Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/238

 230] ENGLISH HISTORY. [d.c.

taken by England in Northern Africa almost coincided with the occurrence of a most deplorable series of reverses to British arms at the other end of the continent. In every case the hopes mentioned a few pages back as having been cherished, apparently with reason, at the beginning of December as to the course of the war, were dashed to the ground. In the early morning of Sunday, December 10, a force of some 2,000 strong, under General Gatacre, was led, in the endeavour to make a night attack on the Boers at Stormberg, into a terrible trap, from which they only escaped with the loss of two guns, about 170 killed or wounded and over 500 taken prisoners. Forty- eight hours later the Highland Brigade of Lord Methuen's command, also bent on a surprise attack, were caught in formation of quarter column by a terrific fire at short range from the enemy, whom they had reached sooner than they expected. Hundreds fell, including the gallant leader of the brigade, General Wauchope, and notwithstanding the sup- port of a tremendous artillery fire, all subsequent attempts to carry the Boer trenches failed. Towards evening Lord Methuen's force withdrew in orderly fashion to Modder River, having sustained casualties to the number of about 1,000. Finally, on Friday, December 15, General Buller attempted the crossing of the Tugela River at Colenso, with the result, not only of complete failure and of losses in killed, wounded or prisoners of 1,100, but of the loss also of eleven guns. This was due chiefly to an error of judgment on the part of a gallant and distinguished artillery officer, under whose orders the guns were taken to a point where, as it proved, they were entirely commanded by a host of concealed Boer sharpshooters, and who, himself, was desperately wounded. Magnificent gal- lantry was shown in successful attempts to save some of the guns thus exposed, otherwise the actual number lost would have been larger.

" Black week " was the name given by public feeling to the seven days within which the three reverses just mentioned took place and became known. Nor indeed during the whole nine- teenth century had there been suffered, within any like period, any such concentration of misfortune and failure for British arms. But if the trial to the national temper was altogether exceptional, the spirit evolved was by the universal acknow- ledgment, even of unfriendly critics, eminently worthy of an imperial race under adversity. Before the last and in some respects the most discouraging of the war news could have arrived, but while the country was in presence of the reverses and losses at Stormberg and Magersfontein, the Duke of Devon- shire, on December 14, made a speech at a great Unionist gathering at York, which was pitched in a key harmonising exactly with national feeling and its requirements. Congratu- lating the country on its calmness in the face of disaster and its resolute determination to see the war through to a satisfactsry