nt
formed the main body, and the East Lancashires brought up the rear--half
a battalion as reserves and half as rear-guard with the baggage.

The position was an admirable one for the enemy. General Wavell had the
town ahead and the river on the left parallel with his line of march;
and as he approached, the Boers (about 400 strong) opened a brisk fire
on his flank from the river-bed. The fire was directed at the C.I.V.'s,
who were advancing on the right bank of the river; but it had a double
objective, since what missed the C.I.V.'s had a fair chance of finding
the Staffordshires, who were advancing on a parallel ridge still further
to the right. The C.I.V.'s had a good many horses killed, and many of
the men were wounded and "dropped," but I believe only one was killed.
Finding the attack was coming from the left, the General showed his
force on that side, at the same time shelling the south-east corner of
the town. He would do no more because of the women and children in the
place; and, considering his disadvantage, the Boers with a little more
determination might have held the town. After showing on the left
General Wavell swept round on the right, sending the North
Staffordshires towards the north side. There they entered, and the place
was, so to speak, nipped between the two arms of the brigade, with the
artillery in the middle ready to speak. The Boers now broke and fled
south-west and north-west, followed by showers of shrapnel. "It was an
awfully pretty sight," the General remarked to me, "to see the shrapnel
bursting all round in showers; one of the prettiest things I have ever
seen." The enemy had open country and soon got away, but in the meantime
the Union Jack was blowing bravely over Jacobsdaal, and we were in
possession of a most important square on the big chessboard of the
Orange Free State.

Of course the chief importance of the position was that it formed a
depot for stores and a halting-place for convoys on the way to the
front. The General, with Captain Carleton (brigade-major) and Captain
Davidson (A.D.C.), was under fire during the whole of this brisk little
action; and Captain Carleton told me that the bullets were whizzing past
as briskly at two thousand yards as at two hundred. It need hardly be
said that since there were only three staff-officers, whose lives were
of the utmost value to the expedition, they spent most of their time in
and about the front firing lines. As soon as the General