The siege of Ladysmith was a protracted engagement in the Second Boer War, taking place between 2 November 1899 and 28 February 1900 at Ladysmith, Natal.
As war with the Boer republics appeared likely in June 1899, the War Office in Britain dispatched a total of 15,000 troops to Natal, expecting that if war broke out they would be capable of defending the colony until reinforcements could be mobilized and sent to South Africa by steamship. Some of these troops were diverted while returning to Britain from India; others were sent from garrisons in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. Lieutenant General Sir George White was appointed to command this enlarged force. White was 64 years old and suffered from a leg injury incurred in a riding accident. Having served mainly in India, he had little previous experience in South Africa.
Outbreak of war
Contrary to the advice of several British officials such as Sir Alfred Milner, the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, the Boer governments were not over-awed by the despatch of British troops to Natal. Instead, they regarded it as evidence of Britain's determination to seize control of the Boer republics. The Transvaal government under President Paul Kruger considered launching an attack in September, but President Steyn of the Orange Free State, who would later become the spiritual heart of the Boer resistance, dissuaded them for several weeks while he tried to act as intermediary. With the complete breakdown in negotiations, both republics declared war and attacked on 12 October.
A total of 21,000 Boers advanced into Natal from all sides.[1] White had been advised to deploy his force far back, well clear of the area of northern Natal known as the "Natal Triangle", a wedge of land lying between the two Boer republics.[2] Instead, White deployed his forces around the garrison town of Ladysmith,[3] with a detachment even further forward at Dundee. The entire British force could concentrate only after fighting two battles at Talana Hill and Elandslaagte. As the Boers surrounded Ladysmith, White ordered a sortie by his entire force to capture the Boer artillery. The result was the disastrous Battle of Ladysmith, in which the British were driven back into the town having lost 1,200 men killed, wounded, or captured.
Siege
Sketch map of the positions in November 1899
The Boers then proceeded to surround Ladysmith and cut the railway link to Durban. Major General John French and his chief of staff, Major Douglas Haig escaped on the last train to leave, which was riddled with bullets.
This town was then besieged for 118 days. White knew that large reinforcements were arriving, and could communicate with British units south of the Tugela River by searchlight and heliograph. He expected relief soon. Meanwhile, his troops carried out several raids and sorties to sabotage Boer artillery.
Louis Botha commanded the Boer detachment which first raided Southern Natal, and then dug in north of the Tugela to hold off the relief force. On 15 December 1899, the first relief attempt was defeated at the Battle of Colenso. Temporarily unnerved, the relief force commander, General Redvers Henry Buller, suggested that White either break out or destroy his stores and ammunition and surrender. White could not break out because his horses and draught animals were weak from lack of grazing and forage, but also refused to surrender.
On Christmas Day 1899, the Boers fired into Ladysmith a carrier shell without fuze, which contained a Christmas pudding, two Union Flags and the message "compliments of the season". The shell is still kept in the museum at Ladysmith.
The Boers around Ladysmith were also growing weak from lack of forage. With little action, many fighters took unauthorised leave or brought their families into the siege encampments. Eventually, with the Tugela in flood, preventing Buller from giving any support,[4] some younger Boer leaders persuaded General Piet Joubert to order a storming attempt on the night of 5 January 1900, before another relief attempt could be made.
The British line south of Ladysmith ran along a ridge known as the Platrand. The occupying British troops had named its features Wagon Hill to the west and to the east Caesar's Camp (after features near Aldershot, well known to much of the British army[citation needed]).[5] Under Ian Hamilton, they had constructed a line of forts, sangars and entrenchments on the reverse slope of the Platrand, of which the Boers were unaware.[citation needed]
In the early hours of 6 January 1900, Boer storming parties under General C.J. de Villiers began climbing Wagon Hill and Caesar's Camp. They were spotted and engaged by British working parties who were emplacing some guns. The Boers captured the edge of both features, but could not advance further. British counter-attacks also failed.[5]
At noon, de Villiers made another attack on Wagon Hill. Some exhausted defenders panicked and fled, but Hamilton led reserves to the spot and recaptured some empty gun pits. Late in the afternoon, a terrific rainstorm broke, and the Boers withdrew under cover of it.[5]
The British suffered 175 killed and 249 wounded. 52 dead Boers were left in the British positions, but their total casualties were not recorded.
The Relief of Ladysmith. Painting by John Henry Frederick Bacon (1868–1914)Rejoicing in St. Andrews, Canada upon receipt of the news of the relief of Ladysmith
While Buller made repeated attempts to fight his way across the Tugela, the defenders of Ladysmith suffered increasingly from shortage of food and other supplies, and from disease, mainly enteric fever or typhoid, which claimed among many others, the life of noted war correspondent G.W. Steevens. The Boers had long before captured Ladysmith's water supply, and the defenders could use only the muddy Klip River.
Towards the end of the siege, the garrison and townsfolk were living largely on their remaining draught oxen and horses (mainly in the form of "chevril", a meat paste named after the commercial beef extract "Bovril").
Eventually, Buller broke through the Boer positions on 27 February. Following their succession of reverses, his troops had developed effective tactics based on close cooperation between the infantry and artillery. After the protracted struggle, the morale of Botha's men at last broke and they and the besiegers retreated, covered by another huge thunderstorm. Buller did not pursue, and White's men were too weak to do so.
The first party of the relief column, under Major Hubert Gough and accompanied by war correspondent Winston Churchill, rode in on the evening of 28 February.[6] White reportedly greeted them saying, "Thank God we kept the flag flying".[7]
Early in the siege an agreement between George Stuart White and Piet Joubert led to the creation of the neutral Intombi Military Hospital some 5 kilometres (3.1mi) outside Ladysmith. This was run by Major General (later Sir) David Bruce and his wife Mary.[9] During the siege, the number of beds in the hospital camp grew from the initial 100 to a total of 1900. A total of 10,673 admissions were received and treated at Intombi.[10] One train per day was allowed to carry wounded from Ladysmith to Intombi.[11]
Notable casualties during the siege
Arthur Stark, author of The Birds of South Africa, was killed after being hit by an unexploded Boer shell in the Royal Hotel.[12]
Christoffel Cornelis Froneman, commonly known as Stoffel Froneman, was veldkornet, general and Vice-Commander-in-Chief of the Orange Free State Boer forces during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902.
Stephanus Petrus Erasmus Trichard was a field cornet and Commander for the South African Republic in the First and Second Boer War.
Jan Hendrik Olivier was a Boer general during the Second Boer War who was notable for being the main Boer commander at the Battle of Stormberg.
Marthinus Prinsloo was an Orange Free State Boer farmer, politician and general in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). He was born of Nicolaas Frans Prinsloo and Isabella Johanna Petronella Rautenbach in the district of Graaff-Reinet, South Africa who migrated to the Orange Free State where they lived in Bloemfontein, Waterval and Bethlehem. Marthinus Prinsloo was the eldest brother of Orange Free State assistant chief commander Antonie Michael Prinsloo.
Pieter Daniël de Wet was a Boer general in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) and a younger brother of Boer general and politician Christiaan de Wet. Piet de Wet participated in the Battle of Poplar Grove, the Battle of Sanna's Post for the waterworks there, and defeated the 13th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry at Lindley. In July 1900, he surrendered to the British at Kroonstad, Orange Free State. He became a prominent member of the National Scouts helping the British in the last years of the Boer War.
Christiaan Botha was a younger brother of Louis Botha (1862–1919) and Philip Botha (1851-1901), but an older brother of Theunis Jacobus Botha (1867-1930), and likewise a Boer general in the Second Boer War (1899–1902) who then both fought the British to the end.
Johannes Gerhardus Celliers was a Boer general in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa.
Jonathan Crowther was a Boer war general.
Petrus "Piet" Johannes Fourie was a Boer general for the Orange Free State in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902) in South Africa. He should not be confused with his Boer colleagues generals Joachim Christoffel Fourie (1845–1900) and Christiaan Ernst Fourie (1858–1943).
Ignatius "(Oom) Naas" Stephanus Ferreira was an Orange Free State Boer war general and Commander-in-Chief, who was fatally shot at the Battle of Paardeberg. Naas Ferreira should not be confused with his son and namesake Ignatius "Natie" Stephanus Ferreira, the gold miner Ignatius Philip Ferreira, and Boer general J. (Joachim) Ferreira.
Christiaan "Chrisjan" Ernst Fourie was an Anglo-Boer War commander of the Middelburg and Johannesburg Commandos and later a combat general for the South African Republic. He should not be confused with his colleagues, the Boer generals Joachim Christoffel Fourie (1845-1900) and Petrus "Piet" Johannes Fourie (1842-1916).
Sarel Petrus du Toit was a Second Boer War Boer general for the South African Republic. In 1896 he was elected representative to the Eerste Volksraad in Pretoria for the district of Wolmaransstad.
Daniel Jacobus Elardus Erasmus was a Boer general during the Anglo Boer War (1899–1902).
Johan Hendrik Breytenbach was the official South African state historian for the Second Boer War. He was employed by the National Archives in Pretoria and studied the Second Boer War since 1940. In 1959 the Minister of Education, Arts and Science appointed Breytenbach state historian for the Second Boer War, supervised by the Department of History of the University of Pretoria. When Breytenbach died in 1994, he had published five volumes of his Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902 between 1969 and 1983, with two further volumes at the planning stage. Using Breytenbach's notes, the State Archives finalised and published Volume 6 posthumously in 1996, concluding with a treatment of the Battle of Bergendal. Apart from this major work Breytenbach published many books and articles on South African history.
Ferdinandus Jacobus Potgieter was a Boer general in the Second Boer War (1899–1902).
Frederik Jacobus Potgieter was a Boer commander in the Second Boer War. He is also referred to as Frederik Johannes Potgieter.
Tobias Smuts was a Second Boer War Boer general and member of the Eerste Volksraad for the South African Republic.
Andries Petrus Cronjé was a Second Boer War Boer general and a member of the Orange Free State Volksraad and the Orange River Colony parliament. He should not be confused with Boer general Andries Petrus Johannes Cronjé, who surrendered and cooperated with the British in the National Scouts.
Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo was a Second Boer War commander of the Carolina Commando for the South African Republic who fought and prevailed at the Battle of Spion Kop. His son and namesake Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo (1890–1966) served as an officer in the South African Army in both World War I and World War II.
The Battle of Veertien Strome was a military engagement in the Second Boer War fought near Warrenton, Northern Cape by Boer troops under Sarel du Toit and British troops under Paul Methuen. Du Toit failed to prevent the British from crossing the Vaal River and entering the South African Republic from the southwest. It was part of Methuen's clearing of the Orange Free State, within the overall military advance on Pretoria.
↑ Durand, Henry Mortimer; White, George Stuart (1915). "III – Arrival in South Africa". The life of Field-Marshal Sir George White, V.C. Vol.II. Edinburgh, London: W. Blackwood. pp.17–27. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
1 2 3 Spiers, Edward, ed. (2010), Letters from Ladysmith: Eyewitness Accounts from the South African War (illustrateded.), Frontline Books, p.77–84, ISBN9781848325944
↑ Churchill, W.S. London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1900, pp. 208–10
Breytenbach, J. H. (1969–1996). Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902[The History of the Second War of Independence in South Africa, 1899–1902] (in Afrikaans). Pretoria: Die Staatsdrukker.
Breytenbach, J. H. (1969). Die Boere-offensief, Okt.–Nov. 1899[The Boer Offensive, Oct.–Nov. 1899]. Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902 (in Afrikaans). Vol.I. Pretoria: Die Staatsdrukker. OCLC798106662.
Breytenbach, J. H. (1971). Die eerste Britse offensief, Nov.–Des. 1899[The first British offensive, Nov.–Dec. 1899]. Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika, 1899–1902 (in Afrikaans). Vol.II. Pretoria: Die Staatsdrukker. OCLC768446219.
Kruger, Rayne; Goodbye Dolly Gray, New English Library, 1964.
McElwee, William; The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974. ISBN0-253-20214-0.
Pakenham, Thomas; The Boer War, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1979, ISBN0-7474-0976-5.
Reitz, Deneys (1929). Commando: A Boer Journal of the Boer War. ISBN0-571-08778-7.
Richards, Maureen (1999). Into the millennium: Anglo-Boer War centenary diary: today and 100 years ago. October 1899–December 1900, October 1999–December 2000. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter. ISBN0796014930. OCLC44904717.
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