Although Methuen Came Within Reach Of Rustenburg, He Did Not
Actually Join Hands With Baden-Powell.
No doubt he saw and heard
enough to convince him that that astute soldier was very well able
to take care of himself.
Learning of the existence of a Boer force
in his rear, Methuen turned, and on July 29th he was back at
Frederickstad on the Potchefstroom to Krugersdorp railway. The
sudden change in his plans was caused doubtless by the desire to
head off De Wet in case he should cross the Vaal River. Lord
Roberts was still anxious to clear the neighbourhood of Rustenburg
entirely of the enemy; and he therefore, since Methuen was needed
to complete the cordon round De Wet, recalled Hamilton's force from
the east and despatched it, as already described, to the west of
Pretoria.
Before going into the details of the great De Wet hunt, in which
Methuen's force was to be engaged, I shall follow Hamilton's
division across, and give some account of their services. On August
1st he set out from Pretoria for Rustenburg. On that day and on the
next he had brisk skirmishes which brought him successfully through
the Magaliesberg range with a loss of forty wounded, mostly of the
Berkshires. On the 5th of August he had made his way to Rustenburg
and drove off the investing force. A smaller siege had been going
on to westward, where at Elands River another Mafeking man, Colonel
Hore, had been held up by the burghers.
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