French's flanking manoeuvre took a very high toll on horses and men in the blazing summer heat, with about 500 horses either dying en route or no longer fit to ride. When Cronjé became aware of French's cavalry on his left flank at Klip Drift, he concluded that the British were trying to draw him eastwards away from his prepared defences. He dispatched 900 men with guns to stop the British push northwards. French's men set out from Klip Drift at 9:30 am on 15 February on the last stage of their journey to Kimberley, and were soon engaged by the Boer force sent to block them. Rifle fire came from the river in the east while artillery shells rained from the hills in the north west; the route the Kimberley lay straight ahead through the crossfire, so French ordered a bold cavalry charge down the middle. As waves of horses galloped forward, the Boers poured down fire from the two sides. However, the speed of the attack, screened by a massive cloud of dust, proved successful and the Boer force was defeated. British casualties during this day's fighting were five dead and 10 wounded, with roughly 70 horses lost through exhaustion. However, the route to Kimberley was open; by that evening, General French and his men passed through the recently abandoned Boer lines, and relieved the town of Kimberley after some initial difficulty in convincing the defenders via heliograph that they were not Boers. The cavalry had covered in four days at the height of summer to reach the town. When French arrived in town, he snubbed Kekewich, the local military authority, by presenting himself to Rhodes instead.