From the middle of November to the end of December, some one would come around every week to ask for volunteers to rush Ladysmith. The Irish boys responded to a man every time, but for some reason the rush was never made. Personally I considered the scheme idiotic, because every foot of ground in and around Ladysmith was strongly fortified, and our investing force was very small as compared to General White's army of 12,000 men. At the conclusion of the Battle of Modderspruit, I strongly urged the Boers to storm the town, and I continued to urge them every day for the ten following days, but Generals Erasmus and Schalk Burger thought that all such talk was nonsense. The English as yet had practically no defences that we could not overcome. As soon as White got everything in apple-pie order and had finished all his defences and well surrounded them with barbed wire, then it was that Generals Erasmus and Schalk Burger and their kind were most anxious to rush and take Ladysmith. They really thought that the burghers would then refuse, but they didn't. So it happened that on January 5th a fellow came to the Irish camp, as they had often done before, for volunteers, and received the same answer, "We'll be with you." General Erasmus sent around the necessary orders--and may have sent one to White, too, as far as I know,--and all the men were to be in positions agreed upon by 3 a.m. the following morning, January 6th. During the night General Erasmus sent a countermanding order to some of the Transvaal Commandos, but forgot to let the Free Staters know that he had done so. Much to my surprise, we were ordered to go with four field guns and take position on a small hill near the Pretoria Town laager, and just in front of the English guns and forts on the Rooirand, north of Ladysmith. We were in our position at the proper time, and there sat for hours awaiting further orders and developments. Just at the first break of dawn we heard the mausers of the Free Staters singing in the distance. There was no pause; it was continuous, and I knew that the brave Free Staters were carrying out their part of the program faithfully and well, because they had brave and dashing commandants and veldtcornets. Pretty soon we heard the mausers begin to sing right in front of us, and then we knew that the brave Pretoria Town boys were right at the English forts, yet it was not light enough for us to see them. Before we could see distinctly, the firing in front of us ceased, but with the Free Staters it continued as lively as ever.