All Monday And
All Tuesday French Kept His Grip At Kameelsdrift, Stolidly
Indifferent To The Attempt Of The Enemy To Cut His Line Of
Communications.
On Wednesday, Hamilton, upon the other flank, had
gained the upper hand, and the pressure was relaxed.
French then
pushed forward, but the horses were so utterly beaten that no
effective pursuit was possible.
During the two days that French had been held up by the Boer right
wing Hamilton had also been seriously engaged upon the left - so
seriously that at one time the action appeared to have gone against
him. The fight presented some distinctive features, which made it
welcome to soldiers who were weary of the invisible man with his
smokeless gun upon the eternal kopje. It is true that man, gun, and
kopje were all present upon this occasion, but in the endeavours to
drive him off some new developments took place, which formed for
one brisk hour a reversion to picturesque warfare. Perceiving a gap
in the enemy's line, Hamilton pushed up the famous Q battery - the
guns which had plucked glory out of disaster at Sanna's Post. For
the second time in one campaign they were exposed and in imminent
danger of capture. A body of mounted Boers with great dash and
hardihood galloped down within close range and opened fire.
Instantly the 12th Lancers were let loose upon them. How they must
have longed for their big-boned long-striding English troop horses
as they strove to raise a gallop out of their spiritless overworked
Argentines!
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