"Colley had not known the Boers. No doubt his men were completely done
up with their six hours' toil among the hills and six hours' fighting,
and I don't think a tenth of them were ever engaged, for Colley thought
it was impossible that the position could be stormed; so he only kept a
handful of men at the edge of the plateau and allowed the rest to lie
down and sleep. Certainly that was the case when the Boers, who had been
crawling up among the rocks and bushes, made their rush.
"Well, you all know what happened. The few men on the edge were cut down
at once. The Boers dashed forward, keeping up a heavy fire. Our fellows
jumped up, but numbers were shot down as they did-so, and in spite of
the efforts of their officers, a panic seized them. They had far better
rifles than the Boers, and had they been steady might still have driven
them back; but only a few of them ever fired a shot, and but one Boer
was killed and five wounded; while on our side eight officers, among
them Colley himself, were killed, and seven taken prisoners. Eighty-six
men were killed, one hundred and twenty-five wounded, fifty-one taken
prisoners, and two missing. A few managed to make their way down the
hill, and joined the party that had been left there at the bottom.
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