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We then marched, with about fifteen hundred men, in the direction of Springhaansnek, to the east of Thaba'Nchu. At the northern point of Korannaberg, Commandant Hasebroek remained behind, waiting for some of his men to join him. We took with us one Krupp with sixteen rounds that was our whole stock of gun ammunition! By the afternoon of the 16th we had advanced as far as Springhaansnek.
There was absolutely no chance of getting across the best of swimmers would have been helpless in that swollen torrent, which rushed down to the Orange River, its great waves roaring like a tempestuous sea. About two hours before sunset Commandant Hasebroek reported that the English were rapidly approaching. The question was, "Which way shall we go?"
He brought me a message from General Knox to the effect that Commandant Hasebroek had lost heavily in an engagement with Colonel White, who had marched out from Thaba'Nchu. But I had already received information that the Commandant had got through the enemy's lines unhurt, and that on the contrary it was he who had killed some of Colonel White's men, while they were attacking him.
We wrecked the railway line and blew up a few small bridges, and then proceeded in the direction of Doornberg, where I met Commandant Hasebroek and his burghers. I sent orders to General Philip Botha to come with the Harrismith and Kroonstad burghers, which he had with him. They arrived about the 13th of November.
I allowed those from Bethlehem to leave me in order to carry on operations in their part of the country; the same likewise with the Winburgers and the valiant Commandant Hasebroek, while the burghers of Vrede and Harrismith had gone home. I had therefore with me only a small contingent from those districts, in addition to the burghers from Heilbron.
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