Episode 44 - The Mist of war descends on the Dragon Mountains and de Wet fights with his brother

This is episode 44 and comes with a smattering of snow, ice and a little about what’s known as the Dragon Mountains - the Drakensberg. It’s also called the Barrier of Spears because the lava flow which created the escarpment 160 million years before has weathered away revealing sharp spear like peaks that ascend to over 10 000 feet. These are real mountains, and both British and Boer were rightly respectful of their power. Free State commander General Christiaan de Wet was based west of this barrier, and decided to break his force of 5000 men into 4 distinct groups. De Wet then headed off north west on the 15th July with the largest division, and President Steyn in tow, along with the specialist mercenary unit under command of Danie Theron. This cold foggy weather seeped westwards towards the Caledon and the Brandwater Basin. It was through one of these deep mists on the 19th July two of the Lovats Scouts, who were colonial troops being used by the British, managed to slip through Retief’s Nek. What they saw on the other side of the Brandwater Basin mountains was that the grass was burnt for miles. This could have been linked to the Boers who burned the grass in front of their trenches and defensive walls making it more difficult for the British troops advancing to use the vegetation as cover. Or it could just be nature, or the local Basutho people setting fire to the grass to increase the fertilisation of the harsh terriain before the rains of summer fell. Hunter couldn’t be sure what was behind this great burning. However, the two Scouts he’d dispatched had more information that was vital. They saw what they reported was a large Boer division at Naaupoort. We know that it wasn’t the entire Boer army, in fact General Christiaan de Wet had purposefully left what he thought was a relatively insignificant part of his army behind so that the British wouldn’t waste their time attacking what he called “such a paltry force” . He would also face off against his brother Piet and the confrontation did not end well...