A Krupp 12cm howitzer weighed close to a ton and was drawn by a team of twelve mules. To succeed in dragging it up the reverse slope of Surprise Hill was a considerable feat. The reverse slope of the hill is considerably less steep than the front but nevertheless it took considerable resource and ingenuity to get it up onto the fairly flat but very rocky summit. It was done without the British realising, until it opened fire, that there was even a gun on Surprise Hill. Several redoubts were built out of the rock existing on the hilltop and the gun may have fired from at least two positions. The provision of ammunition was a serious difficulty. Each round weighed 35 pounds and would have to be brought from Modderspruit Station and carried up to the hilltop. Possibly local black people were employed for this laborious task. This clearly explains why the gun fired only intermittently even though it could easily hit any target in Ladysmith.
