General Rundle's march was continued on the 23rd towards Senekal, whereupon the Dutch hordes, seizing their opportunity, pounced on the rear of the transport. Under cover of a fiercely-flaring veldt fire they poured a volley on the rear guard--the Scots Guards and Hampshire Yeomanry under Captain Seely--who instantly jumped to action, giving the oncoming Boers so keen a dose from rifles and a Maxim, that they bolted to their main position at Tafelberg. Sundry of their party, seeking safety at the farm of some supposed neutral, were luckily captured and their harbour of refuge razed to the ground. (It was impossible longer to shut our eyes to the fact that the farms had become half-way houses for rebels, and there was no other means of disposing of these death traps.) In this engagement many of the Boers bit the dust, for the British troops actively pursued the enemy in their flight, and succeeded in thinning their numbers without casualties on their own side. The dogged determination of the Boers was to break through to the south, and it took all the ingenuity of Generals Rundle and Brabant to create a linked chain from Winburg to the Basutoland border, through which the slim ones could not squeeze. Owing to the nature of the country--in some places a replica of Switzerland, with snow-capped peaks, enormous gorges, and treacherous passes--it was difficult to assume the offensive, and Sir Leslie Rundle had to content himself with the task of keeping the Boers in check while help came from the north. General Clements, on the 24th, engaged a body of fierce ruffians near Winburg, where he had gone to gather guns and supplies prior to combining his force with those at Lindley, Heilbron, and Heidelberg. He succeeded in driving the rebels north of the Zand River without great loss, though Captain G. E. F. Fitzgerald, 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment, was severely wounded, and Second Lieutenant R. H. Lascelles, 8th Battery Royal Field Artillery, was slightly injured. At Bloemfontein, at this time, there was deep regret at the loss of Captain Lord Kensington,[7] 2nd Life Guards, who had died of his wounds. Meanwhile, near Ficksburg, on the 25th, General Boyes' Brigade also encountered the Dutchmen. Two valuable officers were killed--Captain E. B. Grogan and Lieutenant G. L. D. Brancker, 1st South Staffordshire Regiment--and five men were wounded and missing. A convoy returning with General Clements to Senekal from Winburg was also attacked some seven miles from Senekal. Hearing of the fray, Colonel Grenfell and his Colonials set out from Senekal, attacked the enemy's left flank, and became so hotly engaged that General Brabant, with all the available troops, rushed to the succour of the party. Of the combined forces three men were killed and twenty-three wounded.