Neither the repulse of
Carrington, nor the jamming of their only gun, nor the death of the
gallant Annett, was sufficient to dishearten them. They were sworn
to die before the white flag should wave above them. And so fortune
yielded, as fortune will when brave men set their teeth, and
Broadwood's troopers, filled with wonder and admiration, rode into
the lines of the reduced and emaciated but indomitable garrison.
When the ballad-makers of Australia seek for a subject, let them
turn to Elands River, for there was no finer resistance in the war.
They will not grudge a place in their record to the 130 gallant
Rhodesians who shared with them the honours and the dangers of the
exploit.
On August 7th Ian Hamilton abandoned Rustenburg, taking
Baden-Powell and his men with him. It was obviously unwise to
scatter the British forces too widely by attempting to garrison
every single town. For the instant the whole interest of the war
centred upon De Wet and his dash into the Transvaal. One or two
minor events, however, which cannot be fitted into any continuous
narrative may be here introduced.
One of these was the action at Faber's Put, by which Sir Charles
Warren crushed the rebellion in Griqualand. In that sparsely
inhabited country of vast distances it was a most difficult task to
bring the revolt to a decisive ending.
