784 



SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 



not explode, though they were well aimed and all 

 fell in the camp. It was easy, therefore, for the 

 heavy artillery of the British to silence the Boer 

 guns; but Boers moved over the hill toward the 

 south with the evident intention of turning the 

 British position. To check this movement, Gen. 

 Symons ordered an advance of cavalry and in- 

 fantry. The infantry pushed forward toward the 

 hill in the face of a terrific rifle fire. Although 

 they were protected by the guns, which poured 

 shrapnel into the Boer position on the summit, 

 they stopped and fell back in the hottest zone 

 of fire, rallied and rushed ahead once more, were 

 checked again on the hillside, reformed a second 

 time under the personal lead of Gen. Symons, 

 charged up the hill for the third time, and finally 

 reached the top and drove the Boers back to the 



sary to oust them from their position among 

 rocky hills in order to keep open the line of re- 

 treat for the forces at Dundee. During the pre- 

 vious day, while Gen. Symons was engaged with 

 Lucas Meyer's commando, his forces were kept 

 busy by demonstrations of the Boer commandos 

 on the west, which feigned an advance in force 

 upon Ladysmith in order to prevent re-enfoice- 

 ments from being sent to Glencoe. On Oct. iil 

 the Imperial Light Horse and an infantry regi- 

 ment, making a wide circuit along the crest of 

 the ridge, fell upon the right flank of the slender 

 detached force at Elandslaagte, while another 

 regiment of foot delivered a frontal attack, sup- 

 ported by three field batteries, and this was fol- 

 lowed up by charges of lancers and dragoons. 

 Night fell before the manoeuvre was completed, 



MAL1KOE-MARICO FORD. IN THE ROrTH AFRICAN RF.PrBLTC. 



east. Of 4,000 British troops engaged 214 were 

 killed or wounded. The Boer column under Com- 

 mandant Erasmus, which the British supposed to 

 be the main body of the enemy, did not advance 

 from Hatting Spruit, but halted as soon as it 

 came in contact with the British cavalry screen. 

 The British commander, supposing that the Boers 

 had left Talana hill in disorderly flight, ordered 

 a cavalry force with a Maxim to go around the 

 hill to intercept them. This detachment was it- 

 self put to flight by a large Boer force, and one 

 squadron of hussars was surrounded and cap- 

 tured. Besides prisoners the British lost 224 

 killed and wounded in the battle. 



Jan Kock's Johannesburg commando, eluding 

 the patrols from Glencoe, crossed the Biggars- 

 berg, and established its camp, with artillery, on 

 the hills commanding the railroad at Elands- 

 laagte, within 16 miles of Ladysmith. After cap- 

 turing a cattle train they cut' the railroad there, 

 and afterward it was more effectually cut by the 

 destruction of the long bridge at 'Waschbank. 

 Scouts from Ladysmith discovered the enemy at 

 Elandslaagte, and Gen. White deemed it neces- 



and this enabled the bulk of the Boers to get 

 away. They defended their position with L'i';ii 

 tenacity, their gunners returning to their jjun- 

 whenever the British cannonade ceased for a mo- 

 ment. Their shells were not defective, but they 

 did no more damage to the British than those 

 fired into Glencoe camp, although the pier.- were 

 skillfully and pluckily served by trained German 

 and Hollander artillerists, whose fire wa- n.i n- 

 accurate as that from Talana hill. The British 

 cavalry, who charged through the Boers three 

 times, were exasperated at being fired* at from 

 behind, and the lancers when they caught a com- 

 pany of Boers in a place from which they could 

 not escape refused quarter and stabbed them all 

 after they had grounded their arms. Gen. J. T. 

 P. French directed the British attack, and -Ian 

 Kock, who was mortally wounded and captured. 

 was the Boer general. Commandant Schiel. leader 

 of the German corps. wa- al-o taken prisoner. 

 The Boer position was naturally strong, but tin- 

 British, outnumbering them three to one. >ur- 

 rounded them and broke them up with a destruc- 

 tive bombardment before attempting the assault. 



