l or
acquired, asserted itself; and the heroes who had scaled the heights
barefoot, and clung with undying resolution to their rocky cover,
exchanging shots almost muzzle to muzzle, did not muster the
resolution which might, or might not--the true soldier recks not which
at such an hour--have carried them, more than decimated, but
triumphant, across the belt of withering fire to victory. The reply
{p.238} of the British colonel on the other side of the sixty yards of
plateau that separated the opponents, "We will try"--a phrase which
Americans will remember fell in the same tongue from the lips of our
own Colonel Miller at Lundy's Lane--expressed just the difference. Of
the three companies who then rose to their feet on Wagon Hill and
rushed, every officer fell and fifty-five of the men; but the bayonets
of the survivors reached the other side, and there followed the
inevitable result. The men that would not charge fled.

Of this affair, in which Ladysmith most nearly touched ruin, the
salient details only must be briefly told. The part of the British
defences chosen for the Boer assault was a ridge two miles south of
the town, in length some 4,500 yards,--over two and a half miles,--and
600 feet high. Its general direction is east and west, but in contour
it is slightly concave towards the south, whence the assailants came.
In the centre, this crescent, having a comparatively easy incline, is
more readily swept by fire, and approach is more easily seen. The
Boers consequently chose to ascend by the horns, which are very
precipitous, {p.239} and where, therefore, if no noise is made,
detection is not easy and aim is extremely difficult. Above the ridge
thus described rose three eminences, of 100 feet or more. That on the
east was Caesar's Camp, about 1,500 yards long by 700 wide; next, and
400 yards distant, Wagon Hill, two-thirds the size; and close to this,
and at the extreme west, Wagon Hill West, scarcely more than a knob,
but very steep.

The Boer plan was to seize the two extremities by a night attack of
picked men, who, when they had made good their hold, would be
reinforced rapidly from a main body assembled behind hills some two
miles south. Against Wagon Hill went 300 men, who, on reaching the
foot, took off their shoes and divided into two parties, one of which
climbed noiselessly Wagon Hill, the other Wagon Hill West. They came
as a complete surprise upon the British outposts. Wagon Hill West was
held by