Editing Breaker Morant (section)

==With the Bushveldt Carbineers==
{{Main|Bushveldt Carbineers}}
[[File:RobertWilliamLenehanBushveldtCarbineers.png|thumb|upright=1.3|Morant was a junior officer in the [[Bushveldt Carbineers]], an irregular British Army unit that included many Australians.]]
After their defeats in open battle during 1899–1900, the ''[[bittereinder]]s''{{snd}}the Boers who were willing to fight the British to the "bitter end"{{snd}}began a [[Guerrilla warfare|guerrilla campaign]] against British forces. In response, Baron Kitchener{{snd}}now a substantive lieutenant general, local [[general (British Army)|general]] and overall British commander in South Africa{{snd}}implemented and expanded several [[counterinsurgency]] policies, which included destroying Boer farmsteads which could support the ''bittereinders'' and interning Afrikaner non-combatants into [[Second Boer War concentration camps|concentration camps]]. Family members of known ''bittereinders'' had their rations in the camps halved.{{Sfn|Pakenham|1979|p=535}} As they were no longer able to receive food and supplies from Boer civilians, the commandos began a practice of derailing trains in order to take and use food and supplies that were intended for British forces.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=225–226}}

In response to the depredations of the commandos in the [[northern Transvaal]], some loyalist businessmen in the [[Zoutpansberg]] district approached Kitchener and received approval for the raising of an [[irregular military|irregular]] British [[mounted infantry]] regiment to consist of loyalist Boers from the district. In mid-February 1901, the [[provost marshal]] in Pretoria was tasked with establishing the regiment, initially titled the Bushveldt Mounted Rifles, but quickly renamed the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC), The numbers of such men who came forward fell far short of the five hundred needed to form the unit, the loyalty of some of those who did was dubious, and the newly appointed commanding officer, the Australian Major Robert Lenehan, received authority to recruit time-served Australians and other colonials still in South Africa. By late March the BVC was ready for action{{snd}}although only 320-strong{{snd}}and was included in [[Brigadier (United Kingdom)#Historical rank of brigadier-general|Brigadier General]] [[Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer|Herbert Plumer]]'s column as it drove north along the railway line towards [[Pietersburg]]{{snd}}{{convert|180|mi|km}} north of Pretoria{{snd}}on 26 March. On 1 April Plumer's force entered [[Nylstroom]], about {{convert|135|mi|km}} north of Pretoria.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=42–45}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=235–239}}

On arrival in South Africa inquiring about opportunities, Morant was referred to Lenehan, and while Lenehan later stated that his impression of Morant in Australia would not have induced him to offer him a commission as an officer, he felt that previous Morant's service in South Africa had made him more suitable. Lenehan was also swayed by Morant's false claim that he had previously been granted a commission in the South African Constabulary. On 1 April 1901 Lenehan granted Morant a commission as a lieutenant in the BVC and sent him to join the regiment on its advance north.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=236–237}}{{sfn|Bleszynski|2002|pp=125–127}}

Between 1 and 8 April, Plumer's column, including the BVC, pushed north and occupied Pietersburg. On the advance to Pietersburg, the BVC was tasked with responding to Boer mining of the railway line near [[Potgietersrus]], and developed a practice of placing Boer prisoners in the second and subsequent trucks ahead of a locomotive, with an empty truck leading. When the empty lead truck was blown up by a mine and one of the trucks carrying the prisoners was damaged, the prisoners became more forthcoming about mining of the tracks further along the line.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=45}} Once Pietersburg was secured, Colonel Francis Hall of the [[Royal Artillery]] was appointed as area commandant based in Pietersburg, in overall command of the BVC and two infantry units: the 2nd Battalion, the [[Gordon Highlanders]] (2GH); and the 2nd Battalion, the [[Wiltshire Regiment]] (2WR). Lenehan also established the BVC headquarters in Pietersburg. As district commissioner responsible for the civil administration, and also intelligence chief for the district, Kitchener appointed Captain [[Alfred Taylor (British Army officer)|Alfred Taylor]]. Taylor was known as ''Bulala'' (Killer) by the local African people due to his well-established reputation for ruthless brutality.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=247–248}}

The BVC area of operations was the Zoutpansberg district{{snd}}nearly one third of the Transvaal{{snd}}was bounded by the [[Limpopo River]] to the north and the Waterberg range and [[Olifants River (Limpopo)|Olifants River]] to the south.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=50}} On 4 May, Morant led the 22-strong No. 1 Troop of B Squadron of the BVC from Pietersburg to establish themselves at a base occupied by two companies of 2WR at Strydpoort Pass near Potgietersrus, south west of Pietersburg. Morant's second-in-command was Sergeant Frank Eland, a settler from the district who Morant considered an excellent non-commissioned officer and with whom he quickly established a warm friendship. In the early morning the day after arriving at Strydpoort, Morant took a patrol out, following receipt of intelligence, and captured five Boers without casualties.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=61–63}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=252–254}}

The troop mounted daily patrols and often escorted officers travelling between their base and Pietersburg. No. 2 Troop was established at the nearby [[Chuniespoort]] Pass. On 16 May Morant paraded his troop and read a message from Kitchener praising the BVC for its good work.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=61–63}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=252–254}} A concentration camp was established near Pietersburg on 11 May, and within a month it held 2,000 Boers, and sometimes as many as 4,000. During its brief existence, 88 women prisoners, 523 children and 46 men held in the camp died.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=249}}{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=69}} On 22 May the BVC were ordered to move their camp some {{cvt|1|-|1.5|mi|km|order=flip}} out from the pass, and Eland directed the establishment of the defences while Morant took nine BVC men to escort a party of Boers to the concentration camp, returning three days later.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=264}}

On 1 June, Morant and Eland unsuccessfully sought permission from the major in charge of the 2WR troops at Strydpoort to conduct a {{cvt|70|mi|order=flip}} patrol. Morant travelled several times between the new camp near Strydpoort and Pietersburg in the first half of June. In mid-June, Morant's friend Hunt, whose service as a marriage registrar with the civil administration had come to an end, used his contacts at the Pretoria Club to secure himself a position as a captain with the BVC, although he did not reach Pietersberg until early July. At the end of June, both troops of B Squadron concentrated at Pietersburg to prepare to move further north, and they were replaced by 40 men from C Squadron reinforced with a few troopers from B Squadron who remained.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=264}}

On 4 July, a platoon of 2GH led by Lieutenant Alexander Best were guarding a train which was blown up near Potgietersrus then attacked by a force of Boers numbering around 150. Holding out for as long as they could, ten of the Gordons, including Best, were killed, and eleven wounded. Eland recorded in a letter to his wife that Morant was very upset by the news of Best's death, as Best had been a friend of Morant. Morant led a fruitless patrol that evening, and Eland wrote that "if we had come up with that party of Boers that night we would not have taken any prisoners".{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=67}}{{sfn|Bleszynski|2002|p=134}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=278–279}} Hunt was also a friend of Best.{{sfn|Bleszynski|2002|p=137}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=278}} The following evening, Morant was member of a night patrol led by the [[adjutant]] of the BVC, Lieutenant Edwards, which was accused of overzealousness in searching a house that had been placed under the protection of the British Army to the extent that Edwards was briefly placed under arrest upon his return to Pietersberg.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=67}} When the patrol returned to camp, Morant was not his usual talkative self. He claimed to Eland that Best and his men had been shot in cold blood by the Boers.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=279}}

===A Squadron at Sweetwaters Farm===
In early June, Taylor had been accompanied by 60 men of A Squadron of the BVC commanded by Captain James Robertson to establish a base at Sweetwaters Farm about {{cvt|80|mi|km|order=flip}} north of Pietersberg in the [[Hlanganani, Limpopo|Spelonken]] region. One of the officers accompanying A Squadron was Veterinary Lieutenant [[Peter Handcock]].{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=71}} A Boer commando led by [[Christiaan Frederik Beyers]] withdrew from the area when it learned of the approach of the BVC, but soon after the BVC established camp, the retired Boer leader [[John Thomas Kelly|Tom Kelly]] gathered his followers and re-established his own commando, as he was unable to accept British occupation of his territory. Another Boer leader, [[Ben Viljoen]], was also active in the area, and the area of operations was far more active than the relatively quiescent area then being patrolled by B Squadron.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=71–72}}

Taylor recruited a team of intelligence operatives drawn from local Boers, and the task of A Squadron was to assist Taylor by following up on intelligence he gathered about Boer movements.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=71–72}} Robertson was unsuited to his command, permissive with the men and not respected by them. He distrusted his men to the extent that he kept a loaded pistol at hand at all times.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=263–264}} Soon after arriving at Sweetwaters Farm, Taylor was accompanying a BVC patrol when he questioned an African local about the whereabouts of the Boers. When the man failed to provide any information, Taylor shot him in the head at close range.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=268–269}}

On 2 July, Taylor received intelligence that a group of six Boers in two covered wagons were approaching Sweetwaters Farm to surrender. After conferring with Taylor and Handcock, Robertson ordered the squadron sergeant major, Kenneth Morrison, to send out a patrol to meet the Boers and shoot them rather than take them prisoner. When questioned by Morrison, Robertson couched the orders as coming from Taylor as the district commander. In fact, Taylor had no military authority to issue such orders, and Robertson was in command. When Morrison passed these orders on to Sergeant Dudley Oldham as coming from Taylor, Oldham initially refused to carry them out, but reluctantly did so when pressed.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=269–273}}{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=72–74}}{{sfn|Bleszynski|2002|p=146}}

Upon approaching the Boers, who were also herding one hundred head of oxen, Oldham's advanced patrol of seven men fired a few shots, but no fire was returned and [[white flag]]s were waved to signify surrender. The Boers, who included 12-year-old Petrus Geyser and a sick old man, were disarmed and then shot by the side of the road, and in the case of the old man, while he lay in a wagon. The Boers offered no resistance at all. Taylor, Robertson and Handcock arrived at the scene some time afterwards to inspect the bodies, and their burial by local Africans was arranged.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=269–273}}{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=72–74}}{{sfn|Bleszynski|2002|p=146}} Taylor visited the nearby African kraal from which the three grave diggers had been drawn, and when he did not get the answers he wanted from them about what they would say about the shooting of the six Boers, they fled the kraal. Taylor sent a BVC patrol to find and shoot them, which they did.{{sfn|Bleszynski|2002|p=147}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=273}} The oxen captured by the patrol were soon sent, with Morrison's connivance, to Taylor's farm in southern Rhodesia, a mere {{cvt|30|mi|km|order=flip}} away.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=272}}

One of the BVC troopers who had been a member of Oldham's patrol that shot the six surrendering Boers was Barend van Buuren, himself a Boer. Disturbed by what had happened, that evening he approached relatives of the dead Boers who were being held in at the camp, and pointed out the members of the patrol who had shot them. Several BVC members witnessed this interaction, and Handcock confronted him. The following morning van Buuren spoke to a member of the BVC about his disquiet. That day, Taylor and Robertson ordered Handcock to take out a patrol, to include van Buuren, and during the patrol, kill van Buuren when the opportunity arose, on the basis that he could not be relied upon to keep quiet about the killing of the six Boers. Once in thick bush, Handcock spread the patrol out to the extent that they could not always see the next man on their left or right, and rode up to van Buuren and shot him three times with his revolver. Upon returning to camp, Handcock submitted a report on van Buuren's death which Robertson considered unacceptable. He rewrote the report and forwarded it to Lenehan. In usual circumstances a patrol would have been sent out to retrieve van Buuren's body so it could be buried, but this was not done. Several BVC members did not believe that Boers were involved in van Buuren's death, and concluded that Handcock had murdered him. If Handcock heard anyone dissent from his version of the events surrounding van Buuren's death, he threatened to shoot them.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=273–277}}{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=74–75}}{{sfn|Bleszynski|2002|pp=147–148}}

In early July, a report from an intelligence agent operating in the northern Transvaal was received by Hall in Pietersberg alleging "poor discipline, unconfirmed murders, drunkenness, and general lawlessness in the Spelonken".{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=277}} The report also alleged that Robertson had sexually assaulted a Boer woman.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=277}} In response, on 11 July{{snd}}the afternoon of Best's funeral{{snd}}Hall sent Hunt, Morant and Lieutenant Charles Hannam, along with about 60 BVC troops of B Squadron, to relieve Robertson and A Squadron, who were to proceed to Pietersberg immediately. Hunt was to assume command of a new base, which was to be established around a portable steel fort about {{cvt|1|mi|km|order=flip}} from Sweetwaters Farm, soon dubbed "Fort Edward" after the new king, [[Edward VII]]. Hunt's command arrived at Sweetwaters Farm on 13 July, and Robertson and most of A Squadron set off for Pietersberg the following day. Only six troopers and a couple of officers from Robertson's command remain with Hunt; one of the retained officers was Handcock, based on Taylor's recommendation.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=76–77}} Eland wrote to his wife that the members of A Squadron had not been glad to see B Squadron, and there were several ugly rumours about the actions of several A squadron members, to the extent that a court martial for murder might be held.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=279–280}} Before Hunt left Pietersburg he delivered two polo ponies to Kitchener's residence in Pretoria. While there he claimed to have had a discussion with Colonel [[Hubert Hamilton]], Kitchener's military secretary, who told him that the Zoutpansberg district was to be cleared of Boers and that no prisoners were to be taken. Once in command of B Squadron, Hunt relayed these instructions to his officers on several occasions, but they continued to bring in prisoners until after his death despite his protestations.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=82}}

Robertson was given a choice between [[court martial]] and resigning his commission. Robertson submitted his resignation and quit the military.{{sfn|Leach|2012|p=23}}{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=277–278}}

===B Squadron at Fort Edward===
[[File:Map of Bushveldt Carbineers in northern Transvaal.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The area of operations of the Bushveldt Carbineers, northern [[South African Republic|Transvaal]], 1901]]
While Fort Edward was being established{{snd}}including the construction of barbed wire entanglements, picket barricades and entrenchments{{snd}}patrolling commenced. A fifteen-man patrol under Hannam departed with four days' rations on 16 July aiming to deal with restive African people near the [[Letaba River]].{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=76–78}} On 18 July, a parade and festivities were held to "christen" the fort, and there were several visitors, including the Reverend Fritz Reuter of the [[Berlin Missionary Society]] and his family, who ran the nearby Mendingen Mission.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=282}} Reuter was on good terms with the BVC, probably due to his familiarity with the Eland family. While he was there, Reuter told Hunt that Viljoen's commando had established camp in the Duivelskloof (Devil's Gully) near the mission, from which they were harassing locals who did not support their cause. This included Eland mother at the family farm at "Ravenshill". When Reuter and his family returned to the mission, Hunt sent an escort party to protect them and to confirm the location of Viljeon's commando.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=82 & 85}} The  day after the parade, a twenty-man patrol under Lieutenant Picton left the fort to meet a supply convoy coming from Pietersberg. Upon meeting the convoy, several jars of [[rum]] were stolen and two members were arrested. By the time the convoy and accompanying patrol reached Fort Edward, a whole case of rum had been stolen and more arrests were made, including Morrison, who had remained behind as squadron sergeant major of B Squadron when A Squadron departed for Pietersberg. Morrison fled Fort Edward on 24 July, and an eight-man patrol under a Sergeant Gray was sent after him. They caught up with him where the stolen rum had been secreted, and joined him in drinking the rum, after which they rode on to Pietersberg. On arrival at Pietersberg, Lenehan interrogated Morrison and Gray, and after consulting with Hall, he discharged all nine from the BVC, and Morrison and Gray were ordered to leave Pietersberg.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=78–79}} However, heavy drinking remained common at Fort Edward under Hunt's command.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=282–283, 285}}

On 27 July, Hunt and Handcock left Fort Edward in a cart, escorted by Eland and another sergeant. They left just after midday with half an hour's notice and headed for the Ellerton gold mine, about {{cvt|55|mi|km|order=flip}} from Fort Edward. Hunt expected to meet someone at Fonseca's store{{snd}}about {{cvt|35|mi|km|order=flip}} from Fort Edward{{snd}}so stayed overnight, but the contact did not appear. They continued on until they encountered the camp of the caretaker of the Ellerton mine, George Anderson, who had recently returned to the district after being expelled by the Boers. He told them of [[Lobedu people]] who were causing problems and would not provide any information about Boer movements. He also told them that there was a 300-strong Boer commando on the other side of the [[Groot Letaba River]], and that Viljoen was active in the area.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=79–80}} It was decided that Eland would conduct an unarmed liaison mission to the Lobedu people, wearing civilian clothes, as they knew him as a local farmer and were friendly towards him. He would also be able to visit his farm, "Ravenshill" which was in the area, and visit his mother. He received a briefing from one of Taylor's intelligence agents, and rode his personal horse which had no military brands. Eland was successful, visited his farm and saw his mother, and also obtained much useful information about Boer movements and some assistance from the Lobedu. On his return to the Ellerton mine camp on 26 July, he was met by a patrol led by Lieutenant Hannam, which escorted him back to Fort Edward, arriving on the morning of 30 July with three Boer prisoners they had collected near Mendingen Mission. When they arrived at Fort Edward, there were few BVC members at the fort, as Morant was out with a patrol to the west and Picton was likewise scouting to the east. Hunt praised Eland's work and reported the information he had collected to Taylor who forwarded it to Pietersburg.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=80–81}}

When Morant's patrol, comprising mixed elements of B Squadron as most of his own troop was otherwise employed, returned to Fort Edward on the morning of 31 July, they brought with them 18 captured Boers, along with their women and children, 15 wagons, 30 rifles and 500 head of cattle. When he reported to Hunt, the squadron commander chastised Morant for bringing them in, and said that if he brought in any more he could feed them with his own rations. Woolmore asserts that Hunt was concerned about depleting his strength with guarding and escort duties, and the impost prisoners made on the limited food available. A day or two later, a BVC scouting patrol located eighteen Boers with twice that number of horses camped about {{cvt|40|mi|km|order=flip}} away from Fort Edward, and a large patrol was sent out to engage them.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=82}}

On 1 August a B Squadron patrol commanded by Picton captured two Boers on horseback about {{cvt|6|mi|km|order=flip}} from the fort. The same patrol then set an ambush and subsequently captured  seven wagons, two Cape carts, fourteen Boers, about seventeen rifles with ammunition, and about fifty women and children, along with some cattle. Picton's patrol then rode after a party of Boers led by a local farmer named Klopper. After stopping at the kraal of a local African chief, they obtained detailed intelligence about the party and caught them completely by surprise, capturing a further thirteen Boers along with many women and children. By this point Picton's patrol was {{cvt|75|mi|km|order=flip}} from Fort Edward, and on 5 August they began a three-day trek back, slowed down by the wagons and cattle.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=83}}

In the meantime, on 3 August, Lieutenant George Witton led twenty BVC reinforcements{{snd}}including a replacement for Morrison, Sergeant Major Ernest Hammett{{snd}}from Pietersburg to Fort Edward, and they were met a few miles from the fort by Lieutenant Hannam who guided them in. Upon arrival, Witton first met Morant and Handcock. Picton's patrol was still on its way back in, and Hunt had just left with seventeen men.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=83}} During this first month at Fort Edward, Morant and Handcock were cruel to a captured monkey{{snd}}tying it up and shooting at it{{snd}}but Morant was also kind to Boer children held at Fort Edward prior to their departure for the Pietersburg concentration camp.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=285}}

===Attack at Duivelskloof and the death of Hunt===
The detachment sent protect Reuter and his family on their return journey had then conducted a reconnaissance patrol to locate Viljoen's commando. At dawn on 30 July,{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=288–289}} BVC Trooper James Christie{{snd}}a New Zealand farmer in his civilian life{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=xix}}{{snd}}had sent a messenger back to Fort Edward that a Boer laager had been located, with about twenty men with several wagons and carts and livestock to pull them. Information indicated that the laager was being used as a depot for supplies being transferred to a much larger laager in the nearby Modjadji mountains, where Viljoen was camped with between 80 and 100 of his men.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=289}} It was in response to this information that Hunt had assembled fifteen BVC troops,{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=289}} and set out on the evening of 3 August.{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|p=85}} Hunt left Morant in command at Fort Edward, and took Eland with him, despite protests from Morant.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=289–290}} The initial plan was to ride the {{cvt|40|mi|km|order=flip}} due south to Buffelsberg where they would meet Christie, then attack the nearby laager under cover of dark.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|p=290}} The force stopped at the Schiel farm, where Hunt arranged for Tony Schiel, one of Taylor's intelligence scouts, to accompany them. Shortly after leaving the Schiel farm, some African tribesmen informed Hunt's patrol that Viljoen was currently staying at the farmhouse of Wilem Viljoen in the Duivelskloof with a few men. Hunt immediately decided to ride to that location and attack, prioritising killing or capturing Viljoen over attacking the laager Christie's patrol had located. In order to strengthen his force, Hunt directed Eland to assemble a force of African tribesmen to assist. Given that Reuter's mission was only about {{cvt|6|mi|km|order=flip}} from Viljoen's farm, the enhanced force then marched and rode through the night to the mission, arriving around 9 pm on 5 August. Upon arrival at Reuter's, the missionary was taken aback by Hunt's plan to attach the farmhouse, warning Hunt at length about the dangers of attacking the farmhouse, situated as it was in a rocky gully with only two ways in or out. Reuter also told Hunt that not only did Viljoen have fifteen men with him, but there were another forty men at the Botha farm a mere {{cvt|4|mi|km|order=flip}} away, who would ride to cut them off as soon as they attacked the Viljoen farm. Hunt thanked Reuter for his assistance and advice, and the force left the mission about 11:30 pm. As they left, Hunt spoke to each of the four sergeants in his patrol, Eland, Gray, Oldham and Robinson, and told them that if he was shot, that they were to get out of the gully containing the Viljoen farmhouse before daylight. {{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=290–292}}{{sfn|Woolmore|2002|pp=85–86}}

In the very early hours of the following morning, Hunt's force dismounted about {{cvt|1|mi|km|order=flip}} away from the Viljoen farmhouse and approached on foot. The building consisted of the living quarters in the centre with stables on either end. Hunt planned to approach the farmhouse, call out to the Boers inside that they were surrounded, and then if they did not do so, he would fire a shot, and Trooper Silke would send the fifty tribesmen forward to rush the farmhouse. In preparation, he sent Silke and his group along the road until they were about {{cvt|50|yd|m|order=flip}} behind the farmhouse to await the signal. Another group of tribesmen accompany Schiel to a hill to the rear of the building. With Eland sticking close at his request, Hunt then brought the rest of the force within {{cvt|200|yd|m}}, and approached the farmhouse himself, accompanied by Eland.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=292–293}} Barend Viljoen and his men were aware of the approach of Hunt's force, having had scouts watching them for most of the previous day. The Boers were positioned in protected positions around the house and ordered to hold their fire until Viljoen opened fire. Unaware of these preparations, Hunt called on Viljoen to surrender, and firing broke out immediately. Most of the BVC troops immediately took cover, but Hunt ran forward, firing as he went, closely followed by Eland. In the ensuing firefight, Barend Viljoen, his brother Johannes, and another Boer were mortally wounded, and Hunt was about twenty paces from the door of the farmhouse when he was shot in the chest. Eland was also hit, shot through the hips and lower stomach. Silke attempted to send the tribesmen forward to attack, but they retreated instead.{{sfn|FitzSimons|2020|pp=294–295}}

According to the memoirs of Hendrik Adriaan Jacobs, the Viljoen Commando knew that an attack was coming. The members of the Commando, however, were "feverish" from the effects of [[malaria]] and fatalistically waited for the arrival of the Bushveldt Carbineers. Jacobs later recalled how he saw Hunt's party through a window and began shooting. Possibly mistaking Jacobs's first shot for the signal, the BVC and the Lobedu also began shooting and general pandemonium ensued. In an exchange of fire, Captain Hunt was shot through the chest.  Sergeant [[Frank Eland]] was killed attempting to go to Hunt's aid, as was at least one Lobedu warrior. On the Boer side, Barend Viljoen, his brother J.J. Viljoen, and G. Hartzenberg were killed. The dead of both sides were left behind by their retreating comrades.{{Sfn|Leach|2012|pp=40–45}}

When the surviving members of the patrol returned to Medingen Mission Station, Rev. Reuter asked them about their officers and "was told a confusing and contradictory story of what had happened". Decades later, Rev. Reuter's daughter recalled in a televised interview, "My father roused on them, asking how they could leave their Captain like that."{{Sfn|Leach|2012|p=43}}

The body of Captain Hunt was later found stripped, with his neck broken, his face stomped on with a [[hobnail]]ed boot, and with his legs slashed with a knife.{{Sfn|Davey|1987|p=xliii}}

According to Leach, however, Captain Hunt's broken neck would be consistent with a fall down the concrete steps after being wounded. The mutilations found on his body were also found on the bodies of the three dead Boers. Both sides blamed the other for the disfigurement of the dead. Hendrik Jacobs, however, believed that Lobedu witch-doctors were to blame. According to historian Charles Leach, accounts by French anthropologist [[Henri-Alexandre Junod|Henri Junod]] reveal that the traditional practice of the Lobedu people was to [[disembowelment|disembowel]] dead and dying warriors on the battlefield to set their spirits free.{{Sfn|Leach|2012|pp=44–51}}

The body of Captain Percy Hunt was buried at the Medingen Mission Station, where a cross was later installed by the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]].  Sergeant Eland was buried at his family's homestead, the Ravenshill Farm, after a burial service was read by Rev. Reuter.