Boers held both hill and ridge in force. So that whatever the guns
might do, the position was difficult--if not impossible. By all
military rules French was "hemmed in." To a lesser man retreat would
have seemed inevitable, though disastrous. Once again it was French
_v._ The Impossible. A member of his staff relates how, sweeping the
horizon with his glass, while riderless horses from the guns galloped
past, he muttered, squaring the pugnacious jaw, "They are over here to
stop us from Bloemfontein and they are there to stop us from
Kimberley--we have got to break through." In an instant his decision
was taken. He would attempt the impossible--a direct cavalry charge in
the teeth of the enemy's fire.

[Page Heading: A TERRIFIC CHARGE]

He immediately ordered Gordon to charge the right front. The members
of his Staff expected that the General would now take up a position of
security in the rear of the column, before the grim work began. But he
kept his place in the van with his Staff. His officers were
practically certain that not only the first, but several of the
leading squadrons would be utterly wiped out. There appeared to be
nothing in heaven or earth which could prevent huge losses. Gordon led
his men--the Ninth and Sixteenth Lancers--in superb style. Despite the
pitiable condition of the horses, it was a charge worthy of the
British Army. A strong fire poured in from the Boer trenches and from
the kopjes above. But as the huge masses of armed men gained the
inevitable momentum and pounded down upon the enemy in a cloud of
sword-lit dust, the Boers fled before these clattering hoofs. Throwing
up their guns they begged for mercy. But nothing could stop the
terrific impetus of the charge. Nearly one hundred and fifty Boers
fell as the Lancers ploughed through their trenches. Behind the