This Was Done On July 6th And 7th, The British
Advance Meeting With Considerable Resistance From Artillery As Well
As Rifles.
By this movement the pressure upon the right was
relieved, which might have created a dangerous unrest in
Johannesburg, and it was done at the moderate cost of thirty-four
killed and wounded, half of whom belonged to the Imperial Light
Horse.
This famous corps, which had come across with Mahon from the
relief of Mafeking, had, a few days before, ridden with mixed
feelings through the streets of Johannesburg and past, in many
instances, the deserted houses which had once been their homes.
Many weary months were to pass before the survivors might occupy
them. On July 9th the Boers again attacked, but were again pushed
back to the eastward.
It is probable that all these demonstrations of the enemy upon the
right of Lord Roberts's extended position were really feints in
order to cover the far-reaching plans which Botha had in his mind.
The disposition of the Boer forces at this time appears to have
been as follows: Botha with his army occupied a position along
Delagoa railway line, further east than Diamond Hill, whence he
detached the bodies which attacked Hutton upon the extreme right of
the British position to the south-east of Pretoria. To the north of
Pretoria a second force was acting under Grobler, while a third
under De la Rey had been despatched secretly across to the left
wing of the British, north-west of Pretoria.
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