ver. The First Division was composed of two
brigades. The Ninth was an Infantry Brigade, consisting of portions of
the Northumberland Fusiliers, a wing of the North Lancashires, portions
of the Manchesters, the Yorkshires, and the Northamptonshire Regiment.
The Guards Brigade was composed of the Scots Guards, two battalions of
the Coldstreams, and one of the Grenadiers. To this brigade was attached
the Naval Brigade (Captain Prothero, H.M.S. _Doris_). There were also
two squadrons of the 9th Lancers, "bits" of the Engineers, of the A.S.C.
and the Army Medical Corps--the whole force numbering some 9000 men. The
transport arrangements having been completed, the advance was to be made
in the course of the week. Officers and men were to wear uniform as
similar as possible, in order not to give the sharpshooters a chance of
distinguishing them. The men covered their buttons with mud and sand in
order to make them more of a piece with their kharki, and their
haversacks in the same way were darkened to match.

At this time Naauwpoort and Stormberg were evacuated by order of Sir
Redvers Buller, on the ground that our frontier line was weak and too
much extended. The troops from the former place reinforced De Aar, those
from the latter strengthened Queenstown. The enemy, though he left De
Aar in peace, was active elsewhere. A Boer commando of 1300 to 2000
strong entered Colesberg on the 15th November before dawn, and planted
itself on the kopjes surrounding the town, much to the surprise of the
inhabitants. The invaders possessed themselves of the keys of the town,
and endeavoured with great parade to hoist the Free State flag. The
ceremony was a fiasco, however, as before the flag reached the top of
the staff, the halyard, which had been secretly cut partly through by
some loyalists, broke, so that the flag, flying a little above
half-mast, could neither be hoisted properly nor hauled down again.
Ultimately the Boers tied another flag on to the end of a long bamboo,
and sent that up instead. The Mayor endeavoured, in impassioned periods,
to address the loyal inhabitants, but his eloquence was useless. He
could not make himself heard, and had at last to desist.

The Mounted Police, who were forced to retreat from Colesberg, joined
the New South Wales Lancers at Naauwpoort, and from thence went on to De
Aar. Aliwal North was occupied by a Free State commando, and the
inhabitants of Lady Grey were ordered to vacate the place. They