I depart for the front with a Q.-F. Battery from H.M.S.
_Terrible_ -- Concentration of General Buller's army at Frere and
Chieveley -- Preliminary bombardment of the Boer lines at Colenso
-- The attack and defeat at Colenso -- Christmas Day in camp.
On the 6th December there was much rejoicing in the fleet on account
of an order from Headquarters that a battery of eight Naval guns was
to go to the front to reinforce Sir Redvers Buller. Lieutenant Ogilvy,
of the _Terrible_, was appointed to command, while Melville of the
_Forte_, Deas of the _Philomel_, and myself, were the next fortunate
three who were to accompany it. The battery, drilled and previously
prepared by Captain Scott and Lieutenant Drummond, entrained the next
day (7th) for its destination; but as I had to remain behind awaiting
a wire from Headquarters, I was unable to start till the next morning,
when I left for Frere, accompanied by my servant, Gilbert of the
Marines. What a day of excitement we passed through, and how much we,
who were off to the front, felt for those left behind! I gave over
command of the _Philomel_ to Lieutenant Hughes, the men gave me three
cheers, and I left Durban amid many farewells and congratulations at
my good luck.
Reaching Pietermaritzburg early on the 8th, we went onwards after
breakfast to Estcourt. The railway is a succession of sharp curves and
steep gradients and is a single line only. All the bridges on the line
are carefully guarded, as far as Mooi River, by Natal Volunteers. I
was much struck with the outlook all the way to Estcourt; a very fine
country, beautifully green, with a succession of hills, valleys, and
small isolated woods; in fact, if the country was more cultivated one
might have thought it England, but it seems to be mostly grass land
and mealy (Indian corn) fields. At Mooi River a farmer got into the
train who had been driven from his farm near Estcourt when the Boers
invaded Natal; he had lost all his cattle and clothes, while
everything on his farm had been wantonly destroyed, and the poor
fellow was now returning to the wreck with his small daughter.
On reaching Estcourt in the afternoon we found to our dismay that we
could not get on any further for the moment; so I walked up to see
Halsey of the _Philomel_, at his camp about half a mile from the
station, and took him some newspapers. We had a bathe in the Tugela
River, and I afterwards met Wyndham of the 60th Rifles who was A.D.C.
to the Governor of Ceylon while I was Flag-Lieutenant to Admiral
Douglas, and we were mutually pleased to meet again so unexpectedly.
The Somersets marched in during the course of the morning from
Nottingham Road; they all looked very fit, but seem to have the
somewhat unpopular duty of holding the lines of communication.
Here I met also Lady Sykes and Miss Kennedy, doing nursing; they were
staying at a Red Cross sort of convent close to the station. Lady
Sykes gave me some books and wished me the best of luck, at which I
was pleased. I believe she is writing a book of her experiences in the
war and I shall be much interested to read it when I get home. It came
on to pour with rain, with vivid lightning, about 8 p.m., so I was
thankful to be under cover at the station; the poor soldiers outside
were being washed out of their tents, and some unfortunate Natal
Mounted Volunteers, who only arrived an hour beforehand, had no tents
at all and had a very poor time of it.
Eventually I got off by train next morning (9th) for Frere, Captain
Reeves, R.S.O., of the Buffs, who did me many kindnesses later on,
having secured a compartment for me in a carriage which was shunted
for the night, and in which I was very comfortable, although disturbed
by continuous shuntings of various trains and carriages which made one
realize how much work was falling on the railway officials and
employes. In our train were fifty Natal Naval Volunteers under
Lieutenants Anderton and Chiazzari. I was much struck with their good
appearance and their silent work in stowing their gear in the train,
and I realized their worth all the more when they joined up later on
with our Brigade; all staid, oldish men, full of go and well dressed,
while their officers were very capable, with a complete knowledge of
the country.
We reached Frere Station on the morning of the 10th, passing the sad
sight of the Frere railway bridge completely wrecked by the Boers. I
walked out to the camp and had never seen such a fine sight before;
rows and rows of tents stretching for miles, and an army of about
20,000 men. I found our electric search-light party at the station
waiting to go on, and I was thankful to get a breakfast with them.
Eventually our train moved on to the camp of the Naval batteries,
about 2-1/2 miles due north of Frere, and I at once marched up with
the Natal Naval Volunteers, reported myself to Captain Jones, and
joined my guns, finding all the rest of the Naval officers here, viz.:
Captain Jones, Commander Limpus, and Lieutenants Ogilvy, Melville,
Richards, Deas, Hunt, and Wilde, with half a dozen "Mids" of the
_Terrible_. In camp were two 4.7 guns on the new field mounting, one
battery of eight 12-pounders, and another of four 12-pounder
quick-firers.
On Sunday afternoon (10th December) an impressive Church service was
held in the open, with ourselves forming the right face of the square
along with Hart's Irish Brigade. In the course of next day (11th) I
rode up to see James' battery on the kopje to our front defending the
camp, and got my first glimpse of Colenso and the country around, some
ten miles off. I found that James's guns had very mobile limbers which
he had built at Maritzburg, very different to our cumbersome wagons
with guns tied up astern. In the afternoon Melville and I had tea with
General Hart who was very agreeable and kind, and said he knew my
father, and my aunt, Lady Brind, very well.
In the evening orders suddenly came for Limpus' battery of 4.7's, my
two 12-pounders, and Richards' four 12-pounders to advance the next
morning (12th) at 4 a.m. to Chieveley, some seven miles from the Boer
lines; and here again I was in luck's way as being one of the
fortunates ordered to the front. All was now bustle and hurry to get
away, and eventually the line of Naval guns, some two miles long with
ammunition and baggage wagons, moved out in the gray of morning over
the hills, with an escort of Irish Fusiliers, who looked very smart,
"wearin' of the green" in their helmets.
[Illustration: _Photo by Middlebrook, Durban._
Naval Brigade pitching camp at Frere, Dec. 1899.]
We reached Chieveley at 8 p.m. (12th), after a long, dusty march, and
got into position next morning on a small kopje about two miles to its
front, called afterwards "Gun Hill." Guns were unlimbered and shell
pits dug, while the wagons were all placed under cover; we received
orders on arrival for immediate action, and at 9.30 a.m. we commenced
shelling the enemy at a range of 9,500 yards. The 4.7 guns on the
right fired the first shot, my two 12-pounders followed quickly, and a
desultory shell fire went on for some hours. At my position we dug
pits for the gun trails in order to get a greater elevation, and we
plumped one or two shots on the trenches near the Colenso Bridge. The
shooting of the 4.7's, with their telescopic sights and easy ranging,
was beautiful; shell after shell, many of them lyddite, burst in the
Boer trenches, and we soon saw streams of Boer wagons trekking up the
valley beyond, while at the same time one of the Boer camps, 10,000
yards off, was completely demolished.
All this time our Biograph friends from home were gaily taking views
of us, and they took two of myself and my guns while firing. Of
course, the anxious officers of batteries had to lay the guns
personally at this early stage, and every shot was a difficult matter,
as at the extreme range we were firing, with the lengthening pieces
on, the sighting was rather guesswork, and we had to judge mainly by
the explosion at a distance of five and a half miles. We were all done
up after our exertions under a broiling sun, and hence were not used
any more that day (12th). Behind us we saw miles of troops and
transport on the march onwards, which gave us the idea, and also
probably the Boers, that Buller was planning a forward attack; and
indeed, late at night on the 13th, the 4.7 Battery was told to move on
to a kopje two miles in advance; my own guns, with the Irish Fusiliers
being left to protect the ground on which we were then camped.
Orders came shortly afterwards for a general advance to the Tugela,
and Captain Jones told me that I had been given the rear and left to
defend from all flank attacks, and that I was to move on at daybreak
of the 15th to an advanced kopje and place myself under Colonel Reeves
of the Irish Fusiliers. All was now excitement; the first great fight
was at length to come off and our fellows were full of confidence.
At 2 a.m., pitch dark, after a lot of hard work to get our guns
ready, we struck camp; up rode Colonel Reeves with his regiment and
threw out an advanced guard, and out we tramped and crossed the
railway. Here we found all the field guns and Infantry on the move,
and had great difficulty in getting on; but at last, at 5 a.m., we
reached the desired kopje where I had been sent on to select gun
positions. Before us stretched the battlefield for four miles to
Colenso and the river; the Boers across the Tugela occupied an
enormously strong position flanked by hills, all their trenches were
absolutely hidden, and gun positions seemed to be everywhere. The iron
bridge of Colenso was plainly visible through my telescope and was
intact, and to all intents and purposes there was not a soul anywhere
in sight to oppose our advance.
The Naval Battery of 4.7 and the 12-pounders under Captain Jones
quickly got into position in front of us, and on all sides we saw our
troops being thrown forward in extended order, forming a front of
about four miles, with Cavalry thrown out on the flanks and field
batteries galloping up the valley to get into range at 4,000 yards.
All was dead silence till about 5.30 a.m., when the Naval guns
commenced a heavy shell fire on the Boer positions. It was a fine
sight; shell after shell poured in for an hour on the Boer trenches at
a range of 5,000 yards, and all was soon one mass of smoke and flame.
Not a sound came in reply till our troops reached the river bank, when
the most terrific rifle fire I have ever heard of, or thought of, in
my life, was opened from the Boer rifle pits and trenches on the river
bank which had completely entrapped our men. Colonel Long, in command
of the Artillery on the right of the line, unwittingly or by order,
led his batteries in close intervals to within easy rifle range of
those pits, when suddenly came this hail of bullets, which in a few
minutes completely wrecked two field batteries (the 14th and 66th
Batteries), killed their horses and a large number of the men, and
threw four of the Naval 12-pounders under Ogilvy into confusion,
although he was fortunately able to bring the guns safely out of
action in a most gallant manner, with the loss of a few men wounded
and thirty-seven oxen.
Many brave deeds were done here. Schofield, Congreve, Roberts, Reed,
and others of the R.A. specially distinguished themselves by
galloping-in fresh teams or using the only horses left in the two
batteries, and bringing two guns out of action. With others at this
spot poor Roberts met a heroic death and Colonel Long was badly
wounded.
The firing all along the river bank was now frightful; shells from
well-concealed Boer batteries played continuously upon our troops; the
sun was also fearfully hot without a breath of air; and about 9 a.m.
we noticed a sort of retiring movement on the left and centre of our
position, and saw men straggling away to the rear by ones and twos
completely done up, and many of them wounded. A field battery on the
left had a hot time of it just at this moment and drew out of action
for a breather quite close to our guns. I myself saw a dozen shells
from the Boers go clean through their ranks, although, happily, they
did not burst and did but little injury. Our troops were admirably
steady throughout this hot shell fire.
Our Naval guns on Gun Hill, at about 5,000 yards range, were hard at
it all this time trying to silence the Boer guns, and the lyddite
shells appeared to do great damage; but the enemy never really got
their range in return, and many of their shells pitched just in front
of my own guns with a whiz and a dust which did us no harm. A little
1-pounder Maxim annoyed us greatly with its cross fire, like a
buzzing wasp; it was fired from some trees in Colenso village, and
enfiladed our Infantry in the supporting line, which was in extended
order; but it did not do much damage so far as I could see, although
it was cleverly shifted about and seemed to be impossible to silence.
By 11 a.m. (15th) we saw that our left attack was a failure; exhausted
men of the Connaughts and Borderers poured in saying that their
regiments had been cut up; and, indeed, many of their officers and men
were shot and many drowned, in gallant attempts to cross the Tugela.
Soon the ground was a mass of ambulance wagons, and stretcher parties
bringing in the wounded; and a mournful sight, indeed, it was! The
centre attack also failed, our men retiring quite slowly and in good
order.
On the right, where the object of the advance was to carry a hill
called Hlangwane, which was afterwards recognised to be the key of the
whole position, our men, owing to want of numbers, could make but a
feeble attack and were unable, unsupported, to pass the rifle pits
which had been dug all along the valley in front of the hill. The
Cavalry were, of course, of no use behind a failing Infantry attack
with a river in front of them, and although extended to either flank
it never got a chance to strike.
At 1 p.m. all firing ceased, except an intermittent fusillade by the
Boers on our ambulance tents till they saw the red cross, when this
ceased; the troops were all retired in mass to their original
positions, and I myself had to clear out my guns as best I could to
our old camping ground in the rear. To crown all, it came on to rain
heavily about 5 p.m. by which we all got a good wetting. On our march
back I had a few minutes of interesting talk with General Barton.
For many days all sorts of rumours flew about as to our losses at
Colenso, which we afterwards found to be ten guns captured, fifty
officers and 852 rank and file killed and wounded, and twenty-one
officers and 207 N.C.O.'s and men missing and prisoners, a sad and
unexpected end to our day's operations. An armistice to bury the dead
was asked for by our people, and agreed to, but I do not believe that
the Boer losses were at all heavy; and I am persuaded that if instead
of the insufficient heavy batteries at Colenso, we could have had at
the front, say two more batteries of 4.7 guns and two batteries of six
6" Q.-F., the Colenso disaster might never have happened. Against the
fire of such guns, for say a week, moved up properly to within
effective range, with reconnaissances carefully made and with an
Infantry attack well pushed home in the end, I do not think that the
Boers could or would have stayed in their positions; and I am
confirmed in this opinion by a good many after experiences.
_Saturday, 16th December._--Had a peaceful night and slept well, all
being very much exhausted by the previous day's fighting and hot sun;
we were kept very busy marking out ground for the Naval batteries
which were all massed once more on our old camping ground.
_Sunday, 17th December._--Commenced shelling Colenso Bridge at noon
with a view to destroy it; but after a few rounds the order was
cancelled and we again returned to camp.
_Monday, 18th December._--Stood to arms at 4 a.m., then went to
general quarters for action, when the 4.7 guns opened fire at daylight
on Colenso Bridge for about two hours with lyddite, at a range of
7,300 yards. Lieutenant Hunt, on the left, struck one of the piers
with a shell and took the roof off a small house close by; otherwise
not much harm was done. It was a frightfully hot and depressing day
with a wind like air from a furnace; and, bad luck to it, directly the
sun was down at 5 p.m. a heavy dust storm came on which covered
everything in a moment with black filthy dust, followed by vivid
lightning and drenching rain which was quite a treat to us dried-up
beings. I myself succeeded in catching a tubful of water which ensured
me a good wash and a refreshing sleep for the night.
_Tuesday, 19th December._--A cool nice morning and all the men in good
spirits. At 8 a.m. the 4.7 guns opened fire again on Colenso Bridge.
Lieutenant England's gun--the right 4.7 gun--knocked the bridge away;
a very lucky and good shot, at which, needless to say, Sir F. Clery
was very pleased.
_Wednesday, 20th December._--Again a nice and cool day. In the evening
I fired my 12-pounders at trees and villages to the left of Fort
Wylie; the 4.7 gun, manned by the Natal Naval Volunteers, also did
good work. We are now living like fighting-cocks, as the field canteen
is open, with many delicacies, about half-a-mile to our rear. We also
received unexpectedly to-day, with acclamation, lots of letters and
English papers.
_Thursday, 21st December._--Stood to arms at 4 a.m. and commenced
firing about 6 a.m., in a very good light; my own guns were directed
on the rifle pits 8,500 to 9,000 yards away, on the other side of the
Tugela River. At this range the ammunition carries badly and the guns
shoot indifferently. I put some common shells, however, into the
enemy's rifle pits, but we are all getting tired of this sort of
desultory firing and existence.
_Saturday, 23d December._--About 8.30 a.m. the Commander-in-Chief and
Sir F. Clery and Staff, accompanied by the foreign attaches, rode up
to our guns and stayed for an hour sketching the hills on the right
of Colenso, which I presume is now our objective. Mr. Escombe, late
Premier of Natal, was also up with us all day watching our firing.
Captain Jones also came to ask me to represent the Naval Brigade on
the Sports Committee for Christmas Day; so I went down to General
Barton's tent, met Colonel Bethune, Captain Nicholson, and others, and
we arranged a good programme between us.
_Sunday, 24th December._--No firing to-day. Church Parade at 8 a.m.,
when we brigaded with the Irish Brigade. A very large stock of beer,
cakes, pine-apples, and other good things arrived in camp for the
Natal Naval Volunteers; they gave a good share to our fellows who were
very pleased, having none, and all are now busy preparing their
plum-puddings for Christmas Day.
_Christmas Day, 25th December._--We stood to arms at 4 a.m., but
orders came for the guns not to fire. I was up at 5.30 a.m. to take my
Sports party down to camp for the Brigade events. Our men won the
Brigade Tug-of-war right out, and got great fun out of the wrestling
on horseback on huge Artillery steeds, so that we came back to camp
very elated. At 3 p.m. we marched down again for the finals in Sports;
our fellows rigged up an Oom Paul and a Naval gent on a gun limber;
this we dragged all round the camps and created quite a _furore_. The
heat and dust were awful in the sports, but we pulled them off on the
whole successfully, and all came back to camp tired out. I had my
Christmas dinner with the Irish Fusiliers, who had drawn out an
amusing menu of _Whisky Powerful_, _Champagne Terrible_, _Cutlets a
l'Oom Paul_, and so on. I thought much of my people and friends at
home, and was glad enough to get to bed without the prospect of any
night alarm or attack, after such a big dinner.