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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
.Article – Online Historic Information | Military
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artillery, with Wauchope, was to the east. For two hours they shelled the heights while the Boers
remained safely, if apprehensively, in their trenches below. All secrecy of intention was now lost –
the British were clearly planning to attack.
The Highland Brigade moved out at half-an-hour after midnight on 11 December. It was pouring
with rain. They were guided by Major G. E. Benson, R.A., who had taken a compass bearing on the
desired deployment point. In order to avoid getting lost, the men advanced in mass of quartercolumns. This meant that the 3,400 men, 30 companies, moved in a long column about 38 metres (40
yards) wide. The terrain was dotted with anthills which stood up like concrete posts, half as high as a
man, and patches of scrub to trip and catch at weapons and kilts. There was no barbed wire but a
single wire farm fence crossed their path. By 3 a.m. they were still short of their objective by half a
mile or so (about 750m) and a little too far west, but the bulk of the hill could be seen as the rain
ceased. Benson advised Wauchope to deploy his men at once, but the general preferred to press on
and Benson left him to do so. Some 45 minutes later, and by now within 400 yards (370m) of the
undetected trenches, Wauchope gave the order to deploy, but changed the original plan, telling the
Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to take up a position right of the Black Watch in order to
compensate for the navigational error. With A Company of the Black Watch in position and B
Company in the act of deploying, at about 4 a.m., the Boers detected them and opened fire. Their
bullets tore into the dense body of men. The Black Watch fixed bayonets and charged, but were
stopped by the weight of fire. Wauchope immediately realised the fire on his right was lighter and
ordered an extension of the line in that direction, towards the gap in the Boer line. As he did so he
was killed. The man who received the order, Lieutenant-colonel Coode, was also killed. At least two
parties of Highlanders attempted to attack the eastern face of the kopje, wiping out the Scandinavians
in the process. The first was forced back by Boer fire and the second faced not only their enemies but
also friendly fire from British artillery as they scaled the hill. These efforts, had they succeeded,
would certainly have led to a Boer defeat. By 8 a.m. the Highlanders were pinned down, sheltered
only by fire from the British artillery which, at last, had seen the Boer trenches. Outstanding work
was done by G Battery, Royal Horse Artillery which came into action from Horse Artillery Hill and,
finding the recoil pushed them back down the slope, had the good sense to stay there and shell the
Boers while sheltered from their rifle fire.
The Guards Brigade were engaging the Boers on the ridge to the east and, as the day wore on,
played a key part in protecting the guns at Horse Artillery Hill and in resisting added pressure from
Andries Cronjé’s Potchefstroom burghers, who had been moved to plug the gap east of the kopje. At
about 7 a.m. the Gordon Highlanders were ordered up against Magersfontein kopje and by 11 a.m.
they too were pinned down, short of the objective. At noon the Boers started to outflank the right of
the
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