They
Held A Hill About Half A Mile North Of The Town, And Commanding It.
The Attack, Which Was A Surprise In The Middle Of The Night, Broke
Upon The Pickets Of The British, Who Held Their Own In A Way Which
May Have Been Injudicious But Was Certainly Heroic.
Instead of
falling back when seriously attacked, the young officers in charge
of these outposts refused to move, and were speedily under such a
fire that it was impossible to reinforce them.
There were four
outposts, under Woodgate, Theobald, Lippert, and Mangles. The
attack at 2.15 on a cold dark morning began at the post held by
Woodgate, the Boers coming hand-to-hand before they were detected.
Woodgate, who was unarmed at the instant, seized a hammer, and
rushed at the nearest Boer, but was struck by two bullets and
killed. His post was dispersed or taken. Theobald and Lippert,
warned by the firing, held on behind their sangars, and were ready
for the storm which burst over them. Lippert was unhappily killed,
and his ten men all hit or taken, but young Theobald held his own
under a heavy fire for twelve hours. Mangles also, the gallant son
of a gallant father, held his post all day with the utmost
tenacity. The troops in the trenches behind were never seriously
pressed, thanks to the desperate resistance of the outposts, but
Colonel Gawne of the Lancasters was unfortunately killed. Towards
evening the Boers abandoned the attack, leaving fourteen of their
number dead upon the ground, from which it may be guessed that
their total casualties were not less than a hundred. The British
losses were three officers and five men killed, twenty-two men
wounded, and thirty men with one officer missing - the latter being
the survivors of those outposts which were overwhelmed by the Boer
advance.
A few incidents stand out among the daily bulletins of snipings,
skirmishes, and endless marchings which make the dull chronicle of
these, the last months of the year 1900. These must be enumerated
without any attempt at connecting them. The first is the
long-drawn-out siege or investment of Schweizer-Renecke. This small
village stands upon the Harts River, on the western border of the
Transvaal. It is not easy to understand why the one party should
desire to hold, or the other to attack, a position so
insignificant. From August 19th onwards it was defended by a
garrison of 250 men, under the very capable command of Colonel
Chamier, who handled a small business in a way which marks him as a
leader. The Boer force, which varied in numbers from five hundred
to a thousand, never ventured to push home an attack, for Chamier,
fresh from the experience of Kimberley, had taken such precautions
that his defences were formidable, if not impregnable. Late in
September a relieving force under Colonel Settle threw fresh
supplies into the town, but when he passed on upon his endless
march the enemy closed in once more, and the siege was renewed.
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