On the 23rd he was at Clanwilliam, fifty miles south-west of them.

To his right were three other small British columns under Bethune, Thorneycroft, and Henniker, the latter resting upon the railway at Matjesfontein, and the whole line extending over 120 miles--barring the southern path to the invaders.
Though Hertzog at Calvinia and De Lisle at Clanwilliam were only fifty miles apart, the intervening country is among the most broken and mountainous in South Africa.

Between the two points, and nearer to De Lisle than to Hertzog, flows the Doorn River.

The Boers advancing from Calvinia came into touch with the British scouts at this point, and drove them in upon January 21st.

On the 28th De Lisle, having been reinforced by Bethune's column, was able at last to take the initiative.
Bethune's force consisted mainly of Colonials, and included Kitchener's Fighting Scouts, the Cape Mounted Police, Cape Mounted Rifles, Brabant's Horse, and the Diamond Field Horse.