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{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Siege of Ladysmith
| partof      = [[Second Boer War]]
| image       = [[File:Ladysmith Town Hall 1900 - Project Gutenberg eText 15972.png|300px]]
| caption     = The town hall at Ladysmith, showing shell damage to the tower.
| date        = 2 November 1899 – 28 February 1900
| place       = [[Ladysmith, South Africa|Ladysmith]], [[Colony of Natal|Natal]], [[South Africa]]
| casus       = 
| territory   = 
| result      = British victory
| combatant1  = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
| combatant2  = {{flag|South African Republic}}<br/>{{flag|Orange Free State}}
| commander1  = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[George White (British Army officer)|George Stuart White]]
| commander2  = {{flagicon|South African Republic}} [[Petrus Jacobus Joubert]]<br/>{{flagicon|South African Republic}} [[Louis Botha]]<br/>{{flagicon|Orange Free State}} [[Christiaan De Wet]]
| strength1   = 12,500
| strength2   = max 21,000 men
| casualties1 = c. 850 killed and wounded<br/>800 prisoners
| casualties2 = 52+ killed<br/>Total casualties unknown
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Second Boer War}}
}}
The '''Siege of Ladysmith''' was a protracted engagement in the [[Second Boer War]], taking place between 30 October 1899 and 28 February 1900 at [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal|Ladysmith]], [[Colony of Natal|Natal]].

==Background==
As war with the Boer republics appeared likely in June 1899, the [[War Office]] in Britain dispatched a total of 15,000 troops to [[Colony of Natal|Natal]], expecting that if war broke out they would be capable of defending the colony until reinforcements could be mobilised and sent to South Africa by steamship. Some of these troops were diverted while returning to Britain from [[British India|India]], others were sent from garrisons in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. Lieutenant General Sir [[George White (British Army officer)|George White]] was appointed to command this enlarged force. White was 64 years old, and suffered from a leg injury incurred in a riding accident. Having served mainly in India, he had little previous experience of South Africa.

==Outbreak of war==
{{Main|Battle of Talana Hill|Battle of Elandslaagte|Battle of Ladysmith}}

Contrary to the advice of several British officials such as Sir [[Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner|Alfred Milner]], the High Commissioner for Southern Africa, the Boer governments were not over-awed by the despatch of British troops to Natal. Instead, they regarded it as evidence of Britain's determination to seize control of the Boer republics. The Transvaal government under President [[Paul Kruger]] considered launching an attack in September, but President [[Martinus Theunis Steyn|Steyn]] of the Orange Free State, who would later become the spiritual heart of the Boer resistance, dissuaded them for several weeks while he tried to act as intermediary. With the complete breakdown in negotiations, both republics declared war and attacked on 12 October.

A total of 21,000 Boers advanced into Natal from all sides.<ref>Pakenham, p.106</ref> White had been advised to deploy his force far back, well clear of the area of northern Natal known as the "Natal Triangle", a wedge of land lying between the two Boer republics.<ref>Pakenham, pp.97, 107</ref> Instead, White deployed his forces around the garrison town of [[Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal|Ladysmith]],<ref name="TLO2-C3">{{cite book|coauthors=Durand, Henry Mortimer; White, George Stuart|title=The life of Field-Marshal Sir George White, V.C. |publisher=W. Blackwood|location=Edinburgh, London|year=1915|volume=Volume II|pages=17–27|chapter=III - Arrival in South Africa|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/lifeoffieldmarsh02durauoft#page/17/mode/1up|accessdate=2009-12-01}}</ref> with a detachment even further forward at [[Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal|Dundee]]. The entire British force could concentrate only after fighting two battles at [[Battle of Talana Hill|Talana Hill]] and [[Battle of Elandslaagte|Elandslaagte]]. As the Boers surrounded Ladysmith, White ordered a sortie by his entire force to capture the Boer artillery. The result was the disastrous [[Battle of Ladysmith]], in which the British were driven back into the town having lost 1,200 men killed, wounded or captured.

==The siege==
[[File:Positions round Ladysmith - November 1899 - Project Gutenberg eText 16466.jpg|thumbnail|right|Sketch map of the positions in November 1899]]
The Boers then proceeded to surround Ladysmith and cut the railway link to [[Durban]]. Major General [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|French]] and his Chief of Staff, Major [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Douglas Haig]] escaped on the last train to leave, which was riddled with bullets.

This town was then besieged for 118 days. White knew that large reinforcements were arriving, and could communicate with British units south of the [[Tugela River]] by searchlight and [[heliograph]]. He expected relief soon. Meanwhile, his troops carried out several raids and sorties to sabotage Boer artillery.

Louis Botha commanded the Boer detachment which first raided Southern Natal, and then dug in north of the Tugela to hold off the relief force. On 15 December, the first relief attempt was defeated at the [[Battle of Colenso]]. Temporarily unnerved, the relief force commander, General [[Redvers Henry Buller|Buller]], suggested that White either break out or destroy his stores and ammunition and surrender. White could not break out because his horses and draught animals were weak from lack of grazing and forage, but also refused to surrender.

==The storming attempt==
The Boers around Ladysmith were also growing weak from lack of forage. With little action, many fighters took unauthorised leave or brought their families into the siege encampments. Eventually, with the Tugela in flood, preventing Buller from giving any support,<ref>{{cite book|title=Buller's Campaign|publisher=The Cresset Press|location=London|year=1963|page=191|chapter=10 - Spion Kop|author=Symons, Julian}}</ref> some younger leaders persuaded Joubert to order a storming attempt on the night of 5 January 1900, before another relief attempt could be made.

The British line south of Ladysmith ran along a ridge known as the Platrand. The occupying British troops had named its features Wagon Point, Wagon Ridge and Caesar's Camp (after features near [[Aldershot]], well known to much of the British army). Under Ian Hamilton, they had constructed a line of forts, [[sangar (fortification)|sangars]] and entrenchments on the reverse slope of the Platrand, of which the Boers were unaware.

In the early hours of 6 January, Boer storming parties under General C.J. de Villiers began climbing Wagon Ridge and Caesar's Camp. They were spotted and engaged by British working parties who were emplacing some guns. The Boers captured the edge of both features, but could not advance further. British counter-attacks also failed.

At noon, de Villiers made another attack on Wagon Point. Some exhausted defenders panicked and fled, but Hamilton led reserves to the spot and recaptured some empty gun pits. Late in the afternoon, a terrific rainstorm broke, and the Boers withdrew under cover of it. 

The British suffered 175 killed and 249 wounded. 52 dead Boers were left in the British positions, but their total casualties were not recorded.

==The later siege and relief==
{{Main|Relief of Ladysmith}}
[[File:The Relief of Ladysmith by John Henry Frederick Bacon.jpg|thumb|The Relief of Ladysmith. Painting by [[John Henry Frederick Bacon]] (1868-1914)]]
[[File:Rejoicing at St. Andrews, New Brunswick, on Water Street on Receipt of the News of the Relief of Ladysmith, South Africa.jpg|thumb|Rejoicing in St. Andrews, Canada upon receipt of the news of the relief of Ladysmith.]]

While Buller made repeated attempts to fight his way across the Tugela, the defenders of Ladysmith suffered increasingly from shortage of food and other supplies, and from disease, mainly [[enteric fever]] or typhoid, which claimed among many others, the life of noted war correspondent [[George Warrington Steevens|G.W. Steevens]]. The Boers had long before captured Ladysmith's water supply, and the defenders could use only the polluted{{Citation needed|reason=The water is known to be heavy with suspended mud, but that does not equate to pollution. Muddy may be more correctly descriptive|date=May 2009}} [[Klip River]]. The situation was reportedly made worse by maladministration and peculation by senior medical and supply officers.{{Citation needed|reason="reportedly" by whom?|date=December 2011}}

Towards the end of the siege, the garrison and townsfolk were living largely on their remaining draught oxen and horses (mainly in the form of "chevril", a meat paste named after the commercial beef extract "[[Bovril]]").

Eventually, Buller broke through the Boer positions on 27 February. Following their succession of reverses, his troops had developed effective tactics based on close cooperation between the infantry and artillery. After the protracted struggle, the morale of Botha's men at last broke and they and the besiegers retreated, covered by another huge thunderstorm. Buller did not pursue, and White's men were too weak to do so.

The first party of the relief column, under Major [[Hubert Gough]] and which [[Winston Churchill|Churchill]] claims to have been a part of, rode in on the evening of 28 February.<ref>Churchill, W.S. ''London to Ladysmith via Pretoria'', London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1900, p. 208-10</ref> White reportedly greeted them saying, "Thank God we kept the flag flying".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A0DE4DE1339E733A25755C0A9659C946197D6CF|title=BOER TRAITS AND BRITISH TRAITS.|date=1900-03-06|publisher=[[The New York Times]]|accessdate=2009-05-11 | format=PDF}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
The relief was widely celebrated,<ref name="NYT1900">{{Cite news  | title = Small Riots In Cape Colony  | newspaper = The New York Times  | pages = 2  | date = 5 March 1900 | url = http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9A05E6DE1339E733A25756C0A9659C946197D6CF | format=PDF}}</ref> followed by much larger celebrations after the [[Siege of Mafeking]]. There were four [[Victoria Cross]]es awarded during the siege, [[John Norwood]] on 30 October 1899. At Wagon Hill on 6 January 1900, [[Herman Albrecht]] and [[Robert James Thomas Digby-Jones]] (who both died), and [[James Edward Ignatius Masterson]].

==Medical treatment during the siege==
Early in the siege an agreement between [[George White (British Army officer)|George Stuart White]] and [[Piet Joubert]] lead to the creation of the neutral ''Intombi Military Hospital'' some {{convert|5|km}} outside Ladysmith. During the siege, the number of beds in the hospital camp grew from the initial 100 to a total of 1900. A total of 10673 admissions were received and treated at Intombi.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Watt|first=S|title=Intombi Military Hospital and Cemetery|journal=Military History Journal|publisher=Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging|volume=5|issue=6|url=http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol056sw.html}}</ref> One train per day was allowed to carry wounded from Ladysmith to Intombi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ladysmithhistory.com/a-to-z/intombi/|title=Intombi|publisher=LadysmithHistory.com|accessdate=2009-05-11}}</ref>

==Notable casualties during the siege==
* [[Arthur Stark]], author of ''The Birds of South Africa'' was killed after being hit by an unexploded Boer shell in the Royal Hotel.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nevinson|first=Henry|title=Ladysmith - The Diary of a Siege|pages=106|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16603}}</ref>
* [[George Warrington Steevens]], British author and war correspondent, of enteric fever.

==See also==
*[[Battle of Ladysmith]]
*[[Relief of Ladysmith]]
*[[Military history of South Africa]], specifically the [[Second Boer War]]
{{Commonscat-inline|Siege of Ladysmith}}

[[File:Varieties of Ammunition collected at Ladysmith - Project Gutenberg etext 21280.jpg|thumb|Varieties of ammunition collected at Ladysmith]]

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Donald|first=MacDonald|title=How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith|publisher=Ward, Lock & Co|year=1900}} Available as {{internet archive|howwekeptflagfl00macdgoog|How We Kept the Flag Flying: The Story of the Siege of Ladysmith}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Kruger, Rayne; ''Goodbye Dolly Gray'', New English Library, 1964
*McElwee, William; ''The Art of War: Waterloo to Mons'', Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1974. ISBN 0-253-20214-0 
*Pakenham, Thomas; ''The Boer War'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1979, ISBN 0-7474-0976-5

==External links==
*{{gutenberg|no=16603|name=Ladysmith, The Diary of a Siege by Henry W. Nevinson}}
*{{gutenberg|no=16466|name=Four Months Besieged, The Story of Ladysmith by H. H. S. Pearse}}
*{{gutenberg|no=14426|name=London to Ladysmith via Pretoria by Sir Winston S. Churchill}}
*{{gutenberg|no=15972|name=The Record of a Regiment of the Line by M. Jacson}}, Being a Regimental History of the 1st Battalion [[Devonshire Regiment]] during the Boer War 1899-1902.  Deals extensively with the Siege of Ladysmith
*[http://www.pinetreeweb.com/conan-doyle-chapter-07.htm Conan Doyle, Arthur; The Great Boer War]
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26198/26198-h/26198-h.htm#Page_38 Creswicke, Louis; South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 2 (of 6)]
*[http://www.free-ebooks-uk.netfirms.com/great-boer-war/13-the-siege-of-ladysmith.html free ebooks uk]

{{Coord|28|33.6|S|29|46.8|E|type:city_region:ZA|display=title|name=Ladysmith}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ladysmith, Siege Of}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1899]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1900]]
[[Category:Battles of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:1899 in South Africa]]
[[Category:Sieges of the Second Boer War]]
[[Category:History of KwaZulu-Natal]]
[[Category:Histories of cities in South Africa]]

[[es:Sitio de Ladysmith]]
[[eu:Ladysmitheko setioa]]
[[fr:Siège de Ladysmith]]
[[it:Assedio di Ladysmith]]
[[no:Beleiringen av Ladysmith]]
[[pl:Oblężenie Ladysmith]]
[[ru:Осада Ледисмита]]