An officer, who had been captured by the Boers while in the hospital at Dundee after the retreat of General Yule, described the circumstances connected with the threatened commotion:-- "We were all at dinner, when Wood, of Standard Bank, and Hay, the American Consul, came in with two Hollanders. Their object in coming was to get us to send officers to the 5000 odd men out at Waterval, who were threatening to break out. It transpired that Kruger and the Government were 'clearing' (the report said in ambulance carts). The town was in a state of chaos, looting and drinking, and the British were expected next morning. The commandant--a Hollander, and not a bad chap in spite of it--then came in and announced that the British scouts were within six miles of Pretoria, and that he expected them in on the following morning. He appealed to us as soldiers, and asked us not to make it difficult for him to carry out his duty till the end. Well, we were in such good spirits that we gave him three cheers. Then Colonel H---- got up and called for three cheers for Wood and Hay, who have done so much for our men at Waterval. If it had not been for these two, and for subscriptions in the town and from us, the men would have been absolutely neglected. For though the Boer authorities took all the credit for what was done, they did nothing, discouraging all efforts, and treating with suspicion any one who stirred in the matter. At one time the hospital almost broke down for want of funds. Well, we gave them a tremendous ovation, and then sang 'For he's a jolly good fellow' over and over again. Then we struck up 'God save the Queen.' You never heard it sung as it was! It had been forbidden for nearly eight months. For the first Sunday when it was sung they took away the organ, and made themselves objectionable in many small ways. We had only once before sung it--on the Queen's birthday.... "About twenty-five officers went off after dinner to keep the men in order. Waterval is about ten miles from here. If this step had not been taken there is no saying what might have happened. The men had heard the booming of guns all day, in the direction of Johannesburg, and it is not to be wondered at that when the Boers tried to move them they flatly refused to budge. There are Maxims at each corner, and the loss of life would have been very great. But the Boers gave in. What might have happened if the men got loose in the town, after so much privation and such hardships, can be imagined, but the sending of officers should alter all things."