The Town Was
Isolated, And Its Capture Could Have No Effect Upon The General
Operations, But It Is Remarkable As The Only Capture Of A Fortified
Post Up To This Point Made By The Boers.
The monotony of the long wait was broken by one dashing raid
carried out by a detachment from Methuen's
Line of communications.
This force consisted of 200 Queenslanders, 100 Canadians (Toronto
Company), 40 mounted Munster Fusiliers, a New South Wales
Ambulance, and 200 of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry with
one horse battery. This singular force, so small in numbers and yet
raked from the ends of the earth, was under the command of Colonel
Pilcher. Moving out suddenly and rapidly from Belmont, it struck at
the extreme right of the Boer line, which consisted of a laager
occupied by the colonial rebels of that part of the country.
Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm of the colonists at the
prospect of action. 'At last!' was the cry which went up from the
Canadians when they were ordered to advance. The result was an
absolute success. The rebels broke and fled, their camp was taken,
and forty of them fell into our hands. Our own loss was slight,
three killed and a few wounded. The flying column occupied the town
of Douglas and hoisted the British flag there; but it was decided
that the time had not yet come when it could be held, and the force
fell back upon Belmont. The rebel prisoners were sent down to Cape
Town for trial. The movement was covered by the advance of a force
under Babington from Methuen's force. This detachment, consisting
of the 9th and 12th Lancers, with some mounted infantry and G troop
of Horse Artillery, prevented any interference with Pilcher's force
from the north. It is worthy of record that though the two bodies
of troops were operating at a distance of thirty miles, they
succeeded in preserving a telephonic connection, seventeen minutes
being the average time taken over question and reply.
Encouraged by this small success, Methuen's cavalry on January 9th
made another raid over the Free State border, which is remarkable
for the fact that, save in the case of Colonel Plumer's Rhodesian
Force, it was the first time that the enemy's frontier had been
violated. The expedition under Babington consisted of the same
regiments and the same battery which had covered Pilcher's advance.
The line taken was a south-easterly one, so as to get far round the
left flank of the Boer position. With the aid of a party of the
Victorian Mounted Rifles a considerable tract of country was
overrun, and some farmhouses destroyed. The latter extreme measure
may have been taken as a warning to the Boers that such
depredations as they had carried out in parts of Natal could not
pass with impunity, but both the policy and the humanity of such a
course appear to be open to question, and there was some cause for
the remonstrance which President Kruger shortly after addressed to
us upon the subject.
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