Major-General Somerset having arrived at Riet Fontein in September, the division marched on the 3rd of October to Fort Beaufort and encamped there, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from the second division, under Lieutenant-Colonel Michel, of the 6th Regiment, intended to act with the first division in a combined attack on the Waterkloof, Kroome Heights, and Fuller’s Hoek.
The necessary preparations having been made, Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce marched on the 13th of October with the Reserve Battalion 12th Regiment, Beaufort West Levy, Graaf Reynett Mounted Levy, and Fort Beaufort Mounted Troop. The Major-General had previously proceeded with the Cape Mounted Riflemen and Fort Beaufort Fingo Levy to meet Lieutenant-Colonel Michel on his march from King William’s Town.
The force under Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce arrived at the Gola River on the afternoon of the 13th, and on the southern point of the Kroome Heights about sunrise next morning. The Waterkloof and Kroome Heights were that morning enveloped in a dense fog, which for a time prevented Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce from acting in concert with the Major-General, according to previous arrangement; but about noon the fog cleared away, and the Major-General was then seen to be engaged with the enemy at the head of the Waterkloof. Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce joined him with his brigade, and the enemy having been dispersed, they all marched to Mandell’s farm, where they remained until the morning of the 16th.
The force was now divided. Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce’s brigade, reinforced by the Reserve Battalion 91st Regiment, marching by the Bush Nek to the entrance of the Waterkloof; while the remainder of the division, under the personal command of the Major-General, proceeded to the head of the Waterkloof. Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, on his arrival at the entrance of the Waterkloof, extended a line of skirmishers across the valley, seeing but few of the enemy, and meeting with no opposition until they emerged from the bush at the head of the Waterkloof, when a brisk fire was opened upon them; fresh skirmishers were thrown out, and the enemy dispersed. The force then joined the Major-General near Mount Misery, and the division marched to Eastland’s Farm and bivouacked. The casualties in the regiment on this occasion were 2 privates killed, and 1 lance-corporal and 1 private wounded.
In another skirmish at the head of the Waterkloof, on the 23rd, 2 privates were killed and 2 wounded.
Various operations were carried on at the head of the Waterkloof and Kroome heights until the 28th, when Lieut.-Colonel Fordyce’s brigade was ordered to the Blinkwater, where it arrived the same day, having been in the field exposed to heavy rains, and frequently with only one blanket per man, and since the 13th without tents.
The Commander-in-Chief, Sir Harry Smith, spoke, in his general order of October 31, in deservedly high terms of the conduct of the officers and men in these most trying duties; for this kind of desultory warfare, entailing constant marches from place to place without shelter, amid almost constant frost, snow, wind, and rain, and frequently with short supplies of food, and even of ammunition, against an immense number of savages, with whom it is impossible to come to close quarters, is far more trying to the temper and endurance of soldiers than a series of pitched battles with a powerful, well-disciplined, and well-equipped enemy.
This particular post of the enemy, at the head of the Waterkloof, was one which seemed almost impregnable, although it was held by only a few hundred Hottentots. The rebels had taken up a position near the summit of the Kloof, which they had fortified with a breastwall of detached rocks, from behind which they long bade defiance to all efforts to eject them. Occasionally, when the British soldiers were receding from the bush, the enemy would appear in the open ground, firing at the former with fatal precision, and seeming as if to invite them to open combat. Our brave soldiers accepting the challenge, and returning towards the Hottentots, or “Totties,” as they were facetiously called, the latter would precipitately retreat to their stronghold, reappearing when their opponents’ backs were turned, sending death to many a poor fellow, whose brave comrades could never get a chance to avenge him. Such a mode of warfare is harassing in the highest degree. It was at the deathful Waterkloof that the 74th sustained the loss of one of its bravest and best-beloved officers.
The troops belonging to the second division having marched to King William’s Town, and the Major-General having assembled at the Blinkwater all the available force of the first division, he ascended the Blinkwater Hill on the 4th of November, and bivouacked at Eastland’s Farm, leaving the tents and baggage at the Blinkwater under a guard.
On the morning of the 6th of November the infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce marched about two hours before daylight, the cavalry under the Major-General following at dawn, to the head of the Waterkloof, where, as we have said, a considerable party of the enemy was seen posted in strong positions. The infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel Fordyce, were ordered to attack the position. The Colonel led his men in column into the Waterkloof, when suddenly his march was arrested by a rocky precipice which flanked him in the form of a semicircle, where he found the enemy in considerable force, and these knew too well the rules of military tactics to let so favourable an opportunity escape for inflicting a penalty. Though the bayonets of our brave soldiers seemed powerless in such a position—for they had to contend against an enemy concealed among inaccessible rocks—yet Colonel Fordyce placed his men in position for an assault, and it was while calmly surveying them to see that all was ready for the desperate work, that he was struck in the side by a ball, which proved fatal to him in a quarter of an hour. His last words, it is said, were, “What will become of my poor regiment?” He was indeed the father of his regiment, looking with parental solicitude after the comforts of men, women, and children, and by all he was lamented with unfeigned sorrow.[454] His men, notwithstanding their irreparable loss, stood firm against the enemy, and the Major-General having arrived and assumed the command, the enemy was driven from his position, and the troops bivouacked for the night on Mount Misery, near the scene of the day’s operations.