The only other item of South African news of importance
is the heroic defence of Ladybrand. On Tuesday news was received that a body of one hundred and fifty British soldiers without any large guns were being besieged at Ladybrand by a force of about three thousand Boers with nine guns and a porn-porn. General Hunter was announced to be coming to the rescue, but it was feared that he could not arrive in time to prevent so small a force being utterly overwhelmed. Yet, incredible as it seems, the heroic little band actually managed to hold out in their trenches till the news of the approach of Hunter put the Boers to flight. So eager were the Boers to take Ladybrand that they twice charged, but both times were driven off with loss. Tee relief actually took place on Wednesday. A picturesque feature of the incident was the fact that Sir Godfrey Lagden and the Basuto chief, Lerothodi, actually watched the fight from one of the mountains of Basutoland facing Ladybrand. Once again the Boers showed their utter inability to capture a position, however weakly held, by assault. Not once have they succeeded in a direct attack during the war. Cromwell said of his Ironsides that they never assaulted a place but they stormed it. Exactly the reverse must be said of the Boers. Of course this is not entirely because of want of active courage in the Boers. In modern war the odds are very heavy on the defence.
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