On October
6th They Brushed The Enemy Aside In An Action In Which The
Volunteer Company Of The Scots Fusiliers Gained The Applause Of
Their Veteran Comrades.
On the 8th and 9th there was sharp
skirmishing, the brunt of which on the latter date fell upon the
Welsh Fusiliers, who had three officers and eleven men injured.
The
commandos of Douthwaite, Liebenberg, and Van der Merwe seem to have
been occupied in harassing the column during their progress through
the Gatsrand range. On the 15th the desultory sniping freshened
again into a skirmish in which the honours and the victory belonged
mainly to the Welshmen and to that very keen and efficient body,
the Scottish Yeomanry. Six Boers were left dead upon the ground. On
October 17th the column reached Frederickstad, where it halted. On
that date six of Marshall's Horse were cut off while collecting
supplies. The same evening three hundred of the Imperial Light
Horse came in from Krugersdorp.
Up to this date the Boer forces which dogged the column had been
annoying but not seriously aggressive. On the 19th, however,
affairs took an unexpected turn. The British scouts rode in to
report a huge dust cloud whirling swiftly northwards from the
direction of the Vaal River - soon plainly visible to all, and
showing as it drew nearer the hazy outline of a long column of
mounted men. The dark coats of the riders, and possibly the speed
of their advance, showed that they were Boers, and soon it was
rumoured that it was no other than Christian De Wet with his merry
men, who, with characteristic audacity, had ridden back into the
Transvaal in the hope of overwhelming Barton's column.
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