Chapter 29

THE ADVANCE TO KOMATIPOORT

The time had now come for the great combined movement which was to
sweep the main Boer army off the line of the Delagoa railway, Cut its
source of supplies, and fllow it into that remote and mountainous
Lydenburg district which had always been proclaimed as the last refuge
of the burghers. Before entering upon this most difficult of all his
advances Lord Roberts waited until the cavalry and mounted infantry
were well mounted again. Then, when all was ready, the first step in
this last stage of the regular campaign was taken by General Buller,
who moved his army of Natal veterans off the railway line and advanced
to a position from which he could threaten the flank and rear of Botha
if he held his ground against Lord Roberts. Buller's cavalry had been
reinforced by the arrival of Strathcona's Horse, a fine body of
Canadian troopers, whose services had been presented to the nation by
the public-spirited nobleman whose name they bore. They were
distinguished by their fine physique, and by the lassoes, cowboy
stirrups, and large spurs of the North-Western plains.

It was in the first week of July that Clery joined hands with the
Heidelberg garrison, while Coke with the 10th Brigade cleared the
right flank of the railway by an expedition as far as Amersfoort. On
July 6th the Natal communications were restored, and on the 7th Buller
was able to come through to Pretoria and confer with the
Commander-in-Chief. A Boer force with heavy guns still hung about the
line, and several small skirmishes were fought between Vlakfontein and
Greylingstad in order to drive it away. By the middle of July the
immediate vicinity of the railway was clear save for some small
marauding parties who endeavoured to tamper with the rails and the
bridges. Up to the end of the month the whole of the Natal army
remained strung along the line of communications from Heidelberg to
Standerton, waiting for the collection of forage and transport to
enable them to march north against Botha's position.

On August 8th Buller's troops advanced to the northeast from
Paardekop, pushing a weak Boer force with five guns in front of
them. At the cost of twenty-five wounded, principally of the 60th
Rifles, the enemy was cleared off, and the town of Amersfoort was
occupied. On the 13th, moving on the same line, and meeting with very
slight opposition, Buller took possession of Ermelo. His advance was
having a good effect upon the district, for on the 12th the Standerton
commando, which numbered 182 men, surrendered to Clery. On the 15th,
st~l skirmishing, Buller's men were at Twyfelaar, and had taken
possession of Carolina. Here and there a distant horseman riding over
the olive-coloured hills showed how closely and