have been heavy. His determination to remain in that ill-fated laager
cost him dearly.

The world will honour that great general and his brave burghers; and if
I presume to criticize his conduct on this occasion, it is only because
I believe that he ought to have sacrificed his own ideas for the good of
the nation, and that he should have not been courageous at the expense
of his country's independence, to which he was as fiercely attached as
I.

Some of the burghers in the laager made their escape, for, on the second
day, when our guns had cleared a wide path, Commandants Froneman and
Potgieter (of Wolmaranstadt), with twenty men, came galloping out of
the laager towards us.

Although we were only a few in number, the British had their work cut
out to dislodge us. First they tried their favourite strategy of a
flanking movement, sending out strong columns of cavalry, with heavy
guns to surround us. It was necessary to prevent the fulfilment of this
project. I, therefore, removed the Krupp and the Maxim-Nordenfeldt from
their positions, and divided our little force into three portions. I
ordered the first to remain in their position, the second was to proceed
with the Krupp round our left wing, while I despatched the third party
to hold back the left wing of the British. I had no wish to share
General Cronje's unenviable position.

We succeeded in checking the advance of the enemy's wings; and when he
saw that we were not to be outflanked he changed his tactics, and while
still retaining his wings where they were, in order to keep our men
occupied, he delivered at mid-day, on the 20th, an attack on our centre