had been reinforced by two
batteries of his divisional artillery, the 74th and 77th, the
divisional ammunition column, the 12th company R.E., the 1st Royal
Scots, the 33rd company Army Service Corps, and 16th Field Hospital.
The greater portion of his detachment was unfortunately only just free
from the confinement of the voyage from England. Every effort had been
made on board ship to keep the infantry in good condition by
gymnastics and physical drill, but they were naturally not in the best
trim for a long march. The horses of the artillery had suffered from a
somewhat stormy passage of 31 days, during which 14 had died of
influenza. They, too, therefore, were hardly yet ready for hard work.
Nevertheless, the G.O.C. considered that, in the existing strategic
situation, any further prolongation of the defensive attitude he had
hitherto been obliged to maintain would be injurious.[192] He
determined, therefore, to take advantage of the free hand left to him
by Sir R. Buller, and to follow the further suggestion that he should
close with the enemy. On the evening of the 7th he informed the
commanding officers of units that he intended to make a night march on
Stormberg and attack the Boer laager. It will be seen from map No. 14
that the buildings and sheds which mark the railway junction lie at
the foot of a steep razor-back hill, called Rooi Kop, and on the
eastern edge of a valley or vlei, about two miles in length from north
to south, and one in breadth. This vlei, in which the enemy's main
body was known to be, is shut in on the east by the Rooi Kop, which
dominates all of the surrounding country. To the south and south-west,
it is enclosed by a lower hill, named the Kissieberg, and on the north
by a flat-topped kopje on which forts had been constructed by the
British garrison when in occupation of the junction. Between this
kopje and the northern point of the Kissieberg, there is a gap of a
mile through which pass out the spruit, which drains the vlei, and
the branch line to Naauwpoort. The railway from East London to
Bloemfontein and the main road from Molteno to Burghersdorp, via
Stormberg, cross a Nek between the Kissieberg and Rooi Kop,
subsequently skirting the latter hill very closely. This Nek, on which
the intelligence scouts reported the Boer guns to be posted, and the
Rooi Kop, Sir W. Gatacre planned to seize before dawn on the morning
of the 9th by a night march from Molteno. He proposed to employ on the