On The 12th A Patrol Of Yeomanry
Was Surprised And Taken Near Willowmore.
The coming of De Wet had evidently been the signal for all the Boer
raiders to concentrate, for in the second week of February
Kritzinger also began to fall back, as Hertzog had done in the
west, followed closely by the British columns.
He did not, however,
actually join De Wet, and his evacuation of the country was never
complete, as was the case with Hertzog's force. On the 19th
Kritzinger was at Bethesda, with Gorringe and Lowe at his heels. On
the 23rd an important railway bridge at Fish River, north of
Cradock, was attacked, but the attempt was foiled by the resistance
of a handful of Cape Police and Lancasters. On March 6th a party of
Boers occupied the village of Pearston, capturing a few rifles and
some ammunition. On the same date there was a skirmish between
Colonel Parsons's column and a party of the enemy to the north of
Aberdeen. The main body of the invading force appears to have been
lurking in this neighbourhood, as they were able upon April 7th to
cut off a strong British patrol, consisting of a hundred Lancers
and Yeomanry, seventy-five of whom remained as temporary prisoners
in the hands of the enemy. With this success we may for the time
leave Kritzinger and his lieutenant, Scheepers, who commanded that
portion of his force which had penetrated to the south of the
Colony.
The two invasions which have been here described, that of Hertzog
in the west and of Kritzinger in the midlands, would appear in
themselves to be unimportant military operations, since they were
carried out by small bodies of men whose policy was rather to avoid
than to overcome resistance.
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