[Transcriber's note: Obvious printer's errors have been corrected, allother inconsistencies are as in the original. The author's spellinghas been maintained. ]

[Illustration: Twenty thousand men encamped under General Buller. ]

 WITH THE NAVAL BRIGADE IN NATAL

 1899-1900

 Journal of Active Service

KEPT DURING THE RELIEF OF LADYSMITH AND SUBSEQUENT OPERATIONS INNORTHERN NATAL AND THE TRANSVAAL, UNDER GENERAL SIR REDVERS BULLER, V. C. , G. C. B. 

 BY

 LIEUTENANT BURNE, R. N. 

 LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 1902

FOR THE ARMY, OUR COMRADES AND OUR FRIENDS, THE NAVY HAS NOTHING BUTTHE DEEPEST RESPECT AND ADMIRATION. 

INTRODUCTION

This Journal, completed before leaving the front in October, 1900, does not assume to be more than a somewhat rough and unadorned recordof my personal experiences during ten months of the South African(Boer) Campaign of 1899-1900 while in detached command of two12-pounder guns of H. M. S. _Terrible_ and H. M. S. _Tartar_. Having beenasked by some of my friends to publish it, I am emboldened to do so, in the hope that the Journal may be of interest to those who read it, as giving some idea of work done by a Naval Brigade when landed forservice at a most critical time. A few notes on Field Gunnery areappended with a view to give to others a few ideas which I picked upwhile serving with the guns on shore, after a previous experience asGunnery Lieutenant in H. M. S _Thetis_ and _Cambrian_. 

For the photographs given I must record my thanks to LieutenantClutterbuck, R. N. , Mr. Hollins, R. N. , and other kind friends. 

 C. R. N. B. 

_April_, 1902. 

CONTENTS

 CHAPTER I PAGE Outbreak of the war -- The Transport Service and despatch of Army Corps from Southampton -- Departure of a Naval Brigade from England and landing at Capetown and Durban -- I join H. M. S. _Philomel_ 1-10

 CHAPTER II

 I depart for the front with a Q. -F. Battery from H. M. S. _Terrible_ -- Concentration of General Buller's army at Frere and Chieveley -- Preliminary bombardment of the Boer lines at Colenso -- The attack and defeat at Colenso -- Christmas Day in camp 11-21

 CHAPTER III

 Life in Camp and Bombardment of the Boer lines at Colenso -- General Buller moves his army, and by a flank march seizes "Bridle Drift" over the Tugela -- The heavy Naval and Royal Artillery guns are placed in position -- Sir Charles Warren crosses the Tugela with the 5th Division, and commences his flank attack 22-32

 CHAPTER IV

 Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz -- General Buller withdraws the troops and moves once more on Colenso -- We hold Springfield Bridge -- Buller's successful attack on Hussar Hill, Hlangwane, and Monte Christo -- Relief of Kimberley 33-44

 CHAPTER V

 Passage of Tugela forced and Colenso occupied -- Another move back across the river to Hlangwane and Monte Christo -- The Boers at length routed and Ladysmith is relieved -- Entry of Relief Force into Ladysmith -- Withdrawal of H. M. S. _Terrible's_ men to China -- I spend a bad time in Field Hospital--General Buller's army moves forward to Elandslaagte -- Boers face us on the Biggarsberg 45-58

 CHAPTER VI

 End of three weary months at Elandslaagte -- A small Boer attack -- The advance of General Buller by Helpmakaar on Dundee -- We under General Hildyard advance up the Glencoe Valley -- Retreat of the Boers to Laing's Nek -- Occupation of Newcastle and Utrecht -- We enter the Transvaal -- Concentration of the army near Ingogo -- Naval guns ascend Van Wyk, and Botha's Pass is forced -- Forced march through Orange Colony -- Victory at Almond's Nek -- Boers evacuate Majuba and Laing's Nek -- Lord Roberts enters Pretoria -- We occupy Volksrust and Charlestown 59-72

 CHAPTER VII

 Majuba Hill in 1900 -- We march on Wakkerstroom and occupy Sandspruit -- Withdrawal of H. M. S. _Forte's_ men and Naval Volunteers from the front -- Action under General Brocklehurst at Sandspruit -- I go to hospital and Durban for a short time -- Recover and proceed to the front again -- Take command of my guns at Grass Kop -- Kruger flies from Africa in a Dutch man-of-war -- Many rumours of peace 73-86

 CHAPTER VIII

 Still holding Grass Kop with the Queen's -- General Buller leaves for England -- Final withdrawal of the Naval Brigade, and our arrival at Durban -- Our reception there -- I sail for England -- Conclusion 87-100

 CHAPTER IX

 Gunnery Results: The 12-pounder Q. -F. Naval gun -- Its mounting, sighting, and methods of firing--The Creusot 3"-gun and its improvements -- Shrapnel fire and the poor results obtained by the Boers -- Use of the Clinometer and Mekometer -- How to emplace a Q. -F. Gun, etc. , etc. 101-120

 APPENDIX I

 Hints on Equipment and Clothing for Active Service 121-128

 APPENDIX II

 Extracts from some of the Despatches, Reports, and Telegrams regarding operations mentioned in this Journal 129-145

 APPENDIX III

 Diary of the Boer War up to October 25th, 1900 146-152

 APPENDIX IV

 The Navy and the War: A Résumé of Officers and Men mentioned in Despatches for the Operations in Natal 153-156

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 _To face page_ TWENTY THOUSAND MEN ENCAMPED UNDER GENERAL BULLER _Frontispiece_

 A BATTERY CROSSING THE LITTLE TUGELA 8

 NAVAL BATTERY OF 4. 7's AND 12-POUNDERS AT DURBAN 8

 NAVAL BRIGADE PITCHING CAMP AT FRERE, DECEMBER, 1899 14

 NAVAL GUNS IN ACTION AT COLENSO 22

 LIEUT. BURNE'S GUNS FIRING AT SPION KOP 34

 4. 7 EMPLACED ON HLANGWANE 34

 COLT GUN AT HLANGWANE FIRING AT BOERS 48

 NAVAL 12-POUNDERS ADVANCING AFTER ALMOND'S NEK 70

 4. 7 ON A BAD BIT OF ROAD 70

 BRINGING IN A BOER PRISONER 82

 IN CAMP AT GRASS KOP 82

 ONE OF LIEUT. HALSEY'S NAVAL 12-POUNDERS 82

 LIEUT. -GENERAL SIR H. J. T. HILDYARD, K. C. B. 95

 CAPTAIN PERCY SCOTT, C. B. , R. N. 102

 NAVAL 12-POUNDER EMPLACED 120

 BOER GUN POSITIONS AT COLENSO 120

 CAPTAIN E. P. JONES, R. N. 154

 MAP _at end_

WITH THE NAVAL BRIGADE IN NATAL

CHAPTER I

 Outbreak of the war -- The Transport Service and despatch of Army Corps from Southampton -- Departure of a Naval Brigade from England and landing at Capetown and Durban -- I join H. M. S. _Philomel_. 

During a short leave of absence in Scotland, after my return fromFlag-Lieutenant's service in India with Rear-Admiral Archibald L. Douglas, that very kind friend, now Lord of the Admiralty, appointedme (5th October, 1899) to the Transport Service at Southampton, inconnection with the embarkation of the various Army Corps for the warin South Africa. As the summons came by wire, I had to leave Stirlingin a hurry, collect my various goods and chattels in London, and makethe best of my way to Southampton. I reported myself at the AdmiraltyTransport Office on Monday the 9th, and at once commenced work, visiting certain ships with Captain Barnard, the Port TransportOfficer, and picking up the "hang" of the thing, and what was wanted. Captain Graham-White, R. N. , came down in the afternoon to take chargeof our proceedings. From that date up to the 22nd, or thereabouts, weTransport Lieutenants simply had charge of certain vessels fittingout, and had to inspect for the Admiralty the many freight andtransport ships which came in from other centres, such as London, Liverpool, etc. , to be officially passed at Southampton; among othersthe _Goorkha_ and _Gascon_, two Union Liners, came particularly underme, and I shall always remember the courtesy of their officials, particularly Captain Wait and the indefatigable Mr. Langley, who sawthat we transport officers were well looked after on board each day. Everything in connection with this Line seemed to me during my time atSouthampton to be very well done, and so our work went swimmingly. 

Besides myself were Lieutenants McDonald, Nelson, and Crawford, R. N. , as Transport Officers, and we co-operated with a staff of militaryofficers under Colonel Stacpole, D. A. A. G. , with whom we got on verywell, so that we ran the work through quickly and without a hitch. SirRedvers Buller left Southampton in the _Dunottar Castle_ on the 15thOctober, and we all saw him off; in fact, McDonald and I representedthe Admiralty at the final inspection of the ship before sailing. There was, of course, a scene of great enthusiasm, and many peoplewere there, among whom were Sir Michael Culme Seymour, AlexanderSinclair his Flag-Lieutenant, and Lady and Miss Fullerton. All thistime we were more than busy inspecting and getting ships ready up tothe 22nd, when the departure of the First Army Corps commenced; we gotaway five transports that day within half an hour of each other, alltaking some 1, 500 men; they were, if my memory serves me, the _Malta_, _Pavonia_, _Hawarden Castle_, _Roslin Castle_, and _Yorkshire_; thenext few days we did similar work from 8 a. M. Till dark, getting awayabout three ships a day on an average. 

During the week Commander Heriz, R. N. , and myself, representing theAdmiralty, inspected the hospital ships _Spartan_ and _Trojan_ beforetheir start; they had been fitted out under the Commander'ssuperintendence, and were perfect; in fact, one almost wished to be asick man to try them! All these continued departures aroused greatpublic interest; on one day we had the Commander-in-Chief (LordWolseley), Lord Methuen, Sir William Gatacre, and many other Generals;and on another the Duke of Connaught came to see the 1st Bn. ScotsGuards off in the _Nubia_ and gave them a message from the Queen; hecame again a few days later to see his old regiment, the RifleBrigade, off in the _German_, and he and the Transport Officers werephotographed many times. I was told afterwards that my own portraitappeared very often in the cinematographs of these scenes, which werethen very popular and were exhibited to crowded audiences in all theLondon and Provincial Music Halls and elsewhere. I was very pleased onthis occasion to meet my old First Lieutenant of the _Cambrian_, nowCommander Mark Kerr, R. N. , who was also seeing the Rifle Brigade offwith a party of relatives whom I took over the _Kildonan Castle_. 

Here I may mention, to show the different rates of speed, that the_German_ carrying the Rifle Brigade, actually arrived at Capetown somehours after the _Briton_ (in which I myself left later on for SouthAfrica), although it started ten days before us. I have very pleasantrecollections of being associated with Major Edwards of the BerkshireRegiment in embarking the Reserves of the 3rd Bn. Grenadier Guards inthe _Goorkha_, which ship I had been superintending for so long; I wasable to get their Commanding Officer, Major Kincaid, two good cabins, for which I think he was much obliged to me. These Reserves were goingto Gibraltar to pick up the main Battalions of their regiment whichtook part later on (3rd and 4th November) in Lord Methuen's actions atBelmont and Graspan. 

After the 27th October the transport ships left Southampton in onesand twos, and we were not so hard pushed; in fact, the work wasbecoming rather monotonous, till, on the evening of the 2nd November, our Secretary, Mr. Alton, R. N. , rushed up to me with a wire telling meto be prepared immediately to leave for the Cape. I was very pleased, and thought myself extremely lucky to get out to the scene of war witha chance of going to the front; and after saying a hurried good-bye toall my friends I left Southampton on the 4th November in the _Briton_;my father[1] saw me off and gave me some letters of introduction; LordWolseley also kindly wrote about me to Sir Redvers Buller; all my oldcolleagues of the Transport Service gave me a most cordial send-off, and we steamed out of the docks about 7 p. M. In heavy rain, which didnot, however, damp the enthusiasm of hundreds of people who waited tosee the last of us. In saying farewell to the Transport Service Icould not help thinking how much courtesy and assistance we transportofficers received from the captains and officers of all the shipsunder our inspection, and how much we admired their keen feeling andhard work in the interests of the public service. I hope this may berecognised when war rewards are given. 

 [Footnote 1: General Sir Owen Tudor Burne. ]

Our voyage was a good one, being calm enough after the first day, andall going well up to Madeira (where I landed for the sixth time) aswell as on the onward voyage in which we went through the usualroutine of ship life until we arrived at the Cape on Monday, 20thNovember. The Bay was full of transports, and they seemed still to bepouring in every hour; we did not hear much news except thatLadysmith was still safe, and we at once entrained for Simon's Bay, apretty train journey of about an hour and a half, where the fleet werelying. Now commenced the bad luck of the Brigade "wot never landed, "we all got drafted to various ships instead of going to the front in abody as we had hoped and expected, and my lot was to join the flagship_Doris_. Much to our disappointment a Naval Brigade had been landedthe day before our arrival for Lord Methuen's force; we ourselves weretherefore regarded for the moment as hardly wanted, and the Admiralwas, we were told, dead against landing any more sailors. So we wereboth afflicted and depressed. I had, however, a pleasant time on the_Doris_, and found myself senior watch keeper on board. At night manyprecautions were taken in the fleet; guards were landed in thedockyard with orders to fire on any suspicious boat, and a patrol boatsteamed round the fleet all night up to daylight with similar orders;we ourselves often went on shore for route marching and company drilland had a grand time. 

I may mention, in passing, that all the bluejackets who were landed atSimon's Bay for shore duty were fitted with khaki suits, viz. , tunicsand trousers and hat covers, drawn from the military stores. With thetrousers the men wore brown gaiters, and each man was provided withtwo pairs of service boots; they all wore their white straw hatsfitted with khaki covers and looked very workmanlike in heavy marchingorder. The Marines also wore khaki and helmets, and had stripes ofmarine colours (red, blue and yellow) on the helmets to distinguishthe Corps. Each batch of bluejackets that were sent to the front, about twelve men in a batch, was allowed two canvas bags to hold spareclothes and other gear, and took three days' provisions and water. Thehaversacks were all stained khaki with Condy's fluid, and the gunswere all painted khaki colour. 

We saw a great many people at Capetown, and while there, ColonelGatcliffe, Royal Marines, the head Press censor, told Morgan andmyself a lot of instructive facts about the work at the TelegraphOffices, and how all foreign telegrams in cipher to South Africagiving news to the Boers, as well as those from them, had beenstopped. Some 300 telegrams sent after Elandslaagte by Boer agents atCapetown had been thus suppressed. When we saw Colonel Gatcliffe hewas busily engaged passing telegrams, which had to be read and signedby him at the Telegraph Office before they were allowed to bedespatched. 

All went well at Simon's Bay until November 24th, when we heard ofLord Methuen's fight and heavy casualties at Belmont, followed soon bynews of the heavy loss (105 killed and wounded) incurred by the NavalBrigade at Graspan chiefly among the marines. I think that the generalidea in the fleet was admiration for our comrades and gratitude toLord Methuen for giving the Navy a chance of distinction; but I amtold these views were not shared by our Chief. A force of forty seamenand fifty marines were now ordered off to the front at once to fill upthese casualties. Naturally we all wanted to go, but the Admiral couldnot send us and drafted us off to various ships, my own destinationbeing H. M. S. _Philomel_, then at Durban, which I reached in thetransport _Idaho_, a Wilson Liner. We had on board a Field Battery andother details with six guns and 250 horses. I was much interested inthe horses, who had a fine deck to themselves and were very fit; theywere in fact _'Bus_ horses, and very good ones. 

There were some Highland officers and others on board who had beenwounded and were now going back to Natal after recovery; they told ushow cunning the Boers were in selecting positions; one saw nothing ofthem, they said, on a hill but the muzzle of their rifles; they areonly killed in retreat; they pick out any dark object as a man, suchas a great-coat, training their rifles on it so as to fire directly herises and advances. One of the officers told us how he saw atElandslaagte a Scotchman who had been put by the Boers in their firingline with his hands tied behind his back because he had refused tofight for them; apparently the man escaped uninjured and was takenprisoner with the rest after the fight by our Lancers, swearing whenliberated many oaths of vengeance on the Boers. Colonel Sheil told oneof our officers, Commander Dundas, who was in charge of him and otherprisoners on board the _Penelope_ at Simon's Bay, that the only faultof our men was their rashness, and our Cavalry did not, he said, throwout sufficient scouting parties, missing himself and others on oneoccasion by not doing so; the Boers had not reckoned, he said, onNaval guns being landed, and placed great reliance on Europeaninterference. In his opinion, the war would be over the moment weentered Boer territory, and everything seemed at the moment to pointto this conclusion. These Boer prisoners, who were all got atElandslaagte, talked English well, and appeared, by all accounts, tohave a good feeling and respect for the English, but they were verydown upon the capitalists and others whom they blamed for the war. 

To-day, at sea, as I write this (28th November), a S. E. Breeze makesit delightfully cool. Indeed, I found the climate of Capetown, although the hot weather was beginning, delightful; a regularchampagne air and a very hot sun, yet altogether a nice dry heat whichquickly brought all the skin off my face at Simon's Bay after oneday's march with the Battalion up the hills. I expect to find Natalmuch damper, and no doubt it will be very wet and cold at night in thehill country. 

_Thursday, 30th November. _--The wind which has been blowing in ourteeth has now moderated, so we may reach Durban earlier than we hoped, as we are only about 300 miles off. I watched the battery horses beingexercised and fed this morning; they are mostly well accustomed to theship's motion, but it is amusing sometimes to see about a dozenstalwart gunners shoving the horses behind to get them back to theirstalls and eventually conquering after much energy and language, andafter desperate resistance on the part of the horses; these old 'Bushorses are strong and fit, and have very good decks forward and aftfor their half-hour exercise each day; while they are exercising, their stalls are cleaned out and scrubbed with chloride of lime. It ismost interesting to watch their eagerness to go to their food, forthey are always hungry!

[Illustration: A Battery crossing the Little Tugela. ]

[Illustration: Naval Battery of 4. 7's and 12-pounders at Durban. ]

_Friday, 1st December. _--We arrived at Durban at 5 a. M. And anchoredin the roadstead. In the Bay are H. M. S. _Terrible_ and _Forte_; also aDutch man-of-war, the _Friesland_, a fine looking cruiser; there arealso eleven transports at anchor. Inside the Bay are the _Philomel_(my ship) and _Tartar_, besides a lot of other transports, includingmy old friend the _Briton_. Durban is a striking place from the sea;very green and cultivated, and with rows of houses extending along ahigh ridge overlooking the town. It all looks very pretty and onemight fancy one's self in England. A strong breeze is blowing, so itis quite cool. An officer from the _Forte_ tells us that Estcourt isrelieved and that the Boers are massing south of Colenso ready for abig fight. Our army have apparently to bridge some ravines beforeadvancing. The guns of the _Forte_ and _Philomel_ are at Estcourtwith landing parties. Commander Dundas and Lieutenants Buckle andDooner join the _Forte_ and I join the _Philomel_. Tugs came out at 1p. M. And took us in over the bar; we passed close to the _Philomel_and were heartily cheered; then we went alongside the jetty, wherestaff officers came on board with orders. Commander Holland (IndianMarine) is here in charge of Naval transport and is an oldacquaintance, as we met last year at Bombay. I got on board the_Philomel_ without delay and found myself Captain of her, as herCaptain (Bearcroft) had gone to take the Flag-Captain's place withLord Methuen's force, and Halsey, the First Lieutenant, was atEstcourt with some 12-pounder guns. About thirty men of the _Philomel_are on shore under two officers, and one of her 4. 7 guns is up atLadysmith. I hear that all guns north of Pietermaritzburg are undercommand of Captain Jones, R. N. , of the _Forte_; and, in fact, all theships here at present, viz. , the _Terrible_, _Forte_, _Philomel_, and_Tartar_, have landing parties at the front. 

I reported myself to Commander F. Morgan, senior officer of the_Tartar_, who was pleased to see me as he is an old friend, I havingserved with him in 1894 in the Royal yacht (_Victoria and Albert_), from which we were both promoted on the same day (28th August, 1894). I also called on the Commandant of Durban, Captain Percy Scott of the_Terrible_, at his headquarter office in the town. I found him busilyengaged in making-up plans and photos of Durban, as well as hisdesigns for field and siege mountings for the 4. 7 and 12-pounder guns, to forward to Admiral Douglas, my late Commander-in-Chief; he showedthem to me, and ordered me to take over command of the _Philomel_ forthe present. I have met a lot of old friends, and find the ship itselfclean, smart, and comfortable. The weather is changeable and veryhot. Captain Scott has ordered martial law in the town, and everyonefound in the streets after 11 p. M. Is locked up. The story goes thatCaptain Scott himself was locked up one night by mistake!

_Tuesday, 5th December. _--Captain Scott sent on board a kind letterfrom the Governor of Natal (Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson) who has spokento Sir Redvers Buller about me. An early advance is expected onColenso, and it seems on the cards that some strategic move will soonbe made to outflank the Boers and commence relief operations on behalfof poor Ladysmith. 

CHAPTER II

 I depart for the front with a Q. -F. Battery from H. M. S. _Terrible_ -- Concentration of General Buller's army at Frere and Chieveley -- Preliminary bombardment of the Boer lines at Colenso -- The attack and defeat at Colenso -- Christmas Day in camp. 

On the 6th December there was much rejoicing in the fleet on accountof an order from Headquarters that a battery of eight Naval guns wasto go to the front to reinforce Sir Redvers Buller. Lieutenant Ogilvy, of the _Terrible_, was appointed to command, while Melville of the_Forte_, Deas of the _Philomel_, and myself, were the next fortunatethree who were to accompany it. The battery, drilled and previouslyprepared by Captain Scott and Lieutenant Drummond, entrained the nextday (7th) for its destination; but as I had to remain behind awaitinga wire from Headquarters, I was unable to start till the next morning, when I left for Frere, accompanied by my servant, Gilbert of theMarines. What a day of excitement we passed through, and how much we, who were off to the front, felt for those left behind! I gave overcommand of the _Philomel_ to Lieutenant Hughes, the men gave me threecheers, and I left Durban amid many farewells and congratulations atmy good luck. 

Reaching Pietermaritzburg early on the 8th, we went onwards afterbreakfast to Estcourt. The railway is a succession of sharp curves andsteep gradients and is a single line only. All the bridges on the lineare carefully guarded, as far as Mooi River, by Natal Volunteers. Iwas much struck with the outlook all the way to Estcourt; a very finecountry, beautifully green, with a succession of hills, valleys, andsmall isolated woods; in fact, if the country was more cultivated onemight have thought it England, but it seems to be mostly grass landand mealy (Indian corn) fields. At Mooi River a farmer got into thetrain who had been driven from his farm near Estcourt when the Boersinvaded Natal; he had lost all his cattle and clothes, whileeverything on his farm had been wantonly destroyed, and the poorfellow was now returning to the wreck with his small daughter. 

On reaching Estcourt in the afternoon we found to our dismay that wecould not get on any further for the moment; so I walked up to seeHalsey of the _Philomel_, at his camp about half a mile from thestation, and took him some newspapers. We had a bathe in the TugelaRiver, and I afterwards met Wyndham of the 60th Rifles who was A. D. C. To the Governor of Ceylon while I was Flag-Lieutenant to AdmiralDouglas, and we were mutually pleased to meet again so unexpectedly. The Somersets marched in during the course of the morning fromNottingham Road; they all looked very fit, but seem to have thesomewhat unpopular duty of holding the lines of communication. 

Here I met also Lady Sykes and Miss Kennedy, doing nursing; they werestaying at a Red Cross sort of convent close to the station. LadySykes gave me some books and wished me the best of luck, at which Iwas pleased. I believe she is writing a book of her experiences in thewar and I shall be much interested to read it when I get home. It cameon to pour with rain, with vivid lightning, about 8 p. M. , so I wasthankful to be under cover at the station; the poor soldiers outsidewere being washed out of their tents, and some unfortunate NatalMounted Volunteers, who only arrived an hour beforehand, had no tentsat all and had a very poor time of it. 

Eventually I got off by train next morning (9th) for Frere, CaptainReeves, R. S. O. , of the Buffs, who did me many kindnesses later on, having secured a compartment for me in a carriage which was shuntedfor the night, and in which I was very comfortable, although disturbedby continuous shuntings of various trains and carriages which made onerealize how much work was falling on the railway officials andemployés. In our train were fifty Natal Naval Volunteers underLieutenants Anderton and Chiazzari. I was much struck with their goodappearance and their silent work in stowing their gear in the train, and I realized their worth all the more when they joined up later onwith our Brigade; all staid, oldish men, full of go and well dressed, while their officers were very capable, with a complete knowledge ofthe country. 

We reached Frere Station on the morning of the 10th, passing the sadsight of the Frere railway bridge completely wrecked by the Boers. Iwalked out to the camp and had never seen such a fine sight before;rows and rows of tents stretching for miles, and an army of about20, 000 men. I found our electric search-light party at the stationwaiting to go on, and I was thankful to get a breakfast with them. Eventually our train moved on to the camp of the Naval batteries, about 2-1/2 miles due north of Frere, and I at once marched up withthe Natal Naval Volunteers, reported myself to Captain Jones, andjoined my guns, finding all the rest of the Naval officers here, viz. :Captain Jones, Commander Limpus, and Lieutenants Ogilvy, Melville, Richards, Deas, Hunt, and Wilde, with half a dozen "Mids" of the_Terrible_. In camp were two 4. 7 guns on the new field mounting, onebattery of eight 12-pounders, and another of four 12-pounderquick-firers. 

On Sunday afternoon (10th December) an impressive Church service washeld in the open, with ourselves forming the right face of the squarealong with Hart's Irish Brigade. In the course of next day (11th) Irode up to see James' battery on the kopje to our front defending thecamp, and got my first glimpse of Colenso and the country around, someten miles off. I found that James's guns had very mobile limbers whichhe had built at Maritzburg, very different to our cumbersome wagonswith guns tied up astern. In the afternoon Melville and I had tea withGeneral Hart who was very agreeable and kind, and said he knew myfather, and my aunt, Lady Brind, very well. 

In the evening orders suddenly came for Limpus' battery of 4. 7's, mytwo 12-pounders, and Richards' four 12-pounders to advance the nextmorning (12th) at 4 a. M. To Chieveley, some seven miles from the Boerlines; and here again I was in luck's way as being one of thefortunates ordered to the front. All was now bustle and hurry to getaway, and eventually the line of Naval guns, some two miles long withammunition and baggage wagons, moved out in the gray of morning overthe hills, with an escort of Irish Fusiliers, who looked very smart, "wearin' of the green" in their helmets. 

[Illustration: _Photo by Middlebrook, Durban. _

Naval Brigade pitching camp at Frere, Dec. 1899. ]

We reached Chieveley at 8 p. M. (12th), after a long, dusty march, andgot into position next morning on a small kopje about two miles to itsfront, called afterwards "Gun Hill. " Guns were unlimbered and shellpits dug, while the wagons were all placed under cover; we receivedorders on arrival for immediate action, and at 9. 30 a. M. We commencedshelling the enemy at a range of 9, 500 yards. The 4. 7 guns on theright fired the first shot, my two 12-pounders followed quickly, and adesultory shell fire went on for some hours. At my position we dugpits for the gun trails in order to get a greater elevation, and weplumped one or two shots on the trenches near the Colenso Bridge. Theshooting of the 4. 7's, with their telescopic sights and easy ranging, was beautiful; shell after shell, many of them lyddite, burst in theBoer trenches, and we soon saw streams of Boer wagons trekking up thevalley beyond, while at the same time one of the Boer camps, 10, 000yards off, was completely demolished. 

All this time our Biograph friends from home were gaily taking viewsof us, and they took two of myself and my guns while firing. Ofcourse, the anxious officers of batteries had to lay the gunspersonally at this early stage, and every shot was a difficult matter, as at the extreme range we were firing, with the lengthening pieceson, the sighting was rather guesswork, and we had to judge mainly bythe explosion at a distance of five and a half miles. We were all doneup after our exertions under a broiling sun, and hence were not usedany more that day (12th). Behind us we saw miles of troops andtransport on the march onwards, which gave us the idea, and alsoprobably the Boers, that Buller was planning a forward attack; andindeed, late at night on the 13th, the 4. 7 Battery was told to move onto a kopje two miles in advance; my own guns, with the Irish Fusiliersbeing left to protect the ground on which we were then camped. 

Orders came shortly afterwards for a general advance to the Tugela, and Captain Jones told me that I had been given the rear and left todefend from all flank attacks, and that I was to move on at daybreakof the 15th to an advanced kopje and place myself under Colonel Reevesof the Irish Fusiliers. All was now excitement; the first great fightwas at length to come off and our fellows were full of confidence. 

At 2 a. M. , pitch dark, after a lot of hard work to get our gunsready, we struck camp; up rode Colonel Reeves with his regiment andthrew out an advanced guard, and out we tramped and crossed therailway. Here we found all the field guns and Infantry on the move, and had great difficulty in getting on; but at last, at 5 a. M. , wereached the desired kopje where I had been sent on to select gunpositions. Before us stretched the battlefield for four miles toColenso and the river; the Boers across the Tugela occupied anenormously strong position flanked by hills, all their trenches wereabsolutely hidden, and gun positions seemed to be everywhere. The ironbridge of Colenso was plainly visible through my telescope and wasintact, and to all intents and purposes there was not a soul anywherein sight to oppose our advance. 

The Naval Battery of 4. 7 and the 12-pounders under Captain Jonesquickly got into position in front of us, and on all sides we saw ourtroops being thrown forward in extended order, forming a front ofabout four miles, with Cavalry thrown out on the flanks and fieldbatteries galloping up the valley to get into range at 4, 000 yards. All was dead silence till about 5. 30 a. M. , when the Naval gunscommenced a heavy shell fire on the Boer positions. It was a finesight; shell after shell poured in for an hour on the Boer trenches ata range of 5, 000 yards, and all was soon one mass of smoke and flame. Not a sound came in reply till our troops reached the river bank, whenthe most terrific rifle fire I have ever heard of, or thought of, inmy life, was opened from the Boer rifle pits and trenches on the riverbank which had completely entrapped our men. Colonel Long, in commandof the Artillery on the right of the line, unwittingly or by order, led his batteries in close intervals to within easy rifle range ofthose pits, when suddenly came this hail of bullets, which in a fewminutes completely wrecked two field batteries (the 14th and 66thBatteries), killed their horses and a large number of the men, andthrew four of the Naval 12-pounders under Ogilvy into confusion, although he was fortunately able to bring the guns safely out ofaction in a most gallant manner, with the loss of a few men woundedand thirty-seven oxen. 

Many brave deeds were done here. Schofield, Congreve, Roberts, Reed, and others of the R. A. Specially distinguished themselves bygalloping-in fresh teams or using the only horses left in the twobatteries, and bringing two guns out of action. With others at thisspot poor Roberts met a heroic death and Colonel Long was badlywounded. 

The firing all along the river bank was now frightful; shells fromwell-concealed Boer batteries played continuously upon our troops; thesun was also fearfully hot without a breath of air; and about 9 a. M. We noticed a sort of retiring movement on the left and centre of ourposition, and saw men straggling away to the rear by ones and twoscompletely done up, and many of them wounded. A field battery on theleft had a hot time of it just at this moment and drew out of actionfor a breather quite close to our guns. I myself saw a dozen shellsfrom the Boers go clean through their ranks, although, happily, theydid not burst and did but little injury. Our troops were admirablysteady throughout this hot shell fire. 

Our Naval guns on Gun Hill, at about 5, 000 yards range, were hard atit all this time trying to silence the Boer guns, and the lydditeshells appeared to do great damage; but the enemy never really gottheir range in return, and many of their shells pitched just in frontof my own guns with a whiz and a dust which did us no harm. A little1-pounder Maxim annoyed us greatly with its cross fire, like abuzzing wasp; it was fired from some trees in Colenso village, andenfiladed our Infantry in the supporting line, which was in extendedorder; but it did not do much damage so far as I could see, althoughit was cleverly shifted about and seemed to be impossible to silence. 

By 11 a. M. (15th) we saw that our left attack was a failure; exhaustedmen of the Connaughts and Borderers poured in saying that theirregiments had been cut up; and, indeed, many of their officers and menwere shot and many drowned, in gallant attempts to cross the Tugela. Soon the ground was a mass of ambulance wagons, and stretcher partiesbringing in the wounded; and a mournful sight, indeed, it was! Thecentre attack also failed, our men retiring quite slowly and in goodorder. 

On the right, where the object of the advance was to carry a hillcalled Hlangwane, which was afterwards recognised to be the key of thewhole position, our men, owing to want of numbers, could make but afeeble attack and were unable, unsupported, to pass the rifle pitswhich had been dug all along the valley in front of the hill. TheCavalry were, of course, of no use behind a failing Infantry attackwith a river in front of them, and although extended to either flankit never got a chance to strike. 

At 1 p. M. All firing ceased, except an intermittent fusillade by theBoers on our ambulance tents till they saw the red cross, when thisceased; the troops were all retired in mass to their originalpositions, and I myself had to clear out my guns as best I could toour old camping ground in the rear. To crown all, it came on to rainheavily about 5 p. M. By which we all got a good wetting. On our marchback I had a few minutes of interesting talk with General Barton. 

For many days all sorts of rumours flew about as to our losses atColenso, which we afterwards found to be ten guns captured, fiftyofficers and 852 rank and file killed and wounded, and twenty-oneofficers and 207 N. C. O. 's and men missing and prisoners, a sad andunexpected end to our day's operations. An armistice to bury the deadwas asked for by our people, and agreed to, but I do not believe thatthe Boer losses were at all heavy; and I am persuaded that if insteadof the insufficient heavy batteries at Colenso, we could have had atthe front, say two more batteries of 4. 7 guns and two batteries of six6" Q. -F. , the Colenso disaster might never have happened. Against thefire of such guns, for say a week, moved up properly to withineffective range, with reconnaissances carefully made and with anInfantry attack well pushed home in the end, I do not think that theBoers could or would have stayed in their positions; and I amconfirmed in this opinion by a good many after experiences. 

_Saturday, 16th December. _--Had a peaceful night and slept well, allbeing very much exhausted by the previous day's fighting and hot sun;we were kept very busy marking out ground for the Naval batterieswhich were all massed once more on our old camping ground. 

_Sunday, 17th December. _--Commenced shelling Colenso Bridge at noonwith a view to destroy it; but after a few rounds the order wascancelled and we again returned to camp. 

_Monday, 18th December. _--Stood to arms at 4 a. M. , then went togeneral quarters for action, when the 4. 7 guns opened fire at daylighton Colenso Bridge for about two hours with lyddite, at a range of7, 300 yards. Lieutenant Hunt, on the left, struck one of the pierswith a shell and took the roof off a small house close by; otherwisenot much harm was done. It was a frightfully hot and depressing daywith a wind like air from a furnace; and, bad luck to it, directly thesun was down at 5 p. M. A heavy dust storm came on which coveredeverything in a moment with black filthy dust, followed by vividlightning and drenching rain which was quite a treat to us dried-upbeings. I myself succeeded in catching a tubful of water which ensuredme a good wash and a refreshing sleep for the night. 

_Tuesday, 19th December. _--A cool nice morning and all the men in goodspirits. At 8 a. M. The 4. 7 guns opened fire again on Colenso Bridge. Lieutenant England's gun--the right 4. 7 gun--knocked the bridge away;a very lucky and good shot, at which, needless to say, Sir F. Clerywas very pleased. 

_Wednesday, 20th December. _--Again a nice and cool day. In the eveningI fired my 12-pounders at trees and villages to the left of FortWylie; the 4. 7 gun, manned by the Natal Naval Volunteers, also didgood work. We are now living like fighting-cocks, as the field canteenis open, with many delicacies, about half-a-mile to our rear. We alsoreceived unexpectedly to-day, with acclamation, lots of letters andEnglish papers. 

_Thursday, 21st December. _--Stood to arms at 4 a. M. And commencedfiring about 6 a. M. , in a very good light; my own guns were directedon the rifle pits 8, 500 to 9, 000 yards away, on the other side of theTugela River. At this range the ammunition carries badly and the gunsshoot indifferently. I put some common shells, however, into theenemy's rifle pits, but we are all getting tired of this sort ofdesultory firing and existence. 

_Saturday, 23d December. _--About 8. 30 a. M. The Commander-in-Chief andSir F. Clery and Staff, accompanied by the foreign attachés, rode upto our guns and stayed for an hour sketching the hills on the rightof Colenso, which I presume is now our objective. Mr. Escombe, latePremier of Natal, was also up with us all day watching our firing. Captain Jones also came to ask me to represent the Naval Brigade onthe Sports Committee for Christmas Day; so I went down to GeneralBarton's tent, met Colonel Bethune, Captain Nicholson, and others, andwe arranged a good programme between us. 

_Sunday, 24th December. _--No firing to-day. Church Parade at 8 a. M. , when we brigaded with the Irish Brigade. A very large stock of beer, cakes, pine-apples, and other good things arrived in camp for theNatal Naval Volunteers; they gave a good share to our fellows who werevery pleased, having none, and all are now busy preparing theirplum-puddings for Christmas Day. 

_Christmas Day, 25th December. _--We stood to arms at 4 a. M. , butorders came for the guns not to fire. I was up at 5. 30 a. M. To take mySports party down to camp for the Brigade events. Our men won theBrigade Tug-of-war right out, and got great fun out of the wrestlingon horseback on huge Artillery steeds, so that we came back to campvery elated. At 3 p. M. We marched down again for the finals in Sports;our fellows rigged up an Oom Paul and a Naval gent on a gun limber;this we dragged all round the camps and created quite a _furore_. Theheat and dust were awful in the sports, but we pulled them off on thewhole successfully, and all came back to camp tired out. I had myChristmas dinner with the Irish Fusiliers, who had drawn out anamusing menu of _Whisky Powerful_, _Champagne Terrible_, _Cutlets àl'Oom Paul_, and so on. I thought much of my people and friends athome, and was glad enough to get to bed without the prospect of anynight alarm or attack, after such a big dinner. 

CHAPTER III

 Life in Camp and Bombardment of the Boer lines at Colenso -- General Buller moves his army, and by a flank march seizes "Bridle Drift" over the Tugela -- The heavy Naval and Royal Artillery guns are placed in position -- Sir Charles Warren crosses the Tugela with the 5th Division, and commences his flank attack. 

_Tuesday, 26th December. _--We stood to arms at 4 a. M. , and shelled theBoer camp and trenches for two hours during the day. The Biographpeople, who are still with us, took a scene of the Tug-of-war, our OomPaul, and then a tableau of the hanging of Kruger! Captain Jones cameto give the Sports prizes away, which greatly pleased our men; he toldme afterwards that he had selected my two 12-pounders and the 4. 7 gunsto advance with him when ordered, at which needless to say I was verymuch gratified. Another heavy dust storm, followed by thunder andheavy rain. On the few following days we went through our usualcannonading, following a new practice of firing at night by laying ourguns just at dusk, placing marks to run the wheels on, and usingclinometers for elevation at the proper moment. All our shells burst, and, we were told afterwards, with effect, greatly disturbing sleepingBoers in Kaffir kraals at Colenso. 

[Illustration: _Photo by Middlebrook, Durban. _

Naval Guns in Action at Colenso. ]

_Friday, 29th December. _--Again more firing at a new work that theBoers were making, apparently for guns. Seeing an officer on a whitehorse directing them, we banged at them all and cleared them off. Again a heavy storm, but sunshine reached us during it in the shapeof boots and great-coats from Frere, for which we were all grateful. The following day was wet and cold. I went to camp to try and buy pooryoung Roberts' pony, but the price was too high for me. Lord Dundonaldcame to arrange with Captain Jones a sham night attack on the Boerlines which happily did not come off as it was a horrible wet night. 

_New Year's Day, 1900. _--At midnight of the old year my middy, Whyte, and myself turned out, struck sixteen bells quietly on a 4. 7 brasscase, and had a fine bowl of punch, with slices of pine-apple in it, which we shared with our men on watch, wishing them all a happy NewYear. Good old 1899! Well, it is past and gone, but it brought me manyblessings, and perhaps more to come. We gave the Boers some 4. 7 liverpills, which we hope did them good. All our men are well and cheery, but our Commander has a touch of fever, so that I am left in executivecharge of the men and camp. Winston Churchill came up to look at ourfiring. During the next few days, in addition to our firing, our12-pounder crews started to make mantlets for the armoured train; avery big job indeed, as they had to cover the whole of the engine andtender, afterwards called "Hairy Mary, " as well as the several trucks. The officer in command congratulated our men on their work under theindefatigable Baldwin, chief gunner's mate of the _Terrible_, who wasin charge. The military also started entrenchments and gun pits on thehill, which we call "Liars Kopje"; at dusk they came to a standstillover some big boulders that the General asked us to remove, which wasa compliment to the powers of the Navy. We soon made short work of theboulders, much to the General's satisfaction, and got on fast with themantlets. Still heavy rain at night. 

_Thursday, 4th January. _--Again more firing. My own 12-pounder crewsand those of Richards' guns hard at the mantlets for the armouredtrain, and doing the job very well. On the 2nd, Lord Dundonald rode upand arranged an attack on a red house 6, 000 yards from us and supposedto contain some of the enemy, but we found nobody at home. We were allglad to receive letters from home to-day. I was busy all day shiftingone of my 12-pounder gun wheels for a new and stronger pair ofskeleton iron ones, just sent from Durban, in view of a feint to thefront with the object of drawing the Boers away from Ladysmith. 

_Saturday, 6th January. _--This feint was made and we had nocasualties. Poor Ladysmith! Our men there are hard pressed and musthave a bad time; very heavy firing all day, and we heard by heliographthat the Boers had made a heavy attack in three places, although, happily, repulsed with heavy loss (including Lord Ava) to ourselves. We have Bennet Burleigh, Winston Churchill, Hubert of _The Times_, andmany others, constantly on Gun Hill looking at our firing. 

_Sunday, 7th January. _--From Sir George White's signals we realizewhat a close shave they had yesterday in Ladysmith. A nice cool dayand no firing; in fact, a day of rest. We attended Church Parade at 6p. M. With the 2nd and 6th Brigades. The Boers are as usual in thetrenches working hard, while our time just now is spent in rain andconstant calls to arms. 

_Wednesday, 10th January. _--A move at last, and I received orders tojoin General Hildyard's Brigade with my two guns, while the otherswere attached to other Columns. We were all hard at work to-dayloading up wagons, and I was busy copying a large map of the countrywhich our Commander lent me. In the evening General Hildyard sent forme on business, and I sat down with him and his Staff to dinner, including Prince Christian, Captain Gogarty (Brigade Major), andLieutenant Blair, A. D. C. General Hildyard was very kind, and said hewas glad I was to go with him; and the next morning I moved off myguns at daylight, and arrived at the rendezvous by the hour named. Itwas a fine morning, although the wet and soft ground gave me doubtsabout getting our guns across country. But off we started; the Cavalryscouting ahead, then the East Surreys, Queen's, and Devons, and the7th Battery Field Artillery, followed by my guns escorted by the WestYorks. About a mile from Chieveley we had to cross a drift in which mywagons went in mud up to the tops of the wheels, and one gun gotupset, which I got right again with the assistance of three teams ofoxen and a party of the West Yorks. It was indeed a job, because theground was like a marsh, and our ammunition wagons, with three tons'weight on them, were half the time sunk up to the axles; but we allsmiled and looked pleased while everybody helped, and in six hours wewere clear and on the road. We were all done up with the shouting andhot sun, and the General ordered us a two hours' rest while he tookthe Brigade on to Pretorius' farm, which we ourselves reached at 6p. M. , crossing another bad drift on the way. The men were absolutelydone up, and we were glad to arrive and find ourselves in a finegrassy camp with plenty of water. General Hildyard called me up andsaid he was pleased with the splendid work we had put through thatday. On our left were miles of baggage wagons of various Brigadesgoing into camp along a road further west of us. 

_Thursday, 11th January. _--Shifted my ammunition to fifty rounds pergun to lighten the wagons, and moved off at 5 a. M. , passing GeneralHildyard who was looking on at the foot of the camp. We marched withthe whole force to Dorn Kop Nek and then halted; the General andothers, including myself, riding up to a high kopje to examine theBoer position on the Tugela at about 8, 800 yards off. Prince ChristianVictor came and sat on a rock by me and had a good look at theposition through my telescope which he borrowed. The General orderedone of my guns up this kopje, and we brought it up with a team of oxenand fifty men on drag ropes to steady her. It was an awful climb, andthe ground was strewn with boulders; the poor gun upset once, but wegot it up at last into position on a beautiful grass plateau on topwith a clear view of the Boer positions. The Queen's Regiment, whowere our escort this morning, carried fifty rounds of ammunition upthe kopje for me, and I shall always remember how on all occasions wereceived the greatest assistance from the Queen's and West Yorks. TheGeneral pushed on with the R. A. And the rest of the troops andreconnoitred the enemy from the next kopje. Eventually we were allordered back to camp, and I had a great job in getting my guns downthe hill again. I think it was worse than going up. 

_Friday, 12th January. _--Prince Christian (Acting Brigade Major) and Ihad a short talk together; we touched on a scheme of mine for makinglight limbers for our guns. In the afternoon I rode out to GeneralClery's camp, three miles to the west, to see our Naval guns, butfound they had been pushed on with Lord Dundonald's Cavalry to holdground leading to Potgieter's Drift. I dined with Captain Reed of the7th Battery, R. A. , who knew my R. A. Brother well in the 87th Battery. I found I had met him last year at the Grand National, and it is quitecurious that I meet out here everyone that I ever knew. 

_Saturday, 13th January. _--Sent Whyte, my middy, a nice fellow anduseful to me, over to Frere on a horse to see about many things Iwanted for the battery, and at 9. 30 a. M. Read out to my men on paradeGeneral Buller's address to the troops, dated 12th January, 1900. Thisis the text of it. "The Field Force is now advancing to the relief ofLadysmith where, surrounded by superior forces, our comrades havegallantly defended themselves for the last ten weeks. The Generalcommanding knows that everyone in the force will feel as he does; wemust be successful. We shall be stoutly opposed by a cleverunscrupulous enemy; let no man allow himself to be deceived by them. If a white flag is displayed it means nothing, unless the force whodisplay it halt, throw down their arms, and throw up their hands. Ifthey get a chance the enemy will try and mislead us by false words ofcommand and false bugle calls; everyone must guard against beingdeceived by such conduct. Above all, if any are even surprised by asudden volley at close quarters, let there be no hesitation; do notturn from it but rush at it. That is the road to victory and safety. Aretreat is fatal. The one thing the enemy cannot stand is our being atclose quarters with them. We are fighting for the health and safety ofcomrades; we are fighting in defence of the flag against an enemy whohas forced war on us from the worst and lowest motives, by treachery, conspiracy, and deceit. Let us bear ourselves as the cause deserves. "

_Sunday, 14th January. _--Church Parade at 6 a. M. With the West Yorks, Devons, East Surreys, and Queen's. About 8 a. M. A wagon and teamcrawled up to our camp; this turned out to be the light trolley I hadsent for and which Lieutenant Melville had kindly hurried forward fromFrere. I was awfully pleased to see it as our load before wasabsurdly heavy. The General was also quite glad to see and hear of thenew trolley. At 2 p. M. In came my new horse from Frere, and a bag ofexcellent saddlery; the horse was in an awful state; he had apparentlybolted on getting out of the train at Frere and injured two Kaffirswho tried to stop him; then the Cavalry chased him and caught him tenmiles from Frere towards the Drakensberg mountains. The poor animalwas very much done up and I found him afterwards a fine willing beast. 

_Monday, 15th January. _--Struck tents and limbered up ready to marchat 6 a. M. , and moved off in rear of the 7th Battery R. A. ; they havebeen very good to us all along, shoeing ponies and giving us water. Anice cool morning, and all in good spirits. We soon passed the firstdrift across a spruit about four feet deep; my guns just grazed thetop of the water but luckily we had taken care to stuff up the muzzleswith straw. The bullocks had a very hard pull, more especially as mymen were obliged to ride across the gun wagons. The General looked onand we got on very well; all working, laughing, joking, and helping, especially our good friends the Tommies. We marched across a greenveldt, with the usual kopjes at intervals; and after about eight milespassed through the camp of the Somersets who came out to see us go byand were very cordial; about a mile further on we crossed the LittleTugela Bridge, and had a very heavy pull shortly afterwards across ourlast drift, which was a bad one. Countless bullock wagons, mule carts, and transport of all descriptions of the Clery, Hart, and CokeBrigades extended for miles along the two roads leading to ouradvanced position. We were delighted to see a river at last, and menand horses had a fine drink. After a meal in pelting rain I rode on toreport to General Hildyard, and had tea with him and his staff, including Prince Christian; they are all always very nice to me. 

_Tuesday, 16th January. _--A stream of transport wagons is stillcrossing the drift this morning, and the Drakensberg mountains lookvery grand and beautiful in this clear air. We drew fresh meat to-dayin our provisions. What a surprise and a treat! The Boer position onthe Big Tugela lies six miles off; and here Dundonald and his Cavalry, with one 4. 7 gun, are watching the enemy who are working day and nightat their trenches. About noon, Colonel Hamilton, of General Clery'sStaff, rode into our camp and told me that orders had come for my gunsto proceed at once into position with Lieutenant Ogilvy's battery. Heasked me how long I should be. I said two hours to collect oxen andpack up, and so we were ordered to march at 1. 45 p. M. I was very sorryto be suddenly shifted again out of General Hildyard's Brigade, and Iasked him to intervene if we were again detached, which he promised todo. We marched up to time, and got to camp about 5 p. M. , escorted by atroop of the Royal Dragoons. As usual, it came on to pour; everythingwas quickly a sea of mud, and the men in their black great-coats, marching along with the horses and guns mixed up with them, remindedone strongly of scenes in pictures of Napoleon's wars. We found thatwe had to move on in an hour's time with Ogilvy's guns to a plateaufurther on. I rode out to see Captain Jones and the 4. 7's in position, a grand one on top of a very steep cliff kopje some 1, 000 feet abovethe Tugela; the plateau selected for our 12-pounder guns was some 600feet lower down and 2, 000 yards nearer the enemy. We had a tough marchout, and did not get to our plateau till 11. 30 p. M. I had a snack andgave the others all I could, and the great Maconochie ration and beerwill never be forgotten, that night at any rate. I myself turned into sleep under a trolley, just as I was, and very tired we all wereafter our hard day. 

_Wednesday, 17th January. _--Out at daybreak to bring our 12-poundersinto action. The drift over the Tugela, about half-a-mile to our rightfront, had been seized by Dundonald, and a howitzer battery had beenpushed across some 2, 000 yards nearer than ourselves, supported by theKing's Royal Rifles, the Scottish Rifles, the Durhams, and theBorderers; to our right front was also to be seen the Engineerballoon, under Captain Phillips, R. E. , being filled with gas. About 10a. M. A message came up from General Lyttelton to bring four guns intoaction on our left flank, which I did at once under Ogilvy's orders, and a little later Captain Jones rode down to us and told us tosupport Sir Charles Warren's advance to our left across the river. Iopened fire with my right gun, and got the range in two shots, afterwhich the whole four guns opened fire and burst several shells overthe correct spot. I heard that Sir Charles Warren signalled in theevening to say we had by our fire put two Boer guns out of action andmade them retire, and we were all delighted. His force was plainly tobe seen occupying the ridge about 6, 000 yards to our left front. Thefiring of the howitzer battery was very fine to-day; also our 4. 7 gunsdid well. The howitzers landed salvos of their shells, six at a time, all bursting within fifty yards of one another and right on the Boerworks on the sky-line, where our Naval 4. 7's were also working away ata greater distance off. As no tents were allowed us I again slept inmy clothes under a wagon. 

_Thursday, 18th January. _--A beautiful morning, and we were all up atdaybreak commencing a slow firing at the Boer trenches, and many fineshots were made; the howitzers, during the afternoon, pushed on about500 yards nearer the enemy under cover of three small kopjes. Lookingat the position from our plateau one wondered how the Boers could haveallowed us to get here and cross the river unopposed. If we had beenresisted we must have had an awful job, both here and at the LittleTugela. All our army experts are surprised, and we think we must havecaught them on the hop, as they don't reply to our artillery fire. Still, they are opposing Sir Charles Warren's advance as well as theycan, and very hard fighting is going on to our left, although we onlyhear the shots and see the flashes of our guns, with volleys ofmusketry, while the enemy are hidden behind a high hill called SpionKop. The panorama before us is magnificent; and the Tugela, ourbugbear at Colenso, lies before us, beautiful, meandering, andapparently conquered. At 5 p. M. A demonstration in force against thetrenches at Brakfontein was ordered, and we commenced rapid firingwith eight guns, making very fine practice and sending off some 600shells to cover our Infantry advance which was pushed on right up tothe foot of the Boer kopjes and about 1, 500 yards from their trenches. The Engineer balloon floated proudly in the air watching theoperations. We retired at dusk, the object being to draw the Boers totheir trenches and to relieve Sir Charles Warren's left attack whichwas advancing very slowly. We laid our guns at dusk and fired themevery half-hour during the night. 

_Friday, 19th January. _--We began firing again at daybreak, GeneralLyttelton and Staff looking on. They told us that our guns had shotvery well the evening before. A very hot day. The fighting on the leftseems to be heavier and more distant, and all sorts of rumours arecurrent as to demonstrations and successes. 

_Saturday, 20th January. _--Firing as usual. We hear again heavy firingon the left. About 3 p. M. Our balloon went right out over the Boertrenches, while our Infantry attacked in force on the right anddemonstrated in front in extended order; we kept up our firing, whileJames's guns which had been pushed across the river took the righthills, and with the howitzers put a Boer Pom-pom out of action. Theballoon did well; it was fired at by the Boers with Maxims and rifles, and was hit in several places; in fact, Captain Phillips, in charge ofit, had his forehead grazed by a bullet. During the afternoon my rightgun trail smashed up and I had to employ all the talent near at handto repair it. With a baulk of timber from the Royal Engineers wefinished it, and at the same time shifted the wheels to a beautifulpair of gaudily-painted iron ones from Durban. I now call it the"Circus Gun. "

_Sunday, 21st January. _--A very hot day. The armourers and carpentersstill hard at work on my gun trail. Orders came for two guns toadvance across the river, and Ogilvy told me off for that honour. Bydint of hard work my right gun was finished by 11 a. M. , and Iinspanned and went off two hours afterwards. A very steep hill was theonly thing to conquer going down, and we successfully crossed theTugela in a Boer punt--guns, oxen, and my horse. We got the guns up toour new position by 6 p. M. , and found ourselves about 4, 200 yards fromthe enemy's trenches, with James's guns on our right. We had a cordialmeeting with the Scottish Rifles; they had been a week in theirclothes, with no tents or baggage, so I put up one of our tarpaulinsfor their mess tent and we enjoyed a real good dinner. At 9 p. M. Upcame Ogilvy to our position, to my surprise, as he had received suddenorders to bring the rest of the guns on across the river; the road andriver must have been very nasty in the dark, but Ogilvy is a cleverand capable fellow, who is always determined, sees no difficulties, and invents none. 

CHAPTER IV

 Spion Kop and Vaal Krantz -- General Buller withdraws the troops and moves once more on Colenso -- We hold Springfield Bridge -- Buller's successful attack on Hussar Hill, Hlangwane, and Monte Christo -- Relief of Kimberley. 

_Monday, 22nd January. _--We placed the battery of six guns at daybreakin a kloof between two kopjes, in a half-moon formation, commandingthe old position near Spion Kop, at about 4, 500 yards, mine being inthe centre. I was in charge all day and fired shots at intervals. Thewind was too high for balloon reconnoitring. My first shot, ashrapnel, at the left part of Spion Kop, disabled twenty of the enemydigging in the trenches, so we were afterwards told by native scouts;and we were praised by those looking on for our accurate firing. Wehad now our telescopic sights on the guns, and very good ones on thewhole they were, although we found the cross wires too thick andtherefore hid an object such as a trench which at long range looks nomore than a line. I found my deflection by a spirit-level on thetrail, to test the inclination of the wheels one way or the other. There was very heavy fighting to-day on our left. Sir Charles Warrenis in fact forcing his way on, and we hear reports of 400 of ourfellows being killed and wounded, and the Boer trenches being taken bybayonet charges. So far as we know, General Buller's object is tooutflank the Boers on the left, and then when Sir Charles Warren hasdone this, to attack in front and cut them off. 

_Tuesday, 23rd January. _--Another day, alas, red with the blood of ourpoor fellows. Sir Charles Warren continued his operations at 1 p. M. , and from then till midnight the fight raged. Musketry and guns boomingall round, the Maxims and Vickers 1-pounder guns, being speciallynoticeable. At daylight we ourselves stood to guns and concentratedour fire on the Boer trenches and positions to the front and right, inorder to draw the enemy away from Warren's force; while the Infantrywith us (Rifle Brigade, King's Royal Rifles, Durhams and ScottishRifles) made a demonstration in force to within 2, 000 yards of themain trenches under cover of our fire. The attack under Warren gotcloser and closer each hour, and we could watch our fellows, apparently the Lancashire Brigade, storming the top of Spion Kop, inwhich, I afterwards heard, my father's old regiment (the LancashireFusiliers) bore a splendid part. Meanwhile our own attack on theBrakfontein trenches was withdrawn, and we brought our guns intoaction on the left to assist the operations on Spion Kop but soon hadto desist for fear of hitting our own men. The fight raged all day andwas apparently going well for us. At 4 p. M. Came a message fromGeneral Buller ordering the King's Royal Rifles and Scottish Rifles tostorm Spion Kop from our side, which they did, starting from our gunsand making a prodigious climb right gallantly in a blazing heat andsuffering a considerable loss. Poor Major Strong, with whom I had justbreakfasted, was one of the wounded and, to my great sorrow, died ofhis wound. Our guns meanwhile were searching all the valleys andpositions along the eastern slopes of Spion Kop; but it was allunavailing, as we were apparently forced to retire after heavy lossesduring the night. We ourselves were all dead beat, but had to be upall night with search-lights working on the Boer main position; butwhat of poor Warren's force after five days' constant marching andfighting!

[Illustration: Lieut. Burne's Guns firing at Spion Kop. ]

[Illustration: 4. 7 Emplaced on Hlangwane. ]

_Wednesday, 24th January. _--No more firing and many rumours; but atlast it was a great surprise and blow to us to hear a confirmation ofthe report that Warren's right had been forced to abandon Spion Kopduring the night, and to be also told that we ourselves were to goback to our old plateau in the rear. I had my guns dragged up toCriticism Kop with great labour by eighty of the Durhams, who are nowour escort; and with the Rifle Brigade we hold the three advancedhills here, while Ogilvy has been moved back across the river. We hearof a loss of some 1, 600 men, the poor 2nd Bn. Of the LancashireFusiliers specially suffering heavily;[2] there is therefore greatdepression among all here, a cessation of fire being ordered, andnothing in front of us except ambulances. Our mail came in during theevening and I was very pleased to get letters from Admiral and Mrs. Douglas. We feared a night attack, so had everything ready for thefray. I was on the watch all night with Whyte, but our search-lightkept off the danger and all remained quiet. 

 [Footnote 2: Having lost over 100 officers and men killed and wounded at Venter's Spruit, the 2nd battalion of the regiment went subsequently into action at Spion Kop 800 strong, and only 553 answered the roll call next day. ]

_Thursday, 25th January. _--A quiet day, the Boers and our ownambulance parties burying the dead on Spion Kop. And so went the nextfew days, we shelling the Boers at intervals although sparingly. Rumour says that General Buller is confident of beating the Boers inone more try, and is shortly going to try it. May the key fit thelock this time! He seems determined, and we all hope he will be atlast successful. 

_Monday, 29th January. _--We are firing as usual. Colonel Northcote ofthe Rifle Brigade came over from his kopje to see me, and I proposedthe construction of two rifle-proof gun pits on the river bank, towhich he agreed. A very hot day and raining heavily at night. 

_Wednesday, 31st January. _--We have orders to watch carefully theright of the Boer position. I let Mr. Whyte fire a dozen shells, whichhe did very well, and I finished my gun pits, and very good ones theyare. Just at dark up came an officer from General Buller with an orderthat we were to retire our Naval guns at daybreak to the plateau, which we had to do much to our disappointment, moving off at daybreaknext morning and taking the guns in a punt across the river. I learntto my great sorrow that poor Vertue of the Buffs, my friend of Ceylondays when he was an A. D. C. To the General there, was killed at SpionKop, and I am much depressed as I liked and admired him immensely. 

_Friday, 2nd February. _--The Boers are busy burying their dead onSpion Kop under a flag of truce, so we have a quiet day and no firing. 

_Saturday, 3rd February. _--The troops are all again on the move; noless than nine field batteries are pushed over the river with someBattalions of Infantry, while Boers are on the sky-line at all pointswatching us. 

_Sunday, 4th February. _--Sir Charles Warren arrived on our gun plateauwith his Staff, and pitched his camp close to my guns. I found thatSir Charles knew my father, and he told me that the Boers had had asevere knock at Spion Kop and were ready to run on seeing Britishbayonets; he spoke of his plans for the morrow and of our prospectiveshare in them. My share is to be a good one, as I am to have anindependent command and am so actually named in the general orders forbattle. I went over the plan of battle carefully with Captain Jones, R. N. , and our Commander, who thought Pontoon No. 3 was the weak spot. 

_Monday, 5th February. _--A fateful day of battle. At daybreak we stoodto our guns, but it was not till 6. 30 a. M. That our Artillery, no lessthan seven batteries, advanced under cover of our fire. On the leftwere the 4. 7 guns on Signal Hill; my two 12-pounders were on the gunplateau in the centre, and on the right, on Zwartz Kop, were six moreof our 12-pounders under Ogilvy. The broad plan of attack was a feinton the left and then a determined right attack. This developed slowly;the Artillery and Infantry advanced, and we all shelled as hard as wecould for some hours, when the Infantry laid down just outsideeffective rifle range from the Brakfontein trenches, and theArtillery, changing front to right, withdrew from the left, except onebattery, to assist in the centre attack on Vaal Krantz. Our Naval gunswent on shelling the left where the Boer guns were well under coverand were very cleverly worked. About 12 noon the Infantry withdrewfrom the left and it was evident that our feint had fully succeeded inits object, _i. E. _, to get the enemy drawn down to their trenches andstuck there. The Artillery, after crossing No. 2 Pontoon, were drawnup in the centre shelling Vaal Krantz, while Lyttelton's Brigade waspushed forward to attack it and succeeded in reaching the south end ofit. Our own firing on the left was incessant. I found afterwards thatI had fired 250 rounds during the day, and I had many messages as toits direction and effect from Sir Charles Warren, and GeneralTalbot-Coke, who was just behind us with his Staff. Little firingduring the night. Very tired. 

_Tuesday, 6th February. _--At it again at daylight, the Boerscommencing from their 100 lb. 6" Creusot at 6, 000 yards to the east ofZwartz Kop. I had suddenly got orders during the night from SirCharles Warren to move my guns off the plateau and join Buller's forceat daybreak at the east foot of Zwartz Kop, so I moved off at the timenamed, feeling very thankful that I had my extra oxen to do it. We hadsome miles to go, over a vile road, and on the way we passed the 7thBattery R. A. And some Cavalry and ambulances. All this, meeting us ona narrow and badly ordered road, delayed us so much that it was 8 a. M. Before I was able to report my guns to the Commander-in-Chief, which Idid personally; he turned round and said, rather pleased, "Oh, theNaval guns are come up, " and, pointing me out the Boer 6" Creusot anda 3" gun enfilading our Artillery, he asked me if I could silencethem; the 6" was at 6, 500 yards and the 3" at 10, 000 yards, so Ireplied, "Yes, the 6", " and by the General's order I brought my gunsinto action about 200 yards away from him and his Staff. As I waspreparing to fire my right gun, bang came a 100 lb. Shell right at it, striking the ground some twenty yards in front and digging a hole inthe ground of about six feet long, covering us with dust, althoughhappily the shell did not burst but jumped right over our heads. Thiswas followed by a shrapnel which burst, but the pieces also went rightover our heads. After hard pit digging, I tried for the 3" at 9, 000yards, with full lengthening pieces, with my left gun, but I could notrange it; so we kept up a hot fire with both guns on the Boer Creusot, which was also being done by the two 5" guns in front of us and by ourNaval battery on the top of Zwartz Kop. We silenced this gun from 8. 30a. M. To 5 p. M. When it again opened on us (with its huge puff of blackpowder showing up finely), but without doing us much harm. At 11 a. M. The Boers brought some field guns up at a gallop to Vaal Krantz, running them into dongas or pits about 6, 000 yards away from us, andthen sending shrapnel into our troops on the Kop and trying to have aduel with us; we quickly silenced them, however, as well as a Pom-pomin a donga about 4, 000 yards off, and they beat a retreat over thesky-line. I here found my telescopic sight very useful for observingevery movement while personally laying guns. The General sent me manymessages by his Staff, and was pleased at our driving off the guns. Asthe day passed, the cannonade became fast and furious and our attackadvanced but slowly; we silenced most of the Boer guns by 5 p. M. Andslept that night as we stood. I had the Boer 100 lb. 6" shell (whichhad fallen close to us without bursting) carried up the hill to showthe Commander-in-Chief and Staff; they were all interested but rathershy of it, but one of them took a photo. We picked up many fragmentsof shells which had fallen close to us during the day and from whichall of us had narrow escapes, for we were in a warm corner. GeneralHildyard and Staff who were sitting close by us at one part of the dayhad a 100 lb. Shell fired over them which just missed PrinceChristian. 

_Wednesday, 7th February. _--Dawn found us still fighting on this thelast day of our attempt to relieve Ladysmith from this side; heavyfiring commenced at daybreak, and we did our best to keep down theBoer fire, the 4. 7 Naval gun on Signal Hill making fine practice. Meantime our troops now on Vaal Krantz, viz. , Hildyard's East Surreys, Devons, and West Yorks, pushed the attack or held their trenches underheavy fire, while we were trying to silence the enemy's guns. By thistime the long range of hills to the east of Brakfontein was all ablazefrom our shells, and also one flank of Vaal Kop. All looked lurid anddesolate, and at times the cannonading was terrific, the Boer 6" withits black powder vomiting smoke and affording an excellent mark. At 4p. M. The Engineer balloon went up in our rear to reconnoitre, andbrought down a disheartening report of unmasked Boer guns andpositions which would enfilade our advance from here all the way toLadysmith; so that after a Council of War the Commander-in-Chiefdecided to retire the troops; my orders from Colonel Parsons, R. A. , being to make preparations to withdraw my two guns to Spearman's Kopas soon as the moon rose, and to cover the retirement. In fact, according to his words the Council of War decided that while we couldget through to Ladysmith from here, we should be hemmed in afterwardsowing to the new positions disclosed by Phillips' balloon report. Itwas just dusk; Infantry and Artillery were being hastily moved up tocover the retirement, and after loading up our ammunition off weourselves went. My poor men were very done up after the constantmarching, firing, and working ammunition of the last three days; wehad, in fact, shot off no less than 679 rounds, and the sun was awfulthe whole time. The withdrawal was very well carried out in the dark;we ourselves followed the ammunition column, and the Field Artilleryfollowed us. As the foot of Gun Hill was completely blocked I broughtmy guns out down by the Tugela, ready to cover the troops; and weslept as we stood, while a constant stream of Artillery, Infantry, andambulances were struggling to get up the steep hill; indeed, it was amost memorable day and night. Poor Colonel Fitzgerald of the Durhamswas carried past me in a stretcher about 5 p. M. Shot in the chest witha Mauser. I had known him before when holding the kopjes over theriver with his regiment; he insisted on talking to me and sat up tohave a cup of tea, and I was glad to hear afterwards that he hadeventually recovered. Our total casualties for the three days wereabout 350; our Infantry had done brilliantly; and, while we were allsavage at having to withdraw, we were confident that theCommander-in-Chief knew best, and indeed it seems from informationreceived later on that he did the right thing. 

_Thursday, 8th February. _--At daylight the Boer 6" went on shelling usat 10, 000 yards but did little damage, so I got up the hill about 9a. M. After a hasty breakfast, and passing Sir Charles Warren's tentgot into my old position on the plateau, finding the 7th Battery R. A. Holding the hill close alongside. My men were quite done up, so thatthe temporary rest was acceptable, although we had to keep a sharplook-out, and twice silenced Boer guns firing on our Infantry at 6, 500yards from Spion Kop. At noon the kopjes in front were evacuated, ourpontoon taken up, and the Boer punt sunk by gunpowder. So good-bye tothe Tugela once more; all our positions gone and the Boers down againat the river. At dusk I got permission to withdraw my guns over theridge on account of sniping, and it was well I did so as the Boerscame very close to us during the night. 

_Friday, 9th February. _--Got orders from the Commander-in-Chief towithdraw with others on to Springfield Bridge; we were almost the lastguns off, and had a hot march of eight miles escorted by a party ofthe Imperial Light Infantry under Captain Champneys. How we did enjoya bathe from the river bank, as well as our sleep that night! It wasall quite heavenly. 

_Saturday, 10th February. _--About 9 a. M. I was ordered by ColonelBurn-Murdoch of the Royal Dragoons to bring my guns up to hisentrenched camp behind the bridge to assist in its defence. I hadbreakfast with him and he seemed very nice. He is now Brigadier-Generaland Camp Commandant, and we are left in defence here, to protectBuller's left flank, with "A" Battery Horse Artillery, the 2ndDragoons and 13th Hussars, the Imperial Light Infantry, and the Yorkand Lancasters. The rest of the troops had all gone to Chieveley. Theday was very hot again, and I was very glad to give the men anotherrest, with fresh butter, milk, chickens, and fruit to be had, broughtin by Kaffirs from neighbouring farms. Just think of it!

_Sunday, 11th February. _--Again very hot. About 7 a. M. There was aheavy rifle fire to the N. E. ; our Cavalry pickets were in factattacked, and as I saw Boers on the sky-line, I got leave to openfire, but did no damage, as the hill, we afterwards found out, wassome eight miles off. So much for African lights and shades, which, after eight months' experience of them, are most deceptive. It turnedout that our Cavalry pickets had been surprised by the Boers unmountedin a donga, and unluckily Lieutenant Pilkington and seven men weretaken prisoners, and several men wounded--a bad affair. 

_Monday, 12th February. _--Another awfully hot day which made me feelfeverish. We were busy in fortifying our gun positions, but otherwiseI had a quiet day in the mess of the York and Lancasters, a very niceregiment. At 4 p. M. , much to our joy, rain and thunder came on andcleared the heavy air. Glad to hear that a Naval 6" gun has been sentup to the front at last, and that Lord Roberts had entered the OrangeFree State with a large force. 

_Tuesday, 13th February. _--Still very hot, although again a welcomethunderstorm in the afternoon. Busy with fortifying and with takingmore gun ranges with a mekometer borrowed from the York andLancasters. 

_Wednesday, 14th February. _--The Boers appeared in considerable forceon the sky-line to the left of Portjes Kopje about 8 a. M. I wassummoned with others by Colonel Burn-Murdoch to a Council of War, andafterwards rode out with him and Staff to reconnoitre the enemy and tolook at country for gun work. We pushed up to a farm about 1, 600 yardsfrom the enemy; we were fired on at that distance and all returnedabout 4 p. M. , when it was decided to attack the Boers next day. Theyare some 9, 000 yards off the camp, and seem to have no guns. Duringour reconnoitring we saw a hare on the Kop, the first game I have comeacross as yet in South Africa. 

_Thursday, 15th February. _--At 6 a. M. The Horse Artillery and Cavalrywere pushed out to attack, and my guns advanced to a kopje at 8, 000yards. But to our annoyance the Boers had made off during the nightand we had nothing to do. We received an English mail to-day, much toour delight, and it brought a sketch in the _Daily Graphic_ of myfather inspecting a detachment of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade. Myservant Gilbert in hospital with fever, poor fellow. 

_Friday, 16th February. _--A red-letter day, and all quiet in camp. Fitted rollers under my gun trails. News came that General French hadrelieved Kimberley, and there was much cheering in camp. 

_Sunday, 18th February. _--We heard heavy firing all day, which turnedout to be General Buller attacking Hlangwane and Monte Christo Hills, to the right of the Boer position at Colenso, but on our side of theriver. The positions were brilliantly taken at the point of thebayonet; and all in camp are very cheerful at hearing of Cronje beingin full retreat, Magersfontein evacuated, and Methuen free to move. This must be the beginning of the end. Raining hard, for the rains ofFebruary are on us at last. 

_Tuesday, 20th February. _--Still heavy rain and tropical heat. Ourtrenches full of water. Heavy firing on Colenso side and good news ofBuller's advance. 

CHAPTER V

 Passage of Tugela forced and Colenso occupied -- Another move back across the river to Hlangwane and Monte Christo -- The Boers at length routed and Ladysmith is relieved -- Entry of Relief Force into Ladysmith -- Withdrawal of H. M. S. _Terrible's_ men to China -- I spend a bad time in Field Hospital -- General Buller's army moves forward to Elandslaagte -- Boers face us on the Biggarsberg. 

_Thursday, 22nd February. _--General Buller occupied Colenso, and wiredto our Commandant to join him with his whole force. The Cavalry leftat 5 a. M. And at 2 p. M. The rest of us moved off, my guns beingescorted by the York and Lancasters, with the Imperial Light Infantryin rear, the whole under Colonel Fitzpatrick. We made a quick march tobeyond Pretorius' farm where we camped for the night. 

_Friday, 23rd February. _--Off at daylight in a beautiful cool morning. On the west of the hill, where we rested to water and feed the oxen, Colenso was plainly visible, and we found heavy shelling going on. Wereached Chieveley at 10 a. M. And going up to our old friend, Gun Hill, we joined Drummond with the 6" Q. -F. Gun, and pitched our camp. The 6"gun looked a regular monster on its field carriage, and fired severaltimes at Grobler's Hill, at 15, 000 yards; I was struck by its smartcrew of bluejackets and stokers, but the gun is much too far off theenemy. An English mail came in to-day. 

_Saturday, 24th February. _--General Buller is shelling hard the kopjesat Pieters beyond Colenso, but our Infantry do not seem to be gainingan inch. As my guns were in reserve, I went up by train to Colenso, with Captain Patch, R. A. We were much interested, as we saw all thenow famous spots where we had shelled the place out in December andJanuary--the village and hotel being in ruins, and everything wantonlysacked and destroyed. I never saw such a scene in my life; pianospulled to pieces and furniture smashed up. I went on to the pont whereLieutenant Chiazzari was in charge, and met many wounded being carriedacross to the ambulance train; among others were General Wynne, and apoor officer of the Lancashire Brigade just dying with a bullet in hischest, also young Hodson of the _Terrible_ ill with fever. We crossedthe Tugela on planks over the ruins of the fallen railway bridge witha swirling torrent about a foot below us, as the river was now inflood. It was sad to see this magnificent bridge with all its spansblown up and fallen across the river, and one buttress demolished. Patch and I climbed up the kopjes beyond, saw the Boer system oftrenches, and inspected the places where they had blasted the reverseslopes of the kopje, perpendicularly cut behind, and had got undersafe cover from shell. The panorama of battle which spread out infront of us was most impressive with shells bursting close to us; ourfiring line was some two miles on, resting on small kopjes nearPieters that were taken during the night; our guns, great and small, were massed in or beyond Colenso behind small kopjes which gave acertain amount of cover; on the left were the 4. 7 guns and four12-pounders, then the 4. 5 guns; and two miles to the right were otherfield batteries and Ogilvy's four 12-pounders across the river onHlangwane, making some eighty guns in all. Behind the kopjes weremassed our men in reserve, besides all the Horse Artillery and Cavalryand wagons. There was now very heavy Boer shelling over Colenso, giving our men a bad time of it; for instance the whole of our 5" crewof garrison gunners were killed and wounded by a shrapnel, and many ofthe 4. 7 men were hit about the same time. Our own shelling wasmagnificent and deadly, all our fire being concentrated at one kopjeabout 6, 000 yards off; the musketry fire was also very heavy all alongthe line. I never saw such a fine sight before. I returned fromColenso to my guns about 3 p. M. , in an ambulance train, with MajorBrazier Creagh. We are losing about 450 men a day and are advancingvery slowly, while the Boers appear to be bringing up more guns on ourleft. No news from Ladysmith, but we were all glad to hear thebrilliant news of the capture of Cronje and all his force by LordRoberts, and the cheering in the fighting line on the news beingcommunicated was wild. A very heavy musketry fire raged all night, andthe Inniskillings in a night attack on Railway Hill lost a lot of men, in fact were cut up. 

_Sunday, 25th February. _--Once more the Commander-in-Chief found hisposition untenable, and half of the guns were withdrawn in the nightacross to our side of the Tugela on to Hlangwane; all the wagons andstores were also shifted out of Colenso and the majority of the troopsmoved to the right to the Hlangwane and Monte Christo slopes. Colensowas still held in force however by the 10th Brigade under GeneralTalbot Coke. Two of our 4. 7 guns on platform mountings were nowordered up to Hlangwane from our hill, and were got into position withmuch labour at 2, 500 yards by Lieutenant Anderton, Natal NavalVolunteers; they did very good work at that decisive range. There wasto-day what we called a Boer Sunday, that is, a cessation of firingon both sides after a hard ten days of it; the day was wet and we wereall washed out of our tents, some of which were blown clean down. 

_Monday, 26th February. _--The attack still hangs fire while our troopsare being massed on Hlangwane and Monte Christo. The shelling ofColenso by the Boers is still going on pretty heavily, and one onlywonders how Naval 12-pounders like ours can be left here as they are, no less than six of our guns doing nothing at all. Drummond left the6" gun under me for a time; and, on spotting a Boer gun on Grobler'sHill, I let drive at 15, 000 yards, 28° elevation. As the shot onlyfell some 200 yards short, I recommended a move to closer range, butthe gun eventually never was moved closer. While on Gun Hill we hadseveral civilians from Pietermaritzburg and Durban looking on at thefighting. A very wet night, which made our positions a swamp, but Iwas warmed by a warning to be ready to move my own guns to the front. 

[Illustration: Colt Gun at Hlangwane firing at Boers. ]

_Tuesday, 27th February. _--A wire was handed to me in the night tojoin the 10th Brigade with the Yorks and Lancasters, and off we wentat 6 a. M. In good spirits but in a thick drizzle of rain, passingalong the eastern slope of Hlangwane and winding up a fearful road tothe front. The Yorks and Lancasters at this point suddenly turned off, and feeling that something was going wrong I halted my guns and rodeon to the Headquarters Staff, about half a mile on, finding theInfantry attack just about to commence, the men all looking veryweary, and no wonder. I spoke to Ogilvy, who was there with his guns, and afterwards to General Buller, who was standing quite closesurveying the general attack of our Infantry on the centre and right3, 000 yards ahead of us. The guns were giving the Boers lyddite andshrapnel, and the fighting line were cheering as kopje after kopjewas taken. It was evident to my unpractised eye that we had the Boerson the run at last. I told the Commander-in-Chief that my guns hadarrived, when he replied, "Why, you should be in Colenso, " and turnedto his Staff, saying that some mistake had been made. I thereforeshowed my written orders, and after reading them, the General said, "It is not your fault, but march to Colenso as quickly as possible";and he detached Lord Tullibardine to show us the way; I had seen agood deal of him at Springfield. "The Pontoon bridge is up, " he added;"you must use the Boer pont and so ferry across the Tugela. " So off wewent, and got to Colenso at 2 p. M. After a very hot march. 

The ground at the railway crossing which we had to cross was beingheavily and accurately shelled, so leaving my gun train for a time ina spot safe from the bursting shrapnel I rode on to prepare the pontfor our crossing the river. We got the first gun over to the Colensoside of the river after hard work, the rotten bank giving way and thegun being half submerged in the water; then the somewhat unhandysoldiers in charge of the pont capsized a team of gun oxen whenhalf-way across the river by rocking the pont, and, nearly drowningthe poor oxen, swam ashore themselves and left them to their fate. Itwas now 5 p. M. And as there were no men to do anything it was animpossible position, with the pont sunk in the middle of the floodedriver; so that at dusk, after telling some soldiers who had come upfrom General Coke's Brigade in response to my request what to do toright the pont, I drew up my remaining gun and wagons on the southbank, and put the gun which was already across the river out of actionunder a guard below the river bank in case of any Boer swoop on it. 

_Wednesday, 28th February. _--A red-letter day. Before daylight I setmy men to work to bale out the pont and to get my second gun acrossthe river with 100 rounds of ammunition, and also off-loaded and gotover a spare wagon and 250 rounds more. All this was a terrible hardjob; two empty military wagons trying to get across the drift at thisspot were carried away before my eyes and only picked up a quarter ofa mile down stream. At 11 a. M. I was able at last to march on to joinGeneral Coke's Brigade in Colenso, and to get my guns into position. Iwas very exhausted and was feeling rather ill, but I was able to dinewith the General under a tarpaulin and had much talk over old times inthe Mauritius in 1898. It was a very wet evening, and my men who werebivouacking with no tents had a bad time of it. The sudden cessationof firing most of the day seemed to foreshadow some change at thefront, and we found afterwards to our joy that a detachment of theImperial Light Horse under Lord Dundonald had ridden into Ladysmith at6 p. M. Unmolested by the Boers who were reported to be in fullretreat. [3]

 [Footnote 3: The number of killed, wounded, and missing in the Natal Field Force, in the operations thus briefly alluded to, from Colenso (15th December, 1899) to the Relief of Ladysmith (28th February, 1900), amounted to 301 officers and 5, 028 men. ]

_Thursday, 1st March. _--Everything seems to feel dull andunprofitable; all the country round is deserted and Colenso is almostunbearable from the odour of dead horses. At about 11 a. M. The picketsreported Boers in force coming down Grobler's Kloof, but the partyturned out to be our own men; some of the garrison Cavalry, in fact, riding in from Ladysmith, who told us that the Boers were in fullretreat. In the afternoon I rode round Colenso. What a scene ofdesolation and dirt; huts and houses unroofed and everything smashedto pieces! Long lines of abandoned trenches, and the perpendicularshelters which the Boers had blasted out behind all the kopjes againstshell fire plainly showed how well they knew how to protectthemselves. The trenches, about a mile long, in the plain to the rightof Colenso are very deep and are sandbagged; parts of them are full ofstraw; many shelters are erected in them; and holes are burrowed outand strewn with chips of cartridges and pieces of shell, bottles, andevery imaginable article. Being somewhat curious as to the effect ofour shelling which had gone on from the 10th December to the 12thJanuary at this line of trenches, I rode along them and came to theconclusion that not one of our shells had actually hit these splendiddefences, although no doubt our fire annoyed and delayed the workersin them. I picked up many curios here. 

_Friday, 2nd March. _--Not a Boer to be seen within miles. Very hot andodoriferous here, and I feel queer and tired out although fortunatelyable to lie down all day. In the middle of the night had a sudden andalarming attack of colic and was in great agony. I really thought Iwas done for, but my men gave me hot tea and mustard and water whichdid me good. 

_Saturday, 3rd March. _--Woke up feeling weak and ill, but as luckilythere was no work on hand I was able to lay still under an ammunitionwagon and was much revived with some champagne which my bestbluejacket named House got for me from my friend Major Brazier Creaghof the Hospital train. The doctor from the Middlesex lines who came tosee me in the evening told me he had been into Ladysmith and had foundthe garrison looking very feeble; the Cavalry were hardly able tocrawl and could not therefore pursue the Boers; the rations had beenreduced to one and a half biscuits per day per man in addition tosausages and soup called Chevril, made from horseflesh. It seems thatLadysmith could have held out for another month, but the garrison had, after our failure at Spion Kop, given up all hope of our relievingthem. Poor chaps! they have had an awful time of it. We learn that theBoers had left a huge unfinished dam of sandbags across the Klip Riverso as to flood out our shelter near the banks of the town; anotherweek would have seen this really marvellous work completed; butluckily, as it was, our friends had to decamp in a hurry, leavingtents, wagons and ammunition strewn all over the neighbourhood; I wishI could add guns, but none were found, and I fear that the retreattook place for one reason only, viz. , Kruger's fear of being cut offby Lord Roberts at Laing's Nek. Except for this I doubt whether weshould ever have moved the Boers out of the Colenso position with our30, 000 men; indeed, I hear that the German Attaché said it was awonder, and that his people would not have attempted it under tentimes the number. As it is, we are all glad that General Buller hassucceeded. 

_Tuesday, 6th March. _--Nothing special to note except that wagons andambulances have been pouring out of Ladysmith down Grobler's Hillduring the last few days. 

_Wednesday, 7th March. _--In the afternoon General Coke kindly came towish me good-bye as his Brigade had received orders to sail for EastLondon, and at the same time gave me orders to proceed to Ladysmith. Meanwhile the Naval Brigade under Lionel Halsey passed our camp on theway to Durban, and we drew up to cheer them and received their cheersin return. Poor fellows, they looked as weak as rats. 

_Thursday, 8th March. _--We left Colenso at 5. 30 a. M. With the 73rdField Battery for Ladysmith. We were much interested on the Grobler'sHill road to see the Boer trenches and shelters, which were simplymarvellous and made the place impregnable. The trenches were blastedout of solid rocks, some 6 feet, and some 6 to 8 feet thick, of solidrock and boulder; these were all sandbagged, fitted with shelters withburrowed-out holes, and were extended for a front of half a milefacing Colenso. On the other side of the road, slightly higher up, wasanother line of similar trenches, while the road itself was defendedby a series of stone conning towers--to use a Naval term--allloopholed and commanding the entire passage. It was a wonderfulrevelation to us after the "prepare to dig trench" exercise prescribedby our own drill book. The Governor of Natal, Sir WalterHely-Hutchinson, happened to ride by when our Naval guns were drawnup, and when he found that I was in command he sent for me, was verykind, and said he would write to my father to tell him he had seen me. Although still feeling ill from dysentery I tried not to make much ofit, but I could no longer ride my horse so got on a wagon. We moved onto Ladysmith at 4 p. M. And were much interested in the various hillsand positions _en route_; we passed over Cæsar's camp, which we founda very straggling uninteresting sort of place. The town itself lay onthe left and was now used as a hospital; we passed along over the ironbridge where the troops from India were encamped, and much admiredtheir khaki tents and green ambulances; and climbing the hill leadingto the convent to join our Naval camp we found Ogilvy in command, whosaid, much to my regret, that the men of the _Terrible_ who manned myown and their guns, were ordered to be withdrawn for service in China. 

_Friday, 9th March. _--Having struggled long against my dysentery I amnow compelled to go on the sick list; and feel it to be a great blow, after all my trouble and training, that my _Terrible_ bluejackets areto go. Good fellows. It seems bad for the force, putting aside allpersonal reasons, that all our trained men now well up to the countrywe fight in, should thus suddenly have to go, and that MountainBattery gunners and others should be sent to fill their place. Themen, however, seem glad to go back to their ships after all theirsevere work; and indeed the bluejacket is in some respects an oddcomposition; he turns up trumps when there is work to be done, but heis not always content with existing conditions and likes changes! SirRedvers Buller is very pleased with us, so says the Naval A. D. C. , andthe telegrams just read out to the Naval Brigade from home areextremely complimentary. 

They are (1) from the Queen--"Pray express my deep appreciation to theNaval Brigade for the valuable service they have rendered with theirguns"; (2) from Admiral Harris--"The Lords Commissioners of theAdmiralty desire me to express to the Naval and Marine officers andBluejackets and Marines who have been engaged in the successfuloperations in Natal and Cape Colony, the sense of their greatadmiration for the splendid manner in which they have upheld thetraditions of the service, and have added to its reputation forresourcefulness, courage and devotion"; (3) from the Vice-AdmiralCommanding Channel Squadron--"Very hearty congratulations fromofficers and men to Naval Brigade. " We were all pleased at thesewires, and especially that, among others, Sir Harry Rawson had notforgotten us. 

_Saturday, 10th March. _--Alas, at last I have to go to our FieldHospital much against my will, while to add to my sorrow all my goodmen of the _Terrible_ are starting off to rejoin their ship. We wereall glad to-day to hear of Ogilvy's promotion to Commander fordistinguished service in the field. He thoroughly deserves it. 

_Tuesday, 13th March, to Thursday, 22nd. _--A bad time, and I canhardly walk a few yards without being tired. While in hospital, aboutthe 15th, a frightful hailstorm came on, the hailstones being as bigas walnuts and even as golf balls; the horses in camp broke loose andstampeded, tents were blown down and flooded; several poor entericpatients died from the wetting, and we had a very bad time. Meanwhileimportant changes have gone on; Ladysmith has been emptied of SirGeorge White's troops; Sir Charles Warren and General Coke are gone toMaritzburg; the Naval Brigade is broken up, and our Naval guns areturned over, alas, to Artillery Mountain Batteries. Captains Scott andLambton are made C. B. 's; the _Powerful_ has left for England, and the_Terrible_ leaves for China; our flag is hoisted at Bloemfontein, andthe tone of the Foreign Press has altered; still more troops arepouring out from England, and we hear that 40, 000 more men are to belanded before April, which is a very good precaution. 

_Friday, 23d March. _--There are rumours that the Boers have evacuatedthe Biggarsberg hills, and at any rate all our troops are moving on toElandslaagte. The Dublins celebrated St. Patrick's Day on the 17thwith great _éclat_, and all the Irish soldiers throughout Natal worethe shamrock. They have behaved splendidly all through the operationsand it is a pity that the Irish nation is not more like the Irishsoldier. 

_Sunday, 25th March. _--Out of hospital to-day, but so weak that I canhardly walk a yard, so I have to give in and go down country muchagainst my will. General Kitchener of the West Yorks told me of aprivate house of the Suttons' at Howick, near Maritzburg, and stronglyadvised me to go there; so I left Ladysmith on the 27th and got a warmwelcome from the Honourable Mr. And Mrs. Sutton and their family whowere most kind; and on the best of foods I soon began to pick up. Thehouse is a very pretty combined country and farm house facing theHowick Falls, 280 feet high, of the Umgeni River. While here news cameof the disaster at Sanna's Post and the capture of 500 of the IrishRifles at Reddesberg, so we are all disappointed and think the end ofthe war further off than we thought. My twenty-seventh birthday on the1st April passed quietly in this peaceful spot, and after a pleasantstay I left on the 13th, my lucky day, fairly well, although still astone under weight. I was very sorry to leave my more than kindfriends and hope to meet them again some day. 

_Saturday, 14th April. _--Reached Elandslaagte and rejoined the NavalBrigade at the foot of the historical kopje which the Gordons andDevons stormed in October last. The 4. 7's are on top in sandbaggedemplacements, and the 12-pounders are in other positions on the right. We are with General Clery, in General Hildyard's Brigade, and we holdthe right while Sir Charles Warren holds the left, of our long line ofdefence. The Boers face us a long way off on kopjes north of us beyonda large plain. 

_Sunday, 15th April (Easter Day). _--All quiet here. About lunch timeCommander Dundas and Lieutenants Buckle and Johnson of the _Forte_arrived to pay us a visit, and they were all very interested in what Iand others were able to show them. 

_Tuesday, 17th April. _--I feel much stronger and better now. Ordershaving come for General Clery's Division to withdraw to Modder Spruit, it did so at 6 p. M. , leaving the Rifle Brigade and Scottish Rifleswith us, all under General Coke. 

_Friday, 20th April. _--Nothing moving in front. I have been givenJames's guns to command as he has slight fever, and I have had all thework and worry of dragging them up this kopje, making roads and gunemplacements which are now too elaborate for my liking. GeneralsHildyard and Coke came to look at my gun positions and said they wereboth glad to see me again; they have always been considerate andperfect to work under. General Hildyard has now Sir Charles Warren's(the Fifth) Division. I am very glad to be under him, although sorrythat Sir Charles Warren leaves us, which he does to administer theFree State. Some sensation in camp to-day at Lord Roberts' comments onSpion Kop; undoubtedly he is very sharp and mostly right; he is nowour one great hope out here and seems to be afraid of no one. 

_Saturday, 21st April. _--At daybreak we were hurried out by reports ofBoers in force to the front, and we saw several hundreds on the kopjesat 8, 000 to 10, 000 yards. We are now in a position on the hill whereElandslaagte was fought. The graves of some of our own men are here. In the centre of the hill are those of the Boers, and the remains ofhundreds of dead horses and cattle are still lying about. Thecollieries of Elandslaagte lie two miles to our left; and furtheragain to the left are the 5" military guns and two 12-pounders inemplacements, while our own Naval 12-pounders and the 4. 7's are onthis hill. Our right flank for some reason seems to be leftpractically undefended. At 7 a. M. The Boers brought a 15-pounderCreusot down on this flank and threw several shells just over us at4, 800 yards; our 4. 7's and one of my own 12-pounders replied withshrapnel and silenced it. The Boers appear to be in force in front, moving backwards and forwards through Wessels Nek, so we have kept upa desultory fire all day. At night they fired the grass in front of usfor about four miles; we were up all night expecting a night attack, but none came; we were well prepared for it, as the hill was defendedby some 300 men in all round the guns. 

_Sunday, 22nd April. _--At daylight stood to our guns in a heavy mistbut no Boers reported. Received a box of fresh food from one of mykind friends, Mrs. Moreton, daughter of Mrs. Sutton of Howick. 

_Monday, April 23rd to Friday 27th. _--Boers reported to be returningon Newcastle. The long-expected presents from England for the NavalBrigade from our good friends Rev. A. Drew, Miss Weston, LadyRichards, and Mr. Tabor, have at last reached us from Durban, wherethey have been lying for upwards of four months. As we have only sixtybluejackets left up here we are overloaded. I took some tobacco, abeautiful pipe in case, some books, and a neck scarf. After all thiskindness from friends at home what can we do for them in return? PoorJames, and also my servant Gilbert, have gone to hospital withenteric. I am myself not much up to the mark but am thankful to havecommand of guns again, and so try to keep well. 

_Monday, 30th April. _--No events of importance during the last fewdays. Weather a trifle cooler. I rode over to the hospital on Saturdayto see Gilbert who is very bad, poor fellow, and will have to go home. I gave him clothes and books and tried to cheer him up a bit. On myreturn I found a fine large parcel of clothes from my own people athome. Took the Naval Brigade to Church yesterday and marched pastGeneral Hildyard afterwards. 

_Sunday, 6th May. _--Nothing has been stirring during this past week, and we are getting rather weary of the quiet. We have news from homeof the Queen's inspection at Windsor of the _Powerful_ men and of afierce debate in Parliament on the Spion Kop despatches. We had ourown Church service to-day. 

CHAPTER VI

 End of three weary months at Elandslaagte -- A small Boer attack -- The Advance of General Buller by Helpmakaar on Dundee -- We under General Hildyard advance up the Glencoe Valley -- Retreat of the Boers to Laing's Nek -- Occupation of Newcastle and Utrecht -- We enter the Transvaal -- Concentration of the army near Ingogo -- Naval guns ascend Van Wyk, and Botha's Pass is forced -- Forced march through Orange Colony -- Victory at Almond's Nek -- Boers evacuate Majuba and Laing's Nek -- Lord Roberts enters Pretoria -- We occupy Volksrust and Charlestown. 

_Monday, 7th May. _--Still at Elandslaagte. Rumours of a possibleattack made us stand to guns before daylight, and it was well we didso, as at 5. 45 a. M. A party of Boers tried to rush the station andwere repulsed with slight loss on both sides; they managed to clearoff in the dim light. The attacking commando became afterwards knownas the "Ice Cream Brigade, " being largely composed of Italians andScandinavians. 

_Thursday, 10th May. _--Rumours of a move. Poor Captain Jones is laidup with jaundice, and indeed all in camp are a little off colour. Niceletters to-day from my father and Admiral Douglas. The Middlesex andHalsey's guns are shifted over to Krogman's farm. Self busy putting torights some of our wagon wheels which had shrunk from the tyres owingto the great heat and drought. 

_Friday, 11th May. _--A great move this morning. The Dorsets trekked atdaylight to hold Indudo Mountain and Indumeni on our right. GeneralClery's Division marched with Dundonald's Cavalry up Waschbank Valley, and the 5" have been shifted to cover this advance. We were muchamused to-day in reading the first edition of the _Ladysmith Lyre_(Liar), which perhaps I may be forgiven for quoting, with songs sungby the garrison:--A duet by Sir George White and General Clery, "Othat we two were maying"; by Buller's Relief Force, "Over the hillsand far away"; by the Intelligence Officer, "I ain't a-going to tell";by Captain Lambton, "Up I came with my little lot"; then a letter fromLadysmith to Paradise Alley, Whitechapel:

 "DEAR MARIA, "This 'ere seige is something orful. We sits and sits and sits and does nothing. Rations is short, taters is off, and butter is gone. We only gets Dubbin. These blooming shells are a fair snorter; they 'um something 'orrid. 'Opin' this finds you as it leaves me, "Your affectionate, "MARTHA. "

Among other amusing items was, "Mrs. K. Says her dear Oom is gettingtoo English: he no longer turns into bed in his clothes and boots. "

_Sunday, 13th May. _--We got our marching orders at last about 11 a. M. , and I was just in the act of mounting my horse in good spirits to rideoff and see my guns brought down over Elandslaagte Kop, when somethingstartled him and he bolted over the rocks near the camp; having onlyone foot in the stirrup I overbalanced and came heavily on my head andleft shoulder and was knocked silly for twenty minutes with a gashover my eye to the bone. I was carried to my tent and kindly stitchedup by Dr. Campbell of the Imperial Light Infantry, and being muchshaken I was obliged to hand over command of my guns to poor Steelwho was only just recovering from jaundice and had to trek off at 3p. M. To Sunday's River Drift. By keeping very quiet in the 4. 7 camp inHunt's tent I got over my fall better than I expected, and was able tomove on, with a bandaged head and a sore body, with the 4. 7 Batterywhen they marched at daybreak on the 17th to Waschbank Bridge which wereached at about 11 p. M. After a very hot and dusty march--all done upand cross, and self in addition bandaged up and feeling altogetherunlovely after a slow and horribly dusty ride of eighteen miles. Theposition of affairs now seems to be this: General Buller with Clery'sDivision (the 2nd) and the Cavalry have occupied Beith and moved onDundee from which the Boers fled on the 14th with 4, 000 men andeighteen guns. Thus, Buller is in Dundee; Lyttelton's Division (the4th) is still near Ladysmith under orders to advance; and we (the 5th)are to move to Glencoe with all speed up Glencoe Pass and along therailway line route. 

_Friday, 18th May. _--At 7 a. M. We trekked under General Hildyard andhad a very trying march with dust, dust, dust, sometimes a foot thick, till arriving half-way to Glencoe we outspanned oxen. We found all therailway bridges and the culverts of the line, some twenty-eight alltold, blown up along our line of march. The Boer positions we passedon the road were extraordinarily strong, as usual; and one can wellunderstand why they held on to this place and the Biggarsberg rangeson each side, a position ten times stronger than any Colenso. Wereached Glencoe about 5 p. M. , and marching through it bivouacked forthe night a mile beyond the town on the level uplands. Here wereceived orders to advance with all speed to Newcastle, where theCommander-in-Chief is with the 2nd Division; so on we moved bymoonlight in a cloud of dust and passed the night on an awful rockyplace at Hatton's Spruit, trekking on in the morning towardsNewcastle; but when five miles on our march we received orders to moveback to Glencoe as the line had broken down and there were no suppliesfor us at Newcastle. All disappointed, but back we had to go! Theweather is bitterly cold, and although we have our tents, we are, nodoubt for good reasons, not allowed to pitch them. 

_Sunday, 20th May. _--Took over my guns from Steel feeling rather lowwith a plastered cut on my face. General Hildyard has congratulated usall on the hard work and marching of the last few days. Both he andhis Staff have always a kind word for everyone, and I was greatlypleased when they and Prince Christian, on seeing me with my faithfulguns once more, told me how glad they were that I had got so well overmy fall. 

_Tuesday, 22nd May. _--Busy getting my wagon wheels and guns rightafter their trek over the bad road, and obliged to send them intoDundee to be cut and re-tyred. I rode with Steel and Hunt to Dundeewhich is five miles off; it is a small and miserable place withtin-roofed houses, bare dusty surroundings, and awful streets. We sawpoor General Penn Symons' grave with the Union Jack flying over it, and other graves marked by faded wreaths and wooden crosses. We had atalk with the Chaplain who said that the Boers had passed through onSunday in full flight with all their guns. We rode back from thisdesolate scene, amid the dust of ages and smell of dead animals, wondering how poor General Symons ever allowed the Boers to occupyTalana Hill which is only half a mile from the town and completelycommands it; in fact, there should never have been a Talana, and ourtroops did splendidly to retake it. 

_Wednesday, 23rd May. _--Sudden orders to move off at 2 p. M. , so all isrush and hurry. I rode once more at the head of my guns, and all wentwell with us except that one of the poor oxen broke a hind leg in thetrek chains down a steep bit of road and had to be left behind andshot. For four hours after this our long line of march was stuck in adrift, but at last, at 11 p. M. , we got over it and at 1 a. M. Bivouacked at Dannhauser. 

_Thursday, 24th May. _--The Queen's birthday. God bless her. Up atdaylight, very cold, and no tents. Poor Captain Jones still very sickwith jaundice. Steel also, following my example, got a bad fall on therocks from his horse and is in Field Hospital. At noon we all paradedin line with the Naval Brigade on the right; General Talbot Coke madea speech and we gave Her Majesty three cheers from our hearts anddrank her health in the evening. 

_Friday, 25th May. _--Orders came to get our guns in position to defendthe camp, so off I had to go to do this on one flank and Halsey on theother; and we lay out all day ready for an attack, with the cattlegrazing just in front of us. To our right about fifty miles off isMajuba Hill. 

_Saturday, 26th May. _--We left Dannhauser at daybreak--oh, howcold--marched with the 10th Brigade, and trekked on to Ingagane, meeting on the road Lyttelton's Division (the 4th), which was hurryingto the front. We reached Ingagane at 5 p. M. , and met General Bullerand Staff just as we were going into camp for the night. The Generallooked well; and the sight of him, somehow, always cheers one up, asone feels something is going to be done at once. 

_Sunday, 27th May. _--Up at daybreak and awfully cold. We marched offto Newcastle, the fine Lancashire Fusiliers, my father's oldregiment, doing rearguard just behind our guns. Met Archie Shee of the19th Hussars who recognised me from old _Britannia_ days, where he andI were together. He told me that my cousin Ernest St. Quintin of the19th had gone home with enteric after the Ladysmith siege. On gettingto the top of the hills overlooking Newcastle we were much struck withthe view and the prettiness of the town which the Boers had hardlywrecked at all--quite the best I have seen in Natal from a distance. We went gaily down the hill and over a footbridge into camp where wefound all three Divisions together, barring a Brigade pushed on withsome 5" and 12-pounders to Ingogo. We hear that Lord Roberts is acrossthe Vaal, and that Hunter is pushing up through the Orange Free Stateparallel with us, while the enemy are holding Majuba, Laing's Nek andtunnel, and Pougwana Hill to the east of the Nek, with 10, 000 men. 

_Monday, 28th May. _--Moved off with the 5th Division under GeneralHildyard towards Utrecht. After an eight-mile march we crossed thebridge over Buffalo River and Drift unopposed by Boers, and enteredthe Transvaal at last. We were the first of the Natal force to do so, so I record it proudly. At 9 p. M. --a very cold night--orders came foran advance on Utrecht, my guns and some Infantry under Major Lousadabeing left to hold the bridge and drift here. I visited all thesalient points of defence and outposts from Buffalo River toWakkerstroom Road and carefully selected my gun positions, thenbrought the guns, each with an ammunition wagon, up the ridge, a steeppull up, and placed them one commanding the Utrecht Road and oneWakkerstroom Road--unluckily one mile apart, which could not behelped. I put my chief petty officer, Munro, in command of the leftgun and took the right one myself, riding between the two to givegeneral directions when necessary. At night as no Boers appeared wewithdrew the guns and wagons behind the ridge. 

_Wednesday, 30th May. _--Drew the guns out of laager at sunrise andagain got into position and arranged details of defence with MajorLousada so far as my own work was concerned. All was quiet howeverto-day, and we saw no Boers nearer than Pougwana. And so it went onfor the next few days, during which the Landrost of Utrecht, aftertwenty-four hours' armistice, delivered up the town to GeneralHildyard, saying that he had done the same in 1881 to a British forcewhich had never occupied it after all. So history repeats itself. 

_Saturday, 2nd June. _--Marched along the right bank of Buffalo Rivertowards Ingogo, while Lyttelton's Brigade moved on our right on theother side of the river towards Laing's Nek. After a pleasant trekacross the open veldt, and therefore no dust, we reached De Wet's farmnear Ingogo in the evening and bivouacked; a grand day marching rightunder Majuba and Prospect and yet no sign of the enemy. Had a shorttalk with General Hildyard and Prince Christian on the march, as theyrode by my battery, reminding the latter that I had first seen himwhen I was in the Royal yacht in 1894 and took his father and himselfabout in her steam launch at Cowes--a very different scene to this. The Prince said he knew all along he had seen me before somewhere. 

_Tuesday, 5th June. _--Rode to Ingogo and saw the spot where the fighttook place in 1881, the huge rocks from which our fellows wereeventually cut up by Boer rifle fire, the monument set up to the 3rdBn. Royal Rifles, and some graves higher up of which one was to aCaptain of the R. E. Poor, unlucky, but gallant Sir George Colley; hewent from Ingogo to Majuba and there met his untimely death. The viewfrom here of Laing's Nek was glorious at sunset, Majuba frowning onone side with Mount Prospect and Pougwana on the other, and the bed ofthe Ingogo River below in a green and fertile valley. The Boerposition is very strong although our heavy Artillery ought to be ableto force it. 

_Wednesday, 6th June. _--All on the move, as the armistice whichGeneral Buller was trying to arrange with Chris Botha is up, thelatter replying: "Our heavy guns and Mausers are our own and will bemoved at our convenience; the armistice is over. " We hear that LordRoberts is in Pretoria and that Kruger has fled; but howunsatisfactory that this does not end the war. In fact, marching toPretoria was the feature and romance of the war, and now must commenceanxious and weary guerilla tactics which may last a long time. Aboutdark in came orders to the Naval guns to move on and occupy Van Wykto-night: and off we went through large grass fires and along awfulroads, getting to the foot of the hill at about 1 a. M. With no worsemishap than the upset of one of my guns twice on huge rocks hidden inthe long grass. 

Captain Jones ordered me to go on up the hill during the night, leaving the 4. 7 guns at the bottom; so we commenced a weary climb upVan Wyk (6, 000 feet) on a pitch-dark night lighted only by the luridgleams of grass fires which the enemy had set going on the slopes ofthe mountain. With thirty-two oxen on each gun it was only justpossible to ascend the lower slopes, and thus we made very slowprogress. But as Colonel Sim R. E. Kindly showed me a sort of track up, on we toiled for six hours, my men not having had a scrap of food or arest since starting while the night was deadly cold and dark. In thegray dawn, just as we were attempting the last slope which was almostprecipitous, the wheels of one of the guns gave out and there we hadto leave it till daylight, pressing on with the sound one and gettingit up to the top exactly at daylight (7th June) in accordance with ourorders, taking the gun and limber up separately, with all my oxen and100 men pulling. We found the position was held by the 10th Brigade, and very heavy sniping going on down the N. W. Slopes--a regularcrackle of musketry. 

I soon got my gun along the crest into an emplacement prepared by theRoyal Engineers, and opened fire at once at 7, 000 yards at a Boer campon the slopes of an opposite kop; but finding the camp practicallydeserted we did not waste much fire on it. My men were now half deadwith fatigue and cold, so we all got a short rest in a freezing wind. 

Sir Redvers Buller, quite blue with cold, rode up about 9 a. M. Withhis Colonial guide, and carefully surveyed the position through mylong telescope. Prince Christian also came up later to talk over theBoer position and seemed in great spirits. After a good look round wecould not see many signs of the enemy in front, and he was just goingoff to report this, but at that moment the spurs of the berg oppositeto us became alive with them at 6, 000 or 7, 000 yards off; they came ina long line out of a dip and donga and advanced in skirmishing orderwith ambulances in rear and a wagon with what looked like a gun on it. I opened fire at once and put my first two shells at 6, 000 yards rightinto some groups of horsemen; we saw them tumbling about, so afterabout a dozen shots from my gun off they went like greased lightning, seeming to sink into the earth and evidently quite taken aback to findwe had a gun in such a position. In a few minutes not a sign of themwas left, and the Commander-in-Chief riding up appeared much pleasedand congratulated us on our straight shooting; he seemed verysatisfied that we had got the guns up Van Wyk at all, and rode offleaving us quite rewarded with his appreciation, besides that ofGeneral Hildyard and his Staff who were with him. 

Up to about noon we had nothing but long range sniping going on, butto make all sure the 4. 7 guns were sent up the hill by an easier andmore circuitous road than we had come, and took up position inemplacements close to us. We on our part were busy all day completingour ammunition up to 100 rounds a gun from the wagons which we hadbeen obliged to leave in the night half-way down the hill. Horriblycold! I slept in the open under a limber. 

_Friday, 8th June. _--An attack on Botha's Pass arranged for 10 a. M. The 10th Brigade and Naval guns are to hold Van Wyk and cover theadvance, with a range of 8, 000 yards from the pass itself, and aboutthree miles of valley and road between to search with our fire; the11th Brigade is to attack in the centre, advancing along the valley tothe foot of the pass; the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division to attack onthe right, in echelon, and clear the slopes and spurs of the berg onour right flank; we ourselves to form the left of the line. 

Our first objective was a conical high kop, called Spitz Kop, about3, 000 yards on our right and this was occupied without resistance bythe South African Light Horse; our guns searched all the valleys anddongas up to the pass with a furious fire for some two hours assistedby May's batteries below us. We could hear General Clery poundingLaing's Nek with the two 4. 7 guns on Prospect Hill and four 5" guns onour right, although Majuba and Pougwana were shut out by Mount Inkwelofrom our actual view; and we knew that General Lyttelton had beendetached to operate to the N. E. Of Wakkerstroom. The attack developedabout noon and we saw below us our Infantry and field batteries spreadout in the plain like ants while we still pointed our guns ahead ofthem on to the top of the berg and pass. Up to the foot of the bergour men met with no resistance, but at last a furious fire of riflesand Pom-poms broke out on our right centre from Boers concealed indongas and trenches on the spurs. Our gallant 11th Brigade, with thepressure eased by our fire and by the advance of the 2nd Brigade, tookthe hills and pass in grand style, and with small loss comparativelyto ourselves. About 4 p. M. The enemy, driven up to the sky-line, litlarge grass fires and cleverly slipped off towards the N. E. Undercover of the smoke. We saw and fusilladed the Pom-poms through thissmoke at 10, 000 yards with the 4. 7's, and at 5 p. M. We had the wholeground in our possession. Our troops in the valley were pushed on allnight, and we ourselves also received orders to descend Van Wyk andpress on. A shocking night; very wet and bitterly cold, with a heavyScotch mist settled over us. Down Van Wyk we came, although delayed byour escort of Dublin Fusiliers losing their way all night in the fog, but the Dorsets helped us instead. We had a tough job coming down thesteep hill in the mist but I had some fifty men on each of my guns todrag back and steady them, and we eventually got down to the lowerground without accident, but very much worn out and only just beforedaylight. 

_Saturday, 9th June. _--At 6 a. M. Moved on for Botha's Pass Road atfull speed, and skirting a crest of hills overlooking a deliciouslycool river, we soon came to the valley where our attack was advanced, and eventually got up the pass at dusk, at the tail end of a hugecolumn all racing to get up first. If the Boers had properlyentrenched the place it would have been impregnable. We bivouacked inOrange River Colony at the top of the pass, all in good spirits at oursuccess and at being in a new country. 

_Sunday, 10th June. _--Off at daybreak through delightful hard roadsand veldt as compared with mountainous Natal; we can now realize LordRoberts' fine forced marches on seeing the difference between theseand the Natal roads. Our bullocks slipped along at the rate of threemiles an hour, and passing farms flying white flags and flat veldtcountry we bivouacked for the night on Gansvlei Spruit, finding theboundary here of the Transvaal (a bend of the Klip River) quite closeto us. 

[Illustration: Naval 12-pounders advancing after Almond's Nek. ]

[Illustration: 4. 7 on a bad bit of road. ]

_Monday, 11th June. _--Off at 5 a. M. , and got our Naval guns inposition to attack, but found that the Boers had evacuated the groundin front of us. Up and on at a great rate over the grassy veldt, theguns now marching in four columns and keeping a broad front. At about1 p. M. Sudden firing in front and the familiar whirr of Boer shellsmade us come into action at 4, 500 yards on Almond's Nek Pass, throughwhich our road lay. The Boers were evidently in possession, judging bythe warm greeting of Pom-poms and the Creusot 5", which played on uswithout much damage. The troops were now all halted, and formed up forattack which was to commence in an hour's time. The Commander-in-Chief(Buller) directed the operations, carried out at 2 p. M. By theInfantry advancing in long extended lines, the 10th Brigade in thecentre, the 11th on the right, and the 2nd on the left, the fieldbatteries and Naval guns covering the advance with lyddite. The 10thBrigade, which had 3, 000 yards of plain to cross and a small kop totake, dislodged the Boers and their Pom-poms quietly and steadilyunder a heavy rifle and gun fire, the noise being terrific, as thehills and ravines were smothered by shrapnel and lyddite; inhalf-an-hour the Boers were on the run again and their fire wassilenced, after treating us with Pom-pom and 45-lb. Shrapnel, onepiece of which narrowly escaped my left foot--a detail interesting tomyself to recall. The attack of the Queen's, East Surreys, and Devons, on the left of the pass, and especially of the Dorsets on the conicalhill, was most gallant and irresistible. Thus, about 5 p. M. , at duskwe were in possession of the ridges 5, 000 feet high on the left andright of the pass, which we thought a great achievement, while theCavalry and Horse Artillery were pushed on to complete the Boer rout, but darkness coming on prevented this. General Buller and his Staffrode along our guns evidently very pleased, and indeed the force hadwon a brilliant little victory which cleared our way effectually andturned Laing's Nek besides. The Boers lost, as we thought, about 140killed, of whom we buried a good many, while our casualties in killedand wounded were 137; but we afterwards learnt from an official Boerlist found in Volksrust that their losses on this occasion reached500, chiefly from our shrapnel fire. General Talbot Coke who directedthe centre attack congratulated Captain Jones on the fine shooting ofthe Naval guns, as did also General Buller who said it had enabledthem to take the position in front of us with such small loss. Againbitterly cold, and we bivouacked for the night on the battlefield. 

_Tuesday, 12th June. _--On again an hour before dawn through Almond'sNek; a thick mist came down, but all being eventually reported clearahead we marched on towards Volksrust and bivouacked. 

_Wednesday, 13th June. _--All our men in high spirits; the 11thBrigade, with the Naval guns, moved on Volksrust, while the 10thBrigade and Royal Artillery guns marched to Charlestown, and we thusoccupied the two towns simultaneously. Volksrust is a cold-looking, tin-roofed town; all houses and farms are showing the white flag, themen are gone, and the women are left behind weeping for their dead. Wecaptured here a store of rifles and ammunition besides wagons andforage, not to mention Boer coffins left in their hurried flight. 

_Thursday and Friday, 14th and 15th June. _--At Volksrust resting onour laurels, and all in good heart, although feeling this bittermid-winter cold. General Hildyard sent for names to mention in hisdespatches, and I believe I am one. As commanding the _Tartar_ guns Iwas also very pleased to be able to mention six of my men, and am fullof admiration of the way in which my bluejackets have worked, shot, and stood the cold and marching. To sum up our recent operations, theyare:--March from Elandslaagte to Glencoe, reoccupation of Newcastle;crossing of Buffalo Drift and occupation of Utrecht; ascent of Van Wykat night with guns; turning and capture of Botha's Pass; march throughOrange River Colony and Transvaal in pursuit of the Boers; taking ofAlmond's Nek and occupation of Volksrust and Charlestown, with thestrong position of Laing's Nek turned and evacuated by the enemy whoare in full flight. This is all very satisfactory, and we hear ofcongratulations from the Queen and others to General Buller. The Boershave, however, with their usual cleverness and ability, got away theirguns by rail, but we hope to get them later. We are now busy refittingwagons and gear for a further advance. I hope the services of thebluejackets in these operations, which have been invaluable, willreceive the recognition they deserve at the end of the campaign. 

CHAPTER VII

 Majuba Hill in 1900 -- We march on Wakkerstroom and occupy Sandspruit -- Withdrawal of H. M. S. _Forte's_ men and Naval Volunteers from the front -- Action under General Brocklehurst at Sandspruit -- I go to hospital and Durban for a short time -- Recover and proceed to the front again -- Take command of my guns at Grass Kop -- Kruger flies from Africa in a Dutch man-of-war -- Many rumours of peace. 

_Saturday, 16th June. _--Starting about 10 a. M. I rode over to Laing'sNek with Captain Jones and Lieutenants Hunt and Steel, takingCharlestown on our way and getting up to the railway tunnel whereClery's Division is encamped. The Boer scoundrels have blown down bothends of the tunnel, blocking up the egress, and putting a dead horseat each end! We found also a deep boring they had made over the top ofthe nek through the slate with the object of reaching the roof of thetunnel and exploding it; but this having failed, from our friends notgetting deep enough, the damage is insignificant and the rail will becleared by the Engineers within a few days. We rode along the top ofLaing's Nek and looked at the trench, some three to four miles long, which the Boers had made there; it completely defends the nek fromevery point of attack and gives the defender, by its zigzag direction, many points for enfilading any assaulting party. In fact, the work ismarvellous; the Boers must have had 10, 000 men employed on it, thetrench being some five feet deep on stone and slate, with clever gunpositions, stretching from Pougwana, to the east of the nek, toAmajuba on the west, as we saw plainly later on from Majuba andelsewhere. We rode up Majuba Hill as far as we could, finding it agreat upstanding hill with a flat top overlooking the nek. On the waywe passed many small trenches and sniping pits evidently made forenfilading fire. From the top of the grassy slope (when it became toosteep for the horses to climb) we commenced the ascent of the actualhill on foot, climbing, one might say, in the footsteps of the Boersof 1881 when they made the wonderful attack on Colley and turned hismen off the top. Right well can we now understand how they did it; itis almost too clear to be credible to us, and one cannot but regretthe omission of the English force to hold the spurs of the mountainwhen occupying the top, seeing that any attacking party, safe fromfire from the top of the hill on account of the projecting spurs, could get up untouched to within a few feet of the top of thisnorthern face; this is what the Boers did while holding poor SirGeorge Colley's attention by long-range fire from the valley below. Wesaw what must have been the very paths up which the Boers crept, andwhen it came to the point where they had to emerge the slope wasprecipitous but short; here, so records tell us, by a heavy rifle-firewhile lying flat on their stomachs, they drove our men off thesky-line, and once at the top the whole affair became a slaughter. Climbing this last steep bit as best we could, we reached the flat topquite blown and found it about 300 yards wide with the well-known, cup-shaped hollow, in the centre of which lie our poor fellows buriedin a wire enclosure--sad to say twenty-two bluejackets among them, beside Gordons, King's Royal Rifles, and others. An insignificantstone heap marks the place where poor Colley was shot, and on onestone is put in black-lead "Here Colley fell. " The sky-line which ourmen held had only a few small rocks behind which they tried to shelterthemselves but no other defence at all in the shape of a wall ortrench. All the east and south faces overlooking the nek have now(nineteen years later) been very heavily trenched by the Boers atgreat expense of labour; they were evidently expecting we shouldattack and perhaps turn them out of Majuba, although the slope of thehill on the south side is quite too precipitous for such an operation. I picked up some fern and plants near where Colley fell, as a memento. We took an hour and a half to get down again, meeting General Bullerand his Staff walking up to inspect the hill, and I rode back tenmiles to Volksrust blessed with a headache from the steep climb andstrong air. The view from the top of Majuba, showing the Boer trencheson Laing's Nek, was wonderful; well might they think their positionimpregnable and well might we be satisfied to have marched throughBotha's Pass and forced the enemy to evacuate such an impregnableplace with so little loss to ourselves. 

_Sunday, 17th June. _--Left Volksrust early to march on Wakkerstroom, news having come in that General Lyttelton was somewhat pressed andwas unable to get on. Our march was uneventful, as we only passed theusual farms with white flags and batches of Dutch women--asmischievous as they pretend to be friendly. Bivouacking for one nightwe got to Wakkerstroom--a march of twenty-eight miles--on the 18th, bivouacking outside the usual style of town, very cold and graylooking, one or two tall buildings, and situated in a treeless valleyat the foot of some high hills. Very cold and wet. 

_Wednesday, 20th June. _--Moved away from this spot the same way wecame, and had no incident except hard marching; we passed Sandspruiton the Pretoria line, which we found undefended. Lees, the NavalA. D. C. , here came up and told Captain Jones that the General wantedhim. He rode off in a great hurry, first asking self and Halseywhether our small commandos wanted to stop or go off. We both replied"Stop, and see it out. " Captain Jones came back to say that the_Forte_ men and the Natal Naval Volunteers were to be withdrawn, andthe 4. 7 guns to be turned over to the military; we are to remain. Hedid not seem to know whether to be glad or sorry but told us thatAdmiral Harris had wired to the Commander-in-Chief that he wanted the_Forte_ men for an expedition up the Gambia on the west coast. Such isthe Naval Service, here one day and off the next. 

_Friday, 22nd June. _--The 11th Brigade and Naval guns marched off at 9a. M. , leaving myself with the 18th Hussars, Dorsets, 13th Battery R. A. And so on, to defend Sandspruit Bridge. I was very sorry to saygood-bye to Captain Jones and all, especially Hunt, Steel andAnderton, after our seven months' campaigning and hardships together, and I feel quite lonely. General Hildyard introduced me to GeneralBrocklehurst who commands here. We selected gun positions and got the37th Company R. E. To make two emplacements for my guns. I had a lookat the bridge at which the Boers had fired gun shots to carry animportant trestle away, but they did but slight damage. 

_Saturday, 23rd June. _--Rode about all day looking at the defenceswith our Brigade Major (Wyndham), selecting positions and giving myopinion on some of them. Was asked to lunch with General Brocklehurstand Staff (Wyndham of the Lancers, Corbett of the 2nd Life Guards, andCrichton of the Blues) and had tea with them as well--all a very nicelot. Trains are running through to Standerton where theCommander-in-Chief and General Clery are at present. 

_Sunday, 24th June. _--A quiet and cold day. Called on the Dorsets andfound that Colonel Cecil Law is a cousin, and very nice and kind. 

_Monday, 25th June. _--A hard frost and heavy mist. GeneralBrocklehurst moved out with the 11th Hussars, two guns of the 13thBattery, my own guns, and a Company of the Dorsets, against some Boerswho had been often sniping us and our guides from the Amersfoort Road. We got into position about 2 p. M. , and had a small action lasting tilldark; my guns clearing the ridges on the right at 4, 500 yards withshrapnel, while the Hussars and guns advanced over a high ridge infront. Here the Boers resisted and retired, but on our drawing offinto camp later on, to save the daylight, they came after us in fullforce and we had a small sort of action with lots of firing; we gavethem fifty shrapnel. The General seemed pleased with our shooting. Trekked back to camp and dined with Colonel Law and the Dorsets whofed us up right well. Sent General Brocklehurst and his A. D. C. Somedamaged and fired brass cartridge cases which they wanted as amemento. 

_Thursday, 28th June. _--About 2 p. M. A Flying Column from Volksrustpassed through here to follow up the Boers at Amersfoort. This warcertainly seems likely to last a long time. 

_Friday, 29th June. _--To-day General Talbot Coke with a Flying Columnmoved out at 8 a. M. Supported by the 18th Hussars and some of ourguns, but he had to fall back in face of a superior force of 2, 000Boers and 6 guns against him. We had some twenty casualties. 

_Saturday, 30th June. _--I have been for some days sick and ill withjaundice, arising from exposure and hard work, but am anxious not togive in. To-day I am advised however to do so, and to-morrow may seethe last of me here as I go into hospital, and here I may say Iremained till the 5th July when I was able to get up although as weakas a rat. I was advised by the doctor to run down to Durban to thewarmer climate, so as I felt too weak to do anything else I had to askthe General for sixteen days' leave which he gave me. Thus on the 6thJuly after giving over my guns to Lieutenant Clutterbuck, I leftSandspruit in an empty open truck at 4 p. M. , got down to Volksrust atdark, and met Reeves, R. S. O. , who had had jaundice and who offered mea bed in his office, which I was delighted to have; also met againCaptain Patch, R. A. We all dined together at the station and wasn't Iravenous! We all came to the conclusion that we were rather sick ofcampaigning if accompanied by jaundice and other ills of the flesh. 

_Saturday, 7th July. _--At 8. 30 a. M. Went on by train to Ladysmithwhich I reached at 8 p. M. , and got into Durban the next morning at 9a. M. A lovely morning and a nice country covered with pretty gardensand flowers--such a change from that awfully dried up Northern Natal. I secured a room at the Marine Hotel, feeling ill and glad to getsleep and oblivion for a time. 

_Wednesday, 11th July. _--The weather at Durban is lovely and I amalready feeling better. Have met Nugent of the _Thetis_ and MajorBrazier Creagh, also down with jaundice. My letters have lately allgone wrong, but to-day I received a batch to my great delight. 

And now I must perforce close this record of personal experiences, written perhaps more to amuse and satisfy myself than for the perusalof others; more especially as this being a personal Diary I have beenobliged by force of circumstances to use the pronoun "I" more than Iwould otherwise wish. The war seems played out so far as one canjudge. It appears to be becoming now a guerilla warfare of smallactions and runaway fights at long ranges; these furnish of course nonew experiences or discoveries to Naval gunners; in fact, the samenessof them is depressing, and what with marching, fighting, poor living, dysentery, and jaundice, I humbly confess that my martial zeal is at amuch lower ebb than it was a year ago. Yet time may produce manychanges and surprises, and I may yet find myself again at the front;who knows!

 * * * * *

_Thursday, 26th July. _--The quick return to health which the change tothe warmth of Durban effected made me only too glad to get back to thefront again with the object of "being in at the death. " I travelled upas far as Ingogo with Captain Reed, R. A. (now a V. C. ); thence on toSandspruit, and on again in a Scotch cart, which Major Carney, R. A. , M. C. , lent me, to Grass Kop, a hill six miles off the station and some6, 000 feet high. Ugh! I shall never forget the drive and the jolting, and the sudden cold after Durban weather. Still I was able to rejoinmy guns before dark, and to receive them over from LieutenantClutterbuck who had been sent to relieve me when I was obliged toleave the front. He fortunately had a share in taking this hill withthe Dorsets when in command of my guns. With a whole battalion atfirst of Dorsets under Colonel Law (who had dug marvellous goodtrenches), and later on with three Companies of the South Lancashires, and after that two Companies of the Queen's (note the descending scaleof numbers), we defend this position, monarchs of all we survey, andtherefore bagging all we can get, not only of the numerous guineafowl, partridge, and spring buck dwelling on its sides and in itsravines, but also, it must be confessed, of the tamer and tougherbipeds from surrounding farms that were nearly all deserted by theirowners. For many weeks we had a great deal of fun in our littleshooting expeditions. Major Adams of the Lancashires, a keensportsman, was always sighting game through his binoculars as he wasgoing on his constant patrols round the defences, and he allowed therest of us to shoot when able. Thus in the midst of our work we hadmany a jolly hour in those occasional expeditions close to our lines;one day we made a large bag of geese and started a farmyard just infront of our guns on a small nek, giving our friends the geese achance of emulating the deeds of their ancestors at the Roman Capitol;for who can tell whether they may not yet save Grass Kop if ourfriends the Boers are game enough to attack. 

_Sunday, 12th August. _--The gales of wind up here are something awful. This evening as we were toasting the "Grouse" at home, a furious blastblew down and split up my own tent and that of others, althoughfortunately we had a refuge in the mess-house which the Dorsets hadmade by digging a deep hole roofed over with tin; here we are fairlycomfortable and have stocked this splendid apartment with Boerfurniture, including a small organ. Our evenings with the SouthLancashires in this mess-house have been as merry as we could makethem, and our president, Major Adams, whom we all like, occasionallyfires off a tune on the organ which he plays beautifully such as itis. The Volunteers with us are to be seen at all times sitting on theside of the hill surveying the country through their binoculars andwatching the movements of the enemy. Marking the interest which thisbeing "able to see" gives men, I sincerely hope that in future warseach company of a regiment or of a battleship may be always suppliedwith a certain proportion of binoculars, or with small handtelescopes, for possible outpost duty. 

_Monday, 13th August. _--General Hildyard rode up here and expressedhimself much pleased with our trenches and defences. I had a talk withhim about matters and he does not seem to anticipate a further advanceof the 5th Division just yet. However, here we are, and the kop "has afine healthy air, " as the General who was quite blue with coldremarked. Neither my men nor self have had any letters for weeks, which is rather dreary for us; our mails are, no doubt, chasing theCommander-in-Chief at Ermelo. One feels a certain amount of pity forthese Boers; they are, owing to their reckless and cunning leaders, inthe position of a conquered race, and this position to such a peoplewho are naturally proud, cunning and overbearing must be awful. Onenotices this much even among the few old men, boys and women who areleft on the farms; they display a certain air of dejection and areeven cringing till they see that they are not going to be robbed orhurt when their self-confidence soon reasserts itself. There is atypical old Boer farmer and his family living at the foot of GrassKop; a few presents of coffee and sugar have made this family gratefuland quite glad to see us; still one detects the cunning in theirnature, and they don't hide for a moment that they wish the Englishanywhere but in their country. Poor people, they have one good pointin their characters which is that they won't hear of anyone runningdown their President even although he has terribly sold them. 

_Wednesday, 15th August. _--We have now watched two fights round thetown of Amersfoort, about eighteen miles north of us. On the 7thGeneral Buller occupied the place and we were all in readiness todefend our right flank if need be, but our friends the Boers boltedto Ermelo instead of coming our way. We were all rather annoyed atGrass Kop, however, to see a Boer laager with a dozen wagons, guns andambulances inspan at almost the last moment and slip off under thevery noses of our Cavalry who were drawn up in force under a longridge, doing nothing for an hour at least. This is all the more vexingbecause for a fortnight or more we had sent in accurate reports as tothis very laager which a single flank movement of the Cavalry wouldhave easily taken _en bloc_, instead of which they paid no attentionto our heliograph from Major Adams to "hurry up and at them. " Thesefrontal attacks on towns without flanking movements seem to be absurd, as the enemy and his guns invariably get away under our noses. To-dayGeneral Buller occupied Ermelo, but as ill-luck will have it thecommandos which split up before him have come south-east and aregiving trouble on the Natal border. 

_Friday, 24th August. _--The winter is slipping away, and to-day I amwriting in one of those horrible north-west gales of wind which knockour tents into shreds and whirl round us dust as thick as pea-soup. Our kop life is becoming a little monotonous but we manage to get on. 

[Illustration: Bringing in a Boer prisoner. ]

[Illustration: In Camp at Grass Kop. ]

[Illustration: One of Lieut. Halsey's Naval 12-pounders. ]

_Monday, 27th August. _--The Boers have again cut the line and areshelling Ingogo, so we must evidently march on their laager. Downcomes the rain in a perfect deluge for three days which is mostdepressing, more especially as our poor mess-house is full of waterfrom a leaky roof and we have to take our meals with feet cocked up ontin sheets. The South Lancashires have suddenly got the order to movefor which we are all very sorry. I presented Major Adams with two oldbrass cases and two blind 12-pounder shells for the regiment from theNavy detachment, as a memento of our pleasant time with them. Wehave been very busy making our positions secure from attack in case ofaccidents with barbed wire, besides sangars and trenches. 

_Wednesday, 5th September. _--Very thick mists up here, and as we hearrumours of attack we have very alert and wakeful nights. A great manymovements in our front which only succeed in dispersing the Boercommandos without capturing them. We hear of Lord Roberts'proclamation of the 1st September annexing the Transvaal, and we givethree cheers![4]

 [Footnote 4: The following is a copy of a telegram which the Governor received from Lord Roberts, dated 13th September, 1900:

 "I have ordered the following proclamation to be printed and widely circulated in English and Dutch. 

 "The late President, with Mr. Reitz, and the archives of the South African Republic, have crossed the Portuguese frontier and arrived at Lourenso Marques, with a view of sailing for Europe at an early date. Mr. Kruger has formally resigned the position he held as President of the South African Republic, thus severing his official connection with the Transvaal. 

 "Mr. Kruger's action shows how hopeless, in his opinion, is the war which has now been carried on for nearly a year, and his desertion of the Boer cause should make it clear to his fellow-burghers that it is useless for them to continue the struggle any longer. 

 "It is probably unknown to the inhabitants of the Transvaal and Orange River Colony that nearly 15, 000 of their fellow-subjects are now prisoners of war, not one of whom will be released until those now in arms against us surrender unconditionally. 

 "The burghers must now by this time be cognisant of the fact that no intervention on their behalf will come from any of the Great Powers, and, further, that the British Empire is determined to complete the work which has already cost so many valuable lives, and to carry to its conclusion the war declared against her by the late Governments of the Transvaal and Orange Free State--a war to which there can be but one ending. 

 "If any further doubts remain in the minds of the burghers as to Her Britannic Majesty's intentions, they should be dispelled by the permanent manner in which the country is gradually being occupied by Her Majesty's forces, and by the issue of the proclamations signed by me on the 24th May and the 1st September, 1900, annexing the Orange Free State and the South African Republic respectively, in the name of Her Majesty. 

 "I take this opportunity of pointing out that, except in the small area occupied by the Boer army under the personal command of Commandant General Botha, the war is degenerating into operations carried on in an irregular and irresponsible manner by small, and, in very many cases, insignificant bodies of men. 

 "I should be failing in my duty to Her Majesty's Government and to Her Majesty's Army in South Africa, if I neglected to use every means in my power to bring such irregular warfare to an early conclusion. 

 "The means which I am compelled to adopt are those which the customs of war prescribe as being applicable to such cases. 

 "They are ruinous to the country, entail endless suffering on the burghers and their families, and the longer this guerilla warfare continues the more vigorously must they be enforced. "]

_Wednesday, 12th September. _--Not much to record. Lieutenant Halsey, R. N. , looking very fit, came to see me yesterday from Standerton, andfrom what he says we are likely to remain on here for some time longerdefending the position which is no doubt an important one. My oxen arewell, but some of the men are getting enteric. We have to be on thealert against Kaffirs who prowl up the hill with a view, as we think, of taking a look round on the defences. 

_Friday, 14th September. _--Engaged in writing details of the graves oftwo of the _Tartar_ men who, as the Admiral said in a memo, on thesubject, had given their lives for their Queen and country. Apparentlythe Guild of Loyal Women of South Africa have engaged to look afterall the graves of H. M. Sailors and soldiers in this country and havewritten to ask for their position. What a kindness this is, and what acomfort to the poor families in England who cannot come out to do so!The two services must be ever in debt for it. We are all glad to hearthat Kruger has bolted from the country viâ Delagoa Bay. But why lethim escape?

_Sunday, 23rd September. _--Still here, with all sorts of news andrumours constantly coming up; Kruger sailing to Europe in a Dutchman-of-war; Botha said to be on the point of surrendering; some 15, 000Boer prisoners in our hands and so on; while at Volksrust the burghersare surrendering at the rate of fifty a day, and here at Sandspruitthey are dribbling in by half-dozens for what it is worth. But fromnow up to 1st October at Grass Kop we have to record "Nothing, nothing, always nothing, " although in the outer world we hear of greatdoings, and of C. I. V. 's, Canadians, Guards, Natal Volunteers, andothers all preparing to go home for a well-deserved rest. Our turnmust soon come, and I am busy preparing my Ordnance and Transportaccounts in view of sudden orders to leave the front. The followingcircular may be of interest as showing the gifts given for the troopsin Natal during these operations by native chiefs and others in thatcolony. 

 CIRCULAR WITH LINES OF COMMUNICATION ORDERS. 

 No. A 23. 

 The following gifts of money have been sent from native chiefs, committees, and others in Natal for the benefit of the troops in Natal. The amounts received for the sick and wounded have been handed over to the principal medical officer, lines of communication, and the other gifts to the officers commanding concerned:

 _Date_ _From whom received. _ _received. _ _Amount. _ _On what account. _ £ s. D. Ngeeda (of Chief Ndguna's tribe) 7/3/00 7 0 0 1st Manchester Regiment. 

 Chief Xemuhenm 22/3/00 10 0 0 For troops who defended Ladysmith. 

 Berlin Mission (New Germany) 22/3/00 8 0 0 For sick and wounded. 

 Native Christian Communities 28/3/00 15 0 0 For war funds. Chief Umzingelwa 28/3/00 5 0 0 For relief purposes. Chief Laduma 30/3/00 8 0 0 For sick and wounded. Members of Free Church of Scotland Mission (natives) 30/3/00 9 5 6-1/2 " " Natives of Alexandra Division 3/4/00 7 15 3 For Royal Artillery who fought at Colenso. Free Church of Scotland (Impolweni natives) 6/4/00 3 17 4 For sick and wounded. Loyal Dutch round Tugela district 12/4/00 41 7 6 " " J. H. Kumolo (Lion's River District) 13/4/00 3 18 0 " " P. M. Majozi 16/5/00 3 0 0 " " Chief Gayede (Amakabela Tribe) 19/5/00 6 0 0 " " Chief Ndgungazwe 26/5/00 8 9 10-1/2 " " Headman Umnxinwa 26/5/00 3 0 0 { For Sergeant who led Headman Umnxinwa 15/7/00 0 17 0 { East Surreys at { Pieter's Hill. Chief Bambata, of Umvoti Division 3/6/00 3 0 0 For sick and wounded. Chief Christian Lutayi, and Mr. Bryant Cole 5/6/00 9 1 0 For sick and wounded. Chief Ncwadi 9/6/00 219 6 0 " " Chief Ncwadi 15/7/00 147 1 6 " " Chief Mqolombeni 10/6/00 5 0 0 " " Native Chiefs (Timothy Ogle and Ntemba Ogle) 15/6/00 20 0 0 " " Chief Mahlube 21/6/00 15 0 0 " " Chief Nyakana (Mampula Division) 28/6/00 2 0 0 " " Chief Xegwana 7/7/00 1 10 0 " "

 NEWCASTLE, H. HEATH (_Lieut. -Colonel_), _30th July, 1900. _ _C. S. O. , Lines of Communication. _

CHAPTER VIII

 Still holding Grass Kop with the Queen's -- General Buller leaves for England -- Final withdrawal of the Naval Brigade, and our arrival at Durban -- Our reception there -- I sail for England -- Conclusion. 

_Tuesday, 2nd October. _--Grass Kop. Still here with the Queen's and myfriends Major Dawson and Lieutenant Poynder. What an odd sort ofclimate we seem to have in South Africa. Two days ago unbearable heatwith rain and thunder, and to-day so cold, with a heavy Scotch mist, as to make one think of the North Pole; so we are shivering in wrapsand balaclavas, while occasional N. W. Gales lower some of our tents. The partridges seem to have forsaken this hill, so poor "John" thepointer doesn't get enough work to please him; but his master, MajorDawson, when able to prowl about safe from Boer snipers, still downsmany a pigeon and guinea fowl which keeps our table going. 

_Friday, 5th October. _--We are all delighted to hear that Lord Robertsis appointed Commander-in-Chief at home; report says that he comesdown from Pretoria in a few days to inspect the Natal battlefields andto look at his gallant son's grave at Colenso. I must try and see himif I can. One of our convoys from Vryheid reported to be captured onthe 1st by Boers, the Volunteer escort being made prisoners and somekilled; this has delayed the return of the Natal Volunteers who wereto have been called in for good on that day. 

_Wednesday, 10th October. _--Still we drag on to the inevitable end. The reported capture of a convoy turns out to be only a few wagonsescorted by a small party of Volunteers who were unwounded andreleased after a few days. 

This is a great week of anniversaries. Yesterday, the 9th, was that ofthe insolent Boer Ultimatum of 1899 which brought Kruger and his lotto ruin; to-day and to-morrow a year ago (10th and 11th October), theBoer forces were mobilizing at this very place, Sandspruit; and on the12th they entered Natal full of bumptious boasting. They were going, as they said, to "eat fish in Durban" within a month, and many of themcarried tin cases containing dress suits and new clothes inpreparation for that convivial event. And they would have done soexcept for the fish (sailors) and the women (Highlanders), as theystyled us, who, they said, were too much for them, combined I thinkwith the Ladysmith sweet shop, which proved their Scylla with Colensoas their Charybdis. 

Major Burrell of the Queen's was up here a few days ago and made aspecial reconnaissance to Roi Kop under cover of my guns; he told usmany amusing stories of his experiences with Boer and foreignprisoners at Paardekop while sweeping up the country round there; onePrussian Major of Artillery had come in from Amersfoort andsurrendered, saying he had blown up seven Boer guns just previously byBotha's orders. This German Major, it seems, was a curious type ofman; waving his hands airily he would say that foreigners were obligedto come and join the Boers so as to study the art of war which onlythe English got any chance of doing in their little campaigns; thisbeing so, he said, "Ah, I shall go back to my native land, then sixmonths in a fortress perhaps, after that, _sapristi_, a good militaryappointment. _Eh bien_! what do you think?" He also said about ourtaking of Almond's Nek that Erasmus, who was commanding at Laing'sNek, had been told that we were turning his flank and was advised tosend ten guns to stop us; he thought a minute and said "No, I will notsend guns, it is Sunday and God will stop them. " Perhaps the PrussianMajor's veracity was not of the highest class, but this yarn if toldto General Buller would no doubt interest him, because undoubtedly ifthe Boers had had ten more guns defending Almond's Nek we should havehad considerable more difficulty in taking it. The following NatalArmy Orders of 17th July, 1900, will show how considerately we dealtwith the Boers and others in the foregoing operations in the matter ofpaying for supplies. 

 SUPPLIES REQUISITIONED, ETC. 

 The following are the prices fixed to be paid for supplies requisitioned, etc. :

 No bills will, however, be paid by supply officers or others until approved by the Director of Supplies. 

 Receipts will be given in all cases on the authorized form, and duplicates forwarded same day to Director of Supplies. The receipts will show whether the owner is on his farm or on commando. 

 Oat hay, per 100 bundles 15s. To 18s. According to quality. Manna hay, " 10s. Blue grass, " 3s. Straw, " 7s. Mealies, per 100 lbs 5s. Potatoes, per sack of 150 lbs. 10s. Milk, per bottle 6d. Eggs, per dozen 1s. To 1s. 3d. Fowls, each 1s. To 1s. 6d. Ducks, " 2s. To 2s. 6d. Geese, " 3s. To 3s. 6d. Turkeys, " 6s. To 8s. Butter, per lb. 1s. To 1s. 6d. 

_Saturday, 13th October. _--Many exciting things have crowdedthemselves into the last few days. The Boers who had slipped away fromthe Vryheid district are again moving north, and are reported in someforce at Waterfal on the Elandsberg, 20° N. E. Of us. They are said tohave a Pom-pom and two Creusots; it seems to be the Wakkerstroomcommando and Swaziland police, some 300 strong; the Ermelo commandohas also moved on to the Barberton district. These commandos have beenraiding cattle and horses every day, keeping well out of reach of ourguns; many rumours of their intent to attack us at Grass Kop have beenbrought in but we are quite ready for them. This raiding has had theeffect of bringing all the Dutch farmers and their sons flying back totheir farms to look after their stock; they are highly indignant withthe looters, have all surrendered and taken the oath at Volksrust, andride up here to the foot of the hill every day with many reports andmuch advice about their former comrades' movements, and how to attackand kill them! Many old Dutch women have come also to the hill intears over their losses from Boer marauders and say they are starving. All this gives Major Dawson and Lieutenant Poynder, Adjutant of theQueen's, a great deal of work and many walks down the hill tointerview these people. 

Our Naval camp has been strengthened by building stone sangars roundour tents to prevent any risk of the enemy creeping up and sniping usin our sleep; still, with barbed wires round the hill, hung with oldtins, and trenches and sangars to protect the position, we feel prettysafe, although the gallant Cowper of the Queen's has gone down withone company to reinforce Sandspruit and we miss him greatly. 

To go back a few days, I must now mention that on the 11th Octobercame a wire from Admiral Harris to Halsey telling him to arrange thereturn of our remnant of Naval Brigade to Natal as soon as possible, our brother officers and men who were with Lord Roberts on the otherside having left Pretoria on the 8th and arrived at Simon's Town. Thiswire, as may be imagined, caused us much joy up here after a year'sfighting, and I personally celebrated it with the Queen's by a greatdinner on some partridges and pigeons that I had bagged down hill onthe 10th. 

To cap this telegram I received one forwarded on from Standerton nextday: "Admiral, Simon's Town, wires, Burne appointed _Victoria andAlbert_ Royal Yacht; he should proceed to Durban whence his passagewill be arranged. " This came as a surprise to me, but at my seniorityto serve Her Majesty once more on her yacht, where I was aSub-Lieutenant in 1894, is a very great honour. I cannot well get awayhowever just yet, as arrangements are being made for the relief of allguns by garrison gunners, and I am intent to "see it out, " and indeedI must do so in order to turn over all the ordnance and transportstores and accounts for which I am personally responsible, and whichafter six months mount up a bit. I expect therefore to leave this hilland the front with our Naval Brigade next week, and then for "England, home, and beauty" once more. I shall hope, when able to do it, torevert to my gunnery line by-and-bye, as it has stood me in good steadin the past. 

_Monday, 15th October. _--Another wire from Halsey, who is atStanderton, telling me he hoped to arrange for our leaving together onthe 18th for Durban, so we are busy preparing, and I send off to-daymy returns of ox transport, which show that out of 84 oxen we havelost 17 in action and otherwise. Old Scheeper, the Boer farmer at thebottom of our hill, whose son is Assistant Field Cornet with theWakkerstroom commando, has sold me his crane and is making a cage forit. I shall take it down to Maritzburg and present it to the Governor(Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson), who has done me kindnesses in two partsof the world. I am also busy packing up my collection of Boer shellsand relics of Colenso, Vaal Krantz, Almond's Nek, and Grass Kop. Wemay yet be attacked before leaving, as Boers were reported about tenmiles off last night moving south along the Elandsberg. Sir RedversBuller passed through Sandspruit on the 14th _en route_ for Maritzburgand England, so it is quite on the cards that I may go home in thesame ship which will be interesting. 

_Friday, 19th October. _--Still not relieved. The railway line has beencut two nights running between Paardekop and Standerton, and about amile and a half of it torn up, and this perhaps accounts for thedelay. We hear that General Buller has had a great reception atMaritzburg as he deserves and that he goes on to Durban this week; heis undoubtedly the "Saviour of Natal, " as they call him. The Governoraccepts my Transvaal crane for his garden, so I shall take it down inthe cage I am having made for it and leave it _en route_ down atMaritzburg. 

_Saturday, 20th October. _--Anniversary of Talana Hill. Sir RedversBuller arrived to-day in Durban and had a great reception. All thenewspapers praise him, and the earlier and difficult days of ourrebuffs on the Tugela are wiped out in public opinion by subsequentbrilliant successes. The General is, indeed, immensely popular withthe army he has led through such difficult country and through so muchfighting and marching. Very pleased to meet at Volksrust to-dayCaptain Fitz Herbert of the South African Light Horse who came outwith me in the _Briton_ a year ago. He was originally in the BerkshireRegiment, but joined the South African Light Horse at Capetown andwas taken prisoner by the Boers at Colenso. His experiences with theBoers for four months as a prisoner were, he tells me, somewhat awful. The first week he was handcuffed and put in the common jail forknocking down an insolent jailer, and he had to live all his time onmealies, with meat only once a week. He shows the marks of all thisand is quite grey. 

_Sunday, 21st October. _--A wire at last ordering us to leave onWednesday for Durban. Off I went, therefore, to Volksrust to close myordnance accounts with my middy, Mr. Ledgard, from Paardekop, who hadmet me with his papers. Hard at it since the 15th, turning overstores, making out vouchers, answering wires, and writing reports. 

_Tuesday, 23rd October. _--I gave over my guns here and at Paardekop onSunday to Lieutenant Campbell and Captain Shepheard, of the RoyalArtillery, and to-day we are all busy packing, and doing the thousandand one things one always finds at the last moment to do. As we areoff at 7 a. M. To-morrow, to catch the mail train at Sandspruit, theQueen's are giving me a farewell dinner to-night, while Bethune'sHorse are dining my men. Rundle, French, and Hildyard are reported tobe closing in all round in a circle (this place being the centre), and5, 000 Boers within the circle are being gradually forced slowly intowards us. The many men who come in to surrender report that the mainbody will be obliged either to surrender or to attack us somewhere toget a position. I wired yesterday to General Hildyard, who is at BloodRiver, sending my respects to him and his Staff on leaving hiscommand, and I received a very kind reply to-day: "I and my Staffthank you for your message. I am very sorry not to have seen youbefore you leave, but I hope you will tell your gallant officers andmen how much I have appreciated their cheerful and ready assistancewhile with me during the campaign. "

My men have to-day hoisted a paying-off pennant with a large bunch offlowers at the end of it. This looks very fine and is greatly admiredin camp. Much to our surprise we had a little excitement in theafternoon as the Boers round us bagged a patrol of Bethune's Horse, and on coming within shell fire to drive oxen and horses off fromParson's farm, my beloved gun in this position was brought into actionby the Garrison Artillery under Lieutenant Campbell (who had takenover from me on the 21st), four shells bursting all round themarauders and scattering them at once. 

Later on the Boers sent Bethune's captured men back to Grass Kop, having shot their horses and smashed their rifles before their eyes. Poynder and the Major gave me a big farewell dinner, and we all turnedin early this evening expecting an attack during the night, butnothing happened. So next morning, the 24th, we got under way, withour paying-off pennant streaming in the wind from a wagon, aftersaying good-bye (amid cheers and hand-shakings) to all our kindmilitary comrades and friends at Grass Kop. I was more than sorry toleave the Queen's. [5]

 [Footnote 5: Poor Poynder! I was dreadfully sorry to hear he died of enteric at Kronstadt just a year after this event; there was never a nicer chap or a better soldier, and it's hard lines losing him. ]

[Illustration: _Photo by Knight, Aldershot. _

Lt. -Gen. Sir H. J. T. Hildyard, K. C. B. ]

I won't describe the journey down at length; the entraining atSandspruit and meeting all the rest of the Brigade; the farewells andcheers and "beers" from the Queen's; and the false bottle of whiskyhanded to Halsey by Colonel Pink, D. S. O. , which I could not get him toopen on the way down. We saw Reeves, R. S. O. , at Charlestown, andmany other old friends, and ran through to Durban by 8 a. M. On the25th. Unluckily, I and the middy were in a carriage from Maritzburg inwhich we couldn't get a wash, so one's feelings at Durban may beimagined when we got out dirty and tired, and saw a large crowd ofofficers and the Mayor of Durban and others ready to receive us on theplatform. What a welcome they did give us! The speeches, the cheers ofthe crowd, the marching through the streets, and the breakfast, Ileave an abler pen than mine, the _Natal Advertiser_, to describe:sufficient to say, I felt very proud of our men who looked splendid, hard as nails and sunburnt, in fact, _men_; and Halsey surpassedhimself when he was suddenly turned on to return thanks to the Mayorin the street, and later on at the breakfast. The witty andappropriate speech also of Colonel Morris, Commandant, will make himto be remembered by the men of the Naval Brigade as the "Wit ofDurban, " and not the "Villain of Durban, " by which title he describedhimself. 

Here is what the _Natal Advertiser_ says of the day's proceedings:--

 Among the first of the "handy men" who, with their 4. 7 guns, went to the front, were those of H. M. Ships _Philomel_ and _Tartar_. Though in many of the reports H. M. S. _Terrible's_ men got the credit of the work done, the duties were equally shared by the two other contingents from the cruisers. On October 29th, twenty-nine men of the _Tartar_ left Durban, and on November 11th, thirty-three men and two officers of the _Philomel_ were entrained to Chieveley. These men went forward to the relief of Ladysmith, and had to face many hardships and many a stiff fight. To-day the last of them returned from the front. Out of the twenty-nine men of H. M. S. _Tartar_ that went forward, only eighteen returned; and out of the thirty-three men and two officers of H. M. S. _Philomel_ twenty-three men and two officers came down. These losses speak eloquently of the tasks performed, and the hardships endured. Of those who could not answer the roll-call this morning, some have been killed in action, others died of disease, while a few have been invalided. After the men of the _Powerful_, the _Terrible_, and the Naval Volunteers returned, the _Philomel_ and _Tartar_ contingents were kept at their posts, and, even on their return they had trouble at Grass Kop and Sandspruit. The officers in charge of the men were Lieutenant Halsey, Lieutenant Burne, and Midshipman Ledgard. 

 Shortly after 8 o'clock this morning a crowd began to assemble at the Railway Station, awaiting the arrival of the down mail train. On the platform were: the Commandant, Colonel Morris, the Mayor (Mr. J. Nichol), Commander Dundas, of H. M. S. _Philomel_, the Deputy Mayor (Mr. J. Ellis Brown), Lieutenant Belcombe, Mr. W. Cooley, Surgeon Elliott, and Paymaster Pim. About 100 men of H. M. S. _Philomel_, under Sub-Lieutenant Hobson, were drawn up in a double line outside the station. The train was a trifle late in arriving, but as soon as it drew up, the warriors were marched outside. A ringing cheer from a crowd of nearly 1, 500 welcomed them as soon as they took up a position and were called to attention. 

 The Mayor addressed them, and, on behalf of Durban, offered them a hearty welcome back. These men, he said, had been entrusted to go to the front to defend the Colony, and they had done it well. They were among the first in the field and were the last to leave, and he felt sure they had done their duty faithfully, honestly, and well. (Applause. ) They might be relied upon to do that in any part of the world, wherever or whenever called upon. They were looked upon as the "handy men, " the men who had done the greatest portion of the work during the campaign. They and their guns saved the situation. Even when they were marching down, he understood they had had some fighting. On behalf of Natal, he thanked them for what they had done through these trying times. (Applause. )

 Lieutenant Halsey, replying, said that after forty-eight hours in the train it was difficult for them to take a reception like this. The men and officers of the Brigade had done their duty, and would do it again if called upon. (Applause. ) They were glad that they had been able to do anything in the fighting line, and they thanked the Mayor for the kind welcome extended to them. He called for three hearty cheers for the Mayor. 

 The crowd joined in the response, and raised another for "Our Boys. " Lieutenant Halsey called for cheers for the Naval Volunteers, who had helped the Brigade so ably during the war. 

 The concourse of people had now greatly increased, and the Post Office front was thronged. The Brigade were given the word to march, and cheers were raised again and again until the men turned out into West Street. Headed by the Durban Local Volunteers' Band, the _Philomel_ and _Tartar_ men marched along to the Drill Hall. They were followed by Captain Dundas' piper, two standard bearers, and their comrades of the _Philomel_. At the Drill Hall arms were piled and the men again fell in, the band playing them along to the Princess Café, where they were entertained. The Mayor, the Commandant, Major Taylor, Mr. J. Ellis Brown, and Mr. E. W. Evans received them. At the order of the Commandant one khaki man sat between two white men, the comrades of the warriors being dressed in their white ducks. At the order of the Town Council Mr. Dunn had provided a most substantial breakfast, to which the men did full justice. 

 The loyal toast having been duly honoured. 

 Colonel Morris proposed "Our Guests, " and said he did not know why the "villain of Durban" should be called upon to take up this toast, or why the honour of proposing it had been conferred on him. He begged to tell them, for the information of those fellows who had just come down from the front, that he was the "villain of Durban. " (Laughter. ) He meant that if any of these chaps were out after 11 o'clock at night he would find for them nice accommodation in the Superintendent's cells. There was a long time between 9 a. M. And 11 p. M. , and he trusted they would not get into trouble. The villain of the piece had to propose the health of these fellows who had come down from the front. (Cheers. ) Now, these Navy fellows, if they could do so well on land, how much better could they not do at sea? (Cheers. ) They knew how Jack had fought in the old days of Trafalgar, St. Vincent, and at other great battles, and if they had to fight again they might depend upon it that Jack the "handy man" was just as good to-day as he was then. (Cheers. ) Jack had proved himself a splendid fellow ashore, and he wondered what any of the landlubbers would do at sea. (Laughter. ) The sea was a ripping good place to look at, but from his point of view he would rather be on land. (Laughter. ) Anyway, Jack did not like the land; he preferred to be on sea. Therefore, when at home on the sea Jack would do a hundred times better than he had on shore. (Cheers. ) He recommended any people who thought of fighting them on sea to take care what they were going against. He did not believe that the British Navy was to be beaten here or hereafter--(cheers)--and he was positively certain, from what he saw of the Navy when they were at the front, that those who went to look at them would say, "No, we will not play the game with you on the water. " He was positively certain that they would all be admirals in time. (Laughter. ) That was if they only waited long enough (cheers), and if they did not come across the "villain of Durban" they would be all right. He wished them all thundering good luck, and he was sure that every one of them would grow younger, because he did not believe any naval man grew older. When they got their feet on board again they would feel like chickens. He hoped they would all see the dear old country soon. (Applause. ) If they did not see it soon they would see it later on. (Laughter. ) Now, if they came across an enemy at sea he knew exactly what would happen, and what they would read in the papers--that the enemy had gone to the bottom of the sea. (Laughter. ) He dared say the Navy would be able to respond to the toast. He did not know their capacities for talking, but Jack was never hard up for saying something when he was called upon to do so. Again he wished them jolly good luck. (Cheers. )

 All save the guests rose, and led by the Commandant's stentorian voice, sang "They are Jolly Good Fellows. "

 Chief Petty Officer Munro returned thanks on behalf of his comrades, and said that the reception had been quite unexpected. They had had very hard times, and they had had very good times. They had done what they did willingly--(applause)--and they were ready to do the same thing again for Her Majesty and the Empire, and also to uphold the good old name of the Navy. (Cheers. ) He advised the fellows to keep out of the clutches of the Commandant, for from what he saw of him he thought it would be better. (Laughter. ) When nearly twelve months ago they landed at Durban, the people were a bit more excited than they were to-day. 

 Lieutenant Halsey asked the men to drink to the Mayor and Council of Durban. Everybody outside knew, he said, how kindly Durban was looked upon. Durban was one of the best places in the station--(applause)--and it was on account of the wonderful way everything was managed by the Mayor and Council. (Cheers. )

 The toast was pledged with enthusiasm, and the Mayor said they were proud to have them here, and to entertain them. 

 The men then fell in again in Field Street, and marched off to the Point, the Durban Light Infantry Band playing "Just a little bit off the Top" as a march. 

 The _Philomel_ and the hospital ship _Orcana_ had been dressed for the occasion, and a number of their comrades assembled at the Passenger Jetty and cheered them on arrival. They were afterwards conveyed to the cruisers. 

 Among the Navals who returned from the front this morning is a little canine hero, "Jack" the terrier, which has shared their fortunes throughout the war. When they left Durban ten months ago a little fox terrier followed them. While at the front he never left them, although he was not particular with whom he fed or what kind of weather prevailed. The firing of a 4. 7 gun did not discourage him, and through the booming of big guns and the rattle of musketry he stuck by his adopters. Through every engagement he went, and has come back bearing an honourable scar on the head--shot by a Mauser bullet. The men, needless to say, idolise the little hero, whose neck is decorated with a large blue ribbon from which is suspended a Transvaal Commemoration Medal. 

After inserting this account, there is, perhaps, nothing more to berecorded except to say how grateful we all felt to the Mayor andpeople of Durban for the kind and indeed magnificent reception theygave us; and we could not but add our thanks to Commander Dundas ofthe _Philomel_, to whose energy and good will, as senior NavalOfficer, the success of the reception was greatly due. 

_Tuesday, 30th October. _--After saying good-bye to many old friends ofthe _Philomel_, and others, and undergoing lunches and dinners (ofwhich the most amusing and lively one was with Captain Bearcroft ofthe _Philomel_ who led the Naval Brigade under Lord Roberts and whom Iwas glad to have met before sailing) I got on board the _TantallonCastle_, finding Commander Dundas on board and coming home in the samemail. We left Durban on a beautiful day, and I was glad to find myselfin possession of a large cabin. And so I must end this long andrambling Journal on seeing the last of Natal, merely adding that wehad rather a rough passage, after touching at Port Elizabeth, up toMossel Bay, a most picturesque place on account of the towering peaksand ranges of hills running close to the coast-line. We reachedCapetown on the 5th November, and I found Table Mountain and thegeneral view much more striking than I had previously thought. We hadto wait here till the 8th November, when we finally bid farewell toSouth Africa which with every beat of the screw gradually faded fromview into the dim shadows of an interesting past. 

While the revolving wheel of life bears one on to other scenes andtoils, with dear old England looming once more on the horizon, weleave South Africa behind with the problem of the war still unsettled, and with desultory but fierce fighting still going on. But let us hopethat the shadows will lift, and that the glory of a rising sun willeventually dim and absorb the sea of blood which has submerged thatwonderful and hitherto unfortunate land. The lines from the "Light ofAsia"--

 "Om Mani padme Hun, The sunrise comes, The dew-drop slips into the shining sea"--

express, I think, the hope of every British heart for South Africa, asthey do that of my own. 

CHAPTER IX

 Gunnery Results: The 12-pounder Q. -F. Naval gun -- Its mounting, sighting, and methods of firing -- The Creusot 3" gun and its improvements -- Shrapnel fire and the poor results obtained by the Boers -- Use of the Clinometer and Mekometer -- How to emplace a Q. -F. Gun, etc. , etc. 

A word or two now as to what we with the guns have learnt during thecampaign, although I feel that this may be rather a dull, professionalsort of chapter except to those interested in guns and gunnery, andthat the subject as treated by myself may be open to criticism fromothers similarly engaged. I may certainly say that it was not for atleast three months after our opening fire at the first battle ofColenso (December 15th, 1899) that I personally felt myself as "fairlywell up" to the constantly varying conditions of gun positions, gunplatforms, enemy's positions, and the ever-changing "light and shade"of the South African climate, against all of which one had to fight toget correct shooting; the last-named of these, viz. , "light andshade, " being perhaps our greatest bugbear, often throwing one manythousand yards out in judging a range by eye, which gift is, I think, the best a gunner can possess!

Then, too, the Naval guns as they were sent up (owing to the workbeing pushed at the last moment), some on high wheels and some on lowones, some with drag-shoes opened out and others which wouldn't takethe wheels, some with the wires from them to trail plate handles theright length and others much too long, caused (I am talking of the12-pounders) these guns, instead of forming a level shooting battery, to be each one a study in itself as regarded its shooting powers; andwe constantly found one gun shooting, say, three or four hundred yardsharder or further than the one next to it although laid to the samerange on the sights. This at first sight was rather mystifying, butall these small but important matters above mentioned were not long inbeing put to rights. On any future occasion such defects will, ofcourse, be avoided from the start by the guns being altogether morestrongly mounted on broad-tyred wheels and broad axles of similarheight, size and pattern, and, above all, with a strong and uniformsystem for checking the recoil of the carriage, of which thedrag-shoe, as it was fitted and sent up to us, was certainly notcapable. 

[Illustration: _Photo by Symonds, Portsmouth. _

Captain Percy Scott, C. B. , R. N. ]

I am rather keen on this question of the best means of checking therecoil of a field carriage. A very strongly made drag-shoe fitted withchains to the centre of gun trail will do very well; and these were, later on in the campaign, fitted by the Ordnance authorities atMaritzburg to new "Percy Scott" carriages, which they sent up to us toreplace the original "Percy Scott" carriages, which, as I remarkedbefore, were not strongly enough built, particularly as regards thewheels, to stand any very bad country or a lengthened campaign, inboth of which we found ourselves involved. In these remarks, pleaselet no one think that I am running down the 12-pounder carriage for apurpose; not so. I simply wish to point out details that, if more timehad been available, would certainly have been avoided in them by theirvery clever designer, Captain Percy Scott, R. N. , to whom theservice in general (and I personally) owe a debt of gratitude; forassuredly not a Q. -F. Gun, or a single one of us with the batteries, would ever have been landed unless it had been for him and his brainsand his determination to have the Royal Navy represented in thecampaign, as was their due--being on the spot with what was mostwanted, namely, heavy guns. 

Here I wish to distinctly state my own opinion, and that also of themany officials and gunners, Naval and Military, with whom I havetalked over the matter, _i. E. _, that not only did the Naval guns saveLadysmith, but they also in a great measure helped to save thecampaign outside for its relief, and with it Natal. And my opinionnow, when the war is nearly over, is only strengthened and confirmedby what I have heard the Boers say of the guns, viz. , that they arethe only things when using shrapnel that have shaken them much duringthe fighting, and, considering the country, naturally so. That it wasto the Navy and not to the garrison gunners that the original credithas gone, was simply because we were here and they were at home at thestart. One is, as regards their gunnery powers, as good as the other, and the garrison gunners earned their laurels later on. Still, I havea great hankering after a gun's crew of "handy men" to beat any crewin this world for all-round service and quick shooting, and I am readyto back my opinion heavily. 

Returning from this digression to the subject of recoil, we found thatsandbags placed at a certain distance in rear of each wheel not onlyeffectually checked the carriage, but also (a great consideration) ranit out again. This system was used both by the 4. 7's and ourselves atthe end of the war; and seeing that the guns had only half crews, itwas a _most_ important saving to men who had perhaps marched tenmiles, loaded and off-loaded ammunition, and then had perhaps tofight the guns under a hot sun for hours. To fill and carry the bags, however, is a nuisance, and some better system on the same principleis needed, such as the inclined wedges that I saw by photos the Boerswere using in rear of wheels; and I should very much like to see somesuch system substituted for our present one. I have not seen thehydraulic spade used, perhaps that is the _best_. 

To put it briefly, the hastily improvised gun-carriage of the12-pounders had, on account of this very haste, the followingdefects:--

 (1. ) Too weak generally in all parts, particularly wheels and axles, for any long campaign. 

 (2. ) Wheels and axles being a scratch lot, none in any of the batteries were interchangeable, which caused many times later in the campaign when wheels began to give out, much anxiety. Several times we only had guns ready for action or trekking by the "skin of one's teeth, " and it must be borne in mind that any new wheels wired-for sometimes took two months to arrive on the very overcrowded railway--a single line. 

 (3. ) The system of checking the recoil of the field carriage was a bad one. 

 (4. ) All the 12-pounders except two were in the first instance sent up without limbers, and therefore had to be limbered up to wagons. This for practical purposes in the country we had to trek over was absolutely useless and caused endless delays. Eventually we all got limbers built at Maritzburg, and equivalent gun-oxen to drag the guns separately from the wagons. 

 (5. ) The trail of the gun consisted of a solid block of wood some 12 feet long; so that if one laid the gun to any long range (in most over 7, 000 yards, I think) the oil cylinder under the gun, on trying to elevate it, would bring-up against this trail and prevent laying. This therefore necessitated digging pits for trails to shoot much over 7, 000 yards, which in bad ground often took some considerable time. To obviate this defect would of course be very easy with a steel trail of two side plates, and space for gun and the cylinder between the sides. 

 (6. ) The general idea of all the mountings I saw was narrow axles and high wheels, whereas, for all trekking purposes, it should be broad space between the wheels and low wheels. This was amply proved to us by the number of times the high-wheeled narrow mountings upset on rocky ground, whilst the broad low type went along steadily. The 12-pounder gun itself did its work beautifully, shooting hard and lasting well, and owing to the dry climate of Africa we had no trouble at all to keep the guns clean and all gear in good order. 

 (7. ) Perhaps the most troublesome defect of all was that the gun-carriage had no brake fitted. The gunnery drill-book system of "lash gun wheels" may be at once erased from the book for all practical purposes over any rocky or bad country; it simply, as we soon found, tears the wheels to pieces, and chokes the whole mounting up. An ordinary military Scotch cart brake, or a brake fitted as the trek wagons here have, under the muzzle of the gun on the forepart of the wheels, acts very well, and my bluejackets, although not carpenters, fitted these for me. They are screw-up brakes. 

The sighting of the gun (drum and bar system) cannot be beaten, Ithink. Perhaps a V-shaped notch to give one the centre of the H, orhind sight, might be an improvement, as here personal error oftenoccurs. Lieutenant, now Commander, Ogilvy, R. N. , always made his mencorrect their final sighting of the gun for elevation from about sixpaces in rear of the trail, and my experience is that this is a smallbut important matter, especially for fine shooting say at a trench at5, 000 yards, which merely appears to one as a line on the ground. Oneinvariably finds that the gun, with the eye of a man laying close upto the hind sight, is laid slightly short of the object; so thisshould be noticed in the gunnery drill-book as regards field guns. _Telescopic_ sights, the patent, I believe, of Lieutenant-Colonel L. K. Scott, R. E. , were sent out and used by us with the 12-pounders tofire on the trenches at Spion Kop and Brakfontein, when fine shootingwas required. These sights had the cross wires much too thick, so wesubstituted cobwebs picked off the bushes and stuck on with torpedocomposition, and these did admirably. Still this sight was notaltogether a success. The power of the telescope, especially in therays of the sun, was poor, and it took a man a long time to lay hisgun with it, thus further reducing the quick-firing power of the12-pounder reduced already by the recoiling field carriage. As to the4. 7's, it was found that the ordinary Naval small telescope, fitted ona bar and with light cross wires, could not be beaten as a sight forranges they had to fire at. It is a very good useful glass, and itwas, I believe, used both in Natal and elsewhere right through thecampaign, and I unhesitatingly give it the palm. 

As to the system of firing and gear used, electric firing was verysuccessful as long as one had the gear for refitting and repairing andan armourer attached to one's guns; this, of course, as the gunsbecame split up into pairs was impossible, and I may say that cartingelectric batteries (which of necessity for quickness have to be keptcharged) in wagons or limbers over rocks and bad roads, and withcontinual loading and off-loading, becomes a trouble and anxiety toone. So for active service I should certainly recommend thatpercussion firing should be regarded as the first and principal methodto be used with guns on the move, carrying also the electric gear foruse if guns are left for any time at fixed spots as guns of position. I may here remark that when firing with electricity from a fieldcarriage the battery has to be placed on the ground, clear of recoil, and therefore the wire leads must be adjusted in length accordingly. Iam uncertain whether our other 12-pounders used mostly electric orpercussion, but I think on the whole, percussion; and, speaking formyself, I certainly did so after experiencing the disappointmentswhich miss-fires often gave one, when trying to get in a quick shot, say from the line of march, with the electric gear. These "miss-fires"are, moreover, often unavoidable under active service conditions, suchas we had with our semi-mobile guns. The guns and connections getsometimes an inch thick in mud or dust and require time to clean, whenone has no time to spare: the use of percussion tubes avoids all this. 

Before we leave the subject of guns the following description of theFrench 3" Creusot gun by the _Revue d'Artillerie_ will be of interest, viz. :--

 _South Africa. _--The Field Artillery of the Boers consists for the most part of Creusot 3" rapid-firing guns made after the 1895 model. These guns were purchased by the South African Republic during the year 1896. . . . The gun, which is constructed of forged and tempered steel, has a 3" bore. Its total length is 8 feet and its weight is 726 pounds. The body of the gun consists of three elements:--1. A tube in which the breech piece is fixed. 2. A sleeve covering the tube for a length of 3 feet 6 inches. 3. A chase hoop. The chamber is provided with twenty-four grooves of variable pitch which have a final inclination of 8°. 

 The system of breech closing is that of the interrupted screw, which presents four sectors, two of them threaded and two plain, so that the breech is opened or closed by a quarter revolution of the screw. The mechanism is of the Schneider system, patented in 1895, and has the advantage of allowing the opening or closing of the breech to be effected by the simple motion of a lever from right to left, or _vice versâ_. 

 The gun is fired by means of an automatically-cocked percussion apparatus. A safety device prevents any shots from being fired until after the breech is closed. 

 The carriage is provided with a hydraulic recoil-cylinder fitted with a spring return. It is also furnished with a "spade, " which is placed under the stock at an equal distance from the trail and the axle, and which is of the model that General Engelhardt has adopted for the Russian Artillery. 

 During a march this spade is turned back and fastened to the stock. The carriage is likewise provided with a road brake, which is to be employed in firing only when the nature of the ground is such that the spade cannot be used. 

 The gun is placed in a bronze sleeve that carries the brake cylinders and the various other connecting pieces for the return spring and the aiming apparatus. 

 The hydraulic recoil consists of two cylinders placed laterally and at the height of the axis of the piece. 

 The axle has the peculiarity that in its centre there is a wide opening in which are placed the cradle and the gun. It is provided with two screw trunnions, around which the pivoting necessary for lateral aiming is effected. This arrangement of the gun with respect to the axle has the effect of greatly diminishing the shocks that firing tends to produce. 

 Elevation and depression are accomplished by rotating the axle in the wheels of the carriage. This is done by means of a crank which, through an endless screw and pinion, controls a toothed sector attached to the sleeve. 

 Pointing in direction is done by means of a lever known as a tail piece. Mounted upon the axle there are two small sights, forming a line of aim, that permit of bringing the carriage back in the direction of the target as soon as a shot has been fired. All that the gunner has to do is to give the piece a slight displacement laterally with respect to the carriage by means of a hand-wheel, which turns the gun 2° to one side or the other. 

 The line of aim is found by a back and front sight arranged upon the right side of the sleeve in which the gun is mounted. The back side permits of aiming while the gun is being loaded. It carries a small oscillating level that indicates the elevation of the gun during rapid firing. 

 The weight of the carriage, without wheels, is 1, 146 lbs. And with wheels, 1, 477 lbs. 

 The ammunition consists of cartridges containing charge and projectile and having a total weight of 19 lbs. The powder employed is of the smokeless kind, designated by the letters B. N. The weight of the charge is 1-3/4 lbs. The projectiles are of three kinds--ordinary shells, shrapnel shells, and case shot. The weight of each is the same, say 14-1/4 lbs. The shrapnel shells contain 234 balls, weighing 155. 8 grains each, and an explosive charge of 3. 13 ozs. 

 As the gun can be pointed at a maximum angle of 20°, and the initial velocity is 1, 837 feet, the projectiles can be fired to a distance of 26, 248 feet. 

 The crew necessary to serve the gun consists of six men--a gunner, a man to manoeuvre the breech-piece, a man to manoeuvre the pointing lever, two men to pass the ammunition, and a man to regulate the fuse. The rapidity of firing can easily be raised to ten shots a minute. 

 The accuracy of the gun is most remarkable. Upon the occasion of the trials made when the guns were received, the following firing was done: a regulating shot, a first volley of six shots in forty-two seconds, and a second volley of six shots in forty-six seconds. 

 The fore carriage of the gun and that of the caisson are identical. They carry a chest containing thirty-six cartridges, and are capable of accommodating four men. 

 The back carriage of the caisson carries two chests like that of the fore carriage. 

 The total weight of the gun and fore carriage loaded is 3, 790 lbs. , and that of the caisson 4, 330 lbs. 

On reading over this description of the French 3" Creusot gun, itseems to me that the kind of axle used with it is first class andshould be used in our field carriages for quick-firing guns; it mustcertainly take the strain of recoil off the centre of the axle, whichrecoil we found cracked our axles as we used them (once in my ownguns) so badly that the whole thing had to be shifted and replaced. Another advantage it has is to lower the whole gun and mounting, andthe centre of gravity of the weight of it and carriage, and thereforethe gun is much harder to upset on rocky ground or going up steepprecipices, as we had to do in Natal. This detail of wheels and axleis, I think, the most important one almost in a field carriage. Theaxle I mention is one bent down in its centre for about two-thirds ofits length. 

In regard to the ammunition. The cordite charges in their brasscylinders and zinc-lined boxes did admirably, and the amount ofknocking about which the cases and boxes out here stand is marvellous. At one time early in the campaign before Colenso and Ladysmith, adecided variation in shooting of our guns was noticed, and was putdown in many cases to the variation of the cordite itself, the brasscases sometimes lying out, in fact, in a powerful sun for hours, whilethe guns were waiting or in action, and often becoming then too hot totouch. Now, however, I personally don't think that this theory wasright but am of opinion that the variation then noticed, and evenafter in the shooting, was simply due to the varying recoil of guns ondifferent slopes of ground and with indifferent drag-shoes. RoyalArtillery officers confirm one in this opinion. 

As for the shells, both common and shrapnel, they stood the knockingabout well, and I never saw or heard of a single common shell usedwith 12-pounders not exploding on striking, which speaks well for thebase fuse. The shrapnel I am not quite so sure about; one noticedoften a great deal of damp collected in the threads of the fuse plugand nose of the shell; owing, I presume, to condensation in theirshell boxes under the change of heat and cold. Still they did verywell and I think seldom failed to burst when set the right distance. Isay the right distance because this at first was a slight puzzle tous, the subject of height in feet above the sea-level of course neverhaving before presented itself to us as altering very considerably thesetting of the time fuse; and I don't think that a table of correctionfor this exists in the Naval Service; at any rate, I have never seenone. 

To illustrate this, we found at Spion Kop (about 3, 500 feet above thesea-level) that it was necessary to set the time fuse for any givenrange some 500 yards short to get the shell to burst at all beforestriking; and on the top of Van Wyk, fronting Botha's Pass (some 6, 500feet above sea-level) I had to allow the fuse 800 to 900 yards shortof the range, and similarly at Almond's Nek. This is, I take it, dueto the projectile travelling further against a reduced air pressure atany height than it does for the same sighting of the gun at sea-level, for which of course all guns are sighted. I should like to talk toexperts regarding this as we are not quite sure about it up here. [6]

 [Footnote 6: I am since glad to hear from Lieutenant Henderson of H. M. S. _Excellent_, that he is engaged in working out a table of corrections, such as I mention, and is also interesting himself in the question of "range-finders, " and "filters, " and other necessities for naval service. ]

Of course this firing from a height gives one therefore some 1, 000yards longer range with shrapnel, say at 6, 000 feet up, which is amost important fact to remember in shore fighting, and was wellillustrated by the Boer 6" gun at Pougwana Mount (7, 000 feet) overLaing's Nek, killing several of our Infantry on Inkwelo (MountProspect) at 10, 000 yards range; of course this was helped by theheight they were up, as well as by their superior double-ringed timefuse which we have picked up on their shrapnel, and which gives themin shrapnel fire a great advantage over any of our guns, which havenot got these fuses at present. It is interesting to note that many4. 7 lyddite shells were picked up, or rather dug up, by our own menand others, quite intact--this, of course, was always in soft ground, noticeably near the river (Tugela), and shows that the "direct actionfuse" should have been screwed into the nose of the shell, instead ofthe "delay action fuse" that it had in it for use against thin platesof ships. 

Before leaving this subject of the gun and its fittings (12-pounder), I again wish to emphasise the fact of how important is the question ofrecoil. At one time, in front of Brakfontein with the 8-gun 12-pounderbattery, we all dug trail pits and blocked the trails completely up inrear to prevent the guns recoiling at all on the carriage. This mostcertainly gave a gun thus blocked up over one allowed to recoil on thelevel an advantage of several hundred yards at an ordinary range ofsay 6, 000 yards; but of course it threw on our weak makeshift woodentrails an undue strain, and after a couple had been smashed had to begiven up. Still, although I would never advocate doing this to anyfield gun (_i. E. _, bringing a gun up short as it shakes the mountingtoo much) the fact remains that the range or shooting power of the gunmay be varied with the recoil in a great degree, and that thereforewhat I mention about a system to check recoil uniformly and withcertainty seems to me to be an important one with our Naval fieldguns. This fact of increased range, got by blocking up a gun, isuseful to remember in many cases, especially in this war when theBoers had the pull of our guns at first, and when it might have beenworth while just temporarily disabling one gun, and to get one shotinto them and so frighten them off. 

The newspaper controversy, very hot at one time, as to whether theBoer guns were better or not than ours, and the ridiculous statementsone both read and heard from persons who knew little about the matter, were rather amusing and perhaps a little annoying. I unhesitatinglystate that on all occasions the British Naval guns inch for inchoutranged and outshot the Boer guns; and that the 4. 7 Q. -F. Evenoutranged, by some 2, 000 yards, the Boer 6" Creusot. This I saw amplyproved, at least to my own satisfaction, at Vaal Krantz, when the Boer6" gun on about the same level as our 4. 7 was, on Signal Hill, vainlytried to reach it and couldn't, whilst our gun was all the time givingthem an awful hammering and blew up their magazine. 

In one way, and one only, the Boer guns had the advantage over us inshooting, that is, with their shrapnel shell, many of which werefitted with a special long range time fuse (double-ringed); here theycertainly overshot us, but failed to make much use of the advantage, as they invariably burst their shrapnel, through incorrect setting offuse, either too high up in the air to hurt much or else on strikingthe ground. Another great advantage the Boer guns as a rule possessedwas the heights at which they were placed, generally firing down uponour guns and troops. Notwithstanding all this, I say again, that theirguns inch for inch were not in the hunt with ours as regards shootingpower, nor was this likely or possible seeing the great length of theNaval Q. -F. Gun and its much heavier charge. 

It must be remembered that Naval guns are solely designed and builtfor use at sea, or in forts, or against armour; and so to get thenecessary muzzle energy, velocity, and penetration, a long gun isrequired; whereas the Boer gun was essentially a field or heavy landservice gun. Their guns up to the 6" being on proper field mountings, and much lighter, shorter in the barrel, and consequently more mobilethan ours, while firing a lighter charge; and perhaps in this way onlyit could be said that they were certainly better and handier than ourguns. On the march and trekking up mountains this must have helpedthem a good deal, and from photos which I saw after the Boers had beendriven out of Natal I should certainly say that their heavy guns onthe march must have been much easier to move than ours. 

To give an idea of the difference in weight between the heavier guns Imay quote the following figures; that of the Boer guns I take as Iread of them in Military Intelligence books:

 _Weight. _ _Weight. _ British Naval 6" Q. -F. Gun } (wire) 7 tons 8 cwt. } Boer 6" Creusot gun, British Naval 4. 7 Q. -F. } 2 tons 10 cwt. Wire gun 2 tons 2 cwt. }

From these weights it may be at once noticed that inch for inch thereis no comparison between the Boer and British heavy gun as regardsrange and power of gun itself, consequent on our heavier charges. Taking their 3-1/2" Creusot Q. -F. Guns (15 lbs. ) and comparing themwith our Elswick Naval 12-pounders I should say that there is littleto choose between them, they having the advantage only in their longrange fuses for shrapnel shell, which fuses should be issued to oursas soon as possible. One always heard these small French Q. -F. Gunsalluded to with great awe as the "high velocity" gun of the enemy, butI doubt much if they have one foot per second more mean velocity atordinary ranges than our Naval 12-pounder, although perhaps they mayhave more at the muzzle, which is of little account. 

To illustrate what small use the Boer gunner made of his advantageover us in long range shrapnel, I should say that it was generallynoticed by all in the Natal Field Force how very high up they bursttheir shell as a rule, and so doing much less damage than they mighthave done; as Tommy described it, the bullets often came down like agentle shower of rain and could be caught in the hand and pocketed. This of course, I should say, was the result of faulty setting oftheir time fuse; probably they did not apply the necessary correctionfor height above sea-level and so the shell either burst at too high aperiod of its flight, or else on striking did little damage to us. Thefront face of this kopje from where I am now writing (Grass Kop atSandspruit, and 6, 000 feet high) is full of holes made by Boershrapnel shell, burst after striking in the hole dug by the shellitself and leaving all their bullets and pieces buried in these holes. There was no damage done by their heavy shrapnel fire at all when theDorsets took the hill, and solely because of this faulty setting ofthe time fuse. We have dug up many of these shells here, and bulletssimply strew the ground. 

The 12-pounder gun limber, especially made by our Ordnance people froma design supplied by Lieutenant James, R. N. , when at Maritzburg inNovember, was afterwards supplied to all the guns, and none too soon;but we did not get them till Ladysmith was relieved and they werebadly wanted all the time. These limbers were very well made and veryexcellent, fitted to carry forty rounds complete of 12-pounder Q. -F. Ammunition which was invariably found by us as sufficient, as a firstor ready supply, giving eighty rounds to a pair of guns. More could, however, have been carried if necessary, up to sixty rounds completeon each limber; these limbers were strong, with very good wheels andbroad tyres (a great contrast to the wretched little gun wheels we hadto get along with at one time) and on them there was room also forgun's crew's great-coats, leather gear, gun telescopes, and otherimpedimenta, which was most convenient. 

One fault in them, I think, might be corrected if again required;_i. E. _, the platform or floor of the limber instead of being builtonly on the forepart of the axle should extend also behind or on rearside of the axle; by this means the Q. -F. Boxes of ammunition may bedistributed to balance the weight equally on each side of the axle, and so bring the least weight possible on the necks of the oxen orother draught animals drawing the limber and gun along. This, in ahilly country, is important. 

I would here note that when on the march with guns under anyconditions, one's men should always be allowed to march light, slinging their rifles on the gun muzzles and putting leather gear withS. A. Ammunition, water bottles and days' provisions handy on top ofthe limbers. The carrying of any of these things only exhausts themen for no object, and when one remembers what heavy work they mayhave to do on the march at any moment--bringing guns into action, rapid firing and running out the guns, digging pits and trenches, off-loading and loading the Q. -F. Ammunition, and keeping up a supplywhich in South Africa at any rate may be at the bottom of a steepkopje with the gun at the top--one recognises the great advantagegained in giving the men as much latitude as possible, and bringingthem into action after a march comparatively fresh. For these reasonsI would advocate that a gun limber should be made for any service gun, with the object of allowing a certain amount of extra room for thegun's crew's gear and stores. 

In respect to range finding, the mekometer (range finder) as suppliedto the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Artillery and also to everycompany in a regiment (and which therefore was easy to borrow duringthe campaign), proved most useful to us in getting ranges roughly. Toget a range over 5, 000 yards one has to use the double base with thisinstrument, and ranges may then be found up to 10, 000 yards, and, withpractised observers, fairly correctly. At any rate it is most usefulto have something to start on when you get up into position. Thisinstrument is extremely small and portable and should be supplied toNaval field batteries, and also a certain proportion to the riflecompanies for land service; it may be carried slung like a small Kodakcamera on one's back. Of course ranges can be very quickly found byshooting one or two shots to find them out, and this was done by ourguns a good deal, and necessarily so when in action when one has notime to waste and the objects are moving ones; but I strongly adviseanyone who gets his guns into a position where he is likely to stop, such as in defence of a camp, or on top of a kopje defending arailway line, or in position to bombard an enemy's fixed trenches andlines, at once to find his ranges roughly all round to prominentobjects by the mekometer, as it gives one added confidence and isinvaluable when shooting over the heads of one's own men to covertheir attack, which is often a ticklish job and to be successful mustbe continued up to the very last moment it can be, with safety. 

This instrument, the mekometer, together with the clinometer, forsetting the gun for elevation independent of the sight arc, and anordinary spirit-level to place on gun trail to tell which way thewheels or carriage of the gun are inclined on uneven ground (soaltering the deflection scale), might in my opinion be supplied toevery Naval field battery, heavy or light. [7]

 [Footnote 7: Since writing this opinion I think, perhaps, it will be well to pause till the results of Professor George Forbes', F. R. S. , experiments with a new stereoscopic instrument in South Africa are to hand; he is there at present by request of Lord Kitchener with his new invention. For full report of this instrument I would refer to Professor Forbes' paper read at the Society of Arts, December 18th, 1901. It is sufficient now to say that the instrument folds up to 3 foot 6 inches in length, can be used by one observer only standing, kneeling, or lying down, has great accuracy and portability, and has received the support of Sir George Clarke and other authorities. ]

I may mention that the 4. 7's and 6" Q. -F. Were often fired atelevations which did not even come on the graduated elevation arc, andso the clinometer had to be borrowed from the military and used to laythe guns; it is most useful. 

For night firing on shore, as practised by us at Colenso and SpionKop, guns are laid for required distant object just before dusk. Theposition of the wheels is accurately marked by pegs and lines, andwhen the gun is laid the sight is lowered to some white object placedfifty yards in front of gun, on which when dark a lantern may beplaced; the elevation is read off either on arc of sight or byclinometer placed on the gun. To keep on firing at this distant objectwhen dark, the gun is run out to same wheel marks every time and laidfor same direction by the lantern on the near object, and elevation byclinometer. The C. O. 's of regiments always most kindly put theirmekometer and trained observers at our disposal on escorting us up toa position. 

A plane table survey, using a mekometer to measure one's base, ispretty easily made to get position of kopjes, trenches, well-definedgun emplacements and their ranges, roughly, but it wants a certainamount of time to do it. 

As to the emplacing of a 12-pounder or other Q. -F. Gun for attack ordefence, all hard and fast rules may, in my opinion, be at oncedismissed, the matter entirely depending on the nature of the groundoccupied and the direction and extent of fire required. Still I submitthe following points as being useful to remember:--

 (1. ) Carefully select the ground. If on a ridge, hill, or kopje, the emplacement must be over the sky-line either on one slope or the other; take a place where Nature helps you, if possible screened by trees, free of rocks, and with soft ground, dongas, or water round it, so that the enemy's shells will bury themselves and not burst on striking. Of course in South Africa, except on the flat, this could hardly ever be done. 

 (2. ) The best form of emplacement is a gun pit about 1 foot 6 inches deep, according to our experience in Natal, the earth or rock taken out forming a circular parapet 3 feet 6 inches high, and as bulky or thick as ever you like on the front face, the floor of the pit being levelled and a gradual slope made out of it for guns to be moved easily in and out of the pit. The size of the pit should be just enough to allow the gun trail to move round on any arc of training when the gun muzzle is run out over the front face or parapet, and to allow three feet more over and above this for the recoil of the gun in the drag-shoes, so as not to fetch the trail up sharp on recoiling. 

A narrow ditch may be dug all round the inside of the parapet to allowthe crew to get into it for additional cover, and the ammunition boxesmay either be placed in this ditch or a magazine dug and sandbaggedover when plenty of time is available. A couple of drainage holes maybe required in heavy rains to empty the pits on each side. Thecircular parapet can be built up any thickness, as just said; itshould then be sandbagged over till the required height. If in grassyground, instead of sandbags put large sods of grass to hide theemplacement and to keep the dust from flying, as sandbags areconspicuous. If neither grass nor sandbags are available, make yourKaffirs or camp followers cow-dung the surface of your parapetinstead; this dries, and all dust under muzzle on firing is avoided. Iconstantly tried this plan and found it very effective. 

Of all points this avoidance of dust is the most important, as, unlessprevented, it rises in a cloud under the muzzle of the gun at everyshot. At long ranges, used by the Boers and ourselves, it was almostimpossible to locate a gun firing cordite or other smokeless powderexcept by this cloud dust. So avoid it at all costs. Make the colourof your emplacement as much like that of the surrounding ground aspossible, including your sandbags, if used. 

[Illustration: Naval 12-pounder emplaced. ]

[Illustration: Boer Gun positions at Colenso. ]

APPENDIX 1

HINTS ON EQUIPMENT AND CLOTHING FOR ACTIVE SERVICE. 

As a few hints in regard to an officer's kit for active service maynot be unacceptable to some, I offer a few observations on the subjectso far as I am able to speak from my own experiences. 

Good telescopes are most important articles to have in any landcompany of soldiers or sailors; they were especially useful in SouthAfrica. The Naval Service long-telescope with its big field is verygood and powerful in any light where there is no haze (at or beforesunrise or when the sun is low for instance), but when the sun is wellup it becomes of little use; and then comes the turn of the smallertelescope as used by all Naval officers on board ship. This is aparticularly useful glass, and I myself felt quite lost, late in thecampaign, when I unfortunately dropped the top of mine when riding. Asto binoculars, we found the Zeiss or Ross's very excellent, and allmilitary officers seemed to use them; but, in my humble opinion, theyare not to be compared with a good small telescope. 

At the start of the campaign the want of good telescopes among themilitary was most marked, and ours were generally in great request. Many military officers with whom I have talked on the subject agreewith me in thinking that a certain proportion of small telescopesshould be supplied, say two for every company in a regiment, for theuse of those on outpost and look-out duties. It is astonishing to seethe added interest which any man placed on these duties shows when hecan really make out for himself advancing objects and enemy'spositions without being entirely dependent on their officers to tellthem. A good glass will render reports from these men reliable andvaluable, instead of, as they often are, mere guesswork. At Grass Kop, where we had one Volunteer Company all armed with binoculars whichwere presented to them on leaving England (with the SouthLancashires), the hill was always lined with look-out men on their ownaccount; so interested were they in the matter. 

Our water supply, as at first run, with one water-cart to the wholeNaval Brigade, was inadequate; but later on each unit with guns got, as they should have, their own water-cart, or else made them with acask fixed upon axle wheels, which we were obliged to do for a longtime. Transport for these was either mule or ox; the former, quickestand best. A field filter for each unit should be supplied ifpossible. [8]

 [Footnote 8: The proper filtering of water for use in water-bottles and indeed for all drinking purposes, is most important, and especially so in hot weather, when men are always wanting a drink at off times, and will have it of course. Late in the war, the "Berkefeld Field Service Filter" was supplied to us by the Ordnance Department, and is very good; it packs up in what looks like a large-sized luncheon basket, and is very portable; it is simple to look after, if directions are followed, and will make about thirty-four pints in ten minutes, or, enough to fill fifteen men's water-bottles; consequently it can easily be used on the march during short halts, and whenever water is passed to fill up water-bottles, and it is quickly packed up again. For any individual who wishes to carry a filter on his own person, I would recommend a small "Berkefeld Cylinder or porous candle" and small "Pasteur pump" with the necessary rubber tubes; this makes a very small parcel; it would only take up about one quarter of the Service haversack, and is well worth taking I am sure. The "Berkefeld Filter" should be supplied to ships in case of landing Brigades--one to every unit of 100 is the proper proportion as recommended by the firm. ]

A few remarks may not here be out of place as to the best fighting kitto have ready for an officer who wishes to be comfortable, and alsoperhaps at certain times smart, when stationary in a standing camp forsome time or on lines of communication. Needless to say that whenactually marching or fighting one wears anything and everything thatfirst comes to hand. Khaki has certainly done us very well; twill atfirst during the heat, and serge or cord later on when the cold cameon; but it is well to avoid khaki twill in cold weather as it becomesclammy and uncomfortable. Personally I should say that a serge orcord, thin for heat and thick for cold weather, is much the best forgeneral wear. 

I started the campaign with two pairs of khaki twill riding breechesand two serge tunics (thin); these supplemented by a thick pair ofkhaki riding cord breeches that I got made at Durban when the coldcame on, lasted me well through the campaign. For camp wear one canalways use the ordinary twill or serge trousers, as served out fromtime to time by the Ordnance to all hands if required. On one's legsone should wear ordinary brown leather or canvas riding gaiters, only_not_ the Naval Service gaiters, as they are of no use for hard workor much riding. Many of us wore putties, and the men all did, but Idon't like them myself as they are too hot in hot weather and makeone's legs sore in cold. 

Riding breeches should be strapped inside the knee and doubled, andperhaps to lace up at the knee would be more comfortable thanbuttoning. Here I should mention that all the Naval officerscommanding guns were mounted, and eventually all got mounts in someway; so riding plays a great part and is absolutely necessary if onewishes to be useful. 

I also had two pairs of strong brown boots (an emphasis on the brown), they are far the best; and the soles should be protected with smallnails carefully put in so as not to hurt one's feet. A pair ofrubber-soled shoes for scouting, sporting, or camp work, and a pair ofwarm slippers to sleep in are indispensable. Long rubber or sea-boots, on account of their weight and bulk, are a nuisance. When it rained inSouth Africa it so quickly dried up that we found rubber shoes quitegood enough for everything. 

It is useful to take three flannel shirts, and under-clothing inproportion; cholera belts also become necessary to most of us I amafraid, and are very important; it is also advisable to have plenty ofsocks and to change them frequently. Light silk neck-scarves are mostuseful and prevent sunburnt necks; and in the cold and bitter winds weexperienced, and when sleeping in the open at night with heavy frosts, Balaclavas, woollen comforters, Tam-o'-shanters, and Jaeger gloves arehighly desirable. Thanks to our kind friends at home we were loadedwith these articles during the campaign and found them invaluable. 

In the hat line our bluejackets' straw hats, smartly covered withkhaki twill and with cap ribbon, did very well for the sun and arenice and shady; they also last a long time when covered well, or evenwhen painted khaki colour which stiffens and preserves them. I foundmy helmet also useful till I lost it. It is as well to take oneService cap with khaki covers, and a squash hat of gray or khaki;these latter are most comfortable and everybody wore them in camp; butI found that they don't keep out the sun enough during the day, theystow very close however, and can always be worn if one loses orsmashes one's other hats. 

As to bedclothes, this is a most important matter in the freezingcold. I advise a Wolseley valise to be got at the Army and NavyStores, with mattress and pillow and Jaeger bag inside; one shouldhave over one at night the two Service blankets allowed, and one'sgreat-coat. Unless one sleeps on a stretcher, which can't be alwaysgot, it is well to cut long grass and put it under the valise in thecold weather, as it makes a wonderful difference on the frozen groundand gives one a good night as a rule. 

If there are means of transport, it is as well to carry a Wolseley kitbag to hold one's clothes and boots, etc. I think that every officerin this war had these two things, the kit bag and valise, although ofcourse a great deal may be rolled up and carried in the valise onlyand the bag left behind if it comes to a pinch. 

The following articles are most useful to carry always, viz. :--Servicetelescope, and also binoculars as well if one can afford it (Zeiss orRoss's); a knife with all implements (especially corkscrew); a lighttin cylinder to hold charts, plans, intelligence maps, and privatemaps or sketches; also writing materials, diary and order books, canbe carried in a flat waterproof sponge bag case. As luxuries which canbe done without:--A collapsible india-rubber bath basin and waterproofsheet, very compact as got at the Army and Navy Stores; a smallmincing machine (the only means of digesting a trek ox), and sparkletbottle and sparklets are very handy. Such other luxuries as cigars, cigarettes, pipes, etc. , can always be stowed in some corner of thevalise or bag. Carry brown leather polish, dubbing, and laces. 

Leather gear as carried on one's back should be a "Sam Brown Belt" ofthe single cross strap kind, in preference to the Naval Service gear. On this one can carry one's revolver, water-bottle, and haversack, which with glasses slung over all and separately, complete all onerequires as a gunner. Swords were not carried during this war byofficers, as in cases where the rifle was substituted, they onlyproved an incumbrance. A stick for the marching officer, like "ChineseGordon" had, cannot be beaten. 

A hint as to food before we part. Don't go on the principle "because Iam campaigning I must resign myself to feed badly on what I can pickup and on what my stomach is entirely unaccustomed to. " There wasnever a greater mistake. On the contrary, feed yourself and thoseunder you on the best, sparing no expense, and when you can get wineinstead of muddy water, drink it to keep you going and your blood ingood order. Do yourself as well as you can, is my advice andexperience, after perhaps rather thinking and going the other way atfirst. It simply means that when others run down and go sick withdysentery, fever and other ills, you are still going strong and fitfor work. Naturally advice on this point is entirely dependent onmeans of transport; but when this exists, as it did with the NavalBrigade who had ammunition wagons, a hundred pounds weight or so makeslittle difference to them if not already overloaded. Take the bestadvantage, therefore, of it that you can within reason, and up to acertain extent, there being of course always a limit to all goodthings. 

Tents are a great and important feature in any long campaign. I don'thesitate to say that the single canvas bell tent as supplied to theBritish Forces, should be at once converted into double canvas tents. In the many long sweltering days when the Natal Field Force beforeColenso, and later at Elandslaagte, were forced to lie doing nothing, the heat of the sun coming through the tent was very bad; one wasalways obliged to wear a helmet inside one's tent; and I think in themen's tents (ours with, say, ten in them, and the military who had, Iam told, up to fifteen in one tent) the state of things was abominablyunhealthy under the blazing South African sun, and I am persuaded thathalf the sickness among the forces was due to this insufficientprotection from the sun. The double canvas bell tent with air space inbetween the two parts does very well, in both keeping heat and coldoff. The Indian tents, of khaki canvas, double and generallysquare-shaped, are much the best ones we saw on the Natal side andshould be used generally in the Army; the extra expense would be savedin the end by prevention of fever and sunstroke. 

My own experience (when I and three other officers lay in a fieldhospital outside Ladysmith just after the relief, in a single belltent, and saw Tommies all around us crowded into these tents withfever and dysentery, whereby all our cases, I am sure, were made muchworse by the torturing sun which poured in all day on our heads), makes me very glad that the "Hospital Commission" is now sitting, andI sincerely hope that such absurd mistakes will be noticed andcorrected by them for the good of the whole British Forces. 

Regarding the Mauser rifle, as compared with the Lee-Metford, Ipersonally have little experience, but I can only say that the Mauserto hold and carry is much the better balanced of the two, and that thefine sighting is superior. Also some military officers seem to say itis a better shooter at long ranges, and its magazine action is farquicker and superior. [9] Revolvers, as far as I know, have had no testat all in this war. The cavalry carbine, I believe, is universallycondemned by all cavalry officers out here, and is doomed to go Ihope, being, if used against foes with modern weapons, only wastelumber. 

 [Footnote 9: Since writing this about the Mauser, Captain Cowper of the Queen's tells me that on the whole he considers the Lee-Metford superior, and that the Boers he has met have told him they hold it to be a harder shooter at long ranges. However, it seems to me that the better balance and magazine of the Mauser counteract this and give it the preference. ]

I believe that I am right in saying that pouches for carrying therifle ammunition are universally condemned in favour of a bandolier, with flaps over every ten cartridges or so. In our Naval bandoliersthe want of these flaps was especially noticeable, and the wastage ofammunition dropped out was, I am sure, excessive, besides leavingloose ammunition lying about for Boer or Kaffir to pick up, as theyare reported to be doing. The web bandolier is lighter than theleather, and better, so I recommend it, if fitted with flaps, to thenotice of the Naval authorities. 

APPENDIX II

EXTRACTS FROM SOME OF THE DESPATCHES, REPORTS, AND TELEGRAMS, REGARDING OPERATIONS MENTIONED IN THIS JOURNAL

[_London Gazette_, January 26th, 1900. ]

_From General Sir Redvers Buller, V. C. , G. C. B. _

 Chieveley Camp, _December 17th, 1899. _

[_Extract. _]

I enclose a reconnaissance sketch of the Colenso position. All visibledefences had been shelled by eight naval guns on the 13th and 14th. During all this time and throughout the day, the two 4. 7 and four12-pounder Naval guns of the Naval Brigade and Durban NavalVolunteers, under Captain E. P. Jones, R. N. , were being admirablyserved, and succeeded in silencing every one of the enemy's guns theycould locate. 

 * * * * *

[_London Gazette_, March 30th, 1900. ]

_From Captain E. P. Jones, R. N. , Commanding Naval Brigade. _

 Chieveley Camp, _December 16th, 1899. _

[_Extract. _]

The whole force under Sir Redvers Buller advanced at 4 a. M. Yesterday, intending to take the positions of the enemy on the other side of theTugela. The Brigade under my command was disposed as follows:--Two 4. 7guns and four 12-pounders which were on the outpost line in a position10, 000 yards from the main works of the enemy, from which place we hadbeen shelling them on the previous day, advanced to a small rise about5, 000 yards from the entrenched hills across the Tugela. Six12-pounders under Lieutenant Ogilvy with Lieutenant James of H. M. S. _Tartar_ and Lieutenant Deas of _Philomel_ were attached to the FieldArtillery under Colonel Long. Two 12-pounders under Lieutenant Burneheld the kopje from which we advanced. 

 * * * * *

[_London Gazette_, March 12th, 1901. ]

_From Captain Jones, R. N. , Commanding Naval Brigade, Natal. _

 Naval Camp, Spearmans Hill, _February 8th, 1900. _

[_Extract. _]

As to Vaal Krantz, the Naval guns were disposed as follows: . . . Two12-pounders with Lieutenant Burne on the plateau between this hill andthe river. At daylight on the 6th, Lieutenant Burne's two guns weremoved to a position at the east of Zwartz Kop. 

February 18th, 1900. Lieutenant Burne with two 12-pounder guns wasleft with General Warren at Spearmans and marched on the 10th toSpringfield Bridge where he remains under Colonel Burn-Murdoch. 

From General Sir R. Buller to Admiral Sir R. Harris, March 5th, 1900. "I much appreciate your congratulations. I can hardly tell you howmuch of our successes are due to the Navy: their gunnery wasadmirable. "

 * * * * *

Report from Lieutenant Burne, R. N. , February 16th, 1900, enclosed inletter of March 28th, 1900, from the Commander-in-Chief, Cape of GoodHope Station. 

_Report from Lieutenant Burne, R. N. _

 Springfield Camp, _February 16th, 1900. _

I have the honour to report as follows:--

Since being detached from Lieutenant Ogilvy's command I moved backacross the Tugela river from the advanced kopjes on February 1st. OnSunday, February 4th, I learnt that I was attached to Sir CharlesWarren's Division, and received my orders from him personally on thatday on Gun Plateau, regarding the next day's operations; I alsointerviewed yourself on that day in reply to signal received. OnMonday, 5th, my guns were shelling the enemy incessantly all day inconjunction with the feint on the left, and in reply to a Boer 3"Creusot and two Maxim Vickers 1-1/4 lbs. I received many directionsfrom both General Warren and General Talbot-Coke, as to points theywished shelled, and at the end of the day had expended 250 common andshrapnel shell. At 8 p. M. I received orders from General Warren tomarch at daybreak on Tuesday, and join the Commander-in-Chief at thefort of Zwartz Kop; this I did, and though delayed on the hill bywagons and by the 7th Battery R. F. A. Coming up, and later, by streamsof ambulance in the narrow road close to Zwartz Kop, I arrived andreported my guns to General Buller about 8 a. M. , at the foot of thekopje. He told me to bring my guns into action, and help to silencethe Boer 6" Creusot, and, if possible, the 3" Creusot, which werefiring from Spion Kop (position 2) at our field batteries. 

As I came into action, and was aiming my right gun at the Boer 6", ashell from it struck twenty yards in front, and covering us with dirt, jumped over our heads without exploding; the shell was plainly visiblein the air to me on coming down, and I saw it strike on its side andthe fuse break off. The shell was picked up intact at my wagons whichwere just coming up, by Edward House, A. B. , and we have it now. Iconcentrated my fire on the 6" gun at 6, 400 yards, and in an hour itwas silenced for the rest of the day; this, of course, was effected inconjunction with the fire from the 5" guns just in front of me, andfrom one 4. 7 on Signal Hill. 

During the day my guns also drove back at least two Boer field guns at6, 500 yards, which had been brought down into Vaal Krantz, and whichtried to find our range but just fell short; they shifted position, but were finally driven over the sky-line. There was also a 1-1/4 lb. Pom-pom in a donga in the valley, which we silenced many times, and atthe end of the day had fired some 230 rounds. 

On Wednesday, February 7th, we commenced again at daylight; the 6"opened a heavy fire on one pontoon (No. 3), and on the field batteriesin front of us, which had been pushed forward there before daybreak. My fire was directed solely at the big gun; my No. 2 standing by andfiring directly he saw it appear. During the day my ammunition supplywas kept up by direct communication by orderly with the column underMajor Findlay. In the forenoon the Boer field guns were brought downagain in the valley, and shelled the pontoon, Krantz Kop, and us; theywere driven off in an hour or so, but recommenced again later. 

In the afternoon, more field guns and Pom-poms on the burnt kopjes tothe left of us opened a heavy fire on Krantz Kop, but were driven offby our guns, the howitzer battery (100 yards in our rear), and by theNaval guns on Zwartz Kop. 

About 5 p. M. The fire from the Boer 100-pounder was very heavy, andcame all round us, the Staff, and Infantry in reserve, and twice mycrews only escaped by lying down. Just at that moment I got the orderfrom Colonel Parsons, R. A. , to withdraw my guns by moonlight, andcover our retirement on Gun Plateau. This was done, but the steep hillbeing jammed with traffic, I did not get up to my old position on GunPlateau till next morning, when I reported to General Warren. 

Between February 8th and 9th, I assisted to cover the retirement ofour troops over the Tugela, and on the 9th was withdrawn at 11 a. M. , and arrived at Springfield Bridge at 3 p. M. 

On February 10th, by order of Colonel Burn-Murdoch (1st Dragoons) andthe Camp Commandant, I placed my guns in the entrenched camp half amile beyond the bridge, and up to 14th was employed in making gunepaulements and pits, and finding the ranges. 

On February 13th, the Boers appearing in force on the kopjes to ourleft at 9, 000 yards, I rode out with Colonel Burn-Murdoch and otherCommanding Officers, to reconnoitre, and find gun positions. Theysniped at us at 1, 600 to 2, 000 yards, and at the advanced Cavalrypickets all night, but next morning, the 14th, after "A" Battery RoyalHorse Artillery and my guns had been pushed forward, they were foundto have retreated altogether, and we surmised them to be a commando ofFree State Boers returning to the Free State. 

To-day, the 16th, we received news of General French's relief ofKimberley. All quiet in this neighbourhood. 

At present I have 500 rounds of ammunition with me, and 300, inreserve, in charge of the officer of the ammunition column here. 

I will conclude by saying that I have nothing but praise for theconduct and hard work performed by my men during the last ten days, especially when under fire; their spirit is now excellent. I shouldspecially mention my captains of guns, T. Mitchell, 1st class P. O. , and J. Mullis, 1st class P. O. , for their hard work, the latter thebest and quickest shot of the two. I must recommend E. A. Harvey, P. O. , 2nd class, and leading shipwright, as rendering me most usefuland clever work on the gun mountings, etc. , and for further designs. Of the rest P. Treherne, A. B. ; D. Shepherd, A. B. , S. G. T. ; Henry House, A. B. ; W. Jones, A. B. , S. G. T. ; Fred Tuck, O. S. ; C. Patton, signalman;and W. Dunetal, stoker, deserve special mention. Mr. White, midshipman, has rendered me useful assistance. Mr. Freeman, conductor, has done very well; and the white drivers, McPheeson and Blewitt, excellently. I find the gun teams of eight oxen under the two latterare very useful. 

 * * * * *

[_The Times_, Thursday, March 1st, 1900. ]

The following despatch from General Buller has been received at theWar Office:--

 Headquarters, Hlangwane Plain, _February 28th_, 8. 5 a. M. 

Finding that the passage of Langewachte Spruit was commanded by strongentrenchments, I reconnoitred for another passage of the Tugela. Onewas found for me below the cataract by Colonel Sandbach, RoyalEngineers. 

On the 25th we commenced making an approach to it, and on the 26th, finding that I could make a practicable approach, I crossed guns andbaggage back to the south side of the Tugela, took up the pontoonbridge on the night of the 26th, and relaid it at the new site, whichis just below the point marked "cataract. "

During all the time the troops had been scattered, crouching underhastily-constructed small stone shelters, and exposed to a gallingshell and rifle fire, and throughout maintained the most excellentspirit. 

On the 27th General Barton, with two Battalions 6th Brigade and theRoyal Dublin Fusiliers, crept about one and a half miles down thebanks of river, and, ascending an almost precipitous cliff of about500 feet, assaulted and carried the top of Pieters Hill. 

This hill to a certain extent turned the enemy's left, and the 4thBrigade, under Colonel Norcott, and the 11th Brigade, under ColonelKitchener, the whole under General Warren, assailed the enemy's mainposition, which was magnificently carried by the South LancashireRegiment about sunset. 

We took about sixty prisoners and scattered the enemy in alldirections. 

There seems to be still a considerable body of them left on and underBulwana Mountain. 

Our losses, I hope, are not large. They certainly are much less thanthey would have been were it not for the admirable manner in which theartillery was served, especially the guns manned by the Royal Navy andthe Natal Naval Volunteers. 

 * * * * *

[_The Times_, Thursday, March 8th, 1900. ]

_From our Special Correspondent. _

 Ladysmith, _March 5th. _

The following special Army Order has been issued:--

"The relief of Ladysmith unites two forces which have striven withconspicuous gallantry and splendid determination to maintain thehonour of their Queen and country. The garrison of Ladysmith for fourmonths held the position against every attack with complete successand endured its privations with admirable fortitude. The relievingforce had to make its way through unknown country, across unfordablerivers, and over almost inaccessible heights in the face of afully-prepared, well-armed tenacious enemy. By the exhibition of thetruest courage, which burns steadily besides flashing brilliantly, itaccomplished its object, and added a glorious page to our history. Sailors, soldiers, Colonials, and the home-bred have done this, unitedby one desire, and inspired by one patriotism. 

"The General Commanding congratulates both forces on their martialqualities, and thanks them for their determined efforts. He desires tooffer his sincere sympathy to the relatives and friends of the goodsoldiers and gallant comrades who have fallen in the fight. 

 "BULLER. "

 * * * * *

_From Captain Jones, R. N. , Naval Brigade. _

 Ladysmith, _March 10th, 1900. _

[_Extract. _]

I enclose reports sent in to me by Lieutenants Ogilvy and Burne, whowere mostly detached from me. 

 * * * * *

_Enclosure from Lieutenant Burne, R. N. _

 Colenso, _March 7th, 1900. _

Since my last letter dated from Springfield Bridge, I have the honourto report that I left Springfield on February 23rd, marching with theYork and Lancaster Regiment to rejoin the main column. We reachedChieveley Camp on the 24th, and I pitched camp on Gun Hill, where Ifound Lieutenant Drummond and the 6" gun. We remained here till atelegram and written orders were handed me on the night of the 26th, from Lieutenant Drummond, to march at daybreak with the York andLancaster Regiment to join the 10th Brigade. We marched at 6 a. M. Onthe 27th, with the Regiment, by Hussar Hill round Hlangwane. Here wefound the Commander-in-Chief, who told me, on my reporting the guns, that the 10th Brigade were in Colenso; he added that it was no faultof mine that we had come out of the way, as the orders had not beenclear, but told me to cross the Tugela by the Pont as quickly aspossible, the pontoon bridge having been removed. At the Pont I had tooff-load all my wagons, as the drift below was impassable; and afterhaving got one gun and ox team safely across, the Pont was upset inthe middle of the river, and all the work was jammed. During this timethere was a heavy shell fire on Colenso Station from a Boer 3" gun, but we were not touched. I had the Pont righted, and my men baled itout before daylight on the 28th, and I took my other gun and twowagons and loads of ammunition across, and hurried on to join GeneralCoke. On the morning of March 1st a body of men rode in fromLadysmith. They proved to be Ladysmith scouts, and brought GeneralCoke his first intimation of the relief of Ladysmith on the previousevening. My guns were in position, and we bivouacked with the troopsfor some days, but I have now pitched camp and withdrawn the guns. Hearing many rumours here that the Naval men are to return to theirships, I should like to bring to your notice the very excellentservice which has been rendered me by my captains of guns, R. Mitchell, P. O. , 1st class, and especially G. Mullis, P. O. , 1st class, and the clever and hard work of F. Harvey, P. O. , 2nd class (leadingshipwright), and to mention the following names not beforementioned:--H. House, A. B. , F. Long, O. S. (bugler), S. Ratcliffe, O. S. , and to state my appreciation of the work done by all. 

 * * * * *

[_The Times_ of April 16th, 1900. ]

_Extract from "Times" Natal Military Correspondent, dated March 22nd, 1900. _

The Naval contingent of the _Powerful_ left Ladysmith for England onthe 7th, and that of the _Terrible_ left to rejoin their ship on the11th. The 4. 7 guns remain in the hands of the Naval gunners of the_Forte_, _Philomel_, and _Tartar_, under Captain Jones of the _Forte_, but most of the 12-pounders have now been handed over to the 4thMountain Battery. It seems a great pity that the Naval gunners of the_Terrible_ could not have been spared to finish the campaign. Threemonths' practice ashore has made them nearly perfect in the managementof their guns, and they themselves would be the first to admit that, at any rate in that part of the gunnery that was not learnt on boardship, such as rapidity of fire under their present altered conditionsand mobility, they have improved twofold since they first landed. Their rapidity of fire was wonderful when it is remembered that theircarriages are fitted with none of the automatic appliances forreturning the gun to the firing position, but have to be dragged backevery time by hand, and then carefully adjusted with the wheels atexactly the same level. As regards mobility, they have on at least oneoccasion--namely Zwartz Kop--taken their guns up a place condemned bythe Royal Artillery as impossible. All this experience is now to bemade no further use of, and the guns pass into the hands of men whowill have to learn it afresh. A great advantage the Naval gunners hadover the Royal Artillery was their use of the glass. Besides thetelescopic sights used with the big guns, they were provided with alarge telescope on a tripod, at which an officer was always seatedwatching the effect of the shells, and, in the case of an advance themovements of our Infantry as well, and they were never guilty, as theRoyal Artillery have been more than once, of firing on our own men. OnJanuary 24th, whilst the fighting on the top of Spion Kop was takingplace, the Naval guns on Mount Alice were able at a distance of ratherover four miles clearly to distinguish our men from the Boers, andshell the latter. Compare this with one instance that came under mypersonal observation on February 27th. An officer in command of abattery was totally unable to distinguish, with a pair of thefield-glasses supplied by Government, at a distance of a little overone mile, between our Infantry charging and the Boers running away. Isee that your Cape correspondent has already said that in thiscampaign, where we are perpetually fighting against an invisible foe, good glasses are of paramount importance to the rifle. They are evenmore essential to the gunners than to the other branches of theservice, and they are in this respect most inadequately supplied. 

 * * * * *

_Speech of the First Lord of the Admiralty (Mr. Goschen) at RoyalAcademy Banquet, May 5th, 1900. _

"I do not propose to dilate on the courage or resourcefulness, orother great qualities of the Naval Brigades. The nation has acclaimedthem. The Sovereign with her own lips has testified to their deeds. . . . 

"The ships' companies of the _Powerful_ and _Terrible_ would be sorryif they were to monopolise the public eye, clouding the performancesof men from other ships. Many other ships have sent contingents to thefront--the _Monarch_, the _Doris_, the _Philomel_, the _Tartar_, the_Forte_--all these ships have sent men who have taken their part inthose gallant combats of which we read. "

 * * * * *

_Again at Reception of Naval Brigade (H. M. S. "Powerful") in London, May 7th, 1900. _

"With your comrades in other forces of the Queen, by the defence andthe relief of Ladysmith you have saved the country from such adisaster as has never fallen the British arms. The defence and reliefof Ladysmith will never be forgotten in British history. "

 * * * * *

[_London Gazette_, March 12th, 1901. ]

_From Captain Jones, R. N. , Naval Brigade. _

 De Wet's Farm, _June 5th, 1900. _

[_Extract. _]

"On May 14th, two more 12-pounders under Lieutenant Steele (LieutenantBurne having had a severe fall from his horse, and beingincapacitated) occupied another hill across the river. . . . 

"Lieutenant Burne has quite recovered from his injuries and hasreturned to duty at Glencoe. "

 * * * * *

_From Captain Jones, R. N. , Naval Brigade. _

 Volksrust, _June 14th, 1900. _

[_Extract. _]

"It became apparent that the hill (Van Wyk) must be held. GeneralHildyard was out there and decided to hold it, sending back for therest of the Brigade. 

"I arrived back in camp at 4 p. M. And was ordered to start afterdark--as the route was exposed to the enemy's fire--and, if possible, to get two 12-pounders (Lieutenant Burne's) up the hill by daylight, and the 4. 7's to the bottom. This we did after a most difficult march, arriving at the bottom at 4 a. M. I halted the 4. 7's and pushed the12-pounders up to the top. One arrived at daylight, the other broke awheel and did not get up to the top till we were able later to getanother pair of wheels from a limber and adapt them. "

 * * * * *

_From General Sir Redvers Buller, V. C. , G. C. B. _

 Laing's Nek, Natal, _June 19th, 1900. _

[_Extract. _]

"On June 5th I directed General Hildyard, who with the 5th Divisionwas encamped at De Wet's farm, to occupy on the 6th the height southof the Botha's Pass Road, marked on the map as Van Wyk. . . . The ascentof the hill was very difficult, and it was due to the energy ofCaptain Jones, R. N. , and the officers and men of the Naval Brigadethat one 12-pounder (Lieutenant Burne) was in position at Van Wyk atdaylight. The other 12-pounder lost a wheel in the bad ground. . . . TheNaval guns and the 10th Brigade were brought down from Van Wyk duringthe night. I may here remark that hard and well as Captain Jones andthe men of the Naval Brigade worked during this war, I do not believethey ever had harder work to do or did it more willingly than ingetting their guns up and down Van Wyk. They had to work continuouslyfor thirty-six hours. . . . "

 * * * * *

_From Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, V. C. , G. C. B. _

 Pretoria, _July 10th, 1900. _

"I have much pleasure in supporting the recommendations put forward bySir Redvers Buller on behalf of the Officers and Petty Officers of theRoyal Navy. "

 * * * * *

_Report from Lieutenant Burne, R. N. _

H. M. S. _Monarch's_ (late H. M. S. _Tartar's_) 12-pounder Q. -F. Battery, Grass Kop, Sandspruit. _October 24th, 1900. _

On withdrawal from the front, I wish to forward for the favourableconsideration of the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Robert Harris, K. C. M. G. , a short report on detachment of H. M. S. _Monarch's_ (late_Tartar's_) men now under my command, and who have served on shorewith the Natal Army for over a year. Since my last report to CaptainJones, R. N. , the Officer commanding Naval Brigade, on June 16th, afterthe victory of Almond's Nek, this battery has taken part in the marchon Wakkerstroom and its occupation, the defence of Sandspruit andaction four miles north of it, with Cavalry and other Artillery, underGeneral Brocklehurst, M. V. O. , which was a spirited little affair, andwhere the battery earned the commendation of the General on theshooting; later, the attack on Grass Kop and its occupation by theDorsets was covered by these guns and other artillery on July 24th, and drew a heavy shell fire from four Boer Creusot guns in itsdefence, this battery at that time being led by LieutenantClutterbuck, R. N. , when I was ill with jaundice, but whom I againrelieved on July 27th, and have continued since that date in thedefence of Grass Kop. My guns from here covered the right flank of twoseparate attacks in force on Comersfoort, the first under GeneralHildyard on July 30th, and the second under Sir Redvers Buller onAugust 7th, when the town was taken. We have also covered manyreconnaissances, and have come into action at long ranges severaltimes against marauding Boers on the plain at the foot of this hill, but hitherto they have not attacked us, as the hill is magnificentlyentrenched and has been held in turn by the Dorsets, the SouthLancashires, and now the Queen's Regiment. The whole of theintelligence from Grass Kop as to movements of the enemy since July24th up to this date, has been furnished by my look-outs with our longtelescope; and this I need scarcely say has been a considerable andarduous duty for the men under the conditions of violent winds, rain, mist, and storms which prevailed up here (a height of 6, 500 feet), since we occupied the hill. These wind-storms have destroyed our tentsonce, sometimes continuing for days, and have caused much discomfortboth to ourselves and the troops, and I have lost a good many oxen byexposure and lung sickness. Orders having come for the withdrawal ofthe Naval Brigade, I can only say I have been well and faithfullyserved by the Officers and men of the detachment under my command; andduring these months have formed a high opinion of their excellence asa battery, under the varying conditions of climate, heights, andpositions, they have gone through in Natal, the Orange Colony, andthe Transvaal. All these men, in spite of much sickness at times, havestuck to their work with the Natal Army for a year now, andconsequently I think, fully deserve any advancement or reward it ispossible to give them, and I am sure H. M. S. _Tartar_ may be proud ofthe men representing her during the war. I wish to bring this generalopinion of the men of the detachment, which I hold, to the favourablenotice of the Commander-in-Chief, and to specially recommend thefollowing for good service rendered with the guns:

 A. L. Munro, C. P. O. And torpedo instructor (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

 G. H. Epsley, P. O. , 2nd class and captain 1st gun (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

 E. Cheeseman, A. B. , S. G. , and acting captain 2nd gun (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

 D. Smith, A. B. , S. G. T. , gun crew (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

 J. Macdonald, A. B. , S. G. , gun crew (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

 G. Baldwin, A. B. , S. G. , gun crew (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

 J. Sawyer, A. B. , S. G. , gun crew (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

 H. Wright, A. B. , T. M. , gun crew (late of H. M. S. _Tartar_). 

For his good services as armourer and work drawing ordnance andtransport, stores, money, and in charge of commissariat, Iparticularly recommend O. A. Hart, armourer's mate, H. M. S. _Tartar_(late), a man thoroughly reliable. 

As regards the Officer and six men of H. M. S. _Philomel_ attached to mycommand, three of whom have since been invalided, I must stronglyrecommend Mr. W. R. Ledgard, midshipman, who since July 28th I havedetached, as ordered by G. O. C. 5th Division, in independent command ofone gun, first at Opperman's Kraal, and then at Paardekop; he hascarried out this duty with ability and success, and for a youngofficer I know it has been a trying one. 

I also recommend T. Payne, A. B. , S. G. , H. M. S. _Philomel_, for goodservice with the guns. 

Expressing my gratification at having had the opportunity to commandH. M. S. _Tartar's_ (now _Monarch's_) Detachment, I have, etc. 

APPENDIX III

DIARY OF THE BOER WAR UP TO OCTOBER 25TH, 1900. 

1899. 

Oct. 11. --Time fixed by the Boers for compliance with "ultimatum"expired at 5 p. M. 

Oct. 14. --Boers march on Kimberley and Mafeking. 

Oct. 15. --KIMBERLEY ISOLATED. 

Oct. 20. --Boer position on TALANA HILL captured by the British underSymons. 

Oct. 21. --White moves out force under French to eject Boers fromELANDSLAAGTE. Boers routed. 

Oct. 22. --Yule retires from Dundee on Ladysmith _viâ_ Beith. 

Oct. 23. --Death of General Symons at Dundee. 

Oct. 30. --General sortie from Ladysmith. Naval guns silence Boer siegeartillery. 

 Surrender of part of two battalions and a Mountain Battery at Nicholson's Nek. 

Oct. 31. --General Sir Redvers Buller lands at Capetown. 

Nov. 1. --Boers invade Cape Colony. 

Nov. 2. --LADYSMITH ISOLATED. 

Nov. 9. --General attack on Ladysmith repulsed with heavy loss toBoers. 

Nov. 15. --Armoured train wrecked by Boers near Chieveley. Over 100British troops captured. 

Nov. 19. --Lord Methuen's column for the relief of Kimberleyconcentrated at Orange River. 

Nov. 23. --Methuen attacks Boers at BELMONT with Guards' Brigade and9th Brigade. Boers driven from their position. 

Nov. 25. --Methuen attacks Boers in position at Enslin and dislodgesthem. 

 General Sir Redvers Buller arrives in Natal. 

Nov. 28. --Methuen engages 11, 000 Boers at MODDER RIVER. Battle lastingall day. Boers evacuate position. 

Nov. 30. --Sixth Division for South Africa notified. 

Dec. 1. --Australian and Canadian Contingents leave Capetown for thefront. 

Dec. 10. --Gatacre attempts night attack on STORMBERG, but is surprisedand driven back with heavy loss. 

Dec. 11. --Methuen attacks Boer position at MAGERSFONTEIN and isrepulsed with heavy loss. General Wauchope killed. 

Dec. 15. --Buller advances from Chieveley against Boer positions nearCOLENSO. British Force repulsed on Tugela with 1, 100 casualties andloss of 12 guns. 

 Mobilization of 7th Division ordered. 

Dec. 18. --Lord Roberts appointed Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, with Lord Kitchener as Chief of Staff. 

Dec. 19. --Regulations issued for employment of Yeomanry and Volunteersin South Africa. 

Dec. 20. --Formation of City of London Volunteer Corps for South Africaannounced. 

1900

Jan. 6. --Suffolk Regiment loses heavily near Rensburg, over 100prisoners taken. 

 BOER ATTACK ON LADYSMITH REPULSED. 

Jan. 10. --LORD ROBERTS AND LORD KITCHENER ARRIVE AT CAPETOWN. 

Jan. 10. --Forward movement for relief of Ladysmith resumed. 

Jan. 11. --Dundonald seizes pont on Tugela at Potgieter's Drift. 

Jan. 18. --Buller makes SECOND ATTEMPT to relieve Ladysmith. Dundonaldhaving crossed Tugela engages Boers near Acton Homes. 

 Crossing of Tugela by Warren and Lyttelton concluded. 

Jan. 21. --Warren attacks Boers' right flank. 

Jan. 23-4. --SPION KOP captured and held during 24th, but evacuated onthe night of Jan. 24-25. General Woodgate fatally wounded. 

Jan. 26-7. --Buller's force recrosses the Tugela. 

Feb. 3. --Macdonald with Highland Brigade marches out from ModderRiver. 

Feb. 5. --Buller's THIRD ATTEMPT to relieve Ladysmith commenced. Lyttelton crosses Tugela, and delivers attack on VAAL KRANTZ, which hecaptures and occupies. 

Feb. 7. --Vaal Krantz evacuated and British Force withdrawn across theTugela. 

Feb. 9. --Lord Roberts arrives at Modder River. 

Feb. 11. --French, having been summoned from Southern Frontier, leavesModder River with Cavalry Division and Horse Artillery. 

Feb. 13. --Lord Roberts at Dekiel's Drift. 

Feb. 15. --Lord Roberts at Jacobsdal. 

 RELIEF OF KIMBERLEY. 

Feb. 17. --Rearguard action between Kelly-Kenny and Cronje _en route_to Bloemfontein. 

 FOURTH ATTEMPT to relieve Ladysmith. 

 Buller presses advance on Monte Christo Hill. 

Feb. 19. --Buller takes Hlangwane Hill. 

Feb. 20. --Boers under Cronje, having laagered near Paardeberg, arebombarded by Lord Roberts. 

Feb. 21. --Fifth Division crosses Tugela. 

Feb. 23. --Buller unsuccessfully attacks Railway Hill. 

Feb. 26. --Buller makes fresh passage of Tugela. 

Feb. 27. --CRONJE SURRENDERS AT PAARDEBERG. 

 PIETERS HILL, the main Boer position between Ladysmith and the Tugela, carried by Hildyard. 

Feb. 28. --RELIEF OF LADYSMITH. 

 Clements occupies Colesberg. 

Mar. 5. --Gatacre occupies Stormberg. 

 Brabant again defeats and pursues Boers. 

 Overtures of peace made by Boer Presidents. 

Mar. 6. --Field Force arrives at Carnarvon to quell rising inNorth-West. 

Mar. 7. --Lord Roberts routs a large force of Boers at Poplar Grove. 

Mar. 10. --Lord Roberts defeats Boers at Driefontein. 

Mar. 11. --Overtures of peace rejected by Lord Salisbury. 

Mar. 13. --Lord Roberts, without further fighting, takes possession ofBLOEMFONTEIN. Boers retire on Kroonstad. 

Mar. 27. --DEATH OF GENERAL JOUBERT. 

Mar. 31. --Broadwood attacked at Waterworks. During retirement R. H. A. And convoy entrapped at Koorn Spruit. Six guns lost, 350 casualties. 

April 3. --Detachment of Royal Irish Rifles and Mounted Infantrysurrounded near Reddersburg. 

April 7. --Colonel Dalgety isolated near Wepener. 

April 15. --Chermside leaves Reddersburg to relieve Wepener. 

April 25. --Dalgety relieved. Boers retreat northwards, under Botha. 

May 10. --Zand River crossed, Boers rapidly retreating before LordRoberts's advance. 

May 12. --Lord Roberts enters KROONSTAD without opposition, PresidentSteyn having retired to Heilbron, which he proclaims his new capital. 

 Attack on Mafeking repulsed, 108 Boer prisoners, including Commandant Eloff, taken. 

May 13. --Mahon with Mafeking Relief Column repulses attack atKoodoosrand. 

May 15. --Buller occupies Dundee and Glencoe, having driven the Boersfrom the Biggarsberg. 

 Plumer, reinforced by Canadians and Queenslanders from Carrington's Division, joins hands with Mahon. 

May 17-18. --RELIEF OF MAFEKING. 

May 24. --Advance portion of Lord Roberts's force crosses the Vaal nearParys. 

May 28. --ANNEXATION OF ORANGE FREE STATE under name of Orange RiverColony formally proclaimed at Bloemfontein. 

May 30. --FLIGHT OF PRESIDENT KRUGER FROM PRETORIA. 

May 31. --BRITISH FLAG HOISTED AT JOHANNESBURG. 

 Surrender of 500 Yeomanry at Lindley. 

June 2-4. --Futile negotiations between Buller and Christian Botha forarmistice. 

June 5. --OCCUPATION OF PRETORIA. 

June 8. --Hildyard takes Botha's Pass. 

Surrender of 4th Derbyshires at Roodeval. 

June 11. --Stubborn fight at Almond's Nek. Heavy Boer losses. 

June 12. --Boers evacuate Laing's Nek. 

 Roberts defeats Botha at DIAMOND HILL, east of Pretoria. 

June 14. --Boer attack on Zand River repulsed. 

July 4. --Roberts and Buller join hands at Vlakfontein. 

 Railway to Natal clear. 

July 11. --Surrender of Scots Greys and Lincolns at Uitval Nek. 

July 21. --Advance eastwards towards Komati Poort begins. 

July 30. --SURRENDER OF PRINSLOO and 3, 000 Boers to Hunter inBrandwater basin. 

Aug. 16. --Elands River garrison relieved. 

Aug. 25. --Execution of Cordua for conspiracy to kidnap Lord Roberts. 

Aug. 26-7. --Fighting at DALMANUTHA. 

Aug. 30. --British occupy Nooitgedacht and release 2, 000 prisoners. 

Sept. 6. --Buller occupies Lydenburg. 

Sept. 11. --KRUGER, FLYING FROM THE TRANSVAAL, takes refuge at LorenzoMarques. 

Sept. 13. --Proclamation issued by Roberts calling on burghers tosurrender. 

 French occupies Barberton. 

Sept. 25. --British Force occupies Komati Poort. Many Boers crossPortuguese frontier and surrender to Portuguese. 

Oct. 9. --De Wet driven across the Vaal out of Orange River Colony. 

Oct. 19. --Kruger sails from Lorenzo Marques for Marseilles on Dutchman-of-war. 

Oct. 24. --Buller sails from Capetown for England. 

Oct. 25. --FORMAL ANNEXATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC, to be styledTransvaal Colony. 

APPENDIX IV

THE NAVY AND THE WAR. 

A RÉSUMÉ OF OFFICERS AND MEN MENTIONED IN DESPATCHES FOR THEOPERATIONS IN NATAL. 

_Extract from "Natal Advertiser. "_

GENERAL SIR REDVERS BULLER, in his despatches which have just beenpublished with reference to the operations in Natal, calls attentionto a number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men whoseservices deserve "special mention. " He gives thanks to Sir W. Hely-Hutchinson, the Governor of Natal; to Colonel the Hon. A. H. Hime, Prime Minister, and all the members of the Government of thecolony. Rear-Admiral Sir R. H. Harris, K. C. M. G. , had also been mosthelpful. Then follows the list of men "especially worthy ofconsideration":--

Captain Percy Scott, C. B. , H. M. S. _Terrible_, has discharged thedifficult duties of Commandant of Durban with the greatest tact andability, and has been most helpful in every way. 

Captain E. P. Jones, H. M. S. _Forte_, as senior officer of the NavalBrigade, has earned my most heartfelt thanks. The assistance they haverendered to me has been invaluable; the spirit of their leader wasreflected in the men, and at any time, day or night, they were alwaysready, and their work was excellent. 

Commander A. H. Limpus and Lieutenant F. C. A. Ogilvy, H. M. S. _Terrible_, and Lieutenant H. W. James, H. M. S. _Tartar_. These threeOfficers were indefatigable. There never was a moment in the day thatthey were not working hard and well to advance the work in hand. 

The names of the following officers, warrant officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the Naval Brigade, Sir RedversBuller adds, have been brought to his notice for gallant ormeritorious services by general officers and officers commandingunits:--

 OFFICERS--NAVAL BRIGADE. 

 Lieutenant C. P. Hunt, H. M. S. _Forte_. Lieutenant C. R. N. Burne, H. M. S. _Philomel_. Staff-Surgeon F. J. Lilly, H. M. S. _Forte_. Surgeon C. C. Macmillan, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Surgeon E. C. Lomas, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Acting-Gunner J. Wright, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Midshipman R. B. Hutchinson, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Midshipman H. S. Boldero, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Midshipman G. L. Hodson, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Clerk W. T. Hollin, H. M. S. _Philomel_. 

[Illustration: _Photo by Debenham, Southsea. _

Captain E. P. JONES, R. N. ]

 WARRANT, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, AND MEN. 

 Chief Petty Officer T. Baldwin, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Chief Petty Officer W. Bate, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Chief Petty Officer B. Stephens, H. M. S. _Terrible_. First-Class Petty Officer P. Cashman, H. M. S. _Philomel_. Second-Class Petty Officer C. Challoner, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Second-Class Petty Officer J. J. Frennett, H. M. S. _Philomel_. Master-at-Arms G. Crowe, H. M. S. _Terrible_. Armourer Ellis, H. M. S. _Terrible_. F. Moore, A. B. , H. M. S. _Forte_. 

THE NAVAL BRIGADE. 

General Sir Redvers Buller, in a despatch dated Laing's Nek, June19th, 1900, says: "I desire to bring to notice the followingofficer:--

"Captain E. P. Jones, R. N. , Naval Brigade. 

"It was due to the energy and perseverance of the officers and menalike, following the excellent example set them by their Commander, Captain Jones, that it was possible to place the Naval guns inposition on the 8th, and get them forward subsequently in time toaccompany the advance on the 10th. The excellent marksmanship of theNaval Brigade, and the skilful distribution of their fire, contributedmaterially to the successful result of the attack on Allemann's Nek onJune 11th. "

The following names are mentioned by Commanders as having performedgood services, in addition to those previously mentioned:--

 Lieutenant G. P. Hunt, H. M. S. _Forte_. Lieutenant F. W. Melvill, H. M. S. _Forte_. Lieutenant C. R. N. Burne, H. M. S. _Philomel_. Lieutenant A. Halsey, H. M. S. _Philomel_. Midshipman W. R. Ledgard, H. M. S. _Philomel_. John Restal, chief armourer, H. M. S. _Tartar_. Alexander Monro, C. P. O. , H. M. S. _Tartar_. J. Weatherhead, P. O. , H. M. S. _Philomel_. E. Waring, yeoman of signals. 

Referring to the work at the base and on the lines of communication, General Buller, in the despatch dated ss. _Dunvegan Castle_, November9th, says:--

"The Naval transport work at Durban has been throughout under thecharge of Captain Van Koughnet, R. N. I desire to take this opportunityof bringing to notice the excellent service which he has rendered. Owing to his tact and ability, the difficult and ofttimes very heavywork of embarkations and disembarkations has passed smoothly and well. 

"Commander G. E. Holland, D. S. O. , Indian Marine, has also beenemployed at Durban throughout. His genius for organisation, and hisknowledge of transport requirements, is, I should say, unrivalled. Heundertook the alteration of the transports which were fitted at Durbanas hospital ships, and the result of his work has been universallyadmitted to have been a conspicuous success. I strongly recommend himto your consideration. 

"Warrant Officer Carpenter S. J. Lacey, R. N. , has rendered valuableservice in supervising the fitting of hospital ships and in transportwork generally. I recommend him to your favourable notice. 

"The following officers acted as my aides-de-camp, and I submit theirnames for your favourable consideration. Each and all of them arethoroughly capable and deserving officers, and rendered me greatassistance:--

"Commander Edgar Lees, Royal Navy (and others). 

"Lieutenant A. Halsey, R. N. , H. M. S. _Philomel_, commanded the lastdetachment of the Naval Brigade which was left with the Natal FieldForce, and, like all the rest of the Brigade, their services were mostvaluable. "

[Illustration: Map. ]