A couple of hours later these began to come up. First arrived the 5th Lancers and two batteries of field artillery, tearing along with double teams at a gallop. Then came Colonel Ian Hamilton, who had fought and received more than one wound in the struggle with the Boers in 1881. He brought with him the rest of the Manchesters and 1,200 Devonshires and Gordon Highlanders. This gave General French a total of 2,000 infantry, 480 artillery, and about 800 cavalry; he was now able to return and resume the attack.
The two British field batteries opened a furious fire on the Boer guns, which were located on the top of the long ridge; the British cavalry pushed round to the left and right of the Boer position; the British infantry, in open formation—Gordons and Manchesters on the right, dismounted men of the Imperial Light Horse in the centre, and Devons on the left—prepared to advance to the assault when the cannon had done their work. It was to be Talana Hill over again, but this time with a weaker Boer force.
The enemy's guns were fought with the most obstinate courage; shrapnel constantly burst amidst them: three times their gunners fell back and each time returned to their work. The roar of the artillery duel filled the air, yet in spite of all its sound and fury, the loss of life on either side was as yet small.
Max Cowper.] [After a photograph.
LANDING AT CAPETOWN OF COMMANDANT PRETORIUS, WOUNDED AND CAPTURED AT ELANDSLAAGTE.
The day was advancing, and if the position was to be carried before night fell, the stormers must advance, though the British artillery preparation was still far from complete. As the hours wore on, General French sent in his infantry to the assault. A thunderstorm raged over the scene of carnage as the line went forward, adding to the grandeur of the spectacle. The British advance across the plain under a fearful fire was splendidly conducted; the Devons were as steady as on parade, firing volleys from time to time and always slowly gaining ground, till they reached the foot of the final steep ascent which led to the summit of the ridge. Men were dropping every moment; the Mauser bullets sang through the air thick as swarms of bees, while in front the crest of the ridge glowed with the perpetual rifle fire of the enemy against the inky blackness of the storm-clouds.
Oct. 21, 1899.] The First British Victory of the War.
On the right, the Gordons, Manchesters, and Light Horse were also pushing forward. With a roar of cheering they gained the top of the ridge, living and dead and dying in one compact mass. The air rang with tumultuous shouts; the bugles sounded the charge, for the Gordons had yet to storm their way along the ridge under a withering stream of lead which poured from an eminence at its further end; Colonel Ian Hamilton was playing his last card. But the Gordons, after a brief check, swept on along the ridge, tearing down or cutting the barbed wire fences which in half-a-dozen places intersected it. Each fence, each stop, meant death to many gallant men. At last, however, the Boer guns were gained; the Devons too came pouring up the hill, and a torrent of British soldiery swept exultant upon the last Boer remnants.
