All through the day, through the heat and dust, the Sixth Division had been marching from Ramdam to the fords; it headed for Waterval Drift, and its advance began to arrive with the supply train just as the cavalry off-saddled. "That train crossing the dark veldt at sunset had a weird beauty of its own," writes Mr. Battersby, the Morning Post correspondent. "The evening was absolutely still and clear, and the grey, soft smoke of dust, which every footfall lifted, clung about the miles of waggons like a cocoon. Looking westward, where the train rose over the roll of ground about the pan, the dust that drifted across the sunset became a wondrous smoke of gold, filled with strange creatures and monstrous shapes, black as a silhouette and spidery thin. The smoke faded to rose, and from rose to silver, as the track sank into the dark shadow of the down, and the beasts and carts which filled it took again their own shapes and size." And as the Sixth Division moved up to Waterval Drift, the Seventh with Lord Roberts entered Ramdam, and the Ninth, acting as rearguard, approached Enslin. Only the First Division now remained at Modder River Camp to watch Cronje and prevent him from breaking out to the west or striking at the camp. Even now that the British turning movement was making such progress, the Boer leader obstinately clung to his belief that all it portended was an attack upon Magersfontein by way of Jacobsdal, for which he was perfectly ready, or, at the worst, an attempt to cut the communications of the commandos operating at Colesberg; told Count Villebois de Mareuil, when that worthy strove to alarm him, that he had been a soldier from before Villebois was born, and knew what he was about; and he derided those who pointed out the ominous clouds of dust far away to the south.
The cavalry push forward.
Feb. 13, 1900.] Advance of the Cavalry.
Early in the morning of the 13th Lord Roberts arrived to see the cavalry march off. Delay had been necessary to obtain supplies and to feed the horses, as their forage did not come in till it was broad daylight. The Field-Marshal warmly praised General French and his men for the skill and success of their movement. It was a most auspicious opening to a splendid campaign, and filled all with renewed confidence. The infantry, too, had indeed deserved well. The marching of the Sixth and Seventh Divisions through the heat had been superb, for though the distance was not great, the tracks were sandy and exceedingly bad, and the dust suffocating. In the best of spirits, about 11·30 a.m., the Cavalry Division moved off, with orders to cover a distance of twenty-five miles and seize by nightfall the important fords over the Modder River known as Klip Drift and Rondeval Drift. The lateness of the start, though unavoidable, added greatly to the difficulty of the task. The sun was already high and the heat great as the horsemen went forward over the plain in magnificent array. Behind them the advance brigade of the Sixth Division was already marching out, to follow in their wake to Wegdraai, a farm with good water, half way between the Riet and Modder. Behind this brigade again, the rest of the Sixth Division and the whole of the Seventh Division were nearing Waterval Drift, and the Ninth Division was on its way to Ramdam.
J. Charlton.]
Heat and thirst.
Veldt on fire.
[Feb. 13, 1900.
Laying a field cable as it advanced, the Cavalry Division turned on its northward sweep, and soon after noon sundered the telegraph wires which connected Jacobsdal with Bloemfontein. Patrols were pushed out towards Jacobsdal and ascertained that this place was held in no great strength. At Wegdraai was a splendid well full of cool water, but the orders were peremptory that it was to be left for the Sixth Division, and so, notwithstanding heat and thirst, the column had to move on, though this was the only well on the arid plain between the Riet and Modder. The horses now began to show signs of great suffering, as well the poor beasts might, for there was neither shade nor verdure to break the intensity of the heat and vary the monotony of the dull brown steppe. The veldt grass was parched and brown—as brown as the veldt itself—and presently, some troopers, dropping matches in it as they passed, set it ablaze. A great sheet of flame swept with the wind behind the cavalry, but as the men rode faster than the fire could travel, little heed was paid to the conflagration. By this fire the field telegraph was destroyed and communication with Lord Roberts lost, while the heat and smoke it caused were further sources of trial. It was only because the Boers offered no serious resistance that the results were not far worse. At one point the scouts were suddenly driven in, and almost without notice heavy firing broke out. The British line was taken between two fires, and choosing to perish by the shots of the Boers rather than in the flames, dashed forward, when the enemy fled; but for some instants matters looked critical. The front covered by the cavalry as it went forward was one of enormous extent. "From flank to flank," wrote Captain Boyle, a Yeomanry officer with General French's headquarters, "the distance was so great that at times the General's gallopers could not move their horses out of a walk, though the message was important." Horses were dropping out right and left, the artillery in especial suffering.