Three Companies Of The Latter Seized A Farm Upon The
Enemy's Left, But Lost Ten Men In Doing So, While Their Gallant
Colonel, Carter, Was Severely Wounded In Two Places.
The
Wiltshires, who were excellently handled by Captain Bolton, held on
to the farm and were reinforced there by a handful of the Scots
Guards.
In the night the position was abandoned by the Boers, and
the advance swept onwards. On all sides the pressure was becoming
unendurable. The burghers in the valley below could see all day the
twinkle of British heliographs from every hill, while at night the
constant flash of signals told of the sleepless vigilance which
hemmed them in. Upon July 29th, Prinsloo sent in a request for an
armistice, which was refused. Later in the day he despatched a
messenger with the white flag to Hunter, with an announcement of
his unconditional surrender.
On July 30th the motley army which had held the British off so long
emerged from among the mountains. But it soon became evident that
in speaking for all Prinsloo had gone beyond his powers. Discipline
was low and individualism high in the Boer army. Every man might
repudiate the decision of his commandant, as every man might
repudiate the white flag of his comrade. On the first day no more
than eleven hundred men of the Ficksburg and Ladybrand commandos,
with fifteen hundred horses and two guns, were surrendered. next
day seven hundred and fifty more men came in with eight hundred
horses, and by August 6th the total of the prisoners had mounted to
four thousand one hundred and fifty with three guns, two of which
were our own.
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