But whoever was to blame, it is certainly true that when, early in the morning of the 23rd of October, I cut the line near Dundee, I discovered that the English had retreated to Ladysmith.

It was General Yule who had led them, and he gained great praise in British circles for the exploit.
If we had only reached our destination a little sooner we should have cut off their retreating troops and given them a very warm time.

But now that they had joined their comrades at Ladysmith, we had to be prepared for an attack from their combined forces, and that before the Transvaalers, who were still at Dundee, could reinforce us.
The British did not keep us long in anxiety.
At eight o'clock the following morning--the 24th of October--they came out of Ladysmith, and the battle of Modder Spruit[8] began.

With the sole exception of the skirmish between the Harrismith burghers and the Carabineers at Bester Station on the 18th of October, when Jonson, a burgher of Harrismith, was killed--the earliest victim in our fight for freedom--this was the first fighting the Free-Staters had seen.
We occupied kopjes which formed a large semicircle to the west of the railway between Ladysmith and Dundee.

Our only gun was placed on the side of a high kop on our western wing.