When It Came It Came Very
Thoroughly, But It Was A Weary Time In Coming.
Then our men
descended the hill, but the Boers were already crowding in upon
them from either side.
The English cries of the soldiers were
answered in English by the Boers, and slouch hat or helmet dimly
seen in the mirk was the only badge of friend or foe. A singular
letter is extant from young Reitz (the son of the Transvaal
secretary), who was present. According to his account there were
but eight Boers present, but assertion or contradiction equally
valueless in the darkness of such a night, and there are some
obvious discrepancies in his statement. 'We fired among them,' says
Reitz. 'They stopped and all cried out "Rifle Brigade." Then one of
them said "Charge!" One officer, Captain Paley, advanced, though he
had two bullet wounds already. Joubert gave him another shot and he
fell on the top of us. Four Englishmen got hold of Jan Luttig and
struck him on the head with their rifles and stabbed him in the
stomach with a bayonet. He seized two of them by the throat and
shouted "Help, boys!" His two nearest comrades shot two of them,
and the other two bolted. Then the English came up in numbers,
about eight hundred, along the footpath' (there were two hundred on
the hill, but the exaggeration is pardonable in the darkness), 'and
we lay as quiet as mice along the bank. Farther on the English
killed three of our men with bayonets and wounded two.
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