But The British Were Hard Upon His Track,
And For Once They Were Able To Catch This Indefatigable Man
Unawares.
Yet their knowledge of his position seems to have been
most hazy, and on the very day before that on which they found him,
General Charles Knox, with the main body of the force, turned
north, and was out of the subsequent action.
De Lisle's mounted
troops also turned north, but fortunately not entirely out of call.
To the third and smallest body of mounted men, that under Le
Gallais, fell the honour of the action which I am about to
describe.
It is possible that the move northwards of Charles Knox and of De
Lisle had the effect of a most elaborate stratagem, since it
persuaded the Boer scouts that the British were retiring. So indeed
they were, save only the small force of Le Gallais, which seems to
have taken one last cast round to the south before giving up the
pursuit. In the grey of the morning of November 6th, Major Lean
with forty men of the 5th Mounted Infantry came upon three weary
Boers sleeping upon the veld. Having secured the men, and realising
that they were an outpost, Lean pushed on, and topping a rise some
hundreds of yards further, he and his men saw a remarkable scene.
There before them stretched the camp of the Boers, the men
sleeping, the horses grazing, the guns parked, and the wagons
outspanned.
There was little time for consideration. The Kaffir drivers were
already afoot and strolling out for their horses, or lighting the
fires for their masters' coffee. With splendid decision, although
he had but forty men to oppose to over a thousand, Lean sent back
for reinforcements and opened fire upon the camp. In an instant it
was buzzing like an overturned hive. Up sprang the sleepers, rushed
for their horses, and galloped away across the veld, leaving their
guns and wagons behind. A few stalwarts remained, however, and
their numbers were increased by those whose horses had stampeded,
and who were, therefore, unable to get away. They occupied an
enclosed kraal and a farmhouse in front of the British, whence they
opened a sharp fire. At the same time a number of the Boers who had
ridden away came back again, having realised how weak their
assailants were, and worked round the British flanks upon either
side.
Le Gallais, with his men, had come up, but the British force was
still far inferior to that which it was attacking. A section of U
battery was able to unlimber, and open fire at four hundred yards
from the Boer position. The British made no attempt to attack, but
contented themselves with holding on to the position from which
they could prevent the Boer guns from being removed. The burghers
tried desperately to drive off the stubborn fringe of riflemen. A
small stone shed in the possession of the British was the centre of
the Boer fire, and it was within its walls that Ross of the Durhams
was horribly wounded by an explosive ball, and that the brave
Jerseyman, Le Gallais, was killed.
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