esmith, and
the other towns in the south-west to receive the submission of the
inhabitants and to enforce their disarmament. In the meantime the
Engineers worked furiously at the restoration of the railway bridge over
the Orange River, which was not, however, accomplished until some weeks
later.

During the long period which had elapsed since the repulse at Stormberg,
General Gatacre had held his own at Sterkstroom, under orders not to
attack the enemy, repulsing them easily upon the only occasion when
they ventured to attack him. Now it was his turn also to profit by the
success which Lord Roberts had won. On February 23rd he re-occupied
Molteno, and on the same day sent out a force to reconnoitre the enemy's
position at Stormberg. The incident is memorable as having been the
cause of the death of Captain de Montmorency [Footnote: De Montmorency
had established a remarkable influence over his rough followers. To the
end of the war they could not speak of him without tears in their eyes.
When I asked Sergeant Howe why his captain went almost alone up the
hill, his answer was, 'Because the captain knew no fear.' Byrne, his
soldier servant (an Omdurman V.C. like his master), galloped madly off
next morning with a saddled horse to bring back his captain alive or
dead, and had to be forcibly seized and restrained by our cavalry. ],
one of the most promising of the younger officers of the British army.
He had formed a corps of scouts, consisting originally of four men,
but soon expanding to seventy or eighty. At the head of these men he
confirmed the reputation for desperate valour which he had won in the
Soudan, and added to it proofs of the enterprise and judgment which go
to make a leader of light cavalry. In the course of the reconnaissance
he ascended a small kopje accompanied by three companions, Colonel
Hoskier, a London Volunteer soldier, Vice, a civilian, and Sergeant
Howe. 'They are right on the top of us,' he cried to his comrades, as he
reached the summit, and dropped next instant with a bullet through his
heart. Hoskier was shot in five places, and Vice was mortally wounded,
only Howe escaping. The rest of the scouts, being farther back, were
able to get cover and to keep up a fight until they were extricated by
the remainder of the force. Altogether our loss was formidable rather in
quality than in quantity, for not more than a dozen were hit, while the
Boers suffered considerably from the fire of our guns.