ty of this singular
feature, along whose crest six Free State commandos lay waiting for
their first battle on the morning of October 24th. To the east, with
patrols upon Jonono's Kop, lay the men of Bethlehem, Vrede, and
Heilbron; about the eastern peak of Intintanyoni the Winburg commando
held the ground, in charge of two pieces of artillery; on their right,
occupying the rest of the mountain, the burghers of Kroonstad made
ready; whilst those of Harrismith disposed themselves partly upon a
supporting position in rear, and partly as piquets and observation
posts on outlying kopjes, amongst others the lofty Nodashwana. Some
6,000 riflemen in all filled the six-mile line of heights. They were
commanded by General A. P. Cronje, who had arrived only on this
morning, the 24th, to replace de Villiers, who had been in temporary
charge.

[Sidenote: Sir George marches out, Oct. 24th.]

Sir G. White moved out from Ladysmith at 5 a.m. with the 5th Lancers,
19th Hussars, Imperial Light Horse, Natal Mounted Rifles, 42nd and
53rd batteries R.F.A., No. 10 Mountain battery R.G.A., 1st Liverpool,
1st Devon, 1st Gloucestershire regiments, and 2nd King's Royal Rifle
Corps, in all, some 5,300 officers and men, assuming himself the
direction of an operation certain to be delicate, likely to be
extremely dangerous. Moving up the Newcastle road from its rendezvous
near the junction of the Free State railway, the force had proceeded
six miles when the advanced screen of cavalry came under a dropping
rifle fire at 7 a.m. from the heights on their left. Their action was
prompt. Pushing rapidly across the Modder Spruit, a squadron of 5th
Lancers, supported by two others, drove back at the gallop the small
parties of Boers hovering in that neighbourhood, and themselves seized
and held this advanced position. The remainder of the cavalry,
stringing out along high ground dominating the western bank of the
spruit, and facing more to the eastward, formed a strong flank guard
towards Jonono's Kop. At 8 a.m., whilst fitful discharges of musketry
rose and fell along the widely-extended line of troopers, the infantry
had come up to Rietfontein. No sooner had they arrived at a point on
the road some five hundred yards east of the Modder Spruit, than a
loud report broke from the eastern peak of Intintanyoni, and a shell,
bursting on impact, fell into the head of the column. Thereupon the
British artillery wheeled out from the route, and in line of batter