The
Apex Of The Triangle Pointed North, With A Ridge On The Farther
Side Of The River.
The men with Kekewich were for the most part the same as those who
had fought in the Vlakfontein
Engagement - the Derbys, the 1st
Scottish Horse, the Yeomanry, and the 28th R.F.A. Every precaution
appears to have been taken by the leader, and his pickets were
thrown out so far that ample warning was assured of an attack. The
Boer onslaught came so suddenly and fiercely, however, in the early
morning, that the posts upon the river bank were driven in or
destroyed and the riflemen from the ridge on the farther side were
able to sweep the camp with their fire. In numbers the two forces
were not unequal, but the Boers had already obtained the tactical
advantage, and were playing a game in which they are the
schoolmasters of the world. Never has the British spirit flamed up
more fiercely, and from the commander to the latest yeoman recruit
there was not a man who flinched from a difficult and almost a
desperate task. The Boers must at all hazard be driven from the
position which enabled them to command the camp. No retreat was
possible without such an abandonment of stores as would amount to a
disaster. In the confusion and the uncertain light of early dawn
there was no chance of a concerted movement, though Kekewich made
such dispositions as were possible with admirable coolness and
promptness.
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