force posted on Lennox Hill under L. Meyer, and of another force on
Impati under Erasmus, who, though he could hear the noise of battle
pealing through the mist which lay upon the hill, abstained from
intervening.

The whole Boer force was now in full retreat along the line by which it
had advanced so silently the night before, and Yule ordered the two
field batteries up to the nek between Talana and Lennox to pound the
retreating burghers as they slowly trekked towards the Buffalo River;
but again an unfortunate misapprehension intervened. The officer in
command, being under the impression that an armistice asked for by Meyer
two hours before had been granted, refrained from opening fire and the
Boers escaped untouched. A serious misadventure marred the success of
the day. The 18th Hussars, who at the commencement of the action
received orders to hold themselves in readiness to advance when occasion
offers, soon appeared to the restless general to be losing their
opportunity, and were hustled into activity. They charged in various
directions and even made some prisoners; but one squadron lost its way
and was captured in an attempt to ride round Impati by a detachment of
Erasmus' force at a farm where it had taken refuge.

The fight for Talana Hill encouraged each belligerent. In England it was
received as an indication of the early and successful termination of the
struggle. The Boers regarded it as a reconnaissance in force from which
they had returned with slight loss, and they could boast that they had
reaped the first fruits of the harvest of war; a squadron of British
cavalry which, with the commanding officer of the regiment, was at once
dispatched into captivity at Pretoria, where its arrival was accepted as
a proof of a great Boer victory in Natal.