claim to much bravery or superiority (except in numbers) over our
soldiers in this fight. Theirs was a deliberately-planned ambush to
entrap men who had no idea that they were marching in an enemy's
country. Bronkhorst Spruit engagement is the one during the whole of
the war which does not redound to the credit of the Dutch, even if it
does not reflect great discredit upon them. If a reasonable time had
been allowed Colonel Anstruther to give his reply, the 94th could not
then say, as they do say and will say, that they were treacherously
surprised. 'Two minutes' looks, under the circumstances, very much
like an idle pretence of fair dealing to cover an intentional act of
cowardice which subsequent conduct could hardly palliate. The Boers
say that they had not more men than were marching with the 94th on
that occasion; that statement is worth very little, considering the
evidence of our officers, and, above all, the harsh evidence of the
facts that the 94th was from advance-guard to rear-guard practically
surrounded and outnumbered in every direction.

The preparedness of the Boers and the precision of their fire may be
gathered from the testimony of Dr. Crow, of Pretoria, who attended
the wounded, and vouched for an average of five wounds per man. Dr.
Crow also wrote:

But as disastrous as the late war in the Transvaal had been to
British prestige, thank God those at Bronkhorst Spruit did their duty
and died like men, a noble example to any army. If any stain has been
cast on the British flag in the Transvaal, the gallant 94th did all
that was possible by their deeds at Bronkhorst Spruit to obliterate
it.

The news of this affair was received with horror, and the feelings