The burghers who, with their rifles, had attempted to hold back the
wings, now having no longer any support from the big guns, were unable
to stand their ground against the overpowering forces of the enemy, and
shortly after the guns were removed, I saw them retreat.

What was I to do? I was being bombarded incessantly, and since the
morning had been severely harassed by small-arm fire. All this, however,
I could have borne, but now the enemy began to surround me. It was a
hard thing to be thus forced to abandon the key to General Cronje's
escape.

In all haste I ordered my men to retire. They had seen throughout that
this was unavoidable, and had even said to me:

"If we remain here, General, we shall be surrounded with General
Cronje."

All made good their retreat, with the exception of Veldtcornet Speller,
of Wepener, who, to my great regret, was taken prisoner there with
fourteen men. That occurred owing to my adjutant forgetting, in the
general confusion, to give them my orders to retreat. When Speller found
that he, with his fourteen men, was left behind, he defended himself, as
I heard later, with great valour, until at last he was captured by
overpowering numbers. It cost the English a good many dead and wounded
to get him out of his _schanzes_.

Although I had foreseen that our escape would be a very difficult and
lengthy business, I had not thought that we should have been in such
danger of being made prisoners. But the English had very speedily taken