Natal threatened--Armoured trains--Ladysmith bombarded--Assault on the town--The Boers at Chieveley--Armoured train wrecked near Chieveley--Endeavours to clear the obstruction--Capture of Mr. Winston Churchill--The Estcourt garrison in danger--Shelling of Mooi River Camp--Boer advance checked at Nottingham Road--The Willow Grange fight--Arrival of Lord Dundonald and General Buller--Comparison of the opposing armies--The forward movement begins--Boer position at Colenso--Buller determines to attack. The Boer success before Ladysmith on October 30 was not promptly followed up, probably because of the want of a properly organised transport, and the diminutive British forces outside the beleaguered town were given three or four very precious days to prepare for the worst. Colenso, we have seen, was evacuated on November 2, and the British garrison withdrawn to Estcourt, 27 miles farther south. The Boers occupied a strong position on a hill known as Grobler's Kloof, a little to the north of the Tugela, commanding thoroughly the roads between Ladysmith and Colenso. Upon this hill they placed heavy guns and erected entrenchments with two objects--the first to prevent the advance of a relief force from the south, the second to shut in Sir George White. They also showed well to the south of Colenso, in the neighbourhood of Frere, having apparently marched by the roads which lead down into the centre of Natal from the Upper Tugela region. They did not immediately occupy Colenso, but they made all preparations to destroy the two bridges, should such a measure become necessary. [Sidenote: Natal threatened.] The danger for Natal was great. Captain Percy Scott of the _Terrible_ landed with a large number of guns and bluejackets to defend Durban; works were erected at Pietermaritzburg, the capital of the Colony, and volunteer forces were raised with all possible expedition. The Imperial Infantry Corps, 1,000 strong, was enrolled at Durban and Pietermaritzburg; Murray's Mounted Volunteers, Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, the Umvoti Mounted Volunteers, and the Durban Light Infantry were among the other regiments raised by the Colony. [Illustration: _Frank Craig._] COLD STEEL: BRITISH SOLDIERS DRIVING THE BOERS FROM A KOPJE.] [Sidenote: [Nov. 1899.] Hundreds of refugees from Colenso and the abandoned districts poured down into the seaboard of Natal, yet there was no sign of panic. The women especially distinguished themselves by their fortitude and bravery in this hour of sad calamity. Nor did the Colonists reproach the Home Government, which had failed, in spite of many entreaties, adequately to garrison the Colony, though to the irresolution and tardiness displayed by the authorities at home all these sufferings were due. [Illustration: DURBAN, THE BRITISH BASE IN NATAL.]