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Edward Pitcairn Jones
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The Relief of Ladysmith
The Relief of Ladysmith
On 26 November 1899 Captain Jones went to the front to command the naval brigade attached to General Sir Redvers Buller's Ladysmith Relief Column.
The first detachment of the 100 man-strong naval brigade landed, taking two 4.7-inch field guns and four 12-pounders to the front.
In December Jones received a further eight 12-pound guns but with only four extra men per gun. He enlisted more Natal Naval Volunteers to man the guns.
Jones's men took part in several land battles against the Boers during the Relief of Ladysmith. In December 1899 General Buller ordered Jones's brigade to use their guns for the first time to bombard the Boer trenches near Colenso.
Captain E.P. Jones and the 'Forte's' Naval Brigade. (RNM)
After a two-day barrage from Jones's naval guns, positioned nearly seven miles away, Buller ordered his first assault.
Captain Jones's Naval Brigade moved to a position 5000 yards from the Boer Camp and at 0530 on 15 December they began the action.
Jones writes in his correspondence to Rear-Admiral Harris that Buller was present with them from their hill-top position and directed the fire for nearly an hour.
During what was to be the Battle of Colenso, however, the Boers thwarted Buller's army brigades on their approach and forced a retreat.
Buller directed Jones's naval guns to fire until the last brigade of men had reached them in the withdrawal.
Buller's army made two more unsuccessful and bloody attempts with Jones's naval brigade in support firing at Boer trenches and taking out their guns.
They made a second attempt to break the Boer line at Spion Kop in January 1900 with the guns of the naval brigade bombarding the Boers at Spion Kop from the 17 - 23 December.
The next attempt to break the Boer line was at Vaal Kranz on 5 February but the attack failed and the forces retreated.
Photograph from a scrap book of E.P. Jones entitled 'Some Naval Volunteers of my force'. (RNM)
On the 14 February the fourth and final attempt to relieve Ladysmith began with Jones and his men again in support.
In a plan that required the capture of Hlangwani, a hill overlooking Colenso, the naval guns were instrumental in disabling the Boer guns and driving back the enemy.
Buller ordered more naval guns and men up from Durban. Again there were not enough sailors to man the new guns so Jones again made up the rest of the crew from Natal Naval Volunteers.
During the assault, the men had to carry the guns dismantling and reassembling them when they needed to change positions. It was very hard work in the hot South African sun, with the men also having to contend with bouts of diarrhoea whilst fighting in the field.
This time the British advances took several hills in the Colenso area and finally on 28 February the Boers evacuated their final positions.
On 3 March the naval brigade marched through Ladysmith into a camp on the edge of the town. By the end of the campaign the naval brigade consisted of 39 officers and 403 men, including 2 officers and 50 men from the Natal Naval Volunteers.
