Frank Craig.] [After a photograph.
PLACING THE BODY OF GENERAL WAUCHOPE IN THE TRAIN AT MAGERSFONTEIN.
General Wauchope was temporarily buried near his men at Magersfontein. His body was afterwards exhumed and carried by rail to Matjesfontein, in Cape Colony, where it was buried with military honours in a beautiful cemetery four miles from the railway station. A picture of the start from Matjesfontein station is given on page [172].
Reinforcements.
Dec. 11, 1899.] Magnificent Conduct of the Artillery.
The battle was as good as lost, for one third of Lord Methuen's little army had been stricken down or so demoralised in the brief minutes of the night attack, that little could henceforth be expected of it. To assault the unbroken enemy in the full light of day was a course which could hold forth no promise of success, and which must have involved enormous losses. To withdraw the Highland Brigade was equally impossible. The only plan that could be followed was to bombard the enemy's position assiduously, holding the ground already won, in the hope that the Boers might here, as at Modder River, be cowed by British stubbornness and decide upon an eventual retreat. Lord Methuen reinforced the shaken Highlanders by two battalions of Coldstreams on the right; the two other Guards' battalions were held ready to give support, the Grenadiers on the right and the Scots Guards on the left. The 9th Lancers, the 12th Lancers, the mounted infantry, and G Battery of Horse Artillery pushed in on the extreme right and attempted a turning movement. They were at once very hotly engaged.
[Photo by Milne, Aboyne.
The 2nd Battalion of the Seaforth Highlanders, which lost heavily at Magersfontein, had greatly distinguished itself in the Afghan War and the Chitral and Black Mountain Expeditions. Last September Her Majesty presented the battalion with new colours at Balmoral. The Queen, in doing so, said to Colonel Hughes-Hallett: "I rejoice to be able once more to present new colours to this distinguished regiment, in which I take an especial interest from its being associated with my dear son the Duke of Albany." The old colours are deposited for safe keeping at Balmoral. A week or two before Her Majesty had presented new colours to the Gordons.
[Dec. 11, 1899.
The three field batteries—18th, 62nd, and 75th—which had so distinguished themselves at Modder River, here also proved the salvation of the British column. But for their devoted efforts and the superb conduct of G Horse Battery, the repulse might well have been converted into a complete disaster. The field guns opened at a range of about 2,000 yards, and, as the morning advanced, gallantly pushed forward to a point only 1,200 yards from the Boer trenches, where they were without cover and exposed to the enemy's rifle fire. G Battery had simultaneously closed in to 1,500 yards, and the big howitzers to something under 3,000. At first the Boer artillery seemed inclined to engage in a duel with the British guns, but after forty or fifty rounds it ceased its fire. Our weapons were left free to sweep the sides of the kopjes and the closely-lined but invisible trenches with shrapnel. It is not probable that they inflicted heavy losses; the enemy was much too well covered for that. But they absolutely prevented any counter attack during the critical hours of the morning; they shook the accuracy of the Boer fire; they gave Lord Methuen time to make fresh dispositions; and they cheered and encouraged the Highlanders in the fighting line by the sense of moral support which their furious racket caused. The calm intrepidity of the gunners especially attracted the wonder and admiration of all on the battlefield, and, strange to say, despite their exposed position and proximity to the enemy, they suffered only the most insignificant losses. The horse artillery at first came in for a heavy shelling, but not a driver moved or dismounted. The sergeant-major walked coolly to and fro inspecting the formation and harness, as if he were on parade.