On
April 4th News Reached Boshof That A Boer Commando Had Been Seen
Some Ten Miles To The East Of The Town, And A Force, Consisting Of
Yeomanry, Kimberley Light Horse, And Half Of Butcher's Veteran 4th
Battery, Was Sent To Attack Them.
They were found to have taken up
their position upon a kopje which, contrary to all Boer custom, had
no other kopjes to support it.
French generalship was certainly not
so astute as Boer cunning. The kopje was instantly surrounded, and
the small force upon the summit being without artillery in the face
of our guns found itself in exactly the same position which our men
had been in twenty-four hours before at Reddersberg. Again was
shown the advantage which the mounted rifleman has over the
cavalry, for the Yeomanry and Light Horsemen left their horses and
ascended the hill with the bayonet. In three hours all was over and
the Boers had laid down their arms. Villebois was shot with seven
of his companions, and there were nearly sixty prisoners. It speaks
well for the skirmishing of the Yeomanry and the way in which they
were handled by Lord Chesham that though they worked their way up
the hill under fire they only lost four killed and a few wounded.
The affair was a small one, but it was complete, and it came at a
time when a success was very welcome. One bustling week had seen
the expensive victory of Karee, the disasters of Sanna's Post and
Reddersberg, and the successful skirmish of Boshof.
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