Among those so captured were fourteen of the Devons
and as many gunners, with Colonel Hunt, Colonel Bullock, Major
MacWalter, and Captains Goodwin, Vigors, and Congreve; the total loss in
killed, wounded, and prisoners amounted to about one thousand five
hundred, of whom nearly half belonged to the Irish brigade. That evening
the searchlight, which had been placed on a lofty hill visible from one
end of the high kopjes held by the garrison of Ladysmith, flashed the
news that the attack had failed, and that the garrison must be prepared
to hold out for some time yet.
The news of the reverse created a tremendous sensation throughout Natal,
where it had been confidently anticipated that the army would brush
aside without difficulty the opposition of the Boers, relieve Ladysmith
and, advancing sweep the invaders out of the colony. In England, too,
the sensation was scarcely less pronounced, and for the first time the
gravity of the war in which we were engaged was recognized. Hitherto it
had been thought that fifty thousand men would suffice to bring it to a
successful conclusion; now it was perceived that at least double that
number would be required. The offers of the colonies to aid the mother
country with troops had hitherto been coldly received, but these were
now accepted thankfully, and although our military authorities would not
as yet recognize that the volunteers could be relied upon as a real
fighting force, there was a talk that some of the militia regiments
might be embodied, and a large number of reservists were at once
summoned back to the ranks.
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