An attack was also developing upon the right flank,
which was held off by the infantry and by the second section of the
guns.
It has been said that Methuen's horsemen were for the most part
inexperienced irregulars. Such men become in time excellent
soldiers, as all this campaign bears witness, but it is too much to
expose them to a severe ordeal in the open field when they are
still raw and untrained. As it happened, this particular ordeal was
exceedingly severe, but nothing can excuse the absolute failure of
the troops concerned to rise to the occasion. Had Methuen's
rearguard consisted of Imperial Light Horse, or Scottish Horse, it
is safe to say that the battle of Tweebosch would have had a very
different ending.
What happened was that a large body of Boers formed up in five
lines and charged straight home at the rear screen and rearguard,
firing from their saddles as they had done at Brakenlaagte. The
sight of those wide-flung lines of determined men galloping over
the plain seems to have been too much for the nerves of the
unseasoned troopers. A panic spread through their ranks, and in an
instant they had turned their horses' heads and were thundering to
their rear, leaving the two guns uncovered and streaming in wild
confusion past the left flank of the jeering infantry who were
lying round the wagons. The limit of their flight seems to have
been the wind of their horses, and most of them never drew rein
until they had placed many miles between themselves and the
comrades whom they had deserted. 'It was pitiable,' says an
eye-witness, 'to see the grand old General begging them to stop,
but they would not; a large body of them arrived in Kraaipan
without firing a shot,' It was a South African 'Battle of the
Spurs.'
By this defection of the greater portion of the force the handful
of brave men who remained were left in a hopeless position. The two
guns of the 38th battery were overwhelmed and ridden over by the
Boer horsemen, every man being killed or wounded, including
Lieutenant Nesham, who acted up to the highest traditions of his
corps.
The battle, however, was not yet over. The infantry were few in
number, but they were experienced troops, and they maintained the
struggle for some hours in the face of overwhelming numbers. Two
hundred of the Northumberland Fusiliers lay round the wagons and
held the Boers off from their prey. With them were the two
remaining guns, which were a mark for a thousand Boer riflemen.
