Already Down There, Amid Slaughtered Oxen And
Dead Horses Under A Burning Sun, A Horrible Pest-Hole Had Been
Formed
Which sent its mephitic vapours over the countryside.
Occasionally the sentries down the river saw amid the brown eddies
of
The rushing water the floating body of a Boer which had been
washed away from the Golgotha above. Dark Cronje, betrayer of
Potchefstroom, iron-handed ruler of natives, reviler of the
British, stern victor of Magersfontein, at last there has come a
day of reckoning for you!
On Wednesday, the 21st, the British, being now sure of their grip
of Cronje, turned upon the Boer force which had occupied the hill
to the south-east of the drift. It was clear that this force,
unless driven away, would be the vanguard of the relieving army
which might be expected to assemble from Ladysmith, Bloemfontein,
Colesberg, or wherever else the Boers could detach men. Already it
was known that reinforcements who had left Natal whenever they
heard that the Free State was invaded were drawing near. It was
necessary to crush the force upon the hill before it became too
powerful. For this purpose the cavalry set forth, Broadwood with
the 10th Hussars, 12th Lancers, and two batteries going round on
one side, while French with the 9th and 16th Lancers, the Household
Cavalry, and two other batteries skirted the other. A force of
Boers was met and defeated, while the defenders of the hill were
driven off with considerable loss. In this well-managed affair the
enemy lost at least a hundred, of whom fifty were prisoners. On
Friday, February 23rd, another attempt at rescue was made from the
south, but again it ended disastrously for the Boers. A party
attacked a kopje held by the Yorkshire regiment and were blown back
by a volley, upon which they made for a second kopje, where the
Buffs gave them an even rougher reception. Eighty prisoners were
marched in. Meantime hardly a night passed that some of the Boers
did not escape from their laager and give themselves up to our
pickets. At the end of the week we had taken six hundred in all.
In the meantime the cordon was being drawn ever tighter, and the
fire became heavier and more deadly, while the conditions of life
in that fearful place were such that the stench alone might have
compelled surrender. Amid the crash of tropical thunderstorms, the
glare of lightning, and the furious thrashing of rain there was no
relaxation of British vigilance. A balloon floating overhead
directed the fire, which from day to day became more furious,
culminating on the 26th with the arrival of four 5-inch howitzers.
But still there came no sign from the fierce Boer and his gallant
followers. Buried deep within burrows in the river bank the greater
part of them lay safe from the shells, but the rattle of their
musketry when the outposts moved showed that the trenches were as
alert as ever. The thing could only have one end, however, and Lord
Roberts, with admirable judgment and patience, refused to hurry it
at the expense of the lives of his soldiers.
The two brigades at either end of the Boer lines had lost no chance
of pushing in, and now they had come within striking distance. On
the night of February 26th it was determined that Smith-Dorrien's
men should try their luck. The front trenches of the British were
at that time seven hundred yards from the Boer lines. They were
held by the Gordons and by the Canadians, the latter being the
nearer to the river. It is worth while entering into details as to
the arrangement of the attack, as the success of the campaign was
at least accelerated by it. The orders were that the Canadians were
to advance, the Gordons to support, and the Shropshires to take
such a position on the left as would outflank any counter attack
upon the part of the Boers. The Canadians advanced in the darkness
of the early morning before the rise of the moon. The front rank
held their rifles in the left hand and each extended right hand
grasped the sleeve of the man next it. The rear rank had their
rifles slung and carried spades. Nearest the river bank were two
companies (G and H.) who were followed by the 7th company of Royal
Engineers carrying picks and empty sand bags. The long line stole
through a pitchy darkness, knowing that at any instant a blaze of
fire such as flamed before the Highlanders at Magersfontein might
crash out in front of them. A hundred, two, three, four, five
hundred paces were taken. They knew that they must be close upon
the trenches. If they could only creep silently enough, they might
spring upon the defenders unannounced. On and on they stole, step
by step, praying for silence. Would the gentle shuffle of feet be
heard by the men who lay within stone-throw of them? Their hopes
had begun to rise when there broke upon the silence of the night a
resonant metallic rattle, the thud of a falling man, an empty
clatter! They had walked into a line of meat-cans slung upon a
wire. By measurement it was only ninety yards from the trench. At
that instant a single rifle sounded, and the Canadians hurled
themselves down upon the ground. Their bodies had hardly touched it
when from a line six hundred yards long there came one furious
glare of rifle fire, with a hiss like water on a red-hot plate, of
speeding bullets. In that terrible red light the men as they lay
and scraped desperately for cover could see the heads of the Boers
pop up and down, and the fringe of rifle barrels quiver and gleam.
How the regiment, lying helpless under this fire, escaped
destruction is extraordinary. To rush the trench in the face of
such a continuous blast of lead seemed impossible, and it was
equally impossible to remain where they were.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 102 of 222
Words from 102737 to 103750
of 225456
