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Updated: July 5, 2025
Sir Francis Clery had apparently determined to concentrate his entire effort upon organising the relief of Ladysmith, and was not to be drawn off by side events, however disastrous to local interests. The British force at Estcourt and at Mooi River were considered safe, and the enemy's advance in fact did not extend in any force beyond the latter.
Estcourt followed up by a motion, "That William Smith O'Brien, Esq., having disobeyed the order of the House, by refusing to attend the Committee to which the railway group eleven has been referred, has been guilty of a contempt of this House." On this resolution having been put, O'Connell rose and asked the House to pause before it passed it.
"I do not expect it will last much longer, Tim; but it cannot be helped. Into society I must get and to do so, must pay for it." "But, sir, putting the expense aside, what are we to do about this Mr Estcourt? All must be found out." "I intend that it shall be found out, Tim," replied I; "but not yet. He will write to his uncle to-morrow; you must obtain the letter, for it must not go.
I treated him with marked deference, that I might form an acquaintance, and found before we parted that night, that I had succeeded. Our dinner was excellent, and we were all, except Mr Estcourt, in high good humour. We sat late too late to go to the theatre, and promising to meet the next day at noon, Harcourt and the major took their leave.
Mr Estcourt had indulged rather too much, and, after their departure, became communicative. I plied the bottle, and we sat up for more than an hour; he talked of nothing but his family and his expectations. I took this opportunity of discovering what his feelings were likely to be when he was made acquainted with the important secret which was in my possession.
Colonel Estcourt was not at dinner, so his presence did not restrain comment and speculation, and the tongues did quite as much work as the knives and forks.
On the 9th of January, 1900, the Fifth Division of the British Army, which, under Lieut.-General Sir Charles Warren, had been assembling at Estcourt, marched out for Frere, where General Buller's headquarters had been established after the battle of Colenso.
He is invaded; his cattle have been seized by the Boer; his towns are shelled or captured; the most powerful force on which he relies for protection is isolated in Ladysmith; his capital is being loopholed and entrenched; Newcastle has been abandoned, Colenso has fallen, Estcourt is threatened; the possibility that the whole province will be overrun stares him in the face.
Estcourt is a South African town that is to say, it is a collection of about three hundred detached stone or corrugated iron houses, nearly all one-storied, arranged along two broad streets for space is plentiful or straggling away towards the country. The little place lies in a cup of the hills, which rise in green undulations on all sides.
Then we can ride by the road south from there to Greytown, and after crossing the Tugela, strike off by the place where we had the fight near Umbala mountain, which would be a good landmark for us, and from there follow our old line back to Estcourt. It would be rather shorter to go through Weenen, but there may be Boers about, and the few miles we should save would not be worth the risk."
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