On the 10th he got a pom-pom. Early in this month
Douglas separated from Methuen, and marched south from Zeerust
through Ventersdorp to Klerksdorp, passing over a country which had
been hardly touched before, and arriving at his goal with much
cattle and some prisoners. Towards the end of the month a
considerable stock of provisions were conveyed to Zeerust, and a
garrison left to hold that town so as to release Methuen's column
for service elsewhere.
Hart's sphere of action was originally round Potchefstroom. On
September 9th he made a fine forced march to surprise this town,
which had been left some time before with an entirely inadequate
garrison to fall into the hands of the enemy. His infantry covered
thirty-six and his cavalry fifty-four miles in fifteen hours. The
operation was a complete success, the town with eighty Boers
falling into his hands with little opposition. On September 30th
Hart returned to Krugersdorp, where, save for one skirmish upon the
Gatsrand on November 22nd, he appears to have had no actual
fighting to do during the remainder of the year.
After the clearing of the eastern border of the Transvaal by the
movement of Pole-Carew along the railway line, and of Buller aided
by Ian Hamilton in the mountainous country to the north of it,
there were no operations of importance in this district. A guard
was kept upon the frontier to prevent the return of refugees and
the smuggling of ammunition, while General Kitchener, the brother
of the Sirdar, broke up a few small Boer laagers in the
neighbourhood of Lydenburg. Smith-Dorrien guarded the line at
Belfast, and on two occasions, November 1st and November 6th, he
made aggressive movements against the enemy. The first, which was a
surprise executed in concert with Colonel Spens of the Shropshires,
was frustrated by a severe blizzard, which prevented the troops
from pushing home their success. The second was a two days'
expedition, which met with a spirited opposition, and demands a
fuller notice.
This was made from Belfast, and the force, which consisted of about
fourteen hundred men, advanced south to the Komati River. The
infantry were Suffolks and Shropshires, the cavalry Canadians and
5th Lancers, with two Canadian guns and four of the 84th battery.
All day the Boer snipers clung to the column, as they had done to
French's cavalry in the same district. Mere route marches without a
very definite and adequate objective appear to be rather
exasperating than overawing, for so long as the column is moving
onwards the most timid farmer may be tempted into long-range fire
from the flanks or rear. The river was reached and the Boers driven
from a position which they had taken up, but their signal fires
brought mounted riflemen from every farm, and the retreat of the
troops was pressed as they returned to Belfast.
