Chapter 27

THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION

Christian de Wet, the elder of two brothers of that name, was at this
time in the prime of life, a little over forty years of age. He was a
burly middle-sized bearded man, poorly educated, but endowed with much
energy and common-sense. His military experience dated back to Majuba
Hill, and he had a large share of that curious race hatred which is
intelligible in the case of the Transvaal, but inexplicable in a
Freestater who has received no injury from the British Empire. Some
weakness of his sight compels the use of tinted spectacles, and he had
now turned these, with a pair of particularly observant eyes behind
them, upon the scattered British forces and the long exposed line of
railway.

De Wet's force was an offshoot from the army of Freestaters under De
Villiers, Olivier, and Prinsloo, which lay in the mountainous
north-east of the State. To him were committed five guns, fifteen
hundred men, and the best of the horses. Well armed, well mounted,
and operating in a country which consisted of rolling plains with
occasional fortress kopjes, his little force had everything in its
favour. There were so many tempting objects of attack lying before
him that he must have had some difficulty in knowing where to begin.
The tinted spectacles were turned first upon the isolated town of
Lindley.

Colvile with the Highland Brigade had come up from Ventersburg with
instructions to move onward to Heilbron, pacifying the country as he
passed. The country, however, refused to be pacified, and his march
from Ventersburg to Lindley was harassed by snipers every mile of the
way. Finding that De Wet and his men were close upon him, he did not
linger at Lindley, but passed on to his destination, his entire march
of 126 miles costing him sixty-three casualties, of which nine were
fatal. It was a difficult and dangerous march, especially for the
handful of Eastern Province Horse, upon whom fell all the mounted
work. By evil fortune a force of five hundred Yeomanry, the 18th
battalion, including the Duke of Cambridge's Own and the Irish
companies, had been sent from Kroonstad to join Colvile at Lindley.
Colonel Spragge was in command. On May 27th this body of horsemen
reached their destination only to find that Colvile had already
abandoned it. They appear to have determined to halt for a day in
Lindley, and then follow Colvile to Heilbron. Within a few hours of
their entering the town they were fiercely attacked by De Wet.

Colonel Spragge seems to have acted for the best. Under a heavy fire
he caused his troopers to fall back upon his transport, which had been
left at a point a few miles out upon the Kroonstad Road, where three
defensible kopjes sheltered a valley in which