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.