General Botha joined Commandant Grobler with his main force on 30 October, and distribute his 1 200 men on a line of about two kilometres. Benson, oblivious of Botha’s presence, moved with his army right up to the Boers line. At two O’clock in the afternoon, his convoy was on the hill Nooitgedacht, while his artillery and the majority of his troops were on Kruisementfontein. Due to the deceiving nature of the terrain, the English only spotted the Boers when they were right up to them. The Boers rushed with an effort to first overpower the cannons. Fifty yards of the cannons, the Boers jumped off their horses, lied flat and started shooting. With the small fireworks, the Boers and Britons reaped each other. Benson summoned reinforcements from the cannons, but they too were cut off. Gradually however, the Boers got the upper hand and concluded the battle in their favour. Were the cannons were standing The grave of Louw Erasmus on Yzervarkfontein, alongside his father’s 30
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