Fortunately, Before The
Pressure Became Intolerable The 7th Hussars With Some Artillery
Came To The Rescue, And Turned The Tide.
The Hussars galloped in
with such dash that some of them actually got among the Boers with
their swords, but the enemy rapidly fell back and disappeared.
In this very sharp and sanguinary cavalry skirmish the Bays lost
eighty killed and wounded out of a total force of 270. To stand
such losses under such circumstances, and to preserve absolute
discipline and order, is a fine test of soldierly virtue. The
adjutant, the squadron leaders, and six out of ten officers were
killed or wounded. The Boers lost equally heavily. Two Prinsloos,
one of them a commandant, and three field-cornets were among the
slain, with seventy other casualties. The force under General
Alberts was a considerable one, not fewer than six hundred rifles,
so that the action at Holspruit is one which adds another name of
honour to the battle-roll of the Bays. It is pleasing to add that
in this and the other actions which were fought at the end of the
war our wounded met with kindness and consideration from the enemy.
We may now descend to the Orange River Colony and trace the course
of those operations which were destined to break the power of De
Wet's commando. On these we may concentrate our attention, for the
marchings and gleanings and snipings of the numerous small columns
in the other portions of the colony, although they involved much
arduous and useful work, do not claim a particular account.
After the heavy blow which he dealt Firmin's Yeomanry, De Wet
retired, as has been told, into the Langberg, whence he afterwards
retreated towards Reitz. There he was energetically pushed by
Elliot's columns, which had attained such mobility that 150 miles
were performed in three days within a single week. Our rough
schoolmasters had taught us our lesson, and the soldiering which
accomplished the marches of Bruce Hamilton, Elliot, Rimington, and
the other leaders of the end of the war was very far removed from
that which is associated with ox-wagons and harmoniums.
Moving rapidly, and covering himself by a succession of rearguard
skirmishes, De Wet danced like a will-o'the-wisp in front of and
round the British columns. De Lisle, Fanshawe, Byng, Rimington,
Dawkins, and Rawlinson were all snatching at him and finding him
just beyond their finger-tips. The master-mind at Pretoria had,
however, thought out a scheme which was worthy of De Wet himself in
its ingenuity. A glance at the map will show that the little branch
from Heilbron to Wolvehoek forms an acute angle with the main line.
Both these railways were strongly blockhoused and barbed-wired, so
that any force which was driven into the angle, and held in it by a
force behind it, would be in a perilous position. To attempt to
round De Wet's mobile burghers into this obvious pen would have
been to show one's hand too clearly. In vain is the net laid in
sight of the bird. The drive was therefore made away from this
point, with the confident expectation that the guerilla chief would
break back through the columns, and that they might then pivot
round upon him and hustle him so rapidly into the desired position
that he would not realise his danger until it was too late. Byng's
column was left behind the driving line to be ready for the
expected backward break. All came off exactly as expected. De Wet
doubled back through the columns, and one of his commandos stumbled
upon Byng's men, who were waiting on the Vlei River to the west of
Reitz. The Boers seem to have taken it for granted that, having
passed the British driving line, they were out of danger, and for
once it was they who were surprised. The South African Light Horse,
the New Zealanders, and the Queensland Bushmen all rode in upon
them. A fifteen-pounder, the one taken at Tweefontein, and two
pom-poms were captured, with thirty prisoners and a considerable
quantity of stores.
This successful skirmish was a small matter, however, compared to
the importance of being in close touch with De Wet and having a
definite objective for the drive. The columns behind expanded
suddenly into a spray of mounted men forming a continuous line for
over sixty miles. On February 5th the line was advancing, and on
the 6th it was known that De Wet was actually within the angle, the
mouth of which was spanned by the British line. Hope ran high in
Pretoria. The space into which the burgher chief had been driven
was bounded by sixty-six miles of blockhouse and wire on one side
and thirty on the other, while the third side of the triangle was
crossed by fifty-five miles of British horsemen, flanked by a
blockhouse line between Kroonstad and Lindley. The tension along
the lines of defence was extreme. Infantry guarded every yard of
them, and armoured trains patrolled them, while at night
searchlights at regular intervals shed their vivid rays over the
black expanse of the veld and illuminated the mounted figures who
flitted from time to time across their narrow belts of light.
On the 6th De Wet realised his position, and with characteristic
audacity and promptness he took means to clear the formidable toils
which had been woven round him. The greater part of his command
scattered, with orders to make their way as best they might out of
the danger. Working in their own country, where every crease and
fold of the ground was familiar to them, it is not surprising that
most of them managed to make their way through gaps in the
attenuated line of horsemen behind them. A few were killed, and a
considerable number taken, 270 being the respectable total of the
prisoners. Three or four slipped through, however, for every one
who stuck in the meshes.
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