I was obliged to engage their vanguard for nearly the whole of that day.
That evening we arrived at a spot about ten or twelve miles to the north-west of Strijdenburg.

Here I left Commandant Hasebroek behind with three hundred men, till the following morning, with orders to watch the enemy and hold them back if necessary.

This would give my burghers who were on foot, or whose horses were exhausted, a chance of getting away.
I might here explain to the uninitiated our methods of checking the advance of the enemy.
The burghers who had the best horses would remain behind any rise or kopje they could find in the neighbourhood.

When the enemy approached and saw ahead of them two or three hundred burghers they would halt and bring their guns (which were usually placed in the middle of the column) to the front.

When they had got the guns in position, they would bombard the ridge behind which the burghers were stationed.