As Already Stated, The Camp Of Clements Lay Under A Precipitous
Cliff, Upon The Summit Of Which He Had Placed Four Companies Of The
2nd Northumberland Fusiliers.
This strong post was a thousand feet
higher than the camp.
Below lay the main body of the force, two
more companies of fusiliers, four of Yorkshire Light Infantry, the
2nd Mounted Infantry, Kitchener's Horse, yeomanry, and the
artillery. The latter consisted of one heavy naval gun, four guns
of the 8th R.F.A., and P battery R.H.A. The whole force amounted to
about fifteen hundred men.
It was just at the first break of dawn - the hour of fate in South
African warfare - that the battle began. The mounted infantry post
between the camp and the mountains were aware of moving figures in
front of them. In the dim light they could discern that they were
clothed in grey, and that they wore the broad-brimmed hats and
feathers of some of our own irregular corps. They challenged, and
the answer was a shattering volley, instantly returned by the
survivors of the picket. So hot was the Boer attack that before
help could come every man save one of the picket was on the ground.
The sole survivor, Daley of the Dublins, took no backward step, but
continued to steadily load and fire until help came from the
awakened camp. There followed a savage conflict at point
blank-range. The mounted infantry men, rushing half clad to the
support of their comrades, were confronted by an ever-thickening
swarm of Boer riflemen, who had already, by working round on the
flank, established their favourite cross fire. Legge, the leader of
the mounted infantry, a hard little Egyptian veteran, was shot
through the head, and his men lay thick around him. For some
minutes it was as hot a corner as any in the war. But Clements
himself had appeared upon the scene, and his cool gallantry turned
the tide of fight. An extension of the line checked the cross fire,
and gave the British in turn a flanking position. Gradually the
Boer riflemen were pushed back, until at last they broke and fled
for their horses in the rear. A small body were cut off, many of
whom were killed and wounded, while a few were taken prisoners.
This stiff fight of an hour had ended in a complete repulse of the
attack, though at a considerable cost. Both Boers and British had
lost heavily. Nearly all the staff were killed or wounded, though
General Clements had come through untouched. Fifty or sixty of both
sides had fallen. But it was noted as an ominous fact that in spite
of shell fire the Boers still lingered upon the western flank. Were
they coming on again? They showed no signs of it. And yet they
waited in groups, and looked up towards the beetling crags above
them. What were they waiting for? The sudden crash of a murderous
Mauser fire upon the summit, with the rolling volleys of the
British infantry, supplied the answer.
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