“Some of them actually got upon our line of retreat, but were driven off by our advance guard; others came across the head of the retiring Vth Corps, but the terrain was all against cavalry, and after nightfall most of them had lost their way in the maze of lanes and hedgerows that covered the countryside. Had it not been for this we should probably have been absolutely smashed. As it was, rather more than half our original numbers of men and guns crawled into Brentwood in the early morning, worn out and dead-beat.” CHAPTER XVII IN THE ENEMY’S HANDS We must now turn to the position of Sheffield on Saturday, September 8. It was truly critical. It was known that Lincoln had been occupied without opposition by General Graf Haesler, who was in command of the VIIIth Corps, which had landed at New Holland and Grimsby. The enemy’s headquarters had been established in the old cathedral city, and it was reported in Sheffield that the whole of this force was on the move westward. In fact, on Saturday afternoon the head of the advance-guard coming by way of Saxilby and Tuxford had arrived at East Retford, and during the night the rest of the main body, following closely on its heels, disposed itself for bivouac in rear of that sloping ground which reaches from Clarborough, through Grove and Askham, to Tuxford, on the south. In advance was Major-General von Briefen’s splendid cavalry brigade, who, during the march, had scoured the county almost as far west as the River Rother itself. Chesterfield, with its crooked spire, had been approached by the 7th Westphalian Dragoons, supported by the Grand Duke of Baden’s Hussars and a company of smart motor infantry. Finding, however, that no resistance was offered, they had extended, forming a screen from that place to Worksop, examining and reconnoitring every road, farmstead, and hamlet, in order that the advance of the main body behind them could not be interfered with. The cavalry brigade of the other division, the Cuirassiers of the Rhine No. 8, and the 7th Rhine Hussars, scouted along to the northward as far as Bawtry, where they were able to effect a junction with their comrades of the VIIth Corps, who, it will be remembered, had landed at Goole, and had now pushed on. During Saturday afternoon a squadron of British Yeomanry had been pushed out from Rotherham as far as the high ground at Maltby, and hearing from the contact patrols that nothing appeared to be in front of them, moved on to Tickhill, a small village four miles west of Bawtry. Unknown to them, however, a force of Westphalian Dragoons, having had information of their presence, crept up by the lower road through Blythe and Oldcoats, effectively taking them in rear, passing as they did through the grounds of Sandbeck Hall.