As soon as they came within range of the post at Kalk Bay the British ships opened fire and the picket stationed there retired over the mountain. On coming abreast of Muizenburg the fleet came to anchor and delivered their broadsides at easy range upon the Dutch camp. The thunders of the first fire had hardly ceased when the national battalion of infantry, and a little later the main body thereof, led by Colonel De Lille, fled from the post through the Sandvlei. One company under Captain Warneke retired more slowly and in a little better order. Many of the artillerymen followed, leaving only a single company under Lieutenant Marnitz to work the two twenty-four pounders. These, being planted on loose soil, were thrown out of position by the recoil of every discharge and could not be fired again until they had been handled back into place. The firing was, therefore, slow and with uncertain aim. Two men were killed, four wounded and one gun disabled on the America, and one man was wounded on the Stately, by Lieutenant Marnitz’s fire. Whether it was through bad marksmanship or by design one can hardly decide, but the English guns were aimed so high that the shot passed over the camp and lodged in the mountain behind it. Marnitz soon perceived that the post could not be held, and, first spiking the cannon, retired before the charge of the British column. Nothing was saved from the camp but five small field pieces. The English followed the retreating burghers with a cheer. As soon as they were out of range of the British ships the Dutch endeavored to make a stand, but were quickly driven from it by a bayonet charge. After gaining the shelter of the mountain the Dutch again faced their pursuers, this time with the support of guns brought to bear on the English from the opposite side of the Sandvlei, and with such effect that they fell back to Muizenburg. In this second collision one English officer, one burgher and two Dutch artillerymen were killed and one pandour was wounded. Instead of rallying his men and making a stand behind the Sandvlei, as he might have done with a well-protected front, De Lille continued his flight to Diep River, where he arrived with a fragment of his command, not knowing what had become of his artillerymen and burghers. As soon as news came that the English were advancing, a detachment of five hundred burgher horsemen was hastened forward from Cape Town to Muizenburg. On the way they learned from the fugitives that Muizenburg, the camp and everything in it had been taken by the British. Then they halted and encamped on the plain in small parties.