near the Tautes Berg and Bothas Berg, immediately north of the
Pretoria-Lorenzo railway line.

General Walter Kitchener decided to start his operations with an attack
on Schoeman's laager, and for this purpose the Regiment was ordered to
take up a position before dawn which would cut off the laager, situated
in the Steenkampsberg mountains, near the entrance of the Lydenburg road
into the hills, from the north. This entailed a night march of about
sixteen miles. The remainder of the column was to proceed by the main
road and attack the laager at daybreak.

The Regiment rendezvoused on the west side of the river, clear of the
town, before dusk. Here the men had food, and a start was made at 7 p.m.
The going at first was fairly simple, but once the track was left the
ground became rough, stony, and intersected with dongas. The advance was
then made in single file.

As an instance of how a small obstruction delays troops marching in the
dark, one small water-course 1-1/2 feet wide and about 1 foot deep
delayed the head of the column for some thirty-five minutes, till all
the men had crossed and were closed up again, and then in crossing one
in every ten fell into it. The top of the Steenkampsberg was reached at
about 1 a.m., after a steep climb over a rough track. The difficulty of
the march was increased by a thick fog. On the far side a steep cliff,
at the bottom of which was a deep donga and a mountain torrent, was
encountered, and this had to be negotiated on hands and knees. Slipping
and sliding down, the bottom of the donga was reached and the mountain
torrent waded, and then after a steep ascent the top of the plateau was
reached.

It was here that the laager was supposed to be situated, and an
extension was made and the advance continued. Just as the dawn was
breaking some flying Boers, appearing and disappearing in the fog, were
fired at by the leading extended company. The Boers had been disturbed
prematurely and had escaped, taking with them their pompom, but the
wagon containing its ammunition fell into the hands of the Regiment.

The actual position of the laager was found to be about one mile away
from where it had been previously located, and was very difficult to
find in the dark owing to the undulations of the ground at the top of
the ridge. Complete success under these circumstances was scarcely
probable, but as a test as to what a regiment could do when called upon,
the undertaking was effective and