The Yeomanry All Did Well, Especially The 5th And 10th
Battalions.
So also did the Australians and the Loyal North
Lancashires.
The British casualties amounted to sixteen killed and
thirty-four wounded, while the Boers left eighteen of their dead
upon the position which they had abandoned. Lord Methuen's little
force returned to Klerksdorp, having deserved right well of their
country. From Klerksdorp Methuen struck back westwards to the south
of his former route, and on March 14th he was reported at
Warrenton. Here also in April came Erroll's small column, bringing
with it the garrison and inhabitants of Hoopstad, a post which it
had been determined, in accordance with Lord Kitchener's policy of
centralisation, to abandon.
In the month of January, 1901, there had been a considerable
concentration of the Transvaal Boers into that large triangle which
is bounded by the Delagoa railway line upon the north, the Natal
railway line upon the south, and the Swazi and Zulu frontiers upon
the east. The bushveld is at this season of the year unhealthy both
for man and beast, so that for the sake of their herds, their
families, and themselves the burghers were constrained to descend
into the open veld. There seemed the less objection to their doing
so since this tract of country, though traversed once both by
Buller and by French, had still remained a stronghold of the Boers
and a storehouse of supplies. Within its borders are to be found
Carolina, Ermelo, Vryheid, and other storm centres.
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