On the Fact that (According to Harry Booyen's "Ama Bhulu") at the Battle of Colenso During the Second Boer War, British Commanding Officer, Colonel Charles Long, Positioned His Field Artillery Within Rifle Range of the Sharpshooting Boer Commando Units

Yeah, it was an absolute massacre (143 dead, 756 wounded) and an embarrassment that ultimately prompted the British to bring in hundreds of thousands of troops from all over its vast empire (Rhodesia, India, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the British mainland, etc.) to crush what was essentially a small contingent of farmers that had been smoking them for weeks (prior to the battle of Colenso, the Boers had experience similar massive victories at Stormberg and Magersfontein). Fair play? Not in this war, people.