nine o'clock
General French had brought out a signalling apparatus with him , and the telegraph wires were tapped , and a message sent to General White asking him for reinforcements in order to carry the Boer position . The fight now ceased for a time . A party of the Boers occasionally crept forward and opened fire , but the Colonial Horse dashed forward and sent them flying back to the hills . From nine o'clock till a quarter to two the troops remained idle , but the reinforcements then arrived , a battery of field artillery , several squadrons of Dragoons , Lancers , and Colonials , and the Devonshire regiment and Gordon Highlanders , the infantry being brought up by train . These were under the command of Colonel Ian Hamilton , who had a thorough knowledge of Boer tactics , and knew how to handle his troops . It was well that it was so , for , led by a less experienced commander , they would have suffered terribly in their advance . While the infantry detrained , the Colonials , followed by the 5th Lancers , rode towards some low hills , whence some parties of Boers had maintained a distant fire .