. Here they became heavily engaged, and
Buller, seeing the hopelessness of the position, recalled them. It was
necessary, however, to send two {p.228} of Lyttelton's battalions and
two batteries to extricate them. Hart's attack therefore had failed,
and his division contributed nothing further except the menace of its
presence, which must retain some of the enemy to resist a possible
renewal.

A yet more decisive mishap meanwhile had occurred in another part of
the field. Reckoning that Hart and Hildyard were to attack in mutual
support, the time had come for the latter to advance, and he had done
so. The beginning of his movement was to have been covered by the six
naval 12-pounders accompanying Long's two field batteries, and a
position had been appointed them to that effect; it being intended
apparently that the army guns should not come into action till later,
when the development of Hildyard's movement would permit them to
approach the enemy within their shorter range without losing the
necessary support of infantry fire,--directly by the 6th brigade,
specifically charged with that duty, and indirectly by the occupation
which Hildyard's attack would necessarily give the Boers. Instead,
however, of attending closely to the requirements of a movement
{p.229} where a certain exactness of touch was evidently necessary,
Long's two field batteries, leaving their infantry escort behind,
galloped rapidly forward on the east side of the railroad and came
into action 1200 yards from Fort Wylie, and, as Buller judged, only
300[28] yards from the enemy's rifle pits. The slow-moving oxen
fortunately were unable to drag the heavier naval guns to the same
position to share the fate that quickly befell. A very heavy fire was
opened from the Boer rifle pits, and although the gunners stuck
manfully to their pieces until the ammunition in the limbers was
exhausted, they were compelled then to leave them on the plain,
retreating for shelter to a donga. The breech-blocks, even, were not
carried away; it is said because they expected to return again to
action. The naval detachment, 300 yards further back, were exposed to
the same fire, but received only its outer fringe. The native drivers
bolted, and many of the oxen were killed or stampeded; but the
{p.230} seamen contrived to drag their guns out of range.

[Footnote 28: This "3" in the copy before me may be
a misprint for "8." The London _Times