He came into touch with it at Boesmanskop, and a slight skirmish took place.
In the meanwhile I received a report from General Piet de Wet, who was at Dewetsdorp, notifying me that the English forces outnumbered his own so enormously that he could not withstand their advance.

He suggested that I ought at once to relinquish the siege and proceed in the direction of Thaba'Nchu.
I also received discouraging news from General Piet Fourie, who had had a short but severe engagement with the troops that were coming from Bloemfontein, and had been compelled to give way before their superior forces.
Piet de Wet's advice appealed to me all the more strongly since reinforcements were pouring in upon the enemy from all sides.

But I was of opinion that I ought to go with a strong force after the enemy in the direction of Norvalspont, as I was convinced that it was no longer possible to check their advance.

But General Piet de Wet differed from me on this point, and held that we ought to keep in front of the English, and I was at last compelled to give in to him.
Accordingly I issued orders to General Froneman to desist from any further attack upon the reinforcement with which he had been engaged, and to join me.

When he arrived I fell back on Thaba'Nchu.
My siege of Colonel Dalgety, with his Brabant's Horse and Cape Mounted Rifles, had lasted for sixteen days.