With Buller in Natal, Or, a Born LeaderHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
General
With Buller in Natal, Or, a Born Leader
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
South African War, 1899-1902 -- Fiction
As the mounted infantry had, before opening fire, taken shelter behind
bushes and rocks, there were only two or three casualties, and they
were much disappointed that the affair had been so trifling. It was
afternoon now, and for the rest of the day comparative quietude
reigned, although Monte Cristo threw an occasional shell on to the
crest of Cingola. The mounted infantry remained all night in their
position, acting as an advanced guard to the infantry; but they had
orders to descend the hill before daybreak and return to Chieveley,
there being no water obtainable for their horses, and their services
not being required for the succeeding operations. The next morning
(Sunday) a battery of field-artillery, which had been taken half-way up
Cingola, began to shell Monte Cristo, and as if this had been the
signal, the whole of the artillery on the plain opened a terrific fire
on the entrenchments of Monte Cristo, Hlangwane, and Green Hill, which
was close to Monte Cristo.
On the morning of the 18th, Lyttleton and Hildyard's brigades moved
forward to storm the precipitous peak, and Barton's brigade marched
against the tangled and difficult ground that surrounded Green Hill.
The Queen's on the right and the Scotch Fusiliers on the left led the
attack against the peak. The hillside was partly wooded, but although
the smokeless powder gave little indication as to the progress the
troops were making, occasional glimpses of the Boers flitting among the
trees showed that these were falling back. The roar of musketry was
continuous, as Hildyard's brigade and Lyttleton's were both engaged.
For a short time there was a pause, and then Lyttleton's men, having
gathered at the edge of a wood some couple of hundred yards from the
summit, advanced with a rush up the terribly steep rocks. The Boers
fired hurriedly, but the bullets flew for the most part far over the
heads of the Queen's, and then, fearful of being caught by Hildyard's
men, who were also rapidly coming up, they fled hastily.
The opposition had finally been trifling. The vast majority of the
Boers had cleared off, and the rest, after emptying their magazines,
had followed their example before the troops gained the summit, upon
which a heavy cannonade was at once opened from Grobler's Hill, Fort
Wylie, and other Boer positions. This, however, gradually slackened
under the storm of lyddite shells with which they were pelted by the
naval guns, and the important position of Hlangwane was at last
secured, and no time was lost in getting up guns and preparing for a
farther advance. Barton's brigade had been equally successful in their
attack, and half an hour after the capture of Monte Cristo the
Fusiliers crowned the summit of the wood-covered Green Hill.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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