Chapter 23

THE CLEARING OF THE SOUTH-EAST

Lord Roberts never showed his self-command and fixed purpose more
clearly than during his six weeks' halt at Bloemfontein. De Wet, the
most enterprising and aggressive of the Boer commanders, was attacking
his eastern posts and menacing his line of communications. A fussy or
nervous general would have harassed his men and worn out his horses by
endeavouring to pursue a number of will-of-the-wisp commandos.
Roberts contented himself by building up his strength at the capital,
and by spreading nearly twenty thousand men along his line of rail
from Bloemfontein to Bethulie. When the time came he would strike, but
until then he rested. His army was not only being rehorsed and
reshod, but in some respects was being reorganised. One powerful
weapon which was forged during those weeks was the collection of the
mounted infantry of the central army into one division, which was
placed under the command of Ian Hamilton, with Hutton and Ridley as
brigadiers. Hutton's brigade contained the Canadians, New South Wales
men, West Australians, Queenslanders, New-Zealanders, Victorians,
South Australians, and Tasmanians, with four battalions of Imperial
Mounted Infantry, and several light batteries. Ridley's brigade
contained the South African irregular regiments of cavalry, with some
imperial troops. The strength of the whole division came to over ten
thousand rifles, and in its ranks there rode the hardiest and best
from every corner of the earth over which the old flag is flying.

A word as to the general distribution of the troops at this instant
while Roberts was gathering himself for his spring. Eleven divisions
of infantry were in the field. Of these the 1st (Methuen's) and half
the 10th (Hunter's) were at Kimberley, forming really the
hundred-mile-distant left wing of Lord Roberts's army. On that side
also was a considerable force of Yeomanry, as General Villebois
discovered. In the centre with Roberts was the 6th division
(Kelly-Kenny's) at Bloemfontein, the 7th (Tucker's) at Karee, twenty
miles north, the 9th (Colvile's) and the 11th (Pole-Carew's) near
Bloemfontein. French's cavalry division was also in the centre. As
one descended the line towards the Cape one came on the 3rd division
(Chermside's, late Gatacre's), which had now moved up to Reddersberg,
and then, further south, the 8th (Rundle's), near Rouxville. To the
south and east was the other half of Hunter's division (Hart's
brigade), and Brabant's Colonial division, half of which was shut up
in Wepener and the rest at Aliwal. These were the troops operating in
the Free State, with the addition of the division of mounted infantry
in process of formation.

There remained the three divisions in Natal, the 2nd