Squadrons And Companies Closed In Upon The River Bank
With The One Thought Of Coming To Close Quarters And Driving The
Enemy From Their Commanding Position.
Already more than half the
horses and a very large number of officers and men had gone down
before the pelting bullets.
Scottish Horse, Yeomanry, and Derbys
pushed on, the young soldiers of the two former corps keeping pace
with the veteran regiment. 'All the men behaved simply splendidly,'
said a spectator, 'taking what little cover there was and advancing
yard by yard. An order was given to try and saddle up a squadron,
with the idea of getting round their flank. I had the saddle almost
on one of my ponies when he was hit in two places. Two men trying
to saddle alongside of me were both shot dead, and Lieutenant
Wortley was shot through the knee. I ran back to where I had been
firing from and found the Colonel slightly hit, the Adjutant
wounded and dying, and men dead and wounded all round.' But the
counter-attack soon began to make way. At first the advance was
slow, but soon it quickened into a magnificent rush, the wounded
Kekewich whooping on his men, and the guns coming into action as
the enemy began to fall back before the fierce charge of the
British riflemen. At six o'clock De la Rey's burghers had seen that
their attempt was hopeless, and were in full retreat - a retreat
which could not be harassed by the victors, whose cavalry had been
converted by that hail of bullets into footmen.
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