five o'clock in the morning
Major General Hunter with a brigade of infantry , three batteries , and a small cavalry force were to attack Meyer 's commando to the east , while General White , with two infantry brigades , French 's cavalry , and six batteries of field artillery moved against Joubert 's force on Modder Spruit . It was hoped that the Boers , if defeated , would find their retreat barred by the force that had stated early for Nicholson 's Nek . All were well away from the town before daylight broke . At five o'clock in the morning the guns spoke out , and were at once answered by the Boer artillery , and the roar of fire soon became general . General White 's central column was screened by a ridge near the railway , and the big gun on Signal Hill directed its fire partly against the town and partly against the cavalry which could be seen by them in rear of the column . As only a few of the Volunteer Horse had been ordered to accompany the attacking force , Chris and his companions took up their position on an eminence that afforded a general view of the battle , and here a large number of the townspeople also gathered . The general plan of operations was that the two movable columns should form a rough arc of a circle and , driving in both flanks of the Boers , sweep the whole force before them .