s
forces at daybreak. General Erasmus and the Pretoria commando, with field
pieces and a "Long Tom," occupied Impati Mountain on the north, but when
the time arrived for him to assist in the attack on the enemy several
hundred yards below him he would not allow one shot to be fired. As a
result of the miscarriage of plans General Meyer was compelled to retire
from Talana Hill in the afternoon, while the British force was enabled to
escape southward into Ladysmith. If General Erasmus had followed the
decision of the Krijgsraad, and had assisted in the attack, there is
hardly any doubt that the entire force of the enemy would have been
captured. Even more disastrous was the disobedience of Commandant Buis, of
the Heidelberg commando, who was ordered to occupy a certain point on the
Boschrand, called Hlangwe, about February 19th. The British had tried for
several weeks to drive the Boers from the Boschrand, but all their
attempts proved fruitless. A certain commando had been holding Hlangwe for
a long time, and Commandant Buis was ordered to take his commando and
relieve the others by night. Instead of going to Hlangwe immediately that
night he bivouacked in a small nek near by, intending to occupy the
position early the following morning. During the night the British
discovered that the point was unoccupied and placed a strong force
there. In this manner the British wedge was forced into the Boschrand, and
shortly afterwards the Boers were obliged to retreat across the Tugela and
secure positions on the north bank of the stream. Of less serious
consequence was General De la Rey's refusal to carry out a decision he
himself had assisted in framing. It was at Brandfort, in the Free State,
several weeks after Bloemfontein was occupied, and all the Boer generals
in the vicinity met in Krijgsraad and voted to make a concerted attack
upon the British force at Tafelkop, midway between Bloemfontein and
Brandfort. Generals Smuts and Botha made a long night trek to the
positions from which they were to attack the enemy at daybreak. It had
been arranged that General De la Rey's commando should open the attack
from another point, and that no operations should begin until after he had
given a certain signal. The signal was never given, and, after waiting for
it several hours, the other generals returned to Brandfort only to find
that General De la Rey had not even moved from his laager.

When the lower ranks of officers--the field-corne