The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-08-03
FAMOUS MODERN SIEGES.
Longest Was That at Gibraltar, Last
ing Nearly Four Years.


whelming odds will 60 down to mis-
tory as one Of the most magnificent
episodes of the great war. In the
war between Russia and Japan, Port
Arthur only gave in after siege OF
21O days.
By far the longest of modern times
was the last siege of Gibraltar. 1t
commenced on June 21, 1779, and
ended in February, 1888. 1t thus
lasted for the long period of three
years and eight months, or more than
1900 days.
The besieged were the British gar
rison, under the command of Gen. G.
A. Elliott, a most abstemious and
methodical man, who never slept
more than four hours at time. The
besiegers were joint French and
Spanish force, 10000 strong, who at
tackled from land and sea. The siege
utterly failed, and Britain still clings
to the rock which held out so va
liantly and for such an unparalleled
length of time.
Perhaps the most desperate siege
was that endured by Jotchefstroom in
the Boer war of 1SS0-18S1. In that
a handful of British, 800 strong,
held out for three months in an area
of only twenty-five square yards.
The town itself had to be abandon
ed, and the small garrison, which
could muster only 105 rifles and two
nine-pounders, retired, with the Brit
ish civilians, to the tiny fort of the
limited dimensions above stated.
With mealie sacks, biscuit boxes and
tins of beef the walls were strength
ened, but with the exception of
trenches, which were dug; there were
no other means of defence.
Yet for ninety-four days the garri-
son held out. 1t was not till death
from starvation stared him in the
face that the commander, Col. Wins
law, felt constrained to surrender.
On certain Sunday in March, 1881,
the remnant of the garrison marched
out with all the honors of war, only
to learn that truce had been long
before declared. knowledge of it
had been kept from them until they
were starved into surrender.
The siege of Plevna lasted exactly
as long as that of Potchefstroom. For
ninety-four days, from. September Z
to December 10, 1877, the Turks,
under the redoubtable Osman Pasha,
held back the flower of the Russian
army. During that time they made
repeated sorties, inflicting serious
losses upon the Russians, and this
while suffering the keenest pangs of
hunger.
Indeed, they were practically with
out food throughout the siege, and
!, even when the last scrap had been
consumed there was no question of
giving in. They essayed to cut their
way through the besieging forces but
the latter were too many for them.
1t is no exaggeration to say that in
the siege of Plevna the Turks aston
ished the world.
No town in Spain ever covered it.
self with more glory than did Sara
gOssa when invested by the French
for the second time in 1909. After
being defeated just outside the town,
the citizens, under their leader, Pala-
fox, prepared desperate resistance
within.
Street by street, house by house,
room by room, was most fiercely con-
tested for, being, like the outworks
of fortress, frequently lost and re-
covered. The French found this
method of progression far too costly,
SO they abandoned it in favor OF
mining.
After they had become masters of
a very small portion of the city, they
received the help of an irresistible
ally in the shape of an epidemic OF
fever, which broke out among the
besieged. By this Palafox himself
was stricken down, and ultimately
the whole town was forced to CAPT.
tulate. No fewer than $4,000 of the
besieged had perished, among whom
were nearly $4,000 soldiers.
Heroic Gen. Gordon held Khartoum
for eleven months against the Mahdi
and his hordes. The siege was also
remarkable for the fact that Gordon
was the only white man within the
beleaguered city. The investment be-
gan on February 1S, 1884, and is be-
lieved to have terminated in tn.
tragedy of the great generals death
on January 26, 1885.
A Boys Size.