Chapter 28 - Page 2

feints in order
to cover the far-reaching plans which Botha had in his mind. The
disposition of the Boer forces at this time appears to have been as
follows: Botha with his army occupied a position along Delagoa railway
line, further east than Diamond Hill, whence he detached the bodies
which attacked Hutton upon the extreme right of the British position
to the south-east of Pretoria. To the north of Pretoria a second
force was acting under Grobler, while a third under Delarey had been
despatched secretly across to the left wing of the British, north-west
of Pretoria. While Botha engaged the attention of Lord Roberts by
energetic demonstrations on his right, Grobler and Delarey were to
make a sudden attack upon his centre and his left, each point being
twelve or fifteen miles from the other. It was well devised and very
well carried out; but the inherent defect of it was that, when
subdivided in this way, the Boer force was no longer strong enough to
gain more than a mere success of outposts.

De la Rey's attack was delivered at break of day on July 11th at
Uitval's Nek, a post some eighteen miles west of the capital. This
position could not be said to be part of Lord Roberts's line, but
rather to be a link to connect his army with Rustenburg. It was
weakly held by three companies of the Lincolns with two others in
support, one squadron of the Scots Greys, and two guns of 0 battery
R.H.A. The attack came with the first grey light of dawn, and for
many hours the small garrison bore up against a deadly fire, waiting
for the help which never came. All day they held their assailants at
bay, and it was not until evening that their ammunition ran short and
they were forced to surrender. Nothing could have been better than the
behaviour of the men, both infantry, cavalry, and gunners, but their
position was a hopeless one. The casualties amounted to eighty killed
and wounded. Nearly two hundred were made prisoners and the two guns
were taken.

On the same day that De la Rey made his COUP at Uitval's Nek, Grobler
had shown his presence on the north side of the town by treating very
roughly a couple of squadrons of the 7th Dragoon Guards which had
attacked him. By the help of a section of the ubiquitous 0 battery and
of the 14th Hussars, Colonel Lowe was able to disengage his cavalry
from the trap into which they had fallen, but it was at the cost of
between thirty and forty officers and men killed, wounded, or taken.
The old 'Black Horse' sustained their historical reputation, and
fought their way bravely out of an almost desperate situation, where
they were exposed to the fire of a thousand riflemen and four guns.

On this same day of skirmishes, July 11th, the Gordons had seen some
hot work