Besides, A Subordinate Is Not
Discredited Because His Chief Steps In To Conduct A Critical
Operation.
However, these personal controversies may be suffered to
remain in that pigeon-hole from which they should never have been
drawn.
On account of the crowding of four thousand troops into a space
which might have afforded tolerable cover for five hundred the
losses in the action were very heavy, not fewer than fifteen
hundred being killed, wounded, or missing, the proportion of killed
being, on account of the shell fire, abnormally high. The
Lancashire Fusiliers were the heaviest sufferers, and their Colonel
Blomfield was wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy. The
Royal Lancasters also lost heavily. Thorneycroft's had 80 men hit
out of 180 engaged. The Imperial Light Infantry, a raw corps of
Rand refugees who were enduring their baptism of fire, lost 130
men. In officers the losses were particularly heavy, 60 being
killed or wounded. The Boer returns show some 50 killed and 150
wounded, which may not be far from the truth. Without the shell
fire the British losses might not have been much more.
General Buller had lost nearly two thousand men since he had
crossed the Tugela, and his purpose was still unfulfilled. Should
he risk the loss of a large part of his force in storming the
ridges in front of him, or should he recross the river and try for
an easier route elsewhere? To the surprise and disappointment both
of the public and of the army, he chose the latter course, and by
January 27th he had fallen back, unmolested by the Boers, to the
other side of the Tugela. It must be confessed that his retreat was
admirably conducted, and that it was a military feat to bring his
men, his guns, and his stores in safety over a broad river in the
face of a victorious enemy. Stolid and unmoved, his impenetrable
demeanour restored serenity and confidence to the angry and
disappointed troops. There might well be heavy hearts among both
them and the public. After a fortnight's campaign, and the
endurance of great losses and hardships, both Ladysmith and her
relievers found themselves no better off than when they started.
Buller still held the commanding position of Mount Alice, and this
was all that he had to show for such sacrifices and such exertions.
Once more there came a weary pause while Ladysmith, sick with hope
deferred, waited gloomily upon half-rations of horse-flesh for the
next movement from the South.
CHAPTER 16.
VAALKRANZ.
Neither General Buller nor his troops appeared to be dismayed by
the failure of their plans, or by the heavy losses which were
entailed by the movement which culminated at Spion Kop. The
soldiers grumbled, it is true, at not being let go, and swore that
even if it cost them two-thirds of their number they could and
would make their way through this labyrinth of hills with its
fringe of death. So doubtless they might. But from first to last
their General had shown a great - some said an exaggerated - respect
for human life, and he had no intention of winning a path by mere
slogging, if there were a chance of finding one by less bloody
means. On the morrow of his return he astonished both his army and
the Empire by announcing that he had found the key to the position
and that he hoped to be in Ladysmith in a week. Some rejoiced in
the assurance. Some shrugged their shoulders. Careless of friends
or foes, the stolid Buller proceeded to work out his new
combination.
In the next few days reinforcements trickled in which more than
made up for the losses of the preceding week. A battery of horse
artillery, two heavy guns, two squadrons of the 14th Hussars, and
infantry drafts to the number of twelve or fourteen hundred men
came to share the impending glory or disaster. On the morning of
February 5th the army sallied forth once more to have another try
to win a way to Ladysmith. It was known that enteric was rife in
the town, that shell and bullet and typhoid germ had struck down a
terrible proportion of the garrison, and that the rations of
starved horse and commissariat mule were running low. With their
comrades - in many cases their linked battalions - in such straits
within fifteen miles of them, Buller's soldiers had high motives to
brace them for a supreme effort.
The previous attempt had been upon the line immediately to the west
of Spion Kop. If, however, one were to follow to the east of Spion
Kop, one would come upon a high mountain called Doornkloof. Between
these two peaks, there lies a low ridge, called Brakfontein, and a
small detached hill named Vaalkranz. Buller's idea was that if he
could seize this small Vaalkranz, it would enable him to avoid the
high ground altogether and pass his troops through on to the
plateau beyond. He still held the Ford at Potgieter's and commanded
the country beyond with heavy guns on Mount Alice and at Swartz
Kop, so that he could pass troops over at his will. He would make a
noisy demonstration against Brakfontein, then suddenly seize
Vaalkranz, and so, as he hoped, hold the outer door which opened on
to the passage to Ladysmith.
The getting of the guns up Swartz Kop was a preliminary which was
as necessary as it was difficult. A road was cut, sailors,
engineers, and gunners worked with a will under the general
direction of Majors Findlay and Apsley Smith. A mountain battery,
two field guns, and six naval 12-pounders were slung up by steel
hawsers, the sailors yeo-hoing on the halliards. The ammunition was
taken up by hand. At six o'clock on the morning of the 5th the
other guns opened a furious and probably harmless fire upon
Brakfontein, Spion Kop, and all the Boer positions opposite to
them. Shortly afterwards the feigned attack upon Brakfontein was
commenced and was sustained with much fuss and appearance of energy
until all was ready for the development of the true one.
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