Next morning
(Friday) at three o'clock the weary men and horses of two of
French's brigades were afoot with the same object. But still the
Boers were obstinately holding on to Dronfield, and still their
position was too strong to force, and too extended to get round
with exhausted horses. It was not until the night after that the
Boers abandoned their excellent rearguard action, leaving one light
gun in the hands of the Cape Police, but having gained such a start
for their heavy one that French, who had other and more important
objects in view, could not attempt to follow it.
CHAPTER 19.
PAARDEBERG.
Lord Roberts's operations, prepared with admirable secrecy and
carried out with extreme energy, aimed at two different results,
each of which he was fortunate enough to attain. The first was that
an overpowering force of cavalry should ride round the Boer
position and raise the siege of Kimberley: the fate of this
expedition has already been described. The second was that the
infantry, following hard on the heels of the cavalry, and holding
all that they had gained, should establish itself upon Cronje's
left flank and cut his connection with Bloemfontein. It is this
portion of the operations which has now to be described.
The infantry force which General Roberts had assembled was a very
formidable one. The Guards he had left under Methuen in front of
the lines of Magersfontein to contain the Boer force. With them he
had also left those regiments which had fought in the 9th Brigade
in all Methuen's actions. These, as will be remembered, were the
1st Northumberland Fusiliers, the 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry, the
2nd Northamptons, and one wing of the Loyal North Lancashire
Regiment. These stayed to hold Cronje in his position.
There remained three divisions of infantry, one of which, the
ninth, was made up on the spot. These were constituted in this way:
Sixth Division (Kelly-Kenny).
12th Brigade (Knox).
Oxford Light Infantry.
Gloucesters (2nd).
West Riding.
Buffs.
18th Brigade (Stephenson).
Essex.
Welsh.
Warwicks.
Yorks Seventh Division (Tucker).
14th Brigade (Chermside).
Scots Borderers.
Lincolns.
Hampshires.
Norfolks.
15th Brigade (Wavell).
North Staffords.
Cheshires.
S. Wales Borderers.
East Lancashires Ninth Division (Colvile).
Highland Brigade (Macdonald).
Black Watch.
Argyll and Sutherlands.
Seaforths.
Highland Light Infantry.
19th Brigade (Smith-Dorrien).
Gordons.
Canadians.
Shropshire Light Infantry.
Cornwall Light Infantry.
With these were two brigade divisions of artillery under General
Marshall, the first containing the 18th, 62nd, and 75th batteries
(Colonel Hall), the other the 76th, 81st, and 82nd (Colonel
McDonnell). Besides these there were a howitzer battery, a naval
contingent of four 4.7 guns and four 12-pounders under Captain
Bearcroft of the 'Philomel.' The force was soon increased by the
transfer of the Guards and the arrival of more artillery; but the
numbers which started on Monday, February 12th, amounted roughly to
twenty-five thousand foot and eight thousand horse with 98 guns - a
considerable army to handle in a foodless and almost waterless
country. Seven hundred wagons drawn by eleven thousand mules and
oxen, all collected by the genius for preparation and organisation
which characterises Lord Kitchener, groaned and creaked behind the
columns.
Both arms had concentrated at Ramdam, the cavalry going down by
road, and the infantry by rail as far as Belmont or Enslin. On
Monday, February 12th, the cavalry had started, and on Tuesday the
infantry were pressing hard after them. The first thing was to
secure a position upon Cronje's flank, and for that purpose the 6th
Division and the 9th (Kelly-Kenny's and Colvile's) pushed swiftly
on and arrived on Thursday, February 15th, at Klip Drift on the
Modder, which had only been left by the cavalry that same morning.
It was obviously impossible to leave Jacobsdal in the hands of the
enemy on our left flank, so the 7th Division (Tucker's) turned
aside to attack the town. Wavell's brigade carried the place after
a sharp skirmish, chiefly remarkable for the fact that the City
Imperial Volunteers found themselves under fire for the first time
and bore themselves with the gallantry of the old train-bands whose
descendants they are. Our loss was two killed and twenty wounded,
and we found ourselves for the first time firmly established in one
of the enemy's towns. In the excellent German hospital were thirty
or forty of our wounded.
On the afternoon of Thursday, February 15th, our cavalry, having
left Klip Drift in the morning, were pushing hard for Kimberley. At
Klip Drift was Kelly-Kenny's 6th Division. South of Klip Drift at
Wegdraai was Colvile's 9th Division, while the 7th Division was
approaching Jacobsdal. Altogether the British forces were extended
over a line of forty miles. The same evening saw the relief of
Kimberley and the taking of Jacobsdal, but it also saw the capture
of one of our convoys by the Boers, a dashing exploit which struck
us upon what was undoubtedly our vulnerable point.
It has never been cleared up whence the force of Boers came which
appeared upon our rear on that occasion. It seems to have been the
same body which had already had a skirmish with Hannay's Mounted
Infantry as they went up from Orange River to join the rendezvous
at Ramdam. The balance of evidence is that they had not come from
Colesberg or any distant point, but that they were a force under
the command of Piet De Wet, the younger of two famous brothers.
Descending to Waterval Drift, the ford over the Riet, they occupied
a line of kopjes, which ought, one would have imagined, to have
been carefully guarded by us, and opened a brisk fire from rifles
and guns upon the convoy as it ascended the northern bank of the
river.
