As frequently happened in the South African campaign, success could not be followed up.  Having cleared the railway line, French was unable to garrison his position, and returned next morning to Ladysmith.  A couple of days later he was again in action, and again he was successful.  It had become necessary to keep the way open for General Yule and his jaded forces now in retreat from Dundee.  White determined to sally out and distract the enemy.  Once again the heavy share of the work fell on French and his cavalry.

Marching out from the town towards Modder Spruit they found the enemy holding a range of hills about seven miles from Ladysmith.

Flanked by the artillery, and supported from the rear by rifle fire, the infantry advanced to a convenient ridge from which the Boer position might be shelled.  There they were joined by the field and mountain batteries, whose well-directed fire played great havoc among the enemy.

During the engagement one costly mistake was made.  The Gloucesters on reaching the summit of the slope, attempted to descend on the other side.  Their advancing lines were ploughed down by a deadly fire.  “In the first three minutes,” said an eye-witness, “Colonel Wilford, who was commanding the regiment, had fallen shot through the head, and a number of the men lay dead and dying about him.  So fierce was the attack that no living thing could have remained upon the exposed slope, which boasted not even a shred of cover of any kind.”  Slowly and silently the Gloucesters retired.

By two o’clock the infantry fire had ceased, and White had received news that Yule was nearing Ladysmith in safety.  He therefore decided to withdraw his troops.  This was no easy matter, for the Boers, instead of relinquishing their position, had merely retired for a short distance.  The retreat, however, was safely carried out, thanks largely to the masterly fashion in which French’s cavalry covered the retirement.

From a military point of view the engagement would scarcely be called important.  But from a strategic point of view it was invaluable.  It certainly saved General Yule’s force, which the Boers would otherwise have cut off on its way to Ladysmith.  This would scarcely have been difficult, for the column was in no condition to fight.  That it covered twenty-three miles without food, water, or rest before nightfall in its exhausted condition was in itself remarkable.

[Page Heading:  THE ONLY GENERAL]

This was the last successful engagement that the British forces were to fight for many a day.  But that was not French’s fault.  In the first week after his arrival he had scored two distinct successes and won for himself a reputation among the Boers.  He was indeed the only British general for whom they at that time expressed the very slightest respect.  In a week his name became a by-word among them.  A soldier[9] has recorded how, when towns or railway stations were captured, our men would find allusions