The Raid
During the trek south to the Orange River, Smuts' commando lost 36 men. He finally crossed at Kiba Drift on 3 September. Major General Fitzroy Hart's British force had been guarding the ford, but General Herbert Kitchener mistakenly sent them away on another mission. The Basotho attacked the Boers on 4 September near Wittenberg Mission, killing three and wounding seven with spears and ancient guns before being driven off with serious losses. On 7 September, Smuts went on a scout near Mordenaar's Poort (Murderer's Gorge), near Dordrecht, when they were ambushed. All three of his companions were shot by the British and Smuts barely escaped.
The cold spring rains tormented both men and horses as British pursuing columns under the overall command of Major General Sir John French closed in on Smuts' raiders. On 13 September, the Boers were cornered atop Stormberg Mountain (31°17′52.64″S 26°15′17.31″E / 31.2979556°S 26.2548083°E / -31.2979556; 26.2548083) and escaped only when a friendly guide in the form of Hans Kleynhans appeared and led them down a precipitous route to safety. The night of 15 September nearly finished the raiders as freezing rain killed over 60 ponies and fourteen men went missing. In front of the Boers, every mountain pass was reportedly held by the British.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Elands River (1901)
Famous quotes containing the word raid:
“Each venture
Is a new beginning, a raid on the inarticulate
With shabby equipment always deteriorating
In the general mess of imprecision of feeling.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“John Brown and Giuseppe Garibaldi were contemporaries not solely in the matter of time; their endeavors as liberators link their names where other likeness is absent; and the peaks of their careers were reached almost simultaneously: the Harper’s Ferry Raid occurred in 1859, the raid on Sicily in the following year. Both events, however differing in character, were equally quixotic.”
—John Cournos (1881–1956)