Siege of Ladysmith

Siege of Ladysmith
Part of Second Boer War
The town hall at Ladysmith, showing shell damage to the tower
Date 2 November 1899 (3 months, 3 weeks and 5 days) Location Ladysmith, Natal (present-day South Africa) 28°33′33″S 29°46′51″E Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Transvaal Orange Free State
Commanders and leaders
George Stuart White	Petrus Jacobus Joubert Louis Botha Christiaan De Wet
Strength
12,500	Max 21,000 men
Casualties and losses
c. 850 killed and wounded 800 prisoners	52+ killed Total casualties unknown

The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.

Pre-siege events

The Second Boer War began on 11 October 1899 when the governments of Transvaal and the Orange Free State, under their Presidents Paul Kruger and Martinus Theunis Steyn, declared war on the British Empire. Transvaal had issued an ultimatum demanding the withdrawal of British troops from the border regions of Natal and the two Boer republics; an additional demand was that British troops en route to South Africa must not disembark. The ultimatum was rejected, because British policy in South Africa was unification under imperial rule, so that Britain could fully exploit the recently-discovered Witwatersrand gold mines near Johannesburg. The two Boer republics were determined to remain independent.

Despite the Transvaal ultimatum, Britain had already sent reinforcements to Natal, mostly from India. General Sir George White, who arrived in Durban on 7 October, was appointed to command the British forces in Natal. White's initial view was that Britain should withdraw from the northern part of Natal, but he was dissuaded by the colony's governor, Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, who feared political repercussions. The governor was supported by General Sir William Penn Symons, who said that a small force based at Glencoe, north-east of Ladysmith, would suffice to defend the region. Hely-Hutchinson agreed and Symons garrisoned Glencoe with three battalions of infantry, a brigade division of the Royal Artillery, the 18th Hussars, and other units.

A total of 21,000 Boers advanced into Natal from all sides. White had been advised to deploy his force far back, well clear of the area of northern Natal known as the "Natal Triangle", a wedge of land lying between the two Boer republics. Instead, he chose to deploy his forces around the garrison town of Ladysmith. Symons' force, stationed at Glencoe and the nearby coal-mining town of Dundee, fought the Battle of Talana Hill on 20 October. The British won a tactical victory there, but Symons was mortally wounded and died later in Dundee. General James Yule took command. Realising that the Boers had cut off the direct route from Glencoe to Ladysmith, Yule decided to abandon camp on 22 October, and retreat across country. They reached Ladysmith on 26 October, and reinforced White's garrison.

The Battle of Elandslaagte, roughly midway between Glencoe and Ladysmith, was fought on 21 October.

As the Boers surrounded Ladysmith, White ordered a sortie by his entire force to capture the Boer artillery. The result was the disastrous Battle of Ladysmith, in which the British were driven back into the town having lost 1,200 men killed, wounded, or captured.

Siege

Sketch map of the positions in November 1899

The Boers then proceeded to surround Ladysmith and cut the railway link to Durban. Major General John French and his chief of staff, Major Douglas Haig escaped on the last train to leave, which was riddled with bullets.

The 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 by searchlight and heliograph. He expected relief soon. Meanwhile, his troops carried out several raids and sorties to sabotage 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 15 December 1899, the first relief attempt was defeated at the Second Battle of Colenso. Temporarily unnerved, the relief force commander, General Redvers Buller, suggested that White either break out, or surrender after destroying his stores and ammunition. White could not break out because his horses and draught animals were weak from lack of grazing and forage, and he refused to surrender.

On Christmas Day 1899, the Boers fired a fuseless carrier shell into the town. It contained a Christmas pudding, two Union Flags and the message: "Compliments of the season". The shell is still kept in the museum at Ladysmith.

Battle of Wagon Hill (or Platrand)

Imperial Light Horse Memorial on Platrand Ladysmith (28°35′28″S 29°45′33″E) – at the location of the Battle of Wagon Hill in which 30 men from the regiment died and whose names are engraved on the monument.

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, with the Tugela in flood, preventing Buller from giving any support, some younger Boer leaders persuaded General Piet Joubert to order a storming attempt on the night of 5 January 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 Hill to the west, and Caesar's Camp (after features near Aldershot, well known to much of the British army) to the east. Under Colonel 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 6 January 1900, Boer storming parties under General C. J. de Villiers began climbing Wagon Hill 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 Hill. 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.

Later siege and relief

Main article: Relief of Ladysmith

Rejoicing in St. Andrews, Canada upon receipt of the news of the relief of Ladysmith.

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 (typhoid), which claimed many lives. The Boers had long before captured Ladysmith's water supply, and the defenders could use only the muddy Klip River. 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 commercial beef extract "Bovril").

Eventually, Buller broke through the Boer positions on 27 February. Following their succession of reverses, his troops had developed effective tactics based on close co-operation between the infantry and artillery. After the protracted struggle, the morale of Botha's men at last broke and they and the besiegers retreated, 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, who was accompanied by war correspondent Winston Churchill, rode in on the evening of 28 February. Soon afterwards, as the townspeople celebrated, White made a speech at the town's post office to thank them for their fortitude, and reportedly said: "but, thank God, we kept the flag flying".

Aftermath

Varieties of ammunition collected at Ladysmith.

The Relief of Ladysmith. Painting by John Henry Frederick Bacon (1868–1914).

Four Victoria Crosses (two posthumous) were awarded following the siege:

• Trooper Herman Albrecht (Imperial Light Horse) and Lieutenant Robert Digby-Jones (Royal Engineers) jointly led the assault on Wagon Hill, and repelled the initial Boer attack, but both were killed in the ensuing mêlée.
• Lieutenant James Masterson (1st Battalion, Devonshire Regiment) delivered an urgent despatch despite suffering serious wounds during the Battle of Wagon Hill on 6 January 1900.
• Second Lieutenant John Norwood (5th Dragoon Guards) rescued a wounded comrade under heavy fire during a patrol on 30 October 1899.

Sir George White had no doubts about the need to hold Ladysmith, describing it as "a place of primary importance" because of its railway junction, which would have enabled the Free State and Transvaal armies to unite. Churchill commented that Ladysmith was an essential component of the Boer campaign strategy because "they scarcely reckoned on a fortnight's resistance; nor in their wildest nightmares did they conceive a four months' siege terminating in the furious inroad of a relieving army".

The British artist John Henry Frederick Bacon depicted The Relief of Ladysmith in a painting which shows people celebrating on 28 February 1900, as White shakes hands with Colonel Dundonald (representing Buller) at Pieter's Hill, just outside the town. Bacon's work became known as the Bovril War Picture after its photogravure was sponsored by the company, and offered free to anyone who collected a sufficient number of coupons from each jar of the product.

Medical treatment during the siege

Early in the siege, an agreement between White and Joubert led to the creation of the neutral Intombi Military Hospital some 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) outside Ladysmith. It was run by Major-General David Bruce and his wife Mary. During the siege, the number of beds in the hospital camp grew from an initial 100 to over 1,900. A total of 10,673 admissions were received and treated at Intombi. One train per day was allowed to carry wounded from Ladysmith to Intombi.

Notable casualties during the siege

Arthur Stark, English author of The Birds of South Africa, was resident in the town's Royal Hotel. On the evening of 18 November 1899, when he was standing on the hotel's veranda, he was hit by shellfire from Pepworth Hill and suffered serious leg injuries. He died soon afterwards while undergoing surgery, and was buried in Ladysmith. H. W. Nevinson attended his funeral, and recorded the irony of Stark having been vociferously opposed to British war policy.

George Warrington Steevens, British author and war correspondent, died of enteric fever on 15 January 1900. He had been attached to Sir George White's force, and had sent many articles back to Britain. These were published posthumously in From Capetown to Ladysmith.

Sources

• London to Ladysmith via Pretoria at Project Gutenberg. Churchill, Winston (1900). London to Ladysmith via Pretoria. Longman.
• Durand, Henry Mortimer; White, George Stuart (1915). "III—Arrival in South Africa". The Life of Field-Marshal Sir George White, V.C. Vol. II. Edinburgh: Blackwood.

• Ladysmith, The Diary of a Siege at Project Gutenberg. Nevinson, H. W. (1900). Ladysmith—The Diary of a Siege. Methuen.
• Pakenham, Thomas (1979). The Boer War. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0-2977-7395-5.

• Four Months Besieged, The Story of Ladysmith at Project Gutenberg. Pearse, Henry H. S. (1900). Four Months Besieged: The Story of Ladysmith. Macmillan.

Further reading

• Breytenbach, J. H. (1969–1996). Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902 [The History of the Second War of Independence in South Africa, 1899–1902] (in Afrikaans). Pretoria: Die Staatsdrukker.
  • Breytenbach, J. H. (1969). Die Boere-offensief, Okt. – Nov. 1899 [The Boer Offensive, Oct. – Nov. 1899]. Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902 (in Afrikaans). Vol. I. Pretoria: Die Staatsdrukker. OCLC 798106662.
  • Breytenbach, J. H. (1971). Die eerste Britse offensief, Nov. – Des. 1899 [The first British offensive, Nov. – Dec. 1899]. Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902 (in Afrikaans). Vol. II. Pretoria: Die Staatsdrukker. OCLC 768446219.
  • Breytenbach, J. H. (1973). Die stryd in Natal, Jan. – Feb. 1900 [The battle in Natal, Jan. – Feb. 1900]. Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902 (in Afrikaans). Vol. III. Pretoria: Die Staatsdrukker. ISBN 978-0-7970-1239-4. OCLC 612581136.
• Conan Doyle, Arthur (1902). Chapter 13: The Siege Of Ladysmith. The Great Boer War. Classic Literature Library – via Public Domain Books.
• Donald, MacDonald (1900). How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith. Ward, Lock & Co. Available as How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith at the Internet Archive.
• Kruger, Rayne (1964). Goodbye Dolly Gray. New English Library.
• McElwee, William (1974). The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-2532-0214-7.
• Reitz, Deneys (1929). Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0-5710-8778-5.
• Richards, Maureen (1999). Into the millennium : Anglo-Boer War centenary diary. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. ISBN 978-0-7960-1493-1. OCLC 44904717.

External links

• The Record of a Regiment of the Line at Project Gutenberg by M. Jacson. A regimental history of the 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment during the Boer War; it deals extensively with the Siege of Ladysmith.

• South Africa and the Transvaal War, Volume 2 at Project Gutenberg by Louis Creswicke.