As the mounted infantry had, before opening fire, taken shelter behind
bushes and rocks, there were only two or three casualties, and they were
much disappointed that the affair had been so trifling. It was afternoon
now, and for the rest of the day comparative quietude reigned, although
Monte Cristo threw an occasional shell on to the crest of Cingola. The
mounted infantry remained all night in their position, acting as an
advanced guard to the infantry; but they had orders to descend the hill
before daybreak and return to Chieveley, there being no water obtainable
for their horses, and their services not being required for the
succeeding operations. The next morning (Sunday) a battery of field-
artillery, which had been taken half-way up Cingola, began to shell
Monte Cristo, and as if this had been the signal, the whole of the
artillery on the plain opened a terrific fire on the entrenchments of
Monte Cristo, Hlangwane, and Green Hill, which was close to Monte
Cristo.
On the morning of the 18th, Lyttleton and Hildyard's brigades moved
forward to storm the precipitous peak, and Barton's brigade marched
against the tangled and difficult ground that surrounded Green Hill. The
Queen's on the right and the Scotch Fusiliers on the left led the attack
against the peak.
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