At Eight O'clock They
Detrained At Molteno, And Thence After A Short Rest And A Meal They
Started Upon The Night March Which Was Intended To End At The Break
Of Day At The Boer Trenches.
One feels as if one were describing
the operations of Magersfontein once again and the parallel
continues to be painfully exact.
It was nine o'clock and pitch dark when the column moved out of
Molteno and struck across the black gloom of the veld, the wheels
of the guns being wrapped in hide to deaden the rattle. It was
known that the distance was not more than ten miles, and so when
hour followed hour and the guides were still unable to say that
they had reached their point it must have become perfectly evident
that they had missed their way. The men were dog-tired, a long
day's work had been followed by a long night's march, and they
plodded along drowsily through the darkness. The ground was broken
and irregular. The weary soldiers stumbled as they marched.
Daylight came and revealed the column still looking for its
objective, the fiery General walking in front and leading his horse
behind him. It was evident that his plans had miscarried, but his
energetic and hardy temperament would not permit him to turn back
without a blow being struck. However one may commend his energy,
one cannot but stand aghast at his dispositions. The country was
wild and rocky, the very places for those tactics of the surprise
and the ambuscade in which the Boers excelled.
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