ow marched on Doornkop, their real object of attack being
our extreme right wing, but they made a feint on our left. Our line of
defence was very extended and weakened by the removal of a body of men
who had been sent to Natal Spruit to stop the other body of the enemy
from forcing its way along the railway line and cutting off our
retreat to Pretoria.

The battle lasted till sunset, and was especially fierce on our right,
where the Krugersdorpers stood. Early in the evening our right wing
had to yield to an overwhelming force, and during the night all the
commandos had to fall back. My commando, which should have consisted
of about 450 men, only numbered 65 during this engagement; our losses
were two men killed. I was also slightly wounded in the thigh by a
piece of shell, but I had no time to attend such matters, as we had
to retire in haste, and the wound soon healed.

The next day our forces were again in full retreat to Pretoria, where
I understood we were to make a desperate stand. About seven o'clock we
passed through Fordsburg, a suburb of Johannesburg.

We had been warned not to enter Johannesburg, as Dr. Krause, who had
taken from me the command of the town, had already surrendered it to
Lord Roberts, who might shell it if he found commandos were there. Our
larger commissariat had proceeded to Pretoria, but we wanted several
articles of food, and strange to say the commissariat official at
Johannesburg would not give us anything for fear of incurring Lord
Roberts' displeasure!

I was very angry; the enemy were not actually in possession of the
town, and I therefore should have been consulted in the matter; but
these irresponsible officials even refused to grant us the necessaries
of life!

At this time there was a strong movement on foot to blow up the
principal mines about Johannesburg, and an irresponsible young person
named Antonie Kock had placed himself at the head of a confederacy
with this object in view. But thanks to the explicit orders of General
L. Botha, which were faithfully carried out by Dr. Krause, Kock's plan
was fortunately frustrated, and I fully agree with Botha that it would
have been most impolitic to have allowed this destruction. I often
wished afterwards, however, that the British military authorities had
shown as much consideration for our property.

We had to have food in any case, and as the official hesitated to
supply us we helped ourselves from the Government Stores, and