Boer troops defeat the British Army at the Battle of Spion Kop on January 24.

The British government, with the sieges still continuing is compelled to send two more divisions plus large numbers of colonial volunteers.

By January 1900 this had become the largest force Britain had ever sent overseas, amounting to some 180,000 men with further reinforcements being sought.

While watching for these reinforcements, Buller makes another bid to relieve Ladysmith by crossing the Tugela west of Colenso.

Buller's subordinate, Major General Charles Warren, successfully crosses the river, but is now faced with a fresh defensive position centered on a prominent hill known as Spion Kop.

In the resulting battle, British troops capture the summit by surprise during the early hours of January 24, but as the early morning fog lifted they realize too late that they are overlooked by Boer gun emplacements on the surrounding hills.

The rest of the day results in a disaster caused by poor communication between Buller and his commanders.

Between them they issue contradictory orders, on the one hand ordering men off the hill, while other officers order fresh reinforcements to defend it.

The result is three hundred and fifty men killed and nearly one thousand wounded and a retreat across the Tugela River into British territory.

There are nearly three hundred Boer casualties.