Every part of the town was soon within range of Boer artillery. It took several days before the Boer guns were in place. On 7th November the bombardment started in earnest, although Boer shells had been falling in the town since the 2nd. Apart from moving some of their lighter guns from hill to hill, the Boer gunnery did not seem well organized or coordinated. Their citizen army was loath to accept the inevitable casualties that would have been the result of an
attempt to storm the defences. Thus the alternative was to batter their enemy into submission with constant artillery bombardment. Short of ammunition, the British could reply only occasionally, not knowing when their resupply would reach them. George Steevens, of the Daily Mail wrote that “the Boers made war like gentlemen of leisure” and “the casualties in Ladysmith during a fortnight were one white civilian, two natives, a horse, two mules, a waggon, and about half-a-dozen houses.”
attempt to storm the defences. Thus the alternative was to batter their enemy into submission with constant artillery bombardment. Short of ammunition, the British could reply only occasionally, not knowing when their resupply would reach them. George Steevens, of the Daily Mail wrote that “the Boers made war like gentlemen of leisure” and “the casualties in Ladysmith during a fortnight were one white civilian, two natives, a horse, two mules, a waggon, and about half-a-dozen houses.”
