Long Hill, Pepworth Hill
As
dawn broke on October 30, Grimwood's column was
furiously attacked from its own right flank by Boers
under Louis Botha. Hamilton had to break off his own
attack to support him. The British guns pounded Pepworth
Hill, but themselves took casualties from Boer guns
carefully emplaced and concealed in the surrounding
hills.
As the sun rose, White could see
that the attack had failed and ordered a withdrawal.
Under heavy fire, the retirement soon became a
disorderly retreat. Two British field batteries covered
the retreat, and were nearly captured by Boers. The
Boers might have followed up even more closely, but most
of their leaders were elderly, cautious men such as
General
Petrus Jacobus Joubert Joubert.
Also, a
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
detachment with long-range 12-pounder guns arrived by
train in Ladysmith, and went straight into action. Their
fire temporarily suppressed the Boer heavy guns and
encouraged the British.
Nicholson's Nek
Meanwhile, Carleton's detachment
suffered an early setback when the mules carrying their
mountain guns and reserve ammunition bolted. The column
had been unable to reach Nicholson's Nek during the
night, and occupied a hill known as Tchrengula to its
south instead. In the dark they mistakenly occupied a
lower false summit. When the sun rose, Boers under
Christiaan de Wet Christiaan
de Wet rushed
forward to capture the true summit of Tchrengula, and
pressed on to surround the British.
By
mid-afternoon, British casualties were increasing,
ammunition was running out, and the rest of White's army
could be seen falling back into Ladysmith. Small parties
began surrendering. Eventually, the whole force of 800
men gave itself up.
In
the main action, British casualties were 400. The Boer
casualties for the day were 200. It was clear that
British tactics designed to face an undisciplined rush
by tribesmen were inadequate against expert Boer
marksmen using initiative and fieldcraft.
The siege
Sketch map of the positions in November 1899
The Boers
then proceeded to surround Ladysmith and cut the railway
link to
Durban
Durban.
Major General French and his Chief of Staff, Major
Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig Douglas Haig
escaped on the last train to leave, which was riddled
with bullets.
This town
was then besieged for 118 days. White knew that large
reinforcements were arriving, and could communicate with
British units south of the
Tugela River
Tugela River
by searchlight and
Heliograph heliograph.
He expected relief soon. Meanwhile, his troops carried
out several raids and sorties to spike Boer artillery.
Louis Botha
commanded the Boer detachment which first raided
Southern Natal, and then dug in north of the Tugela to
hold off the relief force. On
December 15
December 15,
the first relief attempt was defeated at the
Battle of Colenso
Battle of Colenso.
Temporarily unnerved, the relief force commander,
General
Redvers Henry Buller Buller,
suggested that White either break out or destroy his
stores and ammunition and surrender. White could not
break out because his horses and draught animals were
weak from lack of grazing and forage, but also refused
to surrender.
The storming attempt
The Boers
around Ladysmith were also growing weak from lack of
forage. With little action, many fighters took
unauthorised leave or brought their families into the
siege encampments. Eventually, some younger leaders
persuaded Joubert to order a storming attempt on the
night of
January 5
January 5,
1900
1900,
before another relief attempt could be made.
The British
line south of Ladysmith ran along a ridge known as the
Platrand. The occupying British troops had named its
features Wagon Point, Wagon Ridge and Caesar's Camp
(after features near
Aldershot
Aldershot,
well known to much of the British army). Under Ian
Hamilton, they had constructed a line of forts, sangars
and entrenchments on the reverse slope of the Platrand,
of which the Boers were unaware.
In the early
hours of
January 6
January 6,
Boer storming parties under General C.J. de Villiers
began climbing Wagon Ridge and Caesar's Camp. They were
spotted and engaged by British working parties who were
emplacing some guns. The Boers captured the edge of both
features, but could not advance further. British
counter-attacks also failed.
At noon, de
Villiers made another attack on Wagon Point. Some
exhausted defenders panicked and fled, but Hamilton led
reserves to the spot and recaptured some empty gun pits.
Late in the afternoon, a terrific rainstorm broke, and
the Boers withdrew under cover of it.
The British
suffered 175 killed and 249 wounded. 52 dead Boers were
left in the British positions, but their total
casualties were not recorded.
The later siege and relief
While Buller
made repeated attempts to fight his way across the
Tugela, the defenders of Ladysmith suffered increasingly
from shortage of food and other supplies, and from
disease, mainly
Enteric fever
enteric fever.
The Boers had long before captured Ladysmith's water
supply, and the defenders could use only the polluted
Klip River Klip River.
The situation was reportedly made worse by
maladministration and peculation by senior medical and
supply officers.
Towards the
end of the siege, the garrison and townsfolk were living
largely on their remaining draught oxen and horses
(mainly in the form of "chevril", a meat paste named
after the better known beef extract commercially named "BovrilBovril").
The
Relief of Ladysmith. Painting by John Henry Frederick
Bacon
(1868-1914)
Eventually,
Buller broke through the Boer positions on
February 27
February 27.
Following their succession of reverses, his troops had
developed effective tactics based on close cooperation
between the infantry and artillery. After the protracted
struggle, the morale of Botha's men failed and they and
the besiegers retreated in disorder, covered by another
huge thunderstorm. Buller did not pursue, and White's
men were too weak to do so.
The first
party of the relief column, under Major
Hubert Gough
Hubert Gough,
arrived on
February 28
February 28.
White reportedly greeted them saying, "Thank God we kept
the flag flying".
Aftermath
There were
four
Victoria Cross
Victoria Crosses
awarded during the siege,
John Norwood
on 30 October 1899. At Wagon Hill on 6 January 1900,
Herman Albrecht
Herman Albrecht
and
Robert James Thomas Digby-Jones Robert James Thomas Digby-Jones
(who both died), and
James Edward Ignatius Masterson
James Edward Ignatius Masterson.
A view of the cemetery near
the Intombi Spruit. The hospital tents have been
removed. Here lie buried 662 men. 15 officers, 630 other
ranks and 15 civilians. A single grave of a Jewish
soldier is located in a separate enclosure adjacent to
the main cemetery. The first burial took place on 8
November 1899 and the last on 23 March 1900.
A view of the same site in
1979. The individual graves can no longer be located
because all the headstones, together with the main
British monument have been placed near the eastern
boundary of the cemetery.
