THE LADYSMITH DISASTER.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 10522, 7 December 1899, Page 5

THE LADYSMITH DISASTER.

Ladysmith seems fated t<? be the chief eeat of the war, for we hear that another enga<nanent has taken place there, on 30th instant, in which the English met with rather a heavy loss. It appears that the Boers determined to take Ladysmith, and being reinforced by Free State Boers (bringing up their forces to 20,000 men), surrounded Ladyanith, iATested the country, and placed siege guns all round the town. Seeing that a large engagement was inevitable, Sir Geo. White determined to try and take the Boers unprepared, and at a" disadvantage. He, therefore, moved out of camp on the 30th insfc., to try and geb possession of a raojge of hills occupied

by the Boer* which wefflp&nown to be ia. •ao excelleut position to etuntre success. .Ha sent , a-detachment of' 1200 men oa ihe evening of the 29th, under Lieuti-Caltael Carieton to seize and hold if passable Belle Nek, the onkf post oa the hills; whilst he effected a footing at a- point more to tho left. The two forces wen> tbsH to advance, and clear tho hills of the foe, i combining as soon as possible, Lieut-.-Colonel Carlctoa did not "have much difficulty in taking possession of Bell's 3fek, as the jnain body of the enemy hod struck camp and were occupying a hill a short way to the north-east. Just before reaching his destination, however, a great disaster occurred. Small parties of Boers were posted on kopjes in every direction, firing at our men and rolling boulders down on the British force. As ill luck' would liave it xjne of the stones struck one of the battery mules, and the, animal, breaking loose, caused a general stampede of our batteries, to occur. " Placed in such a predicament, their only course was to seize an adjacent hill near the road where they remained unmolested till dawn. The rest of the night was spent in throw-ing up earthworks and building stone walls to protect us from fire.

At daybreak the enemy mado a heavy attack" on our position, but were repulsed. At 9.30 a.m. a general attack was made from all directions with such force that our first line- running out, we were compelled to surrender. The cavalry, however, .gqt back to camp, but 843* of the men are [reported as missing. The Gloucester Regiment and the Fusiliers are amongst the captured. All this time-our main army hod beeii engaged in shelling the enemy's strongbpld, and repulsing the flank attacks of the.Boers. A NaVaY BrU gad* .and two-lopg guns, .from H.M.S. *c&iing up in the nick .of> timo silenced 1 the enemy's, guns in c? very short tim«». ■ • * "

. .Hearing thas Colpnel Carleton'e force tad been defeated, Sir George White withdrew his men, and. returned to Ladysmith* .Kimberley ia stall surrounded, but is quite safe, all attacks being beaten off. The Boars have, brought, a big gun to shell Mafeking, but.as the weapon jumps off its carriage after every shot it is not to foe used.

General Gronje sent a letter to Colonel Baden Powell at.&lafeking oflfering to put all the holders of the town in British territory if they To this impudent epistle, Colonel Baden Powell replied that he ; reason for surrendering "but General Cronje might see more of him, as he had only just begun."