The repulse had
been absolute and complete, for not a man or a cartridge had been
taken from the British, but the price paid in killed and wounded
was a heavy one. No fewer than 161 had been hit, including the
gallant leader, whose hurt did not prevent him from resuming his
duties within a few days. The heaviest losses fell upon the
Scottish Horse, and upon the Derbys; but the Yeomanry also proved
on this, as on some other occasions, how ungenerous were the
criticisms to which they had been exposed. There are few actions in
the war which appear to have been more creditable to the troops
engaged.
Though repulsed at Moedwill, De la Rey, the grim, long-bearded
fighting man, was by no means discouraged. From the earliest days
of the campaign, when he first faced Methuen upon the road to
Kimberley, he had shown that he was a most dangerous antagonist,
tenacious, ingenious, and indomitable. With him were a body of
irreconcilable burghers, who were the veterans of many engagements,
and in Kemp he had an excellent fighting subordinate.
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