south of Orange river
west of the Kimberley railway was known to the Boer leaders. Cronje
had already detached to Douglas 200 men and two guns, under Commandant
Liebenberg, to support a Cape rebel, L. F. Steinkamp, in raising the
standard of revolt in those regions. To counteract this effort,
Prieska had been re-occupied on 27th January by Lieut.-Colonel
Alderson with a battery and 600 M.I., but their immediate return to De
Aar was necessary, as the mounted men were needed for the general
advance. A diversion on a larger scale was now planned. By Lord
Roberts' order Lord Methuen temporarily attached to the Highland
brigade two squadrons of the 9th Lancers, the 62nd Field battery, and
the 7th company R.E., and directed Major-General MacDonald to march at
5.30 on the morning of the 4th February to Koodoesberg Drift, where
the road from Kimberley to Douglas crosses the Riet at about twenty
miles below its junction with the Modder, and to begin the
construction of a fort covering this passage of the river. The column
halted at Fraser's Drift, seven miles out, and there bivouacked for
the night. Koodoesberg Drift was reached the following day. The hot
season was at its height. A reconnaissance was pushed to the
north-west. The top of the Koodoesberg, a long, flat-topped kopje,
about 1,200 yards from the river, was seized. It completely commanded
the drift. A mounted patrol of fifteen Boers retired from this hill as
the British cavalry approached. General MacDonald's force passed that
night on the south bank, being covered by two companies of infantry on
the far side of the river. At daylight, on the 6th of February, the
construction of a redoubt suitable for 200 men on a small knoll to
the north of the drift was begun. Almost immediately a patrol of 9th
Lancers reported that about 300 of the enemy[316] were creeping up the
northern slope of the Koodoesberg. The Major-General accordingly
ordered his brigade-major, Lieut.-Colonel Ewart, to advance rapidly
with the working parties on the hill and try to anticipate the
assailants at the summit. Ewart, supported by the Highland Light
Infantry under Lt.-Colonel Kelham, succeeded in doing so. A Boer
detachment which had already reached the top retired hastily. It was
then found that the plateau was some two miles in length, and
therefore too extensive for complete occupation. Kelham was
accordingly ordered to hold its southern edge, and the R.E. began to
build sangars across the n