In the meanwhile there had been a series of operations in the east which had ended in a serious disaster.  Immediately after the occupation of Bloemfontein (on March 18th) Lord Roberts despatched to the east a small column consisting of the 10th Hussars, the composite regiment, two batteries (Q and U) of the Horse Artillery, some mounted infantry, Roberts’s Horse, and Rimington’s Guides.  On the eastern horizon forty miles from the capital, but in that clear atmosphere looking only half the distance, there stands the impressive mountain named Thabanchu (the black mountain).  To all Boers it is an historical spot, for it was at its base that the wagons of the Voortrekkers, coming by devious ways from various parts, assembled.  On the further side of Thabanchu, to the north and east of it, lies the richest grain-growing portion of the Free State, the centre of which is Ladybrand.  The forty miles which intervene between Bloemfontein and Thabanchu are intersected midway by the Modder River.  At this point are the waterworks, erected recently with modern machinery, to take the place of the insanitary wells on which the town had been dependent.  The force met with no resistance, and the small town of Thabanchu was occupied.

Colonel Pilcher, the leader of the Douglas raid, was inclined to explore a little further, and with three squadrons of mounted men he rode on to the eastward.  Two commandos, supposed to be Grobler’s and Olivier’s, were seen by them, moving on a line which suggested that they were going to join Steyn, who was known to be rallying his forces at Kroonstad, his new seat of government in the north of the Free State.  Pilcher, with great daring, pushed onwards until with his little band on their tired horses he found himself in Ladybrand, thirty miles from his nearest supports.  Entering the town he seized the landdrost and the field-cornet, but found that strong bodies of the enemy were moving upon him and that it was impossible for him to hold the place.  He retired, therefore, holding grimly on to his prisoners, and got back with small loss to the place from which he started.  It was a dashing piece of bluff, and, when taken with the Douglas exploit, leads one to hope that Pilcher may have a chance of showing what he can do with larger means at his disposal.  Finding that the enemy was following him in force, he pushed on the same night for Thabanchu.  His horsemen must have covered between fifty and sixty miles in the twenty-four hours.

Apparently the effect of Pilcher’s exploit was to halt the march of those commandos which had been seen trekking to the north-west, and to cause them to swing round upon Thabanchu.  Broadwood, a young cavalry commander who had won a name in Egypt, considered that his position was unnecessarily exposed and fell back upon Bloemfontein.  He halted on the first night near the waterworks, halfway upon his journey.