not intend to
press the attack home, and no one was surprised to find the army in
retreat on the morning of the 8th. The battalion acted as rearguard
and marched back between the river and Swaartz Kop in widely extended
lines. The Boer guns on Doorn Kloof, the shoulder of Spion Kop, and
Brakfontein shelled us on our way, and one man of the rear company
('H') was killed, this being our only casualty between February 5th
and 8th. The heavy artillery on Mount Alice covered the retreat and
prevented the enemy's guns from being too attentive.

The 5th Brigade halted at Springfield, and two days later went on to
Pretorius' Farm. On the 18th it made a march of fourteen miles to the
Blaukranz River, starting about 3.30 a.m. The day was hot, and as
there was no water on the route the newly-joined militia reservists
suffered considerably. After a rest of two days the brigade moved to
a camp near Gun Hill at Chieveley, where the naval six-inch gun was in
position.

The rest of the army was now engaged in the operations against Cingolo
and Hlangwane, and the battalion occupied itself in guarding
Chieveley, in beginning the construction of a railway to Hussar Hill,
and in convoying ammunition to the latter place. This was a somewhat
trying task, as during part of the way the convoy became the object of
many a Boer shell. The operations against Cingolo and Hlangwane proved
successful, and these positions were captured on the 19th. The next
day General Hart took the regiment on a reconnaissance towards
Colenso. It advanced cautiously on the west of the railway in column
of extended companies. The village was found unoccupied, but a party
of Boers, holding the horseshoe ridge on the left bank of the Tugela
opened a vigorous fire. The leading companies at once doubled forward
and lined the right bank, whence they answered the Boer marksmen. The
left half-battalion remained in support behind the village. A
detachment of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry appeared on the scene,
and having forded the Tugela above the road bridge, turned the Boers
out of their position. Later on in the afternoon a train steamed into
Colenso station from Chieveley, and took us back just before dusk.

At 6 a.m. on February 21st, the Connaught Rangers and the Dublin
Fusiliers went by train to Colenso, where they were joined by a
battery. The horseshoe ridge on the left bank was being held by a
detachment of Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, but General Hart was