"Well, we started from Newcastle, and the blundering began from the
first. It was but twenty-five miles to Laing's Nek. At the time we
started there was not a Boer there, for they were doubtful which line we
should advance by. That twenty-five miles could have been done in a day,
and there we should have been with our difficulties at an end; the
baggage and stores could have come up in two or three days, and then
another advance could have been made. Instead of that, six days were
wasted in going over that miserable bit of ground. The Boers, of course,
took advantage of the time we had given them to prepare and entrench
Laing's Nek. I don't think that troubled the military authorities at
all; an entrenchment thrown up by farmers and peasants could be but a
worthless affair, and would not for a moment check the advance of
British infantry. The consequence of all this was that we got the
licking we deserved. Their entrenchment at the crest of the ridge was
held by something like three thousand men. Colley had but three hundred
and seventy infantry, a force in itself utterly inadequate for the work
in hand. But, seeing some parties of Boer horsemen riding about, he
thought it necessary to leave a strong body for the defence of his
baggage, and accordingly sent only about two hundred and fifty men
forward to attack the place.
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