LONDON TO LADYSMITH VIA PRETORIA

BY

WINSTON SPENCER CHURCHILL

AUTHOR OF
'THE STORY OF THE MALAKAND FIELD FORCE, 1897',
'THE RIVER WAR: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE
RECONQUEST OF THE SOUDAN',
'SAVROLA: A ROMANCE'

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1900

DEDICATION

THIS COLLECTION OF LETTERS IS INSCRIBED TO

THE STAFF OF THE
NATAL GOVERNMENT RAILWAY

WHOSE CAREFUL AND COURAGEOUS DISCHARGE OF THEIR
EVERY-DAY DUTIES
AMID THE PERILS OF WAR
HAS MADE THEM HONOURABLY CONSPICUOUS
EVEN AMONG THEIR FELLOW COLONISTS

MAP OF MR. CHURCHILL'S ROUTE

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

This small book is mainly a personal record of my adventures and impressions during the first five months of the African War. It may also be found to give a tolerably coherent account of the operations conducted by Sir Redvers Buller for the Relief of Ladysmith. The correspondence of which it is mainly composed appeared in the columns of the Morning Post newspaper, and I propose, if I am not interrupted by the accidents of war, to continue the series of letters. The stir and tumult of a camp do not favour calm or sustained thought, and whatever is written herein must be regarded simply as the immediate effect produced by men powerfully moved, and scenes swiftly changing upon what I hope is a truth-seeking mind.

The fact that a man's life depends upon my discretion compels me to omit an essential part of the story of my escape from the Boers; but if the book and its author survive the war, and when the British flag is firmly planted at Bloemfontein and Pretoria, I shall hasten to fill the gap in the narrative.

WINSTON S. CHURCHILL.
March 10, 1900.

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

MAPS AND PLANS

CHAPTER I.  STEAMING SOUTH
R.M.S. 'Dunottar Castle,' October 26 and October 29, 1899

CHAPTER II.  THE STATE OF THE GAME
Capetown; November 1, 1899

CHAPTER III.  ALONG THE SOUTHERN FRONTIER
East London: November 5, 1899

CHAPTER IV.  IN NATAL
Estcourt: November 6, 1899

CHAPTER V.  A CRUISE IN THE ARMOURED TRAIN
Estcourt: November 9, 1899

CHAPTER VI.  DISTANT GUNS
Estcourt: November 10, 1899

CHAPTER VII.  THE FATE OF THE ARMOURED TRAIN
Pretoria: November 20, 1899

CHAPTER VIII.  PRISONERS OF WAR
Pretoria: November 24, 1899

CHAPTER IX.  THROUGH THE DUTCH CAMPS
Pretoria: November 30, 1899

CHAPTER X.  IN AFRIKANDER BONDS
Pretoria: December 3, 1899

CHAPTER XI.  I ESCAPE FROM THE BOERS
Lourenço Marques: December 22, 1899

CHAPTER XII.  BACK TO THE BRITISH LINES
Frere: December 24, 1899

CHAPTER XIII.  CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR
Frere: January 4, 1900

CHAPTER XIV.  A MILITARY DEMONSTRATION AND SOME GOOD NEWS
Chieveley: January 8, 1900

CHAPTER XV.  THE DASH FOR POTGIETER'S FERRY
Spearman's Hill: January 13, 1900

CHAPTER XVI.  TRICHARDT'S DRIFT AND THE AFFAIR OF ACTON HOMES
Venter's Spruit: January 22, 1900