[The Great Boer War by Arthur Conan Doyle]@TWC D-Link book
The Great Boer War

CHAPTER 8
10/43

For cavalry he had the 9th Lancers, with detachments of mounted infantry, and for artillery the 75th and 18th Batteries R.F.A.
Extreme mobility was aimed at in the column, and neither tents nor comforts of any sort were permitted to officers or men--no light matter in a climate where a tropical day is followed by an arctic night.

At daybreak on November 22nd the force, numbering about eight thousand men, set off upon its eventful journey.

The distance to Kimberley was not more than sixty miles, and it is probable that there was not one man in the force who imagined how long that march would take or how grim the experiences would be which awaited them on the way.

At the dawn of Wednesday, November 22nd, Lord Methuen moved forward until he came into touch with the Boer position at Belmont.

It was surveyed that evening by Colonel Willoughby Verner, and every disposition made to attack it in the morning.
The force of the Boers was much inferior to our own, some two or three thousand in all, but the natural strength of their position made it a difficult one to carry, while it could not be left behind us as a menace to our line of communications.


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