a serious turn.’  The whole force passed over the Orange River unimpeded, and blew up the Norval’s Pont railway bridge behind it.  Clements’s brigade followed on March 4th, and succeeded in the course of a week in throwing a pontoon bridge over the river and crossing into the Orange Free State.  Roberts having in the meanwhile seized Bloemfontein, communication was restored by railway between the forces, and Clements was despatched to Phillipolis, Fauresmith, and the other towns in the south-west to receive the submission of the inhabitants and to enforce their disarmament.  In the meantime the Engineers worked furiously at the restoration of the railway bridge over the Orange River, which was not, however, accomplished until some weeks later.

During the long period which had elapsed since the repulse at Stormberg, General Gatacre had held his own at Sterkstroom, under orders not to attack the enemy, repulsing them easily upon the only occasion when they ventured to attack him.  Now it was his turn also to profit by the success which Lord Roberts had won.  On February 23rd he re-occupied Molteno, and on the same day sent out a force to reconnoitre the enemy’s position at Stormberg.  The incident is memorable as having been the cause of the death of Captain de Montmorency [Footnote:  De Montmorency had established a remarkable influence over his rough followers.  To the end of the war they could not speak of him without tears in their eyes.  When I asked Sergeant Howe why his captain went almost alone up the hill, his answer was, ‘Because the captain knew no fear.’  Byrne, his soldier servant (an Omdurman V.C. like his master), galloped madly off next morning with a saddled horse to bring back his captain alive or dead, and had to be forcibly seized and restrained by our cavalry. ], one of the most promising of the younger officers of the British army.  He had formed a corps of scouts, consisting originally of four men, but soon expanding to seventy or eighty.  At the head of these men he confirmed the reputation for desperate valour which he had won in the Soudan, and added to it proofs of the enterprise and judgment which go to make a leader of light cavalry.  In the course of the reconnaissance he ascended a small kopje accompanied by three companions, Colonel Hoskier, a London Volunteer soldier, Vice, a civilian, and Sergeant Howe.  ’They are right on the top of us,’ he cried to his comrades, as he reached the summit, and dropped next instant with a bullet through his heart.  Hoskier was shot in five places, and Vice was mortally wounded, only Howe escaping.  The rest of the scouts, being farther back, were able to get cover and to keep up a fight until they were extricated by the remainder of the force.  Altogether our loss was formidable rather in quality than in quantity, for not more than a dozen were hit, while the Boers suffered considerably from the fire of our guns.