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Updated: June 11, 2025
The following morning we occupied some ridges at Elandslaagte, on the look-out for a large English force which was marching from Vredefortweg to Heilbron. My intention was to give them battle at Elandslaagte, and to hold on to our positions there as long as possible; and then, if we could not beat them off, to retire.
The commandos were now divided as follows: 1. The district of Kroonstad: the men under Commandants Philip De Vos, Jan Cilliers and Maree. Sub-district of Heilbron: the men under Commandants F.E. Mentz, Lucas Steenekamp and J. Van de Merwe. All of these were under Vice-Commander-in-Chief Johannes Hattingh. The district of Vrede: the men under Commandants Ross and Manie Botha.
I arranged various matters at Doornspruit, in the district of Kroonstad, on the 23rd of September, 1900, and then went from there in the direction of Rietfontein, in order to meet the commando which I had ordered to be at Heilbron on the 25th. Frederiksstad and Bothaville I therefore went out of my course and proceeded in the direction of these commandos.
Then the sergeant-major sent a long message to his chief, Captain Faustnett, duly informing the latter of the distance he had come, all by himself, and of what the officer commanding Roberts' Horse had said, after which the Heilbron man remarked "Good-bye, we're off." Silence followed.
I at once attached the vibrator to the line and called up Heilbron. "Here Heilbron." "Here P. The English are in Lindley." "What!" "The English are in Lindley." "Impossible." "Please tell the President what I say." Silence. Presently the reply came "Here Postmaster-General. The President says impossible. Enemy still in Kroonstad." "Not much! Here they are, before my eyes.
It was with this purpose that De Wet early in December assembled Wessels, Manie Botha, and others of his lieutenants, together with a force of about two thousand men, in the Heilbron district. Small as this force was, it was admirably mobile, and every man in it was a veteran, toughened and seasoned by two years of constant fighting.
Unfortunately, seven burghers from Heilbron were at a short distance from the others, having taken up their position in a kliphok. Fighting hard as they were, under a deafening gun-fire from the enemy, who had approached to within a few paces of them, they did not observe that their comrades had left their positions.
As regards myself, I went to Assistant-Chief-Commander C.C. Froneman, who was with the Heilbron Commander, L. Steenekamp, in the neighbourhood of Heilbron.
The ammunition arrived safely, and towards the end of May I made my way to a certain hill, some twelve miles from Heilbron, to which we had given the name of Presidentskopje, and where Commandants Steenekamp and J.H. Olivier were posted. Here I left the greater part of my commandos.
The new "drive" was a bar of steel pushed steadily forward by simultaneous action throughout its length, and with its ends resting on the two completed blockhouse lines running eastward from Heilbron and Kroonstad. The Drive, Mark II, was inaugurated on February 3.
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