After the capture of Bethlehem, the Boer War was moving from its and into the . The 12th Brigade was broken up and its units sent to other commands. The 2nd Wilts would join Major-General Paget and the West Riding Regiment in patrolling the areas northeast and northwest of Pretoria. After being moved to help block De Wet's attempt to raid the Cape Colony in February 1901, it was assigned to defend the Pretoria-Pietersburg rail line with the 2nd battalion of the Northamptonshire Regiment.