[Photo by W. J. Johnston, Banchory.
Dec. 7, 1899.] Advantageous Position of the Enemy.
The Northamptons numbered 200, 140 of whom were posted in a small fort which had been constructed at Enslin round the station; the other sixty were upon a kopje near the fort and commanding it. The British force, though without artillery and grievously outnumbered, held its own bravely in face of the heavy Boer shell and rifle fire. At last, about noon, the 62nd Battery arrived and opened fire, and the Boers fell back, leaving on the field five dead, among whom was an officer in the uniform of the Free State artillery. The British losses were two dangerously and nine slightly wounded. General Prinsloo is known to have been in command of the Boers; his object is believed to have been the capture of the howitzer battery, the departure of which from Orange River Station for the north was known to the enemy.
THE BRITISH AND BOER FLAGS.
The white ensign (having a red St. George's cross and the Union in the corner) is used by Her Majesty's ships; transports fly the blue ensign with the golden anchor of the Admiralty. The Transvaal flag has three horizontal stripes, red, white, and blue, with a green vertical stripe next the staff. The Free State flag is (or rather was) the only flag of any state having orange as one of its colours; it was striped alternately orange and white, with red, white, and blue stripes occupying the first quarter.
The railway was rapidly repaired and communications reopened. The troops holding it were greatly strengthened by the arrival of the Canadian and Australian regiments at Belmont, thus rendering any further attempts to break the line impossible for a small force.
Position of Magersfontein.
During the pause, the enemy's position north of Modder River was reconnoitred. It was found that the Boers had retreated only some five or six miles from Modder River, to a line of heights fifteen miles long, which ran in a semi-circle, with Merton Siding as its centre. On the left this line of heights descended in a gentle, grassy slope, covered with thick brushwood and heavily entrenched, to the River Modder, and so could not be turned. Through the centre of the position passed the railway line to Kimberley, between two strongly entrenched kopjes. Away on the enemy's right were yet more kopjes, and to the rear of the main Boer position was a second series of entrenchments at Spytfontein. The key to the whole line of works was Magersfontein, a high hill or group of hills near the Boer centre and to the east of the railway. The strength of the Boers was only vaguely known. The guesses of the scouts and the reports of friendly Kaffirs placed it at anything from 10,000 to 25,000 men. Though considerable reinforcements had been received from Natal before the battle, it is probable that it did not much exceed the former figure. Even so, it was equal or superior in strength to Lord Methuen's division, and had all the advantage of a strong position, yet further reinforced by skilfully constructed earthworks.