ten o'clock
It is a comfort , too , that we have some clear water instead of having to get it from one of these muddy streams . The storm has done good anyhow , for if it had not been for that there would have been no breakfast for the troops until they had moved to the river . '' In another twenty minutes they were drinking hot coffee and munching biscuits . At ten o'clock the bugle sounded the assembly , and the troops formed up , the wounded were placed in ambulance waggons or carried on stretchers , and all returned to Elandslaagte station . Here the wounded were sent on by train , while the infantry and cavalry returned by road . Talking to some of the officers of the Imperial Horse , several of whom were friends of his father , and had only left Johannesburg a short time before the declaration of war , Chris learned that the principal object in fighting the battle was to drive the Boers off the line by which the Dundee force would retreat ; for Colonel Yule in his telegraphic despatch had stated , that although a victory had been won he felt that the position was untenable , and that he might at any moment be forced to evacuate it . He also learned that the safety of the line beyond Ladysmith was already threatened , but whether Sir George White would decide upon falling back towards Pietermaritzburg or would hold Ladysmith no one knew .