The Young Colonists: A Story of the Zulu and Boer Wars

by G. A. Henty

is an excellent officer, father; but he has hadno experience whatever in the Boers' style of fighting; he knows thatthey have often been defeated by natives, and I fancy he does not valuethem highly enough. They cannot stand a quick, sudden attack, andthat's how the natives sometimes defeat them, but at their own game ofshooting from behind rocks I believe that they are more than a match forregular troops. However, we shall see. As I am not going as acombatant I shall be able to look on quietly, and fortunately the Boersare not like Zulus, and there is no fear of non-combatants and prisonersbeing massacred. If there were, I tell you fairly, father, that I wouldcry off, and let the waggons go without me, for I do believe that thingswill not turn out well."

  "Well, I hope you are wrong, Dick. But you have seen so much fightingin this country, during the last two years, that your opinion iscertainly worth something. However, there is one satisfaction, thereare a number of troops now landing at Durban and on the march up; sothat if this little force does get a check, it will soon be retrieved.Now, good-bye, lad; mind, if there is an attack on the waggons, take aslittle part in it as you can, and stick to the position ofnon-combatants. If they would have had us as volunteers, we would havedone our best; but as they have declined to accept the offer of thecolonists, let them fight it out their own way. If they get beaten andthe Boers swarm into Natal, as in that case they certainly will do, thecolonists will take the matter in hand by themselves, and if we don'tsend the Dutchmen packing back faster than they come, I am a Dutchmanmyself."

  Had Sir George Colley pushed on rapidly with his column, he would havepassed all the points at which the Boers could have taken up strongdefensive positions, before they could gather in force to oppose him, ashe had the choice of three or four different lines of advance, and untilthe one by which he would travel was known, the Boer army was forced toremain inactive, awaiting his disposition. As soon, however, as he hadleft Newcastle, and it was known by them that he had started along theline of road to the west of Newcastle, they moved their whole force tooppose him, and took post on a position known as Laing's Neck, at a spotwhere the road had to cross over a steep and difficult ridge. Here theyset to work to throw up intrenchments, and the leisurely, and indeeddilatory, advance of the British gave them ample time for this.Although the distance from Newcastle to Laing's Neck was but twenty-fivemiles, and the column, unimpeded by baggage, could by a forced marchhave seized the position on the very day of their leaving Newcastle, andlong before the Boers could have moved their army to reinforce thelittle body who occupied the position as corps of observation, no lessthan six days elapsed before Sir George Colley's force arrived beforeLaing's Neck.

  This time was spent in frequent halts, in improving the roads, bridgingthe streams, and other similar operations, all useful enough in theirway, but fatal to the success of a flying column, whose object was tostrike a sudden blow at the enemy, and to secure the road and passes asfar as the frontier, in order to facilitate the march of the main columnof invasion, which was on its way up from the coast. Dick and Tomchafed under the long delays, and twice rode home and spent a day withtheir parents.

  At last, however, the column was in front of the enemy's position. TheBoers, who were some 3000 strong, held a strong position on the line ofthe crest of the ridge, with breastworks thrown up in front. The totalforce of Sir George Colley consisted of but 870 infantry, together withthe mounted men and guns; and to attack such a position, with a chanceof success, every man should have been sent against the intrenchments.General Colley, however, seems at the last moment to have been alarmedfor the safety of his baggage, which was menaced by parties of Boers onhis left flank. He therefore prepared to attack with only fivecompanies of the 58th--that is, but little more than 250 men, keepingthe whole of the rest of the infantry in reserve, but ordering themounted infantry to assist in the attack--a service which, upon suchground, they were altogether unfitted to perform. The result of such anarrangement as this was inevitable. Tom and Dick could scarcely believetheir eyes when they saw this handful of men advancing up the steephill, at whose summit was a force more than ten times as numerous, andcomposed of some of the finest marksmen in the world. The six Englishguns opened fire to cover the advance, and the 58th went gallantly upthe hill As soon as they approached the crest, a tremendous fire ofmusketry was opened upon them by the Boers lying behind theintrenchments. The men were literally swept away by the fire.Gallantly led by their officers, they pressed forward until within a fewyards of the breastworks; then the Boers leapt to their feet, sprangover the works and fell upon them. Colonel Deane, Major Poole,Lieutenant Elwes, and Lieutenant Bailey were killed, and no less than180 of the little force were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. Feweven of the survivors would have escaped, had not the mounted infantry,who had ascended the spur at a point farther to the right, made agallant charge along the crest of the hill and checked the pursuit. Themain body of the British advanced a short distance to make ademonstration, and prevent the Boers from following up their success.The whole column then fell back four miles, to the ground which they hadoccupied the night before. The gallantry displayed by the 58th andmounted infantry was the sole redeeming feature in the discreditableaffair of Laing's Neck, where defeat had been rendered almost certain bythe previous hesitation and delays, and was ensured by the folly ofsending a mere handful of men to attack such a position. As the Britishfell back, the Boers advanced, and at nightfall placed themselves on theroad between the camp and Newcastle, entirely cutting the force off fromits base, and threatening both them and the town of Newcastle.

  Several days passed, the attitude of the Boers became more and morethreatening, and General Colley determined at all hazards to open theway back to Newcastle. On the morning of the 8th of February he movedout with five companies of the 60th rifles, two field and twomountain-guns, and a detachment of mounted infantry; Dick and Tomobtained leave to ride back with the mounted detachment. At acommanding post near the River Ingogo Sir George Colley left twomountain-guns and a company of rifles as a garrison, and moved forwardwith the rest of the column. The River Ingogo runs at the bottom of adeep ravine. Crossing this the English force mounted to the top of theopposite crest, but they had gone but a short distance farther when theywere attacked on all sides by the Boers. The troops were ordered atonce to take shelter among the boulders and bushes, while the two gunsfrom the top of the eminence opened fire with shell upon the enemy.

  Dick and Tom sought shelter with the rest, making their horses lie downbeside them, and were soon as hotly engaged as the Rifles around them inanswering the heavy fire of the Boers. The fight began at twelveo'clock, and raged without intermission for six hours; sometimes theBoers attacked on one side of the position, sometimes upon another. Theground was broken and thickly strewn with boulders and bushes, andfavoured by these the Boers crept up sometimes close to the positionheld by the English. So accurate was their shooting that none of thedefenders could show his head above shelter for a moment, and it was asmuch as they could do to prevent the enemy from carrying the position ata rush. The 60th fought with the greatest coolness and steadiness, and,numerous as were the enemy, they could not muster up courage for therush which would have assuredly overwhelmed the little party that theywere attacking. The two English guns could render but small service,the men being shot down as fast as they stood up to load, and everyofficer, driver, gunner, and horse was killed or wounded within half anhour after the action commenced. So incessant indeed was the rain ofballs that the guns after the action were spotted with bullet-marks sothickly that it would have been difficult to place the tip of the fingerupon a place unstruck by a ball.

  When darkness put a stop to the fight 160 men--more than two-thirds ofthe force--were killed or wounded. Among the former were CaptainMacGregor of the staff, Captain Green of the Royal Artillery, andLieutenants Green and O'Connell of the 60th; while Lieutenants Pixney,Parsons, Twistlewaite and Haworth, all of the 60th, were wounded. Hadthe Boers taken advantage of the cover of d
arkness to steal forward,they must have annihilated the little force; but they believed that theyhad them in their power, for the rain had fallen heavily, the Ingogo hadrisen, and was, they thought, unfordable. General Colley ascertained,however, that it was stilt possible to cross, and with the greatestsilence the survivors moved off from their position, the storm helpingto conceal the movement from the Boers. Very quietly they moved down tothe stream, and with the greatest difficulty succeeded in crossing; thenpicking up on their way the company and guns which had been left on theeminence beyond, the column reached camp in safety.

  In the meantime reinforcements had been pushing forward from the sea asfast as possible, and on the 17th the column under Sir Evelyn Woodarrived at Newcastle, to the great joy of its inhabitants. For days anattack by the Boers had been expected, intrenchments had been thrown upround the great convoy which had been