The naval guns from distant Mount Alice did
what they could, but the range was very long, and the position of
the Boer guns uncertain. The artillery, situated as it was, could
not save the infantry from the horrible scourging which they were
enduring.
There remains the debated question whether the British guns could
have been taken to the top. Mr. Winston Churchill, the soundness of
whose judgment has been frequently demonstrated during the war,
asserts that it might have been done. Without venturing to
contradict one who was personally present, I venture to think that
there is strong evidence to show that it could not have been done
without blasting and other measures, for which there was no
possible time. Captain Hanwell of the 78th R.F.A., upon the day of
the battle had the very utmost difficulty with the help of four
horses in getting a light Maxim on to the top, and his opinion,
with that of other artillery officers, is that the feat was an
impossible one until the path had been prepared. When night fell
Colonel Sim was despatched with a party of Sappers to clear the
track and to prepare two emplacements upon the top, but in his
advance he met the retiring infantry.
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