It
Lasted For Several Months, Until A Column Withdrew The Garrison And
Abandoned The Position.
Of all the British detachments, the two which worked hardest and
marched furthest during this period of the war
Was the 21st Brigade
(Derbysbires, Sussex, and Camerons) under General Bruce Hamilton,
and the column under Settle, which operated down the western border
of the Orange River Colony, and worked round and round with such
pertinacity that it was familiarly known as Settle's Imperial
Circus. Much hard and disagreeable work, far more repugnant to the
soldier than the actual dangers of war, fell to the lot of Bruce
Hamilton and his men. With Kroonstad as their centre they were
continually working through the dangerous Lindley and Heilbron
districts, returning to the railway line only to start again
immediately upon a fresh quest. It was work for mounted police, not
for infantry soldiers, but what they were given to do they did to
the best of their ability. Settle's men had a similar thankless
task. From the neighbourhood of Kimberley he marched in November
with his small column down the border of the Orange River Colony,
capturing supplies and bringing in refugees. He fought one brisk
action with Hertzog's commando at Kloof, and then, making his way
across the colony, struck the railway line again at Edenburg on
December 7th, with a train of prisoners and cattle.
Rundle also had put in much hard work in his efforts to control the
difficult district in the north-east of the Colony which had been
committed to his care. He traversed in November from north to south
the same country which he had already so painfully traversed from
south to north. With occasional small actions he moved about from
Vrede to Reitz, and so to Bethlehem and Harrismith. On him, as on
all other commanders, the vicious system of placing small garrisons
in the various towns imposed a constant responsibility lest they
should be starved or overwhelmed.
The year and the century ended by a small reverse to the British
arms in the Transvaal. This consisted in the capture of a post at
Helvetia defended by a detachment of the Liverpool Regiment and by
a 4.7 gun. Lydenburg, being seventy miles off the railway line, had
a chain of posts connecting it with the junction at Machadodorp.
These posts were seven in number, ten miles apart, each defended by
250 men. Of these Helvetia was the second. The key of the position
was a strongly fortified hill about three-quarters of a mile from
the headquarter camp, and commanding it. This post was held by
Captain Kirke with forty garrison artillery to work the big gun,
and seventy Liverpool infantry. In spite of the barbed-wire
entanglements, the Boers most gallantly rushed this position, and
their advance was so rapid, or the garrison so slow, that the place
was carried with hardly a shot fired. Major Cotton, who commanded
the main lines, found himself deprived in an instant of nearly half
his force and fiercely attacked by a victorious and exultant enemy.
His position was much too extended for the small force at his
disposal, and the line of trenches was pierced and enfiladed at
many points.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 331 of 435
Words from 171118 to 171656
of 225456
