CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html> <html class="client-nojs vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available" lang="en" dir="ltr"> <head> <meta charset="UTF-8"> <title>Battle of Ladysmith - Wikipedia</title> <script>(function(){var className="client-js vector-feature-language-in-header-enabled vector-feature-language-in-main-page-header-disabled vector-feature-sticky-header-disabled vector-feature-page-tools-pinned-disabled vector-feature-toc-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-main-menu-pinned-disabled vector-feature-limited-width-clientpref-1 vector-feature-limited-width-content-enabled vector-feature-custom-font-size-clientpref-1 vector-feature-appearance-pinned-clientpref-1 vector-feature-night-mode-enabled skin-theme-clientpref-day vector-toc-available";var cookie=document.cookie.match(/(?:^|; )enwikimwclientpreferences=([^;]+)/);if(cookie){cookie[1].split('%2C').forEach(function(pref){className=className.replace(new RegExp('(^| )'+pref.replace(/-clientpref-\w+$|[^\w-]+/g,'')+'-clientpref-\\w+( |$)'),'$1'+pref+'$2');});}document.documentElement.className=className;}());RLCONF={"wgBreakFrames":false,"wgSeparatorTransformTable":["",""],"wgDigitTransformTable":["",""],"wgDefaultDateFormat":"dmy", "wgMonthNames":["","January","February","March","April","May","June","July","August","September","October","November","December"],"wgRequestId":"8153f5ca-1a53-43a1-b06e-8d9980eea983","wgCanonicalNamespace":"","wgCanonicalSpecialPageName":false,"wgNamespaceNumber":0,"wgPageName":"Battle_of_Ladysmith","wgTitle":"Battle of Ladysmith","wgCurRevisionId":1243321460,"wgRevisionId":1243321460,"wgArticleId":20119322,"wgIsArticle":true,"wgIsRedirect":false,"wgAction":"view","wgUserName":null,"wgUserGroups":["*"],"wgCategories":["Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas","Articles with short description","Short description is different from Wikidata","Use South African English from May 2013","All Wikipedia articles written in South African English","Use dmy dates from December 2022","Coordinates on Wikidata","Conflicts in 1899","Conflicts in 1900","Battles of the Second Boer War","1899 in the Colony of Natal","History of KwaZulu-Natal","October 1899 events"],"wgPageViewLanguage":"en", "wgPageContentLanguage":"en","wgPageContentModel":"wikitext","wgRelevantPageName":"Battle_of_Ladysmith","wgRelevantArticleId":20119322,"wgIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRelevantPageIsProbablyEditable":true,"wgRestrictionEdit":[],"wgRestrictionMove":[],"wgNoticeProject":"wikipedia","wgCiteReferencePreviewsActive":false,"wgFlaggedRevsParams":{"tags":{"status":{"levels":1}}},"wgMediaViewerOnClick":true,"wgMediaViewerEnabledByDefault":true,"wgPopupsFlags":0,"wgVisualEditor":{"pageLanguageCode":"en","pageLanguageDir":"ltr","pageVariantFallbacks":"en"},"wgMFDisplayWikibaseDescriptions":{"search":true,"watchlist":true,"tagline":false,"nearby":true},"wgWMESchemaEditAttemptStepOversample":false,"wgWMEPageLength":20000,"wgCoordinates":{"lat":-28.56,"lon":29.78},"wgRelatedArticlesCompat":[],"wgCentralAuthMobileDomain":false,"wgEditSubmitButtonLabelPublish":true,"wgULSPosition":"interlanguage","wgULSisCompactLinksEnabled":false,"wgVector2022LanguageInHeader":true,"wgULSisLanguageSelectorEmpty":false, "wgWikibaseItemId":"Q2889085","wgCheckUserClientHintsHeadersJsApi":["brands","architecture","bitness","fullVersionList","mobile","model","platform","platformVersion"],"GEHomepageSuggestedEditsEnableTopics":true,"wgGETopicsMatchModeEnabled":false,"wgGEStructuredTaskRejectionReasonTextInputEnabled":false,"wgGELevelingUpEnabledForUser":false};RLSTATE={"ext.globalCssJs.user.styles":"ready","site.styles":"ready","user.styles":"ready","ext.globalCssJs.user":"ready","user":"ready","user.options":"loading","ext.cite.styles":"ready","skins.vector.search.codex.styles":"ready","skins.vector.styles":"ready","skins.vector.icons":"ready","jquery.makeCollapsible.styles":"ready","ext.wikimediamessages.styles":"ready","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript":"ready","ext.uls.interlanguage":"ready","wikibase.client.init":"ready","ext.wikimediaBadges":"ready"};RLPAGEMODULES=["ext.cite.ux-enhancements","mediawiki.page.media","site","mediawiki.page.ready","jquery.makeCollapsible","mediawiki.toc", "skins.vector.js","ext.centralNotice.geoIP","ext.centralNotice.startUp","ext.gadget.ReferenceTooltips","ext.gadget.switcher","ext.gadget.WikiMiniAtlas","ext.urlShortener.toolbar","ext.centralauth.centralautologin","mmv.bootstrap","ext.popups","ext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.init","ext.visualEditor.targetLoader","ext.echo.centralauth","ext.eventLogging","ext.wikimediaEvents","ext.navigationTiming","ext.uls.interface","ext.cx.eventlogging.campaigns","ext.cx.uls.quick.actions","wikibase.client.vector-2022","ext.checkUser.clientHints","ext.growthExperiments.SuggestedEditSession","wikibase.sidebar.tracking"];</script> <script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.loader.impl(function(){return["user.options@12s5i",function($,jQuery,require,module){mw.user.tokens.set({"patrolToken":"+\\","watchToken":"+\\","csrfToken":"+\\"}); }];});});</script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=ext.cite.styles%7Cext.uls.interlanguage%7Cext.visualEditor.desktopArticleTarget.noscript%7Cext.wikimediaBadges%7Cext.wikimediamessages.styles%7Cjquery.makeCollapsible.styles%7Cskins.vector.icons%2Cstyles%7Cskins.vector.search.codex.styles%7Cwikibase.client.init&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <script async="" src="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=startup&only=scripts&raw=1&skin=vector-2022"></script> <meta name="ResourceLoaderDynamicStyles" content=""> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/w/load.php?lang=en&modules=site.styles&only=styles&skin=vector-2022"> <meta name="generator" content="MediaWiki 1.44.0-wmf.4"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin"> <meta name="referrer" content="origin-when-cross-origin"> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:standard"> <meta name="format-detection" content="telephone=no"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=1120"> <meta property="og:title" content="Battle of Ladysmith - Wikipedia"> <meta property="og:type" content="website"> <link rel="preconnect" href="//upload.wikimedia.org"> <link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)" href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ladysmith"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/x-wiki" title="Edit this page" href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/static/apple-touch/wikipedia.png"> <link rel="icon" href="/static/favicon/wikipedia.ico"> <link rel="search" type="application/opensearchdescription+xml" href="/w/rest.php/v1/search" title="Wikipedia (en)"> <link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" href="//en.wikipedia.org/w/api.php?action=rsd"> <link rel="canonical" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ladysmith"> <link rel="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en"> <link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="Wikipedia Atom feed" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:RecentChanges&feed=atom"> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//meta.wikimedia.org" /> <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//login.wikimedia.org"> </head> <body class="skin--responsive skin-vector skin-vector-search-vue mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject mw-editable page-Battle_of_Ladysmith rootpage-Battle_of_Ladysmith skin-vector-2022 action-view"><a class="mw-jump-link" href="#bodyContent">Jump to content</a> <div class="vector-header-container"> <header class="vector-header mw-header"> <div class="vector-header-start"> <nav class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-main-menu-dropdown vector-button-flush-left vector-button-flush-right" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-main-menu-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Main menu" > <label id="vector-main-menu-dropdown-label" for="vector-main-menu-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-menu mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-menu"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Main menu</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-main-menu" class="vector-main-menu vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-main-menu-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="main-menu-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-main-menu" data-pinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-main-menu-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Main menu</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-main-menu.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-navigation" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-navigation" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Navigation </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-mainpage-description" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Main_Page" title="Visit the main page [z]" accesskey="z"><span>Main page</span></a></li><li id="n-contents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents" title="Guides to browsing Wikipedia"><span>Contents</span></a></li><li id="n-currentevents" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Portal:Current_events" title="Articles related to current events"><span>Current events</span></a></li><li id="n-randompage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:Random" title="Visit a randomly selected article [x]" accesskey="x"><span>Random article</span></a></li><li id="n-aboutsite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About" title="Learn about Wikipedia and how it works"><span>About Wikipedia</span></a></li><li id="n-contactpage" class="mw-list-item"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us" title="How to contact Wikipedia"><span>Contact us</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-interaction" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-interaction" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Contribute </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="n-help" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Contents" title="Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia"><span>Help</span></a></li><li id="n-introduction" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" title="Learn how to edit Wikipedia"><span>Learn to edit</span></a></li><li id="n-portal" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Community_portal" title="The hub for editors"><span>Community portal</span></a></li><li id="n-recentchanges" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChanges" title="A list of recent changes to Wikipedia [r]" accesskey="r"><span>Recent changes</span></a></li><li id="n-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_upload_wizard" title="Add images or other media for use on Wikipedia"><span>Upload file</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <a href="/wiki/Main_Page" class="mw-logo"> <img class="mw-logo-icon" src="/static/images/icons/wikipedia.png" alt="" aria-hidden="true" height="50" width="50"> <span class="mw-logo-container skin-invert"> <img class="mw-logo-wordmark" alt="Wikipedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"> <img class="mw-logo-tagline" alt="The Free Encyclopedia" src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-tagline-en.svg" width="117" height="13" style="width: 7.3125em; height: 0.8125em;"> </span> </a> </div> <div class="vector-header-end"> <div id="p-search" role="search" class="vector-search-box-vue vector-search-box-collapses vector-search-box-show-thumbnail vector-search-box-auto-expand-width vector-search-box"> <a href="/wiki/Special:Search" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only search-toggle" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-search mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-search"></span> <span>Search</span> </a> <div class="vector-typeahead-search-container"> <div class="cdx-typeahead-search cdx-typeahead-search--show-thumbnail cdx-typeahead-search--auto-expand-width"> <form action="/w/index.php" id="searchform" class="cdx-search-input cdx-search-input--has-end-button"> <div id="simpleSearch" class="cdx-search-input__input-wrapper" data-search-loc="header-moved"> <div class="cdx-text-input cdx-text-input--has-start-icon"> <input class="cdx-text-input__input" type="search" name="search" placeholder="Search Wikipedia" aria-label="Search Wikipedia" autocapitalize="sentences" title="Search Wikipedia [f]" accesskey="f" id="searchInput" > <span class="cdx-text-input__icon cdx-text-input__start-icon"></span> </div> <input type="hidden" name="title" value="Special:Search"> </div> <button class="cdx-button cdx-search-input__end-button">Search</button> </form> </div> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-user-links vector-user-links-wide" aria-label="Personal tools"> <div class="vector-user-links-main"> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-preferences" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-userpage" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown " title="Change the appearance of the page's font size, width, and color" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-appearance-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Appearance" > <label id="vector-appearance-dropdown-label" for="vector-appearance-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-appearance mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-appearance"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Appearance</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-notifications" class="vector-menu mw-portlet emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-vector-user-menu-overflow" class="vector-menu mw-portlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en" class=""><span>Donate</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-createaccount-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Battle+of+Ladysmith" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory" class=""><span>Create account</span></a> </li> <li id="pt-login-2" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item user-links-collapsible-item"><a data-mw="interface" href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Battle+of+Ladysmith" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o" class=""><span>Log in</span></a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-user-menu vector-button-flush-right vector-user-menu-logged-out" title="Log in and more options" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-user-links-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Personal tools" > <label id="vector-user-links-dropdown-label" for="vector-user-links-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-ellipsis mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-ellipsis"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Personal tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-personal" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-personal user-links-collapsible-item" title="User menu" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-sitesupport" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="https://donate.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserRedirector?utm_source=donate&utm_medium=sidebar&utm_campaign=C13_en.wikipedia.org&uselang=en"><span>Donate</span></a></li><li id="pt-createaccount" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Battle+of+Ladysmith" title="You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-userAdd mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-userAdd"></span> <span>Create account</span></a></li><li id="pt-login" class="user-links-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin&returnto=Battle+of+Ladysmith" title="You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [o]" accesskey="o"><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-logIn mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-logIn"></span> <span>Log in</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-user-menu-anon-editor" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-user-menu-anon-editor" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Pages for logged out editors <a href="/wiki/Help:Introduction" aria-label="Learn more about editing"><span>learn more</span></a> </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="pt-anoncontribs" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyContributions" title="A list of edits made from this IP address [y]" accesskey="y"><span>Contributions</span></a></li><li id="pt-anontalk" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:MyTalk" title="Discussion about edits from this IP address [n]" accesskey="n"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </header> </div> <div class="mw-page-container"> <div class="mw-page-container-inner"> <div class="vector-sitenotice-container"> <div id="siteNotice"></div> </div> <div class="vector-column-start"> <div class="vector-main-menu-container"> <div id="mw-navigation"> <nav id="mw-panel" class="vector-main-menu-landmark" aria-label="Site"> <div id="vector-main-menu-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav id="mw-panel-toc" aria-label="Contents" data-event-name="ui.sidebar-toc" class="mw-table-of-contents-container vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-toc-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-toc" class="vector-toc vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-toc-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="toc-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-toc" > <h2 class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Contents</h2> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-toc.unpin">hide</button> </div> <ul class="vector-toc-contents" id="mw-panel-toc-list"> <li id="toc-mw-content-text" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a href="#" class="vector-toc-link"> <div class="vector-toc-text">(Top)</div> </a> </li> <li id="toc-Background" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Background"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1</span> <span>Background</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Background-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Background subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Background-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-British_deployments" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#British_deployments"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">1.1</span> <span>British deployments</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-British_deployments-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Outbreak_of_war" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Outbreak_of_war"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Outbreak of war</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Outbreak_of_war-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Battle_of_Ladysmith" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Battle_of_Ladysmith"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Battle of Ladysmith</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Battle_of_Ladysmith-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Battle of Ladysmith subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Battle_of_Ladysmith-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-British_plans" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#British_plans"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>British plans</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-British_plans-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Lombard's_Kop" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Lombard's_Kop"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.2</span> <span>Lombard's Kop</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Lombard's_Kop-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Nicholson's_Nek" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Nicholson's_Nek"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.3</span> <span>Nicholson's Nek</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Nicholson's_Nek-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Aftermath" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Aftermath"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Aftermath</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Aftermath-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bibliography" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bibliography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Bibliography</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bibliography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ladysmith</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 5 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-5" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">5 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-af mw-list-item"><a href="https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slag_van_Nicholsonsnek" title="Slag van Nicholsonsnek – Afrikaans" lang="af" hreflang="af" data-title="Slag van Nicholsonsnek" data-language-autonym="Afrikaans" data-language-local-name="Afrikaans" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Afrikaans</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_Ladysmith" title="Batalla de Ladysmith – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Batalla de Ladysmith" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bataille_de_Ladysmith" title="Bataille de Ladysmith – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Bataille de Ladysmith" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battaglia_di_Ladysmith" title="Battaglia di Ladysmith – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Battaglia di Ladysmith" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8_%D0%9B%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5_(1899)" title="Сражение при Ледисмите (1899) – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Сражение при Ледисмите (1899)" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q2889085#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-nstab-main" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Ladysmith" title="View the content page [c]" accesskey="c"><span>Article</span></a></li><li id="ca-talk" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Talk:Battle_of_Ladysmith" rel="discussion" title="Discuss improvements to the content page [t]" accesskey="t"><span>Talk</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown emptyPortlet" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-variants-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Change language variant" > <label id="vector-variants-dropdown-label" for="vector-variants-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">English</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="p-variants" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-variants emptyPortlet" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> <div id="right-navigation" class="vector-collapsible"> <nav aria-label="Views"> <div id="p-views" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-views" > <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-view" class="selected vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Ladysmith"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-edit" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-history" class="vector-tab-noicon mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=history" title="Past revisions of this page [h]" accesskey="h"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-tools-dropdown" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-tools-dropdown" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Tools" > <label id="vector-page-tools-dropdown-label" for="vector-page-tools-dropdown-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Tools</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> <div id="vector-page-tools" class="vector-page-tools vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-page-tools-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-unpinned" data-feature-name="page-tools-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-page-tools" data-pinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-page-tools-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Tools</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-page-tools.unpin">hide</button> </div> <div id="p-cactions" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-cactions emptyPortlet vector-has-collapsible-items" title="More options" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Actions </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="ca-more-view" class="selected vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Ladysmith"><span>Read</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-edit" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit" title="Edit this page [e]" accesskey="e"><span>Edit</span></a></li><li id="ca-more-history" class="vector-more-collapsible-item mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=history"><span>View history</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-tb" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-tb" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> General </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-whatlinkshere" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:WhatLinksHere/Battle_of_Ladysmith" title="List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [j]" accesskey="j"><span>What links here</span></a></li><li id="t-recentchangeslinked" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:RecentChangesLinked/Battle_of_Ladysmith" rel="nofollow" title="Recent changes in pages linked from this page [k]" accesskey="k"><span>Related changes</span></a></li><li id="t-upload" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard" title="Upload files [u]" accesskey="u"><span>Upload file</span></a></li><li id="t-specialpages" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/wiki/Special:SpecialPages" title="A list of all special pages [q]" accesskey="q"><span>Special pages</span></a></li><li id="t-permalink" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&oldid=1243321460" title="Permanent link to this revision of this page"><span>Permanent link</span></a></li><li id="t-info" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=info" title="More information about this page"><span>Page information</span></a></li><li id="t-cite" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:CiteThisPage&page=Battle_of_Ladysmith&id=1243321460&wpFormIdentifier=titleform" title="Information on how to cite this page"><span>Cite this page</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:UrlShortener&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBattle_of_Ladysmith"><span>Get shortened URL</span></a></li><li id="t-urlshortener-qrcode" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:QrCode&url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBattle_of_Ladysmith"><span>Download QR code</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-coll-print_export" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-coll-print_export" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> Print/export </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="coll-download-as-rl" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Special:DownloadAsPdf&page=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=show-download-screen" title="Download this page as a PDF file"><span>Download as PDF</span></a></li><li id="t-print" class="mw-list-item"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&printable=yes" title="Printable version of this page [p]" accesskey="p"><span>Printable version</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="p-wikibase-otherprojects" class="vector-menu mw-portlet mw-portlet-wikibase-otherprojects" > <div class="vector-menu-heading"> In other projects </div> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li id="t-wikibase" class="wb-otherproject-link wb-otherproject-wikibase-dataitem mw-list-item"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q2889085" title="Structured data on this page hosted by Wikidata [g]" accesskey="g"><span>Wikidata item</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-column-end"> <div class="vector-sticky-pinned-container"> <nav class="vector-page-tools-landmark" aria-label="Page tools"> <div id="vector-page-tools-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> </div> </nav> <nav class="vector-appearance-landmark" aria-label="Appearance"> <div id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" class="vector-pinned-container"> <div id="vector-appearance" class="vector-appearance vector-pinnable-element"> <div class="vector-pinnable-header vector-appearance-pinnable-header vector-pinnable-header-pinned" data-feature-name="appearance-pinned" data-pinnable-element-id="vector-appearance" data-pinned-container-id="vector-appearance-pinned-container" data-unpinned-container-id="vector-appearance-unpinned-container" > <div class="vector-pinnable-header-label">Appearance</div> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-pin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.pin">move to sidebar</button> <button class="vector-pinnable-header-toggle-button vector-pinnable-header-unpin-button" data-event-name="pinnable-header.vector-appearance.unpin">hide</button> </div> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div id="bodyContent" class="vector-body" aria-labelledby="firstHeading" data-mw-ve-target-container> <div class="vector-body-before-content"> <div class="mw-indicators"> <div id="mw-indicator-coordinates" class="mw-indicator"><div class="mw-parser-output"><span id="coordinates"><a href="/wiki/Geographic_coordinate_system" title="Geographic coordinate system">Coordinates</a>: <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1156832818">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Battle_of_Ladysmith&params=28_33.6_S_29_46.8_E_type:city_region:ZA&title=Ladysmith"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">28°33.6′S</span> <span class="longitude">29°46.8′E</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="vcard"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">28.5600°S 29.7800°E</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">-28.5600; 29.7800</span></span><span style="display:none"> (<span class="fn org">Ladysmith</span>)</span></span></span></a></span></span></div></div> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">1899 battle of the Second Boer War</div> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r963460841">@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .desktop-float-right{box-sizing:border-box;float:right;clear:right}}.mw-parser-output .infobox.vevent .status>p:first-child{margin:0}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1034237262">.mw-parser-output .stack{box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .stack>div{margin:1px;overflow:hidden}@media all and (min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .stack-clear-left{float:left;clear:left}.mw-parser-output .stack-clear-right{float:right;clear:right}.mw-parser-output .stack-left{float:left}.mw-parser-output .stack-right{float:right}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-clear-left{float:left;clear:left;margin-right:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-clear-right{float:right;clear:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-left{float:left;margin-right:1em}.mw-parser-output .stack-margin-right{float:right;margin-left:1em}}</style><div class="stack mw-stack stack-clear-right"><div><table class="infobox vevent" style="width:25.5em;border-spacing:2px;"><tbody><tr><th class="summary" colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Battle of Ladysmith</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="background-color:#DCDCDC;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;">Part of <a href="/wiki/Second_Boer_War" title="Second Boer War">Second Boer War</a></td></tr><tr><td colspan="2"><table style="width:100%;margin:0;padding:0;border:0;display:inline-table"><tbody><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Date</th><td>30 October 1899</td></tr><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Location</th><td><div class="location"><a href="/wiki/Ladysmith,_KwaZulu-Natal" title="Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal">Ladysmith</a> (also known as uMnambithi), <a href="/wiki/Colony_of_Natal" title="Colony of Natal">Colony of Natal</a></div></td></tr><tr><th style="padding-right:1em">Result</th><td class="status"> Boer victory</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Belligerents</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;"> <span data-sort-value="United Kingdom"><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/46px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="600" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland" title="United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland">United Kingdom</a></span></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em"> <span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/23px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/35px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/45px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/South_African_Republic" title="South African Republic">South African Republic</a><br /><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg/35px-Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg/45px-Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="420" data-file-height="280" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Orange_Free_State" title="Orange Free State">Orange Free State</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Commanders and leaders</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;"> <span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/United_Kingdom" title="United Kingdom"><img alt="United Kingdom" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/35px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/ae/Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg/46px-Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="600" /></a></span></span> <a href="/wiki/George_White_(British_Army_officer)" title="George White (British Army officer)">George Stuart White</a></td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em"> <span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/South_African_Republic" title="South African Republic"><img alt="South African Republic" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/23px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/35px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/45px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" /></a></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Petrus_Jacobus_Joubert" class="mw-redirect" title="Petrus Jacobus Joubert">Petrus Jacobus Joubert</a><br /><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/South_African_Republic" title="South African Republic"><img alt="South African Republic" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/23px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/35px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Flag_of_Transvaal.svg/45px-Flag_of_Transvaal.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="800" /></a></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Louis_Botha" title="Louis Botha">Louis Botha</a><br /><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/Orange_Free_State" title="Orange Free State"><img alt="Orange Free State" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg/23px-Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg/35px-Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6b/Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg/45px-Flag_of_the_Orange_Free_State.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="420" data-file-height="280" /></a></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Christiaan_De_Wet" class="mw-redirect" title="Christiaan De Wet">Christiaan De Wet</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Strength</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;"> 12,500</td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em"> 21,000<br />24 field guns<br />4 heavy guns</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;text-align:center;vertical-align:middle;font-size:110%;">Casualties and losses</th></tr><tr><td style="width:50%;border-right:1px dotted #aaa;"> 400 killed or wounded<br />800 captured</td><td style="width:50%;padding-left:0.25em"> 200</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Second_Boer_War" style="margin:0;float:right;clear:right;width:25.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:1em;;padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks navbox-vertical mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Campaignbox_Second_Boer_War" title="Template:Campaignbox Second Boer War"><abbr title="View this template" style="color:inherit">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Campaignbox_Second_Boer_War" title="Template talk:Campaignbox Second Boer War"><abbr title="Discuss this template" style="color:inherit">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Campaignbox_Second_Boer_War" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Campaignbox Second Boer War"><abbr title="Edit this template" style="color:inherit">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Second_Boer_War" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><span style="line-height:1.6em"><a href="/wiki/Second_Boer_War" title="Second Boer War"><span class="wrap">Second Boer War</span></a></span></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"><b>1899</b> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Kraaipan" title="Battle of Kraaipan">Kraaipan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Siege_of_Mafeking" title="Siege of Mafeking">Mafeking</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Siege_of_Kimberley" title="Siege of Kimberley">Kimberley</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Talana_Hill" title="Battle of Talana Hill">Talana Hill</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Elandslaagte" title="Battle of Elandslaagte">Elandslaagte</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">1st Ladysmith</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Siege_of_Ladysmith" title="Siege of Ladysmith">2nd Ladysmith</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Chieveley" title="Battle of Chieveley">Chieveley</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Willow_Grange" title="Battle of Willow Grange">Willow Grange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Belmont_(1899)" title="Battle of Belmont (1899)">Belmont</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Graspan" title="Battle of Graspan">Graspan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Modder_River" title="Battle of Modder River">Modder River</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Stormberg" title="Battle of Stormberg">Stormberg</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Magersfontein" title="Battle of Magersfontein">Magersfontein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Colenso" title="Battle of Colenso">Colenso</a></li></ul> <p><b>1900</b> </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Spion_Kop" title="Battle of Spion Kop">Spion Kop</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Vaal_Krantz" title="Battle of Vaal Krantz">Vaal Krantz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Paardeberg" title="Battle of Paardeberg">Paardeberg</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bloody_Sunday_(1900)" title="Bloody Sunday (1900)">Bloody Sunday</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tugela_Heights" title="Battle of the Tugela Heights">Tugela Heights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Relief_of_Ladysmith" title="Relief of Ladysmith">3rd Ladysmith</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Poplar_Grove" title="Battle of Poplar Grove">Poplar Grove</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Driefontein" title="Battle of Driefontein">Driefontein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sanna%27s_Post" title="Sanna's Post">Sanna's Post</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Boshof" title="Battle of Boshof">Boshof</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Veertien_Strome" title="Battle of Veertien Strome">Veertien Strome</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Advance_on_Pretoria" title="Advance on Pretoria">Pretoria Offensive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Doornkop" title="Battle of Doornkop">Doornkop</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Faber%27s_Put" title="Battle of Faber's Put">Faber's Put</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Diamond_Hill" title="Battle of Diamond Hill">Diamond Hill</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Witpoort" title="Battle of Witpoort">Witpoort</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Elands_River_(1900)" title="Battle of Elands River (1900)">1st Elands River</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Bergendal" title="Battle of Bergendal">Bergendal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Bothaville" title="Battle of Bothaville">Bothaville</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Rhenosterkop" title="Battle of Rhenosterkop">Rhenosterkop</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Leliefontein" title="Battle of Leliefontein">Leliefontein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Nooitgedacht" title="Battle of Nooitgedacht">Nooitgedacht</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Helvetia" title="Battle of Helvetia">Helvetia</a></li></ul> <p><b>1901</b> </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Middelfontein" title="Battle of Middelfontein">Middelfontein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Hartbeesfontein" title="Battle of Hartbeesfontein">Hartbeesfontein</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Groenkloof" title="Battle of Groenkloof">Groenkloof</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Breaker_Morant#The_Battle_at_Duivelskloof" title="Breaker Morant">Duivelskloof</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Elands_River_(1901)" title="Battle of Elands River (1901)">2nd Elands River</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Blood_River_Poort" title="Battle of Blood River Poort">Blood River Poort</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Bakenlaagte" title="Battle of Bakenlaagte">Bakenlaagte</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Groenkop" title="Battle of Groenkop">Groenkop</a></li></ul> <p><b>1902</b> </p> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Tweebosch" title="Battle of Tweebosch">Tweebosch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Hart%27s_River" title="Battle of Hart's River">Hart's River</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Rooiwal" title="Battle of Rooiwal">Rooiwal</a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Natal_Front" style="margin:0;float:right;clear:right;width:25.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;margin-left:1em;;padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks navbox-vertical mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2" style="background-color:#C3D6EF;color:inherit;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Campaignbox_Natal_Front" title="Template:Campaignbox Natal Front"><abbr title="View this template" style="color:inherit">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/w/index.php?title=Template_talk:Campaignbox_Natal_Front&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Template talk:Campaignbox Natal Front (page does not exist)"><abbr title="Discuss this template" style="color:inherit">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Campaignbox_Natal_Front" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Campaignbox Natal Front"><abbr title="Edit this template" style="color:inherit">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Natal_Front" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><span style="line-height:1.6em">Natal Front</span></div></th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Talana_Hill" title="Battle of Talana Hill">Talana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Elandslaagte" title="Battle of Elandslaagte">Elandslaagte</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Ladysmith (Battle)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Siege_of_Ladysmith" title="Siege of Ladysmith">Ladysmith (Siege)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Chieveley" title="Battle of Chieveley">Chieveley</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Willow_Grange" title="Battle of Willow Grange">Willow Grange</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Colenso" title="Battle of Colenso">Colenso</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Spion_Kop" title="Battle of Spion Kop">Spion Kop</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Vaal_Krantz" title="Battle of Vaal Krantz">Vaal Kranz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_the_Tugela_Heights" title="Battle of the Tugela Heights">Tugela Heights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Relief_of_Ladysmith" title="Relief of Ladysmith">Ladysmith (Relief)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Laing%27s_Nek_(1900)" title="Battle of Laing's Nek (1900)">Laing's Nek</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Blood_River_Poort" title="Battle of Blood River Poort">Blood River Port</a></li> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div></div></div> <p>The <b>Battle of Ladysmith</b> was one of the early engagements of the <a href="/wiki/Second_Boer_War" title="Second Boer War">Second Boer War</a>. A large British force which had concentrated at the garrison town of <a href="/wiki/Ladysmith,_KwaZulu-Natal" title="Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal">Ladysmith</a> launched a sortie on 30 October 1899, against Boer armies which were slowly surrounding the town. The result was a disaster for the British. The main body was driven back into the town, and an isolated detachment of 800 men was forced to surrender to Commandant De Wet. The Boers did not follow up their advantage by proceeding towards the strategically important port of Durban, and instead began a <a href="/wiki/Siege_of_Ladysmith" title="Siege of Ladysmith">siege of Ladysmith</a>, which was relieved after 118 days. <a href="/wiki/John_Norwood" title="John Norwood">John Norwood</a> was awarded the <a href="/wiki/Victoria_Cross" title="Victoria Cross">Victoria Cross</a> for his actions during the battle. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Background">Background</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Background"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In June 1899, when it appeared hostilities between Britain and the independent Boer republics were likely, the British government began sending troops to South Africa as a precaution. Most went to <a href="/wiki/Colony_of_Natal" title="Colony of Natal">Natal</a>, where the vital port of <a href="/wiki/Durban" title="Durban">Durban</a> appeared to be within comparatively easy striking distance for the Boer forces. The British government was unwilling to order a complete mobilization, but on the recommendation of the Commander in Chief of the British Army, General <a href="/wiki/Garnet_Wolseley,_1st_Viscount_Wolseley" title="Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley">Wolseley</a>, they agreed to send 10,000 troops which Wolseley believed could defend Natal if war broke out until reinforcements could arrive by sea. </p><p>The first contingent were some troops returning to Britain from <a href="/wiki/British_India" class="mw-redirect" title="British India">India</a>, under Major General <a href="/wiki/Penn_Symons" title="Penn Symons">Penn Symons</a>. The <a href="/wiki/War_Office" title="War Office">War Office</a> subsequently dispatched units from garrisons in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, eventually totaling 15,000. Lieutenant General Sir <a href="/wiki/George_White_(British_Army_officer)" title="George White (British Army officer)">George White</a> was appointed to command this enlarged force. White was 64 years old, and suffered from a leg injury incurred in a riding accident. Having served mainly in India, he had little previous experience in South Africa. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="British_deployments">British deployments</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: British deployments"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Natal was divided roughly into northern and southern parts by the <a href="/wiki/Tugela_River" title="Tugela River">Tugela River</a>. Northern Natal was surrounded on three sides by Boer territory. Although advised to deploy his force south of the Tugela, White rejected this advice for reasons of prestige.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Other senior British officers considered that White was badly advised by over-eager officers such as Penn-Symons or White's Adjutant General, Colonel <a href="/wiki/Ian_Standish_Monteith_Hamilton" class="mw-redirect" title="Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton">Ian Hamilton</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> White concentrated the bulk of his force at Ladysmith, about 12 miles (19 km) north of the Tugela, while a brigade under Penn-Symons was posted even further north at <a href="/wiki/Glencoe,_KwaZulu-Natal" title="Glencoe, KwaZulu-Natal">Glencoe</a> and <a href="/wiki/Dundee,_KwaZulu-Natal" title="Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal">Dundee</a>. <a href="/wiki/Penn_Symons" title="Penn Symons">Penn Symons</a>' position was particularly exposed to danger, being so far north that it was vulnerable to being surrounded, while not far enough north to block the passes through the <a href="/wiki/Drakensberg" title="Drakensberg">Drakensberg</a> mountains which the main Boer armies would have to cross to invade Natal. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Outbreak_of_war">Outbreak of war</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Outbreak of war"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Contrary to the advice of several British officials such as Sir <a href="/wiki/Alfred_Milner,_1st_Viscount_Milner" title="Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner">Alfred Milner</a>, the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, the independent Boer governments were not over-awed by the despatch of British troops to Natal. Instead, they regarded it as evidence of Britain's determination to seize control of the Boer republics. The South African Republic or Transvaal government under President <a href="/wiki/Paul_Kruger" title="Paul Kruger">Paul Kruger</a> considered launching an attack in September, but President <a href="/wiki/Martinus_Theunis_Steyn" title="Martinus Theunis Steyn">Steyn</a> of the Orange Free State dissuaded them for several weeks while he tried to act as intermediary. With the complete breakdown in negotiations, both independent republics declared war and attacked on 12 October. </p><p> A total of 21,000 Boers advanced into Natal from all sides.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The only regular uniformed units were the <i><a href="/wiki/State_Artillery_Regiment" title="State Artillery Regiment">Staatsartillerie</a></i> of both republics (and some units of policemen such as the <a href="/wiki/South_African_Republic_Police" title="South African Republic Police">South African Republic Police</a> or ZARP). The rest were mainly farmers, dressed in their ordinary working clothes, with some townsmen and contingents of foreign volunteers known as <a href="/wiki/Boer_foreign_volunteers" title="Boer foreign volunteers">Vrijwilligers</a>. </p><figure typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Long_Tom_Pass_at_Long_Tom_Pass.jpeg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Long_Tom_Pass_at_Long_Tom_Pass.jpeg/140px-Long_Tom_Pass_at_Long_Tom_Pass.jpeg" decoding="async" width="140" height="187" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Long_Tom_Pass_at_Long_Tom_Pass.jpeg/210px-Long_Tom_Pass_at_Long_Tom_Pass.jpeg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Long_Tom_Pass_at_Long_Tom_Pass.jpeg/280px-Long_Tom_Pass_at_Long_Tom_Pass.jpeg 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="1200" /></a><figcaption>Replica of the 155 mm Creusot Long Tom gun.</figcaption></figure> <p>All were mounted, and most were armed with <a href="/wiki/Mauser" title="Mauser">Mauser</a> <a href="/wiki/Bolt-action" class="mw-redirect" title="Bolt-action">Bolt-action</a> rifles. The artillery had two dozen German manufactured <a href="/wiki/Krupp" title="Krupp">Krupp</a> field guns and four heavy French manufactured <a href="/wiki/155_mm_Creusot_Long_Tom" title="155 mm Creusot Long Tom">155 mm Creusot Long Tom</a> guns. </p><p>On 20 October, two Boer forces attacked Penn-Symons' detachment at Dundee but were driven back at the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Talana_Hill" title="Battle of Talana Hill">Battle of Talana Hill</a>. The British suffered heavy casualties (including Penn-Symons, who was mortally wounded) and were cut off from Ladysmith by another Boer force which captured a railway station at Elandslaagte which lay between them. On 21 October, British troops under Colonel Ian Hamilton and White's cavalry commander, Colonel <a href="/wiki/John_French,_1st_Earl_of_Ypres" title="John French, 1st Earl of Ypres">John French</a>, recaptured the station in the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Elandslaagte" title="Battle of Elandslaagte">Battle of Elandslaagte</a>. White was unable to follow up this success by relieving Penn-Symons's force (now commanded by Brigadier General <a href="/wiki/James_Yule" title="James Yule">J.H. Yule</a>) as he feared that 6,000 Boers from the Orange Free State were about to attack Ladysmith. This decision highlighted Ladysmith's exposed position. </p><p>Yule's force had to make an exhausting four-day march across the Biggarsberg hills before they could rejoin White in Ladysmith. On 24 October, White made a demonstration at Rietfontein against the Boers pressing forward down the railway line from Glencoe to Ladysmith, to distract them from attacking Yule. The British suffered 132 casualties, mainly from artillery fire.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Battle_of_Ladysmith">Battle of Ladysmith</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Battle of Ladysmith"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="British_plans">British plans</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: British plans"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Rather than retreat south of the Tugela, White continued to mass supplies and reinforcements in Ladysmith. (He sent the wounded south to <a href="/wiki/Pietermaritzburg" title="Pietermaritzburg">Pietermaritzburg</a> but left the civilians and other non-combatants in the town.)<sup id="cite_ref-ConanDoyle_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ConanDoyle-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As the British troops concentrated in Ladysmith now constituted a balanced "field force" of all arms, White also rejected the option of leaving an infantry garrison in Ladysmith while sending the bulk of the mounted troops and artillery south of the river. He gambled on being able to strike a knock-out blow against the Boer armies in a "set-piece" action. This was despite the disadvantages of the terrain, with Ladysmith being on low ground surrounded by hills rising to 500 feet (150 m) above the town, which gave the Boers the advantage of height. </p> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Devonshire_Regiment-Ladysmith.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Devonshire_Regiment-Ladysmith.JPG/300px-Devonshire_Regiment-Ladysmith.JPG" decoding="async" width="300" height="172" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Devonshire_Regiment-Ladysmith.JPG/450px-Devonshire_Regiment-Ladysmith.JPG 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Devonshire_Regiment-Ladysmith.JPG 2x" data-file-width="496" data-file-height="285" /></a><figcaption>Devonshire Regiment facing Pepworth Hill, firing from behind boulders which provided for an effective cover.</figcaption></figure> <p>From 26 to 29 October, White sent out tentative cavalry reconnaissances, which he recalled when it appeared that Boer horsemen might cut them off. On 29 October, Boers could be seen emplacing one of their heavy Creusot siege guns on Pepworth Hill, roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) north-north east of the town. Before this gun could open fire, White had already made plans for attack the following dawn, based on incomplete reconnaissances and observations. </p><p>The main frontal attack was intended to capture Pepworth Hill. The column was led by Colonel Ian Hamilton and consisted of the 1st battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Devonshire_Regiment" title="Devonshire Regiment">Devonshire Regiment</a>, 1st battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Manchester_Regiment" title="Manchester Regiment">Manchester Regiment</a>, 2nd battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Gordon_Highlanders" title="Gordon Highlanders">Gordon Highlanders</a> and 2nd battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Rifle_Brigade" class="mw-redirect" title="Rifle Brigade">Rifle Brigade</a>. This attack was to be supported by a column under Colonel Geoffrey Grimwood, consisting of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the <a href="/wiki/King%27s_Royal_Rifle_Corps" title="King's Royal Rifle Corps">King's Royal Rifle Corps</a>; 1st Battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Leicestershire_Regiment" class="mw-redirect" title="Leicestershire Regiment">Leicestershire Regiment</a>; 1st Battalion, the <a href="/wiki/King%27s_Liverpool_Regiment" class="mw-redirect" title="King's Liverpool Regiment">King's Liverpool Regiment</a>; and the 2nd Battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Royal_Dublin_Fusiliers" title="Royal Dublin Fusiliers">Royal Dublin Fusiliers</a>, which would attack the supposed Boer left flank and capture Long Hill, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Pepworth Hill. The bulk of the mounted troops under Colonel John French (the <a href="/wiki/5th_Royal_Irish_Lancers" title="5th Royal Irish Lancers">5th Lancers</a>, <a href="/wiki/5th_Dragoon_Guards" title="5th Dragoon Guards">5th Dragoon Guards</a>, <a href="/wiki/18th_Royal_Hussars" title="18th Royal Hussars">18th Hussars</a> less a squadron lost at Talana Hill, <a href="/wiki/19th_Royal_Hussars" title="19th Royal Hussars">19th Hussars</a>, several companies of <a href="/wiki/Mounted_infantry" title="Mounted infantry">Mounted infantry</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Natal_Carbineers" class="mw-redirect" title="Natal Carbineers">Natal Carbineers</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Imperial_Light_Horse" class="mw-redirect" title="Imperial Light Horse">Imperial Light Horse</a> were stationed in reserve or to Grimwood's right. Six batteries (the 13th, 21st, 42nd, 53rd, 67th and 69th) of 15-pounder guns of the <a href="/wiki/Royal_Artillery" title="Royal Artillery">Royal Artillery</a> were to support the attacks.<sup id="cite_ref-ConanDoyle_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ConanDoyle-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>White also sent a detachment consisting of the 1st Battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Royal_Irish_Fusiliers" title="Royal Irish Fusiliers">Royal Irish Fusiliers</a> and half of the 1st Battalion, the <a href="/wiki/Gloucestershire_Regiment" title="Gloucestershire Regiment">Gloucestershire Regiment</a>, with Number 10 Mountain Battery (equipped with <a href="/wiki/RML_2.5-inch_Mountain_Gun" class="mw-redirect" title="RML 2.5-inch Mountain Gun">RML 2.5-inch Mountain Guns</a>) to capture a pass known as Nicholson's Nek which lay about 3 miles (4.8 km) to the northwest of Pepworth Hill. The force was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Carleton of the Royal Irish Fusiliers. White intended that by seizing the pass, this detachment would prevent the Boer force from the Orange Free State reinforcing the Transvaal Boers on Pepworth Hill, and also prevent the defeated Boers retreating directly north. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Lombard's_Kop"><span id="Lombard.27s_Kop"></span>Lombard's Kop</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Lombard's Kop"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Grimwood's brigade had deployed during the night around Lombard's Kop and Farquhar's Farm, and faced north towards Long Hill. As dawn broke, Grimwood found that half his brigade had straggled, and French's mounted troops had not reached their assigned position. Before this could be corrected, the British troops came under heavy rifle fire from their own right flank. The Boers in this sector were nominally commanded by the elderly Commandant <a href="/wiki/Lucas_Johannes_Meyer" title="Lucas Johannes Meyer">Lucas Johannes Meyer</a>, but were actually led by <a href="/wiki/Louis_Botha" title="Louis Botha">Louis Botha</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-Kruger93_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kruger93-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>At the same time, the first shell from the Boers' "Long Tom" on Pepworth Hill landed in the town, causing consternation. The British field guns opened fire on Pepworth Hill and Long Hill, and temporarily silenced the Boer siege gun but Colonel Ian Hamilton's frontal attack on Pepworth Hill was called off as it became clear that Grimwood was in trouble, and Hamilton's attack would not be supported. Although the main body of South African Republic Boers under Commandant-General <a href="/wiki/Piet_Joubert" title="Piet Joubert">Piet Joubert</a> were stationed behind Pepworth Hill, there were none on Long Hill, and fire on this hill was wasted. The British artillery itself came under accurate and effective fire from the Boers' field guns, which were fought as individual gun detachments, and were quickly moved between emplacements before British guns could find their range. The British guns were deployed as they had been drilled to do, in neat rows of six without using cover from artillery or even rifle fire. Their fire was not as effective as that of the Boer <i>Staatsartillerie</i>, and they incurred needless casualties.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>After four hours, White had received no messages from Carleton, although firing could be heard from the position he was supposed to have occupied. With no prospect of a successful attack, he ordered his troops to "retire as opportunity offers". As they began to fall back into the open plain between Lombard's Kop and Ladysmith, they came under heavy fire from Botha's riflemen and the Boer gun on Pepworth Hill. Some of Grimwood's units (mainly those which had already suffered heavy casualties at Talana Hill, and were short of officers and tired) panicked and the retreat became a rout. Two batteries of field guns covered the retreat by withdrawing in stages, each battery providing covering fire in turn while the other limbered up and fell back. The British were also very fortunate that a detachment of naval guns (four 12-pounder and two 4.7-inch guns, under Captain <a href="/wiki/Percy_Scott" title="Percy Scott">Percy Scott</a> of <a href="/wiki/HMS_Terrible_(1895)" title="HMS Terrible (1895)">HMS <i>Terrible</i></a>) arrived by train in Ladysmith and went almost straight into action.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Their first few rounds immediately found the range to Pepworth Hill and suppressed the Boers' "Long Tom". </p><p>The British fell back into Ladysmith, with units temporarily demoralised. The day was subsequently termed "Mournful Monday".<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Nevertheless, the Boers did not immediately take advantage of their victory. It is said that when Joubert was urged to follow up the British infantry, he replied, "When God stretches out a finger, do not take the whole hand".<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Nicholson's_Nek"><span id="Nicholson.27s_Nek"></span>Nicholson's Nek</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Nicholson's Nek"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>White was not aware of the fate of Carleton's force until the next day, when Joubert sent a letter which also unilaterally granted an armistice to allow the dead to be buried. Carleton's force had been late setting out because the mules carrying his guns and reserve ammunition had not been properly controlled by inexperienced drivers and had been fractious. As dawn approached, Carleton feared that because of the late start, his force would be exposed at daybreak in the open plain between Pepworth Hill and the Nek. He therefore decided to occupy a hill known as Tchrengula just to the south of the Nek. As they climbed the hill, the mules bolted and startled British soldiers fired several shots, alerting the nearest Boers.<sup id="cite_ref-Kruger93_6-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Kruger93-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Carleton's men began preparing <a href="/wiki/Sangar_(fortification)" title="Sangar (fortification)">sangars</a> on what they thought was the summit of Tchrengula. In fact the mile-long summit was divided into two peaks, and in the dark, the British had occupied only the southern, lower summit. Vice Commandant <a href="/wiki/Christiaan_De_Wet" class="mw-redirect" title="Christiaan De Wet">Christiaan De Wet</a> quickly grasped the situation, and led some men on horseback to gallop to the northern end of the hill, where they dismounted and climbed the hill to occupy the undefended northern summit. From there, the Boers pressed forward along the summit which was strewn with rocks which gave individual Boer riflemen ample cover. The British sangars were exposed and obvious targets to the Boers, and gave inadequate protection. Like the artillery, the British infantry relied on drill, firing volleys on the command of an officer. By the time the order had been given, the intended target was safe behind cover, while the British soldiers were exposed to fire.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The British infantry resisted for several hours, but the numbers of wounded and killed increased and ammunition ran out. Finally, as the main British force could be seen retreating into Ladysmith, Carleton gave the order to surrender. A British officer waved a white flag at the same time. Some of the British troops had seen no reason for the surrender and felt themselves humiliated by the order. Eight hundred soldiers were taken prisoner.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Aftermath">Aftermath</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Aftermath"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Since the Boers launched no immediate assault, the British force reorganised and constructed defensive lines around the town, which would require a major effort to overcome. They recovered morale through some small-scale raids at night which sabotaged some of the Boer artillery. Thereafter the siege became a long drawn-out blockade, except for a single storming attempt. After several failures, a force under General <a href="/wiki/Redvers_Buller" title="Redvers Buller">Redvers Buller</a>, who was later known as "Sir Reverse" and the "Ferryman of the Tugela", broke through the Boer forces defending the Tugela to effect the <a href="/wiki/Relief_of_Ladysmith" title="Relief of Ladysmith">Relief of Ladysmith</a> on 28 February 1900. Britain then went on to regain control of South Africa. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pakenham (1979), pp. 107–108</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pakenham (1979), pp.161, p. 178</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pakenham (1979), p. 106</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kruger, p. 89</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-ConanDoyle-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-ConanDoyle_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ConanDoyle_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080511172308/http://www.pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-07.htm">"Arthur Conan Doyle, The Great Boer War, Ch. 7"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-07.htm">the original</a> on 11 May 2008<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">8 November</span> 2008</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Arthur+Conan+Doyle%2C+The+Great+Boer+War%2C+Ch.+7&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinetreeweb.com%2Fconan-doyle-chapter-07.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+Ladysmith" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Kruger93-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Kruger93_6-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Kruger93_6-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Kruger, p. 93</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">McElwee, p. 220</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kruger, p. 95</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Pakenham (1979), p. 154</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kruger, p. 97</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kruger, p. 96</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Kruger, pp. 95–96</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bibliography">Bibliography</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Bibliography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Kruger, Rayne; <i>Goodbye Dolly Gray</i>, New English Library, 1964</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFMcElwee1974" class="citation book cs1">McElwee, William (1974). <span class="id-lock-registration" title="Free registration required"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/artofwarwaterloo0000mcel"><i>The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons</i></a></span>. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-253-20214-0" title="Special:BookSources/0-253-20214-0"><bdi>0-253-20214-0</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Art+of+War%3A+Waterloo+to+Mons&rft.place=Bloomington&rft.pub=Indiana+University+Press&rft.date=1974&rft.isbn=0-253-20214-0&rft.aulast=McElwee&rft.aufirst=William&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fartofwarwaterloo0000mcel&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+Ladysmith" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPakenham1979" class="citation book cs1"><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Pakenham_(historian)" title="Thomas Pakenham (historian)">Pakenham, Thomas</a> (1979). <i>The Boer War</i>. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7474-0976-5" title="Special:BookSources/0-7474-0976-5"><bdi>0-7474-0976-5</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Boer+War&rft.pub=Weidenfeld+%26+Nicolson&rft.date=1979&rft.isbn=0-7474-0976-5&rft.aulast=Pakenham&rft.aufirst=Thomas&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ABattle+of+Ladysmith" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080511172308/http://www.pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-07.htm">Conan Doyle, Arthur; The Great Boer War</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20060621111316/http://www.free-ebooks-uk.netfirms.com/great-boer-war/13-the-siege-of-ladysmith.html">free ebooks uk</a></li></ul> <p><span class="geo-inline-hidden noexcerpt"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1156832818">.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct,.mw-parser-output .geo-inline-hidden{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}</style><span class="plainlinks nourlexpansion"><a class="external text" href="https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Battle_of_Ladysmith&params=28_33.6_S_29_46.8_E_type:city_region:ZA&title=Ladysmith"><span class="geo-default"><span class="geo-dms" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location"><span class="latitude">28°33.6′S</span> <span class="longitude">29°46.8′E</span></span></span><span class="geo-multi-punct"> / </span><span class="geo-nondefault"><span class="vcard"><span class="geo-dec" title="Maps, aerial photos, and other data for this location">28.5600°S 29.7800°E</span><span style="display:none"> / <span class="geo">-28.5600; 29.7800</span></span><span style="display:none"> (<span class="fn org">Ladysmith</span>)</span></span></span></a></span></span> </p>    </div><noscript><img src="https://login.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:CentralAutoLogin/start?type=1x1" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="border: none; position: absolute;"></noscript> <div class="printfooter" data-nosnippet="">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&oldid=1243321460">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&oldid=1243321460</a>"</div></div> <div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category">Categories</a>: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Conflicts_in_1899" title="Category:Conflicts in 1899">Conflicts in 1899</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Conflicts_in_1900" title="Category:Conflicts in 1900">Conflicts in 1900</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Battles_of_the_Second_Boer_War" title="Category:Battles of the Second Boer War">Battles of the Second Boer War</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:1899_in_the_Colony_of_Natal" title="Category:1899 in the Colony of Natal">1899 in the Colony of Natal</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:History_of_KwaZulu-Natal" title="Category:History of KwaZulu-Natal">History of KwaZulu-Natal</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:October_1899_events" title="Category:October 1899 events">October 1899 events</a></li></ul></div><div id="mw-hidden-catlinks" class="mw-hidden-catlinks mw-hidden-cats-hidden">Hidden categories: <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Pages_using_gadget_WikiMiniAtlas" title="Category:Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas">Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Articles_with_short_description" title="Category:Articles with short description">Articles with short description</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Short_description_is_different_from_Wikidata" title="Category:Short description is different from Wikidata">Short description is different from Wikidata</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Use_South_African_English_from_May_2013" title="Category:Use South African English from May 2013">Use South African English from May 2013</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:All_Wikipedia_articles_written_in_South_African_English" title="Category:All Wikipedia articles written in South African English">All Wikipedia articles written in South African English</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Use_dmy_dates_from_December_2022" title="Category:Use dmy dates from December 2022">Use dmy dates from December 2022</a></li><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Coordinates_on_Wikidata" title="Category:Coordinates on Wikidata">Coordinates on Wikidata</a></li></ul></div></div> </div> </main> </div> <div class="mw-footer-container"> <footer id="footer" class="mw-footer" > <ul id="footer-info"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 31 August 2024, at 20:44<span class="anonymous-show"> (UTC)</span>.</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Text is available under the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_the_Creative_Commons_Attribution-ShareAlike_4.0_International_License" title="Wikipedia:Text of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License">Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License</a>; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms_of_Use" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Terms of Use">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy" class="extiw" title="foundation:Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy policy">Privacy Policy</a>. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/">Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.</a>, a non-profit organization.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-disclaimers"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:General_disclaimer">Disclaimers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-contact"><a href="//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contact_us">Contact Wikipedia</a></li> <li id="footer-places-wm-codeofconduct"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Universal_Code_of_Conduct">Code of Conduct</a></li> <li id="footer-places-developers"><a href="https://developer.wikimedia.org">Developers</a></li> <li id="footer-places-statslink"><a href="https://stats.wikimedia.org/#/en.wikipedia.org">Statistics</a></li> <li id="footer-places-cookiestatement"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Cookie_statement">Cookie statement</a></li> <li id="footer-places-mobileview"><a href="//en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Ladysmith&mobileaction=toggle_view_mobile" class="noprint stopMobileRedirectToggle">Mobile view</a></li> </ul> <ul id="footer-icons" class="noprint"> <li id="footer-copyrightico"><a href="https://wikimediafoundation.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/static/images/footer/wikimedia-button.svg" width="84" height="29" alt="Wikimedia Foundation" loading="lazy"></a></li> <li id="footer-poweredbyico"><a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/" class="cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button--enabled"><img src="/w/resources/assets/poweredby_mediawiki.svg" alt="Powered by MediaWiki" width="88" height="31" loading="lazy"></a></li> </ul> </footer> </div> </div> </div> <div class="vector-settings" id="p-dock-bottom"> <ul></ul> </div><script>(RLQ=window.RLQ||[]).push(function(){mw.config.set({"wgHostname":"mw-web.codfw.main-f69cdc8f6-wjlpq","wgBackendResponseTime":155,"wgPageParseReport":{"limitreport":{"cputime":"0.377","walltime":"0.573","ppvisitednodes":{"value":1841,"limit":1000000},"postexpandincludesize":{"value":48178,"limit":2097152},"templateargumentsize":{"value":5407,"limit":2097152},"expansiondepth":{"value":12,"limit":100},"expensivefunctioncount":{"value":3,"limit":500},"unstrip-depth":{"value":1,"limit":20},"unstrip-size":{"value":31118,"limit":5000000},"entityaccesscount":{"value":1,"limit":400},"timingprofile":["100.00% 494.368 1 -total"," 38.59% 190.752 1 Template:Infobox_military_conflict"," 20.19% 99.799 1 Template:Reflist"," 19.45% 96.179 1 Template:Campaignbox_Second_Boer_War"," 19.45% 96.164 2 Template:Campaignbox"," 16.17% 79.919 1 Template:Cite_web"," 15.00% 74.132 1 Template:Short_description"," 8.87% 43.867 2 Template:Pagetype"," 6.39% 31.593 5 Template:Convert"," 6.36% 31.453 1 Template:Coord"]},"scribunto":{"limitreport-timeusage":{"value":"0.215","limit":"10.000"},"limitreport-memusage":{"value":5366674,"limit":52428800}},"cachereport":{"origin":"mw-api-ext.eqiad.main-6696b4cc84-4lvdn","timestamp":"20241122144419","ttl":2592000,"transientcontent":false}}});});</script> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","name":"Battle of Ladysmith","url":"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Battle_of_Ladysmith","sameAs":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q2889085","mainEntity":"http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q2889085","author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Contributors to Wikimedia projects"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.wikimedia.org\/static\/images\/wmf-hor-googpub.png"}},"datePublished":"2008-11-08T05:31:36Z","dateModified":"2024-08-31T20:44:11Z","headline":"1899 early engagement of the Second Boer War"}</script> </body> </html>