It was feared at first that the greater part of the Boers might
have escaped upon this night of the 23rd, when Manie Botha's
storming party burst through the ranks of the New Zealanders. It
was soon discovered that this was not so, and the columns as they
closed in had evidence from the numerous horsemen who scampered
aimlessly over the hills in front of them that the main body of the
enemy was still in the toils. The advance was in tempestuous
weather and over rugged country, but the men were filled with
eagerness, and no precaution was neglected to keep the line intact.
This time their efforts were crowned with considerable success. A
second attempt was made by the corraled burghers to break out on
the night of February 26th, but it was easily repulsed by Nixon.
The task of the troopers as the cordon drew south was more and more
difficult, and there were places traversed upon the Natal border
where an alpen stock would have been a more useful adjunct than a
horse. At six o'clock on the morning of the 27th came the end. Two
Boers appeared in front of the advancing line of the Imperial Light
Horse and held up a flag. They proved to be Truter and De Jager,
ready to make terms for their commando. The only terms offered were
absolute surrender within the hour. The Boers had been swept into a
very confined space, which was closely hemmed in by troops, so that
any resistance must have ended in a tragedy. Fortunately there was
no reason for desperate councils in their case, since they did not
fight as Lotter had done, with the shadow of judgment hanging over
him. The burghers piled arms, and all was over.
The total number captured in this important drive was 780 men,
including several leaders, one of whom was De Wet's own son. It was
found that De Wet himself had been among those who had got away
through the picket lines on the night of the 23rd. Most of the
commando were Transvaalers, and it was typical of the wide sweep of
the net that many of them were the men who had been engaged against
the 28th Mounted Infantry in the district south of Johannesburg
upon the 12th of the same month. The loss of 2000 horses and 50,000
cartridges meant as much as that of the men to the Boer army. It
was evident that a few more such blows would clear the Orange River
Colony altogether.
The wearied troopers were allowed little rest, for in a couple of
days after their rendezvous at Harrismith they were sweeping back
again to pick up all that they had missed.
