On 15 December 1899, the town made headlines when British forces under General Sir Redvers Buller made a disastrous attempt to cross the Thukela River in order to relieve Ladysmith.  Mistaking the position of a ford where they intended to cross, the 5th Brigade came under heavy fire from the Boers in a loop of the river, forcing Buller to order the evacuation of the troops.  Meanwhile, Colonel CJ Long had moved twelve 15 pounder guns forward to within rifle range of the Boer positions across the river.  The markmanship of the Boers eventually forced the gunners to abandon the guns, ten of which subsequently fell into Boer hands.  British casualties totalled 214 killed or died of wounds, 693 wounded and 199 taken prisoner or reported missing, against 8 Boers killed or died of wounds and 30 wounded.  Reminders of the battle may be seen at the Clouston Garden of Remembrance and the Ambleside cemetary, where the remains of most of the 5th Brigade soldiers killed on 15 December were buried in a mass grave.