eft--crossed first, and inclining to the
right kept along the river a mile and a half to its appointed place,
followed successively by Kitchener's and Norcott's brigades, which
thus, when the line was formed, constituted respectively the centre
and left of the British front of assault.

The attack on Pieter's was first made, beginning about 1 P.M. By the
capture of this the Boer left was turned, after which by assaults
progressing successively from the British right to the left, in
continuous mutual {p.303} support, all the works on Railway and
Terrace Hills were carried by sunset, the enemy being, in many cases,
driven out at the point of the bayonet. The British entrenched
themselves that night in their new gains, but next morning, February
28, the Boers were found to have retreated from all the positions from
which they had not been expelled. There was no defensive line
remaining south of Ladysmith in which they could make a further stand,
and the relief of the place followed as a matter of course. An advance
party under Lord Dundonald entered the town that evening, and Buller
himself followed the next day, March 1.

In these final operations for the relief of Ladysmith, the British
loss in the Official Table of Casualties is given under two heads: 1,
Monte Cristo, February 15-18, being those on the Boer left, south of
the Tugela, ending in the capture of Hlangwane Hill; 2, Relief of
Ladysmith, February 19-27. In the first there were: Killed 14, Wounded
188, Missing 4; Total 206. In the second: Killed 263, Wounded 1621,
Missing 12; Total 1896. These losses are most {p.304} suggestive of
thought as to the character of the operations in which they were
respectively incurred. The second total exceeds considerably that
reported for any other action, or series of actions, during the war.
Spion Kop, with 1733, is the nearest approach.

The advance of Lord Roberts to Bloemfontein after Cronje's surrender
met with little resistance. The first position taken by the Boers to
contest his progress appears to have been four or five miles east of
Koodoosrand Drift. In his telegram their line is described as
extending four miles north and eleven miles south of the Modder, a
length which evidently required a pretty large force to man it. Its
extremities, however, received no protection from natural obstacles of
ground, and on the 7th of March French's Cavalry Division, passing
south, turned their left flank. The Boers then retrea