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. An intelligent
horseman would gather more information, be less visible, and retain
some freedom as to route. After our experience the armoured train
may steam out of military history.
The train contained ninety Dublin Fusiliers, eighty Durban
Volunteers, and ten sailors, with a naval 7-pounder gun. Captain
Haldane of the Gordons, Lieutenant Frankland (Dublin Fusiliers),
and Winston Churchill, the well-known correspondent, accompanied
the expedition. What might have been foreseen occurred. The train
steamed into the advancing Boer army, was fired upon, tried to
escape, found the rails blocked behind it, and upset. Dublins and
Durbans were shot helplessly out of their trucks, under a heavy
fire.
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