d the two following days, the requested
reinforcements, in number some 1,500 men of all arms, arrived. With
this accretion of strength it was now possible to renew the offensive,
and General French at once turned his attention to the capture of
Grassy Hill (Suffolk Hill on map No. 16), which he had early marked as
the key to the Boer stronghold. This height lay at the junction of the
roads leading respectively to Colesberg road bridge and to Norval's
Pont, both of which it commanded. Fisher's operations on the left
flank on January 1st had been designed to seize this important point,
and without it there was little hope of forcing the enemy from
Colesberg. On the 5th, whilst all the artillery shelled the hill,
French made a personal and careful reconnaissance,[267] and on his
return to Headquarters issued orders for an attack next day. It was to
be based on Kloof camp, whence a force of all arms[268] under the
command of Lieutenant-Colonel F. J. W. Eustace, R.H.A., was to be in
readiness to start at 5 a.m. As before, the 1st cavalry brigade and
the post at Porter's Hill were to co-operate to the southward, both to
divert attention from the true attack, and to prevent the enemy
withdrawing his guns.

[Footnote 267: During the reconnaissance, Lieutenant Sir J.
P. Milbanke, Bart., 10th Hussars, the General's A.D.C., was
severely wounded whilst rescuing a dismounted trooper under
heavy fire, an act for which he subsequently received the
Victoria Cross.]

[Footnote 268: Composition:--

10th Hussars, 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, eight guns R.H.A.
4th battery Royal Field artillery, three companies M.I.
Detachments 1st Suffolk and 2nd Royal Berkshire regiments.]

[Sidenote: Lt.-Col. Watson volunteers to take the hill, and is granted
leave to try.]

[Sidenote: Watson during night, 5th to 6th Jan. attacks and fails.]

Lt.-Colonel A. J. Watson, commanding the 1st Suffolk regiment at Kloof
camp, who had frequently reconnoitred Grassy Hill in company with
General French, had from the first expressed his belief that he could
capture it with his battalion. On the previous day (5th January) his
remaining half-battalion had joined him, and during an interview with
Eustace in the evening regarding the arrangements for next day, he
asked the latter to obtain from the General leave for him to rush the
position in the night with four companies. Eus