As Roberts’s Horse turned and galloped for dear life across the flat, four out of the six guns [Footnote:  Of the other two one overturned and could not be righted, the other had the wheelers shot and could not be extricated from the tumult.  It was officially stated that the guns of Q battery were halted a thousand yards off the donga, but my impression was, from examining the ground, that it was not more than six hundred.] of Q battery and one gun (the rearmost) of U battery swung round and dashed frantically for a place of safety.  At the same instant every Boer along the line of the donga sprang up and emptied his magazine into the mass of rushing, shouting soldiers, plunging horses, and screaming Kaffirs.  It was for a few moments a sauve-qui-peut.  Serjeant-Major Martin of U, with a single driver on a wheeler, got away the last gun of his battery.  The four guns which were extricated of Q, under Major Phipps-Hornby, whirled across the plain, pulled up, unlimbered, and opened a brisk fire of shrapnel from about a thousand yards upon the donga.  Had the battery gone on for double the distance, its action would have been more effective, for it would have been under a less deadly rifle fire, but in any case its sudden change from flight to discipline and order steadied the whole force.  Roberts’s men sprang from their horses, and with the Burmese and New Zealanders flung themselves down in a skirmish line.  The cavalry moved to the left to find some drift by which the donga could be passed, and out of chaos there came in a few minutes calm and a settled purpose.

It was for Q battery to cover the retreat of the force, and most nobly it did it.  A fortnight later a pile of horses, visible many hundreds of yards off across the plain, showed where the guns had stood.  It was the Colenso of the horse gunners.  In a devilish sleet of lead they stood to their work, loading and firing while a man was left.  Some of the guns were left with two men to work them, one was loaded and fired by a single officer.  When at last the order for retirement came, only ten men, several of them wounded, were left upon their feet.  With scratch teams from the limbers, driven by single gunners, the twelve-pounders staggered out of action, and the skirmish line of mounted infantry sprang to their feet amid the hail of bullets to cheer them as they passed.

It was no slight task to extricate that sorely stricken force from the close contact of an exultant enemy, and to lead it across that terrible donga.  Yet, thanks to the coolness of Broadwood and the steadiness of his rearguard, the thing was done.  A practicable passage had been found two miles to the south by Captain Chester-Master of Rimington’s.  This corps, with Roberts’s, the New Zealanders, and the 3rd Mounted Infantry, covered the withdrawal in turn.  It was one of those actions in which the horseman who is trained to fight upon foot did very much better than the regular cavalry.  In two hours’ time the drift had been passed and the survivors of the force found themselves in safety.