Night Fell Upon An
Undecided Fight, Which, After Swaying This Way And That, Had
Finally Inclined To The Side Of The British.
The Sussex and the
City Imperial Volunteers were clinging to the enemy's left flank,
while the 11th Division were holding them in front.
All promised
well for the morrow.
By order of Lord Roberts the Guards were sent round early on
Tuesday, the 12th, to support the flank attack of Bruce Hamilton's
infantry. It was afternoon before all was ready for the advance,
and then the Sussex, the London Volunteers, and the Derbyshires won
a position upon the ridge, followed later by the three regiments of
Guards. But the ridge was the edge of a considerable plateau, swept
by Boer fire, and no advance could be made over its bare expanse
save at a considerable loss. The infantry clung in a long fringe to
the edge of the position, but for two hours no guns could be
brought up to their support, as the steepness of the slope was
insurmountable. It was all that the stormers could do to hold their
ground, as they were enfiladed by a Vickers-Maxim, and exposed to
showers of shrapnel as well as to an incessant rifle fire. Never
were guns so welcome as those of the 82nd battery, brought by Major
Connolly into the firing line. The enemy's riflemen were only a
thousand yards away, and the action of the artillery might have
seemed as foolhardy as that of Long at Colenso.
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