About midday the column, still escorted by large bodies of aggressive Boers, came to a difficult spruit swollen by the rain.
At Bronkhorst Spruit a small British force was taken by surprise and shot down without harm to their antagonists.
One find of the utmost importance was made at Komatipoort, and at Hector Spruit on the Crocodile River.
Now, the Spruit at which the retreating Boers were so mishandled by the Australians was that same Bronkers Spruit at which, nineteen years before, a regiment had been shot down.
Honing Spruit Station, about midway between Kroonstad and Roodeval, was the scene of his new raid.
In torrents of rain which turned every spruit into a river and every road into a quagmire, the British horsemen stuck manfully to their work.
Between the two was a valley down which ran the line, and also the spruit upon which the British depended for their water supply.
There was certainly plenty of cover; but just before the cutting was reached the iron bridge across the Onderbrook Spruit had to be crossed, and this was evidently commanded by the enemy's riflemen.
Before the sun was fairly risen orders arrived, 'All baggage to move east of Venter's Spruit immediately.
We have allowed you to have a camp at Intombi Spruit for your wounded, and yet we see red cross flags flying in the town, and we have heard that in the Church there is a magazine of ammunition protected by the red cross flag.
Bridle Drift (a ford about four miles west of Colenso), immediately west of the junction of Doornkop Spruit and the Tugela.
On the following morning they were taken to the Boer camp before Ladysmith, and thence via Modder Spruit to Pretoria.
The enemy was already strongly posted on the kopjes a mile and a half west of the railway and two miles south-east of Modder Spruit station, in all, some seven miles from Ladysmith.
Beth crossed the sloot, Grown arrogant with rains, which lapped her square Of gorgeous garden, swirling to the spruit Beyond, in childish hurry.
Footnote 23: Eleven or twelve days after, Commandant Spruit was again with us.
As soon as our reinforcements had crossed the river, General Broadwood was forced to retire; and his troops came hurrying through Koorn Spruit both on the right and on the left of our position.
When the first of these reached the spruit its occupants--a man with a woman beside him--became aware that something was wrong.
In addition to this plain warning, the English had an outpost at Borsmanskop, between Koorn Spruitand Bloemfontein.
The English, I expected, would retreat to Bloemfontein, and then from my position in Koorn Spruit I should be able to decimate them as they passed that ravine.
While the English troops were running to find cover in the buildings, they suffered very heavily from our fire, and the ground between the station and the spruit was soon strewn with their dead and wounded, lying in heaps.
This the Colonial did with great Success, and wiped up Seven of the Enemy advancing up a Spruit in the Cool of the Evening.
The only Besters who remained in our hands as hostages have, I believe, been allowed to take refuge with sick and wounded at Intombi Spruit camp, where they at least are safe enough under the protection of their Boer friends.
Up to noon there had been practically no shelling, but only an exchange of rifle-shots between Bell's Spruit by Pepworth and Observation Hill.
So the 53rd Battery remained in action, doing splendid service by shelling the Boers on Intombi Spruit and beating back all attempts of Boer supports to scale the height that way.
In reply to a protest from Sir George White, Commandant Schalk-Burger defended his gunners on the plea that we had no right to a hospital in Ladysmith while there was a neutral camp at Intombi Spruit for their reception.
The news of the outbreak, followed as it was by that of the Bronker's Spruit massacre, and Captain Elliot's murder, created a great excitement in Natal.
The Boers on the Majuba Hill fired on a flag of truce, the attack at Bronker's Spruit was made under cover of the white flag, and delay at Ingogo, to cover their movement from shelter, was gained by means of the same vile expedient.
As the mounted men retired towards them, the Zulus retreated to their cover, and they, after making a final stand in a spruit about a mile and a half in front of the camp, were eventually driven in.
At Balte Spruit two companies, and at Burgher's Laager, Utrecht, and Luneberg each one company, formed the respective garrisons.
They were through the spruit and halfway up the further side before she drew breath.
The dam over by Ritter Spruit is dried up for one thing.
The failure of the dam at Ritter Spruit had been a catastrophe more far reaching than at the time he had realized.
The left horn was seen marching in the direction of Balter Spruit for over three hours before the men of the right horn made their appearance.
Their last duties were the harassing ones of escorting convoys en route from Batlee Spruit to Kambula.
Meanwhile, trickling along through the Fournier's Spruit were arriving more desperate farmers, more picked men of skilled marksmanship and deadly purpose.
I felt as though I were a traitor to him in his weakness; but my mind had buzzed hopelessly all day about the problem of our mere living, and I saw nothing else for it, so down I went to the spruit to earn what I might for my sick husband.
Why, you crazy child, a spruit is just the place for things to lurk in wait.
Yet within an hour after daylight he rose with narrow, sleep-burdened eyes, fumbled into his clothes, and staggered out to the spruit again, to resume his merciless work with the very fever of energy.
Here we have the spruit at our door and mud for the picking up.
The spruit was here throttled between banks of worn stone, and the water roared over the drift at a depth that made it impassible to foot- farers.
When they got to the spruit they could see there was a big fire in the stad and hear the Kafirs crying out and beating the drums.
He drove up in his smart cart, and tiptoed his way daintily to the edge of the spruit where the bricks lay.
He was jabbering to himself all the time as he stooped and picked up bricks and examined them closely, and glanced down to the spruit where Kornel was still working.
At daylight he rose and went forth to the spruit again, and there all day he labored earnestly.
About half a mile beyond Modder's Spruit Station we met a man walking along the road in his socks, carrying a pair of heavy boots.
We retired back just behind Modder's Spruit Station and rested there.
It must also be within your knowledge that most of the rifles in possession of M'pisana's natives were sold to them by men of your own commando when moving from Hector's Spruit to Pietersburg last year.
Hector's Spruit is the last station but one before you come to the Portuguese frontier, and about seventeen miles from Ressano Garcia.
At Hector's Spruit half a score of cannon of different calibre had been blown up, and many things buried which may be found some day by our progeny.
By leaving Hector's Spruit we were isolating ourselves from the outer world, which meant that Europe and civilisation generally could only be informed of our doings through English channels.
We organized some expeditions to the Delagoa Bay Railway, but without much success, and during one of these the burghers succeeded in laying a mine near Hector's Spruit Station during the night.
Commandant-General Botha, who was then invalided at Hector's Spruit Station, now sent word that we were to join him there without delay.
General Spruit and myself undertook to escort the Executive Council through the Ermelo district, past Bethel to Standerton, where they were to meet the members of the Orange Free State Government.
The spruit was shelled with little effect by Q Battery, which unlimbered near the station buildings.
After the affair at the spruit De Wet again dispersed his burghers, with orders to hold themselves in readiness to muster at short notice.
Only the ridges between the city and Six-Mile Spruit were found to be held.
Preceded by the Cape carts, which De Wet, in order to disarm suspicion, allowed to cross to the left bank, the column lumbered down the slope into the spruit and was quickly sucked into the trap.
De Wet, to cover the retirement of the guns, and when this was effected, he followed them, closely pursued as far as the Korn Spruit by P.
In dense formation, although the enemy was reported to be in force on his front, Hart crossed the Doornkop Spruit without recognizing it and advanced to the West Drift guided by a Kaffir who lived close by.
Yzer Spruit and Tweebosch introduced the Drive into the Western Transvaal.
Intombi Spruit hospital camp was reached in a quarter of an hour.
The construction of a dam across the neighbouringspruit had formed a wide and pleasant pool, in which many good fat ducks and geese were taking refuge from the wandering soldier.
The Cavalry brigade with one corps of Mounted Infantry under Broadwood were pushed ten miles further on, and seized a fine iron bridge, not marked on any map, which spans an important spruit at Kaalfontein.
G and H companies went to Kaal Spruit during the night, and from that date to the end of the month the outposts were furnished by the Scots Guards and ourselves.
Meantime an attempt by the Boers at Ospoort to work up the bed of a spruit in rear of the column had been checked.
A drift is really a crossing place over a river, which latter is called a sluit, if it has water in it, or a spruit if it is dry; and whether the drift is easy or difficult for wagons to cross depends on the banks and the bottom.
Disappointed, we camped at the spruit near by, and marched the following morning towards Senekal, camping about 11 miles from that town, on the same spot upon which we had camped on the 10th of August, when with the Boer laager.
As a rule, we camped in a hollow close to water, which was either in a dam or a spruit (small stream), and the pickets were posted in prominent places on the surrounding hills.
The track went steep down hill to a spruit where the water lay in pools.
But there are rumours that more was originally intended--perhaps an attack on the Boer rail head, with its three heavy trains this side of Modder Spruit; perhaps the destruction of the Modder Spruit Bridge.
It overlooks Bell's Spruitand the scene of "Mournful Monday's" worst disaster.
Climbing to the Manchesters' post for the view, I could see three Boer trains waiting at Modder's Spruit station, about six miles up the Newcastle line.
By about six we could see the Boers creeping forward over Bell Spruit and making their way up the dongas and ridges in our front.
From these people I got my bearings, and found I was on the spruit called Scoon Spruit; here I took my first observation in the Vaal below the upper sources of the river.
It could only be for a time, for some of the Boers would cross the spruit and take me in rear.
The Royal Dublin Fusiliers were first in the bed of the spruit at about 6.
The Doornkop Spruit joins the river at the eastern, not the western bend of the loop.
The valley of the Bell Spruit was wrapped in profound darkness, yet the force pushed on at a rapid pace, and, in spite of the noise of its progress, was undetected by the Boer piquets on the hills on either side.
Bridle Drift, immediately west of the junction of Doornkop Spruit and the Tugela.
Colonel Parsons to move his guns across the spruit and divert the fire from Hart's brigade during the withdrawal.
Moreover, after crossing the spruit and the railway, the track traverses the northern slopes of a stony irregular underfeature which guards the approaches to the Kissieberg from the south and west.
Bronkhorst Spruit and the murder of Captain Elliott were among the earliest.
Crow also wrote: But as disastrous as the late war in the Transvaal had been to British prestige, thank God those at Bronkhorst Spruit did their duty and died like men, a noble example to any army.
The armed interference of the Potchefstroom burghers with the Imperial officials followed on December 16, to be in turn succeeded by the battle of Bronkhorst Spruit on the 20th.
If any stain has been cast on the British flag in the Transvaal, the gallant 94th did all that was possible by their deeds at Bronkhorst Spruit to obliterate it.
The second affair followed very closely on the Bronkhorst Spruit engagement--i.
Bronkhorst Spruit engagement is the one during the whole of the war which does not redound to the credit of the Dutch, even if it does not reflect great discredit upon them.
Whether the affair of Bronkhorst Spruit can be called an act of treachery on the part of the Boers is rather a nice question.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "spruit" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
