ng him into closer
touch with the enemy, his thirty-six field guns and the six howitzers
which had returned to him crushing down the opposition which faced him.
The ground in front of him was pleated into long folds, and his advance
meant the carrying of ridge after ridge. In the earlier stages of the
war this would have entailed a murderous loss; but we had learned our
lesson, and the infantry now, with intervals of ten paces, and every man
choosing his own cover, went up in proper Boer form, carrying position
after position, the enemy always retiring with dignity and decorum.
There was no victory on one side or rout on the other--only a steady
advance and an orderly retirement. That night the infantry slept in
their fighting line, going on again at three in the morning, and light
broke to find not only rifles, but the long-silent Boer guns all blazing
at the British advance. Again, as at Colenso, the brunt of the fighting
fell upon Hart's Irish Brigade, who upheld that immemorial tradition of
valour with which that name, either in or out of the British service,
has invariably been associated. Upon the Lancashire Fusiliers and the
York and Lancasters came also a large share of the losses and the glory.
Slowly but surely the inexorable line of the British lapped over the
ground which the enemy had held. A gallant colonial, Tobin of the South
African Horse, rode up one hill and signaled with his hat that it was
clear. His comrades followed closely at his heels, and occupied the
position with the loss of Childe, their Major. During this action
Lyttelton had held the Boers in their trenches opposite to him by
advancing to within 1500 yards of them, but the attack was not pushed
further. On the evening of this day, January 20th, the British had
gained some miles of ground, and the total losses had been about three
hundred killed and wounded. The troops were in good heart, and all
promised well for the future. Again the men lay where they had fought,
and again the dawn heard the crash of the great guns and the rattle of
the musketry.

The operations of this day began with a sustained cannonade from
the field batteries and 61st Howitzer Battery, which was as fiercely
answered by the enemy. About eleven the infantry began to go forward
with an advance which would have astonished the martinets of Aldershot,
an irregular fringe of crawlers, wrigglers, writhers, crouchers, all
cool and deliberate, giving away no points in this gr