But Here, As On
The Orange River, A Singular Paralysis Seems To Have Struck Them.
When The Road Lay Clear
Before them the first transports of the
army corps were hardly past St. Vincent, but before they had made
up
Their mind to take that road the harbour of Durban was packed
with our shipping and ten thousand men had thrown themselves across
their path.
For a moment we may leave the fortunes of Ladysmith to follow this
southerly movement of the Boers. Within two days of the investment
of the town they had swung round their left flank and attacked
Colenso, twelve miles south, shelling the Durban Light Infantry out
of their post with a long-range fire. The British fell back
twenty-seven miles and concentrated at Estcourt, leaving the
all-important Colenso railway-bridge in the hands of the enemy.
From this onwards they held the north of the Tugela, and many a
widow wore crepe before we got our grip upon it once more. Never
was there a more critical week in the war, but having got Colenso
the Boers did little more. They formally annexed the whole of
Northern Natal to the Orange Free State - a dangerous precedent when
the tables should be turned. With amazing assurance the burghers
pegged out farms for themselves and sent for their people to occupy
these newly won estates.
On November 5th the Boers had remained so inert that the British
returned in small force to Colenso and removed some stores - which
seems to suggest that the original retirement was premature. Four
days passed in inactivity - four precious days for us - and on the
evening of the fourth, November 9th, the watchers on the signal
station at Table Mountain saw the smoke of a great steamer coming
past Robben Island. It was the 'Roslin Castle' with the first of
the reinforcements. Within the week the 'Moor,' 'Yorkshire,'
'Aurania,' 'Hawarden Castle,' 'Gascon,' 'Armenian,' 'Oriental,' and
a fleet of others had passed for Durban with 15,000 men. Once again
the command of the sea had saved the Empire.
But, now that it was too late, the Boers suddenly took the
initiative, and in dramatic fashion. North of Estcourt, where
General Hildyard was being daily reinforced from the sea, there are
two small townlets, or at least geographical (and railway) points.
Frere is about ten miles north of Estcourt, and Chieveley is five
miles north of that and about as far to the south of Colenso. On
November 15th an armoured train was despatched from Estcourt to see
what was going on up the line. Already one disaster had befallen us
in this campaign on account of these clumsy contrivances, and a
heavier one was now to confirm the opinion that, acting alone, they
are totally inadmissible. As a means of carrying artillery for a
force operating upon either flank of them, with an assured retreat
behind, there may be a place for them in modern war, but as a
method of scouting they appear to be the most inefficient and also
the most expensive that has ever been invented.
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