Viljoen. As for the rest of our men, it was useless to
try to get them to come back to the fight. The gunners however did
everything they could to save their guns, but had not enough time to get
the oxen inspanned.

Our loss was, as far as I could make out, nine killed, between twenty
and thirty wounded, and about one hundred prisoners. Among the dead were
Veldtcornets Jan Viljoen, of Heilbron, and Van Zijl, of Cape Colony; and
among the wounded, Staats-Procureur Jacob De Villiers and Jan Rechter,
the latter of whom subsequently died. The wounded who managed to escape
included General Froneman, who was slightly wounded in the chest; Mr.
Thomas Brain, who had been hit in the thigh; and one of my staff who was
severely wounded, his shoulder being pierced by a bullet.

According to English reports, Dr. De Landsheer, a Belgian, was killed in
this engagement. The English newspapers asserted that the doctor was
found dead with a bandolier round his body. I can vouch for the fact
that the doctor possessed neither rifle nor bandolier, and I am unable
to believe that he armed himself on the battlefield.

Six of our Krupp guns were captured in this battle, but as our
ammunition for these pieces was nearly exhausted, the loss of them made
little difference to us.

I feel compelled to add that, if the burghers had stood shoulder to
shoulder we should certainly have driven back the enemy, and the mishap
would never have occurred. We were eight hundred men strong, and the
enemy numbered not more than one thousand to one thousand two hundred.
But a surprise attack such as theirs had been usually produces
disastrous consequences.

[Footnote 73: Pioneer.]

CHAPTER XXII

My March to the South

The horses of the burghers were in a very weak condition; and as the
Boer is only half a man without his horse--for he relies on it to get
him out of any and every difficulty--I had now to advance, and see if I
could not find some means of providing my men with horses and saddles. I
went on this errand in the direction of Zandriviersbrug to the farm of
Mr. Jacobus Bornman.

Here, however, I divided the commandos. General Froneman, with the Vrede
and Heilbron burghers, I sent back to cross the railway lines between
the Doorn and Zand Rivers, with orders to operate in the northern
districts of the State. I took with me Commandant Lategan of Colesberg,
with about one hundred and twenty men, and Commandant Jan Theron, with
eighty m