There,
On The 17th, A Pontoon Bridge Had Been Erected, And A Strong Force
Was Thrown Over In Such A
Way as to turn the right of the trenches
in front of Potgieter's. It was admirably planned and excellently
carried
Out, certainly the most strategic movement, if there could
he said to have been any strategic movement upon the British side,
in the campaign up to that date. On the 18th the infantry, the
cavalry, and most of the guns were safely across without loss of
life. The Boers, however, still retained their formidable internal
lines, and the only result of a change of position seemed to be to
put them to the trouble of building a new series of those terrible
entrenchments at which they had become such experts. After all the
combinations the British were, it is true, upon the right side of
the river, but they were considerably further from Ladysmith than
when they started. There are times, however, when twenty miles are
less than fourteen, and it was hoped that this might prove to be
among them. But the first step was the most serious one, for right
across their front lay the Boer position upon the edge of a lofty
plateau, with the high peak of Spion Kop forming the left corner of
it. If once that main ridge could be captured or commanded, it
would carry them halfway to the goal. It was for that essential
line of hills that two of the most dogged races upon earth were
about to contend.
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