On The 23rd He Was At
Clanwilliam, Fifty Miles South-West Of Them.
To his right were
three other small British columns under Bethune, Thorneycroft, and
Henniker, the latter resting upon the railway at Matjesfontein, and
the whole line extending over 120 miles - barring the southern path
to the invaders.
Though Hertzog at Calvinia and De Lisle at Clanwilliam were only
fifty miles apart, the intervening country is among the most broken
and mountainous in South Africa. Between the two points, and nearer
to De Lisle than to Hertzog, flows the Doorn River. The Boers
advancing from Calvinia came into touch with the British scouts at
this point, and drove them in upon January 21st. On the 28th De
Lisle, having been reinforced by Bethune's column, was able at last
to take the initiative. Bethune's force consisted mainly of
Colonials, and included Kitchener's Fighting Scouts, the Cape
Mounted Police, Cape Mounted Rifles, Brabant's Horse, and the
Diamond Field Horse. At the end of January the united forces of
Bethune and of De Lisle advanced upon Calvinia. The difficulties
lay rather in the impassable country than in the resistance of an
enemy who was determined to refuse battle. On February 6th, after a
fine march, De Lisle and his men took possession of Calvinia, which
had been abandoned by the Boers. It is painful to add that during
the month that they had held the town they appear to have behaved
with great harshness, especially to the kaffirs. The flogging and
shooting of a coloured man named Esan forms one more incident in
the dark story of the Boer and his relations to the native.
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