ttery. This singular
force, so small in numbers and yet raked from the ends of the earth, was
under the command of Colonel Pilcher. Moving out suddenly and rapidly
from Belmont, it struck at the extreme right of the Boer line, which
consisted of a laager occupied by the colonial rebels of that part of
the country. Nothing could exceed the enthusiasm of the colonists at
the prospect of action. 'At last!' was the cry which went up from the
Canadians when they were ordered to advance. The result was an absolute
success. The rebels broke and fled, their camp was taken, and forty of
them fell into our hands. Our own loss was slight, three killed and a
few wounded. The flying column occupied the town of Douglas and hoisted
the British flag there; but it was decided that the time had not yet
come when it could be held, and the force fell back upon Belmont. The
rebel prisoners were sent down to Cape Town for trial. The movement was
covered by the advance of a force under Babington from Methuen's force.
This detachment, consisting of the 9th and 12th Lancers, with some
mounted infantry and G troop of Horse Artillery, prevented any
interference with Pilcher's force from the north. It is worthy of record
that though the two bodies of troops were operating at a distance of
thirty miles, they succeeded in preserving a telephonic connection,
seventeen minutes being the average time taken over question and reply.

Encouraged by this small success, Methuen's cavalry on January 9th made
another raid over the Free State border, which is remarkable for the
fact that, save in the case of Colonel Plumer's Rhodesian Force, it
was the first time that the enemy's frontier had been violated. The
expedition under Babington consisted of the same regiments and the
same battery which had covered Pilcher's advance. The line taken was a
south-easterly one, so as to get far round the left flank of the Boer
position. With the aid of a party of the Victorian Mounted Rifles
a considerable tract of country was overrun, and some farmhouses
destroyed. The latter extreme measure may have been taken as a warning
to the Boers that such depredations as they had carried out in parts of
Natal could not pass with impunity, but both the policy and the humanity
of such a course appear to be open to question, and there was some cause
for the remonstrance which President Kruger shortly after addressed to
us upon the subject. The expedition returned to Modder Camp at th