle may be +confidently left." We may be thankful for the fact that saving life +under fire is still regarded as an act worthy of the Victoria Cross "for +valour."</p> + +<p>In other respects, we do not owe much gratitude to the Boers. If we were +dependent upon them for anything that could help to make life in a +bombarded town tolerable, Ladysmith's plight to-day would be pitiful. +They have tried their hardest—though not successfully—to make every +house in the place untenable between sunrise and sunset, doing<span class="pagenum"><a id="page152" name="page152"></a>Pg 152</span> +infinitely more damage to private property than to military defences; +and they have thrown shells about some parts of the long open town with +a persistence that would seem petty in its spitefulness if we could be +sure that the shots strike near what they are aimed at. So long as the +Boers do not violate any laws of civilised warfare nobody has a right to +blame them for trying the methods that may seem most likely to bring +about the fall of Ladysmith. They have, however, simply wrecked a few +houses, disfigured pretty gardens, mutilated public buildings, destroyed +private property, and disabled by death or wounds a small percentage of +our troops, without producing the smallest effect on the material +defences, or weakening the garrison's powers of endurance in any +appreciable degree. Such a bombardment day after day for seven weeks +would doubtless get on the nerves if we allowed ourselves to think about +it too much; but happily the civilians—men and women—who resolved to +"stick it out" here rather than accept from their country's enemies the +questionable benefits of a comparatively peaceful existence under the +white flag at Intombi Spruit have shown a fortitude and cheerfulness +that win respect from every soldier. Shelters are provided for them and +their children, but they do not always take advantage of these, even +when a bugle or whistle from the look-out post warns them that a shell +is coming. Ladies still go their daily round of shopping just as they +did in the early days of bombardment, indeed<span class="pagenum"><a id="page153" name="page153"></a>Pg 153</span> more regularly, and with a +cool disregard of danger that brave men might envy. Though more than +5000 shells have been thrown within our defensive lines, and a vast +number of these into the town itself, only one woman has been wounded so +far, and not a single child hit. For all this we have every reason to be +thankful.</p> + +<p>When the sun goes down people who have taken shelter elsewhere during +the day return to their homes, and have pleasant social gatherings, from +which thoughts of Boer artillery are banished by innocent mirth and +music. Walking along the lampless streets, at an hour when camps are +silent, one is often attracted by the notes of fresh, young voices, +where soft lights glow through open casements, or the singers sit under +the vine-traceried verandah of a "stoup," accompanying the melody with +guitar or banjo. Occasionally stentorian lungs roar unmelodious +music-hall choruses that jar by contrast with sweeter strains, but +sentiment prevails, and who can wonder if there are sometimes tears in +the voices that sing "Swanee River" and "Home, Sweet Home," or if a +listener's heart is deeply moved as he hears the words, "Mother come +back from the Echoless Shore," sung amid such surroundings in the still +nights of days that are hoarse with the booming of guns. Few of us, +however, despise comic songs here when time and scene fit. We have them +at frequent smoking-concerts that help to enliven a routine of duty that +would be dull without these entertainments. There<span class="pagenum"><a id="page154" name="page154"></a>Pg 154</span> are no regimental +bands to cheer us, but the Natal Volunteers have improvised one in which +tin whistles and tambourines make a fair substitute for fifes and drums. +The pipes of the Gordon Highlanders we have always with us, too.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page155" name="page155"></a>Pg 155</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>A CHRISTMAS UNDER SIEGE</h3> + +<h4>Husbanding supplies—Colonel Ward's fine work—Our Christmas +market—A scanty show—Some startling prices—A word to cynics—The +compounding of plum-puddings—The strict rules of temperance—Boer +greetings "per shell"—A lady's narrow escape—Correspondents +provide sport—"Ginger" and the mules—The sick and wounded—Some +kindly gifts—Christmas tree for the children—Sir George White and +the little ones—"When the war is over"—Some empty rumours—A +fickle climate—Eight officers killed and wounded—More messages +from Buller—Booming the old year out.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It needed perhaps all the music that could be mustered in the town +to remind the beleaguered garrison and inhabitants that the festive +season was upon them. It was inevitable that at such a time the +thoughts of all should turn a little regretfully to other scenes. +But it takes a great deal to depress the British soldier to the +point at which he is willing to forego his Christmas; and on all +hands, in spite of adverse fortune, preparations were made to keep +the day in as fitting a manner as the restricted means +allowed—with what success is described by Mr. Pearse in the +following letter:—</p></div> + +<p>Thanks to the perfect organisation which Colonel Ward, C.B., brings into +all branches of the depart<span class="pagenum"><a id="page156" name="page156"></a>Pg 156</span>ment over which he is chief here, and the +attention paid to innumerable details by his second in command, Colonel +Stoneman, there has never been any danger of necessary supplies being +exhausted, even if this place were invested for a much longer time than +seems likely now, but these two officers seem to have more than absolute +necessaries in reserve. When Colonel Ward was appointed Military +Governor of Ladysmith his measures for preserving health in the town and +camps surrounding it took a very comprehensive form. He not only made +provision for ample water-supply, in place of that which the Boers had +cut off, but his ideas of sanitary precaution embraced inquiry into +sources of food-supply and kindred subjects. To the end that he might +know whether wholesome meat and drink were being sold, it was obviously +necessary that he should have reports as to the articles in which +various proprietors of stores traded. Information on these points was +collected with so much care that, when the pinch came, he knew exactly +where to put his hand on provisions for the healthy and medical comforts +for the sick and wounded. He had only to requisition a certain number of +shops and hotels that were scheduled as having ample supplies of the +things wanted, and the trick was done. Some tradesmen were glad enough +to have their old stock taken over wholesale by the military authorities +at a profitable price, but others, who foresaw chances of a richer +harvest, were inclined to grumble at the arbitrary<span class="pagenum"><a id="page157" name="page157"></a>Pg 157</span> exercise of power of +officials whose acts they regarded as little better than confiscation, +and, unfortunately, some of these managed to evade the first call, so +that they were allowed to go on selling privately, and running up the +prices to a fabulous extent.</p> + +<p>This was a mistake. All should have been treated alike, so that none +might complain that kissing goes by favour, even in the most immaculate +and best regulated armies. As it was, the military commissariat secured +much that would add to the comfort of soldiers, but for what was left +civilians had to pay dearly. Some idea of the way in which this worked +may be given by a quotation from the prices bid at our Christmas market +on Saturday. We have no Covent Garden or Leadenhall here, but it was +felt that some sort of show ought to be made at this festive season, and +accordingly everything in the form of Christmas fare that could be got +together was brought out for sale by auction. It did not amount to much. +The whole barely sufficed to fill one long table, which was placed in a +nook between the main street and a side alley, where fifty people or so +might crowd together without attracting the notice of Bulwaan's gunners, +who would delight in nothing so much as the chance of throwing a +surprise shell into the midst of such a gathering.</p> + +<p>The time for holding this auction had been fixed with a view to the +enemy's ordinary practice of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page158" name="page158"></a>Pg 158</span> closing hostilities about sunset each +evening, but he does not allow this to become a hard and fast rule, nor +does he recognise "close time" that may not be broken in upon at will, +if sufficient temptation to shoot presents itself. So the sale was held, +not only in a secluded corner, but in the brief half-light between +sunset and night. Some civilians came as a matter of curiosity to look +on, but the majority were soldiers, regular or irregular, on business +intent, and they soon ran up with a rapidity that gave the good traders +of Ladysmith a lesson in commercial possibilities when it was too late +for them to profit by it to the full. Eggs sold readily at nine +shillings a dozen, their freshness being taken on trust and no questions +asked. Ducks that had certainly not been crammed with good food were +considered cheap at half a guinea each, and nobody grumbled at having to +give nine shillings and sixpence for a fowl of large bone but scanty +flesh. Imported butter in tins fetched eight and sixpence a pound, jam +three and sixpence a tin, peaches boiled that morning in syrup, and +classified therefore as preserves, went freely for seven and sixpence a +bottle, and condensed milk at five shillings a tin. But these prices +were low compared with the five shillings given for three tiny cucumbers +no longer than one's hand. The crowning bid of all, however, was thirty +shillings for twenty-eight new potatoes, that weighed probably three or +four pounds. The buyers were mostly mess-presidents of regiments, whose +officers began<span class="pagenum"><a id="page159" name="page159"></a>Pg 159</span> to crave for some change from the daily rations of tough +commissariat beef and compressed vegetables; or troopers of the Imperial +Light Horse, who will rough it with the best when necessity compels, but +not so long as there are simple luxuries to be had for the money that is +plentiful among them.</p> + +<p>Cynics dining sumptuously in their clubs may jeer at the idea of +campaigners attaching so much importance to creature comforts. Let them +try a course of army rations for two months, and then say what price +they would set against a fresh egg or a new potato. Two privates of the +Gordon Highlanders stopped beside the auctioneer's stall as if +meditating a bid for some fruit. They listened in wonderment as the +prices went up by leaps and bounds. Then said one to the other, "Come +awa, mon! We dinna want nae sour grapes." For them, however, and for +others whose means did not run to Christmas market prices, there was +consolation in store. Colonel Ward had taken care that there should be a +reserve of raisins and other things necessary for the compounding of +plum-puddings; and officers of the Army Service Corps were able to +report for Sir George White's satisfaction that sufficient could be +issued for every soldier in this force to have a full ration. The only +thing wanting was suet, which trek oxen do not yield in abundance after +eking out a precarious existence on the shortest of short commons; and +half-fed commissariat sheep have not much superfluous<span class="pagenum"><a id="page160" name="page160"></a>Pg 160</span> fat about them. +What substitutes were found it boots not to inquire too curiously, +seeing that Tommy did not trouble to ask so long as he got his Christmas +pudding in some form. There was no rum for flavouring, as all liquors +have to be carefully hoarded for possible emergencies. So for once the +British soldier had to celebrate Christmas according to the rules of +strict temperance. Yet he managed to have a fairly festive time for all +that.</p> + +<p>Boer guns sent us greeting in the shape of shells that did not explode. +When dug up they were found to contain rough imitations of plum-pudding +that had been partly cooked by the heat of explosion in gun barrels. On +the case of each shell was engraved in bold capitals, "With the +Compliments of the Season." This was the Boer gunner's idea of subtle +irony, he being under the impression that everybody in Ladysmith must be +then at starvation point. In all probability it did not occur to him +that he was throwing into the town a number of curious trophies which +collectors were eager to buy on the spot for five pounds each, with the +certainty of being able to sell them again if they cared to at an +enormous profit some day. After wasting some ammunition for the sake of +this practical joke, our enemies began a bombardment in earnest. Most of +this was directed at the defenceless town. One shell burst in a private +house, wounding slightly the owner, Mrs. Kennedy, whose escape from +fatal injuries seemed miraculous, for the room in which<span class="pagenum"><a id="page161" name="page161"></a>Pg 161</span> she stood at +that moment was completely wrecked, the windows blown out, and furniture +reduced to a heap of shapeless ruin.</p> + +<p>Shells notwithstanding, the troops had their Christmas sports following +a substantial dinner of roast beef and plum-pudding. There were high +jinks in the volunteer camps, where Imperial Light Horse, Natal +Carbineers, and Border Mounted Rifles, representing the thews and sinews +of Colonial manhood, vied with Regular regiments in strenuous tugs of +war and other athletic exercises, preparatory to the tournament, which +is fixed for New Year's Day—"weather and the enemy's guns permitting." +Three special correspondents, whose waggons are outspanned to form a +pleasant little camp in the slightly hollowed ridge of a central hill, +where they cannot be seen from the Boer batteries, and are therefore +comparatively safe except from stray shells, organised a series of novel +sports for the benefit of their nearest neighbours—the Rifle Brigade +transport "South Africa," in the person of its genial representative, +put up most of the prize-money, and together we arranged a succession of +events, offering inducements enough to secure full entries for +competitions that lasted from ten o'clock in the morning until near +sunset, allowing sufficient intervals for the mid-day meal and other +refreshments. We flatter ourselves that our gymkhana, in which races +ridden on pack and transport mules furnished the liveliest incidents, +would take a lot of beating—as<span class="pagenum"><a id="page162" name="page162"></a>Pg 162</span> a humorous entertainment at any rate. +In order to avoid drawing fire from "Puffing Billy" or "Silent Sue" of +Bulwaan, the course had to be laid in a semicircle that passed the +picketing line for mules. Up to that point they would gallop like +thoroughbreds, then cut it to their customary feeding-places with a +promptness that sent several good riders to ground as if they had been +shot. There are several good jockeys in the Rifle Brigade transport, and +among them one who spent many days in racing stables at home and abroad +before he took it into his head to follow the fifes and drums of +"Ninety-Five." But even the redoubtable "Ginger," with all his +horseman's skill and powers of persuasion in French, Hindustani, and +English, could not prevail over a mule's will. It was more by luck than +good riding that anybody managed to get past the post without two or +three falls by the way. But this only added to the fun of the thing, for +Tommy when in sportive mood takes hard knocks with infinite good-humour. +When at the finish successful and unsuccessful competitors assembled to +cheer their hosts, the three correspondents had the gratification of +feeling that for a few of the many besieged soldiers in Ladysmith they +had helped to make Christmas merry.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image07" name="image07"></a> + <a href="images/07large.jpg"> + <img src="images/07.jpg" + alt="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST" + title="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST</span> +</div> + +<p>You may be sure that sick and wounded at Intombi hospital were not +forgotten in the midst of our wild festivities. For them the morning +train was laden with fruit, flowers, and such delicacies as the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page163" name="page163"></a>Pg 163</span> +resources of this beleaguered town can still furnish. There are many +unselfish people here who do not want to make money by selling things at +market prices, or to keep for their own use the dainties that might be +nectar to the lips of suffering soldiers. And there are officers also +who have given of their abundance so freely that they will have to be +dependent on similar generosity if the chances of war should number them +among the sick or wounded. I must guard myself against being +misunderstood. The hospital patients at Intombi Camp are not reduced to +meagre fare yet, nor likely to be, but medical comforts are not all that +a sick man craves for, and the simplest gifts sent from Ladysmith's +store that day must have been like a ray of sunshine brightening the lot +of some poor fellow with the assurance that, though far from home, he +was still among friends who cared for him. Nor were the weakly and the +children who still remain in this town forgotten. Colonel Dartnell, a +soldier of wide experience, who commands the Field Force of Natal +Police, and is beloved by every man serving under him; Major Karri +Davis, of the Imperial Light Horse; Colonel Frank Rhodes, Lord Ava, and +a few others got together the materials for a great Christmas tree, to +which all the little ones between babyhood and their teens were invited. +The Light Horse Major's long imprisonment with his brother officer +Sampson in Pretoria, far from embittering him against humanity in +general, has<span class="pagenum"><a id="page164" name="page164"></a>Pg 164</span> only made him more sympathetic with the trials and +sufferings of others; just as heavy fines and a death sentence seemed to +bring out the most lovable characteristics of Colonel Rhodes. It was +Karri Davis who bought up all the unbroken toys that were to be found in +Ladysmith shops; and the ready hands of ladies, who are always +interested in such work, decorated the Christmas trees or adorned the +hall in which this gathering was to be held with gay devices and hopeful +mottoes. There were four trees. Round their bases respectively ran the +words, "Great Britain," "Australia," "Canada," and "South Africa," and +above them all the folds of the Union Jack were festooned. Contributors +sent bon-bons and crackers in such profusion that each tree bore a +bewildering variety of fruit. To avoid confusion in distributing prizes, +these were numbered to correspond with the tickets issued; and Santa +Claus, who patronised the ceremony, in a costume of snowy swansdown, +that shed flakes wherever he walked, was content to play his part in +dumb show, while the children walked round after him to receive the toys +that were plucked for them, with many jests, by Colonel Dartnell and his +genial colleagues. Over two hundred children were there, and many of +them so young that it seemed as if the one precluded from attendance on +the score of extreme youthfulness must have been the siege baby, who was +then only a few days old. Generals Sir George White and Sir Archibald +Hunter, with their aides-de-camp and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page165" name="page165"></a>Pg 165</span> many staff officers, came to take +part in the interesting scene.</p> + +<p>Looking at the little ones as they trooped through the hall, in their +white finery, Sir George said he had no idea that so many children +remained in Ladysmith, and perhaps at that moment his heart was heavy +with a deeper sense of the responsibility thrust upon him. But +fortunately we have been spared the worst horrors of a bombardment. +Though Boer gunners have never hesitated, but rather preferred, to turn +their fire on the open town, with a probability of hitting some house in +which were women and children, none of the latter, and only two of the +former, have been hit through the whole siege. Mrs. Kennedy, to whose +narrow escape I have already referred, suffered so little bodily injury +or nerve shock that she was present with her children at the Christmas +tree entertainment, and took the congratulations of her friends quite +coolly. After the children had gone home trees and trappings were +dismantled, and the hall cleared for dancing, which the young people of +Ladysmith and a few subalterns off duty kept up with much spirit until +near midnight. In days to come we may look back to our Christmas under +siege in Ladysmith, and think that after all we had not a very bad time. +At this moment, however, there is probably nobody outside who envies our +lot, or grudges us any enjoyment we may manage to get out of it. +Soldiers, at any rate, deserve every chance of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page166" name="page166"></a>Pg 166</span> relaxation that can be +found for them. There are several regiments of this force that have been +practically on outpost duty since the investment began, often exposed to +rain-storms during the day, because they could not pitch even shelter +tents without drawing the enemy's fire on them. When the honours for +this campaign come to be distributed I hope the services of these +regiments will not be ignored.</p> + +<p>Some Boxing Day sports had to be postponed for a more convenient +opportunity, because shells were falling too thick about the camp, and +since then the Boer guns have been so busy that men find occupation +enough in fatigue duties at strengthening defensive works without +thinking about amusements. The bombardment that day began with the first +flush of roseate sunrise—when our enemies brought some smokeless guns +to bear on us from new positions—and went on steadily for hours until +"Puffing Billy" of Bulwaan left off shelling in this direction, and +turned to fire several shells eastward. Rumour, as usual, was equal to +the occasion, circulating stories that Sir Charles Warren's patrols were +known to be moving that way. These inventions are worth nothing unless +the names of corps or their commanding officers can be given, so their +originators always take care to give such realistic touches. They give +you "the lie circumstantial" or none at all. Possibly there may have +been in this firing more method than we imagine,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page167" name="page167"></a>Pg 167</span> the idea being to +mislead us by a pretended engagement with some force on the other side +of Bulwaan. Another rational theory is that the gunners were simply +expending a little ammunition in practice at range-finding for their +guidance in future eventualities. Any story proved acceptable as a +relief to the weariness of life in camp, that day when the thermometer +registered 108° in the shade. What a climate Natal has! For fickleness +it beats anything we have to grumble about in England. At night the +temperature went down to 65°, and the brilliant summer weather broke up +suddenly in a fierce thunderstorm. For a time every object roundabout +would be blotted out by inky blackness, and for the next two or three +minutes the lowering angry clouds would pulsate with dazzling light that +leaped upward like life-blood from the throbbing heart of the storm. +Each thundering peal was followed by a momentary lull, and then +spasmodic gusts shook the air, as if Nature were drawing a deep breath +for another effort. Before daybreak yesterday the storm had cleared, +leaving a clouded sky, but no mists about the hilltops, to prevent a +continuance of the bombardment.</p> + +<p>Surprise Hill's howitzer surpassed previous performances by throwing +three shells over Convent Ridge into the town, and the Bulwaan guns, +having done with imaginary foes eastward, turned their attention to us +once more. One of the earliest shells from that battery struck the mess +tent of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page168" name="page168"></a>Pg 168</span> Devon Regiment, and burst among officers at breakfast with +disastrous results. Captain Lafone, who had been wounded at +Elandslaagte, was killed; Lieutenant Price-Dent so seriously injured +that there is little hope of his recovery; six other subalterns +wounded—one being hit by shrapnel bullets or splinters in four +places—and the mess waiter struck down by a heavy splinter that +embedded itself beneath the ribs in a cavity too deep for probing at +present. There was a curiously spiteful touch in the bombardment all +day, and at midnight we were roused by sounds of rapid rifle-firing that +began from Bell's Spruit and the railway cutting against Observation +Hill and ran along to Rifleman's Ridge on one flank, and Devonshire Hill +on the other. It was all Boer firing, but no shots came into the line of +defences, and our men did not reply by letting off so much as one rifle. +A thunder-storm raged to the accompaniment of heavy rain for some time, +and perhaps the enemy thought we might choose such a night for attacking +them under cover of intense darkness.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The last few days of the closing year were, on the whole, quiet, +though, as Mr. Pearse seems to have felt, important events were +brewing. We make the following extracts from his notebook:—</p></div> + +<p><i>December 28.</i>—This morning there was just a pale glimmer of dawn when +our large naval gun assumed the aggressive part, and sent six shells in +rapid<span class="pagenum"><a id="page169" name="page169"></a>Pg 169</span> succession on to Bulwaan battery and the hillside, where Boers +were moving about. A little later stretcher parties could be seen +collecting apparently wounded men. As "Puffing Billy" made no reply to +this challenge, but remained silent all day, it is probable that many of +the gunners were injured. "Silent Susan," otherwise "Bulwaan Sneak," +however, fired several shots, and the bombardment was kept up from +Rifleman's Ridge, Telegraph Hill, and a 12-pounder on Middle Hill, while +Pom-Poms at two points barked frequently, but all this fuss and fury +happily did no harm to anybody. At night a brilliant beam, like the tail +of a comet, appeared in the southern sky. Presently the tail began to +wag systematically, and experts were able to spell out the words of a +cipher message. It was General Buller talking to us across fifteen miles +of hills, and the conversation, all on one side, was kept up until +lowering clouds shut out the light. We had no means of replying, but at +eleven o'clock our guns fired two shots as a signal that the message had +been seen and understood.</p> + +<p><i>December 29.</i>—Yesterday and to-day the bombardment has been vigorous +in spite of heavy rain, and directed mainly on houses in town. Colonel +Dartnell had a narrow escape on Friday, a shell bursting close to his +tent in the Police Camp behind the Court-House. Next morning one came +into and through my old room at the Royal, completing its ruin. To all +this shooting the naval guns have<span class="pagenum"><a id="page170" name="page170"></a>Pg 170</span> replied effectively at intervals. +Ammunition for them is precious, and Captain Lambton's gunners take care +not to waste it on chance shots, as the Boer artillerymen do. From five +o'clock last evening until dawn this morning rain fell heavily. The +river rose four feet in one hour at midnight, flooding out the 18th +Hussars, who are bivouacked by its banks, and carrying away the bridge +that had been built by the Imperial Light Horse. Many horses and mules +were swept down-stream by the roaring torrent, and drowned before +anybody could attempt to save them.</p> + +<p><i>December 31.</i>—The old year closes in a quiet that is probably +deceptive. More Boers than we have seen for weeks past are gathered +behind Bulwaan, many having returned from leave which Joubert is said to +have granted them to visit their home, with a liberality that shows his +confidence in our inactivity. It has not been so quiet all day. The +Boers disregarded their customary Sabbath rule of refraining from +hostilities unless provoked by some apparently menacing movement on our +part. There was nothing of that kind to incense them this morning, but +their gunners, unable to resist the temptation offered by herds of +cattle on Manchester Hill (as Cæsar's Camp is sometimes called), sent +one shell from "Silent Susan" on to that ridge. They missed their mark, +however, and did not get another chance until the afternoon, when +several "Sneakers" were aimed at the old camp, and one burst close to a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page171" name="page171"></a>Pg 171</span> +group of officers who were exercising themselves and their ponies for a +polo match. This may have been meant as a rebuke to the +Sabbath-breakers. Boer riflemen were engaged at that time in the more +reprehensible pastime of sniping our outposts at long range, and they +kept this up until near sunset, as if engaged in the most laudable duty; +but we have long since learned that the Boer judges his own conduct by +one standard and ours by another.</p> + +<p>To-day the sun shone brilliantly, bringing back tropical heat, in +contrast to the cold that always accompanies violent thunder-storms in +Natal.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>And so Christmas-tide was past, and the New Year broke upon the +beleaguered garrison. So great is the influence of times and +seasons that we may well believe that even in Ladysmith the first +day of 1900 brought a brighter ray of hope. But hope must yet for +long be deferred, and the daily round of tasks grow wearisome by +repetition—the daily dole of eked-out rations, the daily tale of +bursting shells, were for many weeks, with one day's startling +break, to be the sole preoccupation of the defenders. The enemy, +even on this first day of January, were not willing to leave the +garrison in doubt as to their presence, although, despite the +possible touch of sarcasm, there was a grim sort of friendliness in +their reminder. It again took the form of blind shells—this time +fired from the Free State batteries—inscribed "Compliments of the +Season." The sarcasm (writes Mr. Pearse)</p></div> + +<p>seems the more pointed because we hear that the Boers believe us to be +starving and unable to hold out much longer. We should, at any rate, +appreciate<span class="pagenum"><a id="page172" name="page172"></a>Pg 172</span> the good wishes more if they were sent in another form. +Shells, even without fuses or powder-charges, are not quite harmless; +and though these have done no damage so far, there is always a chance +that they may hit somebody when fired into the heart of a town where +people still carry on their customary occupations in spite of +bombardment.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Whatever change favourable to their hopes was believed in by the +Boers, there was none in the spirit with which soldiers and +civilians alike in the invested township faced the duties placed +upon them. Writing on New Year's Day Mr. Pearse has a timely and a +generous word for the humbler heroes of the siege:—</p></div> + +<p>We have among us one little saddler for whose services there is so much +demand that he has steadily stitched away for hours together every +working day since the siege began, heedless of shells. There are +tailors, too, who have done their best to keep officers and civilians +clothed, not even quitting their benches when shrapnels burst near them, +and I know of at least one poor seamstress who, by working night and +day, has earned enough to buy something more than bare rations even at +famine prices. Cynics do not look for heroes or heroines among such as +these. They toil for gain, that is all. But they have stuck to their +notion of duty in the midst of danger, and no soldier could have done +more. Not all the shells fired into town on New Year's Day were +harmless, however. One from Bulwaan burst near Captain Vallentin's<span class="pagenum"><a id="page173" name="page173"></a>Pg 173</span> +house, which has been a favourite since Colonel Rhodes took up his +quarters there, and at last one hit just over the front door. It smashed +the drawing-room wall, passed thence to the kitchen, and mortally +wounded a soldier servant, whose last words to his master were, "I hope +you've had your breakfast, sir!"</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Up to this time the subject of food supply, though it had long +seriously occupied the attention of the authorities, had not +gravely added to the anxieties of the siege. Under the date of 1st +January Mr. Pearse has the following entry:—</p></div> + +<p>Colonel Ward tells me that rations are holding out well. Neither +soldiers nor civilians, who number altogether over 20,000, have suffered +privations yet, and, thanks to Colonel Stoneman's admirable system of +distribution, something more than beef, bread, and groceries can still +be issued to those who are too weak to be nourished by rough campaigning +fare.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Forage for horses was, however, getting very scarce, and the poor +beasts suffered greatly.</p></div> + +<p>Four hundred men, including natives, are sent out every day to cut grass +on the hillsides that are least exposed to Boer rifle fire, and they +manage to bring in about 32,000 lbs. daily, but this does not go far +among all the cavalry horses, transport animals, and cattle. Many must +be left to pick up their own food by grazing under guard. The old<span class="pagenum"><a id="page174" name="page174"></a>Pg 174</span> +troop-horses, however, break away from their allotted pasturages when +feeding-time comes. Perhaps their quick ears catch the familiar bugle +call to stables sounding afar off. At all events, neither knee-halters +nor other devices are of any avail. They get back to the old lines +somehow at feeding-time, and it is pitiful to see them standing +patiently, in a row, waiting for the corn or chaff that is not for them, +trying by a soft whinny to coax a little out of the hands of soldiers +who pass them, or sidling up to an old stable chum who is better fed +because better fit for work, in the hope of getting a share of his +forage for the sake of auld lang syne. Those who know how the cavalry +soldier loves a horse that has carried him well will not need to be told +how hard Tommy found it to resist the appeal of a dumb comrade in +distress; and who shall blame him if he shortened by just a handful or +so the allowance for horses that are rationed on a special scale rather +than turn a half-starved outcast empty away? But sentiment is a mistake +when kindness can do no more than prolong misery. There is no horse +sickness yet in the epidemic form. They simply pine for want of +nourishment until, too weak even to nibble the grass about them, they +drop and die. Some day we may have a use for them before things come to +that extremity, but at present the difficulty is to dispose of their +carcases. Sanitary considerations forbid that they shall be buried in +town or near camp. The enemy shells working parties, who begin to dig<span class="pagenum"><a id="page175" name="page175"></a>Pg 175</span> +pits on the open plain, and so an incinerating furnace has been built +for the cremation of horses.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image08" name="image08"></a> + <a href="images/08large.jpg"> + <img src="images/08.jpg" + alt="SIEGE OF LADYSMITH, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF BOMBARDMENT" + title="SIEGE OF LADYSMITH, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF BOMBARDMENT" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">SIEGE OF LADYSMITH, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF BOMBARDMENT</span> +</div> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>In the early days of the year the Boer batteries became much more +active. We shall see that they were preparing for a climax, which, +however, by the splendid bravery and determination of the garrison, +was to be turned into one of disaster for the enemy rather than for +the defenders. We are now within three days of the hottest ordeal +Sir George White and his gallant army had to pass through. +Happenings in the short interval are thus described in Mr. Pearse's +notes:—</p></div> + +<p><i>January 3.</i>—For two days the Boer fire from Bulwaan has been directed +mainly at the Town Hall or buildings near it, with occasional diversions +towards the Intelligence Offices on one side, or the Indian Ordnance +Laager on the other. Within these limits of deviation are the busiest +parts of Ladysmith, bakeries for the supply of all who are invested, +depots at which civilians assemble to draw their daily rations beside +the Market Square, where lank-sided dogs snarl over refuse, and such +stores as have still something to sell that has not been requisitioned +for military uses. The Royal Hotel seems to be a mark once more. Several +shells have come near hitting it to-day, and not twenty yards from the +room in which I am making these notes a shrapnel has just burst through +the wall of a stable. One horse standing there seems to be badly +wounded, but curiously enough hardly shows any signs of terror, though +the explosion close to him must have sounded<span class="pagenum"><a id="page176" name="page176"></a>Pg 176</span> terrific, and he was half +blinded by dust mingled with fumes of melinite. The fact that Boers use +high explosives for bursting charges has been questioned, but this +shrapnel, and others I have seen burst at close quarters, undoubtedly +contained melinite or some similar villainous compound, to which our own +lyddite is near akin. A little later two ladies were driving down the +main street when a shell burst just in front of their trap. The pony +swerved as if to bolt, but his driver pulled him up with a steady hand +and soothed him without a tremor in her voice. At the next corner, fully +exposed to Bulwaan's battery, these ladies stopped, waiting to watch the +effect of another shot.</p> + +<p>It must not be thought that our own guns, though seldom mentioned, are +idle all this while. They do not waste ammunition, for a very good +reason, but wait their opportunity for effective reply to the enemy's +batteries, and when a naval 12-pounder or the "Lady Anne" comes into +action the Boer fire is apt to be hurried and wildly inaccurate if it +does not cease for a time. The Boers have however mounted a new gun near +Pepworth's, which sends "sneakers" into town and about Mount Hill with +irritating persistency, and its smokeless powder makes a flash so small +that the exact position cannot be located.</p> + +<p><i>January 5.</i>—Days in succession pass unbroken by any incidents +dissimilar to the routine which in the very constancy of danger becomes +monotonous. Yesterday and to-day are so much alike that one<span class="pagenum"><a id="page177" name="page177"></a>Pg 177</span> hardly +remembers which was which unless some personal adventure or a friend's +narrow escape makes a nick in the calendar. Yesterday, for instance, one +of several shells bursting about the same spot shattered the water tanks +behind a chemist's shop, and its splinters came in curious curves over +the housetops, one grazing an officer of the Imperial Light Horse, to +whom I was at that moment talking. The next shell was into the police +camp, where it burst with destructive force, completely wrecking Colonel +Dartnell's tent with all its contents, but injuring nobody. Had that +genial and most popular officer followed the almost invariable practice +of his everyday life, there would have been an end of the man to whom +more than to anybody else we owe the timely retirement from Dundee. He +it was who told General Yule, "You must go to-night or you will not be +able to go at all," and whose advice, being acted upon, brought back +several thousand men to strengthen the garrison of Ladysmith just before +its investment. The loss of such a man would have been irreparable, for +he knows more than any other officer in this country about Boers and +their methods of fighting, and he has every thread of information at +command if he were allowed to use native scouts in his own way. He would +have made the best possible chief of an Intelligence Staff, but +unfortunately military etiquette or jealousy bars his employment in that +capacity. If his advice is asked for he gives it readily as at Dundee, +and though he has no authority<span class="pagenum"><a id="page178" name="page178"></a>Pg 178</span> to act in the way that would be most +congenial to his fearless and active nature, he is as ready as ever to +render a service when wanted. Some of us know too how much civilians +have been encouraged in their endurance of a long siege by Colonel +Dartnell's cheery example. Nothing disheartens him. He is always the +same whether the day's news be good or bad, and perhaps his +unostentatious services will be adequately recognised in the end. If +they had been taken advantage of in the beginning there would be fewer +blunders to regret.</p> + +<p>To-day Colonel Stoneman had more than one narrow escape. Two shells +burst within splinter range of the office in which he and his assistants +have worked steadily at supply details since the bombardment began. A +third passed through the roof over that office after a ricochet, and +then, without bursting, rolled to the ground in front of a stoup where +several Army Service officers were sitting. That shell will be cherished +after extraction of its fuse and melinite charge. Fire from other Boer +guns proved more disastrous. Surprise Hill's howitzer threw one shell to +the little encampment behind Range Point, where it killed one man and +wounded four of the unfortunate Royal Irish Fusiliers.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>But the time seems now ripe for larger events. On the following day +the Boers made their supreme attempt upon the defences of the town. +Their best and their bravest were pitted against the siege-worn +British soldier;<span class="pagenum"><a id="page179" name="page179"></a>Pg 179</span> but though they gained all the advantage of a +night surprise, though their fierce energy placed them at this +point and that several times within an inch of victory, they were +hurled back by a foeman whose determination was greater than their +own, and whose courage and spirit of self-sacrifice rose superior.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page180" name="page180"></a>Pg 180</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>THE GREAT ASSAULT</h3> + +<h4>Why the Boers attacked—Interesting versions—A general +surprise—Joubert's promise—Boer tactics reconsidered—Erroneous +estimates—Under cover of night—A bare-footed advance—The +Manchesters surprised—The fight on Waggon Hill—In praise of the +Imperial Light Horse—A glorious band—The big guns speak—Lord Ava +falls—Gordons and Rifles to the rescue—A perilous position—The +death of a hero—A momentary panic—Man to man—A gallant +enemy—Burghers who fell fighting—The storming of Cæsar's +Camp—Shadowy forms in the darkness—An officer captured—"Maak +Vecht!"—Abdy's guns in play—"Well done, gunners!"—Taking water +to the wounded—Dick-Cunyngham struck down—Some anxious +moments—The Devons charge home—A day well won.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>When Mr. Pearse spoke of the comparative calm which marked the +closing days of 1899 as deceptive, he was right, and events +promptly proved him so. On 6th January the Boers, as has been said, +made a most determined attempt to bring the siege of Ladysmith to +an end by storming the British defences. Why the enemy should have +allowed so long an interval to elapse since their half-hearted +effort of 9th November, is difficult to imagine. Dingaan's Day +(16th December) was originally fixed for the attack, but +Schalk-Burger was diverted from his purpose by the attempt made by +Sir Redvers Buller to force the passage of the Tugela. The +projected onslaught on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page181" name="page181"></a>Pg 181</span> besieged town having once been +abandoned, it was generally believed that the Boers would be too +intent on watching the movements of the relief column to trouble +about attacking Ladysmith in force. According to one report an +imperative order from President Kruger precipitated matters, while +another story is to the effect that a bogus despatch purporting to +be from Sir George White to Sir Redvers Buller, brought about the +sudden change in the enemy's tactics. This despatch, so the story +runs, asked that relief might be sent at once as the ammunition was +exhausted, and it was impossible for the garrison to hold out in +the event of the town being attacked. The native runner, to whom +the document was entrusted, was instructed to proceed in the +direction of the Boer lines, and so faithfully complied with his +orders that both runner and despatch fell into the hands of the +enemy. If the Boers were led to attack by any such ruse they were +completely disillusioned as to the capabilities of Sir George +White's forces. Be it said to their credit that, whatever their +hopes of an easy victory, they quitted themselves like men when +they realised their tremendous mistake. The long fierce struggle is +vividly described in the following letter written two days after:—</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image09" name="image09"></a> + <a href="images/09large.jpg"> + <img src="images/09.jpg" + alt="THE ENVIRONS OF LADYSMITH" + title="THE ENVIRONS OF LADYSMITH" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">THE ENVIRONS OF LADYSMITH</span> +</div> + +<p>Saturday's stubborn fight was a surprise in more senses than one. Nobody +here had credited the Boers with a determination to attack, unless +chance should give them overwhelming superiority in all respects, and +for that chance they have waited so supinely that it seemed probable the +game of long bowls with heavy artillery, varied by "sniping" from behind +rocks a mile off, would continue to be played day after day in the hope +of starving us into<span class="pagenum"><a id="page182" name="page182"></a>Pg 182</span> subjection, before Sir Redvers Buller could bring +up his relieving force. Everybody knew that issue to be well-nigh +impossible, because our resources are far from starvation point yet, and +it is inconceivable that eight or ten thousand British soldiers could be +hemmed in by three times their number of Boers, and compelled to yield +without a desperate fight in the last extremity. We were fully aware +that if ever an opening offered for the Boers to creep up within shorter +range, under cover, and without being seen, they would be prompt to take +advantage of it, in expectation of bringing off another Majuba, and that +is a danger to which our extenuated defensive lines necessarily expose +us, but we trusted with justice, as events have proved, to the +steadiness and discipline of well-trained troops, to hold the Boers in +check wherever they might gain any temporary advantage, and drive them +back at the bayonet's point. That they would even push an attack to +storming point few if any among us believed, for the simple reason that +rifles are of no use against cold steel when combatants come to close +quarters. The Boers know that well enough. Their only hope in attack +therefore rests on the chance of being able by stealth to seize an +advantageous position whence they may bring a deadly rifle fire to bear +on the defenders, whom they hope by this means to throw into panic.</p> + +<p>That was the plan they tried on Saturday, being urged to it, as we have +since learned, by peremptory<span class="pagenum"><a id="page183" name="page183"></a>Pg 183</span> orders and fair promises from Joubert, who +is said to have watched the fight from a distance. That, however, seems +improbable, if Sir Redvers Buller was at the same time threatening a +movement against the Tugela Heights, though it is certain that Joubert +attached great importance to this attack on Ladysmith, because he had +written a letter ordering De Villiers to capture Bester's Ridge, at all +costs, with his commando of Free State Boers, and promising that those +who succeeded in winning that position should be released from further +service. This anxiety to get hold of a range which includes Cæsar's Camp +and Waggon Hill, and commands Ladysmith at a range of 5000 yards, can be +easily understood, but the urgency demanding any sacrifice of life, +provided that end were attained, suggests many possibilities, and gives +to Saturday's fight exceptional significance as a probable turning-point +in the Natal Campaign, which has hitherto gone in favour of our foes, +notwithstanding the victories we have gained over them in isolated +actions. Dundee and Elandslaagte, like Lord Methuen's fights on the +Modder River, added lustre to our army, by showing what British soldiers +can do in assaulting positions against the terrific fire from modern +magazine rifles, but it cannot be said that we have profited by them +while our enemies are able to keep us here cut off from all +communications except by heliograph or search-light signals, and have +yet force enough to interpose a formidable line<span class="pagenum"><a id="page184" name="page184"></a>Pg 184</span> of resistance between +Ladysmith and Sir Redvers Buller's column.</p> + +<p>There cannot be many Boers in any position surrounding this place, but +their mobility gives them the power of concentrating quickly at any +point that might be threatened, and this for all practical purposes +increases their numbers threefold. As Colonel F. Rhodes put it in one of +his quaintly appropriate phrases, "We are a victorious army besieged by +an inferior enemy." But there are Boers in twice our own strength near +at hand, if, not actually all in the investing lines. The Tugela Heights +are scarcely twelve miles off as the crow flies, and this distance might +be covered by a Boer commando in less than two hours, so that a thousand +men or more moving from one of our enemy's columns to another, could be +brought into a fight in time to turn the tide against either Ladysmith +or its relieving force as occasion might prompt. For attacking a +particular point this mobility would give enormous advantages if the +Boers only knew how to make full use of them, and carried arms on which +they could rely for hand-to-hand fighting, in the critical moment of +pushing an attack home.</p> + +<p>As it is they trust to tactics that have stood them well in previous +campaigns against British soldiers and natives, their object being to +gain some commanding position, whence, without being seen, they may pour +a deadly fire on their astonished foes,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page185" name="page185"></a>Pg 185</span> and thus cause a panic retreat +that might be turned into a disorderly rout by a sudden rush of +reinforcing Boers or a terrific storm of bullets from several quarters +at once. Reasoning from experience they hope to make history repeat +itself in another Majuba Hill. One would have thought that the fights at +Elandslaagte and Dundee would dispel delusions of that kind based on the +assumption that Tommy Atkins will not stand up against rifle bullets at +short range from Boers whom he cannot see if they but steal upon him and +open fire where he least expects to find them.</p> + +<p>Probably there were erroneous estimates on both sides, but at any rate +it is certain that our foes were confident of being able to win by +massed surprise, and their effort was made with an adroitness not less +astonishing than the audacity of its conception. After this it will be +ridiculous for anybody to contend that the Boers are not brave fighters, +though they lack the daring by which alone fights like that of Saturday +can be decided. Their tactics have changed little since the old days, +and it remains true now as then that they are an offensive but not an +attacking force. Having gained by stealth the positions that were +supposed to command our outpost defences on Cæsar's Camp and Waggon +Hill, they acted from that moment as if on the defensive, trusting for +victory not to any forward movement of their own but to the belief that +our men would give way, and might then be rolled back in panic<span class="pagenum"><a id="page186" name="page186"></a>Pg 186</span> upon +Ladysmith by thousands of mounted Boers who awaited that turn of events +to make their meditated dash. Such undoubtedly was the plan conceived by +Free State and Transvaal commanders at the Krygsraad when Joubert, +Prinsloo, Schalk-Burger, Viljoen, and other leaders met together in +council some days ago. The manner of its execution may be conjectured by +the light of subsequent events.</p> + +<p>The attack began before daybreak with a determined attempt to capture +the whole range of Bester's Ridge, which is divided officially into +Cæsar's Camp and Waggon Hill, forming the southern chain of our +defences, and held by the outposts of Colonel Ian Hamilton's Brigade. +Seventy of the Imperial Light Horse held Waggon Hill with a small body +of bluejackets and a few Engineers having charge of the 4.7 naval gun, +which they had brought up overnight for mounting in that position, but +it still remained on a bullock waggon. Next to them were several +companies of the King's Royal Rifles under Colonel Gore-Browne, while +the Manchester Regiment held Cæsar's Camp with pickets pushed forward to +the southern crest and eastern shoulder. Nearly the whole length of +ridge hence to Waggon Hill is a rough plateau, strong but presenting +little cover from artillery fire or the rifles of any foe bold enough to +scale the heights under cover of darkness. It was scarcely entrenched at +all, having only a few sangars dotted about<span class="pagenum"><a id="page187" name="page187"></a>Pg 187</span> as rallying-points. The +Boer movements were marked by a searchlight from Bulwaan, which played +for hours in a curious way across Intombi Hospital Camp to the posts +occupied by our men, intensifying the obscurity of all-surrounding +blackness.</p> + +<p>All we know absolutely is that long before dawn Free Staters were in +possession of the western end of Bester's Ridge, where Waggon Hill dips +steeply down from the curiously tree-fringed shoulder in bold bluffs to +a lower neck, and thence on one side to the valley in which Bester's +Farm lies amid trees, and on the other to broad veldt that is dominated +by Blaauwbank (or Rifleman's Ridge), and enfiladed by Telegraph +Hill—both Boer positions having guns of long range mounted on them; and +at the same time Transvaalers, mostly Heidelberg men, had gained a +footing on the eastern end of the same ridge where boulders in Titanic +masses, matted together by roots of mimosa trees, rise cliff-like from +the plain where Klip River, emerging from thorny thickets, bends +northward to loop miles of fertile meadow-land before flowing back into +the narrow gorge past Intombi Spruit Camp. How the Boers got there one +can only imagine, for neither the Imperial Light Horse pickets on Waggon +Hill, nor the Manchesters holding the very verge of that cliff which we +call Cæsar's Camp and the Kaffirs Intombi, nor the mixed force of +volunteers and police watching the scrub lower down, saw any form<span class="pagenum"><a id="page188" name="page188"></a>Pg 188</span> or +heard a movement during the night. It was intensely dark for two or +three hours, but in that still air a steenbok's light leap from rock to +rock would have struck sharply on listening ears. Those on picket duty +aver that not a Boer could have shown himself or passed through the +mimosa scrub without being challenged. Yet four or five hundred of them +got to the jutting crest, of Cæsar's Camp somehow, and to reach it they +must either have crossed open ground or climbed with silent caution up +the boulder-roughened steeps.</p> + +<p>An explanation may perhaps be found in the fact that a Boer takes off +his boots or vel-schoon when there is noiseless stalking to be done. +Going over the battlefield afterwards I noticed that where dead Boers +were lying thickest about the salient angle of that eastern space, all +were bare-footed. Boots and even rubber-soled canvas shoes had been +taken off for the climb, and these lay in pairs beside the bodies, just +as they had been placed when the fight began. And the spots on which +these Boers lay seemed to indicate that they must have scaled the steep +just where a sentry among the rocks on top would have found most +difficulty in seeing anything as he peered over jutting edges into the +darkness below. At any rate the Manchester picket was surprised before +dawn, as I shall describe presently, though it should have been put on +the alert by rifle firing an hour earlier away on Waggon<span class="pagenum"><a id="page189" name="page189"></a>Pg 189</span> Hill, where +the fight began between two and three o'clock. Then, however, it seemed +little more than the sniping between outposts, to which custom has made +all of us somewhat inattentive, and nobody thought for a moment that a +picket of Imperial Light Horse had been practically cut off before the +Boers fired a shot or our own men had given an alarm.</p> + +<p>Waggon Hill was at that moment the key of a very critical situation, and +had the Light Horse been seized by panic, or given way an inch, the +Boers might possibly have brought enormous numbers up to that commanding +crest and enfiladed the rear of Cæsar's Camp. We know now that thousands +of Free Staters were waiting in the kloofs between Mounted Infantry Hill +and Middle Hill, not two miles distant, for the opportunity which, they +had no doubt, would be opened up to them by the success of five or six +hundred tough veterans who had volunteered to win that position or die +in the attempt. They had, however, to reckon with men whose gallantry +was proved at Elandslaagte and the night attack on Gun Hill—men who are +endowed with the rare quality which Napoleon the Great called "two +o'clock in the morning courage." One has to praise the Imperial Light +Horse so often, that reiteration may sound like flattery. But they +deserve every distinction that can be given to them for having by superb +steadiness, against great odds, saved the force on Bester's Ridge from a +very serious<span class="pagenum"><a id="page190" name="page190"></a>Pg 190</span> calamity, if not from actual disaster. They must share the +credit to some extent, however, with two small bodies of men already +mentioned, who happened to be on Waggon Hill neither for fighting nor +watch-keeping—the few bluejackets of H.M.S. <i>Powerful</i> in charge of the +big gun which had been brought up that night for mounting there, and the +handful of Royal Engineers under Lieutenants Digby-Jones and Dennis, +preparing the necessary epaulements for that weapon. When firing began, +the gun being still on its waggon, all that could be done was to outspan +its team of oxen. Then bluejackets and sappers, seizing each his rifle, +took their places behind slight earthworks, prepared to fight it out +manfully. The only tribute they need ask for is that their roll of dead +and wounded may be borne in memory. Out of thirty all told, the Royal +Engineers lost two officers killed and fifteen men wounded. Of the few +sailors, one was killed and one wounded. This record seems hard to beat; +but the Imperial Light Horse could point to heaps of dead and maimed in +proof of the dauntless stand they made, for the living continued to +fight where their gallant comrades fell, scorning to quit an inch of +ground to the Boers, though they knew by the rifle fire flashing round +them in the darkness that they were hopelessly outnumbered from the +first. Their brigadier speaks of them as men with no nerves at all. When +one was hit, another stepped quietly up to his place and went on +shooting as if at target-practice, though he<span class="pagenum"><a id="page191" name="page191"></a>Pg 191</span> had no more cover than a +small stone to lie behind; and this happened not once but a score of +times, the officers taking an equal share in the fight with their men, +who speak with pride of the gallantry shown by Captains de Rothe and +Codrington, Lieutenants Webb, Pakeman, Adams, Campbell, and Richardson, +and the active veteran Major Doveton, who cheered his men on after he +had received two bullet wounds, one of which shattered his fore-arm and +shoulder.</p> + +<p>By that time the sun was rising above Bulwaan in a halo of orange, +crimson, and purple, and men could count the grim faces of their +enemies. Ladysmith was aroused at dawn by the rattle of incessant rifle +fire rolling along Bester's Ridge from end to end. Up to that time no +big guns had spoken on either side, and people came out of their houses +slowly, in sulky humour at having their rest disturbed before the +conventional hour for shelling to begin. While they listened to the +continuous crackling as of damp sticks in a huge bonfire, few among them +realised that the sounds indicated anything more serious than a Boer +demonstration which would fizzle out quickly, and even when bullets +began to fall in the town itself, or went whistling away overhead, the +only comment made was that Mauser rifles must have a marvellous range if +they could send bullets so far beyond the ridge aimed at.</p> + +<p>Bulwaan's 6-inch Creusot opened fire as the sun rose behind it in a +splendour of orange and crimson<span class="pagenum"><a id="page192" name="page192"></a>Pg 192</span> clouds. The white smoke changed to +wreaths of blue and deep purple against that glowing sky, while people +waited to hear the gurgling scream of a shell. It did not come the way +they expected, but burst above the dark crest of Cæsar's Camp. Then the +watchers, relieved because the big guns had found other occupation than +battering down houses, went back to bed or to their morning baths, +little thinking that the fate of Ladysmith was at the moment dependent +on men who lay among rocks, or behind grass tussocks, looking through +rifle sights at such short range that they could almost see the colour +of each other's eyes.</p> + +<p>Colonel Hamilton, who had ridden out with his staff, and accompanied by +Colonel F. Rhodes, to the highest knoll of Bester's Ridge, grasped the +situation quickly and ordered up reinforcements. The Boers who had crept +round the crest of the eastern steep, which I have called by its Kaffir +name Intombi, were even then almost up to the camp that Colonel Hamilton +had quitted half an hour earlier, but screened from the Manchester +battalion's fire by a swell of the ground in front. Their further +progress, however, was stayed by a counter attack from Border Mounted +Rifles and Natal Volunteers whom Colonel Royston brought up to reinforce +the Frontier Police under Major Clark, who had been holding that point +with dogged determination since dawn. The brigadier, seeing that for a +time no headway was being made by the enemy against<span class="pagenum"><a id="page193" name="page193"></a>Pg 193</span> Cæsar's Camp, +turned his attention towards Waggon Hill and sent Lord Ava forward to +reconnoitre from the spot where Colonel Edwardes, with the main body of +Imperial Light Horse, reduced to less than half its original strength by +losses in former actions, was making a gallant effort to relieve the +remnants of two squadrons from their perilous plight on Waggon Hill. +Lord Ava watched its issue from the fighting line beside men with whom +he had scaled the rough heights of Elandslaagte and the stiffer steeps +of Gun Hill. As he raised himself upon a small boulder to look through +glasses at the enemy, who were pouring in a hail of bullets from a +distance of little more than 150 yards, a bullet struck him in the +forehead, and there he lay, apparently lifeless, with every sense dead +to the din of war about him. A few minutes later Colonel Frank Rhodes +heard that a staff-officer had been hit. He came at once to the +conclusion that it was the young friend who had been his companion daily +since they sailed from England early in September. As he went forward to +make sure, Lieutenant Lannowe, of the 4th Dragoon Guards, aide-de-camp +to Colonel Hamilton, joined him, and these two, passing unscathed across +the shot-torn slopes, found Lord Ava lying sorely wounded, but still +alive, where Boer bullets were falling thickest about the Imperial Light +Horse. They carried him to a place of less danger, and there Colonel +Rhodes bandaged the wound, while a skilful surgeon's aid was being +sum<span class="pagenum"><a id="page194" name="page194"></a>Pg 194</span>moned. By that time Majors Julian, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, +and Davis, medical officer of the Imperial Light Horse, had their hands +full, having rendered aid to many wounded men under the heaviest fire, +utterly regardless of danger to themselves. The first operation, without +which recovery would have been hopeless, was, however, performed there, +while Mauser bullets whistled through the air, and Lord Ava, still +unconscious, was borne from the field.</p> + +<p>The few bluejackets, Gordons, Imperial Light Horse, and Engineers, under +Lieutenant Digby-Jones, R.E., were still holding their ground manfully +on the extreme westerly crest of Waggon Hill. The Boers were within +point-blank range of them on two sides, while beyond the crest and down +into Bester's Valley hundreds of others were waiting for the first sign +of panic among our men to rush the position, but held in check by a +company of the 60th Rifles and a few Light Horse occupying a small +sangar on that side. The ridge, however, was being shelled by the +enemy's guns from Middle Hill and Blaauwbank with such accuracy that +many of our men were wounded by that fire, but not a Boer was hit, +though the fighting lines were less than 100 yards apart. The 21st +Battery Field Artillery, out in comparatively open ground beyond Range +Post, swept with shrapnel the slopes and kloofs of Mounted Infantry Hill +on one side, and Major Goulburn's battery, the 42nd, searched<span class="pagenum"><a id="page195" name="page195"></a>Pg 195</span> the +reverse slope of that knoll, smiting the head of a movement by which our +foes tried to strengthen their attack. The Natal artillery had done +similar service at an earlier stage against another body, and though +under heavy rifle fire they still stuck to their guns manfully. Our +naval 12-pounder mounted near this battery, but having double the range, +played upon Middle Hill, trying by rapid and accurate fire to silence +the big Creusot gun there, or baffle its aim.</p> + +<p>This was the favourable opportunity seized by Colonel Hamilton for +sending forward Major Miller-Wallnutt with one company of Gordons to +reinforce the little group of bluejackets, Light Horse, Engineers, and +Highlanders who were fighting so desperately hard to beat the Boers +back. A little later Major Campbell reached Waggon Hill with four +companies of the "Second Sixtieth," but their fire failed to dislodge +the Boers, and the Gordons, under Miller-Wallnutt, were being sorely +pressed, the Boers having a number of picked shots among the rocks on +two sides whence they could bring a deadly fire to bear on the flanks of +any force that might attempt to cross the open ground between. General +Hamilton, however, seeing that risks must be taken, or the Gordons would +be in perilous plight, sent two companies of Rifles forward in +succession, but smitten in front by artillery fire from Middle Hill and +Blaauwbank, while their flanks were raked by rifle bullets, they halted +and took such cover<span class="pagenum"><a id="page196" name="page196"></a>Pg 196</span> as could be found among small stones. A company +being then called upon to rush the open space, Lieutenant Todd asked for +permission to try first with a small body, and this being granted he led +a mere handful of ready volunteers forward. The gallant young officer, +however, had not gone many yards before he was shot dead, and the men +fell back disheartened by the loss of one whom they would have followed +anywhere, because they recognised in him the qualities of a born leader.</p> + +<p>After that there were moments of humiliation when it seemed as if the +possibility of holding Waggon Hill hung upon a mere chance. Once +surprised by finding Boers within fifty yards, the whole forward line of +Rifles and Highlanders gave way, retiring over the crest with a +precipitancy that threatened to sweep back supports and all in a general +confusion. But it was no more than a momentary panic, such as the best +troops in the world may be subject to, and our men were quick to rally +when they heard themselves called upon for another effort, and saw +officers springing up the hill again towards that shot-fretted crest +where several Engineers and bluejackets, with the Imperial Light Horse, +still clung as if they had looked on Medusa's head, and become part of +the rocks among which they lay, only that their forefingers were playing +about the triggers, ready in a moment to give back shot for shot to the +Boers. And when deeds of heroism<span class="pagenum"><a id="page197" name="page197"></a>Pg 197</span> were being performed by Major +Miller-Wallnutt; Lieutenant Digby-Jones, R.E., Gunner Sims of the Royal +Navy, and Lieutenant Fitzgerald, 11th Hussars, who met their enemies +face to face, the irregular troopers were not slow to take their part in +fighting at close quarters. Trooper Albrecht, of the Imperial Light +Horse, especially distinguished himself by shooting two of the Boers who +were at that moment within a few yards of Digby-Jones with rifles +levelled, and the young Engineer lieutenant, whose repeated acts of +bravery might have merited the Victoria Cross, accounted for the other +before he in turn was mortally wounded. Many tough old Free State Boers, +who took all the brunt of fighting on this hill, behaved with the +greatest intrepidity, winning admiration from foes who were yet eager to +try a death-grip with them.</p> + +<p>Here Hendrick Truiter fought as he did at Majuba in the forefront, and +got off scot-free, though he presents a target many cubits broad; +gigantic John Wessels of Van Reenan's; Commandants De Jaagers and Van +Wyck, both killed; Wepenaar, who seemed to exercise authority above them +all; and Japic de Villiers, Commandant of the Wetzies Hoek district, a +man among men in his disregard of danger. When he fell dead, after +making his way close up to our sangar and shooting Major +Miller-Wallnutt, the Orange Free State lost one of its foremost citizens +and bravest fighters. If the supports swarming thickly in Bester's +Valley and the kloofs<span class="pagenum"><a id="page198" name="page198"></a>Pg 198</span> behind Mounted Infantry Hill had come on with +anything like the determination shown by the intrepid 500 who first +seized Waggon Hill, there must have been many anxious moments for our +General. As it was we had regained and still held the position, but +without driving the Boers from their hiding-places within fifty yards of +the crest.</p> + +<p>But now it is time that we should turn our attention to a post three +miles eastward, where an equally stubborn fight had been waged about +Intombi Spur, and the fringes of a plateau, 800 yards wide, in front of +the Manchester Battalion sangars on Cæsar's camp. There the pickets had +been surprised, just about the time of relief, half an hour before dawn. +There are differences of opinion, and some acrimonious discussions as to +the means by which 500 Boers of the Heidelberg Commando, under Greyling, +had succeeded in getting to a position which commanded much of that +plateau before anybody had the slightest suspicion that enemies were +near. At the outset I suggested an explanation which seems to be +strengthened by every fact that I can gather. They came barefooted up +the cliff-like face of Intombi Spur on its southern side, and crept +round near its crest until they had command of the whole shoulder, +practically cutting off the Manchester sentries from their pickets, but +taking care to raise no premature alarm. Their rule apparently was to +wait for the sound of firing<span class="pagenum"><a id="page199" name="page199"></a>Pg 199</span> on Waggon Hill, whereby our attention +might be diverted that way, and then to begin their own attack on a +weakened flank.</p> + +<p>This is nearly what happened, except that the Manchesters were put on +the alert by signs of an attack about Waggon Hill more serious than any +preceding it, and made preparations for strengthening their own outpost +line. But it was then too late. The Boers were upon them, ready to open +fire from behind rocks. As Lieutenant Hunt-Grubbe was coming forward to +examine the sentries, shadowy forms sprang out of the darkness and +surrounded him. Then one who was in the uniform of a Border Mounted +Rifleman called to the picket, "We are the Town Guard! surrender!" The +sergeant, however, was not to be caught in that trap, but replied, "We +surrender to nobody," and then ordered his men to fire. In a moment the +air was torn by bullets from all sides, and the picket fell back +fighting towards its own supports, not knowing then that the young +officer had been left a prisoner in the enemy's hands. He was well +treated by his captors, except that they kept him under fire from his +own men so long as a forward position could be maintained, and when that +became too hot they forced him to creep back with them to the cover of +other rocks. He did not want much forcing, being glad enough to wriggle +across the intervening space, where bullets fell unpleasantly thick, as +fast as possible. There he lay close, but kept his eyes open, and saw +something that may<span class="pagenum"><a id="page200" name="page200"></a>Pg 200</span> furnish a key to the success of Transvaal Boers in +scaling a difficult height that must have been quite strange to them.</p> + +<p>Prominent in one group was a young man whom Hunt-Grubbe thought he +recognised. For a long time the face puzzled him, but at last he +remembered having seen a counterfeit presentment of it, or one very +similar, in a photographic group of the Bester family. A Bester would +know every rock and cranny of that hill with a familiarity which would +make light or darkness indifferent to him. Lieutenant Hunt-Grubbe made +mental notes also of Boer tactics, by which they gave a great impression +of numbers. A group would gather at one point and keep up rapid firing +for some time, then double under cover to some rocks thirty yards off, +and discharge their rifles there, but always taking care not to throw +any shots away.</p> + +<p>In spite of these dodges and good shooting, however, the Boers could +make no headway against the Manchesters, who were by this time extended +across the stony plateau under fire from Boer guns posted among trees on +the far side of Bester's Valley. Neither side in fact could move either +to advance or retire without exposing itself on open ground. Therefore +they stayed blazing away at each other until the grey dawn gave place to +swift sunrise. Then the Boers, who had a heliograph with them behind +Intombi Spur, flashed to Bulwaan the signal "Maak Vecht," and our friend +"Puffing Billy"—<span class="pagenum"><a id="page201" name="page201"></a>Pg 201</span>as the big 6-inch Creusot is called—promptly made +fight in a way that was astonishing in a weapon whose grooves must be +worn nearly smooth by frequent firing. He threw shell after shell with +vicious rapidity and remarkable accuracy on to the plateau of Cæsar's +Camp, but the shells fortunately did not fall among our men or burst +well.</p> + +<p>Just as Colonel Metcalfe arrived at Cæsar's Camp, with four companies of +the Rifle Brigade to reinforce and prolong our fighting line, the Boer +gunners turned their attention to another point, where, in the low +ground among trees by Klip River, Major Abdy was bringing the 53rd Field +Battery into action. This proved to be the turning-point of the fight on +the eastern spur of Bester's Ridge.</p> + +<p>Those six guns began throwing time-shrapnel with beautiful precision +just where Boers were thickest. Not a shell seemed to be misplaced, so +far as one could judge, and successive bursts and showers of shrapnel +seemed to wither the immense thickets near Intombi's crest. "Puffing +Billy" turned with an angry growl on Abdy's battery, and this was +followed by many shells fired so rapidly that one began to think the gun +must split under that strain. It went on firing, however, and shell +after shell dropped close to our battery when it was unlimbered on an +open space among mimosa trees. At last a shell burst under one of the +guns, shrouding<span class="pagenum"><a id="page202" name="page202"></a>Pg 202</span> it and the gunners in a cloud of mingled smoke and mud. +Everybody watched anxiously to see who was hit or what had happened. The +gun, they thought, must surely be disabled, but just as they were saying +so there came a flash out from that cloud. The artillerymen had coolly +taken aim while splinters were flying round them or hitting comrades, +and we saw the shell, aimed under those conditions, burst exactly in the +right place. It was a splendid example of nerve and steadiness under +difficulties, and some spectators, at least, cheered it with cries of +"Well done, gunners." So the 53rd Battery remained in action, doing +splendid service by shelling the Boers on Intombi Spruit and beating +back all attempts of Boer supports to scale the height that way. +"Puffing Billy" went on firing from Bulwaan all this while, and is said +to have got off over 120 rounds during the fight, but its shooting +became very erratic and totally ineffective, while our guns were doing +great execution.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image10" name="image10"></a> + <a href="images/10large.jpg"> + <img src="images/10.jpg" + alt="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING EASTWARD" + title="THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING EASTWARD" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING EASTWARD</span> +</div> + +<p>It was from smaller Boer guns and Mauser rifles that the four companies +of the Rifle Brigade suffered heavily in their attempt to drive the +enemy from Cæsar's Camp plateau into Bester's Valley. One party was +smitten heavily while moving forward in a gallant advance to get within +charging distance. The shattered remnant took cover behind a small ridge +of stones, beyond which there was a little open ground, where Lieutenant +Hall and another wounded officer lay. Repeated attempts made to bring +in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page203" name="page203"></a>Pg 203</span> these officers failed, because directly a man lifted himself above +the stones he became the target for twenty Boer rifles. The +colour-sergeant of Mr. Hall's company, however, crawled across that +ground, to and fro, three times in as many hours, taking water to the +wounded officers, who lay there under scorching sunshine, unable to move +because even an uplifted hand was enough to draw the Boer fire on +helpless wounded. Lieutenant Hall, whose arm was bleeding badly, turned +over, apparently to bandage it, and another bullet struck him. Such was +the fate of many brave fellows that day, whose stricken state should +have appealed to the mercy of their enemies, but the Boers, unable to +advance, and afraid to retreat so long as daylight lasted, were +seemingly so suspicious of all movements that they saw in every wounded +man a possible foe lurking there for his chance to get a shot at them. +The same excuse, however, cannot be pleaded for one Free State burgher, +who, lying down behind a maimed trooper of the Light Horse, kept up a +fire to which our own men could not reply without fear of hitting their +unlucky comrade.</p> + +<p>After the Rifle Brigade had got into action, Colonel Dick-Cunyngham +advanced with three companies of Gordon Highlanders from their camp in +the plain to take the Boers on Intombi spur in flank. He had scarcely +ridden two hundred yards when he fell mortally wounded by a stray +bullet, and the Gordons marched on, leaving behind them<span class="pagenum"><a id="page204" name="page204"></a>Pg 204</span> the intrepid +leader whom every man would have followed cheerfully into the thickest +fight. They gained the crest, and Captain Carnegie's company sprang +eagerly forward to charge in among the Boers who held Lieutenant +Hunt-Grubbe prisoner. Him they recovered after close conflict, in which +Captain Carnegie was wounded and Colour-Sergeant Price had three +bullet-holes in him, but not before he sent a bayonet-thrust into the +forehead of one Boer with the full force of his strong arm. But the +Gordons could do no more then than lie down among the rocks they had +gained and take part in pot-shooting at the enemy, who dared not budge.</p> + +<p>Up to nearly four o'clock the position about Cæsar's Camp did not +change, but on Waggon Hill there had been some alternations and anxious +movements, while the Boers took positions only to be driven from them +again. Then suddenly a great storm of thunder, hail, and rain swept over +the hills, shrouding them in gloom, amid which the rifle fire broke out +with greater fury than ever across Bester's Valley and the ground that +had been stubbornly fought for so long. This sounded like an attack in +force by fresh bodies of Boers who had made their way round from Bulwaan +under cover of the hospital camp at Intombi Spruit. But they never came +within a thousand yards of our position, and though their rifle fire at +that range galled sorely, it was nothing more than a demonstration made +in hope of<span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name="page205"></a>Pg 205</span> enabling their comrades on the heights to extricate +themselves. Interest then turned again to Waggon Hill, where, when the +storm was raging most fiercely, part of our line fell back in error, but +the Brigadier and his officers, going forward until within revolver +range of the enemy, restored confidence at that point.</p> + +<p>Then three companies of the Devon Regiment marching from their post at +Tunnel Hill, a distance of four miles or more, ascended Waggon Hill, led +by Colonel Park, to whom Brigadier-General Hamilton gave but one laconic +order. Wanting no more than the word to go, the Devons shook themselves +into loose column and swarmed forward for their first rush across the +zone of Boer fire. Having gained a little cover they lay there a while, +and began shooting steadily with slow, deliberate aim, even adopting +quaint subterfuges to draw shots from the Boers before pulling trigger +themselves. Then in the same loose but unwavering formation they dashed +forward in another rush, the sergeants calling upon their comrades to +remember that they were Devons, and every company cheering as it ran +towards the enemy, whose fire began to get a bit wild. Another halt for +firing in the same steady way, and then rising with unbroken front, +though their company leaders had all been hit, the Devons straightened +themselves for a charge. With bayonets bristling they sprang to the +crest, and their cheers rang loud across the hills. A hail of bullets +made gaps in their ranks, but they<span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" name="page206"></a>Pg 206</span> closed up and pressed forward, +eagerly following their colonel. The Boers, unable to withstand any +longer the sight of that fine front sweeping like fate upon them, fired +a few hundred shots and fled down hill, followed by shots from the +victorious Devons, who in a few minutes more had cleared the position of +every Boer. That was the end of the fight, and though some enemies still +clung to Intombi's crest waiting for darkness, their fire soon +slackened, and the hard-fought battle ended in a complete defeat of the +enemy at all points.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This brilliant victory, demonstrating to the Boers the vast +difference between firing from cover on British assailants and +attempts to storm positions held in force by our troops, cost the +army at Lady smith 420 men in killed and wounded. The large +proportion slain on the spot was remarkable, and was due, no doubt, +to the close fighting. Fourteen officers were killed and 33 +wounded, while the non-commissioned officers and men killed +numbered 167, and the wounded 284. The killed included, besides +Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, Major Mackworth of the 2nd Queen's; +Lieutenant Hall, Rifle Brigade; Major Miller-Wallnutt, Gordon +Highlanders; Lieutenant Digby-Jones and Lieutenant Dennis of the +Royal Engineers, all of whom met death heroically; Captains Lafone +and Field, who were shot down as they charged at the head of their +regiment; and many gallant volunteers serving in the ranks of the +Imperial Light Horse. One company of the Gordons at the close of +the battle was commanded by a lance-corporal, who was the senior +officer unwounded. The Imperial Light Horse was commanded by a +junior captain, and could<span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207"></a>Pg 207</span> only muster about 100 men fit for duty +out of nearly 500. As to the Boer losses, it is difficult to arrive +at the truth. The Boer has to be badly beaten before he will +acknowledge having suffered a reverse, and even in such cases every +endeavour is made to hide the real facts of the case, and the +acknowledgment is tardily and reluctantly offered. As supplementing +his description of the memorable struggle, we take the following +extracts from Mr. Pearse's diary:——</p></div> + +<p><i>January 7.</i>—I rode to-day over the battlefield, where dead Boers still +lay unclaimed, but bearing on them cards that left no doubt about their +identity. I learn that one of that brave little band, the Imperial Light +Horse, wounded early in the fight, was tended gently by a Boer parson, +who bound up his wounds and brought him water under a terrific fire. +Struck by these acts of humanity and devotion to a high sense of duty, I +made inquiries as to the Dutch parson's name. It was Mr. Kestel, pastor +of the Dutch Reformed Church at Harrismith, a Boer only by adoption, a +Devonshire man by birth and descent.</p> + +<p>There was to-day a solemn service of thanksgiving in the English Church. +A <i>Te Deum</i> was impressively sung,—Sir George White and his Staff, at +the Archdeacon's invitation, standing at the altar rails,—and was +followed by "God Save the Queen."</p> + +<p><i>January 8.</i>—Sir Redvers Buller heliographed,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208"></a>Pg 208</span> congratulating Sir +George White on the gallant defence of Ladysmith by this force, giving +especial praise to the Devons for their behaviour, but making no mention +of the Imperial Light Horse. An unfortunate omission.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209"></a>Pg 209</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>WATCHING FOR BULLER</h3> + +<h4>Sir Redvers Buller's second attempt—A message from the Queen—Last +sad farewells—Burial of Steevens and Lord Ava—At dead of +night—Relief army north of the Tugela—Water difficulties +surmised—A look in at Bulwaan—Spion Kop from afar—What the +watchers saw—The Boers trekking—Buller withdraws—The "key" +thrown away—Good-bye to luxuries—Precautions against +disease—"Chevril"—The damming of the Klip—Horseflesh +unabashed—One touch of pathos—Vague memories of home—Sweet music +from the south—Buller tries again—Disillusionment—The last pipe +of tobacco.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Whatever may have been the precise cost to the Boers of their bold +attempt to rush the British defences on 6th January, it was +certainly heavy enough to prevent its being renewed. From this time +forward they settled themselves resignedly to wait until disease +and starvation in the town should have done for them what their +best and bravest had failed to do, man against man. And, indeed, +disease following upon many long weeks of privation, of nights and +days passed in the trenches under drenching rain, or the fierce +rays of the African sun, began now to make havoc among the troops. +Many a brave fellow, who had fought and won at Dundee or at +Elandslaagte, who with fierce, courage had endured in the foremost +line in<span class="pagenum"><a id="page210" name="page210"></a>Pg 210</span> the struggle at Bester's Ridge, now fell a victim to +enteric fever or dysentery in the camp at Intombi. The lists of the +sick and the mortality returns grew daily more formidable, rations +soon had to be reduced, and all within the town, patient as had +been their endurance, now began to look eagerly towards the relief +that Sir Redvers Buller had promised in a month. As the time +approached at which his second attempt to force the Tugela might be +expected, hope revived. The relieving column, it was known, had +been reinforced, and it seemed impossible that the enemy could once +again bar its progress.</p> + +<p>During the fierce fighting at Ladysmith there were times when Sir +George White had grave fears that he would not be longer able to +hold the defences against the enemy. The fortunes of the day, as +the hours lengthened, were reflected in a series of telegrams which +were flashed through by him to Sir Redvers Buller in his camp south +of the Tugela. One of these brief heliograms reported that the +defenders were "hard pressed," and in the afternoon, somewhat +tardily as it seems, General Buller made a demonstration with all +his available force towards the enemy's trenches. The object was to +hold the Boers to their positions on the river, and to prevent the +commandos attacking Ladysmith from being reinforced. As far as +could be ascertained the enemy, however, were in full strength on +the north side of the river, and after ineffectual efforts had been +made to draw their fire the British force returned to camp. Within +four days of this movement, Sir Redvers Buller advanced westward +from Chieveley to make his second attempt to cross the Tugela and +to relieve the town; and it is with the hopes inspired there by the +news and with the tense anxiety with which every indication of +advance or retreat on the distant hills was<span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>Pg 211</span> watched by the +beleaguered garrison, that Mr. Pearse's notes at this time in great +measure deal.</p></div> + +<p><i>January 11.</i>—The bombardment has gone on vigorously for several days, +and the Boers are busy on new works, probably with the idea of +"bluffing" us into the belief that they mean to mount new guns, while in +reality they are sending reinforcements southward to intercept General +Buller. The reception yesterday of a message from the Queen thanking the +troops here for their gallant defence aroused much enthusiasm. Lord +Ava's death to-day causes profound regret in every regiment of +Hamilton's Brigade and other camps, where his soldierly qualities and +manly bearing made him a favourite with men and officers alike. +Conspicuous for pluck among the bravest, he met death—where he had +faced it in nearly every action since joining this force—with the +righting line. Of all who fell dead or mortally wounded in the heroic +defence of Bester's Ridge, none will be more sincerely mourned than he. +The civilians of Ladysmith join with the troops in expressions of +respectful sympathy to Lord Dufferin and his family. To-night Lord Ava's +body was buried in the little cemetery, a scene impressive in its simple +solemnity. Brigadier-General Hamilton with his staff; Colonel Rhodes; +Major King, A.D.C., representing the Headquarters Staff, with Sir George +White's personal aide-de-camp; several officers of the Imperial Light +Horse, among whom Lord Ava was<span class="pagenum"><a id="page212" name="page212"></a>Pg 212</span> wounded; Captain Tilney of Lord Ava's +old regiment; officers of the 5th Lancers, Gordon Highlanders, and Royal +Artillery; several prominent townsmen, and five war correspondents stood +beside the grave.</p> + +<p><i>January 15.</i>—Early this morning sixty shots from heavy guns were heard +far off to the southward, giving us hope that General Buller had begun +his promised advance for our relief. A few hours later I received a +heliograph message from my eldest son, whom I supposed to be still in +England, saying that he was with the South African Light Horse on +probation for a lieutenancy. To-night there was another sorrowful +gathering of correspondents in the cemetery, round the grave of our +brilliant colleague, G.W. Steevens, who died this afternoon from a +sudden relapse, when most of us hoped that he was on the way to +recovery. Bulwaan searchlight, shining on us like a Cyclops' eye, +followed the sad procession along miles of winding road to the cemetery, +then left us in darkness beside the grave where our comrade was buried +at midnight. He had been tenderly nursed throughout his long illness by +Mr. Maud of the <i>Graphic</i>, who was chief mourner. He died in the house +of Mr. Fortescue Carter, the historian of the previous Boer War.</p> + +<p><i>January 18.</i>—Kaffir runners report that General Lyttelton's division +crossed the Tugela at Potgieter's Drift yesterday, and Sir Charles +Warren's at Trichard's Drift to-day. We also hear of Lord Dundonald +being near Acton Homes with a force<span class="pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>Pg 213</span> of Irregular Horse, some of whom +wear sakkabulu feathers in their hats and carry "assegais." Possibly +these are Lancers, but we cannot identify them. These stories may be +true, for we hear heavy firing in the south-west at frequent intervals. +The Intelligence Department expects an attack on one of our outposts +to-night. Therefore we may go to bed and sleep in peace.</p> + +<p><i>January 22.</i>—Since Friday Sir Redvers Buller's guns have been pounding +away for several hours of every day, beginning sometimes at dawn or +carrying on far into the night. The throbbing vibrations of heavy +artillery afar off seemed to fill the air all through Sunday, and we +have seen shells bursting along the heights of Intaba Mnyama or Black +Mountain, not much more than twelve miles in a straight line from +Ladysmith. If our troops are attacking positions successively where +there is no more water than can be brought to them from the Tugela they +must be having a hard time, for the shade temperature at midday rises to +104°, and we know by experience what that means in the full blaze of +sunshine on bare kopjes where the smooth boulders feel scorchingly hot +to the touch. I watch the distant cannonade with a keen personal +interest, for when there is fighting along the Tugela the South African +Light Horse are surely in it.</p> + +<p>Before daybreak this morning Colonel Knox, in command of Mounted +Infantry, Carabiniers, Border Mounted Rifles, and a detachment of +Colonel<span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>Pg 214</span> Dartnell's Frontier Field Force went out to make a +reconnaissance round one shoulder of Bulwaan. They got up through the +wooded neck, had a look into the Boer position but saw not an enemy, and +got back without having a shot fired at them until they showed in the +plain again. Then ping! ping! came the Mauser bullets, and a "Pom-Pom" +opened on them. Colonel Knox gave an order for his men to form loose +order and gallop, and thus they got out of danger with not a man hit.</p> + +<p><i>January 24.</i>—All day long I have watched from Observation Buller's +batteries shelling the whole range of Intaba Mnyama from the peaked +"paps" or "sisters," past the Kloof north-west of them, and along the +more commanding Hog's Back. The Boers call part of this range Spion Kop, +and that name has been adopted by our Intelligence Staff as presenting +less difficulties of orthography than the Zulu designation. So Spion Kop +it must be henceforth. From a laager behind one peak I saw an ambulance +cart with its Red Cross flag go up to the crest, which seemed a +dangerous place for it, especially as a piece of light artillery opened +beside the cart a moment later. I could see needles of light flashing +out like electric sparks, only redder, but could hear no report. Nothing +but a "Pom-Pom" could have made those quivering flashes, yet how it got +there with an ambulance cart beside it I must leave the Boers to +explain. The shelling of heights with Lyddite and shrapnel went on hour +after hour,<span class="pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>Pg 215</span> and towards evening some thought they heard a faint sound +as of rifle volleys. The Boers came hurrying down in groups from Spion +Kop's crest, their waggons were trekking from laagers across the plain +towards Van Reenan's, and men could be seen rounding up cattle as if for +a general rearward movement. To us watching it seemed as if the Boers +were beaten and knew it.</p> + +<p><i>January 25.</i>—The Boer trek continued for several hours this morning +and well on into the afternoon, when it slackened. Then we saw some +horsemen turn back to make for the cleft ridge of Doorn Kloof, where one +of the big Creusots had opened fire, Buller's naval guns or howitzers +replying with Lyddite shells. The roar of our field-guns has died away +instead of drawing nearer, and we look in vain for any sign of British +cavalry on the broad plain, where they should be by now if Sir Redvers +Buller's infantry attack had succeeded.</p> + +<p><i>January 26.</i>—The Boers are back in their former laagers. There is no +sound of fighting this side of the Tugela, only a few shells falling on +Spion Kop, where Boer tents can be seen once more whitening the steep. +We need no heliograph signal to tell us the meaning of all this. For us +there is to be another sickening period of hope deferred; but we try to +hide our dejection, and persuade the anxious townsfolk that it is only a +necessary pause while General Buller brings up his big guns and +transport.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216"></a>Pg 216</span></p> + +<p><i>January 28.</i>—It is now no longer possible to conceal the fact that the +fight on Spion Kop ended in another reverse for General Buller, though +from our side it seemed as if he had the enemy beaten and demoralised. +It is now published in orders that he captured the heights with part of +one brigade which, however, retired after General Woodgate was wounded, +when the Boers retook it. From Kaffir runners we hear another version +which makes out that our troops were complete masters of the situation +if there had been any one in command at that moment, with a soldier's +genius, prompt to take advantage of the enemy's discomfiture. Had +reinforcements been sent up in time Spion Kop need never have been +abandoned, and Buller might have kept the key to Ladysmith which was +then in his hands. Not another position between him and us remained for +the Boers to make a stand on. He would then have outflanked and made +untenable the entrenched heights facing Colenso. But perhaps he was +anxious about his own line of communications. We only know that he has +gone back, and the work accomplished at much sacrifice of life must be +done over again from some other point.</p> + +<p><i>January 30.</i>—In spite of all we know, there are still persistent +rumours rosy-hued but all equally improbable. According to these +Kimberley has been relieved, and Lord Roberts is marching on +Bloemfontein. Sir Redvers Buller has retaken Spion Kop. He has gained a +victory at some other<span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>Pg 217</span> point, but where or when nobody knows. Four +hundred Boers are surrounded south of the Tugela with no chance of +escape. A similar rumour reached us weeks ago. Those four hundred Boers +must be getting short of food by this time. And yet another story makes +out that numbers of the enemy attempting to fall upon Buller's supply +column at Skiet's Drift were completely annihilated. The <i>Standard and +Diggers' News</i> could hardly beat this for imaginative ingenuity. It does +not reassure us. On the contrary a general feeling of depression seems +to have set in, caused perhaps by the ennervating weather. A deluge of +rain has drenched the land, from which mephitic vapours rise to clog our +spirits. The knowledge that rations are running short may also have some +effect. We have not felt the strain severely yet. There is no reduction +in the issue of meat or bread, but luxuries drop out of the list one by +one, and the quantities of tea, sugar, coffee, and similar things +diminish ominously. Vegetables were exhausted long ago, and a daily +ration of vinegar has been ordered for every man, whose officer must see +that he gets it, as a precaution against scurvy.</p> + +<p><i>February 1.</i>—It has come at last. Horseflesh is to be served out for +food, instead of being buried or cremated. We do not take it in the +solid form yet, or at least not consciously, but Colonel Ward has set up +a factory, with Lieutenant McNalty as managing director, for the +conversion of horseflesh<span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>Pg 218</span> into extract of meat under the inviting name +of Chevril. This is intended for use in hospitals, where nourishment in +that form is sorely needed, since Bovril and Liebig are not to be had. +It is also ordered that a pint of soup made from this Chevril shall be +issued daily to each man. I have tasted the soup and found it excellent, +prejudice notwithstanding. We have no news from General Buller beyond a +heliogram, warning us that a German engineer is coming with a plan in +his pocket for the construction of some wonderful dam which is to hold +back the waters of the Klip River and flood us out of Ladysmith.</p> + +<p><i>February 3.</i>—Horseflesh was placed frankly on the bill of fare to-day +as a ration for troops and civilians alike, but many of the latter +refused to take it. Hunger will probably make them less squeamish, but +one cannot help sympathising with the weakly, who are already suffering +from want of proper nourishment, and for whom there is no alternative. +Market prices have long since gone beyond the reach of ordinary purses.</p> + +<p><i>February 4.</i>—One pathetic incident touched me nearly this morning, as +a forerunner of many that may come soon. I found sitting on a doorstep, +apparently too weak to move, a young fellow of the Imperial Light +Horse—scarcely more than a boy—his stalwart form shrunken by illness. +He was toying with a spray of wild jasmine, as if its perfume brought +back vague memories of home. I learned<span class="pagenum"><a id="page219" name="page219"></a>Pg 219</span> that he had been wounded at +Elandslaagte and again on Waggon Hill. Then came Intombi and malaria. He +had only been discharged from hospital that morning. His appetite was +not quite equal to the horseflesh test, so he had gone without food. I +took him to my room and gave him such things as a scanty store could +furnish, with the last dram of whisky for a stimulant, and I never felt +more thankful than at that moment for the health and strength that give +an appetite robust enough for any fare.</p> + +<p><i>February 5.</i>—Just now one could not be wakened by a more welcome sound +than the boom of Buller's guns. It stirred the hazy stillness at dawn +this morning like sweet music. It grew louder and apparently nearer as +the morning advanced, until in imagination one could mark the positions +of individual batteries pounding away opposite Colenso and Skiet's +drift. At last the roar died away in sullen growls, giving us the hope +that a position had been gained.</p> + +<p><i>February 6.</i>—Again at daybreak we hear the guns of our relieving force +at work in a vigorous cannonade away to the south-west, where Skiet's +Drift lies. They quicken at times to twenty shots a minute, the field +batteries chiming in faintly between the rounds of heavier artillery. +From Observation Hill we can see the enemy's Creusot on a notched ridge +by Doom Kloof replying. Soon after seven o'clock a lyddite shell bursts +there. Its red glare<span class="pagenum"><a id="page220" name="page220"></a>Pg 220</span> is followed by flame that does not come from +lyddite. Above this darts a black dense cloud speckled with solid +fragments that shoot into the air like bombs. Before we have time to +think that a magazine has been blown up a double report, merging into a +low rumble, reaches our ears. Something has happened to the Boer +battery, and the big gun there remains silent. Buller's artillery +continues firing, more slowly but steadily, at the rate of eight shots a +minute, and rifle fire can be heard rolling nearer all the afternoon. +Boers are reported to be inspanning their teams and collecting cattle on +the plains. The distance is dulled by mists, and the Drakensberg peaks +are only dimly visible, but there are clouds of dust winding that way, +and we know that the Boer waggons are trekking on the off-chance that a +general retirement may be forced upon them. Is this hundredth day of +siege to be the last, or shall we wake to-morrow to hear that the Boer +laagers are back again, and the relieving force once more south of the +Tugela?</p> + +<p><i>February 7.</i>—Sir Redvers Buller evidently finds that the new key of +the road to Ladysmith fits no better than the old, and we begin to doubt +whether he will be able to force the lock yet. Skiet's Drift is a +difficult way, leading through a bushy country scarred with dongas and +commanded by successive ridges, of which the Boers, with their great +mobility and rapidity of concentration, know how to make the most. They +still hold Monger's Hill, and their big<span class="pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>Pg 221</span> gun has opened again from the +notched ridge by Doom Kloof. Buller's guns are hammering at these +positions, but apparently with little effect, for to every salvo from +them the big Creusot makes reply. Nor is there any sign now of a Boer +movement towards the rear. On the contrary, they have a new camp, +possibly of hospital tents, where Long Valley merges into Doom Kloof, +and almost within range of our naval guns if we had them mounted on +Waggon Hill.</p> + +<p>While the fight rages near Tugela heights we are left in comparative +peace here. "Puffing Billy" has not opened to-day, and his twin brother +of Telegraph Hill has been silent many days. Probably he was taken away +to reinforce the artillery now opposing General Buller's advance. If +relief does not come soon we shall have something worse than privation +to dread, for scurvy has broken out at Intombi camp, where medical +comforts are scarce, having been frittered away by the negligence or +dishonesty of hospital attendants, over whom nobody seems to exercise +proper control. The mismanagement of affairs there and the whole system +of hospital administration at Ladysmith will have to be investigated +after the siege. At noon to-day we had hopes that the Boer right flank +was being hard pressed. That is the only practicable way in, but the +effort has apparently not been pushed far. The heliograph has begun to +blink out a long message, and that is always a bad sign.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222"></a>Pg 222</span></p> + +<p><i>February 8.</i>—Small things assume an importance altogether out of +proportion just now, and one worries about a last pipe of tobacco when +issues of vital moment to us are being fought out ten miles off. I have +come to the end of mine, and there is no more to be got for love or +money. A ton of Kaffir leaf has just been requisitioned from coolies, +who were selling it at twelve shillings the pound to soldiers, and who +have now to accept a twelfth of that price. There are thus thirty-six +thousand ounces for distribution, but even that quantity will not last +long. Nobody would have the heart to take any of it from soldiers who +have been reduced for weeks past to smoking dried sun-flower leaves and +even tea-leaves. Six shots were fired from Bulwaan battery this +afternoon after a silence of nearly two days. We generally accept such +sudden outbursts as indicating that something has gone wrong with our +enemies elsewhere, but we can see no signs of hurried movement among +them, and though General Buller's guns have been active half the day +they sound no nearer. A long message was heliographed through just +before sunset, and rumours of ill news are whispered about with bated +breath by people who wish to establish a reputation for early knowledge, +but at the risk of being charged before a court-martial with the +dissemination of news calculated to cause despondency. We had a case of +that kind the other day when Foss, the champion swimmer of South Africa, +was rightly convicted and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>Pg 223</span> sentenced to imprisonment for deprecating the +skill of our generals in conversation with soldiers. Tommy may hold his +own opinions on that point, but he resents hearing them expressed for +him through a pro-Boer mouthpiece, and this man may consider himself +lucky to escape summary chastisement as a preliminary to the durance +vile which is intended to be a wholesome warning for others of like +tendency.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>And indeed the garrison and civilians of Ladysmith, who now began +to feel the sharp pinch of hunger, had need to silence any whose +voices might be raised to rob them of their attenuated hopes. No +official statement had yet been made on the subject, but it was +already becoming evident that they had yet a time of painful +waiting before relief could come. To the hundred days which they +had trusted might complete the period of their trial a score were +to be added before their sufferings could be forgotten in the joy +of deliverance.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224"></a>Pg 224</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS</h3> + +<h4>Boer pæan of victory—Rations cut down—Sausage without +mystery—The "helio" moves east—Sick and dying at Intombi—Famine +prices at market—Laughter quits the camps—A kindly thing by the +enemy—Good news at last—Heroes in tatters—The distant tide of +battle—Pulse-like throb of rifles—Two sons for the +Empire—British infantry on Monte Cristo—Boer ambulances moving +north—"'Ave you 'eard the noos?"—Rations increased—Bulwaan +strikes his tents—"With a rifle and a red cross"—Buller "going +strong"—Cronje's surrender—A sorry celebration—"A beaten army in +full retreat"—"Puffing Billy" dismantled—General Buller's +message—Relief at hand.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Sir Redvers Buller's third attempt to force his way through to +Ladysmith failed on 8th February, when he withdrew his forces from +Vaalkranz to the south side of the Tugela. Their success was +announced by the Boers about Ladysmith in their own way. At +half-past two on the morning of 9th February, night was rent by the +sudden glare of a search-light from Bulwaan, and soon came the +scream of shells hurtling over the town. It was the Boer pæan of +victory, and it sent the people hurrying to their underground +refuges, to which the unco' guid had given the name of +"funk-holes," but did no damage. Its purport was half-divined by +the defenders. The news was still said to be good, but there were +head-shakings, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="page225" name="page225"></a>Pg 225</span> even the stoutest optimism found itself unequal +to the strain when it was announced that rations were to be cut +down. If things were going well, "Why, in the name of success," +asks Mr. Pearse in his notes for 9th February, "should our +universal provider, Colonel Ward, take this occasion to reduce +rations? We are now down to 1 lb. of meat, including horse, four +ounces of mealie meal, four ounces of bread, with a sausage ration +daily 'as far as possible.' Sausages may be mysteries elsewhere, +but we know them here to be horse-flesh, highly spiced, and nothing +more. Bread is a brown, 'clitty' mixture of mealie meal, starch, +and the unknown. Vegetables we have none, except a so-called wild +spinach that overgrew every neglected garden, and could be had for +the taking until people discovered how precious it was. Tea is +doled out at the rate of one-sixth of an ounce to each adult daily, +or in lieu thereof, coffee mixed with mealie meal."</p> + +<p>February 10 was the day which had been looked forward to as the one +on which relief would arrive. It did not come, and though the +messages flashed over the hills from the beleaguered town at the +time were full of an heroic cheerfulness, the disappointment was +hard to bear. For with rations reduced, with disease harvesting for +death where fire and steel had failed, the defenders were now face +to face with the grimmer realities of war. Yet hope was never +absent, and never at any time did the stern determination to bid +the enemy defiance to the last flicker or grow fainter. Mr. +Pearse's diary for this period gives many details of the highest +interest of the position in the town, and suggests the sufferings, +while it does justice to the splendid spirit of the garrison:—</p></div> + +<p><i>February 10.</i>—Heliograph signals have been twinkling spasmodically, +but their language is written<span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" name="page226"></a>Pg 226</span> in a sealed book. We only know that these +"helios" come not from kopjes this side of Tugela, nor from the former +signal-station south of Potgieter's and Skiet's Drifts, as they did a +few days ago, but from hills near Weenen, as in the months before Buller +crossed the Tugela, thus indicating a retrograde movement. It may be a +hopeful sign of communication with some flanking column away eastward, +and therefore kept secret, but we have our doubts. Depression sets in +again, and, as always happens when there is bad news or dread of it, the +death-rate at Intombi Hospital camp has gone up to fifteen in a single +day. Since the date of investment four hundred and eighty patients have +died there from all causes. It does not seem a large proportion out of +the eighteen thousand under treatment from time to time, but it is very +high in view of the fact that we have only had thirty-six soldiers and +civilians in all killed by the thousands of shells that have been hurled +at us in fifteen weeks.</p> + +<p>The market's sensitive pulse also shows that there is a suspicion of +something wrong. Black tobacco in small quantities may still be had by +those who care to pay forty-five shillings for a half-pound cake of it, +as one Sybarite did to-day. A box of fifty inferior cigars sold for +£6:10s., a packet of ten Virginia cigarettes for twenty-five shillings, +and eggs at forty-eight shillings a dozen. Soldiers who cannot hope to +supplement their meagre rations by private purchases at this rate stroll +about the streets<span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227"></a>Pg 227</span> languid, hungry, silent. There is no laughter among +them.</p> + +<p><i>February 12.</i>—The enemy have done a courteous, kindly thing in +allowing Mrs. Doveton, whose husband lies wounded and dying at Intombi, +to pass through their lines. Not only so, but the General placed an +ambulance-cart at her disposal, with an escort, from whom she received +every mark of respectful sympathy. Yet Major Doveton was well known as +one of their most strenuous opponents, a prominent member of the Reform +Committee, and a leader who has played his part manfully in every fight +where the Imperial Light Horse has been engaged. He was badly wounded +among the band of heroes who held Waggon Hill.</p> + +<p><i>February 13.</i>—Good news at last. It comes by heliograph, telling us +that Lord Roberts has entered the Free State with a large force, mainly +of mounted troops and artillery, wherewith he hoped to relieve the +pressure round Ladysmith in a few days.</p> + +<p>This afternoon I paid a visit to Brigadier-General Hamilton in his tent +beside the Manchesters on Cæsar's Camp. Through all the glorious history +of their services in Flanders, the Peninsula, the Crimea, or +Afghanistan, men of the gallant 63rd have never done harder work than on +breezy Bester's Ridge, where they have furnished outposts and fatigue +parties every day for four weary months. Is it any wonder that they are +the raggedest, most weather-stained, and most unkempt crowd who ever +played<span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>Pg 228</span> the part of soldiers? There is not a whole shoe or a sound +garment among them. They are ill-fed and overworked, yet they go to an +extra duty cheerfully, knowing that their General has faith in their +watchfulness and grit. All honour to them! Like "the dirty half-hundred" +of Peninsular fame, they have been too busy to have time for washing and +mending.</p> + +<p>Kaffirs report that the Free State Boers are all trekking towards Van +Reenan's.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>This native report, true or false, marked the beginnings of a +renewed hope that was not again to suffer defeat, but was now +quickly to grow into the substantial expectation and the certainty +of relief. Lord Roberts was already across the borders of the Free +State, and simultaneously Sir Redvers Buller was preparing for his +last attempt to roll back the burghers from the Tugela, and to +break down the barrier so long maintained between his army and +Ladysmith. His operations during the week following were watched +with intense anxiety, but with growing confidence. On 20th February +Mr. Pearse wrote the following:—</p></div> + +<p>For a whole week daily we have heard the roar of artillery southward and +westward along the Tugela, seen Lyddite shells bursting on Boer +positions, and watched the signs of battle, from which we gather hope +that slowly but surely Buller's army is drawing nearer to us, though by +a different and harder road from the one it tried last. We know that for +a whole week on end those troops have been fighting their way against +entrenched<span class="pagenum"><a id="page229" name="page229"></a>Pg 229</span> positions that might baulk the bravest soldiers, and still +the roar of battle rolls our way, until between the muffled boom of +heavy guns we can hear faintly the pulse-like throb of rifle volleys.</p> + +<p>Amid all this strain, intent upon vital issues, one hardly takes note of +trivialities. Even the daily bombardment seems of little importance, and +nobody cares how many shots "Puffing Billy" fired yesterday. For me the +strain is tightened by news heliographed this morning that another son +has come round from Bulawayo and joined the relieving force as a +lieutenant of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry. I don't know whether +pride or anxiety is paramount when I think of these two boys fighting +their way towards me. Both are with Lord Dundonald's Irregular Horse, of +which we have heard much from Kaffirs, who tell us that Thorneycroft's +Rifles and the "Sakkabulu boys," who are now identified as the South +African Light Horse, have been in the front of every fight. It may seem +egotistical to let this personal note stand, but I take the incident to +be an illustration of the spirit that animates English youth at this +moment.</p> + +<p>On Saturday (February 17) the artillery fire sounded far off on the +other side of the Tugela. Next morning we could see shells bursting +along the nearer crest of Monte Cristo, and up to eleven o'clock the +fierce cannonade was ceaseless. How the action had ended we could only +judge by Boer movements. From Observation Hill I saw their<span class="pagenum"><a id="page230" name="page230"></a>Pg 230</span> ambulance +waggons trekking heavy across the plain behind Rifleman's Ridge, then a +bigger waggon, uncovered, drawn by a large span of oxen. There may have +been a long gun in that waggon, its movements were so slow and +cumbersome. Two ambulance waggons passed in the opposite direction, +light and moving at a gallop.</p> + +<p>Yesterday came news of General Buller's success in the capture of +Cingolo Hill, but before it was signalled we had seen from Cæsar's Camp +British infantry crowning the nearer ridge of Monte Cristo. They came up +in column, and deployed with a steadiness that showed them to be masters +of the position. In the evening I met Sir George White, who told me that +he believed Sir Redvers had gained another success. To-day, again, +shells from the southern guns have been bursting about ridges south of +Cæsar's Camp, where the Boers are still in force. This afternoon, and +well on to evening, we could hear the busy hum of field guns in action +firing very rapidly, as if a fresh attack were about to develop. Sir +Redvers is evidently resolved not to give the enemy any rest or time for +fortifying other positions.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The above was written on 20th February. General Buller had captured +Hlangwane Hill, the real key of the enemy's position, and on the +following day the whole of Warren's Division crossed the Tugela by +a pontoon bridge thrown across by the Royal Engineers. The +significance of the fact was at once recognised at Ladysmith, and +that day saw the last of the hated horse-flesh ration. Events<span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name="page231"></a>Pg 231</span> were +now moving fast. The Boers were preparing for flight, hope began to +beat high in the town, and already the memory of past sufferings +and the irk of those still being borne seemed little in the light +of oncoming deliverance. Mr. Pearse's notes at this last stage in +the long stand for the Empire are interesting reading:—</p></div> + +<p><i>February 22.</i>—Trivialities are supreme after all. Yesterday we were +all more jubilant at the announcement that horse-flesh would not be +issued as rations again than on the score of General Buller's signal +telling us he had driven the Boers from all their positions across the +Tugela. To-day soldiers greeted each other with a cheery "'Ave you 'eard +the noos? They say there'll be full rations to-day." An extra half-pound +of meat, five biscuits instead of one and a quarter, and a few +additional ounces of mealie meal, were more to them at that moment than +a British victory.</p> + +<p><i>February 23.</i>—For several days past the naval 12-pounder on Cæsar's +Camp has shelled Boers at work on the dam below Intombi Camp, causing +much consternation. One result of this is that Bulwaan tries to keep +down the 12-pounder's fire and leaves the town in comparative quiet. +This afternoon there was another surprise for the Boers. "Lady Anne," +one of the big twin sisters of the naval armament to which we owe so +much, had not fired for just a month until she astonished the gunners on +Bulwaan by planting a shell in their works to-day. They ran in all +directions, not knowing where to<span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>Pg 232</span> hide, and at the second shot bolted +back across the hill. Their tents have disappeared from Bulwaan now. +To-day a Boer, or rather a German fighting for the Boers, was caught by +our patrols. He had a rifle, a bandolier, pockets full of cartridges, +and a red-cross badge, concealed, but ready for use when fighting might +be inconvenient.</p> + +<p><i>February 26.</i>—Yesterday numbers of Boers were seen retiring from +Pieter's Station across the ridges towards Bester's Valley, but no sign +of a general retreat yet beyond the report of scouts, who say that +several guns have been seen going back at a gallop behind Bulwaan, +followed by nearly two hundred waggons. Last night we heard rifle-firing +on the ridges south of Cæsar's Camp and Waggon Hill. It sounded so near +that for a time we thought our own outposts were engaged with the enemy. +Kaffirs say this was a Boer attack on Pieter's Station, but their story +is not confirmed. General Buller heliographs that he is still going +strong, but the country is difficult and progress slow. Lord Roberts, +according to another helio-signal, has Cronje surrounded. Two attempts +to relieve him have been frustrated. All this puts new life into the +garrison here. A newspaper telegram was also heliographed announcing +that Cronje had surrendered with 6000 men, after losing 1700 killed and +wounded. This is probably a bit of journalistic enterprise in +anticipation of events.</p> + +<p><i>February 27.</i>—Majuba Day. We expected the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name="page233"></a>Pg 233</span> Boers to celebrate it at +daybreak or before by a salute of shotted guns, but they are silent, +apparently watching as we watch, and awaiting the issue of events +elsewhere. We know that a fierce fight is raging not twelve miles +distant. The thuds of big guns are frequent, we hear the booming of +field artillery in salvos, and the shrill ripple of rifles is almost +incessant. But our view is narrowed by hills, and we can only see shells +bursting on the crests of Grobelaar's Kloof and about flat-topped Table +Hill. From their commanding position on Bulwaan the Boers can overlook +Pieter's Station to the earthworks that girdle Grobelaar's Kloof, and +part of the road by which our troops must advance from Colenso if they +advance at all. Noon passed without any Majuba Day salute, but an hour +later Bulwaan battery fired twelve shots up Bester's Valley at cattle +and men cutting grass, then turned to shell Cove Ridge and Observation +Hill, on which one of Captain Christie's howitzers had been mounted +during the night. Thus they made up a salute of twenty-one guns. +"Puffing Billy" seemed bent on showing what he could do. Three shells +burst near where I stood, on the extreme western shoulder of Observation +Hill, just missing the howitzer, and one went far beyond the longest +range yet reached by any of the enemy's Creusots. For a long time I +watched Boer movements, and saw their waggons hurrying back in some +confusion from the Helpmakaar road across Conrad Pieter's farm towards +Elandslaagte.</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" name="page234"></a>Pg 234</span></p> + +<p>At night came a signal from General Buller, "Doing well," followed by a +longer message announcing that Cronje was a prisoner in Lord Roberts's +camp, having surrendered with all his army unconditionally this morning. +Hurrahs are ringing through every camp at this news. Majuba Day has +brought glad tidings to us after all!</p> + +<p><i>February 28.</i>—The fortune of war is on our side now. Every sign points +to that conclusion. Ladysmith was alarmed soon after midnight by what +seemed to civilians the beginning of another attack. Rifles rang out +sharply round the whole of our positions. The furious outburst began on +Gun Hill. Surprise Hill took it up. It ran along the dongas in which +Boer pickets lie hidden, and was carried on to the south beyond Bester's +Valley. Our troops did not fire a shot, but still the fusillade +continued for half an hour. The Boers were evidently in a state of +nervous excitement, brought on by nothing more formidable than twelve +men of the Gloucesters who, under Lieutenant Thesbit, had gone out to +destroy a laager at the foot of Limit Hill. This incident showed clearly +enough that no news had come from Colenso to give our enemies +confidence. Few of us, however, were prepared for the sight that met our +eyes as we looked from Observation Hill across the broad plain towards +Blaauwbank when the mists of morning cleared. There we saw Boer convoys +trekking northward from the Tugela past Spion Kop in columns miles long. +Others emerged<span class="pagenum"><a id="page235" name="page235"></a>Pg 235</span> from the defile by Underbrook like huge serpents twining +about the hillsides. Waggons were crowded together by hundreds. If one +could not go fast enough it had to fall out of the road, making way for +others. Above them hung dense dust clouds. Elsewhere in the open, dust +whirled in thinner, higher wreaths above groups of horsemen hurrying off +in confusion, and paying no heed to the straits of their transport. A +beaten army in full retreat if I have ever seen one! Still people +doubted and grew uneasy, because of General Buller's silence. Bulwaan +fired a single shot by way of parting salute, and then a tripod was +rigged up for lifting "Puffing Billy" from his carriage. It was a bold +thing to do in broad daylight, and our naval 12-pounders made short work +of it by battering the tripod over. After that a steady fire was kept up +on the battery to prevent, if possible, the Boers from moving their +guns.</p> + +<p>Afternoon sunshine enabled General Buller to heliograph the reassuring +message for which Ladysmith had been waiting so anxiously. He said: "I +beat the enemy thoroughly yesterday, and am sending my cavalry on as +fast as very bad roads will admit to ascertain where they are going. I +believe the enemy to be in full retreat."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>It was even so. General Buller and his gallant army, by dint of +heroic qualities, with an unshakable determination which faltered +before nothing; with a patient endurance which bore all things +unmurmuringly; with a<span class="pagenum"><a id="page236" name="page236"></a>Pg 236</span> sublime courage face to face with the enemy +which has earned them the often unwilling praise of the world, had +overcome at last. On the night of 28th February, when the above +note was written, the head of the relief column, under Lord +Dundonald, arrived in the town.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>Pg 237</span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>RELIEF AT LAST</h3> + +<h4>The beginning of the end—Buller's last advance—Heroic +Inniskillings—The coming of Dundonald—A welcome at Klip River +Drift—A weather-stained horseman—The Natal troopers—Cheers and +tears—A grand old General—Sir George White's address—"Thank God, +we have kept the flag flying!"—"God save the Queen"—Arrival of +Buller—Looking backward—Within four days of +starvation—Horseflesh a mere memory—Eight hundred sick and +wounded—A word in tribute—Conclusion.</h4> + + +<div class="blockquot"><p>The beginning of the end had come on 13th February, when General +Buller's army of relief had opened the attack on Hussar Hill. From +that day fighting had been fierce and practically continuous, the +enemy giving way only after the most stubborn resistance, and +taking advantage of every opportunity to make a stand. During that +fortnight over 2000 officers and men of General Buller's force paid +the price of their dauntless courage; and in all the glorious story +no page is brighter than that which puts on undying record the +devoted gallantry of the Inniskillings, who were, to all practical +intents, wiped out in attacking Pieter's Hill, the last bar across +the road to Ladysmith, on the 23rd. Wounded and dying and dead lay +out together uncomforted, uncared for throughout the long hours of +Saturday until Sunday morning, when a truce was agreed to. Still +the hill was not won, and was to be held by the<span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>Pg 238</span> enemy until the +27th, the nineteenth anniversary of Majuba, a day no longer to be +held in shameful memory. On the following day the Boers were in +full retreat; and Lord Dundonald, with a small body of mounted +troops, made a dash across the hills to Ladysmith. Their coming was +hailed by the long-isolated town with the wildest outbursts of +delight. Its effect is graphically suggested by Mr. Pearse in a +number of jottings in his diary on the same night:—</p></div> + +<p>As night closes in there are cheers rolling towards us from the plain +beyond Klip River, where our volunteers are on patrol. Ladysmith, so +quiet and undemonstrative in its patient endurance of a long siege, goes +wild at the sound. Everybody divines its meaning. Our friends from the +victorious army of the south are coming! All the town rushes out to meet +them, where they must cross a drift. The voices of strong men break into +childish treble as they try to cheer, women laugh and cry by turns, and +all crowd about the troopers of Lord Dundonald's escort, giving them +such a welcome as few victors from the battlefield have ever known. The +hour of our deliverance has come. After a hundred and twenty-two days of +bombardment—a hundred and nineteen of close investment—the Siege of +Ladysmith is at an end. What a hero our gallant old General is to all of +us, when he rides forward to greet Lord Dundonald, and how voices +tremble with deep thankfulness while we sing "God Save the Queen"!</p><p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>Pg 239</span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>In a letter written on the following day, Mr. Pearse describes in +greater detail the arrival of relief, and summarises his +impressions at the time:—</p></div> + +<p>LADYSMITH, <i>March 1.</i>—The relieving force joined hands with us last +night, and Ladysmith gave itself away to an outburst of wild enthusiasm +at the sight of troops so long expected and so often heard fighting in +the distance, that some despondent people had almost begun to think they +would never come. After the roar of battle ceased on Tuesday, we knew by +signs that could not be mistaken that Sir Redvers Buller had gained a +great victory even before the heliograph flashed to us the glad tidings +in his own words. I had come to the conclusion, watching from +Observation Hill, soon after daybreak on Wednesday morning, and seeing +the enemy's convoys in three columns, miles long, trekking northwards, +that they were in full retreat. Their guns were hurrying to the rear +also, and horsemen in scattered groups, to the number of thousands, were +galloping past positions on which some stand might still have been made, +a sure sign that they were beaten and did not mean to rally. But the +best indication of all was the attempt to remove the big gun from +Bulwaan that has shelled us persistently and destructively for a hundred +and twelve days, causing us much anxiety but comparatively small loss of +life. Our artillery of the Naval Brigade, to which Ladysmith owes a deep +debt of gratitude, tried to prevent the guns from being carried off, but +apparently their admirably<span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240"></a>Pg 240</span> aimed and accurate fire was too late to +effect that object.</p> + +<p>Just before nightfall Sir Redvers Buller's cavalry were reported in +sight. The first token of their coming were loud cheers away on the +plain towards Intombi neutral camp, where some of Colonel Dartnell's +Frontier Police, with Border Mounted Rifles and Natal Carbineers, had +been patrolling since early morning. With joy on their faces, and many +with tears in their eyes, the people rushed towards a drift by which the +Klip River must be crossed. There General Brocklehurst was waiting, and +as a horseman, weather-stained and begrimed by days of bivouacking, +floundered from deep water on to the slippery bank, he was received with +a hearty hand-grip and welcomed to Ladysmith. Then loud cheers went up +for Lord Dundonald, commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade, whose +irregular horsemen have made for themselves a great name as scouts. We +have often heard from Kaffirs about ubiquitous troopers who were +described as wearing sakkabulu feathers in their hats and carrying +assegais. We were all anxious to see these men, and I especially had +often looked out for them, since some one had told me that they were the +South African Light Horse, in which, as I think I have mentioned +elsewhere, a son of mine commands a troop. We had heard of them and +Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry in the thick of the fight at Spion Kop, +and in many other affairs, but only one came with Lord<span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>Pg 241</span> Dundonald and +the advance guard, in which were Imperial Light Horse, Carbineers, Natal +Police of the Frontier Field Force, and Border Mounted Rifles, numbering +only one hundred and seventy, under Major Mackenzie. They had pushed +forward after the last feeble resistance of the Boer rearguard was +overcome, and Lord Dundonald brought to Sir George White the good news +that Ladysmith's relief was accomplished.</p> + +<p>The crowd of soldiers and civilians shouted itself hoarse in cheering +Sir George White when he came with the object of meeting Lord Dundonald. +He could not get through this crowd outside the gaol, where Boer +prisoners were standing on the balcony curious to know what all this +commotion might mean. When a lull gave him an opportunity of speaking, +he said in a voice trembling with emotion, but clear and soldierly for +all that:—</p> + +<p>"I thank you men, one and all, from the bottom of my heart, for the help +and support you have given to me, and I shall always acknowledge it to +the end of my life. It grieved me to have to cut your rations, but I +promise you that I will not do it again. I thank God we have kept the +flag flying."</p> + +<p>Three cheers were given for Sir Redvers Buller and General Sir Archibald +Hunter, and then the whole crowd joined in singing "God Save the Queen," +with an effect that was strangely impressive in the circumstances. This +morning, after a reconnaissance had been sent out to watch the enemy's<span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>Pg 242</span> +retirement, and if possible intercept convoys, Sir Redvers Buller with +his staff rode into town and met Sir George White before any +demonstration could be made in his honour, and after remaining at +headquarters a short time only, he rode back to camp, or rather bivouac, +with the troops who had fought so heroically under him for the honour of +England.</p> + +<p>Only those who have been under siege and so closely invested that all +communications with the outer world, except through Kaffir runners, were +cut off for 119 days, can imagine what the first sight of a relieving +column means to the beleaguered garrison. Happily such experiences have +been rare in the history of British campaigns, and nobody here would +care to repeat them, though all are proud enough now of having seen it +through. Those who went away while they had a chance in the first rush +for safety, when shells began to burst in the town, may claim credit for +foresight, but we do not envy them. All hardships, dangers, and +privations seem light now that they are things of the past. Our +enthusiasm in welcoming the first detachment of the relieving force has +swept away the impression of discomforts, and, for a time at least, +induced us to forget everything except the reflected honour that is ours +in having suffered with British troops.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>Relief had come none too soon. Mr. Pearse, who had weathered the +storm unscathed and in good<span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>Pg 243</span> health, on 1st March stated in a +telegram that when Lord Dundonald's troops arrived in the town only +four days' full rations were available, and there were 800 sick and +wounded in hospital, by far the larger proportion being down with +dysentery and enteric fever. Truly it seemed that deliverance had +come in the nick of time. "Thank God," Sir George White had said, +"we have kept the flag flying." Thank God also that the brave +defenders had been spared the worst horrors of a siege, and that +help had not longer been withheld in their extremity. Only a +concluding word remains to be said. On 6th February, when relief +seemed imminent, Mr. Pearse wrote the following in his diary:—</p></div> + +<p>In this moment I want to place it on record how cordially we all +recognise the fact that Sir George White has done everything that an +able commander could do, not only for the defence of a town whose +inhabitants are entrusted to his charge, but also for the larger issues +of a campaign that might have been seriously jeopardised by any false +move on his part. In many respects, when his critics, including myself, +thought he lacked the enterprise of a great leader, events have proved +that his more cautious course was right. If mistakes were made at the +outset they have been nobly atoned for.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>All who have so far followed Mr. Pearse through his brilliant pages +will acclaim his words. Such a commander was worthy of such troops, +and they no less worthy. During the whole dreary four months of the +siege they had proved themselves men in whom any General in the +world and any people might feel an exultant pride. In long days<span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>Pg 244</span> of +wearisome monotony, broken only by the scream and thud and burst of +shells, at noon beneath the fierce glow of the African sun, at +night in the sodden trenches, in season and out, they had been +patient, vigilant, ready, bearing all things, braving all things, +hoping all things and always. In the midnight attack through dark +defiles and over rugged heights, where the broken boulders made +every step a toil and a danger, they trod with a grim tenacity of +purpose, and struck with a daring that wrested a tribute from the +unaccustomed lips of their enemy. On the rocky ridges of Waggon +Hill and Cæsar's Camp, when the burghers in one supreme effort +dashed against them the pick and pride of the commandos, they +fought through the hours of night till dawn gave place to day, and +the daylight waxed and waned, with a dogged, half-despairing +courage that laughed to scorn even the regardless valour of a +worthy foeman. Who shall do justice to soldiers like these? +Wherever, and as long as, the fame of the British arms is +cherished, so long, and as widely, will the story of the defence of +Ladysmith be held in glorious memory.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>THE END</h3> + + +<h5><i>Printed by</i> R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, <i>Edinburgh</i></h5> + + +<div class="figcenter"> + <a id="image11" name="image11"></a> + <a href="images/11large.jpg"> + <img src="images/11.jpg" + alt="MILITARY MAP OF LADYSMITH" + title="MILITARY MAP OF LADYSMITH" /></a><br /> + <span class="caption">MILITARY MAP OF LADYSMITH</span> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Four Months Besieged, by H. H. S. 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H. S. Pearse + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Four Months Besieged + The Story of Ladysmith + +Author: H. H. S. Pearse + +Release Date: August 7, 2005 [EBook #16466] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FOUR MONTHS BESIEGED *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Taavi Kalju and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +[Illustration: SIR GEORGE STEWART WHITE, V.C., G.C.S.I. + +_From a Photograph by Window & Grove_] + + +Four Months Besieged + +THE STORY OF LADYSMITH + +BEING UNPUBLISHED LETTERS + +FROM + +H.H.S. PEARSE +THE 'DAILY NEWS' SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT + + +_WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS MADE BY THE +AUTHOR_ + +London +MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED +NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +1900 +_All rights reserved_ + + + + +PREFACE + + +The siege of Ladysmith will long remain in the memories of the age. The +annals of war furnish the record of many fierce struggles, in which men +and women have undergone sufferings more terrible and possibly shown a +devotion rising to sublimer heights. But the Boer War of 1899-1900 will +mark an epoch, and throughout its opening stage of four months the minds +of men, and the hopes and fears of the whole British race, centred upon +the little town in mid-Natal where Sir George White with his army +maintained a valiant resistance against a strenuous and determined foe +without, and disease and hunger and death within, until, to use his own +words, that slow-moving giant John Bull should pass from his slumber and +bestir himself to take back his own. For that reason alone the story of +Ladysmith will remain memorable. But it is a story which is brilliant in +brave deeds, which tells of danger boldly faced, of noble self-sacrifice +to duty, in calm endurance of many and growing evils--a story worth the +telling. Yet so far it has been told only in the necessarily disjointed +telegrams and letters of the press correspondents in the town. Native +runners who were captured and otherwise went astray, and the ruthless +pencil of the censor, were accountable for many gaps. Two or three of +the letters contained in the following pages escaped these perils, and +were published in the columns of the _Daily News_. The rest of the book +now appears for the first time. + +The volume consists of pages from the letters and diaries of Mr. Henry +H.S. Pearse, the Special Correspondent of the _Daily News_. Mr. Pearse +was in Natal when the war broke out, and he was in Ladysmith during the +whole of the siege. He was fortunate enough to enjoy good health +throughout, and though he had some narrow escapes he was never hit. His +letters contain a complete story of the siege. + +_April 1900._ + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER I PAGE + +INTRODUCTORY + +The declaration of war--Sir George White and the defence of +Natal--The force at Glencoe--Battle of Talana Hill--General +Yule's retirement--Battle of Elandslaagte--Useless victories-- +The enemy's continued advance 1 + + +CHAPTER II + +LOMBARD'S KOP AND NICHOLSON'S NEK + +General White forced to fight--The order of battle--Leviathan-- +The Boers reinforced--A retrograde movement--How Marsden met his +death--Naval guns in action--A night of disaster--Who showed the +white flag?--A truce declared--A humiliating position 5 + + +CHAPTER III + +LADYSMITH INVESTED + +The exodus of the townsfolk--Communications threatened--Slim +Piet Joubert--Espionage in the town--Neglected precautions--A +truce that paid--British positions described--Big guns face to +face--Boers hold the railways--French's reconnaissance--The +General's flitting--A gauntlet of fire--An interrupted telegram-- +Death of Lieutenant Egerton--"My cricketing days are over"--Under +the enemy's guns--"A shell in my room"--Colonials in action--The +sacrifice of valuable lives 15 + + +CHAPTER IV + +EARLY DAYS OF THE SIEGE + +Moral effects of shell fire--General White appeals to Joubert-- +The neutral camp--Attitude of civilians--Meeting at the Town +Hall--A veteran's protest--Faith in the Union Jack--An impressive +scene--Removal of sick and wounded--Through the Boer lines--How +the posts were manned--Enemy mounting big guns--More about the +spies--Boer war ethics--In an English garden--Throwing up +defences--A gentlemanly monster--The Troglodytes--Humorous and +pathetic--"Long Tom" and "Lady Anne"--Links in the chain of fire-- +A round game of ordnance 30 + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FIRST BOER ASSAULT + +Joubert's boast--The preliminaries of attack--Shells in the town-- +A simultaneous advance--Observation Hill threatened--A wary +enemy--A prompt repulse--Attack on Tunnel Hill--The colour-sergeant's +last words--Manchesters under fire--Prone behind boulders--A Royal +salute--The Prince of Wales's birthday--Stretching the Geneva +Convention--The redoubtable Miss Maggie--The Boer Foreign Legion-- +Renegade Irishmen--A signal failure 58 + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MONTH UNDER SHELL FIRE + +The first siege-baby--An Irish-American deserter--A soldierly +grumble--Boer cunning and Staff-College strategy--An ammunition +difficulty--The tireless cavalry--A white flag incident--What +the Boer Commandant understood--The Natal summer--Mere sound +and fury--Boer Sabbatarianism--Naval guns at work--"Puffing +Billy" of Bulwaan--Intrepid Boer gunners--The barking of +"Pom-Poms"--Another reconnaissance--"Like scattered bands of Red +Indians"--A futile endeavour--A night alarm--Recommended for the +V.C.--A man of straw in khaki--The Boer search-light--Shelling +of the hospital--General White protests--The first woman hit-- +General Hunter's bravado--"Long Tom" knocked out--A gymkhana +under fire--Faith, Hope, and Charity--Flash signals from the +south--A new Creusot gun 69 + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SORTIES OF DECEMBER + +Retribution--Sir Archibald Hunter's bold scheme--A night attack-- +Silently through the darkness--At the foot of Gun Hill--A broken +ascent--"Wie kom dar?" "The English are on us!"--Major Henderson +thrice wounded--Destroying "Leviathan"--Hussars suffer under +fire--Rejoicings in town--Sir George White's address to the +troops--Boer compliments--A raid for provender--A second sortie-- +The Rifles' bold enterprise--An unwelcome light--Cutting the +wires--Surprise Hill reached--The sentry's challenge--Rifles' +charge with the bayonet--Boer howitzer destroyed--The return to +camp--Cutting the way home--Serious losses 103 + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AFTER COLENSO + +The Town-Guard called out--Echoes of Colenso--Heliograms from +Buller--The Boers and Dingaan's Day--Disappointing news--Special +correspondents summoned--Victims of the bombardment--Shaving +under shell fire--Tea with Lord Ava--Boer humour: "Where is +Buller?"--Sir George White's narrow escape--A disastrous shot-- +Fiftieth day of the siege--Grave and gay--"What does England +think of us?"--Stoical artillerymen--The moral courage of +caution--How Doctor Stark was killed--Serious thoughts--Gordons +at play--Boers watch the match--A story by the way--"My name is +Viljoen"--How Major King won his liberty--A tribute to Boer +hospitality--"We rely on your Generals"--General White and +Schalk-Burger--A coward chastised--"Sticking it out" 128 + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CHRISTMAS UNDER SIEGE + +Husbanding supplies--Colonel Ward's fine work--Our Christmas +market--A scanty show--Some startling prices--A word to cynics-- +The compounding of plum-puddings--The strict rules of +temperance--Boer greetings "per shell"--A lady's narrow escape-- +Correspondents provide sport--"Ginger" and the mules--The sick +and wounded--Some kindly gifts--Christmas tree for the children-- +Sir George White and the little ones--"When the war is over"--Some +empty rumours--A fickle climate--Eight officers killed and +wounded--More messages from Buller--Booming the old year out 155 + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREAT ASSAULT + +Why the Boers attacked--Interesting versions--A general surprise-- +Joubert's promise--Boer tactics reconsidered--Erroneous estimates-- +Under cover of night--A bare-footed advance--The Manchesters +surprised--The fight on Waggon Hill--In praise of the Imperial +Light Horse--A glorious band--The big guns speak--Lord Ava falls-- +Gordons and Rifles to the rescue--A perilous position--The death of +a hero--A momentary panic--Man to man--A gallant enemy--Burghers +who fell fighting--The storming of Caesar's Camp--Shadowy forms in +the darkness--An officer captured--"Maak Vecht!"--Abdy's guns in +play--"Well done, gunners!"--Taking water to the wounded-- +Dick-Cunyngham struck down--Some anxious moments--The Devons charge +home--A day well won 180 + + +CHAPTER XI + +WATCHING FOR BULLER + +Sir Redvers Buller's second attempt--A message from the Queen--Last +sad farewells--Burial of Steevens and Lord Ava--At dead of night-- +Relief army north of the Tugela--Water difficulties surmised--A +look in at Bulwaan--Spion Kop from afar--What the watchers saw-- +The Boers trekking--Buller withdraws--The "key" thrown away-- +Good-bye to luxuries--Precautions against disease--"Chevril"--The +damming of the Klip--Horseflesh unabashed--One touch of pathos-- +Vague memories of home--Sweet music from the south--Buller tries +again--Disillusionment--The last pipe of tobacco 209 + + +CHAPTER XII + +AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS + +Boer paean of victory--Rations cut down--Sausage without mystery-- +The "helio" moves east--Sick and dying at Intombi--Famine prices +at market--Laughter quits the camps--A kindly thing by the enemy-- +Good news at last--Heroes in tatters--The distant tide of battle-- +Pulse-like throb of rifles--Two sons for the Empire--British +infantry on Monte Cristo--Boer ambulances moving north--"'Ave you +'eard the noos?"--Rations increased--Bulwaan strikes his tents-- +"With a rifle and a red cross"--Buller "going strong"--Cronje's +surrender--A sorry celebration--"A beaten army in full retreat"-- +"Puffing Billy" dismantled--General Buller's message--belief at +hand 224 + + +CHAPTER XIII + +RELIEF AT LAST + +The beginning of the end--Buller's last advance--Heroic +Inniskillings--The coming of Dundonald--A welcome at Klip River +Drift--A weather-stained horseman--The Natal troopers--Cheers +and tears--A grand old General--Sir George White's address-- +"Thank God, we have kept the flag flying!"--"God save the Queen"-- +Arrival of Buller--Looking backward--Within four days of +starvation--Horseflesh a mere memory--Eight hundred sick and +wounded--A word of tribute--Conclusion 237 + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +Sir George Stewart White, V.C., G.C.S.I. (from a +photograph by Window & Grove) _Frontispiece_ + +The Royal Hotel, Ladysmith (showing the ruins of +Mr. Pearse's bedroom wrecked by a shell from "Long +Tom," 3rd Nov. 1899) _Face page 26_ + +A shell-proof resort (a culvert under a road used +as a living place by day for civilians, who returned +to their houses when the shelling ceased after sunset) 50 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking north towards +Rietfontein and the Newcastle Road) 96 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking nearly due south) 128 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking south-east) 162 + +The British position at Ladysmith (looking eastward) 202 + + + + +PLANS + + +Sketch-map of positions round Ladysmith, Nov. 1899 _Face page 60_ + +Siege of Ladysmith, after two months of bombardment 175 + +The environs of Ladysmith 180 + +Military map of Ladysmith _End of vol._ + + + + +CHAPTER I + +INTRODUCTORY + + The declaration of war--Sir George White and the defence of + Natal--The force at Glencoe--Battle of Talana Hill--General Yule's + retirement--Battle of Elandslaagte--Useless victories--Enemy's + continued advance. + + +Before taking up the history of the siege proper it will be well here to +pass briefly in review the events which led up to the isolation and +investment of Ladysmith. When war was declared by the Government of the +Transvaal in its despatch of the 9th October 1899, it found Her +Majesty's Government in very great measure unprepared. A month earlier, +however, reinforcements of 10,000 troops had been ordered to Natal from +India and elsewhere, and the major part of these were already in the +Colony. General Sir George White, who had arrived at Durban on 7th +October, had strongly advocated the abandonment of the northern district +of Natal, but allowed himself to be overborne by the urgent +representations of Sir W.F. Hely-Hutchinson, who believed the withdrawal +would involve grave political results. Sir William Penn Symons believed +that the districts in question could be defended by a comparatively +small force, and he was allowed to make the experiment. At that time +there were with him at Glencoe three battalions of infantry, a brigade +division of the Royal Artillery, the 18th Hussars, and a small body of +mounted infantry. The enemy crossed the borders immediately upon the +expiry of the term stipulated in the ultimatum, and on the 20th October +was fought the battle of Talana Hill. + +This first battle of the campaign demonstrated at once the soundness of +Sir George White's views. General Symons's little army worthily +maintained the military traditions of their race, and in the face of a +terrible fire from modern rifles, in the hands of the stubbornest of +foes, rushed the enemy's position and swept him from the heights. But +victory demanded heavy toll. The gallant commander nobly expiated the +mistaken judgment which had led him so seriously to underrate the +strength of the invaders, and nearly forty officers killed, wounded, and +taken prisoners, figured on a list of about 430 casualties. So heavy a +price was paid for a brief success and the knowledge that the enemy was +too strong to make it safe to hold the Glencoe position longer. + +General Yule, who now took command of the column, abandoned his camp on +the 22nd October, and withdrew by a circuitous route to Ladysmith, +which was reached on the 26th. In the meantime, however, on the 21st, +the Boers marched from the north-west, having cut the railway and +captured a train of supplies at Elandslaagte to the north of Ladysmith. +Sir George White therefore ordered out a force, under General French, to +clear them from the line and to restore communication. Here again the +hostile positions were stormed with reckless gallantry, and the Boers +were swept back in headlong flight, suffering heavy losses. But again +our loss, especially in officers, was very serious, and again it soon +became apparent that victory, quite apart from the price of it, had not +improved our position. The Boers, thrust back for the moment at one +point, steadily continued their advance. General White's force was again +engaged on the 24th October, when, in order to prevent the enemy +crossing the Newcastle road from west to east, and falling on the flank +of General Yule's retiring column, an attack was made in force upon the +enemy at Rietfontein, near Elandslaagte, and the Boers, after six hours' +fighting, were driven from the hills. + +The object aimed at was thus secured. Whether, had the effort been +pushed home, a definite check might at this stage have been imposed upon +the Boer advance, is doubtful. Stopping where it did, it did not prevent +the steady and unceasing movements of the enemy to surround Ladysmith. +One more fight and they were to circle the town in a ring of metal +which was long to withstand all the blows that could be levelled against +it. The battle of Lombard's Kop, or Farquhar's Farm, as it is officially +styled, ended in disaster to the British arms, and drew tight the +threads in the entanglement of Ladysmith. The evil fortunes of the day +were described vividly by Mr. Pearse in a letter written on the +following day. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +LOMBARD'S KOP AND NICHOLSON'S NEK + + General White forced to fight--The order of battle--Leviathan--The + Boers reinforced--A retrograde movement--How Marsden met his + death--Naval guns in action--A night of disaster--Who showed the + white flag?--A truce declared--A humiliating position. + + +_October 31._--If the action on Rietfontein, or Pepworth's Farm ridges, +a week ago was the great score for us that official reports represent, +in that it checkmated all possible efforts of the Boers to intercept +Brigadier-General Yule's column on its march from Dundee, there can be +no doubt that the tables were turned upon us effectually yesterday. Not +only did our attempt to beat one of the enemy's columns in detail, and +capture the heavy Creusot guns that had been harassing us, fail through +misdirection, but when attacked in turn by Boer reinforcements, our +troops were untimely ordered to abandon a position that they had held +for four hours without serious loss, and this gave moral, if not +material victory to the enemy. Successful in every fight up to that +point, we are now in the humiliating position of finding ourselves +practically invested by a Boer force that will not attack except by +artillery fire at long range, and whose leader has the power +temporarily, at any rate, to choose the fighting ground that suits Boer +tactics best if we decide to take the offensive. Not only so, but our +little army here has suffered a great disaster in the loss of two +gallant regiments, one of which had only ten days earlier gained for +itself proud distinction by being first to crown the heights of Talana, +near Dundee, where British infantry proved worthy of its most glorious +traditions. As a purely defensive measure, if nothing more, the fight of +yesterday was forced upon us. Like some other operations in this brief +but eventful campaign, it came too late, but, whether timely or not, +a battle was inevitable unless we meant to sit down tamely and be +battered at. + +Yesterday morning, long before daybreak, our force was on the move, +intent upon outflanking positions which the Boers held two days earlier. +Colonel Grimwood, with one brigade consisting of the 1st and 2nd King's +Royal Rifles, the Leicestershire and the Liverpool battalions, took up a +position on open ground near Lombard's Kop, supported by a regiment of +cavalry, the Border Mounted Rifles, and the Natal Carbineers with three +batteries. A fourth battery was posted on a green kopje almost directly +in line between Lombard's Kop and Rietfontein Hill. Colonel Ian +Hamilton, with the second infantry brigade, consisting of the Gordon +Highlanders, Rifle Brigade, Manchesters, and 1st Devons, formed a +strong reserve behind the long ridge connecting these points with their +left on the Newcastle road, where the Imperial Light Horse were held +ready for action when the proper time should come. + +At four o'clock in the morning our infantry were all in position for the +fight, as it had been originally planned. Half an hour later they +exchanged shots with a few Boers scattered about kopjes in their front, +and from that moment, until nearly noon, they remained practically under +fire, never budging an inch, but remaining immovable, except when a +change of front became necessary to meet the Boer reinforcements, and +that was effected by an advance. Up to that point everything seemed to +be going in our favour. When there was daylight enough for gunners to +see clearly, the 42nd Battery, posted at the eastern end of a green +kopje that forms an irregular spur of Rietfontein Hill, but at a much +lower elevation, opened fire on that ridge where the Boers had planted +Long Tom. + +It was interesting to watch shot after shot fall nearer the mark around +it as the gunners picked up the range, until one shell struck and burst +close to "Long Tom's" embrasure. Then the battery took to firing +shrapnel, which were so well timed that one could see projectiles from +the six guns in succession bursting at intervals along Rietfontein's +level crest, which must have been raked from end to end with a shower of +shrapnel bullets. The enemy's leviathan sent two shots at this battery, +without effect, and then turned its fire upon Ladysmith town again, not +with malicious intent, perhaps, but aiming to hit either the balloon or +the railway station, where, in addition to naval guns, there happened to +be stores of forage and other things that might easily have been set +aflame by shells. + +Notwithstanding this demonstration, our force was making steady progress +towards an envelopment of the main Boer position at half-past seven in +the morning. Immediately after that, however, prospects changed with the +appearance of formidable reinforcements for the Boers, marching +apparently from the direction in which a large camp had been seen two +days earlier. They came into action on our right flank with a brisk +rifle fire, followed by the deep notes of artillery. In intervals +between the regular roar of field guns came the sledgehammer "thud! +thud! thud!" from an automatic gun, which Tommy Atkins, with his +aptitude for expressive phrases, promptly christened "Pom! Pom!" and +that name sticks to it with unpleasant associations, for the Boers had +not only one but many automatons of the same pattern. Like the heavier +field-piece, "Pom! Pom!" throws shells that burst badly, but throws them +with great accuracy, so that scores of shots in rapid succession fell +among our batteries whenever they advanced to a fresh position, or +changed ground in hope of keeping down that harassing fire. + +At this time the Border Mounted Infantry and Natal Carbineers made +frequent dashes to secure advantageous points, and the Boers were at one +time so hard pressed that they gave ground hurriedly before an attempt +of the 60th Rifles to gain a rough crest which took the long hollow +behind Lombard's Kop in reverse. Then the enemy's reinforcements falling +back somewhat threatened our right flank, and Sir George White, +reluctant to prolong his already attenuated line, met that movement only +by sending the Carbineers round Lombard's Kop, and bringing up the +Imperial Light Horse in support. + +About this time the Gordon Highlanders and Manchester battalion were +drawn forward from Hamilton's Brigade to the green tree-fringed kopje, +on the ridge of which our 42nd Battery still maintained its position, +playing effectively upon "Long Tom." It looked as if Sir George meant to +reinforce his fighting line, and try a decisive counter-stroke, by +throwing all the weight he could against the Boer left wing, which was +either wavering or executing some wily movement that had the appearance +of a retirement. But unluckily at this critical moment the 60th Rifles +and Leicestershire men began to fall back from the position they had +gained, which was immediately occupied by Boer riflemen, and the 60th, +exposed to a storm of bullets from three sides, came across open ground +in very loose formation. We presently learned that the order had been +sent for them "to retire on the balloon," Sir George White having +apparently resolved upon concentration by a retrograde movement. + +Receiving a message in the words quoted, men naturally assumed that it +meant a hasty retreat and not a retirement by successive lines of +resistance. In some cases nerves overstrained by hours of inaction gave +way, and a few men threw down arms or equipment in a momentary panic, +abandoning even their Maxim gun for a time. This, however, was quickly +checked by the example of cool comrades, who, spreading out in obedience +to commands from their officers so that there might be wide intervals +for the shots to pass through, walked slowly and steadily across the +open veldt, where bullets were raining like hailstones. In that +retirement Major Myres, of the 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifles (60th), +fell mortally wounded. Young Marsden, of the same battalion, going to +the Major's assistance, knelt beside him, and bent over as if to bind up +a wound. In that position he remained motionless so long that Lieutenant +Johnson, who had been firing steadily with a wounded soldier's rifle +until twice hit himself, went to see if he could give any help. He found +his brother subaltern dead in the act of binding up a wound as he knelt +over the dying field-officer's body. At that moment Lieutenant Johnson +received his third wound, and had to be carried from the field by +ambulance men. + +Mounted infantry of the King's Royal Rifles and Leicestershire +Regiment, with Natal and Border Mounted Rifles, covered this retirement +until it passed beyond the new line formed by Gordons and Manchesters, +so that Colonel Grimwood's Infantry Brigade, looking rather like broken +troops in the loose irregularity of every company, was not called upon +to rally or turn to face the enemy, but marched straight back towards +the balloon, "Long Tom" opening fire upon them as they crossed a ridge, +with marvellously exact knowledge of the range. Three shells burst close +to groups of the 60th, many men being hit. + +At that moment, however, the Boer gunners' attention was diverted to +another point, where, from hills just in front of the town, and facing +Rietfontein, Captain Lambton's 12-pounders opened. It was as great a +surprise for us as for the Boers. We saw the shell explode just in front +of "Long Tom's" epaulement, and heard a cheer from spectators, scores of +the townspeople having gathered on a slope by Cove Hill to watch the +scene, among them a crippled gentleman who has to be wheeled about in a +Bath-chair. Nobody who does not know what sailors will accomplish in +spite of difficulties could have believed that Captain Lambton would +bring his guns into action so soon after reaching Ladysmith, and +especially, as we heard afterwards, as one had been upset by a shell +from "Long Tom" as it was being drawn across level ground slowly by a +team of oxen. Evidently, however, the mishap had done no harm, for the +bluejackets were manning two 12-pounders that showed no sign of damage, +and both of them were making excellent practice. At the third round it +planted a shell in the enemy's battery, and the fifth put "Long Tom" out +of action for a time by disabling some of its gunners. Sir George +White's gradual withdrawal of his forces to positions prepared for +defence was therefore not harassed by shell fire from beyond the range +of our own field batteries. + +Quite apart from these operations, but intended to fit in with them, was +the despatch of a flying column late on Sunday night to turn the enemy's +right flank or cut off his line of retreat in the direction of Van +Reenan's Pass. For either purpose, two battalions of infantry, though +they might be the bravest and the best, with a mountain-battery of +7-pounders carried on mules, did not seem quite adequate, but Major +Adye, of the Royal Irish Rifles, who acted as staff-officer guiding the +column, was confident of success, and glad of the chance to be with two +such battalions as the Royal Irish Fusiliers and the Gloucesters in such +an enterprise. + +Possibly all might have gone well with it but for a deplorable accident. +In the dead of night some boulders rolling down from a hill startled the +transport and mountain-battery mules, which stampeded, taking with them +nearly all the reserve rifle ammunition. As to what happened after that, +accounts vary greatly. Few of the Gloucester men or Royal Irish +Fusiliers got back to tell the story, except as wounded men on parole, +and they had not seen the whole thing through. It seems certain, +however, from concordance of evidence, that the Gloucesters and +Fusiliers, instead of outflanking the Boers, were actually between two +strong bodies of Free State men, when they seized a strong position and +established themselves there. At any rate, they were attacked in turn +soon after daybreak by Boers who crept up the slopes in rear, firing on +them from both flanks--some say all round. Notwithstanding this, the +thousand men held their ground against odds until nearly every round of +ammunition had been expended, and the casualties numbered nearly a +hundred and fifty killed or wounded. + +Both regiments begged that they might be allowed to charge the rough +slopes from which the ceaseless stings of rifle-fire came, and the +Fusiliers, whose colonel would have led them willingly enough, had their +bayonets fixed, when some one hoisted the white flag, and by this act +the remnants of two gallant regiments became prisoners of war. "Flags of +truce!" said an "old brag" who recounted the story, with tears in his +voice; "I wish they would leave the damned rags at home, or dye them all +khaki colour, so that neither Dutchmen nor us could ever see them." + +News of that disaster travelled fast. It was told on the battlefield in +front of Ladysmith two hours later, and it probably had some effect on +the fortunes of a fight that cannot be recalled by Englishmen with +unmixed satisfaction. The result may be regarded as a drawn battle, in +that each side remained at the finish in possession of its own position, +but on us who watched every phase, first with confidence and then with +increasing anxiety, the impression made was a very unpleasant one, +closely akin to humiliation. + +The Boers were left in command of heights on which, if given time, they +may plant artillery to shell the town and camp with a fire to which we +can make no effective reply until the quick-firing naval guns of heavy +calibre and long range are mounted. Bluejackets have been working hard +to that end all day, unmolested by the enemy, who have declared a truce +for twenty-four hours in order that the wounded of both sides may be +placed in comparative safety. + +General Joubert has sent to us an ambulance with wounded under parole +from the captured column, and in exchange his surgeons have taken a +similar number of Boer wounded from our hospitals. All who have come in +speak highly of the treatment they have received at the enemy's hands. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +LADYSMITH INVESTED + + The exodus of the townsfolk--Communications threatened--Slim Piet + Joubert--Espionage in the town--Neglected precautions--A truce that + paid--British positions described--Big guns face to face--Boers + hold the railways--French's reconnaissance--The General's + flitting--A gauntlet of fire--An interrupted telegram--Death of + Lieutenant Egerton--"My cricketing days are over"--Under the + enemy's guns--"A shell in my room"--Colonials in action--The + sacrifice of valuable lives. + + + October closed without further hostilities, and its last day was + uneventful in a military sense, though full of forebodings in the + town, because all knew that the Boers were taking advantage of a + brief armistice to bring up reinforcements. On this last day of the + month civilians eager to get away from Ladysmith crowded every + train. Writing on November 1st, Mr. Pearse said:-- + +All Saints' Day is observed with some strictness by Boers who do not +show similar veneration for other festivals in the Church Calendar. +There have at any rate been no hostilities to-day, but from Captain +Lambton's Battery on Junction Hill, where the naval 4.7-inch +quick-firing gun is being mounted, we have by the aid of the signalman's +powerful telescope watched a significant Boer movement going on for +hours. We can see them among the scrubby trees between Lombard's Kop and +Umbulwaana (or Bulwaan as it is more generally called), and hurrying off +behind that hill along the road that leads southwards. That road cuts +the railway not more than six or seven miles out, and their movement +threatens our line of communications that way, unless we can manage to +check it by judicious use of cavalry and mounted troops. The flight of +townsfolk southward continues. They do not even trouble about luggage +now, but lock their doors and clear off. Half the houses are empty, and +many shops closed. + + It was early shown that the enemy had not undertaken the war in a + half-hearted manner. He let no possible opportunity escape to + better his position; and in the choice of means he was not inclined + to risk his reputation for "slimness." On this point Mr. Pearse has + a good deal to say in his next letter:-- + +_November 2._--For two whole days after the battle of Lombard's Kop +there was absolute cessation of hostilities, and this lull the Boers +turned to account in a manner very characteristic. There can be hardly +any doubt that we might have taken advantage of it also to safeguard our +line of communications by posting a force where it might have checkmated +one of the enemy's obvious moves. Anything would have been better than +the inaction, which simply allowed the Boers to mature their own plans +and put them into execution without risk of interference from us. That +might almost have been foreseen when General Joubert on 31st October hit +upon a characteristic plan for finding out what was the exact state of +affairs in Ladysmith, and we, with a delightful naivete, suspecting no +guile, seem to have played into his hands. It will be remembered that +the most painful incident of "Black" or "Mournful Monday" was the +surrender of all but a company or two of the Gloucesters and Royal Irish +Fusiliers, which with a mountain battery had been detached to turn the +enemy's flanks, with consequences so humiliating and disastrous to us. +Under pretence of treating the wounded from this column with great +consideration, Joubert sent them into camp here, taking their parole as +a guarantee that they would not carry arms again during this campaign. +With the ambulance waggon was an escort of twenty Boers, all wearing the +Red Cross badge of neutrality. Their instructions were to demand an +exchange of wounded, and on the plea of being responsible for the proper +care of their own men, they claimed to be admitted within our lines. +Such a preposterous request would not have been listened to for a moment +by some generals, but Sir George White, being anxious apparently to +propitiate an enemy whose guns commanded the town, full as it was of +helpless women and children, yielded that point, and so the ambulance +with its swaggering Boer escort came into town neither blindfolded nor +under any military restrictions whatever. Among this mounted escort +Ladysmith people recognised several well-known burghers, who were +certainly not doctors or otherwise specially qualified for attendance on +wounded men. They were free to move about the town, to talk with Boer +prisoners, and to drink at public bars with suspected Boer +sympathisers--all this while they probably picked up many interesting +items as to the number of troops in Ladysmith, the position of ordnance +stores and magazines, and the general state of our defences, which were +chaotic at that moment. One among the visitors was particularly curious +about the names of officers who dined habitually at the Royal Hotel +mess, and very anxious to have such celebrities as Colonel Frank Rhodes, +Dr. Jameson, and Sir John Willoughby pointed out to him. Does anybody in +his senses believe that such careful inquiries were made without an +object, or that the Red Cross badge was regarded as a sacred symbol +sealing the lips of a Boer as to all he had seen and heard in Ladysmith? + +When Joubert's artillery began shelling the town their fire was directed +on important stores, the locality of which could only have been +indicated to them by secret agents, and on places where officers are +known to assemble at certain hours. These may all have been merely +strange coincidences, but, at any rate, they are noteworthy as showing +that in some way, whether by accident or cunning design, General +Joubert's gunners were able to profit by the truce that was agreed upon +without any exact stipulation on either side as to its duration. The +tacit understanding seems to have been that both forces should have time +to collect their wounded and bury their dead. + +It is certain that the Boers took a little more time than was necessary +for this purpose, and turned it to good use for themselves by +strengthening the earthworks behind which "Long Tom" is mounted, while +we in turn were enabled to get a second naval gun of heavy calibre into +position before the bombardment began again. The necessity for doing +this was probably chief among reasons which kept our artillery silent +during the last two days, though it seemed to mere spectators that a +chance was thus being given for the enemy to mount batteries on heights +that commanded nearly every part of our camp. + +To make this perfectly clear without the aid of a map showing contours +of all ridges and hollows is very difficult, and one can only attempt to +give in words a rough idea of the general position. If the reader will +bear in mind what a horse's hoof inverted looks like, he may get a +mental picture of Ladysmith and its surroundings--the heels of the +horse-shoe pointing eastward, where, five miles off, is the long, flat +top of steep Bulwaan, like the huge bar of a gigantic horse-shoe magnet. +The horse's frog approximately represents a ridge behind which, and +facing Bulwaan, but separated from it by broad stretches of meadow, with +the Klip River winding a serpentine course through them, between high +banks, is Ladysmith town. Between the frog and the horse-shoe lie our +various camps, mostly in radiating hollows, open either to the east or +west, but sheltered from cross fires by rough kopjes of porphyritic +boulders that have turned brown on the surface by exposure to sunshine. +Bushy tangles of wild, white jasmine spring from among these boulders +with denser growth of thriving shrubs bearing waxen flowers that blaze +in brilliant scarlet and orange, and the coarse grass that begins to +show on every patch of earth between the rocks is dotted with clusters +like dwarf petunias, or purple bells of trailing convolvulus. A rich +storehouse this for the botanist, whose contemplative studies, however, +might be rudely disturbed by the shriek and boom of shells bursting +about him, for, as I have said, the enemy's guns command most of these +ridges, though they cannot always search the hollows in which our camps +are as much as possible hidden. + +The horse-shoe, in its irregular curve, is dotted here and there with +outposts, whose duty it is to keep the enemy's sharpshooters from +getting within rifle range of our artillery positions encrusting the +ridges at several points like nails of the horse-shoe. Without locating +them exactly, one may say that the Naval batteries are on rough +eminences of the northern heel, facing Rietfontein Hill, where the +Creusot gun, known as "Long Tom," is mounted behind earthworks at a +range of 6800 yards, which is well within compass of the _Powerful's_ +12-pounders and at least 3000 yards less than the extreme distance at +which shells from her 4.7-inch quick-firing guns would be effective. + +Positions for field batteries are prepared at other points round the +wide sweep, but only to be occupied as occasion may arise, and therefore +one does not care at present to locate them more precisely. The enemy, +having heavy artillery of various calibre mounted on Bulwaan, is able to +enfilade certain posts held by our infantry pickets on the heels of the +horse-shoe, but there are folds among the rocky kopjes where men can lie +comparatively screened from shells, which at that distance give timely +notice of their coming, as sound travels rather faster than the +projectiles do at the end of their flight. + +We have outposts on Intombi or Maiden's Castle, which forms the +horse-shoe's southern heel, others stretching westward thence to a gap +in the toe of the shoe, through which a wood runs nearly due west until +it branches off to the Drakensberg Passes in one direction and +Maritzburg in the other, and pickets on the north-western and northern +heights, with a detached post at Observation Hill, an elongated kopje +outside the general defences, overlooking a wide valley of mimosa scrub +towards Rietfontein, which is the enemy's main stronghold, commanding +as it does the railways to Van Reenan's Pass in the west, and to +Newcastle in the north. Except for a distance of two miles from +Ladysmith, therefore, both these railways are in the hands of the Boers, +who can use them as uninterrupted lines of communication with the Orange +Free State and the Transvaal respectively. That they were being so used +to some purpose we had reason for believing, during the two peaceful +days following the one which from its associations has come to be known +among soldiers as "Mournful Monday." Standing on the naval battery, one +could watch Boers hard at work preparing positions near Lombard's Kop, +and along the crest of Bulwaan, for artillery that was probably then +being brought by railway from Laing's Nek, and at the same time columns +of Boer horsemen were moving behind Bulwaan southwards, evidently intent +upon cutting our own lines of communication. That they would be allowed +to accomplish it without a timely effort on our part to prevent them +seemed inconceivable. + +For most of us it was a shock to realise that ten or twelve thousand +British soldiers could be shut up by an army of Boer farmers before any +attempt at a counter-stroke had been made. The mobility of our enemies, +however, gives them a wonderful advantage in such movements over a force +that consists mainly of slow-moving infantry, and unless opportunity is +taken to attack them promptly, when they may be beaten in detail, their +power for mischief is very far-reaching. Possibly Sir George White was +quite right to put his trust in defensive tactics, knowing that he could +hold Ladysmith against all attempts of the Boers to capture it +notwithstanding their numerical superiority, but it is none the less +vexatious and unpleasant to find ourselves beleaguered and bombarded. + +Whether the enemy had power to invest Ladysmith effectually, and keep a +strong force across our lines of communication would only be ascertained +by a reconnaissance. Directly and without any warning except to officers +commanding detachments, a force assembled at the earliest hour this +morning (Nov. 2). There was so little fuss that soldiers lying in tents +on bivouac slept undisturbed by the clanking of bits as horses were +saddled, or the rumble of wheels when a battery moved to their places in +the column. Artillery, 5th Lancers, 18th Hussars, Natal Carbineers, +Border Mounted and Natal Mounted Rifles get together silently, the +volunteers vieing with regulars in this proof of discipline, which +indeed comes natural to men many of whom know by sporting experience on +the veldt that silence is a virtue. General French takes command of this +mobile little force, and at two o'clock it moves out through the +darkness for a reconnaissance along the Colenso Road, where it comes in +touch with the enemy soon after daybreak. A brisk skirmish against Boer +riflemen, who as usual have been quick to occupy commanding kopjes; +showers of shrapnel hurled among them from our field battery; a few +shells tearing up the dust in clouds in their distant camp; and two of +our own Lancers hit, makes up the story of this affair, which serves to +show conclusively that communication by road in that direction is +barred, if not effectually cut. General French therefore brought his +column back, reaching Ladysmith in time to take train for Durban, +handing over the cavalry command before he left to General Brocklehurst. + +That train was the last to get through, and even then had to run the +gauntlet of rifle and artillery fire from Boers who were on both sides +of the line. An hour later the railway was cut by the Boers, whose light +guns completely commanded a defile through which the line passes; and at +two o'clock telegraphic communication stopped short in the middle of an +important despatch, while private and press messages innumerable await +their turn. The thread of that interrupted telegram will probably not be +taken up for many days, and we realise that our isolation is complete. +Communications might have been kept open for days longer by an energetic +use of artillery and mounted troops, but now it is too late to reopen +them without incurring risk of serious losses. We must be content to +wait the development of events in other quarters, for the Boers are all +round us now, and, blink the fact as we may, it must be admitted that +Ladysmith is under siege. + +While General French was making his reconnaissance our naval 12-pounders +opened fire on "Long Tom" a few minutes after six o'clock, as a flash +and puff of white smoke from his muzzle told that the bombardment was +about to begin. For an hour and a half the artillery duel went on +briskly, Captain Lambton's naval battery answering shot for shot, or +rather anticipating each, as the shells from our guns travel with +greater velocity, and get home three seconds before "Long Tom's" can +take effect. + +Unfortunately one of the enemy's shells fell close to Lieutenant +Egerton, instructor in gunnery of H.M.S. _Powerful_, who was mortally +wounded. "My cricketing days are over now," he said, with a plucky +attempt to make light of his agony as the bluejackets lifted him gently +on to a stretcher. The Naval Brigade also had one bluejacket wounded, +but not seriously. There was only one other casualty, though shells fell +frequently into the camps of Gordon Highlanders and Imperial Light Horse +in rear of our main battery, the former having one man hit by a splinter +as he lay in his tent. The two regiments were thereupon ordered to shift +their quarters, which they did with great promptitude, having no +particular fancy to play the part of targets for ninety-four-pound +shells. + +_November 3._--Misfortunes press upon each other quickly. This morning +Lieut. Egerton, R.N., a young sailor, not less distinguished for skill +in his profession than for personal gallantry, died. His requiem rang +out from the naval battery in its duel with the enemy's heaviest +artillery. Soon other Boer guns joined in from Lombard's Kop and the +slopes of Bulwaan, throwing shells about the town as if resolved to +compass its ruin. + +To-day, indeed, for the first time, we have had brought home to us the +dangers and discomforts, if not the horrors, of what a bombardment may +be in an unfortified town under the fire of modern artillery. We cannot +accuse the Boers of having deliberately thrown shells into the houses of +peaceful inhabitants, or over buildings on which the Geneva Cross was +flying. These are, unfortunately, just in the line of "Long Tom's" fire +from Rietfontein Hill, and the shells may have been aimed at our naval +battery, but, if so, they went very high, or their trajectory at that +range would not have carried them half a mile beyond the mark. + +[Illustration: THE ROYAL HOTEL, LADYSMITH + +Showing ruins of Mr. Pearse's bedroom, wrecked by a shell from "Long +Tom," Nov. 3, 1899] + +Several fell near the hospital, others went 500 yards farther in the +direction of Sir George White's headquarters, and one came crashing into +my bedroom at the Royal Hotel, not ten yards from where many officers +were then lunching. The hotel is a prominent building, that can be seen +from "Long Tom's" battery, and many people, giving Boer gunners credit +for astonishing accuracy, suggested that the shot must have been aimed +to strike where it did, in the hope of bagging Colonel Frank Rhodes and +Doctor Jameson, whose ordinary hour for meals was known to every spy +frequenting the place, and might easily have been communicated by +them to the artillerist Mattey, who was recognised among a group +drinking at the bar on Tuesday evening. Of slight materials do the +Ladysmith townsmen weave romances, but one can hardly be surprised, +seeing how long they have lived in strained relations with neighbours +whose Boer sympathies were well known. But whether intended for the +Royal Hotel or not, the shell came very near to causing several +vacancies in the senior ranks of this force. Passing through the ceiling +and partition wall of a colleague's bedroom, it burst in mine with such +force that it blew out the whole end-wall, hurling bricks across a +narrow court, all about the dining-room windows, which were smashed by +the explosion; but of those sitting close inside only one was slightly +scratched by broken glass. Clouds of dust, mingled with fumes of powder, +poured in through the open casement, so that those in farther corners +were for some moments in much anxiety as to the fate of their friends. +When they found that no harm had been done there was an assumption of +mirth all round, but nobody cared to stay much longer in that room. At +the moment of explosion I had risen from the table to resume work in my +chamber, which presented to my astonished eyes anything but the +characteristics of a quiet study then. Papers scattered in every +direction were buried with clothes and kit under a wreckage of building +materials. One fragment of iron shell had gone clean through a bag and +all its contents to bury itself beneath the floor in earth. Another had +crushed my precious Kodak flat, and there was scarcely a thing exposed +in the place that had not been torn by the blast of powder or cut by +splinters. The diminished population of Ladysmith began to gather about +that spot when they found that no other shells fell there. "What a lucky +escape for you!" they all said, and I devoutly agreed with them. + +That was "Long Tom's" last attempt at bombarding Ladysmith to-day. He +had been frequently silenced, and once apparently disabled in his heavy +duel with "Lady Anne," as Captain Lambton names the naval quick-firing +gun, and a final lucky shot either put him out of action for the day or +injured so many Boer gunners that their comrades did not care to "face +the music" again. While all this bombardment was going on, the telegraph +staff and post-office clerks, having no work to do, amused themselves by +playing cricket on the raceground within sight of the Boers on Bulwaan, +and well within range of guns mounted near the crest of that hill, +whence a hot fire was for some time directed towards the town. And they +played their match to a finish, though one shell burst very close to +them. + +Meanwhile General Brocklehurst having succeeded General French in the +cavalry command, took out another flying column composed of 5th Dragoon +Guards, Imperial Light Horse, Border Mounted Rifles, and one field +battery, to keep the enemy in play and prevent them from mounting other +guns. He attacked the ridges about Lancer's Nek and all his troops +behaved brilliantly. The Border Mounted Rifles in squadrons, wave behind +wave, charged a kopje as if they meant to ride full tilt to its crest, +but halting at its base to dismount they scaled its rugged slopes and +drove the Boers back to another ridge, exchanging shots at short range +with effect on both sides. The Imperial Light Horse had meanwhile got +into a tight place, and the 5th Dragoon Guards, dashing forward to their +assistance were badly galled by fire from Boers concealed among rocks in +front and flank. Out of this difficulty they had to run the gauntlet for +their lives, but not so hurriedly that they could not stop to help +comrades in distress, and many deeds of heroism under fire made the +spectators of this episode forget that some one had blundered. The Boers +got no more guns into position to-day, but we had only gained a brief +respite, and at the sacrifice of some valuable lives. Major Taunton of +the Border Mounted Rifles and Captain Knapp and Lieutenant Brabant of +the Imperial Light Horse were killed, and many of lower rank wounded. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +EARLY DAYS OF THE SIEGE + + Moral effects of shell-fire--General White appeals to Joubert--The + neutral camp--Attitude of civilians--Meeting at the Town Hall--A + veteran's protest--Faith in the Union Jack--An impressive + scene--Removal of sick and wounded--Through the Boer lines--How the + posts were manned--Enemy mounting big guns--More about the + spies--Boer war ethics--In an English garden--Throwing up + defences--A gentlemanly monster--The Troglodytes--Humorous and + pathetic--"Long Tom" and "Lady Anne"--Links in the chain of fire--A + round game of ordnance. + + + The reconnaissance under General Brocklehurst, above described, + brought home to the garrison of Ladysmith their utter helplessness + to prevent the isolation and investment of the town. Any doubt that + may have lingered among them or the civil inhabitants was dispelled + by the action promptly taken by Sir George White to try and secure + the safety of these latter and his sick and wounded. The + circumstances are related by Mr. Pearse in a letter dated 5th + November:-- + +Sunday, _5th November_.--There can be no doubt about the first effects +of shell-fire on a beleaguered town. Let men try to disguise the fact as +they may, it gets on the nerves of the most courageous among us, +producing a sense of helplessness in the presence of danger. Nobody +likes sitting still to be battered at without power of effective reply. +Still less would he be content to stand inactive by while the wounded +and defenceless were being shelled. These considerations no doubt +influenced Sir George White yesterday when he sent a message to General +Joubert asking that non-combatants with sick and wounded might be +allowed to leave Ladysmith without molestation. It must have been +bitterly humiliating for a soldier in command of ten or twelve thousand +British troops, who have been twice victorious in battle, to feel that +one reverse had resulted in making him a suitor for so much favour at +the hands of an adversary. Whether the request ought ever to have been +made or not, to say nothing of whether we ought to have been in the +abject position of having to make it, is a question about which most +civilians are at variance with the military authorities, seeing that the +answer was a foregone conclusion. Its exact purport we do not know yet, +but it amounted to a flat refusal, as most of us had foreseen, and was +accompanied by alternative proposals which placed Joubert in the +position of a potential conqueror--dictating terms, and our acceptance +of these cannot be read by the Boers in any other light than as an +admission of weakness or pusillanimity. Of course we know that it means +nothing of the kind, but simply that Sir George White would not expose +sick and wounded, with helpless women, children, and non-combatants +generally, to the possible horrors of a prolonged bombardment. So long +as they remained in town he would be righting with one hand tied, +because he could not in that case place batteries in certain +advantageous positions without the risk of drawing fire from Boer guns +on Ladysmith and its civilian inhabitants. Whether this state of things +has been mended much by Sir George White's acceptance of Boer conditions +and Ladysmith's practical repudiation of them may well be doubted. As +the matter is generally understood, General Joubert, while declining to +grant Sir George's request, consented that a neutral camp for sick, +wounded, and non-combatants should be formed at Intombi Spruit, five +miles out on the railway line to Colenso, and practically within the +Boer lines. They were to be supplied with food, water, and all +necessaries from Ladysmith by train daily, under the white flag, and to +be on parole not to take any part thenceforth in this war. + +As a set-off against these conditions, Joubert undertook that the camp +should not be fired upon by any of his men, or its occupants molested, +so long as they observed the regulations imposed upon them. And he +promised further that they should all be released, but still on parole, +whenever the siege of Ladysmith might be raised or the Boer forces +withdrawn. He gave no pledge, however, that his batteries should not be +placed in such a position that they would be screened by the hospital +camp from the fire of our guns, or that when he might choose to attack, +the Boer forces would not advance from a point where we could not shoot +at them without danger of sending shells and bullets among our own +comrades and fellow-subjects. + +Ladysmith's most representative men were dead against the acceptance of +conditions which seemed to them all in favour of one side. They +expressed freely, and without reserve, doubts as to General Joubert's +good faith, and saw in his proposals only fresh instances of Boer +cunning. Their sturdy manhood rebelled against arbitrary terms dictated +by an enemy whose superiority, except in mere numbers, they naturally +enough declined to admit. The weaker spirits might yield, if they would, +out of timid respect for "Long Tom" and other heavy artillery, the +shells from which, though they have done little harm so far, have a +distinctly demoralising effect when they come screeching through the air +and crashing into houses day after day. + +In earlier stages of the bombardment people showed little alarm after +they had got over the first shock of hearing a shell burst. Children +were allowed to play about the streets, and women went shopping, +according to the custom of their sex all the world over. Kaffir girls +stood in groups at street corners, swaying their bodies as they beat +noiseless time with their bare feet to the monotonous drone of +mouth-organs or Jews'-harps, which most of them carry strung about their +necks, wherewith to banish dull care in the many moments of leisure +snatched from toil, and beaming broad smiles on every dusky swain who +passed. But the rumour got about that General Joubert had threatened to +bombard the town indiscriminately if our guns fired lyddite at his +batteries, and this threat had unknown terrors for the simple, who did +not realise that, whether discriminately or indiscriminately, Boer +shells would continue to fall in Ladysmith streets all the same. + +So far as I can find out, General Joubert never sent such a foolish +message, but the rumour--possibly put about by Boer agents--served its +purpose by inducing a timorousness in some minds, and men who had no +fear for themselves began to get very anxious about the safety of wives +and children. That was the keynote of a speech made by Mr. Farquhar at +the public meeting yesterday, when he, as Mayor of Ladysmith, made +official announcement of General Joubert's proposals. Mr. Farquhar is a +cautious Scotsman, whose sense of responsibility in such a crisis would +compel him to put the gravest phase of the case first. The Boer +conditions, however, met with nothing but indignant protests, nobody +venturing to raise his voice in favour of them except by way of comment +on the utterances of some fiery orator, who was for asking the General +to send back threats of dire punishment on every Boer if a shot should +be fired into the town. Mr. Charles Jones, who was a transport rider in +the Boer war of 1881, and carried Sir Evelyn Wood's despatches through +the enemy's lines to a beleaguered garrison, was first to express in +calm, manly words what was afterwards found to be the general feeling of +the townsmen present at that meeting. Mr. Jones has won the respect of +every Englishman who knows him by the steadfastness with which he stuck +to his post when others were seeking safety in migration to Maritzburg +or Durban. With firm faith in the leader under whom, as a volunteer, he +saw active service, Mr. Jones believes that we should see our +difficulties through, without asking or accepting doubtful favours from +a foe. Somebody in the crowd ventured to say, "But your wife and +children are not here now." "No," was the answer; "and I have no wish +nor right to speak for fathers and husbands, who are at liberty to do as +they please. But I can still say that if my wife and children were here, +I would rather they should trust to protection under the Union Jack with +British soldiers than under the white flag at Joubert's mercy." + +There were men in that crowd who had to speak for those near and dear to +them. Anxious-eyed and pale, with muscles knit into hard lines on their +faces, one after another declared in voices that may have faltered, but +still rang true as steel, that they and theirs would face their fate +under the Union Jack. Archdeacon Barker, who has been ceaseless in his +ministrations among the afflicted since fighting began, gave eloquent +expression to the prevalent sentiment, as one who had kith and kin +about him, and finished by saying that he would neither go to the camp +selected by General Joubert, nor allow his wife and family to go. To +this conclusion the meeting also came by general agreement, the +dissentient minority being still free to do as they wished, except that +no man who had taken up arms in defence of Ladysmith could accept the +terms offered by General Joubert. Then the people gave three lusty +cheers, and ended by singing "God Save the Queen," with an effect, the +impressiveness of which was deepened by the thought that within a few +hours Ladysmith would be under bombardment from all the thundering +artillery our enemy could muster. But the resolution of this public +meeting made no difference to Sir George White's decision, which was a +practical acceptance of the terms formulated. + +To-day has passed in peace, but marked by a very natural depression as +we have seen train after train laden with sick, wounded, and +non-combatants, go out to the neutral camp at Intombi Spruit, where +these people will have to remain under a white flag so long as this +humiliating investment of Ladysmith may last. To make the matter worse +they were sent out at first with insufficient supplies for urgent needs, +and with so few attendants that tents for all could not be pitched the +same night. Even now many non-combatants have to lie in small patrol +tents of thin canvas with a double slope, under the ridge of which +there is barely room for a child to stand upright, and the camp is +placed on ground so flat, near the river bank, that heavy rains might +convert it into a mere swamp. There, however, General Joubert decided +that the neutral camp must be pitched, and those who were too weak or +spiritless to help themselves, must needs be thankful for such gracious +concessions. Some, not quite satisfied with the protection this affords, +are digging burrows deep into clay banks by the river side, where they +will be even more liable to be flooded out. In strict justice it must be +said that many sick and wounded went out, not of their own free will, +but because, being under medical care, they had no option. The result of +this is that men suffering from slight ailments, or whose wounds would +not incapacitate them from duty longer than a week or so, are virtually +prisoners of war, only to be released at the pleasure of the Boers, or +until we reclaim them by force of arms. These are unpleasant things to +write, but they are true none the less. + +The Boer guns have preserved all along an absolute silence, which was +not broken on our side until ten at night, when a sentry set off his +rifle. This roused the whole camp, and soldiers everywhere stood to +their arms until the cause of this false alarm was discovered. + +_November 6._--At daybreak this morning, Second Lieutenant Hopper, 5th +Lancers, came into camp, having got through the Boer lines by a ruse as +clever as it was sportsmanlike. He brought despatches from the General +commanding at Estcourt. His difficulties show that though a soldier may +get through the Boer lines, they are now tightening round us, and unless +a British force strong enough to break through can be assembled quickly, +we are in for a long siege here. Nobody gave the Boers credit for so +much enterprise, and if Sir George White made a mistake, as I think he +did, in not sending all the women and children away from Ladysmith when +Dundee was abandoned, this error probably arose from faulty information, +for which those who thought they knew the Boers and their resources were +in the first instance responsible. + +Our defences begin to take shape, so that their strong and weak points +can be estimated. Southward is a long brown hog-backed hill, which the +local people call Bester's Ridge, though military authorities divide it +into Caesar's Camp, with Maiden's Castle forming a spur in the inner +curve towards Ladysmith, and Waggon Hill. Altogether it is three miles +in length, and being the key of the position will want holding. For that +purpose the trusty Manchester battalion is placed there, having roughly +constructed sangars for rallying points. This ridge forms one horn of +the roughly-shaped horse-shoe which I have already spoken of, the toe of +which sweeps round from Maiden's Castle in low but rugged kopjes +overlooking slopes of open veldt to where Klip River loops the old camp +which, being constructed of corrugated iron, is called "Tin Town." That +would be a weak point, but that it is protected by an outlying kopje +known as Rifleman's Post on the far side of the river. This is occupied +by a small body of the King's Royal Rifles, the other companies of which +hold King's Post, an eminence from which the northern horn of the +horse-shoe bends along by Cove Ridge, Junction Hill, Tunnel Hill, and +Cemetery Hill, to Helpmakaar Hill. Here the Devons are posted at the +heel of the shoe, which juts into a scrubby flat pointing towards the +neck between Lombard's Kop and Bulwaan. These hills are respectively +four and five miles distant from our outworks. Bulwaan stands across the +opening afar off like a huge, bevelled, flat-topped bar placed, as it +might be, for a horse-shoe magnet to attract it. The whole curve of our +defensive works must stretch nearly nine miles. In addition, there is an +undefended opening nearly two miles long, where the straggling town lies +naked to its enemies, or rather screened by nothing more formidable than +belts of mimosa, Australian willow, and eucalyptus trees. Between the +town and Bulwaan, however, flows Klip River, with many windings through +a broad plain, mostly pasturage, but with mimosa scrub closing it in +towards the gorge where river and railway converge at Intombi Spruit. + +Long as our defensive line is for 10 or 12,000 men to occupy +effectively, it must be held at all costs, and a post must be kept on +Observation Hill north-west of the Cove Ridge, for if once the Boers got +possession of that kopje they might make other positions untenable. As +matters stand, they have planted guns on an outer ring of hills, whence +they can throw shells into the town. Sir George White was blamed for +giving up Lombard's Kop and Bulwaan, but these could not have been held +without weakening more important points. They seemed, moreover, too far +off to serve as artillery positions for the enemy's smaller guns, and +almost inaccessible for big Creusot 94-pounders. Against attacks by +riflemen from that direction the hard plain is a sufficient obstacle. +Any body of Boers attempting to cross that open could be met by +overwhelming infantry fire and the shrapnel of field-batteries. The idea +that Bulwaan is beyond effective range of anything but the heaviest +artillery has, however, been dispelled to-day. The enemy got a high +velocity 40-pounder into position there, and its shell, travelling +faster than sound, whistles over the town, to burst near the balloon +detachment which is moving with the guy ropes up a valley towards the +outer defences. This gun must have a range of nearly six miles, and we +have nothing that can reach it but our naval 4.7-inch and 12-pounders +mounted on Junction Hill, both of which have enough to do in keeping +down the fire of "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill. + +_November 8._--In previous letters and telegrams I have referred +frequently to the presence of known Boer sympathisers who were suspected +of being in constant communication with our enemies. No steps were taken +to test the truth of these suspicions until numberless facts, which the +most sceptical could not ignore, proved that every movement made by our +troops within or near the camp was known very soon afterwards to Boers +outside, who could not have discovered these things by mere observation +without the aid of secret agents. Several people were understood to be +shadowed, but nothing came of this except an order that no person should +be allowed to remain in Ladysmith without an official permit. This was +practically set at naught by farmers, who considered themselves free to +enter and leave the town without let or hindrance, until it was +practically surrounded by Boers, and they often gathered about the hotel +doors listening furtively to every scrap of gossip or news that fell +from officers. + +At length the course was taken that might have saved much trouble if put +into practice days earlier, by making peremptory the order that all +non-residents who could not show the necessary permit to remain should +clear out within twenty-four hours, or be subject to arrest and +imprisonment. At the same time a warning went round that none would, +after the allotted time, be allowed to pass our outposts coming or +going, and so perforce many who would have been glad to get away +remained, having missed their last chance of going southwards by train. +What has become of them since then I do not know, unless they have taken +refuge with non-combatants, and sick and wounded, in the neutral camp. +At any rate, they are not here now, and that is something to be thankful +for, though they could give little information to the enemy, except that +shelling has done surprisingly little harm, and killed or wounded very +few in proportion to the enormous number of projectiles thrown. This in +spite of good guns, aimed with most accurate skill, is attributable +solely to the fact that the shells were too weakly charged to burst with +much destructive effect. + +But the spies--for they were certainly nothing less--had done their work +in locating every point of military importance or personal interest in +Ladysmith, and it is hardly possible to doubt that this knowledge was +imparted to Boer gunners, who promptly began training their heaviest +artillery in the direction of supply depots, ordnance stores, +headquarters, intelligence offices, and other places not visible from +the enemy's positions, though within easy range of, and therefore +commanded by them, if the gunners knew exactly where to aim so that +projectiles might drop over intervening houses and trees. When the most +destructive shell burst in my bedroom most people regarded it as an +accidentally erratic shot, intended for some other mark. Those who +suggested that time and place had been deliberately chosen because +Colonel Frank Rhodes, Doctor Jameson, Sir John Willoughby, General +French with his staff, and other officers, were known to have lunched in +the Royal Hotel on several previous days, met with nothing but ridicule. +Colonel Rhodes especially made light of the idea that any gun could +shoot so accurately as to get within a few feet of hitting the exact +mark aimed at from a range of nearly five miles. Since then, however, +the hotel has been nearly struck several times, and on each occasion +about the same hour, so that the most sceptical are now changing their +opinions in favour of a belief that the Royal Hotel has been marked for +destruction. Out of consideration for other guests, therefore, Colonel +Rhodes, "the Doctor," Sir John Willoughby, and Lord Ava have taken up +their quarters elsewhere. + +It may be a mere coincidence, but since their departure shells have +fallen less frequently in this part of the town, though a great many +have passed close over the Town Hall, on which a Red Cross flag floats, +denoting its use as a refuge for sick and wounded, and the Convent +Hospital, conspicuously placed on a ridge behind, has been completely +wrecked inside. Fortunately, however, the convalescent patients and +nurses were got away before that happened. It will probably be pleaded +in justification of the Boers that these buildings, being directly in +the line of fire behind our naval batteries, were liable to be hit by +high shots from "Long Tom." The same excuse, however, cannot be made in +other cases when shells fell among houses that are not in line with any +defensive work, camp, or arsenal. One cannot suppose that a mere desire +for wanton destruction of life and property directed the shots, which +were probably aimed on the off-chance of hitting officers known or +believed to be living in those houses. That would be sufficient +justification according to all the accepted ethics of war, and some +military men contend even that the Boers would be quite right to shell +Ladysmith until it was reduced to ruins if they hoped to accelerate +thereby the work they have taken in hand. It must be remembered that +Joubert's main object just now is to gain possession of the town, which +it is said he has sworn to capture, and if he thought that end could be +hastened by ceaseless bombardment of the place, involving possible +slaughter of many unarmed people, there is nothing in the law of nations +to prevent him, so long as a military force remains here ostensibly for +the defence of Ladysmith. + +So runs the argument, but it would be preposterous to assume that +General Joubert thinks he can reduce British troops to submission or +bring about an evacuation by such feeble means. Sir George White has, +from humane motives, yielded points to his adversary which most of us +would have thought worth fighting for, but he is every inch a gallant +soldier, as we who have watched him under heavy fire all know full +well, and nobody here needs to be assured that he will never surrender +Ladysmith or abandon its stubborn defence as long as there is any reason +for holding it. + +Ample provision is made for the safety of all non-combatants, where they +will not be exposed to shell fire from any quarter, or other dangers +except unlikely accidents, and against these no foresight can guard +entirely. There are some people who continue to take all risks rather +than forsake their property by day or night. These, however, are +comparatively few. The great majority got away while there was yet time, +leaving their houses, full of furniture, locked up or in charge of +Kaffir servants. Curiously enough, they were in many cases the first to +suffer loss by shell fire, and are probably now congratulating +themselves on the timely desertion that enabled them to escape worse +evils. + +Mr. Fortescue Carter, the most famous of Ladysmith's townsmen, whose +_History of the Boer War in 1881_ is well known, had scarcely left his +home, next door to the Intelligence Department's headquarters, when +shells began to fall in his beautiful garden among rose trees, +hollyhocks, dahlias, verbenas, and other familiar English flowers, which +he cultivated with much care. Neighbours might be content to surround +their houses with fences of almond-scented oleander, and let the hundred +varieties of South African shrubs bloom in wild profusion under the +shadowing eucalyptus tree, but his gardens were laid out with +well-ordered primness, and in them he delighted to see growing the +fragrant flowers that reminded him and his visitors of home life in +England. All this is in danger of becoming a shell-fretted wilderness +now. "Long Tom" once having turned his attention in this direction +continued to pound away until two shots struck the house itself, and, +bursting inside, shattered the dainty contents of several rooms to +atoms. + +Meanwhile, in a picturesque, vine-trellised cottage, not fifty yards +off, ladies went about their domestic duties as usual, apparently +oblivious of all danger. One I saw quietly knitting in the cool, shaded +stoep, and her busy needles only stopped for one moment, when a shell +burst in the roadway beyond, then went on again as nimbly as ever. After +the first shock, some people, who seem least fitted to bear a continuous +strain on their nerves, become so accustomed to the hurtling of huge +projectiles through the air that they show no sign of fear when danger +is close to them. Women are often braver than men in these +circumstances. There is one whose courageous example alone keeps native +servants and coolie waiters at their posts, but she, when little more +than a child, saw some of the horrors of the Zulu War, and she speaks +with pride of her father as one of the few farmers who, refusing to quit +their homes, kept wives and families about them, and fought like heroes +in defence of all they held dear. + +Not all in Ladysmith are of this heroic temper, but very few make open +parade of fear if they have any, and though precautions are taken +against exposure to unnecessary risks, there is no sign of panic yet. +Soldiers, every one of whom may be very valuable as a fighting unit +before this siege closes, are ordered to protect themselves by such +shelter trenches or bomb-proofs as can be constructed out of loose +stones, sandbags, forage bales, or other material that lies ready at +hand. The works have to be built under shell-fire, but when finished +they will be an inestimable advantage to regiments that occupy day and +night hill-crests where they might be enfiladed by long-range artillery +fire. That risk must, of course, be taken if the enemy's riflemen should +harden their hearts for a determined frontal attack upon any position +supported by flank fire from guns, but until such a critical moment +arrives the men not actually on duty as sentries or outlying pickets +will be little harassed by bursting shells or flying splinters or +showers of shrapnel bullets, if they dig themselves good pits to lie in, +with sufficiently thick coverings overhead. + +The 1st Devon battalion, which, as one of the best here, and trusted for +its steadiness in all circumstances, was given the most vulnerable point +to hold, has busied itself in the formation of works that promise to +make Helpmakaar Hill impregnable, though its long, low spur is exposed +to artillery fire from Bulwaan and Lombard's Kop and the scrub-screened +nek between them. The works there show what can be done under +difficulties by a good regiment toiling cheerfully to carry out the +orders of good officers. The original breastworks were traced by +engineers who had in view rather the necessity of throwing up light +defences against rifle fire than the probability that these works would +be battered at by heavy artillery from one side and taken in reverse +from another. It soon became evident that the entrenchments if left in +that state would be untenable, and yet they could not be abandoned +without serious risk that Boers might then be able to advance under +cover near enough to threaten other posts, if not to command by rifle +fire, within twelve hundred yards or so, the heights on which naval guns +are mounted. Only by holding the contours of extreme spurs on Helpmakaar +Hill could the Devons hope to sweep by rifle fire a wide zone of +slightly undulating veldt, and thus command all possible approaches from +Lombard's Kop or Bulwaan in that direction. So they stuck generally to +the lines traced by engineers for their outer defences, but deepened the +trenches, widened the banks in front of them, built bomb-proof +traversers overlaid with balks and earth to neutralise the effects of +enfilading fire, and then began to form for themselves dug-out huts in +which to sleep, with solid earth roofs supported on railway sleepers. + +All this means enormous labour, carried on frequently under a galling +cannonade from the enemy's smaller guns, and interrupted occasionally by +the necessity of having to keep down the rifle-fire that comes from a +distant kopje, while standing on the front of these works. + +Yesterday, watching a cavalry patrol that tried in vain to feel for a +way through the scrubby nek into more open ground beyond, General +Brocklehurst and his staff were nearly hit by a shell from some +newly-mounted battery the exact position of which could not be located, +for its smokeless powder made no flash that anybody could see in broad +daylight, nor generated even the faintest wreath of vapour. Its +projectile travelled faster than sound, so that the range could not have +been great, but there was nothing by which our own batteries might have +been directed to effective reply. We all abused "Long Tom" at first +because of his unprovoked attack on a defenceless town, but by contrast +with what is known among Devon men as the "Bulwaan Sneak," and among +bluejackets as "Silent Susan," the big Creusot gun with its loud report, +the low velocity of its projectiles, and the puff of white smoke giving +timely warning when a shot is on its way, is regarded as quite a +gentlemanly monster. + +Following the example thus set by regiments on the main defensive +positions, others temporarily in reserve have begun to build or dig for +themselves splinter-or bomb-proof retreats, in which they may take +shelter when the shelling becomes too hot. The Imperial Light Horse were +first to hit upon the idea of burrowing into the river-banks. They began +by forming mere niches, in which there was only just room enough for +three or four men to stand huddled together when they heard a shell +coming. Finding, however, that the soil could be easily dug out, they +set gangs of natives to work lengthening the tunnels and connecting them +by "cross drives," in the planning of which several Johannesburg mine +managers found congenial occupation. This went on until the river-bank +for a hundred yards in length was honeycombed by dark caves, in which a +whole regiment might have been hidden with all its ammunition, secure +from shell fire, the walls and roofs being so formed that they needed no +additional support. There was no danger of the stiff alluvial soil +falling in even if a shell had buried itself and burst above the +entrance to any of these cool grottoes. + +[Illustration: A SHELL-PROOF RESORT + +A culvert under a road used as a living-place by day for civilians, who +returned to their houses when the shelling ceased after sunset] + +I spent half an hour in one of them, and found the air there delightful +by contrast with scorching sunshine outside. What it will be, however, +after many people have been crowded together for some time is less +pleasant to contemplate, but even for that the resourceful Imperial +Light Horse are prepared, and they already begin to talk of air-shafts +so cunningly contrived that light and air may enter, but shells be +rigidly excluded. Civilians in their turn emulate the Light Horse, but +with unequal success, and their excavations assume such primitive +forms that future archaeologists may be puzzled to invent satisfactory +explanations of curious differences in the habits of the cave-dwellers +of Ladysmith, as exemplified by the divergent types of their underground +abodes. + +And, indeed, these habits are strangely various even as presented to the +eyes of a contemporary student. Some people, having spent much time and +patient labour in making burrows for themselves, find life there so +intolerably monotonous that they prefer to take the chances above +ground. Others pass whole days with wives and families or in solitary +misery where there is not light enough to read or work, scarcely showing +a head outside from sunrise to sunset. They may be seen trooping away +from fragile tin-roofed houses half an hour before daybreak carrying +children in their arms, or a cat, or monkey, or a mongoose, or a cage of +pet birds, and they come back similarly laden when the night gets too +dim for gunners to go on shooting. There would be a touch of humour in +all this if it were not so deeply pathetic in its close association with +possible tragedies. One never knows where or at what hour a stray shot +or splinter will fall, and it is pitiful sometimes to hear cries for +dolly from a prattling mite who may herself be fatherless or motherless +to-morrow. We think as little as possible of such things, putting them +from us with the light comment that they happen daily elsewhere than in +besieged towns, and making the best we can of a melancholy situation. + +There are, I believe, many good reasons why Sir George White should +allow his army to be hemmed in here defending a practically deserted +town, apart from the ignominy that abandonment would entail, and it is +probably sound strategy to keep Boer forces here as long as possible +while preparations are being matured for attacking them from other +directions. On the latter point one cannot express an opinion without +full knowledge of the circumstances such as we cannot hope to get while +communications are cut off. But nobody can pretend to regard our present +inaction following investment as anything but a disagreeable necessity, +or affect a cheerful endurance of conditions that become more +intolerable day after day. Now and then we have hopes that the Boers may +risk everything in a general attack with the object of carrying this +place by storm, when they would most certainly be beaten off and lose +heavily. + +They did something to encourage this hope yesterday. It began with a +heavy artillery duel between "Long Tom" and the naval gun that is known +as "Lady Anne." After vain attempts to silence our battery, the enemy's +fire, generally so accurate, became wild, several shells going so high +that they struck the convent hospital hundreds of yards in rear. This, +at any rate, is the most charitable explanation of acts that would +otherwise be inexcusable. The Red Cross was at that time, and for days +before, flying above the convent, in which Colonel Dick-Cunyngham and +Major Riddell were patients, under the care of nursing sisters. +Fortunately, good shelter was found for them in the convent cellars +until they could be removed to safer quarters, but before this much of +the upper rooms had been reduced to ruins by persistent shelling. When +the Boers thought they had sufficiently demoralised our defensive forces +by artillery "preparation," a brisk attack by riflemen began to develop +against Maiden's Castle, Caesar's Camp, and Waggon Hill, a continuous +range forming the southern key to our position, and held by the +Manchester Regiment. Brigadier-General Hamilton and his staff were there +from the outset, ready, if need be, to call up the Gordons in support. +This necessity, however, never arose, though the attack, as I can +testify from personal observation on the spot, was pushed for some time +with great persistence, the Boers trying again and again to creep up by +the western slopes of Waggon Hill, while shells raked the whole face of +Caesar's Camp to Maiden's Castle, and burst repeatedly among the tents of +the Manchester battalion, without doing serious harm. + +A colour-sergeant with only fourteen men defended the crest of Waggon +Hill until nightfall, when the Boers retired sullenly. To repeated +offers of reinforcements the sergeant warmly replied that he had men +enough for the job, and proved it by repelling every attack, the Boers +declining to face the steady fire that was poured upon them whenever +they showed themselves. Colonel Hamilton, however, had a firm conviction +that the Boer movement against that flank was only a feeler for more +determined enterprises to follow, and he accordingly stiffened the +defensive lines there by mounting half a field battery in strong +earthworks during the night, and sending up bodies of mounted infantry +to support the Manchesters. + +As the sun was setting in clouded splendour behind Mount Tinwa's noble +crags and peaks, throwing their dark shadows across the lower hills near +us, a flash so quick, that it could hardly be seen, darted from out the +gloom there, and with the crashing report that followed came a shell +plump into one of our most crowded camps. This was evidently from a gun +newly mounted on Blaauwbank. Two other shells burst in quick succession +about the same place, but fortunately nobody was hit. Then, satisfied +with having got the range to a nicety, our enemy left us in undisturbed +quiet for the night, but with an uncomfortable consciousness that fresh +links were being forged in the chain of artillery fire by which +Ladysmith is now completely girdled, for two batteries that cannot be +exactly located have been shelling steadily all day from each end of +Bulwaan, with accurate aim and far-reaching effect, as if to disprove +all the theories that led to the error of abandoning that position. + +This morning fallacious prophecies were further shattered by a shell +from works placed far back on the table top of Bulwaan. It did not +demolish anything else, but it makes us very chary now about predicting +what the Boers can or cannot do. Through telescopes they had been +watched building that strong fort, and everybody knew it was being +thrown up as an emplacement for heavy artillery, yet few people thought +that another gun, akin to "Long Tom" in calibre and range, could have +been mounted there so soon, until they saw the dense cloud of smoke from +a black powder charge, and heard the familiar gurgling screech of a big +shell, followed by the thundering report. + +"Puffing Billy" was the appropriate name bestowed on this new enemy by +Colonel Rhodes, who has an amusing faculty for applying quaintly +descriptive phrases to every fresh development in this state of siege. I +am told on high authority that the word "siege" is not quite applicable +to our case here, but if the Boers are not sitting down before Ladysmith +in a very leisurely way, intent upon keeping us under bombardment as +long as they may choose to stay, I do not know the meaning of such +movements. It was we who provoked "Puffing Billy" to his first angry +roar by a trial shot from one of our big naval guns into the Bulwaan +battery. "Long Tom" presently joined in the chorus, and it took our two +4.7 quick-firers all their time to keep down that cross-fire. Though +"Lady Anne's" twin-sister had been mounted some days, her voice was +seldom heard, until this morning, when, after a few rounds, "Long Tom" +paid silent homage to her sway, and in celebration of that temporary +knock-out, Captain Lambton christened his new pet "Princess Victoria," +but the bluejackets called it by another name, to indicate their faith +in its destructive effect. + +It was interesting to watch these weapons at work. Their gunners would +wait until they saw a flash from "Long Tom" or "Puffing Billy" and then +fire, their shells getting home first by two or three seconds, owing to +the greater velocity imparted by cordite charges. Soon after ten o'clock +the enemy's artillery fire from different directions grew brisker. The +damage, whatever it may have been, inflicted on "Long Tom," or his crew, +having been made good under cover of a white flag, which the Boers seem +to think they are at liberty to use whenever it suits them, Rietfontein +called to Bulwaan, and Blaauwbank in the west echoed the dull boom that +came from the distant flat-topped hill in the east. Then along our main +positions, against the Leicesters and Rifles on one side, and the +Manchesters on another, an attack by rifles developed quickly. + +Intermittently these skirmishes lasted most of the day, our enemy never +pressing his attack home, but contenting himself with long-range +shooting from good cover. Neither heavy guns nor small arms did much +damage. Major Grant, R.E., of the Intelligence Staff, was slightly +wounded as he sat coolly sketching the scene of hostilities as he saw it +from the front of Caesar's Camp. A lieutenant of the Manchesters and +three men of the Leicester Regiment were also hit by rifle bullets or +shell splinters, but none very seriously. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE FIRST BOER ASSAULT + + Joubert's boast--The preliminaries of attack--Shells in the town--A + simultaneous advance--Observation Hill threatened--A wary enemy--A + prompt repulse--Attack on Tunnel Hill--The colour-sergeant's last + words--Manchesters under fire--Prone behind boulders--A Royal + salute--The Prince of Wales's birthday--Stretching the Geneva + Convention--The redoubtable Miss Maggie--The Boer Foreign + Legion--Renegade Irishmen--A signal failure. + + +From the first moment of complete investment here my belief (continues +Mr. Pearse, writing on 9th November) has been that the Boers would never +venture to push an infantry attack against this place to the point of a +determined assault. This opinion is strengthened by to-day's events. Yet +it is said that Joubert believes he could take Ladysmith by a _coup de +main_ at any time were it not for his fear of mines, which he believes +have been secretly laid at many points round our positions. His riflemen +certainly did not come close enough to test the truth of this belief +to-day, but contented themselves with shooting from very safe cover at +long ranges. If they could have shaken our troops at any point they +would doubtless have taken advantage of it to push forward and take up +other equally sheltered positions, whence they might have practised +their peculiar tactics with possibly greater effect. These methods, +however, lack the boldness necessary for an assault on positions held by +disciplined troops, and having no single objective they are gradually +frittered away in isolated and futile skirmishes, whereby the defenders +are to some extent harassed, but the defences in no way imperilled. + +Our enemies began at five o'clock this morning with artillery fire from +Bulwaan and Rietfontein on Pepworth's Hill. This unusual activity so +early warned us that some movement of more than ordinary importance +might be expected. All preparations for the possibility of an attack +more determined than the feeble feelers of yesterday had been made in +good time, so that there was no hurrying of forces to take up or +strengthen positions that might be threatened, and the Boers were +evidently somewhat puzzled where to look for the masses of men who +showed no sign of movement They thereupon took to shelling the town as +if they thought our troops might be concentrating there, and under cover +of this vigorous bombardment their riflemen advanced, so far as caution +would permit them, against several points wide apart. It must have been +with the idea of a feint that they made the first attack from westward +against Observation Hill, which was held by outposts of the 5th +Lancers, dismounted and trusting to their carbine fire, the +ineffectiveness of which, when opposed to Mauser rifles of greater +accuracy at long range, soon became evident. + +Two companies of the Rifle Brigade had, however, been moved forward to +support the cavalry, and their steady shooting checked the enemy's +frontal attack. Several officers and other picked shots, lying prone +behind boulders, took on the Boers at their own game with perceptible +effect at 1200 yards or more, thereby keeping down a fire that might +otherwise have harassed our men, who were necessarily exposed at times +in taking up positions to meet some change of tactics on the other side. +Boers never expose themselves when they find bullets falling dangerously +close to them. They will be behind a rock all day if need be, waiting +for the chance of a pot-shot, and stay there until darkness gives them +an opportunity to get away unseen. They give no hostages to fortune by +taking any risks that can be avoided. The game of long bowls and sniping +suits them best. When one place gets too hot for them to pot quickly at +our men without risk of being potted in turn, they will steal away one +by one, wriggling their way between boulders, creeping under cover of +bushes, doing anything rather than show themselves as targets for other +men's rifles. + +[Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF POSITIONS ROUND LADYSMITH, NOVEMBER 1899] + +They have made the most of physical features, that in this country lend +themselves to such tactics, by occupying hills with heavy artillery, in +front of which are rough kopjes strewed with trap rock, and round +these the Boer riflemen can always move for advance or retirement well +screened from our fire. They have, however, to reckon sometimes with the +far-reaching power of shrapnel shells. When they ignore that we may +manage to catch them in a cluster. + +So it happened to-day. After being beaten off from the direct attack on +Observation Hill they began feeling round its left flank by way of +kopjes, between which and our outposts there is a long bare nek, and in +rear of that the railway line to Van Reenan's Pass runs through a deep +cutting with open ground beyond. To effect a turning movement of any +significance the Boers had choice of two things: either they must show +themselves on spurs where there was scant cover, or take to the cutting; +and we knew by experience which they would prefer. In anticipation of +such a development one field-battery had been placed on the rough slope +that juts northward from Range Post, through which runs the main road to +Colenso in the south and to several of the Drakensberg passes in the +west. Up through a gorge deeply fretted by Klip River this battery +commanded the long bare nek. Two other guns, the Maxim-Nordenfelts of +Elandslaagte, manned by a comparatively weak detachment, took up a +position on their own account at the foot of King's Post near our old +permanent, but now disused, camp, whence they could bring a fire to bear +on the same point. All tried a few percussion shells by way of testing +the range and then turned to the use of shrapnel, which, admirably +timed, burst just beyond the nek, searching its reverse slopes and +enfilading the railway ravine with a hail of bullets, where apparently +the Boers must have been caught in some numbers. At any rate they are +said to have lost heavily there, and from that time the attack or rather +fusilade directed against Observation Hill began to slacken. We had not +many men hit considering that the skirmish had begun soon after daybreak +and continued with little cessation up to nine o'clock, when the Rifle +Brigade reported three wounded, one being young Lieutenant Lethbridge, +who is so badly injured that recovery in his case can hardly be hoped +for. + +We had not, however, done with the enemy by repulsing him at one point. +His big guns opened again presently from Blaauwbank and Rietfontein to +the west and north. A smaller battery on Long Hill echoed the deep boom +from "Long Tom," who was carrying on a duel with our naval gun, and +throwing shells over the town, to burst very near Sir George White's +headquarters. Field-guns from the nek near Lombard's Kop joined in +chorus, shooting with effect on Tunnel Hill, held by the Liverpools, +several of whom were hit. Colour-Sergeant Macdonald went out of the +bomb-proof to mark where one shell had struck, when another burst on the +same spot, and he fell terribly mangled by jagged fragments of iron. His +comrades rushed to aid him, but he died in their arms, saying simply, +"What a pity it was I went out to see." In truth the shells did not want +looking for to-day. They were falling in rapid succession from one end +of Bulwaan on Helpmakaar Hill, where the Devons, thanks to having taken +wise precautions in making bomb-proof shelters, suffered little, though +"Puffing Billy" turned occasionally to hurl a 94-pounder in that +direction when tired of raking Caesar's Camp and Maiden's Castle, where +the Manchesters had not only their flank exposed to this fire, but were +smitten in front by a heavy gun the Boers had mounted on Flat-Top +Mountain, some three miles off, and by smaller shells that came from +automatic guns hidden among scrub on the nearer slopes across Bester's +Farm. These did little harm, though the repeated thuds of their +discharge, like the rapid strokes of a Nasmyth hammer on its anvil, +might have shaken the resolution of any but the steadiest troops, seeing +that our field-battery on Maiden's Castle could not for a long time +locate the exact hiding-place of those vicious little weapons, and when +they did get a chance, the enemy's heavy artillery replied to their fire +with a more persistent cannonade than ever. The Manchesters stood +manfully the test of long exposure to this galling storm of iron and +lead, their fighting line continuing to hold the outer slopes, where +from behind boulders they could overlook the hollow between them and +their foes, and get occasionally shots at any Boer who happened to show +himself incautiously. That did not happen often, and their chances of +effective reply to the bullets or shells that lashed the ground about +them were few at first. + +When an attack of riflemen did begin to develop with some show of being +pressed home, the Manchesters were still lying there ready to meet it +with a fire steadier than that of the Boers and if anything more deadly. +Being secure from flanking movements, since the Border Mounted Rifles +were on their right sweeping round Waggon Hill and some companies of the +60th in support, the Manchesters could devote all their attention to +that long front, and beat back every attempt of the Boers to cross the +valley where a tributary of the Klip River winds past Bester's Farm down +to the broad flats by Intombi Spruit. These hostile demonstrations were +never very determined or long sustained, and they slackened down to +nothing for a time just before noon. + +At that hour a curiously impressive incident astonished many of us in +camp not less than it did the Boers. Guns, big and small, of our Naval +Battery having shotted charges were carefully laid with the enemy's +artillery for their mark, and at a given signal they began to fire +slowly, with regular intervals between. When twenty-one rounds had been +counted everybody knew that it was a Royal salute, in celebration of the +Prince of Wales's birthday. Then loud cheers, begun as of right by the +bluejackets, representing the senior service, ran round our chains of +outposts and fighting men, shaken into light echoes by the jagged +rocks, to roll in mightier chorus through the camps, thence onward by +river-banks, where groups emerged from their burrows, strengthening the +shouts with even more fervour, and into the town, where loyalty to the +Crown of England has a meaning at this moment deeper than any of us +could ever have attached to it before. "What do you make of it all?" was +the signal flashed from hill to hill along the Boer lines, and +interpreted by our own experts who hold the key. And well they might +wonder, for in all probability a Prince of Wales's birthday has never +been celebrated before with a Royal salute of shotted guns against the +batteries of a besieging force, and all who are here wish most heartily +that the experience may remain unique. + +Our enemy's astonishment, however, had the effect of producing a +temporary cessation of hostilities. The bombardment was not carried on +with its previous vigour, possibly because some detachments, taken +unaware by the prolonged artillery fire from our side, had been +partially disabled. But the rifle attack against Maiden's Castle and +Caesar's Camp was kept up until near sunset. + +In the midst of this cross-fire a flag, with the Geneva emblem of mercy +on it, was hoisted at the topmost twig of a low mimosa bush in front of +Bester's Farm, which must not be confounded with the other Bester's away +to westward, near the Harrismith Railway, and giving its name to a +station on that line. There are many branches of the Bester family +holding farms in Natal, and nearly all are under a cloud of suspicion at +this moment because of their known sympathy with the Boers. That +red-cross flag was taken as a sign that the farmstead had been occupied +as a hospital, and we respected it accordingly, but, as on other +occasions in this curiously conducted campaign, the Boers, who stretch +the Geneva Convention for all it is worth in their own favour, made it +cover something else. While our soldiers scrupulously avoided firing +anywhere near the farmstead that bore that emblem of neutrality, they +saw herds of cattle and horses being driven off, and these were followed +presently by a trek waggon on which also the red-cross flag waved +conspicuously. + +In that waggon were several women carrying white sunshades, and among +them, it is said, the redoubtable Miss Maggie who used to ride her +bicycle through our lines to the enemy's, even after war had been +declared and Free State burghers had crossed the border into Natal. If +that is so, she and many of her relations have crossed our lines +finally, to throw in their lot with the Boers, accompanied by very +valuable herds of live-stock. The only Besters who remained in our hands +as hostages have, I believe, been allowed to take refuge with sick and +wounded at Intombi Spruit camp, where they at least are safe enough +under the protection of their Boer friends. Other curious flags were +seen about the same place to-day. Lieutenant Fisher of the Manchesters, +who though wounded soon after sunrise refused to quit his post, and with +half a company held one shoulder of Waggon Hill until the last attack +had spluttered out, sent a careful report to his colonel before the +ambulance men took him to their field hospital. In this report he gives +details of some curious movements among the enemy. One contingent, +apparently some foreign legion, showing traces of elementary discipline +and evidently not numbering in its ranks many Boers of the old school, +advanced boldly across ground that afforded them little cover, and there +began to "front form" in fairly good order. They were well within range +of Lee-Enfield rifles, and a few volleys well directed sent them to the +right-about in anything but good order. Soon after, a second column +advanced with even more bravado, headed by a standard-bearer, who +carried a red flag. These were said to be Irishmen, who, having elected +to serve a republic, and being debarred from fighting under the green +banner of their own country, yet not quite ready to acknowledge the +supremacy of another race, may have flaunted the emblem of liberty by +way of compromise. More probably, however, they were a mixed lot owning +no common country, but willing or unwilling to serve under any colours +with equal impartiality. Two or three shrapnels bursting in front of +them to a vibrato accompaniment of rifle fire many were seen to fall, +but whether badly hit or not nobody on our side could say. At any rate, +these adventurous auxiliaries are likely to learn discretion from the +wily Boer after such an experience. + +The attack, such as it was, had failed on both the positions threatened. +It was never pressed home with energy at any point, and unless the Boers +prove to be as good at concentration as they are in mobility, there is +not the remotest chance for them to achieve even a temporary success by +rifle attack against infantry whose discipline and steadiness have not +been shaken in the slightest degree by shell fire yet. What losses our +foes suffered we have no means of knowing, but they were probably much +heavier than our own, which numbered five killed and twenty-four +wounded, mostly by shells, in the twelve hours of intermittent +fighting. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A MONTH UNDER SHELL FIRE + + The first siege-baby--An Irish-American deserter--A soldierly + grumble--Boer cunning and Staff-College strategy--An ammunition + difficulty--The tireless cavalry--A white flag incident--What the + Boer Commandant understood--The Natal summer--Mere sound and + fury--Boer Sabbatarianism--Naval guns at work--"Puffing Billy" of + Bulwaan--Intrepid Boer gunners--The barking of "Pom-Poms"--Another + reconnaissance--"Like scattered bands of Red Indians"--A futile + endeavour--A night alarm--Recommended for the V.C.--A man of straw + in khaki--The Boer search-light--Shelling of the hospital--General + White protests--The first woman hit--General Hunter's + bravado--"Long Tom" knocked out--A gymkhana under fire--Faith, + Hope, and Charity--Flash signals from the south--A new Creusot gun. + + + The garrison and inhabitants of Ladysmith now began to realise that + they were doomed to a long period of inactivity if to nothing more + serious. The days immediately following the Boer attempt of 9th + November were quiet, rain and mist interfering with the enemy's + bombardment. November 12 was, however, a somewhat eventful day, + owing to the birth of the first siege-baby, and the arrival in camp + of an Irish-American deserter from the Boers. + +The baby, says Mr. Pearse in his diary (12th November), was born, not in +a dug-out by the river, but at a farm on a hill in the centre of +defensive works, where Mr. and Mrs. Moore, with their other children, +have elected to take the chances, near where I and other correspondents +have pitched our tents. Mrs. Moore made one trial of an underground +shelter, and then gave it up, saying that she should certainly die in +that damp atmosphere, so that it would be better to take the risk of +living where one could get fresh air, even though exposed to shells. The +Irish-American's story, though not to be swallowed without salt, tended +to confirm some things that seemed strange in the fight of three days +earlier, when, as will be remembered, Lieutenant Fisher's detachment +claimed to have shot many of a body that marched into action boldly with +a red flag flaunting at their head. The deserter said that the Irish +brigade that day lost heavily, having now only seventy-three left of the +original three hundred and fifty, and that ten Irishmen were killed by +one of our shells. + + It was not with a good grace that Sir George White's garrison + resigned themselves to inaction. Their state of mind is shown + clearly enough by Mr. Pearse in a letter written on 14th November, + and describing the situation at this period. + +_November 14._--The British troops here have their backs up now, and +grumble at the fate that chains them to a passive defence, when they +would wish for nothing better than to try conclusions with their foes at +close quarters. Sir George White knows best the part that he is expected +to play in the general strategy of this campaign, and there may be +reasons for not forcing the Boers to abandon any of their positions +round Ladysmith until the time ripens for a decisive action. It is +impossible, however, to ignore the effect that this produces on the +temper of soldiers, who say with characteristic energy of expression +that they would rather a hundred times take their chances with death in +a fair fight than remain idle under a shell fire that is trying to the +strongest nerves, though it does little material harm. Sir George is +naturally reluctant to sacrifice valuable lives in capturing positions +which we have not men enough to hold, but it would be something gained +if we could attack one point at a time, seize the Boer gun there, and +put it permanently out of action. Instead of that, we have allowed our +adversary to increase the number of artillery works and rifle sangars, +girding us about until his grip is so strong that even cavalry scouts +cannot push five miles from camp in any direction without having to run +the gauntlet of shells or Maxim bullets. + +There are three positions which we might have held, or at least +prevented the enemy from occupying, and thereby frustrated all attempts +for at least a week longer, so that our communications southward would +have remained open until ample supplies of war material of various +kinds, much needed here, and especially appliances for long-distance +signalling or wireless telegraphy, could be brought up. But the time for +that went by while we were engaged in preparing positions for the +passive defence of Ladysmith, and the Boers, with the "slimness" that +has always characterised them in such operations, slipped round our +flank to cut us off from railway or telegraphic communication with lower +Natal. Even the guns of H.M.S. _Powerful_, on which we rely for keeping +down the enemy's long-range fire, did not get their full supply of +ammunition before the line was closed, and if any signalling appliances +more far-reaching than those ordinarily in use with a field force were +applied for in accordance with Captain Lambton's suggestion, they never +came. + +As events have turned out, this was the gravest mischance of all, since +the next step which our wily enemies took was to close every means of +egress from this camp by placing their lighter artillery or mounted +riflemen on kopjes whence all open ground over which troops might move +could be swept by cross-fire. In other words, they took all the rough +eminences of the outer ranges best adapted for their own tactics, and +left the bare, shelterless plains or ridges to us. So far, therefore, +Boer cunning has proved itself more than a match for Staff-College +strategy, and nothing can restore the balance now but a strong blow +struck quickly and surely from our side. Against that the Boers are +naturally weak in proportion to the thinness of their investing line, +which stretches round a perimeter of nearly twenty miles; but on the +other hand, their greater mobility, owing to the fact that every +rifleman is mounted, gives them a surprising power of rapid +concentration on any point that happens to be threatened. This is a +factor that will have to be reckoned with in European warfare of the +future, if I mistake not the meaning of lessons we are learning here. +Nevertheless we might harass our enemies, giving them little rest day or +night. Here, however, the ammunition difficulty comes in again. We have +enough to last through a siege, but none to waste on doubtful +enterprises. This reduces us to the contemplation of night attacks, and +to trust in no weapon but the bayonet for capturing guns in positions +which we have not men enough to hold. + +Tommy is ready and eager to try conclusions with the enemy on these +terms, if his leaders will only give him the chance, but meanwhile our +movements take the form of reconnaissances that lead to no tangible +advantages either in lessening the vigour of our adversary's bombardment +or in loosening any links in the chain of investment by which we are +bound. The situation is certainly curious and interesting historically +as an event for which no exact parallel can be found in the annals of +England's wars. + +In writing of futile reconnaissances it is hardly necessary that I +should disclaim all intention of ignoring the excellent work done by +individual regiments on which the duties of patrolling have by turns +fallen. Dragoon Guards, Lancers, Hussars, Imperial Light Horse, Natal +Carbineers, and Border Mounted Rifles, have known little real rest for +days past. When not actually scouting the cavalry have been either on +outpost within touch of the enemy, or bivouacked beside their horses +ready for any emergency. The extreme tension necessitating all these +precautions may be relaxed somewhat now, but still we rely on the +mounted troops for information of every movement among the besiegers, +and so far trust in their alertness has been fully justified. The +morning after last Thursday's attack Major Marling pushed his patrols of +the 18th Hussars farther westward than they had been able to get since +communications were interrupted. Rumours, since confirmed, that the +Boers had suffered very heavily in their fruitless attack the previous +day, suggested the possibility of their having evacuated some positions. +Major Marling may have begun to take that view too when he saw a white +flag showing above the serrated crest of Rifleman's Ridge, which is +generally but too vaguely described as Blaauwbank, where the Boers have +at least one powerful field-gun mounted. Under a responsive flag of +truce Major Marling and a non-commissioned officer advanced to parley +with the enemy, whose pacific, if not submissive, spirit was thus +manifested. The field-cornet in charge said he understood there were to +be no hostilities that day. The English officer knew nothing of any +armistice, but agreed to retire without pushing the patrol farther in +that particular direction. As he and his comrades went back to join +their main body, Boer sharpshooters opened fire on them treacherously +from the rocks and sangars of Rifleman's Ridge. It is difficult to +understand such wanton violations of every principle recognised by +civilised belligerents, unless we assume that the Boers really thought +that their General had claimed a truce in order that his dead might be +buried, and that our cavalry were therefore at fault. It is, however, +impossible to find excuses, or give the Boers credit for good intentions +always in their use of the white flag. They seem to regard it as an +emblem to be hoisted for their own convenience or safety, and to be put +aside when its purpose has been served, without any consideration for +the other party. Even while this Boer officer pretended to think there +was a general truce that forbade scouting operations on our part there +was a gun being got into position by men of the same commando, and other +of the enemy's batteries were being either strengthened or moved to more +advantageous points. The work was, however, interrupted by a furious +thunderstorm and a night of heavy rain that brought the waters roaring +down from the Drakensberg ravines to flood the Klip River far above the +level at which some of its spruits can be crossed without difficulty at +other times. + +English people, as a rule, picture early summer in South Africa as a +time of heat and drought. According to the calendar this is Natal's +summer, when hills and veldt, refreshed by genial showers, should be +green with luxurious growth of young grass, or brightened by a profusion +of brilliant wild flowers. But the seasons are out of joint just now. We +get days of torrid heat, bringing a plague of flies from which there is +no escape, and then a sudden thunderstorm sends the temperature down to +something that reminds one of chill October among English moorlands. The +sun hides its face abashed behind a misty veil, but the flies remain. +Drizzling rain, with white mists in the valleys, and heavy clouds +dragging their torn skirts about the mountains, also put a stop to the +bombardment until an hour past noon next day. + +Probably these conditions were less favourable to us than to the enemy, +whose movements were completely masked, and when the clouds cleared some +of his batteries on new positions were ready to join the diabolical +concert that went on at intervals until dark. The concert, however, was +mere sound and firing signifying nothing--except in its effect on nerves +already unstrung--as we had no serious casualties that day. And the next +brought peace, for the Boers do not willingly fight on Sunday, and we +have no reasons at present for provoking them to a breach of the +tacitly-recognised ordination that gives us one day's rest in seven with +welcome immunity from shells. Their observance of the Sabbath, however, +does not run to a total cessation of labour on the seventh day, and if +they do not want to fight then they have no scruples about turning it +to account in preparations for a fight next morning. On this particular +Sunday, while we were getting all the rest that a shell-worried garrison +can reasonably expect, some of our enemies were labouring hard to mount +a big gun on Surprise Hill, which rises from a series of stone-roughened +kopjes where the Harrismith Railway winds nearly due west of Rietfontein +or Pepworth's Hill, and about 4000 yards north of King's Post--one of +our most important defensive works. In anticipation of this we had +shifted one heavy naval gun to Cove Redoubt, which is well within that +weapon's range of Surprise Hill, but can hardly be said to command it, +as the latter has an advantage in point of height. We had also, however, +lighter artillery bearing on Surprise Hill, and in some measure +enfilading its main battery, behind which, and in echelon with it, they +had apparently placed a howitzer. + +Cannonading opened from many quarters soon after daybreak, the enemy's +fire being mainly directed against our naval guns, one of which, +however, devoted itself exclusively for a time to the Surprise Hill +battery where the Boers were preparing for action. + +Before they could get many shots out of the new gun, we were pounding +away at it. Our first two shells fell short, but they were followed by +three others, clean into the battery's embrasure, with such obvious +effect that the big weapon inside must either have been dismantled or +put out of action. Since then it has not spoken, and the sailors +therefore naturally claim that they have silenced it for good and all. +An hour later the other naval gun--"Lady Anne" by name--silenced +"Puffing Billy of Bulwaan" for a time, and we have evidence that the +Boers must have suffered some serious losses before noon, when General +Joubert sent in a flag of truce, according to a custom which seems to be +in favour with him, whenever things are going a bit awry from his point +of view. + +The Irish-American, who has been mentioned as having given himself up as +a deserter, described how the Boer gunners, terrorised by shrapnel fire, +had to be forced into the batteries under threats. But if the Boer +gunners are panic-stricken they have a curious way of showing it, for +some of them stood boldly on the parapets to watch the effect of a shot, +and the accuracy of their return fire does not betray much nervousness. +We are inclined to believe, however, that the Boer losses from artillery +fire have been greater than ours, partly because their shots have been +widely distributed in a speculative way with no particular object in +view, while ours have been aimed directly at the enemy's batteries, or +at sangars, to which their gun-crews retire between the rounds; and +partly, if not mainly, because our naval guns fire common shell with +bursting charges of black powder, the effect of which--though not so +violent locally as that of the Boer shells, charged with melinite +explosive--is spread over a much wider area. It is not much +satisfaction, however, for the losses and worry we endure here to know +that the investing force suffers even more severely so long as it +continues to harass us while we remain inactively helpless. + +The men were beginning to say that they had stood this sort of thing +long enough, when the measure of their discontent was filled to +overflowing this morning by a bombardment fiercer than ever. It opened +with the barking of "Pom-Poms" as early as half-past five, and ran +through the whole gamut from lowest bass of a big gun's boom to the +shrillest scream of smaller projectiles and the whip-like whistle of +shrapnel bullets lashing the air with so little intermission that within +two hours no less than seventy-five shells had burst in and about +Ladysmith camp. This was too much to be borne patiently, and every +soldier welcomed the order for an offensive movement, their only regret +being that infantry were to play no part in the affair. General +Brocklehurst, with a force of cavalry, Imperial Light Horse, and +artillery, moved out of camp soon after nine o'clock, taking the road +that leads westward and southward through the gap at Range Post. The +object of that movement was generally believed to be an attack oh +Blaauwbank, or Rifleman's Hill, as it is officially called, and the +capture of a Boer battery there, from which our defensive lines between +King's Post and Cove Redoubt had been repeatedly enfiladed. If +successful in driving the enemy back, our troops would then swing round +to their left and go for the big gun on Middle Hill, against which +General Brocklehurst's brilliant but futile reconnaissance of the +previous Friday had been directed. + +Three field batteries, posted on spurs along the line from Waggon Hill +towards Rifleman's Post, covered the advance by shelling in turn all the +Boer guns that could be brought to bear on the open ground across which +our troops had to pass. Thus challenged, the enemy's artillery replied +briskly, but their fire was a bit wild, and, regardless of shells that +fell thick about them, the Imperial Light Horse, numbering no more than +ninety rifles, led by Colonel Edwardes, who has succeeded the heroic +Chisholm in command of this dashing corps, pushed forward to seize Star +Kopje and prevent any Boer movement towards that point from Thornhill's +Farm. + +Hussars went forward in support of the Imperial Horse, galloping like +scattered bands of Red Indians across the green veldt, where a spruit +runs down to Klip River, until they had passed the zone of hostile fire, +and then re-forming squadrons with a precision that was very pretty to +watch. Other cavalry were in reserve, massed behind folds of the +undulating slopes hidden from some Boer guns and beyond the effective +range of others. There was force enough for any work in hand, but not +quite of the right composition. To drive Boer riflemen off a rough ridge +along which they can retire from one position, when it gets too hot for +them, to another, nothing will do but infantry of some sort, and +preferably with a bayonet sting left in them for final emergencies. This +was an occasion of all others when infantry regiments might have changed +the whole course of events to our advantage, but for some reason they +had been left in camp. + +For nearly three hours our batteries shelled the Boer kopjes, expending +much ammunition with perceptible effect on the brown boulders and +presumably on anything animate that might be hidden behind them; we +watched many Boers gallop away in haste across the plain, as if unable +to stand the leaden hail longer, and one of our batteries advancing +boldly got into position, whence it should have enfiladed that of the +enemy and wrought havoc among their horses if any were concealed in the +adjacent hollows. What effect the terrific shrapnel fire really produced +we had no means of knowing. Hardly a Boer showed himself while that +hurricane of bullets fell, but when General Brocklehurst meditated an +assault on the hill his troops were met by a furious rifle fire. The +ninety Imperial Light Horsemen of Colonel Edwardes's command were +obviously too few to dislodge the Boers from the ground they had held so +stubbornly. Further waste of artillery ammunition seemed useless, and +the time for employing cavalry to any purpose had not come. We therefore +had the chagrin of watching another force retire without accomplishing +its object, and most of us felt from that moment grave doubts whether +another such chance of breaking the bonds that envelop us could come +again until reinforcements were at hand for the relief of Ladysmith. As +our troops withdrew they were shelled right and left by Boer guns that +had been almost silent until then. Our batteries, aided by Captain +Kinnaird-Smith's two Maxim-Nordenfelts, covered the retirement, but they +could not put Surprise Hill out of action, or even attempt a reply to +the redoubtable "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, who on this occasion +surpassed himself by throwing three shells in succession on the road by +Range Post Gap from a distance that must be well over 9000 yards. The +bit of hilly road where these shells fell and burst is no more than +fifty yards long by fifteen wide, and could not have been visible to +gunners five or six miles off without the aid of telescopic sights. Yet +the aim was so accurate that one shell fell between two hussar squadrons +and another just in rear of a battery, but without hitting man, horse, +or gun. "Long Tom" has done better in long-distance shooting, having +thrown one shell nearly to Caesar's Camp, and the range-finders make that +out to be 11,500 yards from Pepworth's Hill, but these three shots +to-day hold the record for range and accuracy combined. + + During the following three weeks the already wearisome progress of + the siege was broken by no large event. The Boers, discouraged by + their want of success on 9th November, went on from day to day + shelling the town with the guns already in position, and mounting + others on the hills with which to make the bombardment more + effective. They hoped to do slowly at a safe distance what they had + failed to accomplish by a more daring procedure. The period, + notwithstanding, is full of minor incidents, the record of which + must be read with the greatest interest. Mr. Pearse wrote:-- + +_November 15._--Half an hour after midnight all Ladysmith woke from +peaceful slumber on troubled sleep at the sound of guns, from which +shells came screaming about the town and into camps that had not been +reached by them before. What it all meant nobody could say, but the +firing did not cease until every Boer cannon round about our position +had let off a shot. Some of us began to dress, thinking that the misty +diffused moonlight was the coming of dawn. Women, huddling in shawls and +wraps, rushed off with children in their arms to "tunnels" by the +riverside, and there would have been something very like a panic among +civilians if soldiers had not reassured them. The staff officer, who had +been upon the watch for possibilities, until he heard the first Boer gun +fire, and then got into pyjamas for a good night's rest, saying, "There +will be no attack now," was a philosopher. Everybody cannot look at +things in that cool way when shells are flying about, but a good many of +us went back to bed again on discovering what the time was, puzzled to +account for the evening's extraordinary freak, but confident that it +would not be repeated until daybreak. That brought drizzling rain and +mists that have veiled the hills all day, putting a complete stop to all +hostilities. We know nothing yet that can account for the firing of so +many guns, and only attempt to explain it on the supposition that our +enemies, being apprehensive of a renewal of yesterday's attack, were +startled by some false alarm. Not knowing from which direction the +expected blow might be struck, they fired guns all round to keep +everybody on the alert. + +_November 16._--We are becoming accustomed to the daily visitation of +shells that do not burst, and perhaps familiarity is beginning to breed +carelessness. If so, the 40-pounder on Lombard's Kop gave us timely +reminder this morning that he is not to be ignored with impunity. One +shell thrown over the railway station burst in air, as it was intended +to do, and scattered its hail of shrapnel bullets about that building. +One guard, a white man, was killed on the spot or only breathed a few +minutes after being hit, and two Kaffir labourers were wounded. Scores +of bullets went into the station-master's office, and the desk at which +he generally sits was perforated like a cullender. In these times of +siege that official would not be always on duty, and he was just then +taking a lucky hour off. A Boer movement, probably of some convoy with +loot from down country, was going on along the road froth Bulwaan +towards Elandslaagte. Boer field guns covered it, keeping our scouts in +check on the plain, and riflemen created a diversion with pretence of an +attack on Observation Hill, which spluttered out slowly. Major Howard, +5th Dragoon Guards, has been recommended for the Victoria Cross in +recognition of his gallantry on "Mournful Monday," when, seeing a +trooper fall, he walked back where bullets were falling thick, and +brought the wounded man back on his shoulders in full view of several +regiments. The Boers, inappreciative of pluck in that form, kept up a +steady fire on the wounded trooper and his heroic officer until they +were safe out of range. + +_November 17._--The 5th Lancers, who, with a company of King's Royal +Rifles, are holding Observation Hill, have hit upon a happy idea for +drawing Boer fire by deputy. They keep a man of straw for that purpose +with khaki coat and helmet. By showing this now and then, they not only +find out exactly where the Boers are, but get occasional chances of +putting in a pot shot with effect. The suggestion probably came from +Devonshire Hill, where Colonel Knox, who commands all divisional troops +on that defensive line, had a dummy battery mounted. This drew fire from +Boer guns at once, and gave Colonel Knox a good suggestion as to the +sort of earthworks best adapted to resist the artillery fire that could +be brought to bear upon them. At three o'clock this afternoon rain began +to fall steadily, and mists crept about the hills, putting a stop to +further bombardment. + +_Sunday, November 19._--Just after midnight Boer guns again fired from +every position round Ladysmith. What this may mean nobody knows. Perhaps +it is a device for keeping Boer sentries on the alert, or there may have +been a false alarm causing the enemy's batteries to boom off a shot each +by way of signal, or probably the guns, fired at certain intervals, were +sending on a code message to Colenso. Rumours, having their origin in +the fertile imaginations of those who think that British troops can +achieve wonderful things for our relief, crowd fast upon us. Now we hear +of a column marching into Bloemfontein and an hour later men tell +gravely of a force under General French having captured Dundee But by +some means ill news travels faster even than these absurdly impossible +rumours. A Boer doctor has been to Intombi Camp this morning and told +the people there that our armoured train was captured yesterday of on +Friday near Colensa, and many prisoners taken, including Lord Randolph +Churchill's son. That was the doctor's way of cheering up our sick and +wounded. We might have doubted the story, but circumstances confirm it, +and we have so little faith in armoured trains that it seems quite +natural for them to fall into the enemy's hands. + +_November 20._--Dense white mists rising from the river-bends, and +spreading across the plains to hang in a thinner haze about the shady +sides of hills, put a stop to bombardment most of the morning. Up to +noon there had been practically no shelling, but only an exchange of +rifle-shots between Bell's Spruit by Pepworth and Observation Hill. The +enemy, however, made up for lost time later by sending several shells +into town and camp. One fell near Captain Vallentin's house, where +Colonel Rhodes and Lord Ava shared the brigade mess; another, passing +close to Mr. Fortescue Carter's house, where several officers of the +Intelligence Staff live, shattered the church porch beyond; from +Surprise Hill several came into the 18th Hussar camp, where three men +were hit, one so badly that his leg had to be amputated; one into the +Gordon camp, wounding Lieutenant Maitland and a private; and one from +"Long Tom" of Pepworth's into the little group of tents that now serve +for all that are left here of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. This shot must +have been fired at a range of over 11,000 yards. It came down like a +bolt straight from the blue overhead, penetrated the stiff soil to a +depth of five feet seven inches, and rebounded on impact with some more +solid substance at the bottom so quickly that it left the mark of its +penetration perfect, and only broke up on reaching the surface again. In +this case there was no burst, but only a detonation of the fuse. After +nine at night we were astonished to see the beams of a searchlight +sweeping Observation Hill. Our foes apparently had got an engine on the +railway between Surprise Hill and Thornton's Kop with an electric light +attached to it. They are evidently prepared to bring against us all the +scientific appliances of modern warfare. Two hours later artillery and +rifle fire began, and continued for nearly an hour, but apparently +nobody was any the worse for it. + +_November 21._--The cannonade begins again at daybreak with some shots +at our scouts, who are trying to feel their way out through the scrub +between Bulwaan and Lombard's Kop. The Boers have mounted a 40-pounder +high-velocity gun on the spur of the latter, and give us a taste of its +quality by throwing several shells into the Fusilier camp at Range Post +and bursting shrapnel over the town. The bombardment finishes about dusk +with some vicious shots from Bulwaan. After this we sit and watch the +lightning which plays in forks and zig-zags and chains about the hills +between us and Tugela River. For such picturesque effects there is a +great advantage in being encamped on a height, so that the whole +panorama of rugged kopjes, deep ravines where spruits or rivers sing, +silent camp, and sleeping town stretches round one, bounded only by an +amphitheatre of higher hills. + +_November 22._--From half-past eleven last night there was heavy +musketry fire near the north-eastern line of our defensive works, and we +thought the Devons were being attacked hotly, but it turned out to be +nothing more than a fusilade from Boer rifles at some unknown objects. +Our foes are evidently getting a little jumpy and apprehensive of a +surprise by night. Sir George White sends out later a flag of truce to +protest against the persistent shelling of the Town Hall, where our sick +and wounded are lodged temporarily under the protection of a Red Cross +flag. Commandant Schalk-Burger is said to have replied somewhat +insolently that he understands the Geneva flag is being used by us to +shelter combatants. At any rate Intombi is the place for our sick and +wounded, and he will not respect any other hospital flag. Curiously +enough we accept this humiliation, so far as to remove the patients and +provide for them a camping-ground where the tents cannot be seen; but +the Red Cross flag still flies on the Town Hall. Again we watch the +beautiful effects of almost continuous lightning, brilliant as +moonlight, and then turn in before black clouds break in a terrific +thunderstorm. I have remarked before on the advantage of being on a hill +to watch the picturesque effects of a storm such as we have here. But +there are some disadvantages, especially if you have to sleep in a +patrol tent no higher than a fair-sized dog-kennel, and a tent-pole +happens to give way. Then you wake with wet canvas flapping about you. +The rain pours down in a deluge that makes you shiver at the mere +thought of turning out to put the tent-pole right. Let the rain drift +and the canvas flap with sounds like gunshots. It is better at any rate +than lying as Tommy does on the hillside yonder with only one blanket to +roll himself in, and with that thought, perhaps, you may be able to +cuddle yourself off to sleep again in spite of the storm. + +_November 23._--Notwithstanding Sir George White's protest, Boer guns +are still laid to bear on the Town Hall, and shells frequently fall in +the enclosure near it, and have hit the building, sending splinters in +all directions, by one of which a dhoolie-bearer was killed. This seems +to me a scandalous violation of all the rules of civilised warfare, +which certainly entitle us to a field-hospital in addition to one at the +base. If Schalk-Burger had objected on the ground that the Town Hall so +long as it was used for sick and wounded came in the line of fire from +his guns to our batteries or defensive works, he would have been within +his rights, but all the same there would have been no truth in that +contention, and at any rate it rests with him to clear himself from the +charge of having fired on a Red Cross flag without warning. Meanwhile +other guns on Surprise Hill have been searching for the 18th Hussars in +their bivouac where Klip River runs through a deep ravine, and "Long +Tom" of Pepworth's has thrown a shell into Mrs. Davy's house, opposite +Captain Vallentin's, wounding its owner, who is the first woman hit, +though numbers of them, having got over their first panic, go about +their domestic duties all day as if there were no such thing as a +bombardment, and never think of taking shelter in a riverside cave now. +This shot brought upon "Long Tom" the vengeance of oar Naval Battery, +which must have battered him or his gunners severely. + +All the afternoon Boer rifles have been dropping bullets into posts +held by the Rifle Brigade and Leicesters. Perhaps the men were showing +signs of being harassed when General Hunter visited them. With a laugh +he stood bolt upright on a rock, saying, "Now let us see whether these +Boers can shoot or not;" and there he remained in full view of them for +nearly a minute, while Mauser bullets hummed about him like a swarm of +wasps. Such an act may seem like senseless bravado, but those who know +Archibald Hunter well know that he had an object in giving this example +of coolness and pluck. + +_November 24._--The Boers made a clever cattle-raid this morning. Twenty +spans of trek-oxen had been sent to graze on the veldt between our +outposts and Rifleman's Ridge in charge of Kaffir herd-boys. Slowly they +grazed towards better pasturage, nearer and nearer to the Boer lines, +from which shells in rapid succession were sent to burst just in rear of +the herds. Mounted infantry of the Leicesters attempted again and again, +to herd the cattle back, but they were met each time by heavy +rifle-fire, and at last two or three Boers dashing down the slope +rounded up herd after herd with the dexterity of expert "cow-boys." Thus +no less than 250 valuable trek-oxen fell into the enemy's hands, and we +had the humiliation of looking on helpless while it was being done. + +The bombardment has been going on at intervals all day, from seven +o'clock this morning until dusk, when Bulwaan sent several shells on to +Junction Hill, killing three men of the Liverpool Regiment and wounding +eight. This is the most fatal half-hour we have experienced since the +siege began, but there was one lucky escape from a shell which burst in +the guard tent among four men without hurting any of them. For the +depression caused by these serious casualties there is some consolation +in the rumour that "Long Tom" of Pepworth's has been knocked out for +good and all. At any rate his last shot into the town was answered +effectively by the naval 4.7, which sent a shell straight into "Long +Tom's" embrasure, and he has not spoken or given any sign of life since. +Without wearisome iteration it would be impossible to do justice day by +day to the good work of the Naval Brigade under Captain Lambton. Without +the heavy guns of H.M.S. _Powerful_ our state here would be much worse +than it is, and everybody in besieged Ladysmith appreciates the +bluejackets, who are always cheery, always ready for any duty, and whose +good shooting has done much to keep down the fire of Boer artillery. + +_November 25._--No hostilities disturb the quietness of morning or early +afternoon, but it is never safe to count on this, and look-out men are +kept constantly on the alert in each camp to give warning by sound of +high whistle or gong when one of the big guns has been fired. Against +"Silent Susan" such precautions avail nothing, for she wears no +white-cloud signal--the flash of discharge can only be seen if you +happen to be looking for it intently in the right place. Close upon the +heels of her report comes a shrill, fiendish whisper in the air, and by +the time you hear that, the shell is overhead or has burst elsewhere. +The Gordons and Imperial Light Horse, however, are not to be debarred +from sport by considerations of that kind. They take all reasonable +precautions and leave the rest to chance, with the result that they +snatch some amusement out of circumstances that seem unpromising. This +afternoon the Gordons had a Gymkhana, and got through it merrily to the +entertainment of many friends before a discordant note was heard from +Boer batteries. The bombardment did not begin until half-past six, and +lasted only until dusk, the final shot being fired by our naval gun into +some new works on Bulwaan. + +_November 26._--The Boers are busy preparing an emplacement for heavy +artillery on Middle Hill, south of and flanking Bester's Ridge. +Apparently they suspect us of doing similar work on the plain in front +of Devonshire Hill, and their strict regard for the Sabbath does not run +to toleration of Sunday labour on our part, so they send three shells in +among some Kaffirs who are digging trenches with the harmless object of +burying dead horses there. + +_November 27._--The Boers, grown bold with the success of their first +raid, try another--this time with the object of cutting out horses that +graze loose on the plain towards Bulwaan. But they have to do now with +Natal Carbineers, many of whom, like themselves, are veldt farmers, +familiar with every trick of rounding up horses or oxen. In vain do the +gunners of "Puffing Billy" throw percussion shells to drive the herd +towards their lines. In vain are shrapnels timed to burst in a shower +where Carbineers sweep round like Indian scouts to herd the startled +horses back. The Volunteers do their work neatly, coolly, quickly, to +the chagrin of Boers who wait in kloofs beyond Klip River for a chance +of carrying off some valuable horses. In their disappointment the +Bulwaan battery tries to get some consolation by shelling the camp of +the Carbineers. The new gun which Boers were mounting yesterday on +Middle Hill opened to-day, shelling first the Rifle Brigade piquets on +King's Post and then the sangar of the Manchesters in Caesar's Camp. It +enfilades both positions with equal ease. + +The Rifles had a narrow escape as they were at work on a wall, the top +of which was struck by a shell, and splinters flew all round without +hitting anybody. The Manchesters were not so fortunate, having three men +wounded, but none seriously. While I write, smoking concerts are being +held in the camps of Imperial Light Horse and Natal Volunteers, from +whose strong lungs the notes of "God Save the Queen" roll in a volume +that can be heard a mile off. Perhaps some faint echoes of it may stir +the air about sleeping Boers on Bulwaan. + +_November 28._--A misty morning with rain, which does not prevent the +enemy from sending a few shots into town. Middle Hill, Rifleman's +Ridge, Telegraph Hill, with its three 9-pounders, which the Rifle +Brigade men, for quaint reasons of their own, name Faith, Hope, and +Charity, all have a turn at us, and our batteries reply; but there is +not much vigour in it on either side until Middle Hill, with its Creusot +94-pounder, and the howitzer on Surprise Hill, begin to shell our naval +12-pounders. There they touch Captain Lambton on a tender point, and he +lets them have it back with a will. To-day we have been cheered by news +of the victory over the Boers near Mooi River, but for Natal people +satisfaction is dashed by the thought that if Boers are so far down they +have raided the most fertile part of the Colony, and probably carried +off pedigree cattle that are priceless. + +_November 29._--The night has been passed in preparing a surprise for +the big Creusot gun on Middle Hill, which, because of his propensity for +throwing shells into everybody's mess, has come to be known as the +"Meddler." Deep gun-pits are dug on the northern slope of Waggon Hill, +where on a nek they are screened by the higher spur from view of Middle +Hill. In these pits two old-fashioned howitzers, throwing shells with +sixty pounds of black powder for bursting charge, are mounted. Captain +Christie, R.A., takes command of them and waits his chance, which does +not come for a long time, the cannonade being at first confined to a +duel between Captain Lambton's pet, "Lady Anne," and "Puffing Billy" of +Bulwaan. At length, however, the "Meddler" chimes in, and Captain +Christie immediately looses off his two howitzers in succession. They +cannot be laid by sights on the object aimed at, which is hidden from +view. All has to be done by calculation of angles, and a fraction of +error may make all the difference. So we watch anxiously while the +shell--a long time in flight--follows its allotted parabola. One bursts +just short of the work; but its companion, a second later, goes over the +parapet and sends debris flying upwards in a mighty cloud. Thereupon the +howitzers are christened promptly "The Great Twin Brethren," "Castor and +Pollux," and "Puffing Pals," everybody selecting the name that appeals +to his imagination most strongly. It matters little by what name men +call them, so long as they can throw shells truly into the enemy's +battery, and this they do steadily. The "Meddler" cannot reply to them +effectively, and other Boer guns try in vain to reach them. At night a +curious palpitating light on the clouds southward attracts attention. +One Rifle Brigade man who has a smattering of the Morse Code watches it +for some time and mutters to himself, "X.X.X. Why, they're calling us +up"; and before a signalman can be roused we see clearly enough these +palpitations resolving themselves into dots and dashes. It is a signal +from the south, flashed by searchlight across miles of intervening +hills, but in a cypher which only those who have the key can read. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NORTH TOWARDS +RIETFONTEIN AND THE NEWCASTLE ROAD] + +_November 30._--Day breaks across white mists on the plain, and then +comes gorgeous sunshine, with a glow of colour all round, brilliant +orange in the east above Bulwaan, deepening to blood-red in the west +behind the rugged crest of Mount Tintwa and the pitted peaks of Mont aux +Sources. From daybreak onward there is heavy artillery fire on camp and +town from every gun the Boers have mounted. Our howitzers and the +"Meddler" began it with a merry little set-to between themselves, doing +no harm. Then Surprise Hill, Telegraph Hill, Rifleman's Ridge, Bulwaan, +and Lombard's Kop joined in, the last aiming straight for the hospital, +with its Red Cross flag. Two shells had fallen close to that building, +from which all haste was made to remove the helpless patients. Most of +them had been got out when the third shot came crashing into the largest +ward, and from among the ruins one dead man and nine freshly wounded +were taken. Rifle fire quickened then about Observation Hill, and +bullets flying overhead made many think that the Boers were coming on, +but it all died away into silence without further casualties on our +side. At night the column southward flashes another long signal on the +clouded sky, and Boer search-lights try to obliterate it by throwing +their feeble rays across the beam that shines like a comet athwart the +darkness above Tugela heights. + +_December 1._--"Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, which has not fired since +"Lady Anne" silenced it days ago, is now reported to be cracked and +useless, but the Boers are preparing emplacements for another heavy +piece of ordnance on a flat-topped nether spur of Lombard's Kop, where +they have a persistently disagreeable 40-pounder already mounted. We do +nothing to prevent this increase of hostile artillery, but content +ourselves with inventing new names for the batteries, so that the +intelligence map may be kept up to date with fullest details. This spur +henceforth is to be known as Gun Hill, probably because the weapon +already in position there has made itself conspicuously unpleasant by +shelling the headquarters and intelligence offices. From it three +successive shells were fired this morning into or near the convent where +Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, Major Riddell, and other convalescent wounded +have their quarters. Middle Hill gun only fired a few rounds to-day, and +was promptly silenced by our "Great Twin Brethren," the howitzers of +Waggon Hill. + +_December 2._--We are not left long in doubt as to the meaning of those +new works on Gun Hill. A Creusot 94-pounder has opened from there, +shelling in rapid succession Sir George White's headquarters camp, the +Royal Artillery, and the Imperial Light Horse, who have their parade and +playground pitted by marks of this fire. People say that "Long Tom" has +been shifted from Pepworth's to the new position, but the shells, with +their driving-bands grooved deep and sharp, tell another story. It is a +new gun, or little used, and probably fresh from Pretoria. Its range is +great, and gives easy command of the ravine in which our cavalry are +bivouacked by the riverside. One shell has already burst there, wounding +a man of the 18th Hussars, but fortunately the enemy cannot see the +result of this fire, the river for a mile in length being screened from +his view by intervening hills. + +_December 4._--One may skip Sunday when it is uneventful in its perfect +peace, as yesterday was, and be deeply thankful for the rest that is +given to us once a week when shells cease from troubling. The weather +has changed suddenly from brilliant sunshine and almost tropical heat to +cloudy skies that send the temperature down to shivering point. Few +shells fell in the town this morning, when groups gathered at street +corners discussing rumours of Lord Methuen's victory on Modder River, +which are now officially confirmed. General Clery is also said to have +defeated the Boers near Estcourt, but if so he did not get back the +cattle they had looted, for we have watched them for hours driving great +herds from southward up the roads that lead to Van Reenan's Pass. + +Our batteries here have for once been most aggressive, shelling the +enemy's position at Rifleman's Ridge vigorously, while the howitzers +directed their fire on Middle Hill without drawing a reply from the +6-inch Creusot, which Captain Christie and his gunners believe to have +been put out of action completely. His twin brother, "Puffing Billy" of +Bulwaan, was also silenced for a time, but has come back to quite his +old form this evening, and threw several shells into the town and camps, +where troops assembled to cheer the news of Lord Methuen's victory when +it was read out in general orders. + +_December 5._--The bombardment has been slack again to-day: all the +enemy's big guns silent. But there is great movement among the Boers, +who are apparently holding a great council of war at General Joubert's +headquarters. This may account for rumours of dissensions between the +Free State and Transvaal commandos. + +_December 6._--Now we know what the firing of Boer guns all round +Ladysmith at midnight of 19th November meant. It was a night alarm +magnified by imagination into a desperate sortie from Ladysmith, and a +correspondent of the _Diggers' News_ telegraphed his version of the +affair in glowing terms to that paper, giving full details of things +that never happened. A copy just received in camp causes much amusement. +Reference to my notes for the 19th of last month will show that we were +at perfect peace here. Not a man of this force except the ordinary +patrols moved on the night when we are reported to have made that +strenuous but futile effort to break through the enemy's lines, and not +a shot was fired on our side. The Boers must have been startled at their +own shadows or at the movements of a subaltern's patrol which they +magnified into an army, and having beat the big drum they perhaps tried +to justify themselves by sending that cock-and-bull story to Pretoria. + +To-night our troops are out for exercise, marching through the streets, +and singing or whistling merrily as they march. If the Boers get word of +this they may have another scare. The daily bombardment is now so much a +matter of course that one hardly makes a note of it unless some casualty +brings home to us the fact that nobody is safe while shells fly about. + +_December 7._--During a heavy cannonade in which our naval batteries +engaged Gun Hill and Bulwaan from six o'clock until ten this morning, +women and children were walking about the streets quite unconcerned. +Hundreds of shells have already fallen in the town, and there are some +zealous statisticians who compile charts showing exactly where each +shell struck and the direction from which it was fired, but the majority +of us do not concern ourselves much about any that burst beyond a radius +of fifty yards from our own camps or houses, and so many fall harmless +that we seldom ask whether anybody has been hit, and it sometimes +happens therefore that one does not hear of serious casualties except by +accident. It comes rather as a surprise to find that our losses since +the siege began, thirty-six days ago, amount to thirteen killed and one +hundred and forty-eight wounded. A battle might have been won at less +cost. + +This evening the 6-inch Creusot on Gun Hill was very active, directing +its fire toward headquarters at first, and then turning it on a building +which has just been selected for the new Post Office, to be opened when +communications are restored. It had a narrow escape of being blown to +ruins by a shell that entered through the roof and exploded inside. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE SORTIES OF DECEMBER + + Retribution--Sir Archibald Hunter's bold scheme--A night + attack--Silently through the darkness--At the foot of Gun Hill--A + broken ascent--"Wie kom dar?" "The English are on us!"--Major + Henderson thrice wounded--Destroying "Leviathan"--Hussars suffer + under fire--Rejoicings in town--Sir George White's address to the + troops--Boer compliments--A raid for provender--A second + sortie--The Rifles' bold enterprise--An unwelcome light--Cutting + the wires--Surprise Hill reached--The sentry's challenge--The + Rifles' charge--Boer Howitzer destroyed--The return to + camp--Cutting the way home--Serious losses. + + + This constant shelling of the town could not go on for ever without + some attempt being made to stop it. Mr. Pearse had himself urged + the practicability of capturing or putting out of action at close + quarters the Boer big gun which could not be dealt with by our + shell-fire. This was now to be done. The Creusot gun just mounted + on Gun Hill, which like its neighbours had been given a name and + endowed with a personality by the nimble-witted among the garrison, + was to pay the penalty of its crimes, and the enterprise of which + this was the result formed one of the most brilliant incidents in + the history of the siege. + +Probably (writes Mr. Pearse) no corps within our lines has been more +deliberately shelled than the Imperial Light Horse, who were driven out +of one camp by "Long Tom" of Pepworth's Hill, only to pitch their tents +by the river bank within sight of "Puffing Billy's" gunners, who had got +the range from Bulwaan to a nicety, so that they could pitch shell after +shell into the new encampment. Even their "Long Tom" also still pounded +at them by way of varying the monotony of a daily duel with our naval +guns. But the most annoying fire of all came from the newly-mounted +6-inch Creusot on Little Bulwaan, which, for the sake of distinction, is +known officially as Gun Hill, in front of Lombard's Kop. Having an +effective range that enables it to search with shell every part of our +camp that is visible, this weapon fired first in one direction, then in +another, changing its aim so frequently that nobody could predict where +the next shell might fall until it came hurtling through the air, in +dangerous proximity, with a sound that suggests the half-throttled +scream of a steam siren, and it generally finished, as it began, with a +few shots at the Imperial Light Horse, or their near neighbours the +Gordon Highlanders. + +I do not know whether the idea of putting an end to the career of this +worrying monster originated at headquarters, or grew out of the wish, +frequently expressed by Imperial Light Horse and Natal Volunteers, to +"have a go" at the enemy's guns--Sir George White has given the credit +to General Sir Archibald Hunter, and such an enterprise is worthy of +the man who stormed the Dervish stronghold at Abu Hamed, and led his +troops up to the flame of rifle fire that fringed Mahmud's zeriba on the +Atbara. He kept the whole scheme so secret that he did not even let his +aide-de-camp know anything about it until some time after dinner last +night. Then he sent round a brief message to Colonel Royston commanding +the Volunteer Forces of Natal, and to Colonel Edwardes of the Imperial +Light Horse. In accordance with this order the troops detailed got under +arms very quietly, taking all the ammunition they could carry, but +leaving their horses and cumbersome equipment in the lines, for Sir +Archibald had wisely resolved that all taking part in this expedition +must march the five miles out, and get back as best they could on foot, +neither troop horses nor officers' chargers being allowed to join the +column. Lord Ava, who is attached to Brigadier-General Hamilton's staff, +happened to be a guest of the Light Horse. Getting an inkling of some +mysterious movement, for which officers were arming themselves like +their men with rifles, he stole away to get a night free from galloper's +duties, shouldered a Lee-Enfield, crammed a bandolier full of +cartridges, and came back in time to join the ranks before they marched +off. + +It was then past ten o'clock; the crescent moon was "sloping slowly +towards the west" behind a bank of dark clouds, and in another hour the +faint light would have gone, giving place to a gloom that makes rocks, +trees, rough knolls, and deep dongas one shapeless black. General +Hunter's instructions were brief and simple, silence being the point +most strongly insisted on. For the rest, Imperial Light Horse and +Carbineers, to whom he entrusted the attack, were to follow their guides +and keep line if possible. These two corps contributed about one hundred +men each. The Border Mounted Rifles, Natal Volunteers, and a small field +force of Colonel Dartnell's Border Police, making altogether about four +hundred, were to be in reserve, the Border Mounted furnishing supports +and pushing them up the hill as each step in the ascent was gained. The +fourteen guides, with Major Henderson of the Intelligence branch as +staff officer, went ahead, and then the column moved off silently, the +order being passed from section to section in whispers. The Boers, five +miles off, would not have heard if a full band had played the +adventurous six hundred out; but we know that there are Boer emissaries +still in camp who might, by preconcerted signal, have given the alarm if +the unusual movement had aroused them and their suspicions. It was well, +therefore, to let such sleeping dogs lie. So the column marched in +silence along town roads, where nearly every house is deserted, and deep +dust muffled the tread of many feet until they were clear of the town, +and passing our outposts on Helpmakaar Hill. The forms of massed men +could be made out dimly where the Devon battalion rested under arms, +ready to give assistance in case of any reverse. + +From that point the Helpmakaar road leads straight round a scrubby nek +where the Boers have thrown up a formidable series of earthworks. To +avoid these, the column struck off across open veldt into a hollow where +men had to feel their way among stunted bushes of the "Wacht een bichte" +thorn, and across dongas where the sandy banks crumbled under weights +incautiously placed, and slid down with men into depths of six feet or +more. After floundering about there they climbed out again to re-form +with such regularity as was possible in the circumstances. But for the +guides, who seemed to know every inch of ground, right directions would +almost inevitably have been lost. As it was, however, they reached the +foot of Little Bulwaan (or Gun Hill) at twenty minutes to two, and +preparations were made for an immediate assault lest daylight should +come before the work could be accomplished. Everybody knew full well how +impossible it would be to get away from the position without terrible +losses, if the Boers could see to shoot It was pretty well known that +not many of them occupied Gun Hill, but the number encamped within reach +of it was a matter of pure speculation, dependent on the accuracy of +Kaffir stories which might be true of one day, but quite untrustworthy +twenty-four hours later; so rapid are the Boers in their movements, if +they get any suspicion that an attack is impending. + +Notwithstanding the difficulties of keeping touch across rough ground, +where silence was imposed, the different detachments, each with a guide +to lead it, marched so quietly that not a word was spoken, and all +arrived at their proper posts in admirable order, worthy of trained +troops. That, however, became somewhat broken as the ascent began, and +little wonder, for the boulders, rounded and worn smooth by the storms +of ages, were slippery to tread on, and occasionally a man's foot would +become wedged between them in a deep cleft. Here and there progress was +painfully slow, and the hill so steep that it had to be climbed on hands +and knees. The higher they climbed the worse it became, until, as one +man describing his own experiences said, they were like a lot of lizards +crawling over rocks. Half-way up the hill they had a narrow escape from +stumbling on a Boer picket. The sentry heard if he did not see the line +of crouching figures that passed him like ghosts in the darkness with +stealthy steps that must have sounded weird across the night stillness. +In a voice huskily vibrant, he challenged, "Wie kom dar?" Getting no +reply, he called again twice in louder tones, and then fired his rifle +at nothing in particular. Then, the whole picket waking, or beginning to +realise that danger was near, let off a volley, and voices were heard +shouting to comrades on the ridge. "The English are on us, Hans, Carl. +Shoot! shoot!" A few shots came from so close to one flank of the +Imperial Light Horse that Boers must have been lying there almost under +the feet of our men, if they did not actually join the ranks for a time +to escape detection. But a sound greeted their ears at that moment, and +knowing what it meant, they scampered downhill without waiting to hear +more. It was a ringing British cheer followed by strident commands to +"Fix bayonets and give the devils cold steel." Begun by Major Karri +Davis, the order ran along from Imperial Light Horse to Carbineers, who +had not a bayonet amongst them, for irregular mounted infantry in this +country do not carry such weapons. But they struck the butts of their +rifles on rocks, and made a great clatter as if preparing for a bayonet +charge, and cheered again and again for a good deal more than their +actual numbers, while crags on each hand tossed the shouts to and fro in +a mighty tumult. This was apparently too much for the small number of +Boers who held the crest. Letting off bullets in rapid succession, until +the magazines were exhausted, they turned and bolted, having hit only +ten of our men, one of whom, the tallest trooper in the Imperial Light +Horse, was badly wounded. In proportion to their numbers the guides +suffered most, having four out of fourteen hit, though none very +severely. The worst wound of all was from an explosive bullet similar to +those used in Express rifles for big-game shooting, and many missiles of +the same kind were seen to burst with a flash like shells as they +struck on stones round about, thus proving that the use of explosive +bullets by Boers is not quite so rare as most of us have believed +hitherto. Major Henderson received three wounds from buck-shot or +"loupalin," one of which penetrated deeply, but caused so little shock +at the time that he was able to keep pace with the best uphill. +Nevertheless, "scatter guns" are not weapons proper to be used in +warfare between civilised combatants. + +Halting for a brief breathing space, now and again, at General Hunter's +command, then following with all the speed they could muster where he +and his aide-de-camp, Major King, led the Imperial Light Horse on the +left, the Carbineers on their right made a final dash for the steepest +climb of all, and, breathless, gained the ridge, to find that the Boers +had quitted it, leaving not a man in defence of the guns. A great stroke +of luck befell the Imperial Light Horse, who crossed the heights with +their left flank opposite a Boer 12-pounder and Maxim gun. The latter +they made a clean capture of, but the field-piece, being too heavy for +them to carry off, was left to the tender mercies of the engineers, who +soon had bracelets of gun-cotton round it, and the breech-pieces damaged +beyond repair. + +Meanwhile the right flank was sweeping round towards the main battery in +expectation of meeting with some resistance from the gun's crew of "Big +Ben of Little Bulwaan." That weapon had, in virtue of similar qualities, +succeeded to "Long Tom's" second title, but did not live long to enjoy +it. The end of his active career was at hand when the Light Horse made +their dash for him and found that he had been deserted by all his +friends. It was poetical justice that Colonel Edwardes and Major Karri +Davis of the corps which Big Ben had shelled most persistently should be +first to lay hands on him and claim every part that could be taken away +as a rightful trophy for the Imperial Light Horse. But Major Henderson, +in spite of his wounds, General Sir Archibald Hunter, and Major King +were in the redoubt at that moment, and therefore the honours are +divided. Doctor Platt, of the Border Mounted, claims to have been among +the first four in. Some of the Carbineers are also under the impression +that they captured a gun, and though there is nothing to show for it, +they deserve full credit for an important share in the night's success. +A line was formed in rear of the battery, while engineers put rings of +gun-cotton round Big Ben's muzzle and breech. Then fuses were set +alight, and our men retired hastily beyond reach of the imminent +explosion. After that engineers and artillerymen went back to make sure +that their work had not been bungled, and saw with satisfaction that the +gun-cotton had rent great holes through Big Ben's breech in two places, +rendering him totally unfit for foreign service. This was the crowning +act of a great achievement, and the force that had aided in its +accomplishment marched back to camp triumphantly just as day broke. + +As a precautionary measure, in case there should be a reverse, and with +the object also of cutting off any fugitive Boers who might fly +panic-stricken from Gun Hill, the 19th Hussars had gone earlier to make +a demonstration by way of Limit Hill, towards Modder's Spruit, and +destroy some Boer stores. With characteristic faith in the luck that has +favoured bold cavalry enterprises so often, they pushed far forward and +gained some valuable information at the risk of being cut off, but +fortunately that did not happen. Meanwhile the 18th, jealous for the +great reputation they have won as scouts, attempted a movement even more +hazardous. In advance of General Brocklehurst's reconnoitring force one +squadron of this regiment made straight for a position which the enemy +was believed to hold in strength between Pepworth's and Surprise Hill. +To do this they crossed near a deep cutting through which the Harrismith +railway passes, and there came under a terribly heavy fire, against +which even their hardihood was not proof. Retiring, they made a detour +to avoid unnecessary exposure, and swept round two small kopjes, where +not a Boer had been seen previously. But, as it happened, the stony +ridges were full of riflemen, who, without emerging from their +concealment, brought a furious fusillade to bear on the Hussars, who had +to run the gauntlet at full speed, all but one, and he, with gallant +self-sacrifice, rode straight towards the nearer kopje, drawing the +whole fire on himself, and thus giving his comrades time to get clear. +Fortunately not a bullet touched him as he wheeled about, lay flat on +his saddle-bow, and galloped after the squadron. Its retreat was covered +by a very pretty movement of the main body and by salvos of shrapnel +from our field batteries, with the naval guns chiming in. Then the +reconnoitring force slowly withdrew across the plain towards Junction +Hill, still under a rifle fire heavier even than we had to face on the +slopes of Elandslaagte, though not so well directed. Several saddles, +however, were emptied, bringing our losses in this affair up to five +killed and seventeen wounded. Of these considerably more than half were +18th Hussars, whose ranks have been seriously thinned since they marched +to Dundee less than eight weeks ago. + +In camps and town everybody is elated to-day. Casting aside the sombre +garb that was suitable to retirement, ladies have come forth clad in +raiment that is festively bright to go a-shopping, as if there were no +such things as shells to disturb them, and no cares greater than +feminine frivolities. If the siege were at an end, and peace within +sight, we could hardly be more joyously animated, and all because two +hundred gallant fellows, led by a dashing General, have shown how Boer +positions may be captured at night, and Boer siege guns silenced for +ever with small loss. + +Sir George White ordered special parades for the afternoon of all +volunteers, guides, Irregular Horse, and Frontier Police Force who had +taken part in the attack on Gun Hill. Each corps had its own appointed +place for the ceremony, and Sir George visited them in turn to +congratulate them on their brilliant achievement. For the guides, who +are attached as scouts, interpreters, and field orderlies to the +Intelligence Staff, the General had special words of praise. Without +their valuable aid the enterprise might have been doomed to failure, and +he expressed high appreciation of their gallantry, not less than of the +skill they had shown in guiding a column over difficult ground when +there was not light enough to make a single landmark visible except the +sky-line of Gun Hill. To the Imperial Light Horse he paid an equally +flattering tribute. As the men of three companies were drawn up in line +to receive him, "Puffing Billy" tried to put a spoke in their wheel by +sending a shell very near one flank, and the line was accordingly broken +into close column with a short front, so that it be hidden by house and +trees from sight of the gunners on Bulwaan. At that moment Sir George +White, with General Sir Archibald Hunter, General Brocklehurst, and a +number of staff officers, rode to the ground, and were received by a +general salute, to which the presence of two or three wounded men with +arms in blood-stained slings gave emphasis, as they had no rifles +wherewith to shoulder and present. + +The officers on parade were Colonel Edwardes, commanding, Major Karri +Davis, Major Doveton, Lieutenant Fitzgerald, adjutant, Captain Fowler, +commanding F Company, Captain Mullins, B Company, and Captain +Codrington, E Company, with their subalterns, Lieutenants Brooking, +Normand, Matthias, Pakeman, Kirk, and Huntley, all of whom had been in +the fight except Major Doveton, who volunteered for it, but was +compelled to stay in camp for field-officer's duties. His seniors had +the privilege of first choice, and insisted on it, so there was nothing +left for him but submission to the inevitable. As a tribute to the men +whose heroic achievement is the brightest episode in this long siege, +Sir George White's soldierly speech will interest readers at home. +Addressing Colonel Edwardes, he said: + +"General Hunter, who planned and carried out the very successful +movement of this morning, has reported to me the very efficient help +that he received from the men of the Imperial Light Horse as well as the +other corps who were employed. When he told me last night that he was +anxious to have a shy at the gun on Gun Hill, there was one thing that I +determined on, and that was, that I would give him the best support that +I could. I knew I could trust you to help on account of your knowledge +of the business which you have taken in hand in this campaign, and on +account of your bravery and your steadiness. I was also confident of +your intelligent individual action in case there might be any +difficulty to overcome. I have come here to express to you my +appreciation of the value of the work you did last night, and also to +thank you for it. It will be a great pleasure to me to report to General +Sir Redvers Buller, whose name brings confidence wherever it is +mentioned, on the work you have done, not only on this occasion, but on +every occasion when it has been my good luck to have your assistance. I +have no doubt there is a great deal more hard fighting before us, and my +only hope is that you will do as well in the future as in the past, so +that I may be able to say at the end of this campaign as I now say in +the middle of it, that your behaviour is an honour not only to your own +country and colony, but to the whole empire. Colonel Edwardes, I don't +wish to keep you any longer, owing to the circumstance that 'Long Tom' +of Bulwaan may interfere in this conference, but once more I thank you +one and all." + +Lusty cheers were then given for Sir George White, General Hunter, +General Brocklehurst, and Colonel Edwardes. Sir George White's +appreciation of the heroic achievement is shared by Boer leaders, and in +their case it is all the more flattering because expressed while they +are smarting under the humiliation of a great loss. Dr. Davis, with +another medical officer and some ambulance men, went up Gun Hill at +daybreak under a flag of truce, to look after the wounded men who could +not be found when their comrades came down in the dark. Giving no heed +to the Geneva Cross, some Boers made Dr. Davis and his companions +prisoners, and they were taken before Commandant Schalk-Burger, who +received them with scant courtesy at first. In the end, however, he paid +a great compliment to the Light Horse on their plucky deed. One Boer +officer who stood by said he thought they all deserved the Victoria +Cross, and another showed familiarity with English habits of thought by +describing the night attack as "a devilish sporting thing." They wanted +to know who led it, and the answer has given Sir Archibald Hunter a +place in Boer estimation among the British soldiers whom they would +rather meet as friends than as enemies. + +The Imperial Light Horse are celebrating their achievement by a +brilliant gathering to-night, and have feasted their guests on so many +good things that one begins to doubt whether there can be much scarcity +in camp, though ordinary articles of food, and especially drink, are +running up rapidly to famine prices. + +Plenty in the Imperial Light Horse larder may however be accounted for +by success in another night attack about which one did not hear so much, +though it was carried out with characteristic dash as a preliminary to +the greater enterprise that followed twenty-four hours later. One +company of the Imperial Light Horse, being on outpost duty south of +Waggon Hill, had conceived the idea of a midnight raid on Bester's Farm, +whence the Boers, after an effective occupation of several weeks, had +retired, leaving a Red Cross flag still attached to a thorn bush in the +garden, by way of suggesting that poultry and pigs should be regarded as +under the protection of the Geneva Convention. They did not go far, +however, and parties of them came down to the farm nearly every night +for supplies. The Light Horse, having impartial minds, thought they +might as well "chip in" for some of the good things. So they made their +raid, and came back laden with provender. Much of this they distributed +with a liberality that has won for them and for all Natal Volunteers +concurrently the title of "friendlies," which will certainly stick as +long as British troops and Colonial Irregulars campaign together. Some +fat turkeys were part of the loot, and they helped to make a right royal +feast to-night, when the gallant "friendlies" had their cup of happiness +filled by warm congratulations from the Gordons, the Devons, and every +cavalry regiment with which they are brigaded. + + Such brilliant achievements as the above might, it was soon felt, + be more difficult in future, the enemy having been put upon his + guard; but all the good-comradeship in the world could not prevent + some jealousy being felt, and nobody can pretend to regret that a + spirit of noble emulation has thus been roused. There had never + been any lack of men ready for work of that kind from the first day + of investment. Devons and Gordons had volunteered weeks before to + take the Boer guns from which the defenders suffered most + annoyance, any night the General might give them permission; but + those fine battalions were wanted for important duties in the + purely defensive scheme, and so they had to lie behind earthworks + or in bomb-proof structures, half tent, half cave, shelled when + they ventured to move out by day, kept on the alert through many + hours of weary night, and called to arms again an hour before dawn. + They had shown--and the same is true of every corps and detachment + in the garrison--the most splendid endurance. Indeed, the only + signs of impatience seen among the troops were the outcome of an + eager desire to be led out against the enemy, that they might get + some satisfaction for the losses and annoyance to which they had + been subjected from the long-range fire of Boer artillery. + + Now, however, the regulars, who had long been ready for any + service, in view of the brilliant performance of the irregulars, + regarded inaction as a slur upon their particular regiments. The + feeling resulted in a second attempt being made, this time to + destroy the enemy's big gun on Surprise Hill. Though it failed to + win an equal success, it was a hardly less brilliant performance, + and forms another engrossing page in Mr. Pearse's story. Writing on + 11th December, he thus describes the enterprise from its inception:-- + +Lieut.-Colonel Metcalfe of the 2nd Rifle Brigade gave expression +yesterday to a general desire that the regulars should be allowed a +chance to prove their mettle, by sending to Sir George White a request +that his battalion might be allowed to attack the Boer position on +Surprise Hill and silence the howitzer there. This request had to be +sanctioned by Brigadier-General Howard, who, as an old Rifle Brigade +officer, was nothing loth to add strong reasons why the step should be +taken. Other corps might be panting for opportunities of distinction, +but the Rifle Brigade, having held the post on Cove Hill which now bears +its name under fire from this howitzer for weeks past, had a right to +claim that their chance should come first. + +Sir George White, fully appreciating Colonel Metcalfe's plea of +privilege and the spirit that animated it, gave consent at once, and +left Colonel Metcalfe free to carry out his plan unhampered by any +conditions save those of ordinary military prudence. He did not even +give the direction of it to a staff officer, and though the Intelligence +Department furnished guides it took no active part in the affair, for +the success or failure of which Colonel Metcalfe alone held himself +responsible. Major Altham saw the column off and accompanied it for some +distance, but only as a spectator, and that no farther than the initial +stage, beyond which everything was shrouded in darkness. The new moon, +sinking behind heavy clouds, gave little light when the men fell into +rank by companies for their march. There were about 450 rifles all told. +To these must be added two small detachments of artillery and engineers, +taking with them charges of gun-cotton. The whole command numbered no +more than 469, and they were going for one of the strongest Boer +positions by which our force is ringed about. + +Captain Gough's company was detached to lead the right assault, and +Major Thesiger's the left, each having with it a section of C Company. +Captains Paley and Stephens were to bring their companies close up in +support, while Lieutenant Byrne was in command of E Company, forming the +reserve. Only a small detachment of ambulance men with four stretchers +followed the column as it moved off a few minutes after ten o'clock, +across open ground by Observation Hill, and turned westward towards its +objective, which could just be seen, a dim rounded mass like a darker +cloud in the dark sky. The guides Ashby and Thornhill had no difficulty +in finding their way without other landmarks, for every inch of the +ground is familiar to them both. An unlooked-for obstacle, however, +presented itself as they neared the nek that joins Thornhill's Kop with +Rietfontein on Pepworth's Ridge. A break in clouds that hung behind +Surprise Hill let light through from the crescent moon that was still +well above the rugged Drakensberg Crags. + +In that light, subdued though it was, a man crossing the nek would have +shown up sharply, and Boer sentries always keep well down where they can +watch the sky-line. Our troops, naturally anxious not to discover +themselves prematurely, lay down in a convenient donga and waited for +darkness. There they had to lie an hour or longer, until the nearest +ridges were again merged in the gloom of their surroundings, and the +more distant hills became vague shadows, perceptible only to the second +sight of men who are familiar with Nature in all aspects. Then the +column, moving silently, advanced towards the railway line, which few +could see until they were stopped by the barbed wire that fences it on +each side. The necessity for cutting this was another awkward hindrance. +All officers, however, had come provided for such an emergency with +wire-nippers. The anxiety was painfully tense as men listened to the +sharp click of these instruments, and heard the severed wires drop with +a clatter that struck harp-like across the deep silence, and went +vibrating along the fence towards a Boer camp where perhaps some sentry, +more alert than his comrades, might catch the meaning of such sounds. No +alarm followed, however, as the work of wire-cutting went on across the +railway and from enclosure to enclosure, care being taken to bend the +wires only in one place so that they could be bent back, leaving a space +just wide enough for successive companies in fours to defile through. + +Thus by slow degrees they gained the foot of Surprise Hill, and began +the difficult ascent. Colonel Metcalfe, and probably most of his men, +expected that they would have been met by Boer rifle fire long before +this and compelled to win their way with the bayonet. It seemed almost +impossible to believe that the Boers, after one sharp lesson, would keep +no better watch than to let us creep up to their stronghold unopposed. +Suddenly a challenge "Wie kom dar?" rang out from half-way up the hill. +Silence would serve no longer, and indeed it had been broken again and +again by the clang of iron-heeled boots on loose stones. So the order to +fix swords was given, and passed in stentorian tones along the front. +Sword-bayonets rattled sharply against rifle barrels to show that there +was no deception this time, and then with lusty cheers the assaulting +companies sprang forward, floundering at times in deep clefts between +boulders, then re-forming to continue their advance, while the supports +and reserves fell as quickly as they could into the formation that is +roughly indicated in the accompanying diagram. That plan had been +adopted to guard against flank attacks by the oblique fire from two +companies, between which an opening was left for the assaulting +companies to retire through in case of reverses. But neither flank +attack nor reverses came at this critical point. Major Thesiger and +Captain Gough, following their respective guides, gained the crest +before their enemies had time to fire many shots from magazine rifles, +and the battery was won. But it contained neither gun nor gunners. Was +the whole expedition therefore fruitless? No! there came sounds as of +men at work stealthily a few yards off. + +For that point a sergeant led his section, and found the howitzer with a +few men round it as escort, bearing rifles. The men threw down their +arms in token of submission, but that trick has been played too often. +"This damned nonsense is too late," said the sergeant, and with +levelled bayonets his sections swept away the chance of treachery. So +the story runs, and at any rate our men pushed forward without further +opposition until they formed a half-moon overlooking the darkness in a +deep valley that might have been full of foes. Into that darkness, +therefore, they poured steady volleys for half an hour, while the +engineers were trying to destroy the captured howitzer. Their first +attempt failed owing to a defective fuse, but with the next gun-cotton +charge a fracture was made so deep that the howitzer will never be able +to fire a shot again. Then the riflemen retired, and as they reached a +safe distance downhill they heard a mightier explosion. This also was +the work of our engineers, who had found a magazine and blown it up with +all the ammunition there. + +But now from flanks and rear came heavy rifle fire. Colonel Metcalfe, +thinking he was being fired on by his own supports, rode towards them, +calling upon Captains Paley and Stephen by name to cease firing. But he +was met by a withering volley, and knew it must have come from enemies. +At the same time a sergeant going off in another direction, and calling, +"Second Rifle Brigade, are you there?" was received by answers in +English, and before he had discovered his mistake three rifle-bullets +stung him, but for all that he managed to get back in safety to his +company. Then the Adjutant-Captain Dawnay, assisted by Major Wing of the +Artillery, who had come out from camp as a volunteer unattached, did +successful work in getting together sections that had gone astray in the +intense darkness. + +It was almost impossible to see anything a yard off. One man felt +something brush against him, and said by way of precaution, "Third Rifle +Brigade?" "Yes," was the response, but at that moment the rattle of a +rifle warned him. He saw something white, which was certainly not part +of a British soldier's campaigning uniform, and, driving at that, got +his bayonet into a Dutchman's shirt just in time to save himself from +being shot. An officer had an exciting bout with a Kaffir who was +fighting on the Boer side, the weapon on one side being a broomstick +that had been used as an alpenstock for hill-climbing, and on the other +a Mauser rifle which the Kaffir had no chance to reload, so quickly were +the blows showered upon him, and a bayonet-thrust delivered at hazard as +he ran put an end to his fighting for the time at least. Our men were +dropping fast from rifle shots, and they had somehow missed touch with +Captain Paley's company. That officer's name was called several times, +but no answer came until the Boers on one side began shouting in good +English, "Captain Paley, here is your company, sir," and a few men +decoyed that way were shot down. The difficulty of finding wounded +comrades in the darkness was great, but still several gallant fellows +made the attempt, and brought no less than thirty-five out of the fight +over ground so broken that they frequently stumbled and fell with their +groaning burdens. One of them begged to be left there, but his +entreaties were met with the response, "Oh, cheer up, old chum; a +stretcher in camp is better than a cell in Pretoria." + +While these gallant acts of mercy were being done by men whose blood had +been at fighting heat but a few minutes before, their comrades were +forming for a charge on dongas thick with Boers, whose rifles rang out +incessantly. Bayonets soon did their work. Before that charge the Boers +would not stand, but fled off to fire from a safer distance. One lying +wounded held some papers up, and said, "I am an American correspondent"; +but unfortunately for him he had a rifle in his hand and it was hot. +Captain Paley, at first returned as missing, was, as it happens, leading +that charge at one point. Hearing calls for him he led his company +towards them, but likewise found himself discovered, and had just +ordered the charge when three bullets bowled him over, and he lay there +until the enemy came at dawn and found him with other wounded; but his +fall was quickly avenged, for his company charged gallantly, and made a +way for themselves clean through the Boers. Colonel Metcalfe succeeded +in bringing the main body of his troops away in unbroken formation, the +detached sections following, and quickly falling into order ready for +another fight; but the Boers did not molest them again, though we know +now that reinforcements numbering over 2000 had been specially sent +that night to guard against a possible attack on Surprise Hill. + +When our ambulance detachments went forward at daybreak they were fired +upon, though Commandant Erasmus had sent under a flag of truce asking +that surgeons and burying parties should go out from our camp. The +medical staff were also made prisoners, and sent before Erasmus and +Schalk-Burger, who, after many questions, released them with the most +seriously wounded, among whom was Captain Paley. Lieutenant Ferguson +died before he could be brought in. Our losses in this night attack, or +rather in the fight that followed it, were 11 killed and 43 wounded, +including Colonel Metcalfe slightly, Captain Paley, Captain Gough, +Lieutenant Brand, and Lieutenant Davenport. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +AFTER COLENSO + + The Town-Guard called out--Echoes of Colenso--Heliograms from + Buller--The Boers and Dingaan's Day--Disappointing news--Special + correspondents summoned--Victims of the bombardment--Shaving under + shell fire--Tea with Lord Ava--Boer humour: "Where is Buller?"--Sir + George White's narrow escape--A disastrous shot--Fiftieth day of + the siege--Grave and gay--"What does England think of us?"--Stoical + artillerymen--The moral courage of caution--How Doctor Stark was + killed--Serious thoughts--Gordons at play--Boers watch the match--A + story by the way--"My name is Viljoen"--How Major King won his + liberty--A tribute to Boer hospitality--General White and + Schalk-Burger--A coward chastised--"Sticking it out." + + + The week that followed the sortie to Surprise Hill must have been + one of intense anxiety to Sir George White and his Staff. The + attack on the enemy's gun positions coincided with General Sir + Redvers Buller's preparations to force the passage of the Tugela at + Colenso, and to march to the relief of Ladysmith. This, however, + was not generally known in the town, which was engaged by what was + taking place nearer at hand. On 12th December Mr. Pearse wrote:-- + +The big gun on Middle Hill, which the great "Twin Brethren" had put out +of action some days before, was taken to Telegraph Hill and mounted in +a strong position, whence its shells reached Cove Ridge, King's +Point, and other defensive works with unpleasant persistency. Captain +Christie's howitzers were therefore removed to a bend of Klip River, +with the object of subduing this gun's fire again, if possible. It was +apparently expected that the Boers would attempt reprisals for our night +attacks. The Town Guard and local Rifle Association, having been duly +embodied, were called out to line the river bank facing Bulwaan, and to +assist in the defence of their town, but the Commandant still remained +at Intombi Camp with sick, wounded, and non-combatants. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING NEARLY DUE +SOUTH] + + On December 15, the day of the disastrous attempt at Colenso, + General Buller's guns could be plainly heard. Mr. Pearse has the + following entries in his note-book:-- + +_December 16._--Except for a bombardment heavier than ordinary, the past +three days have been uneventful. Sounds of battle reached us in a dull +roar from the distant southward. They grew more continuous yesterday, +but rolled no nearer, and therefore told us nothing except that Sir +Redvers Buller was making a vigorous effort to join hands with +beleaguered Ladysmith, and that the Boers were with equal stubbornness +trying to beat him back along the banks of the Tugela. From far-off +Umkolumbu Mountain heliograph signals were flashed to us occasionally, +but in cipher, the meaning of which is known only at headquarters. At +dawn this morning the Boers celebrated Dingaan's Day by a royal salute +from the big Creusot on Bulwaan and fourteen other guns. All fired +shells, which fell thick about the camps, killing one Artilleryman, one +Gordon Highlander, and a civilian; several other men were slightly +wounded by splinters, but none seriously. + +_December 17._--Depressing news is now made public from Sir Redvers +Buller, who made his effort on Friday for the relief of Ladysmith and +failed. He bids us wait in patience for another month until siege +artillery can reach him. The special correspondents were summoned in +haste this morning to hear an abridged version of the heliograph message +read. They were asked to break this news gently to the town before +unauthorised editions could get abroad, but somehow the ill tidings had +travelled fast and with more fulness of detail than the Intelligence +Department thought fit to divulge. There has been gloom over Ladysmith +to-day, which blazing sunshine cannot dispel, and Colonials in their +anger use strong language, for which a temperature of 107 deg. in the shade +may be in some measure accountable. + + Mr. Pearse's notes for the next few days are mainly devoted to the + bombardment, which now became hotter and more persistent than ever, + their success at the Tugela having inspired the enemy with new + hopes of reducing the town. On Monday the 18th + +the shelling began at daybreak, and lasted with little intermission +until nearly dark from Boer guns all round our positions. Bulwaan began +by throwing a shrapnel, which burst low over the camp of Natal +Carabineers when the men were at morning stables. Four of them were +killed, seven wounded, and a private of the Royal Engineers so badly hit +that he lingered only a few hours. The same shell killed eleven horses +in the Carabineer lines. In the town many people had narrow escapes when +Bulwaan's 6-inch Creusot swept round, bringing its fire to bear with +destructive effect on several prominent houses. One man lying in bed had +a shell pass over him from head to foot within a few inches of his body. +It burst on striking the floor, and well-nigh stifled him with dust and +sulphurous fumes. When Bulwaan ceased Telegraph Hill began throwing +shells even to the Manchester sangars on Caesar's Camp, wounding three or +four men, and one private of that regiment was killed by a Pom-Pom shot +from the ridge beyond Bester's Farm. + +On the following day, an hour after dawn, the shelling became hot about +headquarters, then, however, changed its direction nearer to Captain +Vallentin's house, in which Colonel Rhodes was generally found about +breakfast, lunch, and dinner-time as a member of the 7th Brigade mess. +Later the Police Station, or some building near it, seemed to have a +curious fascination for the gunners of Bulwaan. They dropped shells now +in front, then in rear, of the Court-house, but always in the same line, +so that, for half an hour or so, Colonel Dartnell and his men had a warm +time. One of their tents was hit, but luckily nobody happened to be in +it at that moment. On Wednesday the 20th, too, one of the first shells +from Bulwaan burst close to the Police Camp after passing through a row +of slender trees and along the fence, inside which Colonel Dartnell's +orderly was just preparing to shave. He had his looking-glass on a rail +of the fence, when between it and himself, a distance of not more than +two feet, the shell ripped with a deafening shriek, to bury itself and +burst by the root of a tree not three yards off. How this man escaped +death is a wonder. The wall behind him was scarred by splinters, the +iron fence in front torn and twisted into strange shapes, the rails +crushed to matchwood by the force of concussion. Yet there he stood +unscathed in the midst of it all. He had not heard the shell coming +until its burst stunned, and for nearly a minute afterwards he remained +motionless, too dazed to know what had happened. + +In the afternoon (writes Mr. Pearse) Lord Ava and I rode out to have +afternoon tea with the officers of Major Goulburn's battery on Waggon +Hill. Some Boers apparently had a larger and more festive gathering in +the dismantled fort on Middle Hill. They were well within range of our +12-pounder, and the middy in charge was very anxious to have a shot, but +Major Goulburn decided not to waste ammunition in breaking up that tea +party or 'dop raad.' I confess this seemed to me a mistake, for Boers +were sniping across Bester's Valley with such persistency that we had to +keep a sharp watch on our knee-haltered ponies lest they should stray +towards the dangerous zone, where one man of the Manchesters was killed +directly he showed himself. There would have been some satisfaction in a +reprisal, but orders are very strict against wasting ammunition, of +which by the way we have none to spare that might not be wanted if the +enemy should venture on a general attack. + +On the same evening the Boers on Bulwaan signalled to the Gordons at Fly +Kraal Post--"Where is Buller now? He has presented us with ten guns in +place of three you took." + + What seemed like the answer came on the following day, the 21st, + when we have the following entry:-- + +Sir Redvers Buller's heavy batteries opened fire early this morning from +some position south-west of Colenso. We feel, though we have no means of +knowing for certain, that large reinforcements must have been sent that +way recently from round about Ladysmith, leaving the lines of investment +comparatively weak. Our enemy, however, makes a great show of being +strong here by keeping up a more vicious bombardment when the situation +threatens to become warm for him along the Tugela. His object, of +course, is to discourage any diversion on our part, and it succeeds, +because we have no motive for action yet. It is hard to have been cooped +up for fifty days under fire, but we must make the best of it. + +After trying in vain to reach the ordnance stores this morning Bulwaan +got the range of headquarters. One shell burst a few yards short, the +next crashed into Sir Henry Rawlinson's room, smashing all the furniture +to atoms. Sir George White was lying in another room ill of a low fever, +and there was naturally much anxiety on his account. For a long time he +refused to be moved, but at length, under pressure of the whole staff, +gave way, and consented to change his quarters to a camp less exposed. +Immunity from shell fire is hardly possible within our lines now, for +the Boers have mounted another howitzer on Surprise Hill to-day, and +this, with the big Creusot still on Telegraph Hill, will probably search +many places that have hitherto been comparatively safe, for our +howitzers cannot keep down the fire of both. + +_December 22._--This was a day of heavy calamity for one regiment, and +marked by more serious casualties than any other since the siege began. +At six o'clock this morning a shell from Bulwaan struck the camp of the +ill-fated Gloucesters on Junction Hill just as the men were at +breakfast. It killed six and wounded nine, of whom three are very +seriously hurt. A little later the big gun on Telegraph Hill threw a +shell into the cavalry lines. It burst among the 5th Lancers, who were +at morning inspection, and wounded Colonel Fawcett, Major King, a +captain, the adjutant, a senior lieutenant, the regimental +sergeant-major, a troop sergeant-major, and a sergeant. The last had an +eye knocked out, but the others were only slightly wounded, and when +their injuries had been looked to, they all formed in a group to be +photographed. + +_December 23._--After early morning on Saturday came a strange lull in +the bombardment, and people who count the shells as they fall, for lack +of other employment, found their favourite occupation gone. Even the +pigeons that are kept in training here for future military use seemed +reluctant to fly in the still air, missing probably the excitement of +sounds that urge them to revel in multitudinous cross-currents when +shells are about; and long-tailed Namaqua doves flitted mute about the +pine branches, as if unable to coo an amorous note without the usual +accompaniment. Quiet did not reign all day, however. Towards evening the +enemy's gun on Rifleman's Ridge, or Lancer's Nek, opened straight over +the general's new quarters, to which Sir George White had only changed +half an hour earlier. This may be merely a coincidence, but it is +strange that no shells have fallen near his house at the foot of Port +Road since he quitted it. Artillery could be heard southward at +intervals pounding away with dull thuds like the beats of time on a big +drum muffled. But we have almost ceased to speculate on the meaning of +such sounds--while they come no nearer this way there is no message of +relief to us in them, and we are getting reconciled to the idea of +waiting, irksome though it may be and heavy with many unpleasant +possibilities. + + Ladysmith had now been for fifty days under the fire of the enemy's + guns. The situation after Sir Redvers Buller's first failure to + relieve the town, as has been seen, grew more serious, and although + it was very far indeed from what could be regarded as critical, + there is to be remarked in telegrams and letters of this period a + growing appreciation of its irksomeness. But dark as the sky looked + it was flecked by many a brighter patch. There was a gay as well as + a grave side to life in the besieged town, and to both Mr. Pearse + does justice in a letter written on 21st December under the + heading, "Amenities of a Siege." It is as follows:-- + +We have done our best to endure shells, privations, and the approach of +a sickly season with fortitude if not absolute cheerfulness, and our +hope is that though the position here may not seem a very glorious one, +it will be recognised henceforth as an example of the way in which +British soldiers and colonists of British descent can bear themselves in +circumstances that try the best qualities of men and women. + +"I wonder what they think of us in England now? Do they regard us as +heroes or damned fools for stopping here?" asked an officer of the +King's Royal Rifles with comic seriousness. This question was +transmitted in a slightly varied form by heliograph signal to our +comrades south of the Tugela one day, and the answering flashes came +back, "You are heroes; not----" Here the message was interrupted by +clouds, and lost in a series of confused dashes which the receiving +signaller could not read. We flatter ourselves, however, that the +missing words were full of generous appreciation. + +There is little enough reaching us from the outer world calculated to +"buck up" troops who feel the ignominy of having a passively defensive +role thrust upon them for "strategic reasons," cribbed, cabined, and +confined within a ring of hills by forces believed to be inferior to +their own, and exposed daily to shell fire, which, if not so destructive +as our enemies intend it to be, brings a possible tragedy with every +fragment of the thousands that fall about us. Counting eight hundred +bullets and jagged bits of iron within the bursting area of one shrapnel +shell from Bulwaan, a civilian expressed wonder that anybody should be +left alive in Ladysmith after forty days of bombardment. Since then the +shelling has been even hotter and more destructive; but, fortunately, +Boer guns do not fire many shrapnel, nor do the shells burst always in +places where they can do most damage. Many portions of the camp +unprotected by works in any shape cannot be seen from the enemy's +batteries, and though often searched for by shells thrown at haphazard, +our Cavalry, Artillery, and Army Service lines have frequently escaped +being hit by a good fortune that seems almost miraculous. One day three +successive shells fell and burst between the guns of a battery, but the +artillerymen, standing by their harnessed horses, did not move or seem +to take any notice of the vicious visitors. Such is the etiquette of a +service which, while firmly believing in the efficacy of its own fire, +is trained to ignore that of an enemy's guns. Nevertheless gunners, like +less stoical mortals, appreciate the value of bomb-proof shelters when +shells are flying about; and experience, during this siege of Ladysmith, +should have taught us all the dangers of carelessness when by timely +discretion many calamities might have been averted. + +But many people have not the moral courage to show caution when warned +that shots are coming, so they stand still and take their chance instead +of seeking shelter; or possibly it might be more just to say that +fatalism in some form arms them with a fortitude which cannot be shaken +by shells. Soldiers on duty stick, as a matter of course, to their +posts, or go straight on with work that has to be done whatever the +dangers may be; but just now I am not thinking so much of them as of +civilians and troops in their leisure moments, for whom exposure is not +a necessity. The townsfolk can, if they choose, find almost absolute +safety by spending their days in cool caverns beside the river, or +bomb-proof shelters cleverly constructed near their own houses; and care +has been taken by the military authorities to provide every defensive +position round the open camp and town with shelter trenches and covered +ways, where soldiers off duty may rest secure from the heaviest shell +fire. Yet after all there is much to be said in favour of the fatalists +who put their trust in a Power greater than human agencies or foresight +can control. They, at any rate, do not meet troubles half-way or suffer +the terrible depression that leaves its traces on those who pass their +days in dark damp caves, and only venture forth at night when danger +seems to have passed, though that is by no means certain. + +In one of my early telegrams to the _Daily News_, sent by Kaffir runner, +I told briefly how Dr. Stark met his death at a time of apparent +security. Descended, I believe, from one of the most famous of +West-Country Nonconformists, he held views strongly in sympathy with +what he regarded as the legitimate aspirations of an eminently religious +community, and he came here as a visitor from England with the avowed +object of giving medical care to any wounded enemies who might fall into +our hands. When Boer shells began to burst about our ears Dr. Stark was +the most practical advocate of caution. He would leave the Royal Hotel +at daybreak every morning or even earlier, carrying with him a pet +kitten in a basket, and sufficient supplies for a whole day up to +dinner-time. When the light began to fade so that gunners could hardly +see to shoot straight, and therefore ceased firing, he would emerge from +his riverside retreat and return to the hotel. Foresight could not +suggest more complete precautions against accident than he took on +common-sense principles. But, unhappily, one evening the Boer artillery +carried on practice later than usual, aiming with fixed sights steadily +at the Royal Hotel, in the evident hope of hitting some staff officers +who were supposed to hold their mess there. It was nearly dark when two +shells came in rapid succession from the big gun near Lombard's Kop, and +the second, passing clean through Dr. Stark's empty bedroom into the +hall below, went out by an open door and hit the doctor, who was coming +in at that moment. A special correspondent, Mr. McHugh, who happened to +be standing near, rendered first-aid by the application of a tourniquet; +and trained nurses came quickly to his assistance, but too late to save +the kindly gentleman, who had been shot through both legs, and whose +life-blood was ebbing fast, though he remained alive and conscious of +everything that passed for an hour afterwards. The hand of fate seemed +there, but whether it was more merciful to him or to those who, having +escaped shot and shell, are now stricken by disease in an unhealthy +camp, who shall say? + +Incidents of this kind turn our thoughts to a serious complexion at +times, and if a stranger could come suddenly into our midst in the +moments of depression we should not perhaps strike him as a particularly +cheerful community. Yet war even under these conditions has its +amenities, and our mirthful moods, though chastened by events that +thrust themselves upon us with unpleasant insistence, are not +infrequent. For many welcome breaks in the monotony of daily life we are +indebted to the officers and men of regiments that will not allow +themselves or their neighbours to get into the doldrums for lack of such +sports and entertainments as ingenuity can improvise. In this respect +the Natal Carbineers, Imperial Light Horse, and Gordon Highlanders have +shown a praiseworthy zeal, being encamped near each other, and having so +far an advantage over regiments like the Devon, Liverpool, Gloucester, +Leicester, Rifle Brigade, Royal Irish Fusiliers, King's Royal Rifles, +and Manchester, which since the first day of investment have been +detached for the defence of important positions, where they can hardly +venture to expose themselves in groups without a certainty of drawing +the enemy's artillery fire upon them, and where the necessity for +ceaseless watchfulness at night puts a severe strain on all ranks. Not +that the Gordons and Irregular Horse lead a leisurely life, or have any +especial immunity from shells. On the contrary, they take a full share +of duties in many forms, and they have been rather singled out as marks +for the enemy's guns to aim at; but they have not to rough it as a whole +battalion on hillsides without tents day after day, as their outpost +lines or patrols can be relieved from standing camps in the hollows, and +in those camps the main bodies, at any rate, get a fair allowance of +undisturbed sleep, for it is only by day that they are bombarded. When +the fire is not too hot, Gordons, and Light Horse especially, have merry +times at regimental sports or friendly contests. + +In a despatch sent out by a Kaffir runner, who has never come back to +claim the reward for success, I gave a description of sports in the +Gordon camp, when they and the Imperial Light Horse had a football match +in the presence of many spectators, Sir George White and several members +of his staff being of the number. Such a gathering in full sight of +Bulwaan was too tempting for the enemy's gunners to resist. People were +so absorbed in the game that they did not at first notice a cloud of +smoke from "Puffing Billy," and when they did understand what the Kaffir +warning "Boss up" meant, there was only time for the spectators to +scatter hurriedly among tents before a shell fell plump between the +goals and burst there,--the spectators flying in all directions,--but +fortunately without harm to anybody. The men coolly filled up the pit +where the missile, that had so nearly "queered their pitch," fell, and +then played their game out; but care was taken to prevent onlookers from +getting into a dense crowd again, and mule races were substituted for +football, as presenting a less favourable mark for the aim of Boer +gunners. These, however, seemed to be quite satisfied for a time with +having made one good shot. They ceased firing, and stood or sat on the +battery parapets, where, with the aid of glasses, they could be clearly +seen watching the sports through telescopes and binoculars with +sympathetic interest. But that did not prevent them from turning their +gun with malicious intent on the town after these camp sports ended. It +was nearly dark when two shots fell near the Royal Hotel, and the third +went through it to find a victim in poor Dr. Stark. + +The Gordons, for some reason or other, seem to have a curious +fascination for our foes, who single this battalion out for special +attentions, some of which could be dispensed with. In the form of +frequent shells they are distinctly embarrassing, as it is impossible at +present for the Highlanders to acknowledge such courtesies by an +appropriate reply. If they are intended as invitations to closer +acquaintance I am quite sure our kilted comrades will be happy to oblige +any night by kind permission of the General commanding. The Boers, +however, indulge at times in pleasantries that show no bitterness of +feeling, but rather a desire to be playfully satirical in a way which is +suggestive of the intellectual nimbleness of a humorous elephant. Their +inquiries after Sir Redvers Buller have already been mentioned. As to +the ostentatious friendliness of our enemies for British soldiers, with +whom a temporary truce brings them in contact, some amusing stories are +told. One day a field officer of Hussars was in command of cavalry on +outpost, when a Boer travelling-cart, flying the white flag, came +rapidly up to the examining picket, and its only occupant made a cool +request that he should be allowed to enter our camp, in virtue of the +Red Cross badge on his arm, as he wanted an ambulance sent out for some +of our wounded, who had fallen into the enemy's hands. The Boer +emissary was detained at the outposts until his message could be sent to +headquarters and an answer brought back. "As I must wait here an hour," +said he blandly, "won't you dismount and take a seat beside me under the +shade of the awning?" Military regulations having made no provision for +a refusal in such cases, the Englishman accepted, and the two were +presently carrying on an animated conversation about many subjects not +connected with the siege of Ladysmith. Now, the major has a remarkably +youthful appearance, and when he chooses to assume the devil-may-care +manner of a light-hearted subaltern, it fits him easily. Moreover, his +shoulder-chains bore no distinctive badge of rank. There was nothing, in +fact, to show that he was anything more than a cavalry lieutenant, whom +no sense of responsibility oppressed. So the Boer felt his way quickly +to subjects in which one who serves under the Geneva Convention has no +right to be interested. Answers were given glibly enough, and at the end +of that hour, with profuse assurances of amicable consideration, he +departed, probably laying the flattering unction to his soul that much +valuable information had been unconsciously imparted to him. He did not +know that the free-and-easy young cavalry soldier who talked with such +apparent frankness had learned a staff officer's duties as aide-decamp +to one of our most astutely cautious Generals. This is the story as it +was told to me at second hand, and if only well invented it is too good +to be lost. + +Still better is Major King's own narrative, of the adventures that +befell him when, as the bearer of a flag of truce without credentials, +he found himself practically a prisoner among the Boers. He had gone out +to the Boer outposts to make inquiries about another staff affair--the +bearer of a flag of truce whose prolonged absence was causing some +uneasiness, as the message taken by him to General Schalk-Burger did not +demand any answer. Major King had no intention of going inside the Boer +lines, and therefore took with him no letter or written authority for +his mission, but simply rode towards the enemy's piquets unarmed and +carrying a white flag, to show that for once he was not playing the part +of a combatant, though wearing a staff officer's undress uniform. When +his purpose was explained to the Boers on duty, they suggested that he +should accompany some of their number to the commandant's camp, and, +without taking the precaution to blindfold him, they led the way +thither, chatting pleasantly all the way about every topic except +fighting. On reaching a group of tents, the exact position of which he +for honourable reasons will not mention even to his own chief, Major +King was confronted by a Boer leader, who was at first very wroth with +the escort for bringing an English officer through the lines in that +unceremonious way. When matters had been explained, however, the +commandant, as he turned out to be, introduced himself, saying: + +"My name is Viljoen. You have probably heard a great deal about me, if +not much that is good. Some of your countrymen in the Transvaal thought +me a very bad lot, and as they are now with the Imperial Light Horse in +Ladysmith, I daresay there are many queer stories told about me; but I +am not quite so bad as they make out. Your presence here without papers, +however, is very awkward, and I have no alternative but to make you a +prisoner." + +"Oh, that's d----d nonsense," said Major King. "I had no wish to come +here, but your men insisted on bringing me. My only object was to find +out what had become of a brother-officer who should have got back to +camp long before this. I give you the word of a soldier that I did not +want to find out anything about your position, and whatever I may have +seen, which is precious little, will be told to no one." + +The commandant was in a difficulty, but agreed to send for one who is +his senior in rank and submit the case to him. During the messenger's +absence Major King was hospitably entertained, and his hosts, or +captors, talked about sport, suggesting that some day might be set apart +for an armistice, so that Boers and English might have a friendly +race-meeting. The commandant, by way of showing that he does not bear +resentment for the things that have been said about him, described his +experiences after the battle of Elandslaagte, from which he was a +fugitive, and said: + +"I walked that night until I could go no farther, thinking that the +Colonial volunteers were in pursuit. If I had known they were English +cavalry I should have given myself up, for I was nearly done." + +As pronounced by him, "Fiyune," his name does not sound familiar to +English ears, and it was therefore not until some time afterwards that +Major King knew he had been entertained by the notorious Ben Viljoen, +who was first reported among the killed at Elandslaagte, then as wounded +and a prisoner, but who in fact got away from the fight almost +unscathed, and now holds a command in the Boer force outside Ladysmith. +Interviews with a senior commandant, who was by no means complaisant, +and finally with Schalk-Burger, followed. The latter, after raising many +difficulties and dangling prospects of imprisonment in Pretoria before +Major King, finally consented to release that officer on condition that +he would not take any military advantage of what he had seen or heard in +the Boer lines. That condition has been honourably kept, but the Major +does not feel himself bound to make any secret of the fact that while +the Boers kept him under detention they treated him "devilish well." +This way of putting it may seem a little ambiguous, but those who know +General Hunter's light-hearted A.D.C. will understand the sincerity of +his tribute to the hospitality of Commandants Schalk-Burger and Ben +Viljoen. + +Another Boer, who may be credited with a desire to say pleasant things, +was talking under a flag of truce with an English officer about the +prospects on each side. "We admit," he said, "that the British soldiers +are the best in the world, and your regimental officers the bravest, +but--we rely on your generals." + +Even on the battlefield, when men are apt to be carried away by the lust +of fighting, many incidents have happened that touch the chords of +sympathy. The Boers have curious notions about white flags and Geneva +Crosses, but so far as our experience goes nobody can accuse them of +inhumanity to a fallen or helpless foe, except in the matter of firing +on hospitals when they think there are military reasons to justify them. +They shelled the Town Hall of Ladysmith persistently while sick and +wounded were lying there and the Red Cross flag waved above its +clock-tower. In reply to a protest from Sir George White, Commandant +Schalk-Burger defended his gunners on the plea that we had no right to a +hospital in Ladysmith while there was a neutral camp at Intombi Spruit +for their reception. The contention was, of course, preposterous, and +based moreover on the insulting assumption that our General had been +guilty of sheltering effective combatants behind an emblem which all +civilised nations have agreed to respect. Possibly the enemy may seek to +show that we are not above suspicion in such things, by reference to a +skirmish in which one of our batteries did open from a position +directly in front of ambulance waggons. These were outspanned near a +field hospital when the affair began, and as it was thought necessary to +get the wounded out of possible danger quickly, they had to be removed +some little distance in dhoolies. Meanwhile the Boers were getting guns +on to a kopje where they might have enfiladed one of our most important +lines of defence. To stop them in time a battery had to be brought into +action, and the only ground from which it could have shelled the kopje, +to frustrate the enemy's purpose of mounting a gun there, was just in +front of the ambulance waggons. Care, however, had been taken in that +case to lower the Red Cross flag, so that our artillery cannot be +accused of using it as a "stalking horse," though each waggon bears the +same symbol painted conspicuously on its canvas awning. These are +matters about which some ill-feeling has been aroused, but they do not +lessen our appreciation of acts by which individual Boers have shown +magnanimity while smarting under losses that must have been bitterly +humiliating to them. + +When our cavalry reconnaissance was pushed forward after the successful +night attack on Gun Hill, the Hussars got into a very tight place, from +which they extricated themselves by a dash that cost many lives, and +some wounded were left on the field with their dead comrades. Ambulances +were sent out for them under a flag of truce. As one Hussar was being +carried on a stretcher, a young Boer jeered at him, using epithets that +were so coarse and cowardly that they roused the ire of a bearded +veteran who probably fought against our troops nineteen years ago. With +one blow he felled the youngster, and thereby gave him an object-lesson +in the treatment that is meet for those who abuse a helpless foe. To +chivalry of a similar kind Captain Paley owed his life when wounded +after the night attack on Surprise Hill, according to the story told by +one who heard it while the wounded officer was being brought back to +camp next day. In the confusion and darkness Captain Paley's men did not +see him fall directly after he had given the order for them to charge. +He was left there sorely wounded, and one of the many foreigners now +fighting against us in the enemy's ranks levelled a rifle at him, but +was stopped before he could pull the trigger by a blow from the butt-end +of a rifle that sent him reeling. Again it was a grey-bearded veteran +who had come so timely to the rescue of an Englishman. If many such +stories are told we must either come to the conclusion that the older +Boers do not entertain against us the hatred with which they are +credited, or that there is one of their number who goes about the +battlefield from fight to fight seeking opportunities to succour British +soldiers in distress. At any rate, all this is simply history repeating +itself. Mr. Carter, in his impartial narrative of the former Boer war, +tells us:-- + +"Similar evidence was furnished after every encounter our troops had +with the Dutch. It was the young men--some mere boys of fifteen--who +displayed, with pardonable ignorance, bragging insolence. The men of +maturer years, with very few exceptions, behaved like men, and in the +hour of victory in many instances restrained the braggarts from +committing cowardly acts. In this fight at the Nek, Private Venables of +the 58th, who was one of the prisoners taken by the Boers, owed his life +to Commandant De Klerck, who intervened at a moment when several Boers +had their guns pointed at the wounded soldier." + +It is not, however, very reassuring to find that but for such timely +intervention wounded men might possibly be shot or ill-treated, and +therefore our soldiers will not be restrained from risking their lives +to rescue a fallen comrade merely by the announcement that "we are at +war with a civilised foe, to whose care the wounded in battle may be +confidently left." We may be thankful for the fact that saving life +under fire is still regarded as an act worthy of the Victoria Cross "for +valour." + +In other respects, we do not owe much gratitude to the Boers. If we were +dependent upon them for anything that could help to make life in a +bombarded town tolerable, Ladysmith's plight to-day would be pitiful. +They have tried their hardest--though not successfully--to make every +house in the place untenable between sunrise and sunset, doing +infinitely more damage to private property than to military defences; +and they have thrown shells about some parts of the long open town with +a persistence that would seem petty in its spitefulness if we could be +sure that the shots strike near what they are aimed at. So long as the +Boers do not violate any laws of civilised warfare nobody has a right to +blame them for trying the methods that may seem most likely to bring +about the fall of Ladysmith. They have, however, simply wrecked a few +houses, disfigured pretty gardens, mutilated public buildings, destroyed +private property, and disabled by death or wounds a small percentage of +our troops, without producing the smallest effect on the material +defences, or weakening the garrison's powers of endurance in any +appreciable degree. Such a bombardment day after day for seven weeks +would doubtless get on the nerves if we allowed ourselves to think about +it too much; but happily the civilians--men and women--who resolved to +"stick it out" here rather than accept from their country's enemies the +questionable benefits of a comparatively peaceful existence under the +white flag at Intombi Spruit have shown a fortitude and cheerfulness +that win respect from every soldier. Shelters are provided for them and +their children, but they do not always take advantage of these, even +when a bugle or whistle from the look-out post warns them that a shell +is coming. Ladies still go their daily round of shopping just as they +did in the early days of bombardment, indeed more regularly, and with a +cool disregard of danger that brave men might envy. Though more than +5000 shells have been thrown within our defensive lines, and a vast +number of these into the town itself, only one woman has been wounded so +far, and not a single child hit. For all this we have every reason to be +thankful. + +When the sun goes down people who have taken shelter elsewhere during +the day return to their homes, and have pleasant social gatherings, from +which thoughts of Boer artillery are banished by innocent mirth and +music. Walking along the lampless streets, at an hour when camps are +silent, one is often attracted by the notes of fresh, young voices, +where soft lights glow through open casements, or the singers sit under +the vine-traceried verandah of a "stoup," accompanying the melody with +guitar or banjo. Occasionally stentorian lungs roar unmelodious +music-hall choruses that jar by contrast with sweeter strains, but +sentiment prevails, and who can wonder if there are sometimes tears in +the voices that sing "Swanee River" and "Home, Sweet Home," or if a +listener's heart is deeply moved as he hears the words, "Mother come +back from the Echoless Shore," sung amid such surroundings in the still +nights of days that are hoarse with the booming of guns. Few of us, +however, despise comic songs here when time and scene fit. We have them +at frequent smoking-concerts that help to enliven a routine of duty that +would be dull without these entertainments. There are no regimental +bands to cheer us, but the Natal Volunteers have improvised one in which +tin whistles and tambourines make a fair substitute for fifes and drums. +The pipes of the Gordon Highlanders we have always with us, too. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +A CHRISTMAS UNDER SIEGE + + Husbanding supplies--Colonel Ward's fine work--Our Christmas + market--A scanty show--Some startling prices--A word to cynics--The + compounding of plum-puddings--The strict rules of temperance--Boer + greetings "per shell"--A lady's narrow escape--Correspondents + provide sport--"Ginger" and the mules--The sick and wounded--Some + kindly gifts--Christmas tree for the children--Sir George White and + the little ones--"When the war is over"--Some empty rumours--A + fickle climate--Eight officers killed and wounded--More messages + from Buller--Booming the old year out. + + + It needed perhaps all the music that could be mustered in the town + to remind the beleaguered garrison and inhabitants that the festive + season was upon them. It was inevitable that at such a time the + thoughts of all should turn a little regretfully to other scenes. + But it takes a great deal to depress the British soldier to the + point at which he is willing to forego his Christmas; and on all + hands, in spite of adverse fortune, preparations were made to keep + the day in as fitting a manner as the restricted means + allowed--with what success is described by Mr. Pearse in the + following letter:-- + +Thanks to the perfect organisation which Colonel Ward, C.B., brings into +all branches of the department over which he is chief here, and the +attention paid to innumerable details by his second in command, Colonel +Stoneman, there has never been any danger of necessary supplies being +exhausted, even if this place were invested for a much longer time than +seems likely now, but these two officers seem to have more than absolute +necessaries in reserve. When Colonel Ward was appointed Military +Governor of Ladysmith his measures for preserving health in the town and +camps surrounding it took a very comprehensive form. He not only made +provision for ample water-supply, in place of that which the Boers had +cut off, but his ideas of sanitary precaution embraced inquiry into +sources of food-supply and kindred subjects. To the end that he might +know whether wholesome meat and drink were being sold, it was obviously +necessary that he should have reports as to the articles in which +various proprietors of stores traded. Information on these points was +collected with so much care that, when the pinch came, he knew exactly +where to put his hand on provisions for the healthy and medical comforts +for the sick and wounded. He had only to requisition a certain number of +shops and hotels that were scheduled as having ample supplies of the +things wanted, and the trick was done. Some tradesmen were glad enough +to have their old stock taken over wholesale by the military authorities +at a profitable price, but others, who foresaw chances of a richer +harvest, were inclined to grumble at the arbitrary exercise of power of +officials whose acts they regarded as little better than confiscation, +and, unfortunately, some of these managed to evade the first call, so +that they were allowed to go on selling privately, and running up the +prices to a fabulous extent. + +This was a mistake. All should have been treated alike, so that none +might complain that kissing goes by favour, even in the most immaculate +and best regulated armies. As it was, the military commissariat secured +much that would add to the comfort of soldiers, but for what was left +civilians had to pay dearly. Some idea of the way in which this worked +may be given by a quotation from the prices bid at our Christmas market +on Saturday. We have no Covent Garden or Leadenhall here, but it was +felt that some sort of show ought to be made at this festive season, and +accordingly everything in the form of Christmas fare that could be got +together was brought out for sale by auction. It did not amount to much. +The whole barely sufficed to fill one long table, which was placed in a +nook between the main street and a side alley, where fifty people or so +might crowd together without attracting the notice of Bulwaan's gunners, +who would delight in nothing so much as the chance of throwing a +surprise shell into the midst of such a gathering. + +The time for holding this auction had been fixed with a view to the +enemy's ordinary practice of closing hostilities about sunset each +evening, but he does not allow this to become a hard and fast rule, nor +does he recognise "close time" that may not be broken in upon at will, +if sufficient temptation to shoot presents itself. So the sale was held, +not only in a secluded corner, but in the brief half-light between +sunset and night. Some civilians came as a matter of curiosity to look +on, but the majority were soldiers, regular or irregular, on business +intent, and they soon ran up with a rapidity that gave the good traders +of Ladysmith a lesson in commercial possibilities when it was too late +for them to profit by it to the full. Eggs sold readily at nine +shillings a dozen, their freshness being taken on trust and no questions +asked. Ducks that had certainly not been crammed with good food were +considered cheap at half a guinea each, and nobody grumbled at having to +give nine shillings and sixpence for a fowl of large bone but scanty +flesh. Imported butter in tins fetched eight and sixpence a pound, jam +three and sixpence a tin, peaches boiled that morning in syrup, and +classified therefore as preserves, went freely for seven and sixpence a +bottle, and condensed milk at five shillings a tin. But these prices +were low compared with the five shillings given for three tiny cucumbers +no longer than one's hand. The crowning bid of all, however, was thirty +shillings for twenty-eight new potatoes, that weighed probably three or +four pounds. The buyers were mostly mess-presidents of regiments, whose +officers began to crave for some change from the daily rations of tough +commissariat beef and compressed vegetables; or troopers of the Imperial +Light Horse, who will rough it with the best when necessity compels, but +not so long as there are simple luxuries to be had for the money that is +plentiful among them. + +Cynics dining sumptuously in their clubs may jeer at the idea of +campaigners attaching so much importance to creature comforts. Let them +try a course of army rations for two months, and then say what price +they would set against a fresh egg or a new potato. Two privates of the +Gordon Highlanders stopped beside the auctioneer's stall as if +meditating a bid for some fruit. They listened in wonderment as the +prices went up by leaps and bounds. Then said one to the other, "Come +awa, mon! We dinna want nae sour grapes." For them, however, and for +others whose means did not run to Christmas market prices, there was +consolation in store. Colonel Ward had taken care that there should be a +reserve of raisins and other things necessary for the compounding of +plum-puddings; and officers of the Army Service Corps were able to +report for Sir George White's satisfaction that sufficient could be +issued for every soldier in this force to have a full ration. The only +thing wanting was suet, which trek oxen do not yield in abundance after +eking out a precarious existence on the shortest of short commons; and +half-fed commissariat sheep have not much superfluous fat about them. +What substitutes were found it boots not to inquire too curiously, +seeing that Tommy did not trouble to ask so long as he got his Christmas +pudding in some form. There was no rum for flavouring, as all liquors +have to be carefully hoarded for possible emergencies. So for once the +British soldier had to celebrate Christmas according to the rules of +strict temperance. Yet he managed to have a fairly festive time for all +that. + +Boer guns sent us greeting in the shape of shells that did not explode. +When dug up they were found to contain rough imitations of plum-pudding +that had been partly cooked by the heat of explosion in gun barrels. On +the case of each shell was engraved in bold capitals, "With the +Compliments of the Season." This was the Boer gunner's idea of subtle +irony, he being under the impression that everybody in Ladysmith must be +then at starvation point. In all probability it did not occur to him +that he was throwing into the town a number of curious trophies which +collectors were eager to buy on the spot for five pounds each, with the +certainty of being able to sell them again if they cared to at an +enormous profit some day. After wasting some ammunition for the sake of +this practical joke, our enemies began a bombardment in earnest. Most of +this was directed at the defenceless town. One shell burst in a private +house, wounding slightly the owner, Mrs. Kennedy, whose escape from +fatal injuries seemed miraculous, for the room in which she stood at +that moment was completely wrecked, the windows blown out, and furniture +reduced to a heap of shapeless ruin. + +Shells notwithstanding, the troops had their Christmas sports following +a substantial dinner of roast beef and plum-pudding. There were high +jinks in the volunteer camps, where Imperial Light Horse, Natal +Carbineers, and Border Mounted Rifles, representing the thews and sinews +of Colonial manhood, vied with Regular regiments in strenuous tugs of +war and other athletic exercises, preparatory to the tournament, which +is fixed for New Year's Day--"weather and the enemy's guns permitting." +Three special correspondents, whose waggons are outspanned to form a +pleasant little camp in the slightly hollowed ridge of a central hill, +where they cannot be seen from the Boer batteries, and are therefore +comparatively safe except from stray shells, organised a series of novel +sports for the benefit of their nearest neighbours--the Rifle Brigade +transport "South Africa," in the person of its genial representative, +put up most of the prize-money, and together we arranged a succession of +events, offering inducements enough to secure full entries for +competitions that lasted from ten o'clock in the morning until near +sunset, allowing sufficient intervals for the mid-day meal and other +refreshments. We flatter ourselves that our gymkhana, in which races +ridden on pack and transport mules furnished the liveliest incidents, +would take a lot of beating--as a humorous entertainment at any rate. +In order to avoid drawing fire from "Puffing Billy" or "Silent Sue" of +Bulwaan, the course had to be laid in a semicircle that passed the +picketing line for mules. Up to that point they would gallop like +thoroughbreds, then cut it to their customary feeding-places with a +promptness that sent several good riders to ground as if they had been +shot. There are several good jockeys in the Rifle Brigade transport, and +among them one who spent many days in racing stables at home and abroad +before he took it into his head to follow the fifes and drums of +"Ninety-Five." But even the redoubtable "Ginger," with all his +horseman's skill and powers of persuasion in French, Hindustani, and +English, could not prevail over a mule's will. It was more by luck than +good riding that anybody managed to get past the post without two or +three falls by the way. But this only added to the fun of the thing, for +Tommy when in sportive mood takes hard knocks with infinite good-humour. +When at the finish successful and unsuccessful competitors assembled to +cheer their hosts, the three correspondents had the gratification of +feeling that for a few of the many besieged soldiers in Ladysmith they +had helped to make Christmas merry. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING SOUTH-EAST] + +You may be sure that sick and wounded at Intombi hospital were not +forgotten in the midst of our wild festivities. For them the morning +train was laden with fruit, flowers, and such delicacies as the +resources of this beleaguered town can still furnish. There are many +unselfish people here who do not want to make money by selling things at +market prices, or to keep for their own use the dainties that might be +nectar to the lips of suffering soldiers. And there are officers also +who have given of their abundance so freely that they will have to be +dependent on similar generosity if the chances of war should number them +among the sick or wounded. I must guard myself against being +misunderstood. The hospital patients at Intombi Camp are not reduced to +meagre fare yet, nor likely to be, but medical comforts are not all that +a sick man craves for, and the simplest gifts sent from Ladysmith's +store that day must have been like a ray of sunshine brightening the lot +of some poor fellow with the assurance that, though far from home, he +was still among friends who cared for him. Nor were the weakly and the +children who still remain in this town forgotten. Colonel Dartnell, a +soldier of wide experience, who commands the Field Force of Natal +Police, and is beloved by every man serving under him; Major Karri +Davis, of the Imperial Light Horse; Colonel Frank Rhodes, Lord Ava, and +a few others got together the materials for a great Christmas tree, to +which all the little ones between babyhood and their teens were invited. +The Light Horse Major's long imprisonment with his brother officer +Sampson in Pretoria, far from embittering him against humanity in +general, has only made him more sympathetic with the trials and +sufferings of others; just as heavy fines and a death sentence seemed to +bring out the most lovable characteristics of Colonel Rhodes. It was +Karri Davis who bought up all the unbroken toys that were to be found in +Ladysmith shops; and the ready hands of ladies, who are always +interested in such work, decorated the Christmas trees or adorned the +hall in which this gathering was to be held with gay devices and hopeful +mottoes. There were four trees. Round their bases respectively ran the +words, "Great Britain," "Australia," "Canada," and "South Africa," and +above them all the folds of the Union Jack were festooned. Contributors +sent bon-bons and crackers in such profusion that each tree bore a +bewildering variety of fruit. To avoid confusion in distributing prizes, +these were numbered to correspond with the tickets issued; and Santa +Claus, who patronised the ceremony, in a costume of snowy swansdown, +that shed flakes wherever he walked, was content to play his part in +dumb show, while the children walked round after him to receive the toys +that were plucked for them, with many jests, by Colonel Dartnell and his +genial colleagues. Over two hundred children were there, and many of +them so young that it seemed as if the one precluded from attendance on +the score of extreme youthfulness must have been the siege baby, who was +then only a few days old. Generals Sir George White and Sir Archibald +Hunter, with their aides-de-camp and many staff officers, came to take +part in the interesting scene. + +Looking at the little ones as they trooped through the hall, in their +white finery, Sir George said he had no idea that so many children +remained in Ladysmith, and perhaps at that moment his heart was heavy +with a deeper sense of the responsibility thrust upon him. But +fortunately we have been spared the worst horrors of a bombardment. +Though Boer gunners have never hesitated, but rather preferred, to turn +their fire on the open town, with a probability of hitting some house in +which were women and children, none of the latter, and only two of the +former, have been hit through the whole siege. Mrs. Kennedy, to whose +narrow escape I have already referred, suffered so little bodily injury +or nerve shock that she was present with her children at the Christmas +tree entertainment, and took the congratulations of her friends quite +coolly. After the children had gone home trees and trappings were +dismantled, and the hall cleared for dancing, which the young people of +Ladysmith and a few subalterns off duty kept up with much spirit until +near midnight. In days to come we may look back to our Christmas under +siege in Ladysmith, and think that after all we had not a very bad time. +At this moment, however, there is probably nobody outside who envies our +lot, or grudges us any enjoyment we may manage to get out of it. +Soldiers, at any rate, deserve every chance of relaxation that can be +found for them. There are several regiments of this force that have been +practically on outpost duty since the investment began, often exposed to +rain-storms during the day, because they could not pitch even shelter +tents without drawing the enemy's fire on them. When the honours for +this campaign come to be distributed I hope the services of these +regiments will not be ignored. + +Some Boxing Day sports had to be postponed for a more convenient +opportunity, because shells were falling too thick about the camp, and +since then the Boer guns have been so busy that men find occupation +enough in fatigue duties at strengthening defensive works without +thinking about amusements. The bombardment that day began with the first +flush of roseate sunrise--when our enemies brought some smokeless guns +to bear on us from new positions--and went on steadily for hours until +"Puffing Billy" of Bulwaan left off shelling in this direction, and +turned to fire several shells eastward. Rumour, as usual, was equal to +the occasion, circulating stories that Sir Charles Warren's patrols were +known to be moving that way. These inventions are worth nothing unless +the names of corps or their commanding officers can be given, so their +originators always take care to give such realistic touches. They give +you "the lie circumstantial" or none at all. Possibly there may have +been in this firing more method than we imagine, the idea being to +mislead us by a pretended engagement with some force on the other side +of Bulwaan. Another rational theory is that the gunners were simply +expending a little ammunition in practice at range-finding for their +guidance in future eventualities. Any story proved acceptable as a +relief to the weariness of life in camp, that day when the thermometer +registered 108 deg. in the shade. What a climate Natal has! For fickleness +it beats anything we have to grumble about in England. At night the +temperature went down to 65 deg., and the brilliant summer weather broke up +suddenly in a fierce thunderstorm. For a time every object roundabout +would be blotted out by inky blackness, and for the next two or three +minutes the lowering angry clouds would pulsate with dazzling light that +leaped upward like life-blood from the throbbing heart of the storm. +Each thundering peal was followed by a momentary lull, and then +spasmodic gusts shook the air, as if Nature were drawing a deep breath +for another effort. Before daybreak yesterday the storm had cleared, +leaving a clouded sky, but no mists about the hilltops, to prevent a +continuance of the bombardment. + +Surprise Hill's howitzer surpassed previous performances by throwing +three shells over Convent Ridge into the town, and the Bulwaan guns, +having done with imaginary foes eastward, turned their attention to us +once more. One of the earliest shells from that battery struck the mess +tent of the Devon Regiment, and burst among officers at breakfast with +disastrous results. Captain Lafone, who had been wounded at +Elandslaagte, was killed; Lieutenant Price-Dent so seriously injured +that there is little hope of his recovery; six other subalterns +wounded--one being hit by shrapnel bullets or splinters in four +places--and the mess waiter struck down by a heavy splinter that +embedded itself beneath the ribs in a cavity too deep for probing at +present. There was a curiously spiteful touch in the bombardment all +day, and at midnight we were roused by sounds of rapid rifle-firing that +began from Bell's Spruit and the railway cutting against Observation +Hill and ran along to Rifleman's Ridge on one flank, and Devonshire Hill +on the other. It was all Boer firing, but no shots came into the line of +defences, and our men did not reply by letting off so much as one rifle. +A thunder-storm raged to the accompaniment of heavy rain for some time, +and perhaps the enemy thought we might choose such a night for attacking +them under cover of intense darkness. + + The last few days of the closing year were, on the whole, quiet, + though, as Mr. Pearse seems to have felt, important events were + brewing. We make the following extracts from his notebook:-- + +_December 28._--This morning there was just a pale glimmer of dawn when +our large naval gun assumed the aggressive part, and sent six shells in +rapid succession on to Bulwaan battery and the hillside, where Boers +were moving about. A little later stretcher parties could be seen +collecting apparently wounded men. As "Puffing Billy" made no reply to +this challenge, but remained silent all day, it is probable that many of +the gunners were injured. "Silent Susan," otherwise "Bulwaan Sneak," +however, fired several shots, and the bombardment was kept up from +Rifleman's Ridge, Telegraph Hill, and a 12-pounder on Middle Hill, while +Pom-Poms at two points barked frequently, but all this fuss and fury +happily did no harm to anybody. At night a brilliant beam, like the tail +of a comet, appeared in the southern sky. Presently the tail began to +wag systematically, and experts were able to spell out the words of a +cipher message. It was General Buller talking to us across fifteen miles +of hills, and the conversation, all on one side, was kept up until +lowering clouds shut out the light. We had no means of replying, but at +eleven o'clock our guns fired two shots as a signal that the message had +been seen and understood. + +_December 29._--Yesterday and to-day the bombardment has been vigorous +in spite of heavy rain, and directed mainly on houses in town. Colonel +Dartnell had a narrow escape on Friday, a shell bursting close to his +tent in the Police Camp behind the Court-House. Next morning one came +into and through my old room at the Royal, completing its ruin. To all +this shooting the naval guns have replied effectively at intervals. +Ammunition for them is precious, and Captain Lambton's gunners take care +not to waste it on chance shots, as the Boer artillerymen do. From five +o'clock last evening until dawn this morning rain fell heavily. The +river rose four feet in one hour at midnight, flooding out the 18th +Hussars, who are bivouacked by its banks, and carrying away the bridge +that had been built by the Imperial Light Horse. Many horses and mules +were swept down-stream by the roaring torrent, and drowned before +anybody could attempt to save them. + +_December 31._--The old year closes in a quiet that is probably +deceptive. More Boers than we have seen for weeks past are gathered +behind Bulwaan, many having returned from leave which Joubert is said to +have granted them to visit their home, with a liberality that shows his +confidence in our inactivity. It has not been so quiet all day. The +Boers disregarded their customary Sabbath rule of refraining from +hostilities unless provoked by some apparently menacing movement on our +part. There was nothing of that kind to incense them this morning, but +their gunners, unable to resist the temptation offered by herds of +cattle on Manchester Hill (as Caesar's Camp is sometimes called), sent +one shell from "Silent Susan" on to that ridge. They missed their mark, +however, and did not get another chance until the afternoon, when +several "Sneakers" were aimed at the old camp, and one burst close to a +group of officers who were exercising themselves and their ponies for a +polo match. This may have been meant as a rebuke to the +Sabbath-breakers. Boer riflemen were engaged at that time in the more +reprehensible pastime of sniping our outposts at long range, and they +kept this up until near sunset, as if engaged in the most laudable duty; +but we have long since learned that the Boer judges his own conduct by +one standard and ours by another. + +To-day the sun shone brilliantly, bringing back tropical heat, in +contrast to the cold that always accompanies violent thunder-storms in +Natal. + + And so Christmas-tide was past, and the New Year broke upon the + beleaguered garrison. So great is the influence of times and + seasons that we may well believe that even in Ladysmith the first + day of 1900 brought a brighter ray of hope. But hope must yet for + long be deferred, and the daily round of tasks grow wearisome by + repetition--the daily dole of eked-out rations, the daily tale of + bursting shells, were for many weeks, with one day's startling + break, to be the sole preoccupation of the defenders. The enemy, + even on this first day of January, were not willing to leave the + garrison in doubt as to their presence, although, despite the + possible touch of sarcasm, there was a grim sort of friendliness in + their reminder. It again took the form of blind shells--this time + fired from the Free State batteries--inscribed "Compliments of the + Season." The sarcasm (writes Mr. Pearse) + +seems the more pointed because we hear that the Boers believe us to be +starving and unable to hold out much longer. We should, at any rate, +appreciate the good wishes more if they were sent in another form. +Shells, even without fuses or powder-charges, are not quite harmless; +and though these have done no damage so far, there is always a chance +that they may hit somebody when fired into the heart of a town where +people still carry on their customary occupations in spite of +bombardment. + + Whatever change favourable to their hopes was believed in by the + Boers, there was none in the spirit with which soldiers and + civilians alike in the invested township faced the duties placed + upon them. Writing on New Year's Day Mr. Pearse has a timely and a + generous word for the humbler heroes of the siege:-- + +We have among us one little saddler for whose services there is so much +demand that he has steadily stitched away for hours together every +working day since the siege began, heedless of shells. There are +tailors, too, who have done their best to keep officers and civilians +clothed, not even quitting their benches when shrapnels burst near them, +and I know of at least one poor seamstress who, by working night and +day, has earned enough to buy something more than bare rations even at +famine prices. Cynics do not look for heroes or heroines among such as +these. They toil for gain, that is all. But they have stuck to their +notion of duty in the midst of danger, and no soldier could have done +more. Not all the shells fired into town on New Year's Day were +harmless, however. One from Bulwaan burst near Captain Vallentin's +house, which has been a favourite since Colonel Rhodes took up his +quarters there, and at last one hit just over the front door. It smashed +the drawing-room wall, passed thence to the kitchen, and mortally +wounded a soldier servant, whose last words to his master were, "I hope +you've had your breakfast, sir!" + + Up to this time the subject of food supply, though it had long + seriously occupied the attention of the authorities, had not + gravely added to the anxieties of the siege. Under the date of 1st + January Mr. Pearse has the following entry:-- + +Colonel Ward tells me that rations are holding out well. Neither +soldiers nor civilians, who number altogether over 20,000, have suffered +privations yet, and, thanks to Colonel Stoneman's admirable system of +distribution, something more than beef, bread, and groceries can still +be issued to those who are too weak to be nourished by rough campaigning +fare. + + Forage for horses was, however, getting very scarce, and the poor + beasts suffered greatly. + +Four hundred men, including natives, are sent out every day to cut grass +on the hillsides that are least exposed to Boer rifle fire, and they +manage to bring in about 32,000 lbs. daily, but this does not go far +among all the cavalry horses, transport animals, and cattle. Many must +be left to pick up their own food by grazing under guard. The old +troop-horses, however, break away from their allotted pasturages when +feeding-time comes. Perhaps their quick ears catch the familiar bugle +call to stables sounding afar off. At all events, neither knee-halters +nor other devices are of any avail. They get back to the old lines +somehow at feeding-time, and it is pitiful to see them standing +patiently, in a row, waiting for the corn or chaff that is not for them, +trying by a soft whinny to coax a little out of the hands of soldiers +who pass them, or sidling up to an old stable chum who is better fed +because better fit for work, in the hope of getting a share of his +forage for the sake of auld lang syne. Those who know how the cavalry +soldier loves a horse that has carried him well will not need to be told +how hard Tommy found it to resist the appeal of a dumb comrade in +distress; and who shall blame him if he shortened by just a handful or +so the allowance for horses that are rationed on a special scale rather +than turn a half-starved outcast empty away? But sentiment is a mistake +when kindness can do no more than prolong misery. There is no horse +sickness yet in the epidemic form. They simply pine for want of +nourishment until, too weak even to nibble the grass about them, they +drop and die. Some day we may have a use for them before things come to +that extremity, but at present the difficulty is to dispose of their +carcases. Sanitary considerations forbid that they shall be buried in +town or near camp. The enemy shells working parties, who begin to dig +pits on the open plain, and so an incinerating furnace has been built +for the cremation of horses. + +[Illustration: SIEGE OF LADYSMITH, AFTER TWO MONTHS OF BOMBARDMENT] + + In the early days of the year the Boer batteries became much more + active. We shall see that they were preparing for a climax, which, + however, by the splendid bravery and determination of the garrison, + was to be turned into one of disaster for the enemy rather than for + the defenders. We are now within three days of the hottest ordeal + Sir George White and his gallant army had to pass through. + Happenings in the short interval are thus described in Mr. Pearse's + notes:-- + +_January 3._--For two days the Boer fire from Bulwaan has been directed +mainly at the Town Hall or buildings near it, with occasional diversions +towards the Intelligence Offices on one side, or the Indian Ordnance +Laager on the other. Within these limits of deviation are the busiest +parts of Ladysmith, bakeries for the supply of all who are invested, +depots at which civilians assemble to draw their daily rations beside +the Market Square, where lank-sided dogs snarl over refuse, and such +stores as have still something to sell that has not been requisitioned +for military uses. The Royal Hotel seems to be a mark once more. Several +shells have come near hitting it to-day, and not twenty yards from the +room in which I am making these notes a shrapnel has just burst through +the wall of a stable. One horse standing there seems to be badly +wounded, but curiously enough hardly shows any signs of terror, though +the explosion close to him must have sounded terrific, and he was half +blinded by dust mingled with fumes of melinite. The fact that Boers use +high explosives for bursting charges has been questioned, but this +shrapnel, and others I have seen burst at close quarters, undoubtedly +contained melinite or some similar villainous compound, to which our own +lyddite is near akin. A little later two ladies were driving down the +main street when a shell burst just in front of their trap. The pony +swerved as if to bolt, but his driver pulled him up with a steady hand +and soothed him without a tremor in her voice. At the next corner, fully +exposed to Bulwaan's battery, these ladies stopped, waiting to watch the +effect of another shot. + +It must not be thought that our own guns, though seldom mentioned, are +idle all this while. They do not waste ammunition, for a very good +reason, but wait their opportunity for effective reply to the enemy's +batteries, and when a naval 12-pounder or the "Lady Anne" comes into +action the Boer fire is apt to be hurried and wildly inaccurate if it +does not cease for a time. The Boers have however mounted a new gun near +Pepworth's, which sends "sneakers" into town and about Mount Hill with +irritating persistency, and its smokeless powder makes a flash so small +that the exact position cannot be located. + +_January 5._--Days in succession pass unbroken by any incidents +dissimilar to the routine which in the very constancy of danger becomes +monotonous. Yesterday and to-day are so much alike that one hardly +remembers which was which unless some personal adventure or a friend's +narrow escape makes a nick in the calendar. Yesterday, for instance, one +of several shells bursting about the same spot shattered the water tanks +behind a chemist's shop, and its splinters came in curious curves over +the housetops, one grazing an officer of the Imperial Light Horse, to +whom I was at that moment talking. The next shell was into the police +camp, where it burst with destructive force, completely wrecking Colonel +Dartnell's tent with all its contents, but injuring nobody. Had that +genial and most popular officer followed the almost invariable practice +of his everyday life, there would have been an end of the man to whom +more than to anybody else we owe the timely retirement from Dundee. He +it was who told General Yule, "You must go to-night or you will not be +able to go at all," and whose advice, being acted upon, brought back +several thousand men to strengthen the garrison of Ladysmith just before +its investment. The loss of such a man would have been irreparable, for +he knows more than any other officer in this country about Boers and +their methods of fighting, and he has every thread of information at +command if he were allowed to use native scouts in his own way. He would +have made the best possible chief of an Intelligence Staff, but +unfortunately military etiquette or jealousy bars his employment in that +capacity. If his advice is asked for he gives it readily as at Dundee, +and though he has no authority to act in the way that would be most +congenial to his fearless and active nature, he is as ready as ever to +render a service when wanted. Some of us know too how much civilians +have been encouraged in their endurance of a long siege by Colonel +Dartnell's cheery example. Nothing disheartens him. He is always the +same whether the day's news be good or bad, and perhaps his +unostentatious services will be adequately recognised in the end. If +they had been taken advantage of in the beginning there would be fewer +blunders to regret. + +To-day Colonel Stoneman had more than one narrow escape. Two shells +burst within splinter range of the office in which he and his assistants +have worked steadily at supply details since the bombardment began. A +third passed through the roof over that office after a ricochet, and +then, without bursting, rolled to the ground in front of a stoup where +several Army Service officers were sitting. That shell will be cherished +after extraction of its fuse and melinite charge. Fire from other Boer +guns proved more disastrous. Surprise Hill's howitzer threw one shell to +the little encampment behind Range Point, where it killed one man and +wounded four of the unfortunate Royal Irish Fusiliers. + + But the time seems now ripe for larger events. On the following day + the Boers made their supreme attempt upon the defences of the town. + Their best and their bravest were pitted against the siege-worn + British soldier; but though they gained all the advantage of a + night surprise, though their fierce energy placed them at this + point and that several times within an inch of victory, they were + hurled back by a foeman whose determination was greater than their + own, and whose courage and spirit of self-sacrifice rose superior. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE GREAT ASSAULT + + Why the Boers attacked--Interesting versions--A general + surprise--Joubert's promise--Boer tactics reconsidered--Erroneous + estimates--Under cover of night--A bare-footed advance--The + Manchesters surprised--The fight on Waggon Hill--In praise of the + Imperial Light Horse--A glorious band--The big guns speak--Lord Ava + falls--Gordons and Rifles to the rescue--A perilous position--The + death of a hero--A momentary panic--Man to man--A gallant + enemy--Burghers who fell fighting--The storming of Caesar's + Camp--Shadowy forms in the darkness--An officer captured--"Maak + Vecht!"--Abdy's guns in play--"Well done, gunners!"--Taking water + to the wounded--Dick-Cunyngham struck down--Some anxious + moments--The Devons charge home--A day well won. + + + When Mr. Pearse spoke of the comparative calm which marked the + closing days of 1899 as deceptive, he was right, and events + promptly proved him so. On 6th January the Boers, as has been said, + made a most determined attempt to bring the siege of Ladysmith to + an end by storming the British defences. Why the enemy should have + allowed so long an interval to elapse since their half-hearted + effort of 9th November, is difficult to imagine. Dingaan's Day + (16th December) was originally fixed for the attack, but + Schalk-Burger was diverted from his purpose by the attempt made by + Sir Redvers Buller to force the passage of the Tugela. The + projected onslaught on the besieged town having once been + abandoned, it was generally believed that the Boers would be too + intent on watching the movements of the relief column to trouble + about attacking Ladysmith in force. According to one report an + imperative order from President Kruger precipitated matters, while + another story is to the effect that a bogus despatch purporting to + be from Sir George White to Sir Redvers Buller, brought about the + sudden change in the enemy's tactics. This despatch, so the story + runs, asked that relief might be sent at once as the ammunition was + exhausted, and it was impossible for the garrison to hold out in + the event of the town being attacked. The native runner, to whom + the document was entrusted, was instructed to proceed in the + direction of the Boer lines, and so faithfully complied with his + orders that both runner and despatch fell into the hands of the + enemy. If the Boers were led to attack by any such ruse they were + completely disillusioned as to the capabilities of Sir George + White's forces. Be it said to their credit that, whatever their + hopes of an easy victory, they quitted themselves like men when + they realised their tremendous mistake. The long fierce struggle is + vividly described in the following letter written two days after:-- + +[Illustration: THE ENVIRONS OF LADYSMITH] + +Saturday's stubborn fight was a surprise in more senses than one. Nobody +here had credited the Boers with a determination to attack, unless +chance should give them overwhelming superiority in all respects, and +for that chance they have waited so supinely that it seemed probable the +game of long bowls with heavy artillery, varied by "sniping" from behind +rocks a mile off, would continue to be played day after day in the hope +of starving us into subjection, before Sir Redvers Buller could bring +up his relieving force. Everybody knew that issue to be well-nigh +impossible, because our resources are far from starvation point yet, and +it is inconceivable that eight or ten thousand British soldiers could be +hemmed in by three times their number of Boers, and compelled to yield +without a desperate fight in the last extremity. We were fully aware +that if ever an opening offered for the Boers to creep up within shorter +range, under cover, and without being seen, they would be prompt to take +advantage of it, in expectation of bringing off another Majuba, and that +is a danger to which our extenuated defensive lines necessarily expose +us, but we trusted with justice, as events have proved, to the +steadiness and discipline of well-trained troops, to hold the Boers in +check wherever they might gain any temporary advantage, and drive them +back at the bayonet's point. That they would even push an attack to +storming point few if any among us believed, for the simple reason that +rifles are of no use against cold steel when combatants come to close +quarters. The Boers know that well enough. Their only hope in attack +therefore rests on the chance of being able by stealth to seize an +advantageous position whence they may bring a deadly rifle fire to bear +on the defenders, whom they hope by this means to throw into panic. + +That was the plan they tried on Saturday, being urged to it, as we have +since learned, by peremptory orders and fair promises from Joubert, who +is said to have watched the fight from a distance. That, however, seems +improbable, if Sir Redvers Buller was at the same time threatening a +movement against the Tugela Heights, though it is certain that Joubert +attached great importance to this attack on Ladysmith, because he had +written a letter ordering De Villiers to capture Bester's Ridge, at all +costs, with his commando of Free State Boers, and promising that those +who succeeded in winning that position should be released from further +service. This anxiety to get hold of a range which includes Caesar's Camp +and Waggon Hill, and commands Ladysmith at a range of 5000 yards, can be +easily understood, but the urgency demanding any sacrifice of life, +provided that end were attained, suggests many possibilities, and gives +to Saturday's fight exceptional significance as a probable turning-point +in the Natal Campaign, which has hitherto gone in favour of our foes, +notwithstanding the victories we have gained over them in isolated +actions. Dundee and Elandslaagte, like Lord Methuen's fights on the +Modder River, added lustre to our army, by showing what British soldiers +can do in assaulting positions against the terrific fire from modern +magazine rifles, but it cannot be said that we have profited by them +while our enemies are able to keep us here cut off from all +communications except by heliograph or search-light signals, and have +yet force enough to interpose a formidable line of resistance between +Ladysmith and Sir Redvers Buller's column. + +There cannot be many Boers in any position surrounding this place, but +their mobility gives them the power of concentrating quickly at any +point that might be threatened, and this for all practical purposes +increases their numbers threefold. As Colonel F. Rhodes put it in one of +his quaintly appropriate phrases, "We are a victorious army besieged by +an inferior enemy." But there are Boers in twice our own strength near +at hand, if, not actually all in the investing lines. The Tugela Heights +are scarcely twelve miles off as the crow flies, and this distance might +be covered by a Boer commando in less than two hours, so that a thousand +men or more moving from one of our enemy's columns to another, could be +brought into a fight in time to turn the tide against either Ladysmith +or its relieving force as occasion might prompt. For attacking a +particular point this mobility would give enormous advantages if the +Boers only knew how to make full use of them, and carried arms on which +they could rely for hand-to-hand fighting, in the critical moment of +pushing an attack home. + +As it is they trust to tactics that have stood them well in previous +campaigns against British soldiers and natives, their object being to +gain some commanding position, whence, without being seen, they may pour +a deadly fire on their astonished foes, and thus cause a panic retreat +that might be turned into a disorderly rout by a sudden rush of +reinforcing Boers or a terrific storm of bullets from several quarters +at once. Reasoning from experience they hope to make history repeat +itself in another Majuba Hill. One would have thought that the fights at +Elandslaagte and Dundee would dispel delusions of that kind based on the +assumption that Tommy Atkins will not stand up against rifle bullets at +short range from Boers whom he cannot see if they but steal upon him and +open fire where he least expects to find them. + +Probably there were erroneous estimates on both sides, but at any rate +it is certain that our foes were confident of being able to win by +massed surprise, and their effort was made with an adroitness not less +astonishing than the audacity of its conception. After this it will be +ridiculous for anybody to contend that the Boers are not brave fighters, +though they lack the daring by which alone fights like that of Saturday +can be decided. Their tactics have changed little since the old days, +and it remains true now as then that they are an offensive but not an +attacking force. Having gained by stealth the positions that were +supposed to command our outpost defences on Caesar's Camp and Waggon +Hill, they acted from that moment as if on the defensive, trusting for +victory not to any forward movement of their own but to the belief that +our men would give way, and might then be rolled back in panic upon +Ladysmith by thousands of mounted Boers who awaited that turn of events +to make their meditated dash. Such undoubtedly was the plan conceived by +Free State and Transvaal commanders at the Krygsraad when Joubert, +Prinsloo, Schalk-Burger, Viljoen, and other leaders met together in +council some days ago. The manner of its execution may be conjectured by +the light of subsequent events. + +The attack began before daybreak with a determined attempt to capture +the whole range of Bester's Ridge, which is divided officially into +Caesar's Camp and Waggon Hill, forming the southern chain of our +defences, and held by the outposts of Colonel Ian Hamilton's Brigade. +Seventy of the Imperial Light Horse held Waggon Hill with a small body +of bluejackets and a few Engineers having charge of the 4.7 naval gun, +which they had brought up overnight for mounting in that position, but +it still remained on a bullock waggon. Next to them were several +companies of the King's Royal Rifles under Colonel Gore-Browne, while +the Manchester Regiment held Caesar's Camp with pickets pushed forward to +the southern crest and eastern shoulder. Nearly the whole length of +ridge hence to Waggon Hill is a rough plateau, strong but presenting +little cover from artillery fire or the rifles of any foe bold enough to +scale the heights under cover of darkness. It was scarcely entrenched at +all, having only a few sangars dotted about as rallying-points. The +Boer movements were marked by a searchlight from Bulwaan, which played +for hours in a curious way across Intombi Hospital Camp to the posts +occupied by our men, intensifying the obscurity of all-surrounding +blackness. + +All we know absolutely is that long before dawn Free Staters were in +possession of the western end of Bester's Ridge, where Waggon Hill dips +steeply down from the curiously tree-fringed shoulder in bold bluffs to +a lower neck, and thence on one side to the valley in which Bester's +Farm lies amid trees, and on the other to broad veldt that is dominated +by Blaauwbank (or Rifleman's Ridge), and enfiladed by Telegraph +Hill--both Boer positions having guns of long range mounted on them; and +at the same time Transvaalers, mostly Heidelberg men, had gained a +footing on the eastern end of the same ridge where boulders in Titanic +masses, matted together by roots of mimosa trees, rise cliff-like from +the plain where Klip River, emerging from thorny thickets, bends +northward to loop miles of fertile meadow-land before flowing back into +the narrow gorge past Intombi Spruit Camp. How the Boers got there one +can only imagine, for neither the Imperial Light Horse pickets on Waggon +Hill, nor the Manchesters holding the very verge of that cliff which we +call Caesar's Camp and the Kaffirs Intombi, nor the mixed force of +volunteers and police watching the scrub lower down, saw any form or +heard a movement during the night. It was intensely dark for two or +three hours, but in that still air a steenbok's light leap from rock to +rock would have struck sharply on listening ears. Those on picket duty +aver that not a Boer could have shown himself or passed through the +mimosa scrub without being challenged. Yet four or five hundred of them +got to the jutting crest, of Caesar's Camp somehow, and to reach it they +must either have crossed open ground or climbed with silent caution up +the boulder-roughened steeps. + +An explanation may perhaps be found in the fact that a Boer takes off +his boots or vel-schoon when there is noiseless stalking to be done. +Going over the battlefield afterwards I noticed that where dead Boers +were lying thickest about the salient angle of that eastern space, all +were bare-footed. Boots and even rubber-soled canvas shoes had been +taken off for the climb, and these lay in pairs beside the bodies, just +as they had been placed when the fight began. And the spots on which +these Boers lay seemed to indicate that they must have scaled the steep +just where a sentry among the rocks on top would have found most +difficulty in seeing anything as he peered over jutting edges into the +darkness below. At any rate the Manchester picket was surprised before +dawn, as I shall describe presently, though it should have been put on +the alert by rifle firing an hour earlier away on Waggon Hill, where +the fight began between two and three o'clock. Then, however, it seemed +little more than the sniping between outposts, to which custom has made +all of us somewhat inattentive, and nobody thought for a moment that a +picket of Imperial Light Horse had been practically cut off before the +Boers fired a shot or our own men had given an alarm. + +Waggon Hill was at that moment the key of a very critical situation, and +had the Light Horse been seized by panic, or given way an inch, the +Boers might possibly have brought enormous numbers up to that commanding +crest and enfiladed the rear of Caesar's Camp. We know now that thousands +of Free Staters were waiting in the kloofs between Mounted Infantry Hill +and Middle Hill, not two miles distant, for the opportunity which, they +had no doubt, would be opened up to them by the success of five or six +hundred tough veterans who had volunteered to win that position or die +in the attempt. They had, however, to reckon with men whose gallantry +was proved at Elandslaagte and the night attack on Gun Hill--men who are +endowed with the rare quality which Napoleon the Great called "two +o'clock in the morning courage." One has to praise the Imperial Light +Horse so often, that reiteration may sound like flattery. But they +deserve every distinction that can be given to them for having by superb +steadiness, against great odds, saved the force on Bester's Ridge from a +very serious calamity, if not from actual disaster. They must share the +credit to some extent, however, with two small bodies of men already +mentioned, who happened to be on Waggon Hill neither for fighting nor +watch-keeping--the few bluejackets of H.M.S. _Powerful_ in charge of the +big gun which had been brought up that night for mounting there, and the +handful of Royal Engineers under Lieutenants Digby-Jones and Dennis, +preparing the necessary epaulements for that weapon. When firing began, +the gun being still on its waggon, all that could be done was to outspan +its team of oxen. Then bluejackets and sappers, seizing each his rifle, +took their places behind slight earthworks, prepared to fight it out +manfully. The only tribute they need ask for is that their roll of dead +and wounded may be borne in memory. Out of thirty all told, the Royal +Engineers lost two officers killed and fifteen men wounded. Of the few +sailors, one was killed and one wounded. This record seems hard to beat; +but the Imperial Light Horse could point to heaps of dead and maimed in +proof of the dauntless stand they made, for the living continued to +fight where their gallant comrades fell, scorning to quit an inch of +ground to the Boers, though they knew by the rifle fire flashing round +them in the darkness that they were hopelessly outnumbered from the +first. Their brigadier speaks of them as men with no nerves at all. When +one was hit, another stepped quietly up to his place and went on +shooting as if at target-practice, though he had no more cover than a +small stone to lie behind; and this happened not once but a score of +times, the officers taking an equal share in the fight with their men, +who speak with pride of the gallantry shown by Captains de Rothe and +Codrington, Lieutenants Webb, Pakeman, Adams, Campbell, and Richardson, +and the active veteran Major Doveton, who cheered his men on after he +had received two bullet wounds, one of which shattered his fore-arm and +shoulder. + +By that time the sun was rising above Bulwaan in a halo of orange, +crimson, and purple, and men could count the grim faces of their +enemies. Ladysmith was aroused at dawn by the rattle of incessant rifle +fire rolling along Bester's Ridge from end to end. Up to that time no +big guns had spoken on either side, and people came out of their houses +slowly, in sulky humour at having their rest disturbed before the +conventional hour for shelling to begin. While they listened to the +continuous crackling as of damp sticks in a huge bonfire, few among them +realised that the sounds indicated anything more serious than a Boer +demonstration which would fizzle out quickly, and even when bullets +began to fall in the town itself, or went whistling away overhead, the +only comment made was that Mauser rifles must have a marvellous range if +they could send bullets so far beyond the ridge aimed at. + +Bulwaan's 6-inch Creusot opened fire as the sun rose behind it in a +splendour of orange and crimson clouds. The white smoke changed to +wreaths of blue and deep purple against that glowing sky, while people +waited to hear the gurgling scream of a shell. It did not come the way +they expected, but burst above the dark crest of Caesar's Camp. Then the +watchers, relieved because the big guns had found other occupation than +battering down houses, went back to bed or to their morning baths, +little thinking that the fate of Ladysmith was at the moment dependent +on men who lay among rocks, or behind grass tussocks, looking through +rifle sights at such short range that they could almost see the colour +of each other's eyes. + +Colonel Hamilton, who had ridden out with his staff, and accompanied by +Colonel F. Rhodes, to the highest knoll of Bester's Ridge, grasped the +situation quickly and ordered up reinforcements. The Boers who had crept +round the crest of the eastern steep, which I have called by its Kaffir +name Intombi, were even then almost up to the camp that Colonel Hamilton +had quitted half an hour earlier, but screened from the Manchester +battalion's fire by a swell of the ground in front. Their further +progress, however, was stayed by a counter attack from Border Mounted +Rifles and Natal Volunteers whom Colonel Royston brought up to reinforce +the Frontier Police under Major Clark, who had been holding that point +with dogged determination since dawn. The brigadier, seeing that for a +time no headway was being made by the enemy against Caesar's Camp, +turned his attention towards Waggon Hill and sent Lord Ava forward to +reconnoitre from the spot where Colonel Edwardes, with the main body of +Imperial Light Horse, reduced to less than half its original strength by +losses in former actions, was making a gallant effort to relieve the +remnants of two squadrons from their perilous plight on Waggon Hill. +Lord Ava watched its issue from the fighting line beside men with whom +he had scaled the rough heights of Elandslaagte and the stiffer steeps +of Gun Hill. As he raised himself upon a small boulder to look through +glasses at the enemy, who were pouring in a hail of bullets from a +distance of little more than 150 yards, a bullet struck him in the +forehead, and there he lay, apparently lifeless, with every sense dead +to the din of war about him. A few minutes later Colonel Frank Rhodes +heard that a staff-officer had been hit. He came at once to the +conclusion that it was the young friend who had been his companion daily +since they sailed from England early in September. As he went forward to +make sure, Lieutenant Lannowe, of the 4th Dragoon Guards, aide-de-camp +to Colonel Hamilton, joined him, and these two, passing unscathed across +the shot-torn slopes, found Lord Ava lying sorely wounded, but still +alive, where Boer bullets were falling thickest about the Imperial Light +Horse. They carried him to a place of less danger, and there Colonel +Rhodes bandaged the wound, while a skilful surgeon's aid was being +summoned. By that time Majors Julian, of the Royal Army Medical Corps, +and Davis, medical officer of the Imperial Light Horse, had their hands +full, having rendered aid to many wounded men under the heaviest fire, +utterly regardless of danger to themselves. The first operation, without +which recovery would have been hopeless, was, however, performed there, +while Mauser bullets whistled through the air, and Lord Ava, still +unconscious, was borne from the field. + +The few bluejackets, Gordons, Imperial Light Horse, and Engineers, under +Lieutenant Digby-Jones, R.E., were still holding their ground manfully +on the extreme westerly crest of Waggon Hill. The Boers were within +point-blank range of them on two sides, while beyond the crest and down +into Bester's Valley hundreds of others were waiting for the first sign +of panic among our men to rush the position, but held in check by a +company of the 60th Rifles and a few Light Horse occupying a small +sangar on that side. The ridge, however, was being shelled by the +enemy's guns from Middle Hill and Blaauwbank with such accuracy that +many of our men were wounded by that fire, but not a Boer was hit, +though the fighting lines were less than 100 yards apart. The 21st +Battery Field Artillery, out in comparatively open ground beyond Range +Post, swept with shrapnel the slopes and kloofs of Mounted Infantry Hill +on one side, and Major Goulburn's battery, the 42nd, searched the +reverse slope of that knoll, smiting the head of a movement by which our +foes tried to strengthen their attack. The Natal artillery had done +similar service at an earlier stage against another body, and though +under heavy rifle fire they still stuck to their guns manfully. Our +naval 12-pounder mounted near this battery, but having double the range, +played upon Middle Hill, trying by rapid and accurate fire to silence +the big Creusot gun there, or baffle its aim. + +This was the favourable opportunity seized by Colonel Hamilton for +sending forward Major Miller-Wallnutt with one company of Gordons to +reinforce the little group of bluejackets, Light Horse, Engineers, and +Highlanders who were fighting so desperately hard to beat the Boers +back. A little later Major Campbell reached Waggon Hill with four +companies of the "Second Sixtieth," but their fire failed to dislodge +the Boers, and the Gordons, under Miller-Wallnutt, were being sorely +pressed, the Boers having a number of picked shots among the rocks on +two sides whence they could bring a deadly fire to bear on the flanks of +any force that might attempt to cross the open ground between. General +Hamilton, however, seeing that risks must be taken, or the Gordons would +be in perilous plight, sent two companies of Rifles forward in +succession, but smitten in front by artillery fire from Middle Hill and +Blaauwbank, while their flanks were raked by rifle bullets, they halted +and took such cover as could be found among small stones. A company +being then called upon to rush the open space, Lieutenant Todd asked for +permission to try first with a small body, and this being granted he led +a mere handful of ready volunteers forward. The gallant young officer, +however, had not gone many yards before he was shot dead, and the men +fell back disheartened by the loss of one whom they would have followed +anywhere, because they recognised in him the qualities of a born leader. + +After that there were moments of humiliation when it seemed as if the +possibility of holding Waggon Hill hung upon a mere chance. Once +surprised by finding Boers within fifty yards, the whole forward line of +Rifles and Highlanders gave way, retiring over the crest with a +precipitancy that threatened to sweep back supports and all in a general +confusion. But it was no more than a momentary panic, such as the best +troops in the world may be subject to, and our men were quick to rally +when they heard themselves called upon for another effort, and saw +officers springing up the hill again towards that shot-fretted crest +where several Engineers and bluejackets, with the Imperial Light Horse, +still clung as if they had looked on Medusa's head, and become part of +the rocks among which they lay, only that their forefingers were playing +about the triggers, ready in a moment to give back shot for shot to the +Boers. And when deeds of heroism were being performed by Major +Miller-Wallnutt; Lieutenant Digby-Jones, R.E., Gunner Sims of the Royal +Navy, and Lieutenant Fitzgerald, 11th Hussars, who met their enemies +face to face, the irregular troopers were not slow to take their part in +fighting at close quarters. Trooper Albrecht, of the Imperial Light +Horse, especially distinguished himself by shooting two of the Boers who +were at that moment within a few yards of Digby-Jones with rifles +levelled, and the young Engineer lieutenant, whose repeated acts of +bravery might have merited the Victoria Cross, accounted for the other +before he in turn was mortally wounded. Many tough old Free State Boers, +who took all the brunt of fighting on this hill, behaved with the +greatest intrepidity, winning admiration from foes who were yet eager to +try a death-grip with them. + +Here Hendrick Truiter fought as he did at Majuba in the forefront, and +got off scot-free, though he presents a target many cubits broad; +gigantic John Wessels of Van Reenan's; Commandants De Jaagers and Van +Wyck, both killed; Wepenaar, who seemed to exercise authority above them +all; and Japic de Villiers, Commandant of the Wetzies Hoek district, a +man among men in his disregard of danger. When he fell dead, after +making his way close up to our sangar and shooting Major +Miller-Wallnutt, the Orange Free State lost one of its foremost citizens +and bravest fighters. If the supports swarming thickly in Bester's +Valley and the kloofs behind Mounted Infantry Hill had come on with +anything like the determination shown by the intrepid 500 who first +seized Waggon Hill, there must have been many anxious moments for our +General. As it was we had regained and still held the position, but +without driving the Boers from their hiding-places within fifty yards of +the crest. + +But now it is time that we should turn our attention to a post three +miles eastward, where an equally stubborn fight had been waged about +Intombi Spur, and the fringes of a plateau, 800 yards wide, in front of +the Manchester Battalion sangars on Caesar's camp. There the pickets had +been surprised, just about the time of relief, half an hour before dawn. +There are differences of opinion, and some acrimonious discussions as to +the means by which 500 Boers of the Heidelberg Commando, under Greyling, +had succeeded in getting to a position which commanded much of that +plateau before anybody had the slightest suspicion that enemies were +near. At the outset I suggested an explanation which seems to be +strengthened by every fact that I can gather. They came barefooted up +the cliff-like face of Intombi Spur on its southern side, and crept +round near its crest until they had command of the whole shoulder, +practically cutting off the Manchester sentries from their pickets, but +taking care to raise no premature alarm. Their rule apparently was to +wait for the sound of firing on Waggon Hill, whereby our attention +might be diverted that way, and then to begin their own attack on a +weakened flank. + +This is nearly what happened, except that the Manchesters were put on +the alert by signs of an attack about Waggon Hill more serious than any +preceding it, and made preparations for strengthening their own outpost +line. But it was then too late. The Boers were upon them, ready to open +fire from behind rocks. As Lieutenant Hunt-Grubbe was coming forward to +examine the sentries, shadowy forms sprang out of the darkness and +surrounded him. Then one who was in the uniform of a Border Mounted +Rifleman called to the picket, "We are the Town Guard! surrender!" The +sergeant, however, was not to be caught in that trap, but replied, "We +surrender to nobody," and then ordered his men to fire. In a moment the +air was torn by bullets from all sides, and the picket fell back +fighting towards its own supports, not knowing then that the young +officer had been left a prisoner in the enemy's hands. He was well +treated by his captors, except that they kept him under fire from his +own men so long as a forward position could be maintained, and when that +became too hot they forced him to creep back with them to the cover of +other rocks. He did not want much forcing, being glad enough to wriggle +across the intervening space, where bullets fell unpleasantly thick, as +fast as possible. There he lay close, but kept his eyes open, and saw +something that may furnish a key to the success of Transvaal Boers in +scaling a difficult height that must have been quite strange to them. + +Prominent in one group was a young man whom Hunt-Grubbe thought he +recognised. For a long time the face puzzled him, but at last he +remembered having seen a counterfeit presentment of it, or one very +similar, in a photographic group of the Bester family. A Bester would +know every rock and cranny of that hill with a familiarity which would +make light or darkness indifferent to him. Lieutenant Hunt-Grubbe made +mental notes also of Boer tactics, by which they gave a great impression +of numbers. A group would gather at one point and keep up rapid firing +for some time, then double under cover to some rocks thirty yards off, +and discharge their rifles there, but always taking care not to throw +any shots away. + +In spite of these dodges and good shooting, however, the Boers could +make no headway against the Manchesters, who were by this time extended +across the stony plateau under fire from Boer guns posted among trees on +the far side of Bester's Valley. Neither side in fact could move either +to advance or retire without exposing itself on open ground. Therefore +they stayed blazing away at each other until the grey dawn gave place to +swift sunrise. Then the Boers, who had a heliograph with them behind +Intombi Spur, flashed to Bulwaan the signal "Maak Vecht," and our friend +"Puffing Billy"--as the big 6-inch Creusot is called--promptly made +fight in a way that was astonishing in a weapon whose grooves must be +worn nearly smooth by frequent firing. He threw shell after shell with +vicious rapidity and remarkable accuracy on to the plateau of Caesar's +Camp, but the shells fortunately did not fall among our men or burst +well. + +Just as Colonel Metcalfe arrived at Caesar's Camp, with four companies of +the Rifle Brigade to reinforce and prolong our fighting line, the Boer +gunners turned their attention to another point, where, in the low +ground among trees by Klip River, Major Abdy was bringing the 53rd Field +Battery into action. This proved to be the turning-point of the fight on +the eastern spur of Bester's Ridge. + +Those six guns began throwing time-shrapnel with beautiful precision +just where Boers were thickest. Not a shell seemed to be misplaced, so +far as one could judge, and successive bursts and showers of shrapnel +seemed to wither the immense thickets near Intombi's crest. "Puffing +Billy" turned with an angry growl on Abdy's battery, and this was +followed by many shells fired so rapidly that one began to think the gun +must split under that strain. It went on firing, however, and shell +after shell dropped close to our battery when it was unlimbered on an +open space among mimosa trees. At last a shell burst under one of the +guns, shrouding it and the gunners in a cloud of mingled smoke and mud. +Everybody watched anxiously to see who was hit or what had happened. The +gun, they thought, must surely be disabled, but just as they were saying +so there came a flash out from that cloud. The artillerymen had coolly +taken aim while splinters were flying round them or hitting comrades, +and we saw the shell, aimed under those conditions, burst exactly in the +right place. It was a splendid example of nerve and steadiness under +difficulties, and some spectators, at least, cheered it with cries of +"Well done, gunners." So the 53rd Battery remained in action, doing +splendid service by shelling the Boers on Intombi Spruit and beating +back all attempts of Boer supports to scale the height that way. +"Puffing Billy" went on firing from Bulwaan all this while, and is said +to have got off over 120 rounds during the fight, but its shooting +became very erratic and totally ineffective, while our guns were doing +great execution. + +[Illustration: THE BRITISH POSITION AT LADYSMITH, LOOKING EASTWARD] + +It was from smaller Boer guns and Mauser rifles that the four companies +of the Rifle Brigade suffered heavily in their attempt to drive the +enemy from Caesar's Camp plateau into Bester's Valley. One party was +smitten heavily while moving forward in a gallant advance to get within +charging distance. The shattered remnant took cover behind a small ridge +of stones, beyond which there was a little open ground, where Lieutenant +Hall and another wounded officer lay. Repeated attempts made to bring +in these officers failed, because directly a man lifted himself above +the stones he became the target for twenty Boer rifles. The +colour-sergeant of Mr. Hall's company, however, crawled across that +ground, to and fro, three times in as many hours, taking water to the +wounded officers, who lay there under scorching sunshine, unable to move +because even an uplifted hand was enough to draw the Boer fire on +helpless wounded. Lieutenant Hall, whose arm was bleeding badly, turned +over, apparently to bandage it, and another bullet struck him. Such was +the fate of many brave fellows that day, whose stricken state should +have appealed to the mercy of their enemies, but the Boers, unable to +advance, and afraid to retreat so long as daylight lasted, were +seemingly so suspicious of all movements that they saw in every wounded +man a possible foe lurking there for his chance to get a shot at them. +The same excuse, however, cannot be pleaded for one Free State burgher, +who, lying down behind a maimed trooper of the Light Horse, kept up a +fire to which our own men could not reply without fear of hitting their +unlucky comrade. + +After the Rifle Brigade had got into action, Colonel Dick-Cunyngham +advanced with three companies of Gordon Highlanders from their camp in +the plain to take the Boers on Intombi spur in flank. He had scarcely +ridden two hundred yards when he fell mortally wounded by a stray +bullet, and the Gordons marched on, leaving behind them the intrepid +leader whom every man would have followed cheerfully into the thickest +fight. They gained the crest, and Captain Carnegie's company sprang +eagerly forward to charge in among the Boers who held Lieutenant +Hunt-Grubbe prisoner. Him they recovered after close conflict, in which +Captain Carnegie was wounded and Colour-Sergeant Price had three +bullet-holes in him, but not before he sent a bayonet-thrust into the +forehead of one Boer with the full force of his strong arm. But the +Gordons could do no more then than lie down among the rocks they had +gained and take part in pot-shooting at the enemy, who dared not budge. + +Up to nearly four o'clock the position about Caesar's Camp did not +change, but on Waggon Hill there had been some alternations and anxious +movements, while the Boers took positions only to be driven from them +again. Then suddenly a great storm of thunder, hail, and rain swept over +the hills, shrouding them in gloom, amid which the rifle fire broke out +with greater fury than ever across Bester's Valley and the ground that +had been stubbornly fought for so long. This sounded like an attack in +force by fresh bodies of Boers who had made their way round from Bulwaan +under cover of the hospital camp at Intombi Spruit. But they never came +within a thousand yards of our position, and though their rifle fire at +that range galled sorely, it was nothing more than a demonstration made +in hope of enabling their comrades on the heights to extricate +themselves. Interest then turned again to Waggon Hill, where, when the +storm was raging most fiercely, part of our line fell back in error, but +the Brigadier and his officers, going forward until within revolver +range of the enemy, restored confidence at that point. + +Then three companies of the Devon Regiment marching from their post at +Tunnel Hill, a distance of four miles or more, ascended Waggon Hill, led +by Colonel Park, to whom Brigadier-General Hamilton gave but one laconic +order. Wanting no more than the word to go, the Devons shook themselves +into loose column and swarmed forward for their first rush across the +zone of Boer fire. Having gained a little cover they lay there a while, +and began shooting steadily with slow, deliberate aim, even adopting +quaint subterfuges to draw shots from the Boers before pulling trigger +themselves. Then in the same loose but unwavering formation they dashed +forward in another rush, the sergeants calling upon their comrades to +remember that they were Devons, and every company cheering as it ran +towards the enemy, whose fire began to get a bit wild. Another halt for +firing in the same steady way, and then rising with unbroken front, +though their company leaders had all been hit, the Devons straightened +themselves for a charge. With bayonets bristling they sprang to the +crest, and their cheers rang loud across the hills. A hail of bullets +made gaps in their ranks, but they closed up and pressed forward, +eagerly following their colonel. The Boers, unable to withstand any +longer the sight of that fine front sweeping like fate upon them, fired +a few hundred shots and fled down hill, followed by shots from the +victorious Devons, who in a few minutes more had cleared the position of +every Boer. That was the end of the fight, and though some enemies still +clung to Intombi's crest waiting for darkness, their fire soon +slackened, and the hard-fought battle ended in a complete defeat of the +enemy at all points. + + This brilliant victory, demonstrating to the Boers the vast + difference between firing from cover on British assailants and + attempts to storm positions held in force by our troops, cost the + army at Lady smith 420 men in killed and wounded. The large + proportion slain on the spot was remarkable, and was due, no doubt, + to the close fighting. Fourteen officers were killed and 33 + wounded, while the non-commissioned officers and men killed + numbered 167, and the wounded 284. The killed included, besides + Colonel Dick-Cunyngham, Major Mackworth of the 2nd Queen's; + Lieutenant Hall, Rifle Brigade; Major Miller-Wallnutt, Gordon + Highlanders; Lieutenant Digby-Jones and Lieutenant Dennis of the + Royal Engineers, all of whom met death heroically; Captains Lafone + and Field, who were shot down as they charged at the head of their + regiment; and many gallant volunteers serving in the ranks of the + Imperial Light Horse. One company of the Gordons at the close of + the battle was commanded by a lance-corporal, who was the senior + officer unwounded. The Imperial Light Horse was commanded by a + junior captain, and could only muster about 100 men fit for duty + out of nearly 500. As to the Boer losses, it is difficult to arrive + at the truth. The Boer has to be badly beaten before he will + acknowledge having suffered a reverse, and even in such cases every + endeavour is made to hide the real facts of the case, and the + acknowledgment is tardily and reluctantly offered. As supplementing + his description of the memorable struggle, we take the following + extracts from Mr. Pearse's diary:---- + +_January 7._--I rode to-day over the battlefield, where dead Boers still +lay unclaimed, but bearing on them cards that left no doubt about their +identity. I learn that one of that brave little band, the Imperial Light +Horse, wounded early in the fight, was tended gently by a Boer parson, +who bound up his wounds and brought him water under a terrific fire. +Struck by these acts of humanity and devotion to a high sense of duty, I +made inquiries as to the Dutch parson's name. It was Mr. Kestel, pastor +of the Dutch Reformed Church at Harrismith, a Boer only by adoption, a +Devonshire man by birth and descent. + +There was to-day a solemn service of thanksgiving in the English Church. +A _Te Deum_ was impressively sung,--Sir George White and his Staff, at +the Archdeacon's invitation, standing at the altar rails,--and was +followed by "God Save the Queen." + +_January 8._--Sir Redvers Buller heliographed, congratulating Sir +George White on the gallant defence of Ladysmith by this force, giving +especial praise to the Devons for their behaviour, but making no mention +of the Imperial Light Horse. An unfortunate omission. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WATCHING FOR BULLER + + Sir Redvers Buller's second attempt--A message from the Queen--Last + sad farewells--Burial of Steevens and Lord Ava--At dead of + night--Relief army north of the Tugela--Water difficulties + surmised--A look in at Bulwaan--Spion Kop from afar--What the + watchers saw--The Boers trekking--Buller withdraws--The "key" + thrown away--Good-bye to luxuries--Precautions against + disease--"Chevril"--The damming of the Klip--Horseflesh + unabashed--One touch of pathos--Vague memories of home--Sweet music + from the south--Buller tries again--Disillusionment--The last pipe + of tobacco. + + + Whatever may have been the precise cost to the Boers of their bold + attempt to rush the British defences on 6th January, it was + certainly heavy enough to prevent its being renewed. From this time + forward they settled themselves resignedly to wait until disease + and starvation in the town should have done for them what their + best and bravest had failed to do, man against man. And, indeed, + disease following upon many long weeks of privation, of nights and + days passed in the trenches under drenching rain, or the fierce + rays of the African sun, began now to make havoc among the troops. + Many a brave fellow, who had fought and won at Dundee or at + Elandslaagte, who with fierce, courage had endured in the foremost + line in the struggle at Bester's Ridge, now fell a victim to + enteric fever or dysentery in the camp at Intombi. The lists of the + sick and the mortality returns grew daily more formidable, rations + soon had to be reduced, and all within the town, patient as had + been their endurance, now began to look eagerly towards the relief + that Sir Redvers Buller had promised in a month. As the time + approached at which his second attempt to force the Tugela might be + expected, hope revived. The relieving column, it was known, had + been reinforced, and it seemed impossible that the enemy could once + again bar its progress. + + During the fierce fighting at Ladysmith there were times when Sir + George White had grave fears that he would not be longer able to + hold the defences against the enemy. The fortunes of the day, as + the hours lengthened, were reflected in a series of telegrams which + were flashed through by him to Sir Redvers Buller in his camp south + of the Tugela. One of these brief heliograms reported that the + defenders were "hard pressed," and in the afternoon, somewhat + tardily as it seems, General Buller made a demonstration with all + his available force towards the enemy's trenches. The object was to + hold the Boers to their positions on the river, and to prevent the + commandos attacking Ladysmith from being reinforced. As far as + could be ascertained the enemy, however, were in full strength on + the north side of the river, and after ineffectual efforts had been + made to draw their fire the British force returned to camp. Within + four days of this movement, Sir Redvers Buller advanced westward + from Chieveley to make his second attempt to cross the Tugela and + to relieve the town; and it is with the hopes inspired there by the + news and with the tense anxiety with which every indication of + advance or retreat on the distant hills was watched by the + beleaguered garrison, that Mr. Pearse's notes at this time in great + measure deal. + +_January 11._--The bombardment has gone on vigorously for several days, +and the Boers are busy on new works, probably with the idea of +"bluffing" us into the belief that they mean to mount new guns, while in +reality they are sending reinforcements southward to intercept General +Buller. The reception yesterday of a message from the Queen thanking the +troops here for their gallant defence aroused much enthusiasm. Lord +Ava's death to-day causes profound regret in every regiment of +Hamilton's Brigade and other camps, where his soldierly qualities and +manly bearing made him a favourite with men and officers alike. +Conspicuous for pluck among the bravest, he met death--where he had +faced it in nearly every action since joining this force--with the +righting line. Of all who fell dead or mortally wounded in the heroic +defence of Bester's Ridge, none will be more sincerely mourned than he. +The civilians of Ladysmith join with the troops in expressions of +respectful sympathy to Lord Dufferin and his family. To-night Lord Ava's +body was buried in the little cemetery, a scene impressive in its simple +solemnity. Brigadier-General Hamilton with his staff; Colonel Rhodes; +Major King, A.D.C., representing the Headquarters Staff, with Sir George +White's personal aide-de-camp; several officers of the Imperial Light +Horse, among whom Lord Ava was wounded; Captain Tilney of Lord Ava's +old regiment; officers of the 5th Lancers, Gordon Highlanders, and Royal +Artillery; several prominent townsmen, and five war correspondents stood +beside the grave. + +_January 15._--Early this morning sixty shots from heavy guns were heard +far off to the southward, giving us hope that General Buller had begun +his promised advance for our relief. A few hours later I received a +heliograph message from my eldest son, whom I supposed to be still in +England, saying that he was with the South African Light Horse on +probation for a lieutenancy. To-night there was another sorrowful +gathering of correspondents in the cemetery, round the grave of our +brilliant colleague, G.W. Steevens, who died this afternoon from a +sudden relapse, when most of us hoped that he was on the way to +recovery. Bulwaan searchlight, shining on us like a Cyclops' eye, +followed the sad procession along miles of winding road to the cemetery, +then left us in darkness beside the grave where our comrade was buried +at midnight. He had been tenderly nursed throughout his long illness by +Mr. Maud of the _Graphic_, who was chief mourner. He died in the house +of Mr. Fortescue Carter, the historian of the previous Boer War. + +_January 18._--Kaffir runners report that General Lyttelton's division +crossed the Tugela at Potgieter's Drift yesterday, and Sir Charles +Warren's at Trichard's Drift to-day. We also hear of Lord Dundonald +being near Acton Homes with a force of Irregular Horse, some of whom +wear sakkabulu feathers in their hats and carry "assegais." Possibly +these are Lancers, but we cannot identify them. These stories may be +true, for we hear heavy firing in the south-west at frequent intervals. +The Intelligence Department expects an attack on one of our outposts +to-night. Therefore we may go to bed and sleep in peace. + +_January 22._--Since Friday Sir Redvers Buller's guns have been pounding +away for several hours of every day, beginning sometimes at dawn or +carrying on far into the night. The throbbing vibrations of heavy +artillery afar off seemed to fill the air all through Sunday, and we +have seen shells bursting along the heights of Intaba Mnyama or Black +Mountain, not much more than twelve miles in a straight line from +Ladysmith. If our troops are attacking positions successively where +there is no more water than can be brought to them from the Tugela they +must be having a hard time, for the shade temperature at midday rises to +104 deg., and we know by experience what that means in the full blaze of +sunshine on bare kopjes where the smooth boulders feel scorchingly hot +to the touch. I watch the distant cannonade with a keen personal +interest, for when there is fighting along the Tugela the South African +Light Horse are surely in it. + +Before daybreak this morning Colonel Knox, in command of Mounted +Infantry, Carabiniers, Border Mounted Rifles, and a detachment of +Colonel Dartnell's Frontier Field Force went out to make a +reconnaissance round one shoulder of Bulwaan. They got up through the +wooded neck, had a look into the Boer position but saw not an enemy, and +got back without having a shot fired at them until they showed in the +plain again. Then ping! ping! came the Mauser bullets, and a "Pom-Pom" +opened on them. Colonel Knox gave an order for his men to form loose +order and gallop, and thus they got out of danger with not a man hit. + +_January 24._--All day long I have watched from Observation Buller's +batteries shelling the whole range of Intaba Mnyama from the peaked +"paps" or "sisters," past the Kloof north-west of them, and along the +more commanding Hog's Back. The Boers call part of this range Spion Kop, +and that name has been adopted by our Intelligence Staff as presenting +less difficulties of orthography than the Zulu designation. So Spion Kop +it must be henceforth. From a laager behind one peak I saw an ambulance +cart with its Red Cross flag go up to the crest, which seemed a +dangerous place for it, especially as a piece of light artillery opened +beside the cart a moment later. I could see needles of light flashing +out like electric sparks, only redder, but could hear no report. Nothing +but a "Pom-Pom" could have made those quivering flashes, yet how it got +there with an ambulance cart beside it I must leave the Boers to +explain. The shelling of heights with Lyddite and shrapnel went on hour +after hour, and towards evening some thought they heard a faint sound +as of rifle volleys. The Boers came hurrying down in groups from Spion +Kop's crest, their waggons were trekking from laagers across the plain +towards Van Reenan's, and men could be seen rounding up cattle as if for +a general rearward movement. To us watching it seemed as if the Boers +were beaten and knew it. + +_January 25._--The Boer trek continued for several hours this morning +and well on into the afternoon, when it slackened. Then we saw some +horsemen turn back to make for the cleft ridge of Doorn Kloof, where one +of the big Creusots had opened fire, Buller's naval guns or howitzers +replying with Lyddite shells. The roar of our field-guns has died away +instead of drawing nearer, and we look in vain for any sign of British +cavalry on the broad plain, where they should be by now if Sir Redvers +Buller's infantry attack had succeeded. + +_January 26._--The Boers are back in their former laagers. There is no +sound of fighting this side of the Tugela, only a few shells falling on +Spion Kop, where Boer tents can be seen once more whitening the steep. +We need no heliograph signal to tell us the meaning of all this. For us +there is to be another sickening period of hope deferred; but we try to +hide our dejection, and persuade the anxious townsfolk that it is only a +necessary pause while General Buller brings up his big guns and +transport. + +_January 28._--It is now no longer possible to conceal the fact that the +fight on Spion Kop ended in another reverse for General Buller, though +from our side it seemed as if he had the enemy beaten and demoralised. +It is now published in orders that he captured the heights with part of +one brigade which, however, retired after General Woodgate was wounded, +when the Boers retook it. From Kaffir runners we hear another version +which makes out that our troops were complete masters of the situation +if there had been any one in command at that moment, with a soldier's +genius, prompt to take advantage of the enemy's discomfiture. Had +reinforcements been sent up in time Spion Kop need never have been +abandoned, and Buller might have kept the key to Ladysmith which was +then in his hands. Not another position between him and us remained for +the Boers to make a stand on. He would then have outflanked and made +untenable the entrenched heights facing Colenso. But perhaps he was +anxious about his own line of communications. We only know that he has +gone back, and the work accomplished at much sacrifice of life must be +done over again from some other point. + +_January 30._--In spite of all we know, there are still persistent +rumours rosy-hued but all equally improbable. According to these +Kimberley has been relieved, and Lord Roberts is marching on +Bloemfontein. Sir Redvers Buller has retaken Spion Kop. He has gained a +victory at some other point, but where or when nobody knows. Four +hundred Boers are surrounded south of the Tugela with no chance of +escape. A similar rumour reached us weeks ago. Those four hundred Boers +must be getting short of food by this time. And yet another story makes +out that numbers of the enemy attempting to fall upon Buller's supply +column at Skiet's Drift were completely annihilated. The _Standard and +Diggers' News_ could hardly beat this for imaginative ingenuity. It does +not reassure us. On the contrary a general feeling of depression seems +to have set in, caused perhaps by the ennervating weather. A deluge of +rain has drenched the land, from which mephitic vapours rise to clog our +spirits. The knowledge that rations are running short may also have some +effect. We have not felt the strain severely yet. There is no reduction +in the issue of meat or bread, but luxuries drop out of the list one by +one, and the quantities of tea, sugar, coffee, and similar things +diminish ominously. Vegetables were exhausted long ago, and a daily +ration of vinegar has been ordered for every man, whose officer must see +that he gets it, as a precaution against scurvy. + +_February 1._--It has come at last. Horseflesh is to be served out for +food, instead of being buried or cremated. We do not take it in the +solid form yet, or at least not consciously, but Colonel Ward has set up +a factory, with Lieutenant McNalty as managing director, for the +conversion of horseflesh into extract of meat under the inviting name +of Chevril. This is intended for use in hospitals, where nourishment in +that form is sorely needed, since Bovril and Liebig are not to be had. +It is also ordered that a pint of soup made from this Chevril shall be +issued daily to each man. I have tasted the soup and found it excellent, +prejudice notwithstanding. We have no news from General Buller beyond a +heliogram, warning us that a German engineer is coming with a plan in +his pocket for the construction of some wonderful dam which is to hold +back the waters of the Klip River and flood us out of Ladysmith. + +_February 3._--Horseflesh was placed frankly on the bill of fare to-day +as a ration for troops and civilians alike, but many of the latter +refused to take it. Hunger will probably make them less squeamish, but +one cannot help sympathising with the weakly, who are already suffering +from want of proper nourishment, and for whom there is no alternative. +Market prices have long since gone beyond the reach of ordinary purses. + +_February 4._--One pathetic incident touched me nearly this morning, as +a forerunner of many that may come soon. I found sitting on a doorstep, +apparently too weak to move, a young fellow of the Imperial Light +Horse--scarcely more than a boy--his stalwart form shrunken by illness. +He was toying with a spray of wild jasmine, as if its perfume brought +back vague memories of home. I learned that he had been wounded at +Elandslaagte and again on Waggon Hill. Then came Intombi and malaria. He +had only been discharged from hospital that morning. His appetite was +not quite equal to the horseflesh test, so he had gone without food. I +took him to my room and gave him such things as a scanty store could +furnish, with the last dram of whisky for a stimulant, and I never felt +more thankful than at that moment for the health and strength that give +an appetite robust enough for any fare. + +_February 5._--Just now one could not be wakened by a more welcome sound +than the boom of Buller's guns. It stirred the hazy stillness at dawn +this morning like sweet music. It grew louder and apparently nearer as +the morning advanced, until in imagination one could mark the positions +of individual batteries pounding away opposite Colenso and Skiet's +drift. At last the roar died away in sullen growls, giving us the hope +that a position had been gained. + +_February 6._--Again at daybreak we hear the guns of our relieving force +at work in a vigorous cannonade away to the south-west, where Skiet's +Drift lies. They quicken at times to twenty shots a minute, the field +batteries chiming in faintly between the rounds of heavier artillery. +From Observation Hill we can see the enemy's Creusot on a notched ridge +by Doom Kloof replying. Soon after seven o'clock a lyddite shell bursts +there. Its red glare is followed by flame that does not come from +lyddite. Above this darts a black dense cloud speckled with solid +fragments that shoot into the air like bombs. Before we have time to +think that a magazine has been blown up a double report, merging into a +low rumble, reaches our ears. Something has happened to the Boer +battery, and the big gun there remains silent. Buller's artillery +continues firing, more slowly but steadily, at the rate of eight shots a +minute, and rifle fire can be heard rolling nearer all the afternoon. +Boers are reported to be inspanning their teams and collecting cattle on +the plains. The distance is dulled by mists, and the Drakensberg peaks +are only dimly visible, but there are clouds of dust winding that way, +and we know that the Boer waggons are trekking on the off-chance that a +general retirement may be forced upon them. Is this hundredth day of +siege to be the last, or shall we wake to-morrow to hear that the Boer +laagers are back again, and the relieving force once more south of the +Tugela? + +_February 7._--Sir Redvers Buller evidently finds that the new key of +the road to Ladysmith fits no better than the old, and we begin to doubt +whether he will be able to force the lock yet. Skiet's Drift is a +difficult way, leading through a bushy country scarred with dongas and +commanded by successive ridges, of which the Boers, with their great +mobility and rapidity of concentration, know how to make the most. They +still hold Monger's Hill, and their big gun has opened again from the +notched ridge by Doom Kloof. Buller's guns are hammering at these +positions, but apparently with little effect, for to every salvo from +them the big Creusot makes reply. Nor is there any sign now of a Boer +movement towards the rear. On the contrary, they have a new camp, +possibly of hospital tents, where Long Valley merges into Doom Kloof, +and almost within range of our naval guns if we had them mounted on +Waggon Hill. + +While the fight rages near Tugela heights we are left in comparative +peace here. "Puffing Billy" has not opened to-day, and his twin brother +of Telegraph Hill has been silent many days. Probably he was taken away +to reinforce the artillery now opposing General Buller's advance. If +relief does not come soon we shall have something worse than privation +to dread, for scurvy has broken out at Intombi camp, where medical +comforts are scarce, having been frittered away by the negligence or +dishonesty of hospital attendants, over whom nobody seems to exercise +proper control. The mismanagement of affairs there and the whole system +of hospital administration at Ladysmith will have to be investigated +after the siege. At noon to-day we had hopes that the Boer right flank +was being hard pressed. That is the only practicable way in, but the +effort has apparently not been pushed far. The heliograph has begun to +blink out a long message, and that is always a bad sign. + +_February 8._--Small things assume an importance altogether out of +proportion just now, and one worries about a last pipe of tobacco when +issues of vital moment to us are being fought out ten miles off. I have +come to the end of mine, and there is no more to be got for love or +money. A ton of Kaffir leaf has just been requisitioned from coolies, +who were selling it at twelve shillings the pound to soldiers, and who +have now to accept a twelfth of that price. There are thus thirty-six +thousand ounces for distribution, but even that quantity will not last +long. Nobody would have the heart to take any of it from soldiers who +have been reduced for weeks past to smoking dried sun-flower leaves and +even tea-leaves. Six shots were fired from Bulwaan battery this +afternoon after a silence of nearly two days. We generally accept such +sudden outbursts as indicating that something has gone wrong with our +enemies elsewhere, but we can see no signs of hurried movement among +them, and though General Buller's guns have been active half the day +they sound no nearer. A long message was heliographed through just +before sunset, and rumours of ill news are whispered about with bated +breath by people who wish to establish a reputation for early knowledge, +but at the risk of being charged before a court-martial with the +dissemination of news calculated to cause despondency. We had a case of +that kind the other day when Foss, the champion swimmer of South Africa, +was rightly convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for deprecating the +skill of our generals in conversation with soldiers. Tommy may hold his +own opinions on that point, but he resents hearing them expressed for +him through a pro-Boer mouthpiece, and this man may consider himself +lucky to escape summary chastisement as a preliminary to the durance +vile which is intended to be a wholesome warning for others of like +tendency. + + And indeed the garrison and civilians of Ladysmith, who now began + to feel the sharp pinch of hunger, had need to silence any whose + voices might be raised to rob them of their attenuated hopes. No + official statement had yet been made on the subject, but it was + already becoming evident that they had yet a time of painful + waiting before relief could come. To the hundred days which they + had trusted might complete the period of their trial a score were + to be added before their sufferings could be forgotten in the joy + of deliverance. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AFTER ONE HUNDRED DAYS + + Boer paean of victory--Rations cut down--Sausage without + mystery--The "helio" moves east--Sick and dying at Intombi--Famine + prices at market--Laughter quits the camps--A kindly thing by the + enemy--Good news at last--Heroes in tatters--The distant tide of + battle--Pulse-like throb of rifles--Two sons for the + Empire--British infantry on Monte Cristo--Boer ambulances moving + north--"'Ave you 'eard the noos?"--Rations increased--Bulwaan + strikes his tents--"With a rifle and a red cross"--Buller "going + strong"--Cronje's surrender--A sorry celebration--"A beaten army in + full retreat"--"Puffing Billy" dismantled--General Buller's + message--Relief at hand. + + + Sir Redvers Buller's third attempt to force his way through to + Ladysmith failed on 8th February, when he withdrew his forces from + Vaalkranz to the south side of the Tugela. Their success was + announced by the Boers about Ladysmith in their own way. At + half-past two on the morning of 9th February, night was rent by the + sudden glare of a search-light from Bulwaan, and soon came the + scream of shells hurtling over the town. It was the Boer paean of + victory, and it sent the people hurrying to their underground + refuges, to which the unco' guid had given the name of + "funk-holes," but did no damage. Its purport was half-divined by + the defenders. The news was still said to be good, but there were + head-shakings, and even the stoutest optimism found itself unequal + to the strain when it was announced that rations were to be cut + down. If things were going well, "Why, in the name of success," + asks Mr. Pearse in his notes for 9th February, "should our + universal provider, Colonel Ward, take this occasion to reduce + rations? We are now down to 1 lb. of meat, including horse, four + ounces of mealie meal, four ounces of bread, with a sausage ration + daily 'as far as possible.' Sausages may be mysteries elsewhere, + but we know them here to be horse-flesh, highly spiced, and nothing + more. Bread is a brown, 'clitty' mixture of mealie meal, starch, + and the unknown. Vegetables we have none, except a so-called wild + spinach that overgrew every neglected garden, and could be had for + the taking until people discovered how precious it was. Tea is + doled out at the rate of one-sixth of an ounce to each adult daily, + or in lieu thereof, coffee mixed with mealie meal." + + February 10 was the day which had been looked forward to as the one + on which relief would arrive. It did not come, and though the + messages flashed over the hills from the beleaguered town at the + time were full of an heroic cheerfulness, the disappointment was + hard to bear. For with rations reduced, with disease harvesting for + death where fire and steel had failed, the defenders were now face + to face with the grimmer realities of war. Yet hope was never + absent, and never at any time did the stern determination to bid + the enemy defiance to the last flicker or grow fainter. Mr. + Pearse's diary for this period gives many details of the highest + interest of the position in the town, and suggests the sufferings, + while it does justice to the splendid spirit of the garrison:-- + +_February 10._--Heliograph signals have been twinkling spasmodically, +but their language is written in a sealed book. We only know that these +"helios" come not from kopjes this side of Tugela, nor from the former +signal-station south of Potgieter's and Skiet's Drifts, as they did a +few days ago, but from hills near Weenen, as in the months before Buller +crossed the Tugela, thus indicating a retrograde movement. It may be a +hopeful sign of communication with some flanking column away eastward, +and therefore kept secret, but we have our doubts. Depression sets in +again, and, as always happens when there is bad news or dread of it, the +death-rate at Intombi Hospital camp has gone up to fifteen in a single +day. Since the date of investment four hundred and eighty patients have +died there from all causes. It does not seem a large proportion out of +the eighteen thousand under treatment from time to time, but it is very +high in view of the fact that we have only had thirty-six soldiers and +civilians in all killed by the thousands of shells that have been hurled +at us in fifteen weeks. + +The market's sensitive pulse also shows that there is a suspicion of +something wrong. Black tobacco in small quantities may still be had by +those who care to pay forty-five shillings for a half-pound cake of it, +as one Sybarite did to-day. A box of fifty inferior cigars sold for +L6:10s., a packet of ten Virginia cigarettes for twenty-five shillings, +and eggs at forty-eight shillings a dozen. Soldiers who cannot hope to +supplement their meagre rations by private purchases at this rate stroll +about the streets languid, hungry, silent. There is no laughter among +them. + +_February 12._--The enemy have done a courteous, kindly thing in +allowing Mrs. Doveton, whose husband lies wounded and dying at Intombi, +to pass through their lines. Not only so, but the General placed an +ambulance-cart at her disposal, with an escort, from whom she received +every mark of respectful sympathy. Yet Major Doveton was well known as +one of their most strenuous opponents, a prominent member of the Reform +Committee, and a leader who has played his part manfully in every fight +where the Imperial Light Horse has been engaged. He was badly wounded +among the band of heroes who held Waggon Hill. + +_February 13._--Good news at last. It comes by heliograph, telling us +that Lord Roberts has entered the Free State with a large force, mainly +of mounted troops and artillery, wherewith he hoped to relieve the +pressure round Ladysmith in a few days. + +This afternoon I paid a visit to Brigadier-General Hamilton in his tent +beside the Manchesters on Caesar's Camp. Through all the glorious history +of their services in Flanders, the Peninsula, the Crimea, or +Afghanistan, men of the gallant 63rd have never done harder work than on +breezy Bester's Ridge, where they have furnished outposts and fatigue +parties every day for four weary months. Is it any wonder that they are +the raggedest, most weather-stained, and most unkempt crowd who ever +played the part of soldiers? There is not a whole shoe or a sound +garment among them. They are ill-fed and overworked, yet they go to an +extra duty cheerfully, knowing that their General has faith in their +watchfulness and grit. All honour to them! Like "the dirty half-hundred" +of Peninsular fame, they have been too busy to have time for washing and +mending. + +Kaffirs report that the Free State Boers are all trekking towards Van +Reenan's. + + This native report, true or false, marked the beginnings of a + renewed hope that was not again to suffer defeat, but was now + quickly to grow into the substantial expectation and the certainty + of relief. Lord Roberts was already across the borders of the Free + State, and simultaneously Sir Redvers Buller was preparing for his + last attempt to roll back the burghers from the Tugela, and to + break down the barrier so long maintained between his army and + Ladysmith. His operations during the week following were watched + with intense anxiety, but with growing confidence. On 20th February + Mr. Pearse wrote the following:-- + +For a whole week daily we have heard the roar of artillery southward and +westward along the Tugela, seen Lyddite shells bursting on Boer +positions, and watched the signs of battle, from which we gather hope +that slowly but surely Buller's army is drawing nearer to us, though by +a different and harder road from the one it tried last. We know that for +a whole week on end those troops have been fighting their way against +entrenched positions that might baulk the bravest soldiers, and still +the roar of battle rolls our way, until between the muffled boom of +heavy guns we can hear faintly the pulse-like throb of rifle volleys. + +Amid all this strain, intent upon vital issues, one hardly takes note of +trivialities. Even the daily bombardment seems of little importance, and +nobody cares how many shots "Puffing Billy" fired yesterday. For me the +strain is tightened by news heliographed this morning that another son +has come round from Bulawayo and joined the relieving force as a +lieutenant of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry. I don't know whether +pride or anxiety is paramount when I think of these two boys fighting +their way towards me. Both are with Lord Dundonald's Irregular Horse, of +which we have heard much from Kaffirs, who tell us that Thorneycroft's +Rifles and the "Sakkabulu boys," who are now identified as the South +African Light Horse, have been in the front of every fight. It may seem +egotistical to let this personal note stand, but I take the incident to +be an illustration of the spirit that animates English youth at this +moment. + +On Saturday (February 17) the artillery fire sounded far off on the +other side of the Tugela. Next morning we could see shells bursting +along the nearer crest of Monte Cristo, and up to eleven o'clock the +fierce cannonade was ceaseless. How the action had ended we could only +judge by Boer movements. From Observation Hill I saw their ambulance +waggons trekking heavy across the plain behind Rifleman's Ridge, then a +bigger waggon, uncovered, drawn by a large span of oxen. There may have +been a long gun in that waggon, its movements were so slow and +cumbersome. Two ambulance waggons passed in the opposite direction, +light and moving at a gallop. + +Yesterday came news of General Buller's success in the capture of +Cingolo Hill, but before it was signalled we had seen from Caesar's Camp +British infantry crowning the nearer ridge of Monte Cristo. They came up +in column, and deployed with a steadiness that showed them to be masters +of the position. In the evening I met Sir George White, who told me that +he believed Sir Redvers had gained another success. To-day, again, +shells from the southern guns have been bursting about ridges south of +Caesar's Camp, where the Boers are still in force. This afternoon, and +well on to evening, we could hear the busy hum of field guns in action +firing very rapidly, as if a fresh attack were about to develop. Sir +Redvers is evidently resolved not to give the enemy any rest or time for +fortifying other positions. + + The above was written on 20th February. General Buller had captured + Hlangwane Hill, the real key of the enemy's position, and on the + following day the whole of Warren's Division crossed the Tugela by + a pontoon bridge thrown across by the Royal Engineers. The + significance of the fact was at once recognised at Ladysmith, and + that day saw the last of the hated horse-flesh ration. Events were + now moving fast. The Boers were preparing for flight, hope began to + beat high in the town, and already the memory of past sufferings + and the irk of those still being borne seemed little in the light + of oncoming deliverance. Mr. Pearse's notes at this last stage in + the long stand for the Empire are interesting reading:-- + +_February 22._--Trivialities are supreme after all. Yesterday we were +all more jubilant at the announcement that horse-flesh would not be +issued as rations again than on the score of General Buller's signal +telling us he had driven the Boers from all their positions across the +Tugela. To-day soldiers greeted each other with a cheery "'Ave you 'eard +the noos? They say there'll be full rations to-day." An extra half-pound +of meat, five biscuits instead of one and a quarter, and a few +additional ounces of mealie meal, were more to them at that moment than +a British victory. + +_February 23._--For several days past the naval 12-pounder on Caesar's +Camp has shelled Boers at work on the dam below Intombi Camp, causing +much consternation. One result of this is that Bulwaan tries to keep +down the 12-pounder's fire and leaves the town in comparative quiet. +This afternoon there was another surprise for the Boers. "Lady Anne," +one of the big twin sisters of the naval armament to which we owe so +much, had not fired for just a month until she astonished the gunners on +Bulwaan by planting a shell in their works to-day. They ran in all +directions, not knowing where to hide, and at the second shot bolted +back across the hill. Their tents have disappeared from Bulwaan now. +To-day a Boer, or rather a German fighting for the Boers, was caught by +our patrols. He had a rifle, a bandolier, pockets full of cartridges, +and a red-cross badge, concealed, but ready for use when fighting might +be inconvenient. + +_February 26._--Yesterday numbers of Boers were seen retiring from +Pieter's Station across the ridges towards Bester's Valley, but no sign +of a general retreat yet beyond the report of scouts, who say that +several guns have been seen going back at a gallop behind Bulwaan, +followed by nearly two hundred waggons. Last night we heard rifle-firing +on the ridges south of Caesar's Camp and Waggon Hill. It sounded so near +that for a time we thought our own outposts were engaged with the enemy. +Kaffirs say this was a Boer attack on Pieter's Station, but their story +is not confirmed. General Buller heliographs that he is still going +strong, but the country is difficult and progress slow. Lord Roberts, +according to another helio-signal, has Cronje surrounded. Two attempts +to relieve him have been frustrated. All this puts new life into the +garrison here. A newspaper telegram was also heliographed announcing +that Cronje had surrendered with 6000 men, after losing 1700 killed and +wounded. This is probably a bit of journalistic enterprise in +anticipation of events. + +_February 27._--Majuba Day. We expected the Boers to celebrate it at +daybreak or before by a salute of shotted guns, but they are silent, +apparently watching as we watch, and awaiting the issue of events +elsewhere. We know that a fierce fight is raging not twelve miles +distant. The thuds of big guns are frequent, we hear the booming of +field artillery in salvos, and the shrill ripple of rifles is almost +incessant. But our view is narrowed by hills, and we can only see shells +bursting on the crests of Grobelaar's Kloof and about flat-topped Table +Hill. From their commanding position on Bulwaan the Boers can overlook +Pieter's Station to the earthworks that girdle Grobelaar's Kloof, and +part of the road by which our troops must advance from Colenso if they +advance at all. Noon passed without any Majuba Day salute, but an hour +later Bulwaan battery fired twelve shots up Bester's Valley at cattle +and men cutting grass, then turned to shell Cove Ridge and Observation +Hill, on which one of Captain Christie's howitzers had been mounted +during the night. Thus they made up a salute of twenty-one guns. +"Puffing Billy" seemed bent on showing what he could do. Three shells +burst near where I stood, on the extreme western shoulder of Observation +Hill, just missing the howitzer, and one went far beyond the longest +range yet reached by any of the enemy's Creusots. For a long time I +watched Boer movements, and saw their waggons hurrying back in some +confusion from the Helpmakaar road across Conrad Pieter's farm towards +Elandslaagte. + +At night came a signal from General Buller, "Doing well," followed by a +longer message announcing that Cronje was a prisoner in Lord Roberts's +camp, having surrendered with all his army unconditionally this morning. +Hurrahs are ringing through every camp at this news. Majuba Day has +brought glad tidings to us after all! + +_February 28._--The fortune of war is on our side now. Every sign points +to that conclusion. Ladysmith was alarmed soon after midnight by what +seemed to civilians the beginning of another attack. Rifles rang out +sharply round the whole of our positions. The furious outburst began on +Gun Hill. Surprise Hill took it up. It ran along the dongas in which +Boer pickets lie hidden, and was carried on to the south beyond Bester's +Valley. Our troops did not fire a shot, but still the fusillade +continued for half an hour. The Boers were evidently in a state of +nervous excitement, brought on by nothing more formidable than twelve +men of the Gloucesters who, under Lieutenant Thesbit, had gone out to +destroy a laager at the foot of Limit Hill. This incident showed clearly +enough that no news had come from Colenso to give our enemies +confidence. Few of us, however, were prepared for the sight that met our +eyes as we looked from Observation Hill across the broad plain towards +Blaauwbank when the mists of morning cleared. There we saw Boer convoys +trekking northward from the Tugela past Spion Kop in columns miles long. +Others emerged from the defile by Underbrook like huge serpents twining +about the hillsides. Waggons were crowded together by hundreds. If one +could not go fast enough it had to fall out of the road, making way for +others. Above them hung dense dust clouds. Elsewhere in the open, dust +whirled in thinner, higher wreaths above groups of horsemen hurrying off +in confusion, and paying no heed to the straits of their transport. A +beaten army in full retreat if I have ever seen one! Still people +doubted and grew uneasy, because of General Buller's silence. Bulwaan +fired a single shot by way of parting salute, and then a tripod was +rigged up for lifting "Puffing Billy" from his carriage. It was a bold +thing to do in broad daylight, and our naval 12-pounders made short work +of it by battering the tripod over. After that a steady fire was kept up +on the battery to prevent, if possible, the Boers from moving their +guns. + +Afternoon sunshine enabled General Buller to heliograph the reassuring +message for which Ladysmith had been waiting so anxiously. He said: "I +beat the enemy thoroughly yesterday, and am sending my cavalry on as +fast as very bad roads will admit to ascertain where they are going. I +believe the enemy to be in full retreat." + + It was even so. General Buller and his gallant army, by dint of + heroic qualities, with an unshakable determination which faltered + before nothing; with a patient endurance which bore all things + unmurmuringly; with a sublime courage face to face with the enemy + which has earned them the often unwilling praise of the world, had + overcome at last. On the night of 28th February, when the above + note was written, the head of the relief column, under Lord + Dundonald, arrived in the town. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +RELIEF AT LAST + + The beginning of the end--Buller's last advance--Heroic + Inniskillings--The coming of Dundonald--A welcome at Klip River + Drift--A weather-stained horseman--The Natal troopers--Cheers and + tears--A grand old General--Sir George White's address--"Thank God, + we have kept the flag flying!"--"God save the Queen"--Arrival of + Buller--Looking backward--Within four days of + starvation--Horseflesh a mere memory--Eight hundred sick and + wounded--A word in tribute--Conclusion. + + + The beginning of the end had come on 13th February, when General + Buller's army of relief had opened the attack on Hussar Hill. From + that day fighting had been fierce and practically continuous, the + enemy giving way only after the most stubborn resistance, and + taking advantage of every opportunity to make a stand. During that + fortnight over 2000 officers and men of General Buller's force paid + the price of their dauntless courage; and in all the glorious story + no page is brighter than that which puts on undying record the + devoted gallantry of the Inniskillings, who were, to all practical + intents, wiped out in attacking Pieter's Hill, the last bar across + the road to Ladysmith, on the 23rd. Wounded and dying and dead lay + out together uncomforted, uncared for throughout the long hours of + Saturday until Sunday morning, when a truce was agreed to. Still + the hill was not won, and was to be held by the enemy until the + 27th, the nineteenth anniversary of Majuba, a day no longer to be + held in shameful memory. On the following day the Boers were in + full retreat; and Lord Dundonald, with a small body of mounted + troops, made a dash across the hills to Ladysmith. Their coming was + hailed by the long-isolated town with the wildest outbursts of + delight. Its effect is graphically suggested by Mr. Pearse in a + number of jottings in his diary on the same night:-- + +As night closes in there are cheers rolling towards us from the plain +beyond Klip River, where our volunteers are on patrol. Ladysmith, so +quiet and undemonstrative in its patient endurance of a long siege, goes +wild at the sound. Everybody divines its meaning. Our friends from the +victorious army of the south are coming! All the town rushes out to meet +them, where they must cross a drift. The voices of strong men break into +childish treble as they try to cheer, women laugh and cry by turns, and +all crowd about the troopers of Lord Dundonald's escort, giving them +such a welcome as few victors from the battlefield have ever known. The +hour of our deliverance has come. After a hundred and twenty-two days of +bombardment--a hundred and nineteen of close investment--the Siege of +Ladysmith is at an end. What a hero our gallant old General is to all of +us, when he rides forward to greet Lord Dundonald, and how voices +tremble with deep thankfulness while we sing "God Save the Queen"! + + In a letter written on the following day, Mr. Pearse describes in + greater detail the arrival of relief, and summarises his + impressions at the time:-- + +LADYSMITH, _March 1._--The relieving force joined hands with us last +night, and Ladysmith gave itself away to an outburst of wild enthusiasm +at the sight of troops so long expected and so often heard fighting in +the distance, that some despondent people had almost begun to think they +would never come. After the roar of battle ceased on Tuesday, we knew by +signs that could not be mistaken that Sir Redvers Buller had gained a +great victory even before the heliograph flashed to us the glad tidings +in his own words. I had come to the conclusion, watching from +Observation Hill, soon after daybreak on Wednesday morning, and seeing +the enemy's convoys in three columns, miles long, trekking northwards, +that they were in full retreat. Their guns were hurrying to the rear +also, and horsemen in scattered groups, to the number of thousands, were +galloping past positions on which some stand might still have been made, +a sure sign that they were beaten and did not mean to rally. But the +best indication of all was the attempt to remove the big gun from +Bulwaan that has shelled us persistently and destructively for a hundred +and twelve days, causing us much anxiety but comparatively small loss of +life. Our artillery of the Naval Brigade, to which Ladysmith owes a deep +debt of gratitude, tried to prevent the guns from being carried off, but +apparently their admirably aimed and accurate fire was too late to +effect that object. + +Just before nightfall Sir Redvers Buller's cavalry were reported in +sight. The first token of their coming were loud cheers away on the +plain towards Intombi neutral camp, where some of Colonel Dartnell's +Frontier Police, with Border Mounted Rifles and Natal Carbineers, had +been patrolling since early morning. With joy on their faces, and many +with tears in their eyes, the people rushed towards a drift by which the +Klip River must be crossed. There General Brocklehurst was waiting, and +as a horseman, weather-stained and begrimed by days of bivouacking, +floundered from deep water on to the slippery bank, he was received with +a hearty hand-grip and welcomed to Ladysmith. Then loud cheers went up +for Lord Dundonald, commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade, whose +irregular horsemen have made for themselves a great name as scouts. We +have often heard from Kaffirs about ubiquitous troopers who were +described as wearing sakkabulu feathers in their hats and carrying +assegais. We were all anxious to see these men, and I especially had +often looked out for them, since some one had told me that they were the +South African Light Horse, in which, as I think I have mentioned +elsewhere, a son of mine commands a troop. We had heard of them and +Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry in the thick of the fight at Spion Kop, +and in many other affairs, but only one came with Lord Dundonald and +the advance guard, in which were Imperial Light Horse, Carbineers, Natal +Police of the Frontier Field Force, and Border Mounted Rifles, numbering +only one hundred and seventy, under Major Mackenzie. They had pushed +forward after the last feeble resistance of the Boer rearguard was +overcome, and Lord Dundonald brought to Sir George White the good news +that Ladysmith's relief was accomplished. + +The crowd of soldiers and civilians shouted itself hoarse in cheering +Sir George White when he came with the object of meeting Lord Dundonald. +He could not get through this crowd outside the gaol, where Boer +prisoners were standing on the balcony curious to know what all this +commotion might mean. When a lull gave him an opportunity of speaking, +he said in a voice trembling with emotion, but clear and soldierly for +all that:-- + +"I thank you men, one and all, from the bottom of my heart, for the help +and support you have given to me, and I shall always acknowledge it to +the end of my life. It grieved me to have to cut your rations, but I +promise you that I will not do it again. I thank God we have kept the +flag flying." + +Three cheers were given for Sir Redvers Buller and General Sir Archibald +Hunter, and then the whole crowd joined in singing "God Save the Queen," +with an effect that was strangely impressive in the circumstances. This +morning, after a reconnaissance had been sent out to watch the enemy's +retirement, and if possible intercept convoys, Sir Redvers Buller with +his staff rode into town and met Sir George White before any +demonstration could be made in his honour, and after remaining at +headquarters a short time only, he rode back to camp, or rather bivouac, +with the troops who had fought so heroically under him for the honour of +England. + +Only those who have been under siege and so closely invested that all +communications with the outer world, except through Kaffir runners, were +cut off for 119 days, can imagine what the first sight of a relieving +column means to the beleaguered garrison. Happily such experiences have +been rare in the history of British campaigns, and nobody here would +care to repeat them, though all are proud enough now of having seen it +through. Those who went away while they had a chance in the first rush +for safety, when shells began to burst in the town, may claim credit for +foresight, but we do not envy them. All hardships, dangers, and +privations seem light now that they are things of the past. Our +enthusiasm in welcoming the first detachment of the relieving force has +swept away the impression of discomforts, and, for a time at least, +induced us to forget everything except the reflected honour that is ours +in having suffered with British troops. + + Relief had come none too soon. Mr. Pearse, who had weathered the + storm unscathed and in good health, on 1st March stated in a + telegram that when Lord Dundonald's troops arrived in the town only + four days' full rations were available, and there were 800 sick and + wounded in hospital, by far the larger proportion being down with + dysentery and enteric fever. Truly it seemed that deliverance had + come in the nick of time. "Thank God," Sir George White had said, + "we have kept the flag flying." Thank God also that the brave + defenders had been spared the worst horrors of a siege, and that + help had not longer been withheld in their extremity. Only a + concluding word remains to be said. On 6th February, when relief + seemed imminent, Mr. Pearse wrote the following in his diary:-- + +In this moment I want to place it on record how cordially we all +recognise the fact that Sir George White has done everything that an +able commander could do, not only for the defence of a town whose +inhabitants are entrusted to his charge, but also for the larger issues +of a campaign that might have been seriously jeopardised by any false +move on his part. In many respects, when his critics, including myself, +thought he lacked the enterprise of a great leader, events have proved +that his more cautious course was right. If mistakes were made at the +outset they have been nobly atoned for. + + All who have so far followed Mr. Pearse through his brilliant pages + will acclaim his words. Such a commander was worthy of such troops, + and they no less worthy. During the whole dreary four months of the + siege they had proved themselves men in whom any General in the + world and any people might feel an exultant pride. In long days of + wearisome monotony, broken only by the scream and thud and burst of + shells, at noon beneath the fierce glow of the African sun, at + night in the sodden trenches, in season and out, they had been + patient, vigilant, ready, bearing all things, braving all things, + hoping all things and always. In the midnight attack through dark + defiles and over rugged heights, where the broken boulders made + every step a toil and a danger, they trod with a grim tenacity of + purpose, and struck with a daring that wrested a tribute from the + unaccustomed lips of their enemy. On the rocky ridges of Waggon + Hill and Caesar's Camp, when the burghers in one supreme effort + dashed against them the pick and pride of the commandos, they + fought through the hours of night till dawn gave place to day, and + the daylight waxed and waned, with a dogged, half-despairing + courage that laughed to scorn even the regardless valour of a + worthy foeman. Who shall do justice to soldiers like these? + Wherever, and as long as, the fame of the British arms is + cherished, so long, and as widely, will the story of the defence of + Ladysmith be held in glorious memory. + + + + +THE END + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_ + + +[Illustration: MILITARY MAP OF LADYSMITH] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Four Months Besieged, by H. H. S. 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