Debbie De Louise from Ruff Drafts hosted a post for my Great Escapes virtual book tour about the Siege of Ladysmith which took place at the beginning of the Second Anglo Boer War. Thank you Debbie.
Guest Post: The Siege of Ladysmith by Roberta Eaton Cheadle
Background
The siege of Ladysmith, a town in British controlled Natal, was a lengthily engagement between the British and the Boers during the Great South African War (Second Anglo Boer War).
When the negotiations between the two Boer republics and Britain broke down and war was declared on the 11th of October 1899, 21,000 Boers advanced into Natal from all sides. By way of a countermeasure, Lieutenant Sir George White deployed his British troops around the garrison town of Ladysmith. As the Boers surrounded Ladysmith, White engaged in the Battle of Ladysmith with ended in disaster for the British with 1,200 men killed, wounded or captured.
The town was then besieged for 118 days from 2 November 1899 to 28 February 1900. On the 15th of December 1899 the first British relief force under General Redvers Henry Buller was defeated at the Battle of Colenso.
On Christmas Day 1899, the Boers fired into Ladysmith a carrier shell without a fuse. It contained a Christmas pudding, two Union Flags and the message ‘compliments of the season’.
Following repeated attempts by Buller to fight his way across the Tugela River, he finally broke through the Boer positions on the 27th of February 1900. On the evening of the 28th of February, the first party of the relief column, under Major Hubert Gough and including Winston Churchill, rode into Ladysmith.
Continue reading here: https://debbiedelouise.com/2021/05/06/guest-post-and-blog-tour-for-a-ghost-and-his-gold-by-roberta-eaton-cheadle/
roberta-writes.com 
The wagon is so similar to what our Westward Ho travelers used–not the Conestoga but a more prevalent one.
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I see a lot of similarities between the American pioneers and the South African Boers, Jacqui. Both histories are fascinating.
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To be honest, I didn’t know about your history until you introduced it. For that, I’m thankful!
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I’m glad it interests you, Jacqui
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Such amazing tidbits of history, Robbie. Heading over to read the rest.
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Hi Jan, thank you, I’m glad you found this tidbit interesting.
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The wagon seems to be well-built. I’m glad you visited the museum, Robbie.
I just came back from my trip to see my grandkids.
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I can’t believe you are back already, Miriam. Time passes so quickly. This was a great museum and I am glad we visited.
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I know, Robbie. I wished to stay longer but I can visit them more often now because the Covid is getting better and more people are traveling. The flight I took to come back was full with no empty seats. I’ll go again in five or six weeks and offer to watch the grandkids so my daughter and her hubby can take a short getaway for their 10th anniversary.
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A lovely trip back in time… those wagons look well preserved I wonder how comfy they were to travel in? Heading over to read the post, Robbie 🙂 x
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Hi Carol, thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed this post. I would think the wagons were very uncomfortable and hot to travel in. That is the approached I’ve used in my book and some Boer themed short stories.
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Wow, that detail about the Christmas pudding is amazing. I’m heading over the read the rest. 🙂
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Hi Diana, I was fortunate enough to find a number of newspaper accounts of this war and they provided some interesting titbits of information like that one. Thanks for reading.
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We forget that the the majority of soldiers are barely out of childhood. (K)
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Yes, you are right about that, Kerfe. War is a terrible tragedy.
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You must have been very excited when you came upon “To General Slim Piet” in The War Report.
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Yes, it is hard to find these fun little titbits in historical articles so it was fortunate.
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Reblogged this on Writing to be Read and commented:
Another great post on the history behind Roberta Eaton Cheadle’s “A Ghost and His Gold”. Check it out.
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Thank you, Kaye.
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