Hovel And Bartholomew
Continued To Encourage Their Men, And The British Fire Became So
Deadly That That Of The Boers Was Dominated.
Under the direction of
Hacket Pain, who commanded the nearest post, guns of J battery were
brought out into the open and shelled the portion of the kopje
which was held by the Boers.
The latter were reinforced, but could
make no advance against the accurate rifle fire with which they
were met. The Bisley champion of the battalion, with a bullet
through his thigh, expended a hundred rounds before sinking from
loss of blood. It was an excellent defence, and a pleasing
exception to those too frequent cases where an isolated force has
lost heart in face of a numerous and persistent foe. With the
coming of darkness the Boers withdrew with a loss of over two
hundred killed and wounded. Orders had come from Clements that the
whole right wing should be drawn in, and in obedience to them the
remains of the victorious companies were called in by Hacket Pain,
who moved his force by night in the direction of Rensburg. The
British loss in the action was twenty-eight killed and nearly a
hundred wounded or missing, most of which was incurred when the
sangars were rushed in the early morning.
While this action was fought upon the extreme right of the British
position another as severe had occurred with much the same result
upon the extreme left, where the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment was
stationed.
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