794 



SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 



hard fighting ensued. Pieter's hill was attacked 

 on Feb? 27, after being shelled with lyddite and 

 shrapnel for three days, and the Boers held then 

 trenches until forced out by the bayonet. Aftc 

 this Railway hill was occupied without opposi 

 tion. The "way was then open to Ladysmitn, 

 which was first entered on March 1 by the cav- 

 alry of Lord Dundonald, which had made a detour 

 . round the defenses on the right. The last train 

 left with the last of the Boers' stores on the day 

 that Gen. Buller entered the city. Some supplies 

 were abandoned, but only 2 guns fell into the 

 hands of the British. 



The bad sanitary conditions and the resulting 

 prevalence of disease had greatly weakened Sir 

 George White's force, which had stood the siege 

 for one hundred and eighteen days. The rations 

 for the fighting men just sufficed to keep them 

 on their feet. The only water came from Klip 



ordered. At the same time Col. Baden-Powell 



with other officers went to Rhodesia to recruit 

 two regiments of horse. He had at Mafeking a 

 force of 1,500 volunteers, and Col. Kekewich at 

 Kimberley had 3.000. Additional re-enforcementa 

 were taken from India, Kgypt, and the Mediter- 

 ranean stations. The addition of 10,000 mm to 

 the force in Natal was ordered on Sept. 7. This 

 gave 25,000 regulars in South Africa. On Si-pi . 

 29 the Cabinet authorized the dispatch of a large 

 field force, composed of an army corps of 3'J.mni 

 men, a cavalry division of 6,000 men, and !.(i(M) 

 men to guard "lines of communication, making a 

 total of 47.000 men, with 11,000 horses, 14,(KK) 

 mules, 2,050 wagons, and 114 field pieces. Mobil- 

 ization was ordered on Oct. 9, when President 

 Kruger's warlike message was received. The l>at- 

 falions that were sent abroad were replaced by 

 the militia, of which 33 battalions were called 



A ZULU KRAAL. 



river, which was so polluted as to cause fever and 

 dysentery. The cavalry horses, and toward the 

 end those of the artillery, were converted into 

 food. In January the stock of medicines was ex- 

 hausted, and the death rate increased enormously. 

 In the fighting since the siege began 24 officers 

 and 235 men were killed and 70 officers and 520 

 men wounded, while 6 officers and 340 men died 

 of disease. 



The British Mobilization. The garrison in 

 South Africa, from the time it was increased in 

 May, 1897, till the failure of the Bloemfontein 

 conference in July, 1899, consisted of three and a 

 half battalions of infantry and two companies of 

 fortress artillery in Cape Colony and three bat- 

 talions of infantry and four batteries three of 

 field and one of mountain artillery in Natal. 

 The 6,000 infantry were without regimental trans- 

 port, which was sent out in July. The first re- 

 enforcement consisted of a battalion from Gibral- 

 tar and one from Ireland, dispatched in August 

 when the concentration on the Natal frontier was 



out. Parliament met in special session and 

 tioned the dispatch of the army corps by voting 

 8,000,000 to maintain it in Africa for four 

 months. The Government called out 25,0<Mi of 

 the 81.000 men in the regular army reserve, and 

 of these 21,000 rejoined the colors. About 9.000 

 men were retained with the colors who would 

 otherwise have been discharged from tin- army. 

 The finding of steam transports and of- supplies, 

 vehicles, and animals delayed the shipment of 

 troops till Parliament came together, \\hen in 

 the course of a few day* 24.IMMI were -ml <>tT. 

 Sir Redvers Buller was appointed commander in 

 chief in Africa. Parliament was prorogued mi 

 Oct. 27 after a session of eleven da\-. 



The use of heavy ordnance in the 'siege of Lady 

 smith and the skill of the Boer nrtilleri-i- sur- 

 prised the British, who had no siege artillery 

 until they improvised some by sending up naval 

 guns and gunners. The offers of the Briti-h col- 

 onies to send bodies of volunteers were not ."- 

 cepted at first with the idea of receiving sub- 



