French's Original Force Was A Mere Handful Of Men, Scraped Together
From Anywhere.
Naauwpoort was his base, and thence he made a
reconnaissance by rail on November 23rd towards Arundel, the next
hamlet along the line, taking with him a company of the Black
Watch, forty mounted infantry, and a troop of the New South Wales
Lancers.
Nothing resulted from the expedition save that the two
forces came into touch with each other, a touch which was sustained
for months under many vicissitudes, until the invaders were driven
back once more over Norval's Pont. Finding that Arundel was weakly
held, French advanced up to it, and established his camp there
towards the end of December, within six miles of the Boer lines at
Rensburg, to the south of Colesberg. His mission - with his present
forces - was to prevent the further advance of the enemy into the
Colony, but he was not strong enough yet to make a serious attempt
to drive them out.
Before the move to Arundel on December 13th his detachment had
increased in size, and consisted largely of mounted men, so that it
attained a mobility very unusual for a British force. On December
13th there was an attempt upon the part of the Boers to advance
south, which was easily held by the British Cavalry and Horse
Artillery. The country over which French was operating is dotted
with those singular kopjes which the Boer loves - kopjes which are
often so grotesque in shape that one feels as if they must be due
to some error of refraction when one looks at them. But, on the
other hand, between these hills there lie wide stretches of the
green or russet savanna, the noblest field that a horseman or a
horse gunner could wish. The riflemen clung to the hills, French's
troopers circled warily upon the plain, gradually contracting the
Boer position by threatening to cut off this or that outlying
kopje, and so the enemy was slowly herded into Colesberg. The small
but mobile British force covered a very large area, and hardly a
day passed that one or other part of it did not come in contact
with the enemy. With one regiment of infantry (the Berkshires) to
hold the centre, his hard-riding Tasmanians, New Zealanders, and
Australians, with the Scots Greys, the Inniskillings, and the
Carabineers, formed an elastic but impenetrable screen to cover the
Colony. They were aided by two batteries, O and R, of Horse
Artillery. Every day General French rode out and made a close
personal examination of the enemy's position, while his scouts and
outposts were instructed to maintain the closest possible touch.
On December 30th the enemy abandoned Rensburg, which had been their
advanced post, and concentrated at Colesberg, upon which French
moved his force up and seized Rensburg. The very next day, December
31st, he began a vigorous and long-continued series of operations.
At five o'clock on Sunday evening he moved out of Rensburg camp,
with R and half of O batteries R.H.A., the 10th Hussars, the
Inniskillings, and the Berkshires, to take up a position on the
west of Colesberg.
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