On The Same Day General
Buller, Who Had Ceased To Advance To The East And Retraced His
Steps As Far As Helvetia, Began His Northerly Movement In The
Direction Of Lydenburg, Which Is Nearly Fifty Miles To The North Of
The Railway Line.
On that date his force made a march of fourteen
miles, which brought them over the Crocodile River to
Badfontein.
Here, on September 2nd, Buller found that the indomitable Botha was
still turning back upon him, for he was faced by so heavy a shell
fire, coming from so formidable a position, that he had to be
content to wait in front of it until some other column should
outflank it. The days of unnecessary frontal attacks were for ever
over, and his force, though ready for anything which might be asked
of it, had gone through a good deal in the recent operations. Since
August 21st they had been under fire almost every day, and their
losses, though never great on any one occasion, amounted in the
aggregate during that time to 365. They had crossed the Tugela,
they had relieved Ladysmith, they had forced Laing's Nek, and now
it was to them that the honour had fallen of following the enemy
into this last fastness. Whatever criticism may be directed against
some episodes in the Natal campaign, it must never be forgotten
that to Buller and to his men have fallen some of the hardest tasks
of the war, and that these tasks have always in the end been
successfully carried out.
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