It is significant that Lord Roberts did not renew the assault on the laager, and confined himself to operations against Kitchener’s Kopje, thus reverting to the scheme of investment proposed by Kelly-Kenny on the previous day.  The burghers evacuated the big donga during the night.

Lord Roberts was, from motives of humanity as well as from lack of hospital accommodation, reluctant to inflict another loss of 8 per cent, upon his troops.  The inability to deal with a further accumulation of wounded was perhaps a justification of his decision, but his hesitancy to fight costly battles, which was characteristic of many general and field officers of undoubted personal courage, is not so easy to excuse.  Even on the score of humanity, it is better to fight one decisive action in which the casualties amount to 20 per cent., than to obtain the same result by fighting three actions in each of which the casualties amount to 8 per cent.  The aggregate of human suffering caused to each side by the war would have been less if the struggle had been fought out more relentlessly, and without so much regard to the expenditure of life.  There seems to have been a theory that a percentage of casualties which exceeded ten would demoralize the troops, although it had often been greatly exceeded in the battles of former campaigns.  In some of the operation orders subsequently issued, the reservation, “if this be possible without undue loss,” appeared.

The presence of De Wet on Kitchener’s Kopje gave Cronje a moral support which was not of much use to him.  According to De Wet’s account, he considered it a point of honour to remain with the women, children, and wagons in the laager, which every hour was growing more unfit for occupation.

The ejectment of De Wet, to be followed by an advance on Bloemfontein by French’s cavalry, was substituted by Lord Roberts for the assault on the laager, which was to be left to starve itself out.  But the removal of De Wet from the kopje, which he had stolen from his opponents, was not an easy task, and for three nights and two days the Ajax of the Boers defied the lightnings which played upon the hill.  On the 19th, a body of cavalry was brought round from the north, but was found unequal to the task.  Towards evening an infantry brigade was thrown at the kopje, but after it had obtained some success, and had partially entrenched itself on the slopes, it was withdrawn by Lord Roberts.  No action was taken on the following day, but on the 21st a cavalry attack forced De Wet out of his hold; but though squeezed like a sponge between the fingers, his commando was incompressible, and oozed away towards the east; no effective pursuit being possible, owing to the condition of the horses.  Meanwhile the investment continued, but the scarcity of ammunition restrained the activity of the bombardment.  An offer made by Lord Roberts to take away the piteous women and children, praying for peace in their time, was rejected by Cronje.