The Light Horse, under Colonel Scott Chisholme, quickly took
possession of a low ridge near the railway station, which fronted the
main line of the enemy's kopjes. While he held this ridge French had
the satisfaction of seeing infantry, cavalry and artillery coming up
the railway line to his assistance. In the late afternoon his force
numbered something like three thousand five hundred men, outnumbering
the enemy by more than two to one.

Those who ask why so many men were required, do not understand the
position in which the British force found itself. The enemy were
entrenched on a series of high, boulder-strewn tablelands, which
offered almost perfect cover. Between these tablelands and French's
force lay a wide and partly scrubless stretch of veldt. Over that
terrible exposed slope his men must go, before they could come within
useful range of the enemy. French was faced with a most perilous and
difficult enterprise. However, that is precisely what French likes. He
rose to the situation with ready resource. It was not easy to locate
the exact position of the enemy ensconced amid these covering hills.
So in the afternoon he ordered a simultaneous frontal and flank
attack. Just which was front and which was flank it was for his
lieutenants to discover. Sir Ian Hamilton's instructions to the
infantry were brief but decisive. "The enemy are there," he said, "and
I hope you will shift them out before sunset--in fact, I know you
will."

When the action had fairly commenced, Sir George White and his staff
galloped over from Ladysmith. French approached, saluted, and asked
for instructions. The chivalrous White's only reply was, "Go on,
French; this is your show." All the afternoon he stayed on the field,
watching the progress of events, and approving French's dispositions.