As It Was, However, There Seemed Every Possibility Of Their Getting
The Guns, But De Wet Very Cleverly Covered Them
By his skirmishers.
Taking possession of a farmhouse on the right flank they kept up a
spirited fire upon the
16th Lancers and upon P battery R.H.A. When
at last the latter drove them out of their shelter, they again
formed upon a low kopje and poured so galling a fire upon the right
wing that the whole movement was interrupted until we had driven
this little body of fifty men from their position. When, after a
delay of an hour, the cavalry at last succeeded in dislodging
them - or possibly it may be fairer to say when, having accomplished
their purpose, they retired - the guns and wagons were out of reach,
and, what is more important, the two Presidents, both Steyn and
Kruger, who had come to stiffen the resistance of the burghers, had
escaped.
Making every allowance for the weary state of the horses, it is
impossible to say that our cavalry were handled with energy or
judgment on this occasion. That such a force of men and guns should
be held off from an object of such importance by so small a
resistance reflects no credit upon us. It would have been better to
repeat the Kimberley tactics and to sweep the regiments in extended
order past the obstacle if we could not pass over it. At the other
side of that little ill-defended kopje lay a possible termination
of the war, and our crack cavalry regiments manoeuvred for hours
and let it pass out of their reach. However, as Lord Roberts
good-humouredly remarked at the end of the action, 'In war you
can't expect everything to come out right.' General French can
afford to shed one leaf from his laurel wreath. On the other hand,
no words can be too high for the gallant little band of Boers who
had the courage to face that overwhelming mass of horsemen, and to
bluff them into regarding this handful as a force fighting a
serious rearguard action. When the stories of the war are told
round the fires in the lonely veld farmhouses, as they will be for
a century to come, this one deserves an honoured place.
The victory, if such a word can apply to such an action, had cost
some fifty or sixty of the cavalry killed and wounded, while it is
doubtful if the Boers lost as many. The finest military display on
the British side had been the magnificent marching of Kelly-Kenny's
6th Division, who had gone for ten hours with hardly a halt. One
9-pound Krupp gun was the only trophy. On the other hand, Roberts
had turned them out of their strong position, had gained twelve or
fifteen miles on he road to Bloemfontein, and for the first time
shown how helpless a Boer army was in country which gave our
numbers a chance.
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