It is difficult to give an intelligible account of the details
of these operations, because they were carried out by thin fringes
of men covering on both sides a very large area, each kopje
occupied as a fort, and the intervening plains patrolled by
cavalry.
As French extended to the east and north the Boers extended also to
prevent him from outflanking them, and so the little armies
stretched and stretched until they were two long mobile skirmishing
lines. The actions therefore resolve themselves into the encounters
of small bodies and the snapping up of exposed patrols - a game in
which the Boer aptitude for guerrilla tactics gave them some
advantage, though our own cavalry quickly adapted themselves to the
new conditions. On this occasion a patrol of sixteen men from the
South Australian Horse and New South Wales Lancers fell into an
ambush, and eleven were captured. Of the remainder, three made
their way back to camp, while one was killed and one was wounded.
The duel between French on the one side and Schoeman and Lambert on
the other was from this onwards one of maneuvering rather than of
fighting. The dangerously extended line of the British at this
period, over thirty miles long, was reinforced, as has been
mentioned, by the 1st Yorkshire and later by the 2nd Wiltshire and
a section of the 37th Howitzer Battery.
