act
that we occupied good positions, we lost two men, and had several of our
horses killed and wounded.

We remained there for two and a half days--from the 22nd to the 25th of
February--and then were forced to retire. While evacuating our
positions, three of my burghers were killed, seven wounded, and fourteen
taken prisoner.

But the reader will justly demand more details as to the surrender of
Cronje, an event which forms one of the most important chapters in the
history of the two Republics. I am able to give the following
particulars.

After we had captured the positions referred to above, I gave orders
that the Krupp and the Maxim-Nordenfeldt should be brought up. For with
our hurried advance, the oxen attached to the big guns, as well as some
of the burghers' horses, had become so fatigued, that the guns and a
number of the burghers had been left behind. The ridges were so thickly
strewn with boulders, that even on the arrival of the guns, it was
impossible to place them in position until we had first cleared a path
for them. I made up my mind to turn these boulders to account by using
them to build _schanzes_, for I knew that a tremendous bombardment would
be opened upon our poor Krupp and Maxim-Nordenfeldt as soon as they made
themselves heard.

During the night we built these _schanzes_, and before the sun rose the
following morning, the guns were placed in position.

By daybreak the English had crept up to within a short distance of our
lines. It was the Krupp and the Maxim-Nordenfeldt that gave our answer.

But we had to be very sparing of our ammunition, for it was almost
exhausted, and it would take at least five days to get a fresh supply
from Bloemfontein.

Our arrival on the previous day had made a way of escape for General
Cronje. It is true that he would have been obliged to leave everything
behind him, but he and his burghers would have got away in safety. The
British had retreated before our advance, thus opening a road between us
and the laager. That road was made yet wider by the fire from our guns.

But General Cronje would not move. Had he done so, his losses would not
have been heavy. His determination to remain in that ill-fated laager
cost him dearly.

The world will honour that great general and his brave burghers; and if
I presume to criticize his conduct on this occasion, it is only because
I believe that he ought to have sacrificed his own ideas for the good of
the nation, and