South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 5 (of 8)
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Title: South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. 5 (of 8)
Author: Louis Creswicke
Release date: October 10, 2012 [eBook #41017]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024
Language: English
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTH AFRICA AND THE TRANSVAAL WAR, VOL. 5 (OF 8) ***
SOUTH AFRICA AND THE
TRANSVAAL WAR
[Illustration:
Maj. F. S. Maude
Maj. Hon. A. H. Hamilton
Lord Methuen
Col. Mackinnon, C.I.V.
Capt. C. F. Vandeleur
GENERAL AND STAFF
Photo by Gregory & Co., London]
SOUTH AFRICA
AND THE
TRANSVAAL WAR
BY
LOUIS CRESWICKE
AUTHOR OF "ROXANE," ETC.
WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS
IN SIX VOLUMES
VOL. V.--FROM THE DISASTER AT KOORN SPRUIT TO
LORD ROBERTS'S ENTRY INTO PRETORIA
EDINBURGH: T. C. & E. C. JACK
MANCHESTER: KENNETH MACLENNAN, 75 PICCADILLY
Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO.
At the Ballantyne Press
CONTENTS--VOL. V.
PAGE
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE vii
CHAPTER I
THE DISASTER AT KOORN SPRUIT 1
THE REDDERSBURG MISHAP 16
ESCAPE OF PRISONERS FROM PRETORIA 21
PREPARATIONS FOR ACTION 32
THE BATTLE OF BOSHOP, APRIL 5 38
CHAPTER II
MAFEKING, APRIL 46
AFFAIRS IN RHODESIA 53
CHAPTER III
THE SIEGE OF WEPENER 54
OPERATIONS FOR RELIEF 68
THE TENTACLES AT WORK 82
CHAPTER IV
THE GREAT ADVANCE--
FROM BLOEMFONTEIN, BRANDFORT, AND THE VET TO
WELGELEGEN, MAY 9 87
FROM THABANCHU TO WINBURG AND WELGELEGEN
(GENERAL IAN HAMILTON), MAY 9 95
TOWARDS THE ZAND RIVER TO KROONSTAD, MAY 12 101
CHAPTER V
MAFEKING, MAY 108
WITH COLONEL MAHON'S FORCE 117
ON THE WESTERN FRONTIER 132
THE RELIEF 134
HOW THE NEWS WAS RECEIVED BY THE BRITISH EMPIRE 140
CHAPTER VI
FROM KROONSTAD TO JOHANNESBURG 144
CHAPTER VII
GENERAL RUNDLE'S MARCH TO SENEKAL 154
THE HIGHLAND BRIGADE 156
LORD METHUEN'S MARCH FROM BOSHOP TO KROONSTAD, MAY 29 159
THE BATTLE OF BIDDULPH'S BERG, MAY 28, 29 161
FIGHTING ON THE WESTERN BORDER, MAY 30 169
CHAPTER VIII
GENERAL BULLER'S ADVANCE TO NEWCASTLE 171
CHAPTER IX
THE INTERREGNUM AT PRETORIA 179
FROM JOHANNESBURG TO PRETORIA 184
APPENDIX
REARRANGEMENT OF STAFF 193
DEATHS IN ACTION AND FROM DISEASE 195
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS--VOL. V.
MAP SHOWING THE LINES OF ADVANCE FROM BLOEMFONTEIN TO PRETORIA
_At Front_
1. _COLOURED PLATES_
PAGE
GENERAL AND STAFF _Frontispiece_
SERGEANT--18TH HUSSARS 48
MOUNTED INFANTRY 56
SCOUT--6TH DRAGOON GUARDS 68
THE ROYAL MARINES 76
NORTHUMBERLAND FUSILIERS AND DURHAM LIGHT INFANTRY 80
WEST SURREY AND EAST SURREY 96
OFFICERS OF THE SEAFORTH HIGHLANDERS 160
2. _FULL-PAGE PLATES_
THE DISASTER AT KOORNSPRUIT 8
THE REDDERSBURG MISHAP 16
BRITISH PRISONERS ON THEIR WAY TO PRETORIA 24
LORD ROBERTS'S COLUMN CROSSING THE SAND RIVER DRIFT 100
THE SURRENDER OF KROONSTADT 104
MAFEKING: "THE WOLF THAT NEVER SLEEPS" 108
THE LAST ATTACK ON MAFEKING 136
LORD ROBERTS AND HIS ARMY CROSSING THE VAAL RIVER 140
ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY CROSSING THE VAAL 144
GENERAL IAN HAMILTON THANKING THE GORDONS FOR THEIR
ATTACK AT THE BATTLE OF DOORNKOP 148
THE CITY OF LONDON IMPERIAL VOLUNTEERS SUPPORTING GENERAL
HAMILTON'S LEFT FLANK IN THE ACTION AT DOORNKOP 152
HAULING DOWN THE TRANSVAAL FLAG AT JOHANNESBURG 156
THE GRENADIER GUARDS AT THE BATTLE OF BIDDULPH'S BERG 168
PURSUING THE BOERS AFTER THE FIGHT ON HELPMAKAAR HEIGHTS 176
SCENE IN PRETORIA SQUARE, JUNE 5 184
THE ENTRY OF LORD ROBERTS AND STAFF INTO PRETORIA 192
3. _FULL-PAGE PORTRAITS_
LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR ARCHIBALD HUNTER, K.C.B. 32
COLONEL LORD CHESHAM 40
LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR H. M. LESLIE-RUNDLE, K.C.B. 64
MAJOR-GENERAL POLE-CAREW 72
MAJOR-GENERAL IAN HAMILTON 88
LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR FREDERICK CARRINGTON, K.C.M.G. 112
LIEUT.-COLONEL BRYAN T. MAHON, D.S.O. 120
LIEUT.-COLONEL PLUMER 128
4. _MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS IN THE TEXT_
PLAN--KOORN SPRUIT DISASTER 5
MAP--DISTRICT S. AND E. OF BLOEMFONTEIN 15
THE MODEL SCHOOL, PRETORIA 22
NEW CAMP FOR BRITISH PRISONERS AT PRETORIA 29
FIELD GUN--ELSWICK BATTERY 39
THE NATIVE VILLAGE OF MAFEKING 47
MAFEKING POSTAGE STAMPS 52
THE DEFENCE OF WEPENER 58
WEPENER 66
OPERATIONS AT DEWETSDORP 76
MAP OF MOVEMENTS S. AND E. OF BLOEMFONTEIN 82
KENT COTTAGE, ST. HELENA 86
LORD ROBERTS AND STAFF WATCHING THE BOERS' RETREAT
FROM ZAND RIVER 103
KROONSTADT 107
GENERAL BADEN-POWELL AND OFFICERS AT MAFEKING 114
MAP AND ITINERARY, COLONEL MAHON'S MARCH 118
MAP OF ROUTE FROM N. FOR RELIEF OF MAFEKING 127
MAFEKING RAILWAY STATION 139
DEVIATION BRIDGE AT VEREENIGING 153
HIGHLANDERS AT THE END OF A FORCED MARCH 160
MAP OF PORTION OF NATAL 175
MAP--JOHANNESBURG TO PRETORIA, &C. 186
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE--Vol. V.
MARCH 1900.
=31.=--Loss of British convoy and seven guns at Koorn Spruit.
APRIL 1900.
=4.=--Capture of British troops by the Boers near Reddersburg.
=5.=--General Villebois killed near Boshop, and party of Boer
mercenaries captured by Lord Methuen.
General Clements received the submission of 4000 rebels.
British occupation of Reddersburg.
=7.=--Skirmish near Warrenton.
=9.=--Colonial Division attacked at Wepener.
=11.=--General Chermside promoted to command Third Division, vice
General Gatacre, ordered home.
=20.=--Boer positions attacked at Dewetsdorp.
=23.=--General Carrington arrived at Beira.
=25.=--Wepener siege raised.
General Chermside occupied Dewetsdorp.
Bloemfontein Waterworks recaptured.
=26.=--Sir C. Warren appointed Governor of Griqualand West.
=27.=--Thabanchu occupied.
=28.=--Fighting near Thabanchu Mountain.
MAY 1900.
=1.=--General Hamilton captured Houtnek.
=5.=--British occupation of Brandfort.
Lord Roberts's further advance to the Vet River.
=6.=--The Vet River passed and Smaldeel occupied.
=7.=--General Hunter occupied Fourteen Streams.
=8.=--Ladybrand deserted by the Boers.
=9.=--Capture of Welgelegen.
Mafeking Relief Force reached Vryburg.
=10.=--Battle of Zand River.
Occupation of Ventersburg.
=12.=--Lord Roberts occupied Kroonstad without resistance.
Commandant Eloff attacked Mafeking, and was captured by Col.
Baden-Powell.
=13.=--General Buller advanced towards the Biggarsberg.
=14.=--Occupation of Dundee.
=15.=--Occupation of Glencoe.
Mafeking Relief Force defeated the Boers at Kraaipan.
=16.=--Christiana occupied.
=17.=--General Ian Hamilton occupied Lindley.
Colonel Mahon, at the head of the relief force, entered
Mafeking.
Lord Methuen entered Hoopstad.
=18.=--Occupation of Newcastle.
=20.=--Colonel Bethune's Mounted Infantry ambushed near Vryheid.
=22.=--General Ian Hamilton occupied Heilbron after a series of
engagements. The main army, under Lord Roberts, pitched its
tents at Honing Spruit, and General French crossed the Rhenoster
to the north-west of the latter place.
=23.=--Rhenoster position turned.
=24.=--British Army entered the Transvaal, crossing the Vaal near
Parys, unopposed.
=27.=--The passage of the Vaal was completed by the British Army.
=28.=--Orange Free State formally annexed under the title of Orange
River Colony.
The Battle of Biddulph's Berg.
=29.=--Battle of Doornkop: Boers defeated.
Lord Roberts arrived at Germiston.
Kruger fled his capital at midnight amid the lamentations of the
populace.
=30.=--Occupation of Utrecht by General Hildyard.
Sir Charles Warren defeated the enemy near Douglas.
=31.=--Battalion of Irish Yeomanry captured at Lindley.
The British flag hoisted at Johannesburg.
JUNE 1900.
=5.=--The British flag hoisted in Pretoria.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE LINES OF ADVANCE FROM BLOEMFONTEIN TO
PRETORIA.
(_The Rand District and the Movements around Pretoria are shown on Map
at p. 186._)]
EDINBURGH AND LONDON: T. C. AND E. C. JACK.
SOUTH AFRICA AND THE TRANSVAAL WAR
CHAPTER I
THE IMMORTAL HANDFUL[1]
MAFEKING, 18TH MAY 1900
Shout for the desperate host,
Handful of Britain's race,
Holding the lonely post
Under God's grace;
Guarding our England's fame
Over the open grave,
Shielding the Flag from shame--
Shout for the brave!
Ringed by a ruthless foe
Dared they the night attack,
Answered him blow for blow,
Hurling him back;
Cheering, the charge was pressed,
More than they held they hold,
Won bayonet at the breast--
Shout for the bold!
Long, long the days and nights;
Bitter the tales that came,
What of the distant fights?
Rumours of shame?
Scorning the doubts that swell,
Nursing the hope anew,
They did their duty well--
Shout for the true!
Shout for the glory won,
Empire of East and West!
Shout for each valiant son
Nursed at thy breast!
Fear could not find them out,
Death stalked there iron-shod,
Help found them Victors--shout
Praises to God!
--HAROLD BEGBIE.
DISASTER AT KOORN SPRUIT
The last volume closed with an account of Colonel Plumer's desperate
effort to relieve Mafeking on the 31st of March. On that unlucky day
events of a tragic, if heroical, nature were taking place elsewhere.
These have now to be chronicled. On the 18th of March a force was moved
out under the command of Colonel Broadwood to the east of Bloemfontein.
The troops were sent to garrison Thabanchu, to issue proclamations, and
to contribute to the pacification of the outlying districts. They were
also to secure a valuable consignment of flour from the Leeuw Mills. The
enemy was prowling about, and two commandos hovered north of the small
detached post at the mills. Reinforcements were prayed for, and a strong
patrol was sent off for the protection of the post, or to cover its
withdrawal in the event of attack. Meanwhile the enemy was "lying low,"
as the phrase is. Whereupon Colonel Pilcher pushed on to Ladybrand, made
a prisoner of the Landdrost, but, hearing of the advance of an
overwhelming number of the foe, retired with all promptness to
Thabanchu. The Boers, with the mobility characteristic of them, were
gathering together their numbers, determining if possible to prevent any
onward move of the forces, and bent at all costs on securing for their
own comfort and convenience the southern corner of the Free State,
whence the provender and forage of the future might be expected to come.
Without this portion of the grain country to fall back on, they knew
their activities would be crippled indeed.
In consequence, therefore, of the close proximity of these Federal
hordes, Colonel Broadwood made an application to head-quarters for
reinforcements, and decided to remove from Thabanchu. On Friday the 30th
he marched to Bloemfontein Waterworks, south of the Modder. His force
consisted of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade (10th Hussars and the composite
regiment of Household Cavalry), "Q," "T," and "U" Batteries R.H.A.
(formed into two six-gun batteries, "Q" and "U"), Rimington's Scouts,
Roberts's Horse, Queensland and Burma Mounted Infantry. The baggage
crossed the river, and outspanned the same evening. On the following
morning at 2 A.M. the force, having fought a rearguard action throughout
the night, arrived in safety at Sanna's Post. Here for a short time they
bivouacked, and here for a moment let us leave them.
At this time a mounted infantry patrol was scouring the country. They
were seen by some Boers who were scuttling across country from the
Ladybrand region, and these promptly hid in a convenient spruit, whence,
in the time that remained to them, they planned the ambush that was so
disastrous to our forces and so exhilarating to themselves. There are
differences of opinion regarding this story. Some believe that the
ambush was planned earlier by a skilful arrangement in concert with the
Boer hordes--the hornets of Ladybrand, whose nest had been disturbed by
the invasion of Colonel Pilcher--who owed Colonel Broadwood a debt. They
declare that the hiding-place was carefully sought out, so that those
sheltered therein should, on a given signal from De Wet, act in accord
with others of their tribe, and blockade the passage of the British, who
were known--everything was known--to be returning to Bloemfontein.
According to Boer reports, the plans for the cutting off and surrounding
of Colonel Broadwood were carefully made out, but only at the last
moment, and if, for once, Boer reports can be believed, the successful
scheme may be looked upon as one of the finest pieces of strategy with
which De Wet may be accredited. The Boer tale runs thus: The Dutchman on
the 28th, with a commando of 1400 and four guns and a Maxim-Nordenfeldt,
was moving towards Thabanchu for the purpose of attacking Sanna's Post,
where he believed a force of 200 of the British to be. He did all his
travelling by night, and found himself on the evening of the 30th at Jan
Staal's farm, on the Modder River, to the north of Sanna's Post. Then,
in the very nick of time, he was informed by a Boer runner that Colonel
Broadwood's convoy was moving from Thabanchu. Quickly a council of war
was gathered together. It was a matter of life or death. De Wet, with
Piet de Wet, Piet Cronje, Wessel, Nell, and Fourie, put their heads
together and schemed. They were doubtless assisted by the foreign
attachés who were present. The result of the hurried meeting was the
division of the Boer force into three commandos. The General himself,
with 400 men, decided to strain every nerve to reach Koorn Spruit and
ensconce himself before the arrival of the convoy. Being well acquainted
with the topography of the country, the race was possible--400 picked
horsemen against slow-moving, drowsy cattle! The thing was inviting.
Success rides but on the wings of opportunity, and De Wet saw the
opportunity and grabbed it! The rest of the Boers were to dispose
themselves in two batches--500 of them, with the artillery, to plant
themselves N.N.E. of Sanna's Post, while the remainder took up a
position on the left of their comrades, and extended in the direction of
the Thabanchu road.
It was wisely argued that Broadwood's transport must cross Koorn Spruit,
and that if the Boers were posted so as to shell the British camp at
daybreak, the convoy would be hurried on, while the bulk of the force
remained to guard the rear.
Accordingly, the conspirators, with amazing promptitude, got under way,
the four guns with the commando being double-horsed and despatched to
the point arranged on the N.N.E. of Sanna's Post, while the other
galloped as designed. Fortune favoured them, for they reached their
destinations undiscovered; and the scheme, admirable in conception, was
executed with signal success.
Day had scarcely dawned before the Boers near the region of the
waterworks apprised the convoy of their existence. The British kettles
were boiling, preparations for breakfast were briskly going forward,
when, plump!--a shell dropped in their midst. Consternation prevailed.
Something must be done. The artillery? No; the British guns were useless
at so long a range. As well have directed a penny squirt at a garden
hose! All that was to be thought of was removal--and that with all
possible despatch. Scurry and turmoil followed. Mules fought and
squealed and kicked, horses careered and plunged, but at last the convoy
and two horse batteries were got under way, while the mounted infantry
sprayed out to screen the retreat. All this time shells continued to
burst and bang with alarming persistency. They came from across the
river, and consequently it was imagined that every mile gained brought
the convoy nearer to Bloemfontein and farther from the enemy. They had
some twenty miles to go. Still, the officers who had charge of the party
believed the coast to be clear. After moving on about a mile they
approached a deep spruit--a branch of the Modder, more morass than
stream. It was there that De Wet and his smart 400 had artfully
concealed themselves.
The spruit offered every facility for the formation of an ingenious
trap. The ground rose on one side toward a grassy knoll, on the slopes
of which was a stony cave from which a hidden foe could command the
drifts. So admirably concealed was this enclosure and all that it
enclosed, that the leading scouts passed over the drift without
suspecting the presence of the enemy. These latter, true to their talent
of slimness, made no sign till waggons and guns had safely entered the
drift, and were, so to speak, inextricably in their clutches.
Their manoeuvre was entirely successful. Some one said the waggons
were driven into the drift exactly as partridges are driven to the gun.
Another gave a version of very much the same kind. He said, "It was just
like walking into a cloak-room--the Boers politely took your rifle and
asked you kindly to step on one side, and there was nothing else you
could do!"
The nicety of the situation from the Boer point of view was described by
a correspondent of _The Times_:--
"The camp was about three miles from the drift, which lay in the point
of a rough angle made by an embankment under construction and the
bush-grown sluit which converged towards it. Thus when the Boers were in
position, lining the sluit and the embankment, the position became like
the base of a horse's foot. The Boers were the metal shoe, our own
troops the frog. At the point where the drift cuts the sluit the nullah
is broad and extensive. The Boers stationed at this spot realised that
the baggage was moving without an advanced guard. They were equal to the
situation. As each waggon dropped below the sky-line into the drift the
teamsters were directed to take their teams to right or left as the case
might be, and the guards were disarmed under threat of violence. No shot
was fired. Each waggon in turn was captured and placed along the sluit,
so that those in rear had no knowledge of what was taking place to their
front until it became their turn to surrender. To all intents and
purposes the convoy was proceeding forward. The scrub and high ground
beyond the drift was sufficient to mask the clever contrivance of the
enemy. Thus all the waggons except nine passed into the hands of the
enemy."
The waggons, numbering some hundred, had no sooner descended to the
spruit and got bogged there than, from all sides sprung up as from the
earth, Boers with rifles at the present, shouting--"Hands up. Give up
your bandoliers." A scene of appalling confusion followed. Some cocked
their revolvers. Others were weaponless. So unsuspecting of danger had
they been that their rifles, for comfort's sake, had been stowed on the
waggons, the better to allow of freedom to assist in other operations of
transport. Some men of the baggage guard shouldered their rifles;
others, from under the medley of waggons, still strove ineffectually to
show fight. The Boers were unavoidably in the ascendant. The hour and
the opportunity were theirs.
[Illustration: PLAN--DISASTER AT KOORN SPRUIT.]
At this time up came U Battery, with Roberts's Horse on their left. The
battery was surrounded, armed Boers roared--"You must surrender!" and
then, sharp and clear, the first shot rang through the air. This was
said to have been fired by Sergeant Green, Army Service Corps, who,
refusing to surrender, had shot his antagonist, and had instantly fallen
victim to his grand temerity. The drivers of the batteries were ordered
to dismount, but as gunners don't dismount graciously to order of the
foe, the tragedy pursued its course. Major Taylor, commanding the
battery, however, succeeded in galloping off to warn the officer
commanding Q Battery of the catastrophe. Meanwhile, in that serene and
pastoral spruit reigned fire and fury and the clash of frenzied men.
Down went a horse--another, another. Then man after man--groaning and
reeling in their agony. Many in the spruit lay dead. At this time the
troop of Roberts's Horse had appeared on the scene, and were called on
to surrender. Realising the disaster, they wheeled about, and galloped
to report and bring assistance. This was the signal for more volleys
from the enemy in the spruit, and the horsemen thus sped between two
fires--that of the Mausers below them and of the shells which had
continued to harry the troops. Nevertheless the gallant fellows rode
furiously for dear life on their journey. Men dropped from their saddles
like ripe fruit from a shaken tree. Still they sped on. They must bring
help at any price. Meanwhile the scene in the spruit was one of horror,
for the Boers were sweeping every nook and corner with their Mausers.
Cascades of fire played on the unfortunate mass therein entangled, on
waggons overturned and squealing mules, on guns and horses hopelessly
heaped together, on men and oxen sweating and plunging in death-agony.
The heaving, struggling, horrific picture was too grievous for
description. Only a part of their terrible experience was known by even
the actors themselves. Luckily, a merciful Providence allows each human
intelligence to gauge only a certain amount of the awful in tragic
experience. There are some who told of wounded men lying blood-bathed
and helpless beneath baggage that weighed like the stone of Sisyphus; of
horses that uttered weird screams of agonised despair, which petrified
the veins of hearers and sent the current of blood to their hearts; of
oxen and mules that stamped and kicked, dealing ugly wounds, so that
those who might have crawled out from under them could crawl no more.
Some guns were overturned--a hopeless bulk of iron, that resisted all
efforts at removal; others, bereft of their drivers, were dragged wildly
into space by maddened teams, whose happy instinct had caused them to
stampede. Seeing the disaster, they had pulled out to left and struggled
to get back to camp, yet even as they struggled they were disabled and
thus left at the mercy of the foe.
Major Burnham, the famous scout, who having been taken a prisoner
earlier and at this juncture remained powerless in the hands of the
Boers, thus described the terrible sight which he was forced to
witness:--
"One of the batteries (Q), which was upon the outside of the
three-banked rows of waggons, halted at the spruit, dashed off,
following Roberts's Horse to the rear and south. Yet most of them got
clear, although horses and men fell at every step, and the guns were
being dragged off with only part of their teams, animals falling wounded
by the way. Then I saw the battery, when but 1200 yards from the spruit,
wheel round into firing position, unlimber, and go into action at that
range, so as to save comrades and waggons from capture. Who gave the
order for that deed of self-sacrifice I don't know. It may have been a
sergeant or lieutenant, for their commanding officer had been left
behind at the time. One of the guns upset in wheeling, caused by the
downfall of wounded horses. There it lay afterwards, whilst three steeds
for a long time fought madly to free themselves from the traces and the
presence of their dead stable companions."
Those of the unfortunate men who were uninjured struggled grandly to
save the guns, to drag them free from the scene of destruction, but
several of the guns whose teams were shot fell into the hands of the
enemy. Some gallant fellows of Rimington's Scouts made a superb effort
to rush through the fire of the Federals and save them, but five guns
only were rescued. These were all guns of Q Battery, which, when the
first alarm was given, were within 300 yards of the spruit. When the
officer who commanded the battery strove to wheel about, though the
Boers took up a second position and poured a heavy fire on the galloping
teams, a wheel horse was shot, over went a gun, more beasts dropped, a
waggon was rendered useless, but still the teams that remained were
galloped through the confusion to the shelter of some tin buildings,
part of an unfinished railway station, some 1150 yards from the
disastrous scene. Here a new era began. Much to the amazement of the
Boers, the guns came into action, and continued, in the face of horrible
carnage, to make heroic efforts at retaliation, the officers themselves
assisting in serving the guns till ordered to retire. At this time Q
Battery was assailed by a terrific cross fire, and gradually the numbers
of the gunners and horses became thinned, till the ground, covered with
riderless steeds and dismounted and disabled men, presented a picture of
writhing agony and stern heroism that has seldom been equalled. But the
splendid effort had grand results.
No sooner were the British guns in action than the whole force rallied:
the situation was saved. The Household Cavalry and the 10th Hussars were
off in one direction, Rimington's Scouts and the mounted infantry in
another, making for some rising ground on the left where their position
would be defensible and a line of retreat found. Meanwhile Q Battery
from six till noon pounded away at the Dutchmen, while Lieutenant
Chester-Master, K.R.R., found a passage farther down the spruit
unoccupied by the enemy, by which it was possible to effect a crossing.
Major Burnham's account of the artillery duelling at this time is
inspiriting:--
"As soon as the gunners manning the five guns opened with
shrapnel, the Boers hiding in Koorn Spruit slackened their
fire, preferring to keep under cover as much as possible. In
that way many others escaped. The mounted infantry deployed and
engaged the Boer gunners and skirmishers to the east, and the
cavalry with Roberts's Horse dismounted and rallied to cover
the guns from the fire. A small body was also despatched to
strike south and fight north. My captors directed their
attention to Q Battery. They got the range, 1700 yards, by one
of the Boers firing at contiguous bare ground, until he saw by
the dust puffs he had got the distance, whereupon he gave the
others the exact range, which they at once adopted. The gunners
gave us nearly forty-eight shrapnel, for they were firing very
rapidly, but although they had the range of our kraal, they
only managed to kill one horse. I noticed that the Boers,
though they dodged and took every advantage of cover, fired
most carefully, and yet rapidly. It was the same with those in
the spruit as inside the kraal where I sat. That day the Boers
said to me they had but three men killed in the spruit, and
only a half-dozen or so wounded. Those artillerymen, how I
admired and felt proud of them! and the Boers, too, were
astonished at their courage and endurance. Fired at from three
sides, they never betrayed the least alarm or haste, but coolly
laid their guns and went through their drill as if it had been
a sham-fight, and men and horses were not dropping on all
sides. There was a little bit of cover a hundred yards or so
behind the battery, around the siding and station buildings of
the projected railway and embankment. Thither the living horses
from the limbers and guns were taken, and the wounded were
conveyed. When, three hours later, their ammunition for the
12-pounders was scarce, and the Boer rifle fire from the gulch,
the waggons, and ridge opened heavy and deadly, the gunners
would crawl back and forward for powder and shell. Had it not
been for those terrible cannon, the Boers told me that they
would have charged, closing in on all sides upon Broadwood's
men."
[Illustration: THE DISASTER AT KOORNSPRUIT: DRIVERLESS TEAMS STAMPEDING
Drawing by John Charlton]
When the order to retire was received, Major Phipps Hornby ordered the
guns and their limbers to be run back by hand to where the teams of
uninjured horses stood behind the station buildings. Then such gunners
as remained, assisted by the officers and men of the Burma Mounted
Infantry, and directed by Major Phipps Hornby and Captain Humphreys (the
sole remaining officers of the battery), succeeded in running back four
of the guns under shelter. It is said the guns would never have been
saved but for the gallant action of the officers and men of the Burma
Mounted Infantry, who, when nearly every gunner was killed, volunteered,
and succeeded, under the heaviest fire, in dragging the guns back by
hand to a place of safety. It was while doing this that Lieutenant P. C.
Grover, of the Burma Mounted Infantry, was killed. Though one or two of
the limbers were thus valiantly withdrawn under a perfect cyclone of
shot and shell, the exhausted men found it impossible to drag in the
remaining limbers or the fifth gun. Human beings failing, the horses had
also to be risked, and presently several gallant drivers volunteered to
plunge straight into the hellish vortex. They got to work grandly,
though horses dropped in death agony and man after man, hero after hero,
was picked off by the unerring and copious fire of the Dutchmen. It is
difficult to get the names of all the glorious fellows who carried their
lives in their hands on that great but dreadful day, but Gunner Lodge
and Driver Glasock were chosen as the representatives of those who
immortalised themselves and earned the Victoria Cross. Of Bombardier
Gudgeon's magnificent energy enough cannot be said. One after another
teams were shot, but he persisted in his work of getting fresh teams.
Three times he strove to roll a gun to a place of safety, and on the
third occasion was wounded. The splendid discipline of the gunners was
extolled by every eye-witness, and the way the noble fellows, surrounded
with Boer sharpshooters, stood to the guns was so marvellous, so
inspiriting, that even the men who were covering the retirement, at risk
of their lives were impelled to rise and cheer the splendid action of
the glorious remnant. The correspondent of _The Times_ declared that
"When the order came for the guns to retire, ten men and one officer
alone remained upon their feet, and they were not all unwounded. The
teams were as shattered as the gun groups. Solitary drivers brought up
teams of four--in one case a solitary pair of wheelers was all that
could be found to take a piece away. The last gun was dragged away by
hand until a team could be patched up from the horses that remained. As
the mutilated remnant of two batteries of Horse Artillery tottered
through the line of prone mounted infantry covering its withdrawal, the
men could not restrain their admiration. Though it was to court death to
show a hand, men leaped to their feet and cheered the gunners as they
passed. Seven guns and a baggage train were lost, but the prestige and
honour of the country were saved. Five guns had been extricated. The
mounted infantry had found a line of retreat, and total disaster was
avoided. But the fighting was not over. The extrication of a rearguard
in the front of a victorious and exultant enemy has been a difficult and
a delicate task in the history of all war. In the face of modern weapons
it is fraught with increased difficulties. For two hours Rimington's
Scouts, the New Zealand Mounted Infantry, Roberts's Horse, and the 3rd
Regiment of Mounted Infantry covered each other in retreat, while the
enemy galloped forward and, dismounting, engaged them, often at ranges
up to 300 yards."
The force was surrounded by the enemy on all sides, and there was no
resource but to fight through--the cavalry and mounted infantry taking a
line towards a drift on the south. Roberts's Horse made a gallant and
desperate effort to outflank the Dutchmen, and lost heavily; and
Aldersen's Brigade, with magnificent dash and considerable skill,
succeeded in holding back the hostile horde. This retirement was no easy
matter, for the position taken up by the Federals was exceptionally
favourable to them. To the north the spruit twisted in a convenient
hoop, which sheltered them; to the south was the embankment of the
railway in course of construction; from these points and from front and
rear the enemy was able, in comparative security, to batter and harass
the discomfited troops.
Fortunately, in the end, Colvile's Division, which had been making its
way from Bloemfontein, arrived in time to check the Boers in their
jubilant advance, though some hours too late to prevent the enemy from
capturing and removing the waggons and guns.
While the retreat was being effected more valorous work was going on
elsewhere. The members of the Army Medical Corps, with the coolness
peculiar to them, were exposing themselves and rushing to the assistance
of the wounded, many being stricken down in the midst of their splendid
labours. Roberts's Horse made themselves worthy of the noble soldier who
godfathered them, and one--a trooper of the name of Tod--a prodigy of
valour, rode deliberately into the _mêlée_ in search of the wounded, and
returned with the dead weight of a helpless man in his arms, under the
fierce fire of the foe. If disaster does nothing more, it breeds heroes.
The melancholy affair of Koorn Spruit brought to light the superb
qualities that lie dormant in many who live their lives in the matter of
fact way and give no sign.
Splendid actions followed one another with amazing persistence, man
after man and officer after officer attempting deeds of daring, each of
which in themselves would form the foundation of an heroic tale.
Lieutenant Maxwell of Roberts's Horse, from the very teeth of the enemy
dragged off a wounded man--a lad who, by the time he was rescued, had
fainted. But the young subaltern promptly got him in the saddle, and the
pair sped forth from the fiery zone alive. The Duke of Teck also rushed
to the succour of Lieutenant Meade, who was wounded (a bullet cutting
off his finger and piercing his thigh), gave up to him his horse and
removed him from the scene of danger. At the same time Colonel Pilcher
was gallantly rescuing Corporal Packer of the 1st Life Guards. Major
Booth (Northumberland Fusiliers) lost his life through doggedly holding
a position with four others, in order to cover the retreat.
When the Queenslanders arrived they too showed the stuff they were made
of, the best British thews combined with the doughtiest British hearts.
They plunged into action--so dashingly indeed that the Boers very nearly
mopped them up. But Colonel Henry was equal even to the skittish foe,
and contrived to entertain the Dutchmen by leading them so active a
dance that eventually the Colonials were able to fight out their own
salvation.
At last the guns got away and followed the line of retreat taken by the
cavalry. The troops then conducted their retirement by alternate
companies, each company taking up its duties without fluster, and
covering the other company's retirement with great steadiness until they
reached Bushman's Kop. The marvellous coolness of the force was
particularly amazing, as every man, with the Boers still at his heels,
believed himself to be cut off, yet in spite of this belief showed no
signs of concern. In one regiment, consisting of 11 officers and 200
men, two officers were killed, four wounded, and sixty-six men killed
and wounded.
Strange scenes took place during those awful hours in the donga, and
wonderful escapes were made. One trooper was seized on by a Boer.
"Surrender," cried the Dutchman, but before another word could be
uttered, the trooper's sabre whistled from its sheath and the Boer was
dead. Another who was wounded got off, as he said, "by the skin of his
teeth." He had become jammed under a waggon in company with a Boer--who
had crept there for cover--and the hindquarters of a dying mule. Over
the cart poured a rattling rain of bullets, to which he longed to
respond. The Boer, believing the wounded man to be his prisoner, made
himself known. "Hot work this," he said. The next instant the Boer was
caught by the throat and knocked insensible, while the Briton promptly
extricated himself and vanished from the seething, fighting mass.
Another of the Household Cavalry, when summoned to surrender his rifle,
threw it with such force at the head of his would-be captor that he was
able to make good his escape.
The following interesting account was given from the point of view of an
officer of the Life Guards who was present:--
"We heard firing at 6.30, and while we were saddling bang came two
shells a little short, followed by three others. The firing went on for
half-an-hour incessantly. The convoys got under way very quickly,
followed by Mounted Infantry and Life Guards. Luckily only two shells
burst, and only one mule was killed. We moved on to the spruit and were
shot at by Mausers from our right flank. The convoys were on the brink
of the drift. Some of the waggons were actually crossing, and our
artillery close on to them, when a terrific fire came from the spruit.
The U Battery was captured--the men and officers being killed, wounded,
or prisoners. We went about and retired in good order in a hail of shot,
being within 120 yards of the enemy. It is wonderful how we escaped. Two
of our men were shot--one in the thigh and the other in the
shoulder--and we had altogether 32 missing. Our leading horses and
baggage were within nine feet of the fire; yet many of them got off,
including my servant and horse. I lost, however, my saddlebags, with
change of clothes, trousers, shoes, iron kettle, and letters which I
grudge the Boers reading. We got out of fire and lined the river banks,
firing shots at the Boers, who were, however, too distant. We were well
hid in a position like what the Boers had held themselves, and we hoped
to enfilade them, but the river twisted too much, and it is impossible
to locate fire with smokeless powder. We then followed the 10th Hussars
for four miles towards Bushman's Kopje. The Ninth Division Infantry,
under Colvile, came over the ridge with eighteen guns, and we heard a
lot of heavy firing."
He went on to say: "Why we are alive I can't say. Many of the bullets
were explosive, as I heard them burst when they hit the ground. The
shelling was most trying, as we had to stand quite still for twenty
minutes a living target."
A laughing philosopher, a Democritus of the nineteenth century, gave to
the world, _viâ_ the _Pall Mall Gazette_, his curious experiences. Among
other things he said:--
"Roberts's Horse was ordered to trot off to the right of the convoy.
'Oh! those are our men, you fool,' said everybody. Two men came up to
the Colonel. 'We've got you surrounded, you'd better surrender,' say
they; and heads popped up in the grass forty yards from us. Boers
appeared all along the ridge a hundred yards ahead. 'Files about,
gallop!' yells the adjutant. (They dropped him immediately.)
"I was carrying a fence-post to cook the breakfast of my section (of
four men). I turned my horse; there came a crackling in the air, on the
ground, everywhere; the whole world was crackling, a noise as of thorns
crackling or the cracks of a heavy whip. My gee-gee (usually slow) went
well, stimulated by the horses round it, and actually took a water-jump;
I had to hold my helmet on with my right hand, which still held the
fence-post, and I thought my knuckles would surely get grazed by a
bullet. They were pouring in a cross-fire now as well, and once or twice
I heard the _s-s-s-s-s_ of the Mauser bullet (the crackle is explosives,
you know). It was very exhilarating; the gallop and the fire made me
shout and sing and whistle. I jumped a dead man, and almost immediately
caught up B., who is one of my section.
"The fire was slackening, and we were half a mile away by then, and we
looked round to see whether anybody was forming up. The plain was dotted
with men and many riderless horses. Everybody was yelling, 'When do we
form up?' You feel rather foolish when running away. At about one mile
we formed up again. From the rear, and from the place we had come from,
and from the river bed, there came a noise as of thousands of
shipwrights hammering. Nine (?) of our guns were captured; the remaining
three fired at intervals. My squadron was sent into a depression on the
left of the New Zealanders. Here we dismounted (No. 3 of each section
holding the horses), and went up as a firing line, range 1200, 1400, and
1600 yards. The General passed. 'Ever been in such a warm corner?' says
he to the bugler. 'Oh yes,' says the little chap, quite cheerfully and
untruthfully. The General remarked, laughing, that _he_ hadn't. I felt
sorry for him, and heard the newsboys shouting, 'Another British
disaster!' and the Continental papers, 'Nouvelle défaite des Anglais!
Yah!' It was the greatest fun out, barring the loss of the guns and men.
For we were not losing a situation of strategic importance or anything
of that kind. The Boers had collared our blankets and things, but we
chuckled at the thought of what they would suffer if they ever slept in
'em."
Sergeant-Major Martin, who, with Major Taylor (commanding U Battery),
was incidental in warning Colonel Rochfort and Major Phipps Hornby of
their danger, and thus assisting to save Q Battery, described his
experiences:--
"A Boer commander stepped out and confronted the Major with fixed
bayonet; all his (the Boer's) men stood up in the spruit ready to shoot
us down if we had attempted to fight, ordered the Major to surrender,
and also the battery. The battery had no chance whatever to do anything.
As the trap was laid, so we fell into it. Now, as the Major was talking
to the Boer commander, I turned my horse round (I was then three yards
from him) and walked quietly to the rear of our battery. When I got
there, putting spurs to my horse, I galloped for all I was worth to tell
the Colonel to stop the other battery, as U Battery were all prisoners.
I then looked towards the battery; the Boers were busy disarming them. I
went a little distance in that direction to have a last look. By this
time the Household Cavalry had come up, and the 14th Hussars; they
halted, soon found out what had happened, and turned round to retire. As
they did so the Boers opened fire on us. The bullets came like
hailstones. It was a terrible sight. One gun and its team of horses
galloped away; by some means or other it was pulled up. I took
possession of it, still under this heavy fire, and, finding one of our
drivers, I put him in the wheel, and drove the leaders myself. We had
between us 14 horses. I drove in the lead for about six miles, following
the cavalry, who had gone on to see if we could get through. Eventually,
after several hours, I got into safe quarters."
The list of loss was terrible:--
Brevet-Major A. W. C. Booth, Northumberland Fusiliers;
Lieutenant P. Crowle, Roberts's Horse; Lieutenant Irvine, Army
Medical Service (attached to Royal Horse Artillery), were
killed. Among the wounded were: Brevet-Colonel A. N. Rochfort,
Royal Horse Artillery, Staff. Q Battery Royal Horse
Artillery.--Captain G. Humphreys, Lieutenant E. B. Ashmore,
Lieutenant H. R. Peck, Lieutenant D. J. Murch, Lieutenant J. K.
Walch, Tasmanian Artillery (attached). Royal Horse
Guards.--Lieutenant the Hon. A. V. Meade. Roberts's
Horse.--Major A. W. Pack Beresford, Captain Carrington Smith,
Lieutenant H. A. A. Darley, Lieutenant W. H. M. Kirkwood.
Mounted Infantry.--Major D. T. Cruickshank, 2nd Essex Regiment;
Lieutenant F. Russell-Brown, Royal Munster Fusiliers;
Lieutenant P. C. Grover, Shropshire Light Infantry (since
dead); Lieutenant H. C. Hall, Northumberland Fusiliers.
_Wounded and Missing._--Captain P. D. Dray, Lieutenant and
Quartermaster Hawkins. _Missing._--Lieutenant H. R. Horne.
Royal Horse Artillery.--Captain H. Rouse, Lieutenant G. H. A.
White, Lieutenant F. H. G. Stanton, Lieutenant F. L. C.
Livingstone-Learmonth. 1st Northumberland
Fusiliers.--Lieutenant H. S. Toppin. 2nd Duke of Cornwall's
Light Infantry.--Lieutenant H. T. Cantan. 1st Yorkshire Light
Infantry.--Captain G. G. Ottley. Royal West Kent
Regiment.--Lieutenant R. J. T. Hildyard. Captain Wray, Royal
Horse Artillery, Staff; Captain Dray, Roberts's Horse;
Lieutenant the Hon. D. R. H. Anderson-Pelham, 10th Hussars;
Lieutenant C. W. H. Crichton, 10th Hussars.
The casualties all told numbered some 350, including 200 missing.
Reports differ regarding the strength of the enemy. Lord Roberts
estimated it at 8000 to 10,000, while De Wet declared he had only about
1400 men.
All that remained of U Battery was one gun, Major Taylor, a
sergeant-major, a shoeing-smith, and a driver!
In Q Battery, Captain Humphreys, Lieutenants Peck, Ashmore, Murch were
wounded, and the latter two reported missing.
The whole of the grievous Saturday afternoon was spent by the gallant
doctors in tending the ninety or more of our brave wounded who lay
helpless in the spruit. They were carried to the shelter of the tin
houses, and the work of bandaging and extracting bullets was pursued
without a moment's relaxation. The removal of the sufferers from the
neighbourhood of the spruit on the day following was a sorry task, and
the sight that presented itself to the ambulance party was one which was
too shocking to be ever forgotten. In the spruit itself the wreckage of
waggons which had been looted by the Boers covered most of the scene,
and, interspersed with them were horses and cattle, maimed, mutilated,
and dead. With these, in ghastly companionship, were the bodies of slain
soldiers and black waggon-drivers. The living wounded were conveyed from
the disastrous vicinity in ambulances and waggons brought for them under
the covering fire of the guns, which swept the length of the river and
deterred the enemy from attempting to block the passage of the
melancholy party. The Republicans, however, fired viciously from
adjacent kopjes, but without disturbing the progress of the operations.
At noon General French's cavalry, with Wavell's Brigade, had left
Bloemfontein to occupy a position on the Modder between Glen and Sanna's
Post, and keep an eye on further encroachments of the Boers. The enemy,
on the fatal Saturday night, had destroyed the waterworks, thus forcing
the inhabitants of Bloemfontein to fall back on some insanitary wells,
as a substitute for which the waterworks had been erected. Here, on
their departure for Ladybrand, they left 12 officers and 70 men, who had
been wounded in the fray, and whom they doubtless considered might be an
encumbrance to their future movements. These were conveyed by ambulance
to Bloemfontein.
[Illustration: MAP ILLUSTRATING THE MILITARY OPERATIONS TO THE S. AND E.
OF BLOEMFONTEIN.]
As an instance of Boer treachery, it was stated that the Free State
commandant Pretorius, whose farm overlooked the spruit wherein the
ambuscade was arranged, had given up arms and taken the oath to retire
to his farm. Yet on the day of the disaster he led the Boers to the
attack, while the members of his family were prominent among the looters
of the wrecked waggons. Other tales of cruelty and ill-treatment and
treachery on the part of the Boers were well authenticated. It is
useless to repeat them, but the circumstances are merely noted to give
an explanation for a change of policy which was necessitated by the
actions of the enemy--a change which was, unfortunately, adopted only
when many martyrs had been made in the cause of forbearance.
THE REDDERSBURG MISHAP
The Boers, triumphant with their success at Koorn Spruit, scurried to
Dewetsdorp, drove out the British detachment which had been posted there
by General Gatacre, and on the 4th of April came in for another piece of
luck, for which we had to pay by the loss of three companies of Royal
Irish Rifles and two companies of the Northumberland Fusiliers.
The unfortunate occurrence took place near Reddersburg, somewhat to the
east of Bethanie Railway Station. A party of infantry, consisting of
three companies of Royal Irish Rifles and two companies of the
Northumberland Fusiliers, who had been in occupation of Dewetsdorp, and
engaged on a pacification mission on the east of the Free State, were
ordered on the 3rd to retire to Reddersburg, a place situated some
thirty-seven miles from Bloemfontein and fifty miles from Springfontein,
where General Gatacre had taken up his head-quarters. In their
retirement the troops, it is said, took a somewhat unusual detour, and
thus, if they did not court, ran risk of disaster. Anyway, they had
travelled about four miles to the east of their destination when, at
Mosterts Hok, they were surprised to discover a strong force of some
2500 Boers. They were still more surprised to find that, while they
themselves were unaccompanied by artillery, and were possessed of little
reserve ammunition, the Dutchmen were provided with three or four
formidable guns. Thus, the situation from the first was alarming. Our
men, comparatively defenceless, saw themselves hedged in by an
overmastering horde. They quickly occupied a position on a peaked hill
rising in the centre of ground sliced and seamed with dry nullahs. These
popular havens of refuge were at once seized by the Boers and deftly
made use of. The Dutchmen, under cover of the dongas, crept cautiously
up on all sides of the kopje, surrounding it and pouring cascades of
rifle-fire on the small exposed force. In no time the chance of retreat
was barred on all sides, and there was no resource but to fight through.
But unfortunately, as British ammunition was limited and the Boers
warily kept well out of range, all that could be done was to prolong
hostilities in the hope that delay would enable reinforcements from
Bethanie to come to the rescue. But these did not arrive. The Boers,
grasping the situation, gathered courage and approached nearer and
nearer. With the dusk coming on and some 2500 of the foe enfilading them
from three sides, the British position, as may be imagined, was not a
hopeful one. Nevertheless, the Royal Irish Rifles displayed the national
spirit of dare-devilry--"fought like bricks," some one said--never
losing heart under the persistent attacks of shot and shell that
continued till nightfall.
[Illustration: THE REDDERSBURG MISHAP: MEN OF THE IRISH RIFLES AND
MOUNTED INFANTRY DELIVERING UP THEIR ARMS
Facsimile of a Sketch by Melton Prior, War Artist]
Hoping and waiting and fighting; so passed the dreadful hours of dark.
Then, with the dawn, the enemy, flushed with triumph, commenced to pound
their prey with redoubled vigour, while our parched and almost
ammunitionless troops, in a ghastly quandary, alternately fought and
prayed for relief!
Meanwhile the news of the affair having reached Lord Roberts, General
Gatacre, on the afternoon of the 3rd, was ordered to proceed from
Springfontein to the spot, while the Cameron Highlanders were despatched
from Bloemfontein to Bethanie.
General Gatacre, with his main body and an advance guard of mounted
infantry under Colonel Sitwell, then marched _viâ_ Edenburg to the
succour of the detachment. On the morning of the 4th, Colonel Sitwell
having arrived at Bethanie, some fifteen miles from Mosterts Hok, heard
sounds of artillery in the distance, and believing that the engagement
was going on, prepared to rush to the rescue. But with the small force
at his disposal, he deemed it impossible to try a frontal attack, and
decided to make an attempt to get round the enemy's right flank. The
manoeuvre was unsuccessful, for a party of hidden Boers, from a kopje
north-west of Reddersburg, assailed him and forced him to retire and
wait till the main column should come to his assistance. But by the time
General Gatacre had reached the scene (10.30 A.M. on the 4th) the drama
had been enacted, the curtain had descended on the tragedy. The small
and valorous party on Mosterts Hok, which for thirty hours had been
fighting and were at last sans water, sans ammunition, sans everything
in fact, had been forced to surrender. No sign of them was to be seen.
The unfortunate band--many of them the survivors of the fatal exploit at
Stormberg--were now on their way to that aristocratical
prison-house--the Model School at Pretoria.
General Gatacre, finding further effort useless, then occupied the town
of Reddersburg. There, the Boers had hoisted the Free State flag, and
were making themselves generally objectionable. Quickly the Boer banner
was torn down and the Union Jack run up, though during the operations
the General narrowly escaped assassination. He was fired at from a
house, but fortunately escaped with only a scratch on the shoulder.
By evening, acting on instructions from Bloemfontein, and owing to the
fact that the enemy was massed in all directions and surrounding the
town, the force and its prisoners returned to Bethanie, and there
encamped to mount guard over the rail. Details regarding the movements
of the troops on this grievous day were given by a correspondent, in the
_Daily Telegraph_, whose version throws a somewhat depressing light on
the sufficiently depressing affair. The writer declared that:--
"A large British force, with a brigade division of artillery (eighteen
guns), on the march to Bloemfontein, was at Bethanie, about eleven miles
from Reddersburg, on the night of April 3, and got the news of the
above-mentioned infantry being surrounded about 11 P.M. The men
immediately saddled up, got under arms, and remained all night ready to
move off in relief, but did not receive orders to do so until 8 A.M. on
April 4, and then were only permitted to proceed at a walk, constantly
halting to water the horses. The result of the delay was that the column
arrived just too late, and was then not even allowed to pursue the enemy
and release the prisoners, who were dead beat and could not possibly
have been hurried along. The relief column was manoeuvred outside the
town of Reddersburg during most of the day, and then was ordered to
return to Bethanie, but, when within a few miles of camp, with the
horses and men tired out, a complete change of instructions were issued,
and the column was wheeled about and told to march back and take the
town of Reddersburg. The Cameron Highlanders, who had just come off a
troopship from Egypt, and were, consequently, quite unfit, could hardly
move, but all had to turn, for no apparent reason, and march to the
ground they had left. The mounted infantry and artillery trotted back
and occupied Reddersburg about dusk, with only one casualty, viz. an
officer of mounted infantry, and the force bivouacked, with very little
food, just outside the town.
"About midnight, the order was given to return to Bethanie again, and
the men, who could hardly crawl, were awakened, the march resumed, and
Bethanie was reached about 7 A.M. on April 5, after great and
unnecessary distress both to men and animals, while no object was
gained, the whole expedition being a miserable fiasco, disheartening and
humiliating to every one present.
"To whom blame is attributable it is difficult to say, as the officer in
command seemed not to have a free hand, but to be directed by wires
received at intervals, which must have taken five or six hours to reach
him. Either the relief ought never to have been attempted, or it ought
to have been carried out expeditiously and with determination."
Mr. Purves, who, as a lance-corporal with one of the Ambulance Corps,
was in the thick of the fray, gave a graphic description of the unhappy
affair:--
"Reaching Dewetsdorp on the morning of Sunday, April 1st, we
first became aware that our progress was being watched by the
Boers. Just as we were about to camp outside the dorp, our
scouts exchanged a few shots with those of the enemy. Beyond a
temporary disarrangement of our plans, nothing happened, as the
main body of the enemy did not show at all, and things quieted
down till nightfall, when another alarm was caused by the
arrival of the Mounted Infantry (Royal Irish Rifles and
Northumberland Fusiliers), who were mistaken by our people for
Boers, as their arrival was unexpected, and our presence in
the position occupied by us was a surprise to them. The Mounted
Infantry actually dismounted to prepare for business, when
fortunately a mutual recognition took place, and a hearty
greeting to the brave fellows who were to bear the brunt of the
coming action was extended by our force. Captain Casson (one of
the first to fall at Mosterts Hock) commanded the new-comers.
After a night's rest, we started again on the march, which
continued without event till Tuesday, 3rd, when our scouts at
11.30 came back with the news that the enemy were upon us,
making for two kopjes in front of us. Both of these were
immediately crowned by our little force of 440--the
above-mentioned Mounted Infantry, with some of the Royal Irish
Rifles taking the northern kopje, and the remainder of the
Royal Irish Rifles that to the south. Rifle firing opened at
once, and gradually grew hotter till about 2 P.M., when the
Boers opened with artillery, four guns being brought into play
in positions that enabled them to sweep our two lines.
Fortunately, the firing was most erratic, and little or no
damage was done by the shells. Volley fire from the Royal Irish
Rifles soon put one of the guns out of action. We had no
artillery, and the wonder is that we held the position,
extended as it was far beyond what seemed tenable to so small a
force, for the long time we did. The bearers of C Company, Cape
Medical Staff Corps, had a particularly warm time of it. Sent
as they were at the commencement of the action right on to the
fighting line, they stuck to their posts till the very last
without any cover, and only retired with the last line of
straggling defenders, who worked their way back through a
deadly hail of bullets, explosive and otherwise, to their own
camp, after the Boers had won the day. The first day's fight
lasted till darkness, when we tried to snatch some rest--a
luxury that came to few. Next morning at 5.30 found us sniping
at one another prior to the forenoon fire that soon kept every
one busy at all points. At 8 the artillery commenced firing,
and the fight became fiercer till about 9, when our men on the
north kopje, unable to contend against the fearful odds,
hoisted the white flag, and the Boers on that side rushed the
position, and were thus able to pour a murderous fire into the
unfortunate Royal Irish Rifles on the southern height, who,
while their attention was riveted on the enemy on their front,
were in ignorance of what was going on in their rear for a
while. When they turned to reply to the rear attack, their
position was taken, and the poor fellows, accompanied by nine
of the stretcher-bearers, had to run for the hospital, distant
600 yards, under a fearful cross-fire. Several of the Rifles
were killed, but the bearers escaped marvellously. The
hospital, which was pitched between the two kopjes, suffered
from the shelling, and was in itself dangerous; while, to add
to the risk, a trench thrown up to protect the sick was
mistaken by the Boers for a rifle-trench, and became a mark for
their special attention. One shell burst near the
operating-tent while the surgeons were at work on a wounded
man, and riddled the tent, fortunately hitting no one. Another
banged into a buck waggon. A third cut a mule in halves. A
slight bruise on the knee was the only hurt suffered by any of
the Hospital Corps. Our dead numbered ten, whom we buried on
the battle-field, placing over the grave a neatly dressed and
lettered stone, executed by Private Buckland, C Medical Staff
Corps. Two of the wounded died afterwards in the temporary
hospital at Reddersburg, and are buried in the cemetery there.
The wounded, thirty-two in number, were sent down from Bethanie
to one of the base hospitals, for treatment in the convalescent
stage. Enough praise cannot be given to the warm-hearted people
of the Dutch village of Reddersburg. It mattered not that we
were British. Their all was placed at our disposal, and to
their generosity much of our success with the wounded is to be
attributed."
The casualties were as follows:--
_Killed_--Captain F. G. Casson, Northumberland Fusiliers; 2nd
Lieut. C. R. Barclay, Northumberland Fusiliers. _Dangerously
Wounded_--Captain W. P. Dimsdale, Royal Irish Rifles. _Slightly
Wounded_--Lieut. E. C. Bradford, Royal Irish Rifles.
_Captured_--Captain Tennant, Royal Artillery; 2nd Lieut.
Butler, Durham Light Infantry, attached to Northumberland
Fusiliers; Captain W. J. McWhinnie, Royal Irish Rifles; Captain
A. C. D. Spencer, Royal Irish Rifles; Captain Kelly, Royal
Irish Rifles; 2nd Lieut. E. H. Saunders, Royal Irish Rifles;
2nd Lieut. Bowen-Colthurst, Royal Irish Rifles; 2nd Lieut.
Soutry, Royal Irish Rifles, and all remaining rank and file.
Lieut. Stacpole (Northumberland Fusiliers) was also wounded on the 4th.
He was riding for reinforcements, and as he approached Reddersburg,
unknowing the place was in the hands of the Boers, he was greeted with
shots which killed his horse, wounded him, and placed him at the mercy
of the enemy, by whom he was captured. The Boers in their retreat,
however, left their prisoners behind. The total of killed and wounded
numbered between 50 and 150. The strength of the British was 167 mounted
infantry, 424 infantry. The enemy were said to be 3200 strong.
The unlucky termination of the affair completed the eastern flanking
movement of the Boers, who were now trickling over the country from
Sanna's Post on the south to a point east of Jagersfontein road. They
soon held the Free State east of the railway beyond Bethulie, and
considerable numbers went south towards Smithfield and Rouxville, their
determination, after their recent successes, being to harass the British
force as much as possible. It was now becoming evident that all the
present trouble was due to over-leniency, and it began to be urged that
some measures must be adopted which would ensure for the conquerors of
the enemy's country the respect that was due to them. The humanitarian
attitude of Lord Roberts had produced an unlooked-for result. The
Commander-in-Chief had attempted to administer justice for a
seventeenth-century people on the ethics of those of the nineteenth, and
the experiment had proved disastrous. The enemy, far from being
impressed by the show of magnanimity, was laughing in his sleeve at his
immunity from pains and penalties. Our troops were forced now to move in
a country where nearly every man was a foe or a spy, and one who,
moreover, thought meanly of us for the concessions which had been made.
As an instance of contrast between our own and the Dutchman's mode of
dealing with those considered as rebels, an instructive story was told.
A Free State burgher at the outset of hostilities entered the Imperial
service as a conductor of transport. It was a non-combatant's
occupation, and one for which he was fitted, owing to his knowledge of
the Kaffir and Dutch languages. This man was captured by the Boers, who,
declaring him to be a rebel, instantly shot him dead. We, on the other
hand, accepted an obsolete rifle, a flint-lock elephant gun belonging to
the days of the Great Trek perhaps, as a peace-offering and then told
the rebel to go away and turn over a new leaf. His new leaf resolved
itself into unearthing Mausers and Martinis, and popping at us from the
first convenient kopje--if not from the windows of his farm!
To this cause may be attributed the sudden return of so-called ill-luck,
which seemed epidemic. April had brought with it an alarming list of
losses at Sanna's Post, which was followed by a grievous total of
killed, wounded, and missing--five companies lost to us--at Reddersburg.
We had, moreover, disquieting days around Thabanchu, Ladybrand, and
Rouxville, and were being forced gradually, and not always gracefully,
to retreat. For instance, in the retirement from Rouxville, four
companies of the Royal Irish, some Queenstown and Kaffrarian Rifles, had
merely escaped by what in vulgar phrase we term "the skin of their
teeth." It was merely owing to the smartness of General Brabant, who
sent two squadrons of Border Horse from Aliwal North to the rescue, that
the small force escaped being cut off. This officer's little band
garrisoning Wepener was meanwhile beginning to test the Boer force in
earnest.
THE ESCAPE OF PRISONERS FROM PRETORIA
At this time great excitement prevailed owing to the escape from
Pretoria of Captain Haldane, D.S.O. (Gordon Highlanders), who was
captured after the disaster to the armoured train at Chieveley; of
Lieutenant Le Mesurier (Dublin Fusiliers), who was taken prisoner with
Colonel Moeller's force after the battle of Glencoe; and of Sergeant
Brockie, a Colonial volunteer. These officers had a more adventurous
task than even that of Mr. Churchill, for since the war correspondent's
escape the Boers had naturally taken additional precautions, and had
mounted extra guard over their prisoners. The officers most ingeniously
contrived to dig a trench underneath the floor of the prison, and here
they hid themselves. For eighteen long days they remained cramped in
this small underground hole, in the daily expectation that the other
officers and their guards were about to be transferred to new quarters,
when a chance of escape would be offered.
Captain Haldane gave exciting details of his adventures in _Blackwood's
Magazine_; but, before dealing with them, it is interesting to consider
the position of the vast congregation of British officers that had
gradually been collected within the confines of the Model School.
Curiously enough, after all the fighting, the sum total of prisoners of
war on both sides was now nearly equal. By the 23rd of March the Boer
prisoners in our hands were 5000, while the British prisoners in
Pretoria numbered some 3466. Since that date, through various unlucky
accidents, the Boers had captured some 1000 more of our troops, and thus
early in April the enemy almost equalled us in the matter of capture!
[Illustration: THE MODEL SCHOOL, PRETORIA.]
The Model School stands in the centre of the town. It is commodious,
though devoid of privacy (on the principle of a boys' dormitory) well
ventilated, lighted with electricity, and roofed with corrugated iron.
At the time of the escape there was a gymnasium, and also a
scaling-ladder against the wall, which suggested infinite possibilities
to such men as Captain Haldane, who had all the exciting histories of
"Latude," "Jack Sheppard," and "Monte Christo" at his fingers' ends.
There were rough screens to enclose some of the cubicles, and the walls
in some cases were decorated with cuttings from the illustrated papers,
or with humorous sketches made by talented amateurs. Two of these were
especially admired, a chase after President Steyn personally conducted
by Lord Roberts, and a caricature of President Kruger, which latter was
highly appreciated even by the Boers when it came under their notice.
The special nook of the Rev. Adrian Hofmeyer, who had made himself into
a general favourite, and was laconically declared to be a "regular
brick," was the most decorative of all, being made gay with various
scraps of colour and design to cheer the weary eye. By this time the
reverend gentleman, having had a more trying experience of incarceration
than most, had got to look upon the Model School in the light of
residential chambers, and consoled others with the account of his own
experiences. His story was not an enlivening one:--
"I was lodged in the common jail, Cronje's law adviser having
informed him it would not be legal to shoot me. Cronje
consequently thought the best thing to do would be another
illegality, namely, imprison a non-combatant and correspondent.
Mr. Cronje has ample time to-day in St. Helena to meditate upon
this and other illegal acts of his. I was locked up in a cell
eighteen feet by nine feet, and for the first few days was
allowed to have my meals at the hotel. Soon, however, this
liberty was taken away, for it proved too much for the
Christian charity of the Zeerust burghers to see a despised
prisoner of war marched up and down from the hotel to the jail
under police escort. Other restrictions were soon imposed also,
and after a little while I was locked up day and night, the
door of the unventilated cell being open only three times a day
for fifteen minutes at a time. No books nor papers were allowed
me, no visitors, and the few loyal friends who tried to supply
me with luxuries were cruelly forbidden to do so by the
authorities. I cannot help thinking to-day of the strange irony
of fate. The commanders who practised this cruelty upon me were
Cronje and Snyman. The one is to-day a prisoner of war, and
can, perhaps, put himself in my place. He is an old personal
acquaintance, too."
The worthy padre was afterwards removed, and gave a further description
of his experiences.
"After eight weeks of such life I was taken to Pretoria, and
there quartered in the Staats Model School with the British
officers. Here everything was better, and I quickly recovered
my health and strength. The building was a magnificent one, and
the surroundings very pleasant, but our jailer, a Landdrost,
and our guards, the Zarps, never forgot to remind us of the
fact that we were prisoners. The food we got from Government
sufficed for one meal; the rest we had to buy, being charged
most exorbitant prices. When I left, the officers' mess
amounted to £1600 per month for 144 officers. On my arrival, I
was asked by the officers to conduct service for them every
Sunday, in addition to that held by an Anglican clergyman. For
two Sundays, therefore, we had two services a day, and then
Winston Churchill escaped, and the following extraordinary
letter was sent the officers by the Anglican clergyman:--
"'GENTLEMEN,--By the kind courtesy of the Government, I have
been permitted to hold services for you in connection with the
Church of England, which services I have felt it a privilege on
my part to conduct. After what has recently occurred--viz. the
escape of Mr. Churchill from confinement--I exceedingly regret
that, in consideration of my duty to the Government, I must
discontinue such regular ministrations, as I desire to maintain
the honour due to my position. Of course I shall always be glad
to minister to you in any emergency, with the special
permission of the authorities, who will, with their usual
kindness, duly inform me.--With my best wishes, I am,
gentlemen, yours sincerely, ----.'
"Out of charity, I do not publish the reverend gentleman's
name,[2] but I can add that 'the emergency' referred to never
presented itself. Since that time, I had the pleasure and
honour of conducting the services every Sunday, and they were
the pleasantest hours I spent in prison. Our singing was so
hearty and good, that many of the townsfolk strolled up of a
Sunday morning to hear us."
[Illustration: BRITISH PRISONERS ON THEIR WAY TO PRETORIA: THE FIRST
HALT
Drawing by S. Begg]
As may be imagined, all manner of devices were invented for the purpose
of securing news, the only intelligence of outside events coming to the
unhappy prisoners through the _Standard and Diggers' News_, which
journal, of course, dwelt gloatingly on British disasters. But the
authorities were suspicious. One day a harmonium was removed, owing to
the treasonable practice of performing "God save the Queen"; on another,
a cherished terrier was banished, as he was declared to be a smuggler,
and charged with the crime of carrying notes in his tail! But at last,
an ingenious ruse was successfully perpetrated. A man, accompanied by a
dog, came to the railings and there engaged in a private dialogue, which
savoured of the maniacal, till the eagerly listening officers discovered
that there might be method in the strange man's madness. A sample of the
scene was given by the correspondent of the _Standard_:--
"'Would you like a swim?' asked the master, and the dog, with a wag of
his tail, answered 'Yes.' 'Ladysmith is all right,' continued the man,
and the tail wagged assent. 'We will come again,' said the master, and
the dog agreed. For a time the prisoners thought him mad, this man with
the dog who talked in his beard, and mixed his dog talk with such names
as 'Ladysmith,' 'Mafeking,' 'Cronje,' 'Roberts.' Then the truth dawned
on them, and the 'Dog Man' became a hero, whose coming was watched with
longing, and whose mutterings in his beard were 'as cool waters to the
thirsty soul,' or as 'good news from a far country.' One day the 'Dog
Man' was missing, and there was lamentation, until, looking towards the
house opposite, the prisoners saw him standing well back in the passage,
at the entrance to which two girls kept watch. The 'Dog Man' was waving
his hat in eccentric fashion, and the waving was found to be legible to
those who understand signalling. Next morning a tiny flag was
substituted for the hat, and communication between the officers and the
Director of Telegraphs was established by flag signal."
The prisoners endeavoured to keep up an air of jocosity, though, as
one confessed, their tempers were "very short and inclined to be
captious." Naturally their occupations were limited, and it was not
unusual to see gallant commanders engaged in darning their socks, or
washing their clothes under the pump. Their attire, too, was not of the
choicest, some of them having been accommodated when sick with suits
technically known as "slops," purchased for a low price in Johannesburg.
Hence one officer disported himself in choice pea-green, while another
figured in rich yellow. These prison suits were scarcely becoming,
particularly as many of the smartest of the smart were growing beards,
or, if not beards, the ungainly chin tuft or "Charley," which destroyed
their martial aspect. Sometimes they engaged in games, bumble puppy and
the like, and occasionally expanded to other sports. A letter from a
sprightly member of the band to the _Eton College Chronicle_ described
the humorous side of their daily life:--
"MODEL SCHOOL, PRETORIA.
"DEAR MR. EDITOR,--Whilst following the fortunes of old
Etonians in South Africa, perhaps it may have escaped your
notice that a small and unhappy band has already reached
Pretoria. Mr. Rawlins's House is represented by Captain Ricardo
(Royal Horse Guards), and H. A. Chandos-Pole-Gell (Coldstream
Guards); Mr. Carter's by Major Foster (Royal Artillery); the
late Mr. Dalton's, Mr. Ainger's, and Mr. Luxmore's respectively
by M. Tristram (12th Lancers), G. Smyth-Osbourne (Devonshire
Regiment), and G. L. Butler (Royal Artillery); and Mr.
Cornish's by G. R. Wake (Northumberland Fusiliers). The
histories of their separate captures would take up too much of
your valuable space. Some have been here but a short time, some
many weeks; and during their captivity their thoughts turned to
old Eton days, and the game of fives recommended itself to them
as a means of passing some of the many weary hours. There was
no "pepper-box," or "dead man's hole"; but a room, two of whose
walls mainly consisted of windows, with the aid of three
cupboards and a piece of chalk, was quickly converted into a
fives court. Entries for a Public Schools' tournament were
numerous, Eton sending three pairs. Tristram and Gell
unanimously elected themselves to represent Eton's first pair,
closely followed by Eton II., Ricardo and Osbourne, Eton III.
being Wake and Butler. The facts that Tristram had recently
been perforated with Mauser bullets, and Gell had spent
Christmas and the three preceding weeks in the various jails
between Modder River and Bloemfontein, were no doubt
responsible for their not carrying off the coveted trophy.
Alas! they were badly beaten in the first round by Marlborough.
Not so Eton II. and III., who carried the Light Blue
successfully into the second round, both having drawn byes.
This good fortune could not last, and they fell heavily at the
second venture, being beaten by Wellington and Rugby
respectively. The ultimate winners proved to be Wellington,
after a desperate encounter with Charterhouse.
"So much for our pleasures; our troubles are legion, but we
will not burden you with them. We daily expect to hear of the
E.C.R.V. sharing the hardships of the campaign, and covering
themselves with glory to the tune of
"FLOREAT ETONA.
"_P.S._--We all hope to be at Eton on the 4th of June.
"_Feb. 14, 1900._"
(Curiously enough, the 4th of June brought to a close the deadly period
of durance vile. On that date the gallant crew spent their last night as
prisoners!)
To return to Captain Haldane and his partners in adventure. Ever since
Mr. Churchill's escape he had racked his brains to discover a means of
escape, and had made multifarious plans, many of which were rejected as
absolutely hopeless, while many others failed after efforts which
testified to the perseverance and ingenuity of their inventors. It was
no easy matter after Mr. Churchill's exploit to hit on a means of
evading the wily and now alert Boer.
The guard were armed with rifles, revolvers, and whistles, and as these
consisted of some thirty men, who furnished nine sentries in reliefs of
four hours, there was little hope of escaping their vigilance.
Fortunately the prisoners, such as had plain clothes in their
possession, were permitted to wear them, otherwise the dream of freedom
could scarcely have been indulged in. Bribery was not to be thought of,
and a repetition of Mr. Churchill's desperate dash for freedom was
impossible. It remained, therefore, for Captain Haldane and his
colleagues to invent a new and ingenious method of bursting their bonds.
An effort to cut the electric wires to throw the place in darkness while
they scaled the walls, proved a sorry failure, and at last, having tried
the roof and other points of egress and found them wanting, the
companions hit on the happy idea of burrowing a subterranean place of
concealment. Here they thought to scrape on and on till they bored a
tunnel into the open! The discovery of a trap-door in the planks under
one of the beds lent impetus to their designs, and they arranged to
excavate a route diagonally under the street, and so pass into the
gardens of the neighbouring houses. Marvellous was the patience and
perseverance with which they, almost toolless--with only scraps of
biscuit tins and screwdrivers--toiled daily in the accomplishment of
their plan, and pathetic their dismay when their tunnel finished up by
landing them in several feet of water with a promise of more to come.
But they were indefatigable. Captain Haldane, like the great Napoleon,
argued that the word impossible was only to be found in the dictionary
of fools. Rumours that the prisoners were to be removed to a new
building in two or three days only contrived to render the conspirators
more desperate in their craving to be at large, and again the trap-door
system was discussed. The young men determined on revised operations,
and hit on the plan of living underground in the cave they should dig,
thus disappearing from Boer ken and conveying the idea that they had
already bolted, leaving as evidence of flight their three empty beds!
Here they proposed to wait till, the hue-and-cry after them having
ceased, and the prison doors having been opened for the removal of the
other officers, they could slink forth at their leisure. But the change
of prison did not come to pass as soon as expected. The empty beds told
their tale; the place was searched, the crouching creatures in their
burrow heard the tramp of armed men above them, voices in close
conference, and afterwards the departing footsteps of the discomfited
Boer detectives. It was decided that the prisoners were gone, and
further report, amplified by Kaffir imagination, declared that they were
already on their way to Mafeking! Still, though safe from discovery, the
plotters were far from comfortable. Food in very meagre quantities was
smuggled through the trap-door, till at last, famine being the mother of
resource, by a process of what they called "signalgrams," their wants
and intentions were conveyed to those above. Then when the appointed
raps gave notice of the opening of the mysterious portal, potted meats
and other luxuries were liberally passed down. And here, in this
ventilationless, miry hole, in darkness and dank-smelling atmosphere,
they groped a weary existence, daring neither to cough, nor sneeze, nor
whisper, lest discovery should rob them of success. They were
unwashed--so grimy as to be unrecognisable even to themselves--they were
cramped and covered with bruises, brought about by bumping their heads
against the dome of their low dwelling; they were often hungry and
sleepless, but they were buoyed up with a vast amount of hope and pluck.
Day after day sped on with unvarying monotony, and gradually hope began
to exude at the pores. Six days passed, and they thought patience had
come to the end of her tether. They longed to hold themselves upright,
to see daylight, to eat their quantum of food, and, above all, to hear
the sound of their own voices. But still they held on--longer, longer.
Every day they knew made their chance of escape more secure, for the
authorities in Pretoria, assured of their departure, had now ceased even
from the habitual nine days of wonderment regarding their fate. Then
they began to dig and burrow still further, this time with the
assistance of a bayonet and a skewer, and for days and days pursued
their silent, secret work, in hope to dig a channel some thirty feet
long to reach the hospital yard beyond the Model School. Meanwhile they
stored food in preparation for the great journey, and listened acutely
for news of the proposed transfer of the prisoners to other quarters. At
last they had their reward. A note was passed down to say that the
officers were to be removed on the morrow. Then all was excitement. The
curtain was drawing up on the play of which the prologue had promised so
much. The trap-door was carefully fastened down, false screws being put
into the screwholes so as to render the hiding-place as inconspicuous as
possible.
At last came the looked-for hour. Sounds of packing-up and the shuffling
passage of footsteps betokened activities. The commandant went his
rounds, and then a cheery voice was heard to say, "All's well.
Good-bye." They knew that was a signal--_the end had come_! So in time
the whole party of prisoners disappeared, and with them their
custodians! The coast was clear. Peeping forth from their ventilator the
joyous hidden trio could view the street, the moving of baggage, and all
the bustling preparations for a general exodus. Their rapture knew no
bounds. But escape was even then deferred. Sightseers and police tramped
through the vacated rooms all day, moving perilously near the trap-door,
and laughing and jesting, unsuspicious of the precious haul that might
have been theirs. It was late in the afternoon before the last visitors
departed. Then, after collecting maps of their proposed route, taking a
final meal, packing their meat lozenges, chocolate, &c., and money, they
dressed and waited anxiously for the kindly cloak of night....
Meanwhile the other prisoners were removed to a camp from which escape
was almost impossible. The place was enclosed with barbed wire fencing
standing as high as a man. It measured about one hundred and fifty yards
in length, and in width at the ends might have measured fifty yards.
From this pen it was possible to gaze out over the hills to see life
with the eye of Tantalus, so near and yet so far--men and women passing,
trees and houses and cattle, all giving pictures of the free life
without, that it was impossible for them to share. No efforts now to
evade the guard could be made, for the enclosure was dotted thickly with
electric lights, and was so thoroughly illuminated in every corner that
there was no spot where a man could not have read. The dwelling-house
was walled, and roofed with zinc, bare within and comfortless, and in
the dormitory one hundred and forty cots were ranged side by side. A few
screens, as in the Model School, were arranged at some of the bedheads,
but of privacy there was none. The exchange was a sorry one, and Captain
Haldane and his companions, Mr. Le Mesurier and Mr. Brockie, were wise
in making a vigorous bid to get clear of the fate that overtook their
comrades.
* * * * *
Already a whiff of coming liberty seemed to reward these conspirators
for their dark days of anticipation. Their meal and their preparations
completed, they reconnoitred and discovered that all was clear. Then,
joyously, the intending fugitives emerged from their terrible lair. With
some difficulty they stood upright, their limbs refused their office,
they felt old, rheumatic stricken, incapable of movement. But at last,
boots in hand, creeping, as the French say, on _pattes de velours_, they
dragged themselves to a broken window, and, passing through the gap made
by the shattered pane, gained the yard. Climbing over the
railings--luckily unnoticed in spite of the brilliant rays of the full
moon--they made for the nearest road leading to the Delagoa Bay Railway.
Fortunately for them young Brockie, who was a Colonial and up to the
"tricks of the trade," donned the Transvaal colours round his hat. Added
to this he wore his arm in a sling, to give the impression that he was a
wounded Boer. Thus they got through the somewhat deserted street to the
outskirts of the town unchallenged. Once a policeman almost spoke to
them, his suspicion was on the eve of being aroused, but the solitary
myrmidon of the law, inquisitive yet discreet, found himself face to
face with three desperate men whose expression was not reassuring! He
wisely slunk off. Towards the railway line they now went, experiencing a
series of hairbreadth 'scapes, for there were orders to shoot any one
seen wandering on the railway track. But they dodged in holes and round
corners, in rank grass and in ditches and dongas, traversing river and
spruit, and plodding along the highway, now losing their bearings, now
retracing their steps, ever striving to reach Elands River station,
twenty miles east of Pretoria.
[Illustration: NEW CAMP FOR BRITISH PRISONERS AT PRETORIA.
(Drawing by J. Schönberg.)]
On the left of the railway line ran the river, and as they toiled
on--the silver of the stream and the glint of the railway lines
shimmering in the ray of the moon--they descried tents, heard voices,
and, worse still, a dog's bark, inquisitive, suspicious. Quickly to
earth they went, hiding and dodging in the long grass between river and
line. This, the critical moment of their journey, forms one of the most
exciting phases of Captain Haldane's altogether interesting narrative.
"After lying in the grass about twenty minutes, for we did not care to
move so long as the dogs remained on the alert, we heard voices coming
in our direction, and the barking of the dogs became more distinct. A
whispered conference was held, and then we dragged ourselves like snakes
diagonally back towards the river. Reaching a ditch, Le Mesurier, who
was following me, came alongside and asked me if I had seen Brockie, who
had been following him. I had not, so we waited a few moments; but
seeing nothing of him, and the enemy drawing near, we crossed the
obstacle, and found ourselves at the edge of the stream. Again we
paused, this time for several minutes, and the searchers came in view,
following our track.
"The crisis had come: to stay where we were meant probably recapture. I
whispered to Le Mesurier to follow me quietly, and not to splash. The
next minute I was in the river, which was out of my depth, and Le
Mesurier dropped in beside me. Holding on to the roots of the reeds
which lined the bank, we carefully pulled ourselves some distance
down-stream, and then paused. The searchers and their dogs were
evidently now at fault, and showed no signs of coming our way, so we
continued our downward course, and ultimately swam across and into a
ditch on the other side.
"We had been a good half-hour in the stream, which seemed to us
intensely cold, and our teeth were chattering so that we could scarcely
speak. My wrist-watch had stopped; but Le Mesurier's, a Waterbury, was
still going, for it had been provided by his care with a waterproof
case. We now crept along the ditch up-stream again, and then turned off
towards the hillside, which was dotted with large boulders. Coming round
the corner of one of these, we found a tent in front of us, and not
caring to pass it, we tried to climb up the steep face of the hill.
Failing at one point, we found a kind of "chimney," up which we climbed,
pulling and pushing each other till the top was gained. A few minutes'
rest was necessary, for our clothes were heavy with water and the climb
had made us breathless. Le Mesurier had done wonders with his ankle--the
cold water had been most efficacious. Next we walked along the rocky
face of the hill, parallel to the direction we had followed below, and
gradually descended to the level and struck a path. Brockie was
irretrievably lost, and it was useless to attempt to find him. He had
with him a water-bottle and sufficient food, and knew both the Dutch and
the Kaffir languages. Following the path, we passed several clumps of
bracken, one of which we selected as a suitable hiding-place. To have
walked farther in our wet and clinging garments might have been wiser,
but we decided that we had had sufficient excitement for one night
without trying to add to it."
So there they remained--wet, frigid, excited, aching--all through the
long sleepless hours, with nothing to vary the monotony save the nip of
the musquitoes. When morning came, their jaded limbs, like the joints of
wooden dolls, almost threatened to creak; and only with the warmth of
sunrise did they regain some of their pristine elasticity. For food they
now became anxious; their supplies were waterlogged, their chocolate was
a thirst-creating mash, and their precious whisky bottle in the course
of recent adventures had lost cork and contents. A miserable day passed
hiding in a swamp, and crouching out of the light of day till again at
night, and in a thunder-storm, they thought it advisable to resume their
journey. Then, by the mercy of Providence, footsore, throatsore,
heartsore, and hungry they came on a field of water melons. Though
ravenously they took their fill, their joy was not of long duration. The
inevitable bark of the Boer dog warned them to be off. After this they
again lost their bearings, making needless detours, and only reaching
Elands River station--worn, weary, and down-hearted--before daybreak.
Then making their way to some gum trees that offered welcome shelter,
they again sought to sleep, but it was not to be. Imagination had made
molehills into mountains and footsteps into cracks of doom. A Dutch
youth passed by, his dog growled and sniffed; discovery seemed imminent,
but the hand of fate intervened, they remained safe. Two nights, three
nights were passed on the veldt in anticipation of a train that might be
on its way to Balmoral. Their sufferings, their anxieties, and risks
make many a tale with a tale. Hiding continued during the day, now in an
antbear hole, now among grasses sodden with dew, the fugitives, from
caution, fatigue, and other causes, covering to that time only
thirty-six miles in four days. Finally, to make a long story short, the
unhappy wayfarers, their spirits and constitutions at the lowest ebb,
were led by the kindness of a Kaffir into the safe keeping of a British
subject, the manager of the Douglas Colliery Store, who then nourished
them and helped them to repair the terrible havoc wrought by the past
days of anxiety and starvation, and assisted them to make plans for
getting over the border. Here, newly arrayed in decent clothing, washed
and trimmed--for they had originally presented the effect of veritable
scarecrows--they began to regain energy and hope. They were then
initiated in the first moves of a scheme to carry them to safety. With
the assistance of Dr. Gillespie, the doctor of the miners--a "rare guid"
fellow from all accounts--they got, on the 24th of March, to the
Transvaal Delagoa Bay Colliery; and here for some days following a
conspiracy was set on foot to buy some bales of wool, sufficient to
make a truck load, and forward the bales, plus the escaped prisoners, to
a firm at Lorenço Marques. The scheme succeeded, though only after some
smart and sympathetic manoeuvring on the part of the newly found
British friends, and many hours of terrible risk and suspense. Finally,
to the intense joy of the two adventurous ones, they found themselves on
Portuguese territory. On Sunday the 1st of April they were free men!
From that time their ways were fairly smooth. They were the heroes of
the hour, for every one had heard of their story and was expecting them,
Sergeant Brockie having preceded them after some equally exciting
experiences.
On the 6th of April the gallant pair left Lorenço Marques for Durban,
Captain Aylmer Haldane hastening to rejoin his regiment, the 2nd
Battalion Gordon Highlanders, at Ladysmith, and Mr. Le Mesurier (Dublin
Fusiliers) going round to join General Hunter's Division in the Free
State. Thus the two enterprising officers, after enduring almost
unequalled tortures of body and mind, found themselves free to return to
duty and fight again for the honour and glory of the Empire.
PREPARATIONS FOR ACTION
Bloemfontein meanwhile was a strange mixture of pastoral simplicity and
martial magnificence, and curious, almost wonderful, was the view from a
distance of the landscape in the vicinity. The whole earth, as though
blossoming, seemed to have thrown up mushrooms far and wide--mushrooms
grey, and white, and green. Dotted among them were strange forms, like
the shapes of antediluvian reptiles--grasshoppers, locusts of mammoth
size. Coming nearer the town it was possible to recognise both mushrooms
and reptiles for what they really were, namely, the tents and the guns
of the largest army that England has put into one camp since the Crimea!
In and out and round about wandered horses and mules innumerable, so
numberless, indeed, that the casual onlooker wondered at the outcry for
equine reinforcements. Yet these were urgently needed, and none but
those "in the know" could comprehend how much the strategical problem
relied for solution on their arrival, and how paralysed were the
movements of the generals for want of them. Some people opined that the
Commander-in-chief would start off for Pretoria at express speed, others
hinted that his plan of campaign would be altered to meet the
complications that had arisen owing to the renewed activity of the Boers
in the south-eastern corner of the Free State. But Lord Roberts was
unmoved by either impatience or disaster. He evidently determined to
fritter his resources on no operations that could not be concerted and
rapidly effective.
[Illustration: LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR ARCHIBALD HUNTER, K.C.B.
Photo by Bassano, London]
Meanwhile stores, ammunition, warm clothing (for the wintry weather was
setting in), and boots were being brought in enormous quantities from
the Cape. The wardrobes of the hard-fighting multitude were in sad need
of repair, and some wag declared that certain tatterdemalions could only
venture abroad after dark, for fear of shocking the Mother Grundys of
Bloemfontein. Horses, too, were being gradually collected, for it was
felt that until there was a sufficiency of remounts, General French's
dashing evolutions would be too costly to be appreciable. The great
gallop to Kimberley had cost an immense amount in horse-flesh--about
1500 out of 5000, some said--and, in consequence, the splendid cavalry
was again reduced to impotence, just when the Boers, though demoralised
by the surrender of Cronje, might have been pursued and punished as they
deserved. According to later computation, it was decided that the army
must wear out at the rate of 5000 horses a month, and therefore no move
could be set on foot till the incoming supply was organised to meet the
demand.
But for the state of horses and men the Field-Marshal could have stuck
to his well-known principle, one acquired from the great Napoleon
himself, namely, that a commander-in-chief should never give rest either
to the victor or to the vanquished. As it was, he was stuck fast, and
the Boers were not slow to take advantage of the opportunity thus given
them to recuperate.
Up to the time of the Koorn Spruit and Reddersburg disasters things
seemed to be ranging themselves satisfactorily, but little by little the
authorities began to discover that the entire attitude of the apparently
pacified burghers was decidedly false. By degrees they learnt that,
instead of disturbing a hornet's nest and clearing it, they had, as it
were, got into the midst of it themselves. It became evident that within
the town there existed a conspiracy for the purpose not only of
supplying the enemy with information, but keeping him ready equipped for
hostility. Under the mask of neutrality, certain Germans and others
incited the burghers who had laid down their arms to take them up again.
This, in the true sense of the word, for it was found that upwards of
some 3000 weapons had been buried for use in emergency. But once General
Pretyman obtained a true grasp of the situation, and could prove the
duplicit nature of the persons with whom he had to deal, the work of
weeding and deportation of the obnoxious element of Bloemfontein society
was taken in hand.
Early in the month a prominent figure was removed from the fighting
scene. The death was announced of Colonel the Hon. G. H. Gough[3] at
Norval's Pont. This distinguished officer till the time of his death
had been acting as Assistant Adjutant-General to General French's
Cavalry Division. His services had been many and brilliant, and his loss
was deeply deplored.
The occupation of pacifying the disturbed western districts continued.
General Settle and his forces had been operating between De Aar,
Prieska, Kenhardt, and Upington, and General Parsons had occupied
Kenhardt, and in a few days all traces of rebellion in the district
between Van Wyks Vlei and Kenhardt had disappeared. As a matter of fact,
it was discovered that many of the rebels were ignorant of why they were
fighting at all. Some one addressed them and said, "What are you
fighting for?" and they answered, "Equal rights for all white men in
South Africa." "Then," said the speaker, "go and fight Paul Kruger. He
alone refuses white men equal rights!" Still more ignorant were many of
the subsidised sympathisers, while other foreigners who were forced to
fight were evidently apathetic regarding the issue of the struggle. The
following story was told of a Pole, who was not sorry when taken
prisoner. When asked why he fought, he said, "Vat could I do? Dey give
me musket and bandolier, and say, 'You must fight.' The captain say to
me, 'You take that mountain,' and I ask, 'Vare shall I take it?'" If the
tale was not absolutely accurate, it was still typical of the
nonchalance of many who were engaged in the Transvaal cause.
Of changes there were many. On the 10th, it was announced in general
orders that Major-General Sir H. Chermside had been appointed to the
command of the Third Division _vice_ Lieutenant-General Sir W. F.
Gatacre "ordered to England." There was a good deal of sympathy
expressed by all who knew the difficulties with which General Gatacre
had had to contend. But, as an old campaigner remarked, luck counts for
as much as merit in actual warfare. "Give me a man who is lucky, and I
ask nothing more." Luck was at the bottom of it all, and luck is
all-important where multitudes of men have to follow, heart in hand,
blindly rushing to glory in the footsteps of faith. General Gatacre's
name now spelt disaster, and as men had to be marched to ticklish work
that wanted nerve and confidence of the best, a luckier commander was
chosen. Accordingly, a much-tried officer--a soldier to the marrow--was
sacrificed on the altar of necessity.
An Infantry Division from the Natal side was formed under the command of
Sir Archibald Hunter, and called the Tenth Division, while the Eleventh
Division was commanded by General Pole-Carew. General Ian Hamilton
commanded a division of mounted infantry, ten thousand strong, formed of
South African and other mounted Colonial contingents, and divided into
two brigades under Generals Hutton and Ridley. As this division came in
for a considerable amount of exercise in course of Lord Roberts's great
advance, it is particularly interesting to examine and remember its
component parts.
General Hutton's brigade comprised the Canadians, the New Zealanders,
and all the Australians except the cavalry. The staff was as follows:--
Colonel Martyr, Chief Staff Officer; Lord Rosmead,
Aide-de-Camp; Colonel Hoad (Victoria), Assistant
Adjutant-General; Major Bridges (New South Wales), Deputy
Assistant Adjutant-General; Major Cartwright (Canada), Deputy
Assistant Adjutant-General; Colonel Gordon (Adelaide), officer
on the line of communication; Major Rankin (Queensland), Staff
Officer; Major Vandeleur (Scots Guards), advanced base
transport officer; Captain Lex, Army Service Corps, supply
officer.
The brigade consisted of four corps of mounted infantry, under Colonels
Alderson, De Lisle, Pilcher, and Henry.
The first corps consisted of a 1st Battalion of Canadians, under Colonel
Lessard; a 2nd Battalion, under Colonel Herchmer; and Strathcona's
Horse, under Colonel Steel.
The second corps consisted of the New South Wales Mounted Infantry,
under Colonel Knight, and the West Australians, under Captain Moor.
The third corps was formed of the Queenslanders, under Colonel Ricardo,
and the New Zealanders, under Major Robin.
The fourth corps consisted of the Victorians, under Colonel Price; the
South Australians, under Captain Reade; and the Tasmanians, under
Captain Cameron.
Each corps had a battalion of Imperial Mounted Infantry attached to it,
except the New South Wales Corps. A battery joined the division, as well
as the Canadian Battery and a number of Vickers-Maxims. The New South
Wales Army Medical Corps, under Colonel Williams, were the medical
troops of the division.
General Ridley's brigade consisted entirely of South African troops.
Lord Roberts, always appreciative of the Colonials, ordered the body of
Colonel Umphelby of the Victorian Contingent, who was killed at
Driefontein, to be removed to Bloemfontein, there to be buried with
honours appropriate to the distinction of that gallant officer's
services.
Rearrangements of all kinds were taking place, the better to meet the
peculiarities of the situation. Sir Redvers Buller was asked to
co-operate by forcing Van Reenen's Pass, and threatening the enemy's
line of retreat; but the task was one bristling with difficulties, as
until Northern Natal should be cleared of the enemy he considered it
unsafe to move westward. Accordingly, to meet the necessity for strong
action in the east of the Free State, it was decided the Natal Field
Army should continue its work in its own ground, minus the Tenth
Division (Hunter's), which should be moved by sea to East London, one
brigade (Barton's) to replace the Eighth Division (Rundle's), diverted
from Kimberley to Springfontein, and one brigade (Hart's) to operate in
the neighbourhood of Bethulie. It must here be noted that the country
south of a line drawn from Kimberley to Bloemfontein seemed to be almost
under control, but the pacification of the angle south-east of
Bloemfontein had, as yet, to be accomplished.
Meanwhile, President Kruger made a tour of the positions of his army, in
order to stimulate the Free Staters to further efforts; but very many of
these began to show symptoms of unbelief, and refused any longer to
swallow the assertions that Russia had taken London and that America was
coming to the aid of the Boers, which the President and other kinsmen of
Ananias in the Transvaal took the trouble to repeat. Daily, various Free
Staters surrendered--some of them genuinely, while others merely gave up
an old rifle for convenience' sake, burying some four others for use in
emergency--took to their farms, and there developed from fine
fighting-men into mean and despicable spies. With these slippery fish it
was difficult to cope, and the problem of how to manage them took some
little time to solve. Still, the task of remodelling and improving the
army continued, all working to bring the long halt to a conclusion as
speedily as possible.
Efforts wonderful and successful were made to increase the mobility,
particularly of the mounted portions of the troops. One section of the
Vickers-Maxim guns (1-inch guns) was attached to each cavalry brigade,
and two sections to each brigade of mounted infantry. To add to the
mobility of the horse artillery the waggons of each battery were reduced
to three, spare teams being allowed for each gun.
The Eighth Division (Rundle) which, as we know, had been diverted from
Kimberley to Springfontein, and the Third Division (Gatacre's, now
Chermside's) which was concentrated at Bethanie, were fulfilling a
part of Lord Roberts's scheme for sweeping the right-hand bottom corner
of the Free State clear of the enemy. Assisting them was General Hart,
with a brigade of Hunter's Division, and engaged also in the operation
were the mounted infantry, under General Brabazon, and part of the
Colonial Brigade under General Brabant. Another part of this Brigade,
which had moved towards Wepener at the beginning of the month, had there
been blockaded by the enemy, and though their position was not regarded
as serious, Lord Roberts was forming plans for a general converging
movement which would have the effect of routing the Boers from the end
of the Free State altogether.
Energetic measures of every kind were adopted for the control of the
Free State. General Pretyman, who had been appointed Military Governor
of Bloemfontein, developed a scheme for the protection of those who had
taken the oaths of submission, and who were hourly in dread of the
reprisals of the Boers. Though some of the Free Staters for long had
been entirely sick of the war, and were only forced into fighting in
fear of ill-treatment by the Boers, others, as we are aware, had merely
hidden their arms in the determination to take up fighting whenever a
good chance offered. In order to secure the interests of the pacific,
and keep an eye on the treacherous, General Pretyman began to organise a
corps of Mounted Police for service in the Free State, at the same time
dividing the conquered radius into sections. Each section was to be
administered by a Commissioner chosen for his experience in Colonial
matters. Colonel Girouard, R.E., also formed a railway corps, employing
some ten volunteers from each regiment to help in the enormous
operations now being set on foot. A change was also made in the postage
stamp of the country. The existing issues of stamps of President Steyn's
Republic were marked V.R.I. in black ink, and also with figures denoting
their value as recognised by the Imperial Government. The threepenny
stamps were marked with the nominal value of 2½d., to agree with the
twenty-five centimes of the Postal Union. Naturally the philatelists
were all on the alert, and stamps as well as trophies were fetching
absurd prices in the town.
Of recreation there was also a little. On the 18th of April a somewhat
original concert was organised by the war correspondents, on behalf of
the Widows' and Orphans' Funds of London and Bloemfontein. The
originality of the scheme and the interest thereof lay in the fact that
conquerors and conquered met together on the common ground of charity,
and mutually contributed to make the undertaking a success. £300 were
realised. Mr. Rudyard Kipling put forth his quota. He did honour to the
Colonials in verse, and this ditty, to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne," was
sung by Miss Fraser, the daughter of Mr. Steyn's former opponent for
the Presidency. Among the marketables were portraits of Lord Roberts and
Mr. Kruger. These were the work of some of the artist journalists.
"Bobs" was "knocked down" for a big figure, and became the property of
Lord Stanley, a valuable trophy that may well become an historical
heirloom. This concert was only one of the many efforts at harmony made
by Lord Roberts, who, as diplomatist and statesman as much as soldier
and conqueror, foresaw a future wherein the people of the Free State,
originally actuated by no animosity towards the British, would become
reconciled to the beneficent rule of the British Empire, as contrasting
with the despotic rule of the Boer Republics, and live side by side with
us in the true spirit of liberty, fraternity, and equality enjoyed by
British subjects.
WITH LORD METHUEN--THE BATTLE OF BOSHOF
Against the misfortunes of Koorn Spruit and Reddersburg we would place
one brilliant victory--a victory gained by Lord Methuen at Boshof,
mainly through the smartness, bravery, and unspeakable steadiness of the
Imperial Yeomanry, who were under fire for the first time, and the
splendid dash of the Kimberley Corps, whose experiences during the siege
had lifted them almost to the rank of veterans.
It may be remembered that Lord Methuen at the end of February took up
the post of Administrator of the Kimberley district, which extends as
far south as the Orange River, subsequently leaving Colonel Kekewich in
command of the local forces. The General commenced active operations on
the western frontier, for the purpose of clearing the country of
rebellious obstructions, and protecting the lines of communication with
the north.
At Boshof there was concentrated a comparatively large army, composed of
two batteries of artillery, about 6000 infantry, and 1000 mounted
infantry, which were massing together to march to Kroonstadt, where they
expected eventually to take their place as the left wing of the main
army. The town itself presented a desolate aspect, all the Dutchmen
being absent on commando under Commandant Duplessis, and being in force
on the Vaal River, some miles distant.
Lord Methuen hearing that a detachment of the enemy was moving along the
Jacobsdal road, and threatening his communications, ordered Colonel
Peakman to effect its capture. As a result of this order a most
successful fight took place, some five miles east of Boshof, on the 5th
of April.
Taking part in the action were two companies of the Bucks Yeomanry, one
of the Berks Yeomanry, one of the Oxford Yeomanry, one company of the
Sherwood Rangers, one of the Yorkshire Yeomanry, and also the Kimberley
Mounted Volunteers. With these was the Fourth Battery R.F.A.
[Illustration: TYPES OF ARMS.--12-lb. Field Gun of the Elswick
(Northumberland Service) Battery. By permission of Messrs. Armstrong,
Whitworth & Co., the makers.]
The Imperial Yeomanry under Lord Chesham on this occasion had their
first chance of distinguishing themselves and seized it, behaving, as
some one who looked on said, "like veteran troops." The affair began in
haste. A Yeomanry patrol suddenly discovered the enemy and announced his
near approach. There was a rush. "To horse! to horse!" sang out the
troopers keen for action. Their steeds were grazing, but in less than
thirty minutes every man was careering off to duty. The Boers, some
sixty-eight in number, were tenanting a kopje, and round their lair the
troops disposed themselves, Lord Scarborough's Squadron of Yeomanry to
left, and the Kimberley Mounted Corps to right. The rest of the Yeomanry
attacked from the front, occupying two small kopjes some fourteen
hundred yards distant from the enemy. These promptly greeted them with a
persistent fusillade. Then the right flank slowly began to creep up,
taking advantage of cover as nature had provided, while the front
marched across the open. This advance of the troops was masterly, though
no cover was available till the base of the kopje occupied by the enemy
was reached. Method and coolness were displayed to a great extent, and
to these qualities was due the day's success. For three and a half hours
the operations lasted, the men closing gradually in, and finally
surrounding the kopje and storming it. The surrounding process, both by
the Yeomanry and the Kimberley force, was carried on with amazing skill
and coolness till the moment came for which all were panting. The
Yeomanry then fixed bayonets and charged. A rush, a flash of steel, and
then--surrender. The Boers hoisted a white flag! but even as they did so
their comrades poured deadly bullets on our advancing men. Captain
Williams of the "Imperials," who was gallantly in advance of his
comrades, dropped, shot dead in the very hour of victory. There was
small consolation in the fact that the murderer was instantly slain by
an avenging hand.
At this time the men had gained the hill and were within seventy yards
of the Boer trenches. But the Boers, notwithstanding their display of
the white flag, continued to blaze with their rifles till a Yeomanry
officer shouted that he would continue to fire unless the enemy threw
down their rifles and put up their hands. This threat brought the
cowards to their senses. They obeyed, and the position was gained with a
rousing, ringing cheer. Then came the sad part of triumph, the
collection of the gallant dead and the succour of the wounded. Among the
first were three, Captains Williams and Boyle, and Sergeant Patrick
Campbell. The enemy's dead and wounded numbered fourteen, while our
wounded numbered seven.
Captain Cecil Boyle was shot through the temple within eighty yards of
the Boer position while gallantly leading his men. He was a soldier to
the core, one who, merely from a sense of patriotic responsibility, was
among the first to leap to his country's call, and who threw into his
work so much energy, zeal, and grave purpose that the atmosphere of the
camp made him feel at the end of a week as if, to use his own words, "I
had done nothing but soldiering all my life." He, at the invitation of
his old chum, Colonel Douglas Haig, began work at Colesberg "to watch
the cavalry operations." There he had what he thought the supreme good
luck to be appointed galloper to General French. After the relief of
Kimberley and the capture of Cronje he went to the Cape to meet the
Oxfordshire Yeomanry, and with them gallantly advanced to meet his
fate--the first Yeomanry officer in this history of ours to fall in
action.
[Illustration: COLONEL LORD CHESHAM, Imperial Yeomanry
Photo by Russell & Sons, London]
At the close of the fight the clouds which had been lowering over the
position like a pall of purple suddenly burst. Torrents descended,
saturating the heated troops and sopping the ground whereon lay the
maimed and slain. With thunder bellowing and lightning splitting the
skies, with an accompaniment of deluge and darkness, the troops and
their prisoners found their way to camp. Under cover of the
obscurity some of the latter made a wild endeavour to escape, but the
Yeomanry were too proud of their "bag" to allow a single one to get
free, and finally had the satisfaction of seeing their bedraggled prize
lodged in jail.
Lord Methuen commanded, and expressed himself much gratified with the
success of the operations, with the courage and coolness and method with
which all his orders were carried out. Colonel Peakman, of Kimberley
fame, who had already accomplished a quite unusual record of fighting,
displayed an immense amount of talent in the field, and his corps, in
every way worthy of him, cut off the enemy's retreat with remarkable
skill. So much indeed, that the Boers complained of the slimness of the
troops who, by apparently retiring hurriedly, drew them within range of
the British volleys! Our troops were pitting themselves now against no
unruly or uninitiated barbarians, for the hostile force was under the
command of the notable Frenchman, Colonel de Villebois-Mareuil. This
gallant officer was killed by shrapnel from the 4th Field Battery Royal
Field Artillery before the display of the white flag by the Boers. He
was accompanied by many of his compatriots, who were taken prisoners.
The force indeed was mainly cosmopolitan, it being composed of
Hollanders, Frenchmen, Germans, and Russians, three Boers only belonging
to the commando. Not a man of the enemy escaped. Eight were killed, six
wounded, and fifty-four polyglot prisoners, with sixty horses and their
baggage, were brought into camp. Two guns were also captured.
The courage and dash of the Imperial Yeomanry was eulogised on all
sides, even by the Colonials, who hitherto had been somewhat disposed to
look down on their brother Volunteers from civilised and inexperienced
England. The magnificent spirit which inspired one and all, the grit
displayed by the wounded, and their self-abnegation were the subject of
much comment. A Colonial trooper, writing home his applause, said:
"Where all behaved so well it is almost invidious to mention any one in
particular, but as an instance of the fine spirit which animated them, I
would mention two whose names I have ascertained, Sergeant-Major Coles,
of the Bucks Yeomanry, and Throgmorton, a trooper in the Oxfords. These
two continued in action after being wounded, the former with a bullet
through the shoulder, and the latter with a gunshot wound in the head,
and sooner than crowd the ambulance they rode in afterwards, twelve
miles in the darkness, through one of the worst thunder-storms it has
been my lot to witness. What they must have suffered in the state they
were in they alone know."
From all accounts the French colonel who fell was entirely confident of
success. Before the engagements he sent an invitation to his compatriots
to join his force. He thought he had discovered the flaws in the Boer
armour, and was bent on giving the Federals an object lesson in how to
defeat and scatter the British. He also issued a manifesto addressed to
the French legions, the translation of which ran thus:--
"To the Legionaries, who have known me as their
comrade.--Officers, Non-commissioned Officers, and Men,--I know
that you have not forgotten me, and we understand each other,
and therefore I appeal to you. There is here in front of the
Vaal a people whom it is desired to rob of its rights, its
properties, and its liberty in order to satisfy some
capitalists by its downfall. The blood that runs in the veins
of this people is in part French blood. France, therefore, owes
to it some striking manifestation of help. Ah, well! You are
the men whom a soldier's temperament, apart from all the great
obligations of nationality, has gathered under this people's
flag, and may that flag bring with it the best of fortune! To
me you are the finished type of a troop that attacks and knows
not retreat."
He also wrote to the Parisians:--
"The Dutch are splendid at defence, but they cannot follow up a
defeat and crush the enemy, which the French legionaries would
be able to do.... Come and I will receive you here; and I
promise you that very few days shall elapse before we will show
the world the mettle of which the French legionaries are made."
The display to unprejudiced onlookers was distinctly poor, however, and
the example of strategy set by the gallant Gaul scarcely served to
demonstrate astounding military genius.
The Colonel's plan of campaign was nevertheless most carefully made out,
as a document which subsequently fell into Lord Methuen's hands served
to show. Very dramatic sounds the orders for the movements on April 4,
as translated by the correspondent of the _Daily Telegraph_:--
"To-night the detachment of the raid will attack Boshof and
follow its route, under the favour of a surprise and the
prevailing darkness. For this purpose, the following
dispositions will be observed: The column will set off at four
o'clock in the afternoon, with the detachment of Boers under
Field-Cornet Daniell, in such a manner as just to reach Boshof
by night. At a certain point the detachment will divide, and
will reach their respective places of assembly to the east and
west of the town. Boshof is situated in a plain, and is flanked
by certain kopjes, of which the importance and distance from
the town are reported as follows: to the north, two naked
kopjes, weakly guarded, and a good distance from the town.
Between them passes the Hoopstadt-Boshof road. To the east, on
the road to Kimberley, which it commands, one kopje, which is
not guarded by the enemy. Upon this the Boers will take up
their position. Finally, to the south-east of the town, and
exactly opposite to it, there is a kopje, where the English
have an outpost of fifty men. On the summit of this is formed a
small parapet of stones, about half the height of a man. This
will form part of the attack reserved for the detachment of the
raid.
"The Hoopstadt and Kimberley roads cross in the interior of the
town.
"The plan of attack will be carried out under the following
conditions: At eleven o'clock in the evening, the Boers under
Field-Cornet Daniell will be in position on the Kopje C, and
the telegraph wire on the Kimberley road will be cut by them.
At the same time, the raiding party will assemble behind the
Kopje E, situated two kilometres from the town. The horses and
the Scotch cart will there await the final operations, as well
as the native servants, if there are any. One man will be left
behind with each team of six horses. Commandant Saeremburg and
Lieutenant de Breda will, before the departure, choose these
men, the importance of whose mission will be readily
understood, since upon their vigilance will depend the safety
of the expedition in the event of retreat. The group left
behind will be under the orders of Nicollet. The men will
remain standing at the head of the horses, which will be
saddled and bridled, the cart boys at the head of the mules,
all ready harnessed.
"At half-past eleven, the attacking party will march in three
échelons, twenty mètres apart, the centre in the van. The
centre échelon, under the special direction of the General,
will be formed by the French platoon. The centre échelon,
commanded by Commandant Saeremburg, will consist of one-half of
the Dutch, and the left, under Lieutenant Bock, of the other
half. Furthermore, the men who have been in the habit of
messing together in groups will appoint a leader, from whom
they will on no account separate nor get out of touch. When
these groups do not exist, or exceed ten in number, the leaders
of the party will break them up and form parties of six or
eight, and appoint a head of the group. The General will see
these heads of groups at three o'clock in his camp, to give
them instructions further than can be detailed here.
"In the approaching march the commandants will give their
orders in a low voice, and the men will be ranged in line, so
that they can see the heads of groups and lie down instantly.
It is of importance, also, to watch the investigations of the
search-light, if the English have one at Boshof, which has not
yet been ascertained. The moment the ray is turned towards the
échelon, the leader will make his group lie down, and the march
will not be resumed until the light is turned away. At the rise
of Kopje D, a halt will be made behind the cemetery, and the
Saeremburg échelon will carry the kopje by assault and will
occupy it. From there it will hold ... the two kraals Z Z,
where the English encamped in the market-place in Boshof itself
could make the first attempt at resistance. In no case, for an
easily understood reason, will it fire upon the town. Firing,
moreover, can only be carried out by volleys discharged by word
of command given by the head of each group.
"Continuing their march, the two other échelons will pass a
well behind the kraals, and will attack the English camp
outside the town. In this effect, the French échelon, after
firing two volleys, will advance at the charge, with the cry,
'Transvaal and Free State!' and will thus complete the panic.
As there are no bayonets, the rifles will be kept loaded and
carried under the arms at the position of the charge. After
having crossed the camp from the east to the south, the rout
will be accomplished by firing. Lieutenant Bock's échelon will
remain under the orders of the General, as a reserve, should
the Boers placed on the Kimberley road on the Kopje C have to
deal with the fugitives. He could also render assistance, if
the enemy issuing from Boshof should endeavour to turn the
attack. He would then be informed of this eventuality by
Field-Cornet Coleman, who will cover the left of the attack in
such a manner as to observe all that may be menaced. For this
purpose, the Afrikanders will conform to the general movement
of the march of approach, and retire as soon as the attack
begins on the west of the English camp to a distance suitable
for observation.
"To facilitate recognition the brim of the hats will be covered
with a white handkerchief.
"The meagreness of our information does not permit of even an
approximate estimate of the English force. The forces in Boshof
seem, however, to be between 300 and 400 men. Whatever happens,
the assailants should remember that their moral superiority is
overwhelming, and even in the event of retreat, they can
easily, covered by the darkness, regain their horses and retire
from Boshof without risk."
In view of these magnificent preliminaries, one may look without vanity
at the celerity and completeness of the British operations which were
rewarded with victory. The Frenchman's _programme_ makes a quaint
contrast to the terse description of a quartermaster-sergeant of the
Imperial Yeomanry, who thus sketched the events of the 5th of April:--
"We received orders to turn out as soon as possible; we were
soon all bustle, caught and saddled our horses, and off we went
post-haste. One of our patrols had been shot in the night by a
foraging party of Boers. We trotted off for about two hours,
and then caught them out-spanned at the bottom of a kopje. We
dismounted and got on some more kopjes close by and began
exchanging shots. Then we mounted again, and half of us went
round to their right and half to the left to cut off their
retreat; and our artillery, of which three guns had followed
us, began to shell them in front. When we had got well round
them we dismounted again and advanced to the attack, taking
cover. Then, after a few volleys, ran up about twenty yards;
then a few more volleys, and up again until we were within
about a hundred and fifty yards, when we made a rush for it
with fixed bayonets. About seventy yards from the top there was
a large wire fence. We had to clamber through, and then, when
we were about fifty yards away, they came out and surrendered.
There were thirteen of them killed, and we had fifty-four
prisoners, amongst them General de Villebois-Mareuil and four
or five more Frenchmen. They had a cart with them full of
ammunition and dynamite, so they were evidently on some foray
to blow some bridge or other up. They were stationed on two
kopjes. The one our own lot went against was on the right. Most
of their bullets fell short whilst we were advancing, and when
we made our final rush they went over us. About twenty of them
escaped before we reached them. It was about five o'clock when
the fight was over, and we commenced a twelve-mile march to
camp about 5.45. After going about two miles it came on dark,
and we had a very heavy thunder-storm all the way to camp,
which we reached about ten o'clock last night, wet to the
skin."
The blow so deftly and quickly struck at the marauding parties of the
Boers was valuable from many points of view. It served to restore
confidence in Lord Methuen's leadership--confidence which had been
considerably shattered by the disaster of Majersfontein--and it helped
to suppress a tendency to raiding in the west of Cape Colony. So
complete a success could not but have a sobering effect on the rebels,
and give them pause in their mad career of hostility.
On the 7th of April, at dawn, Lord Methuen marched ten miles on the
Hoopstadt Road to Zwartkopjesfontein Farm without opposition. On the 8th
he proceeded further, but finally, by Lord Roberts's orders, retraced
his steps to Zwartkopjes. On the 10th, at daybreak, two flying columns
started forth--General Douglas to south-east and east of the camp,
Colonel Mahon (commanding Kimberley Mounted Corps) from Boshof towards
Kimberley. Colonel Mahon's movements, on which the relief of Mafeking
was depending, must be taken in detail later on. Lord Methuen operated
in this district till the 17th of May, when he moved to Hoopstadt and
brought his force within the zone of the main operations. On the 21st he
proceeded to Kroonstadt.
In the Kimberley district the First Division had been rearranged as
follows:--
Lieutenant-General Lord Methuen. 9th Brigade (Major-General C.
W. H. Douglas).--1st Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st Loyal North
Lancashire, 2nd Northamptonshire, 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry.
20th Brigade (Major-General A. H. Paget).--Composed of Militia
Battalions, 4th, 20th, and 44th Field Batteries; 37th Howitzer
Battery. Brigade Imperial Yeomanry (Colonel Lord Chesham).--1st
Battalion, 3rd Battalion, 5th Battalion, 10th Battalion. Cape
Police, Diamond Fields Horse, Part Kimberley Light Horse,
Diamond Fields Artillery.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] From "The Handy Man, and other Verses" (Grant Richards).
[2] The Rev. J. Godfrey.
[3] Colonel the Hon. George Hugh Gough commenced his military career in
1871, when he took a commission as cornet in the 14th Hussars, of which
he held the adjutancy for nearly four years until 1879, when he was
promoted captain. In 1882 he obtained the brevet rank of major, and in
1885 he was promoted major and brevet lieutenant-colonel, and four years
later he obtained his colonelcy. Colonel Gough passed through the Staff
College in 1883, after serving as A.D.C. to the Lieutenant-General
commanding the expeditionary force in Egypt in 1882. Among his staff
appointments was that of private secretary to the Commander-in-chief
(Lord Wolseley), which he attained in 1897, and again in 1898, after
holding the post of assistant military secretary at the head-quarters of
the army. Colonel Gough's war services included the Boer War of 1881,
when he was aide-de-camp to the officer commanding the base and the
lines of communication; the Egyptian campaign of 1882; and the Soudan
Expedition of 1884-85. In the former his horse was killed under him at
Tel-el-Kebir, and he was mentioned in despatches. He received the order
of the Mejidieh (4th class), the bronze star, and the medal with clasp.
In the Soudan Expedition, where he was in command of the Mounted
Infantry, Colonel Gough was again mentioned in despatches, greatly
distinguishing himself at the battle of Abu Klea, where he was wounded.
CHAPTER II
MAFEKING, APRIL
On the first Sunday in April Lieutenant Hanbury Tracy, with two waggons,
was sent to bring in the dead, after the unsuccessful but gallant effort
made by Colonel Plumer to enter the town on the 31st of March. As has
been said, Commandant Snyman's report of the number of slain was greatly
exaggerated, and the wounded he would not give up. Captain Crewe, who
had died of his injuries, was buried in the melancholy little cemetery
at Mafeking, already a sad memorial of deeds of daring. Of Lieutenant
Milligan nothing definite was known, and it was believed that he was
among those who had been buried by the Boers. Captain Maclaren (13th
Hussars) was still in the hands of the enemy--a prisoner, and seriously,
if not mortally, wounded. The total casualties on Colonel Plumer's side
were said to be seventy-eight. Two officers and six men were killed,
three officers and thirty-six men were wounded, and one officer and
eleven men were taken prisoners.
On the 4th of April there was intense joy over the arrival of Lieutenant
Smitheman, who appeared at Mafeking carrying a despatch for Colonel
Baden-Powell from Colonel Plumer. His appearance was naturally a signal
for surprise and excitement, as every crumb of news from the outside
world was precious as pearls. Previous to this visit only one white
man--Reuter's cyclist--had succeeded in getting through the Boer lines.
Mr. Smitheman was well acquainted with the country, and had
distinguished himself as a scout in the Matabele campaign. His latest
exploit was full of moment, and there was no doubt that in thus
establishing a link with the garrison his visit would be fraught with
important results when the opportunity to attempt the relief of the
garrison should present itself. This smart officer had made his way into
the beleagured town piloted by a native diviner--a personage who claimed
by means of a rod to ascertain the whereabouts of Boers, as other
diviners have decided the presence of water. Whether Lieutenant
Smitheman owed his safe conduct to the acumen of the native or to the
dexterity of his own actions was much disputed, but the result was
eminently satisfactory.
Commandant Snyman having been absent for a day or two, the community
enjoyed temporary peace, but on the 6th the tyrant was back again, and
by way of good-morrow his gun "Creaky" blew up the office of Major Goold
Adams. On the 7th, Mr. Smitheman returned to Colonel Plumer, bearing
upon him much serviceable information. A party of native women
endeavoured to escape to Kanya, but were intercepted by the
enemy--stripped, sjamboked, and forced to return. There was also a smart
fight between the Boers and some Fingoes, who had gone on a
cattle-raiding expedition. These defended themselves valiantly for
twenty-five hours, but only one man was left to tell the tale. This man
succeeded in crawling to the shelter of some reeds, and thus escaped
unobserved.
[Illustration: THE NATIVE VILLAGE OF MAFEKING.]
The following correspondence now passed between Commandant Snyman and
Colonel Baden-Powell in reference to the former's alleged employment of
"barbarians" by the British in cattle-raiding expeditions:--
"MARICO LAAGER, MOLOPO, _April 7_.
"_To his Honour_ Colonel BADEN-POWELL, Mafeking.
"Enclosed I beg to send to you a copy of a pass signed 'A. T.
Mackenzie, Black Watch,' and dated April 4, which is a clear
proof that Kaffirs are sent out, with your Honour's knowledge,
naturally, as head officer, to plunder, rob, and murder. I am
very sorry to see that tyranny carries away the good nature of
so polite a nation as the English. They know that the
barbarians have nothing else in view. Twenty Kaffirs were sent
last week in a northerly direction by an English officer,
according to the statement of a wounded native who was taught a
lesson by one of my burghers. Thirty-two were sent on the 4th,
according to a pass found in the pockets of one of the killed.
They were all shot yesterday. I request you to be kind enough
to fetch the bodies. Please send an ambulance under a Red Cross
flag in the direction of Canton Kopje, and notify me
immediately the waggons have left. I will send some of my
burghers to point out the battle-field.--Your Honour's obedient
servant,
"J. P. SNYMAN."
"MAFEKING, _April 7_.
"_To his Honour_ General SNYMAN.
"Sir,--I have the honour to acknowledge your letter of to-day.
In regard to the pass signed 'Mackenzie,' this man had no
authority to issue a pass of any kind, much less for the
purpose stated. I am obliged to you for bringing the case to my
notice. As regards your Honour's statement that your burghers
killed thirty-two natives, I beg to inform you that I know
nothing whatever about these men. They were certainly not
acting under orders received from myself, nor, so far as I am
aware, from any of my officers. I would point out that there
are a number of natives about the country in a destitute
condition owing to their homes having been burnt and their
cattle stolen by your burghers, and it is only too probable
that they have taken the law into their own hands to endeavour
to obtain food. Of this I have warned your honour before. For
their acts I must decline to be held in any way responsible.--I
have the honour to be your obedient servant,
R. S. S. BADEN-POWELL,
Colonel commanding H.M. troops in Mafeking."
On the 10th of April, in the dead of night, the enemy's field-guns were
moved to positions completely surrounding the town, and shells were
poured in with unparalleled persistency. Thirty dropped into the women's
laager--four into the hospital. Under cover of the bombardment the
Boers, who had been reinforced by a German corps, made an attack on Fort
Abrams, which they imagined had been disabled by their shell-fire. They
were somewhat amazed to find that the garrison of the fort was not only
alive, but kicking. The corporal in charge, who had calmly waited till
his assailants had got within range, suddenly poured a fierce volley on
the approaching numbers. Result: five of the enemy were left on the
field, to be recovered later under a Red Cross flag. The effects of
bombardment were many and various. At one time the Dutch Church was
struck, at another some shells bounded on the roadway, flew through the
air straight across the town, landing with awful detonations a mile on
the other side. Some failed to burst, and then the duty of extracting
the charge was a ticklish one. One man in so doing was blown to ribbons,
pieces of him being cast to the winds and picked up quite a hundred
yards from the scene of the disaster. Another man was so forcibly struck
that a portion of leg and boot were forced through the iron-roofed
verandah some seventy yards off! Every house was pocked with its
melancholy tale. There were holes you could jump through in the ceiling
of some of the rooms, while others were shattered past recognition.
Dixon's Hotel had its end smashed, and the market-place bore signs of
merciless battering.
[Illustration: SERGEANT--18th HUSSARS
Photo by Gregory & Co., London]
On the 12th a welcome guest came in the form of a pigeon, bearing a
message from Colonel Plumer. No small creature of the winged tribe had
ever before conveyed so much satisfaction, save perhaps the first
prominent performer in the days of the ark. News also arrived by runner,
of Mr. Smitheman's safe arrival, and a message from her Majesty was
delivered to Colonel Baden-Powell. This kindly expression of the
Sovereign's sympathy was highly appreciated, and served to inspirit the
whole community.
Later, a splendid effort was made by Colonel Plumer's force to run a
herd of cattle into the town. A party of Baralongs, under a native
captain, got to within seven miles of the town when they were attacked
on both flanks by the enemy. They nevertheless pursued their way,
screening themselves as far as possible behind the bodies of the cattle,
which were driven in front of them. But the Boer fire was unerring, and
soon only fifteen of the poor beasts remained. These, at last, had to be
abandoned, for owing to the lack of ammunition the cattle-runners were
forced to make themselves scarce. Such as were wounded were left behind,
and were murdered by the Boers. Several native women who, from fear of
starvation, attempted to pierce the Boer lines, were also put to death.
This behaviour much incensed the British, for the Baralongs had from the
first earned the esteem of the community by their unswerving loyalty.
Major Baillie, writing home, eulogised their conduct, and expressed a
hope that their devotion would be recognised at the end of the war. He
said:--
"After the first day's shelling the mouthpiece of the Baralong tribe,
Silas Molemo, came up to Mr. Bell, the resident magistrate, and said to
him, 'Never mind this; we will stick to you and see it through,' which
they certainly have done. They are not a tribe who would make a dashing
attack, or, to use the expression, 'be bossed up' to do things which
they don't particularly want to; but, given a defensive position, they
will hang on to it for all they are worth, as they have proved many
times during the war in the defence of their stadt. They have had their
cattle raided, their outlying homesteads destroyed, their crops for this
year are nil, and all through a time when the outlook to a native mind
must have seemed most black they have unswervingly and uncomplainingly
stuck to us, and never hesitated to do anything they were called on to
do." (It is pleasant to note that after the relief the Baralongs
received formal recognition of their splendid loyalty.)
"The better the day, the better the deed," was evidently the motto of
the Boers, for on Good Friday they applied their energies to the
construction of new trenches and fortifications about fifteen hundred
yards beyond their former position. In order not to be behind the times,
the bread ration of the day was marked with a cross, to do duty as a
"hot cross bun." On the following day misfortune hung over the place,
for two troopers, Molloy and Hassell, belonging to the Fort Ayr
garrison, were caught by a shell and mortally wounded. On Easter Day
there were sports to revive the spirits of the garrison.
On the 19th of April the Creusot gun was withdrawn, and the inhabitants
took heart. To vary their menu they now engaged in a locust haul, the
result of which was to supply a third variant to the bill of fare. Lady
Sarah Wilson, telegraphing to her friends, described her diet of horse
sausages, minced mule, and curried locusts! The latter insects were
reported to be tender as chicken and as tasty as prawn "almondised." The
natives had a good meal, and visibly grew fat. On the following day a
telegram was received from Lord Roberts requesting the garrison to hold
out till the 18th of May. It was disappointing, none could deny, but
they consoled themselves that a message showing they were marked down in
the programme of "coming events" was better than nothing at all.
Fortunately the food still held out. Water--pure water--was rare as
Edelweiss, and liquor of other kind was unobtainable. Only money was
what our friends on the Stock Exchange call "tight." The bank was closed
to the general public, and her Majesty's presentment upon a coin was a
prize to be cherished and clung to till--well, till the crack of doom
should make the ever-promised and never-realised relief unnecessary.
But the great food problem well-nigh exhausted all the energies of those
concerned with it. Captain Ryan, D.A.A.G., sat daily in the interior of
his bomb-proof office receiving a procession of persons who filed in to
make their impossible demands, and deliberating on the curious fact that
the stomach rules the world. The honour of the British Empire at that
moment hung by a mere thread--it was a question of how slender a thread
of nourishment could keep body and soul tacked together to represent the
figure of an Englishman! Nevertheless Mafeking, like Kimberley, was
bound to have its marriage bells. A Dutch bride, ignorant of English,
was led to the altar by a private of the Bechuanaland Rifles, ignorant
of Dutch. Philosophers predicted considerable felicity, as between them
the couple had sufficient language for love-making and scarce sufficient
for controversy.
At this time Captain Ryan made a statement regarding the supplies of the
town, which serves to show the pitch to which caution was carried:--
"The total number of white men is approximately 1150, of white
women 400, and of white children 300. The coloured population
consists of some 2000 men, 2000 women, and 3000 children.
"Both the white and coloured men originally received eight
ounces of bread. The allowance has now been reduced to six, but
a quart of soup is given to make up the deficiency. Half a
gallon of sowan porridge a day will sustain life. The
recipients are of three classes; those who receive it in lieu
of two ounces of bread; those who wish to purchase food over
and above the quantity to which they are entitled; those who
are absolutely destitute, both black and white, and who receive
the porridge free. It has been suggested that the natives
should not be charged for sowan porridge, but it is thought
unwise to pauperise either blacks or whites. If any profit has
been made from the sale by the end of the siege it will be
employed in buying grain for the many native women and children
in Mafeking who have been involved in a quarrel which is not
theirs.
"The horse soup is made from the carcasses of animals which had
ceased to be serviceable and those killed by the enemy's fire,
as well as horses and donkeys purchased from individuals who
can no longer afford to keep them. This soup is unpopular among
the natives, but this is due rather to prejudice than to its
quality.
"The distribution of supplies is entirely under Imperial
control. The Army Service Corps possesses a slaughter-house, a
bakery, and a grocery, at which the authorities receive and
distribute all vegetables, and it receives and distributes milk
to the hospital, to women and children, and to men who have
been medically certified to need it.
"At present the hospital is supplied with white bread, and it
is hoped that the supply will be continued. Hospital comforts
are issued to such as are in need of them, both in and out
patients, on receipt of an order from a medical officer. For
the nurses and doctors, who work day and night, the authorities
endeavoured to provide slightly better rations than those
available for the general community. Our sources of supply have
been chiefly through Mr. Weil, who had a large stock on hand
for the provisioning of the garrison, until the contract
terminated at the beginning of February. Since then supplies
have been collected from various merchants, storekeepers, and
private persons and stored in the Army Service Corps depôt, and
from the original Army Service Corps stocks, of which forage
and oats formed a great proportion. Fresh beef is obtained by
purchase from a private individual named White, and in a lesser
degree from the natives.
"Breadstuffs are obtained, like groceries, by commandeering the
stocks of various merchants and private persons."
Lord Roberts now commuted the sentence of the court-martial which tried
Lieutenant Murchison for the murder of Mr. Parslow to one of penal
servitude for life. Many of those who had been associated with this
officer did not consider him responsible for his actions, and were
relieved at the lightening of the punishment of a comrade-in-arms.
On the 27th Colonel Baden-Powell sent the following message to Lord
Roberts:--
"After two hundred days' siege I desire to bring to your lordship's
notice the exceptionally good spirit of loyalty that pervades all
classes of this garrison. The patience of everybody in Mafeking in
making the best of things under the long strain of anxiety, hardship,
and privation is beyond all praise, and is a revelation to me. The men,
half of whom are unaccustomed to the use of arms, have adapted
themselves to their duties with the greatest zeal, readiness, and pluck,
and the devotion of the women is remarkable. With such a spirit our
organisation runs like clockwork, and I have every hope it will pull us
successfully through."
[Illustration: POSTAGE STAMPS ISSUED AT MAFEKING DURING THE SIEGE.]
At this time, the Boers being more peaceful, the citizens prepared to
celebrate the two hundredth day of the siege by horse dinners. Various
other mysterious meats, whose origin none dared investigate, appeared on
the bill of fare. One lady developed a genius for treating the meat
rations, and went so far as to give a dinner-party. Her process was
elaborate. The meat ration was cut up and the objectionable pieces
removed. It was then soaked in salt and water for three hours, and made
into soup thickened with starch. The next course was the beef out of the
soup, served with potato tops, which were found most delectable. Then
came a sowans pudding. Sowans proved a failure when served as porridge
or curry, but when the preparation was mixed with starch, bicarbonate of
soda, and baking powder, people were swift to partake.
In addition to the usual delicacies, minced mule and the aforesaid sowan
porridge, invented by an ingenious Scottish crofter of the name of Sims,
there was now manufactured a curious brawn of horsehide, which was
generally sneered at but devoured with alacrity. Curio hunters longed to
preserve a slab of it for presentation to the British Museum, but the
feat of self-abnegation was too hard to be endured. Besides, as some
philosopher said while putting it into a place of safety, it would be
the highest horse that was ever exhibited by the time it got there, and
the building wouldn't hold it. The community was almost entirely a
teetotal one. "Wee drappies" grew so wee as to be almost invisible, and
when a case of whisky was raffled for it fetched £107, 10s.!
On the 29th a military tournament was held, whereat a great display of
cheerfulness was affected, to cover the fact that fever, malarial and
typhoid, was gaining ground in the hospitals.
AFFAIRS IN RHODESIA
The Rhodesian troops were now at Moshwana, British Bechuanaland, in camp
some thirty miles from Mafeking. The small force with a single
serviceable gun could really accomplish little, and it was marvellous,
considering its extreme weakness, how it managed to maintain the
aggressive at all.
Early in April Colonel Plumer started a pigeon post, and the first
pigeon despatched arrived at Mafeking within four hours. The second was
not so fortunate, but later on the successful bird was sent off again,
on an educational trip, with younger birds in its wake.
On the 22nd Trooper Brindal of the Rhodesian Regiment died of the wounds
sustained in the action on the 31st of March. Archdeacon Upcher and
Father Hartman returned from the sad mission of discovering and burying
the remains of Lieutenant Milligan, who fell at Ramathlabama. The enemy
now were being reinforced from time to time by parties from east and
south, and as far as could be ascertained by Colonel Plumer, who sent
out native runners to apprise him of the doings of the southern relief
column, the Boers around Mafeking numbered about 3000.
On the 24th General Carrington's force, consisting of 1100 men, with
mounts and transports, arrived at Beira, and proceeded from thence to
Marandellas, twenty-five miles from Salisbury, the capital of Rhodesia.
The route, the first 200 miles of which is through Portuguese territory,
is covered by railway. The distance from Beira to Salisbury is some 375
miles. The Beira railway was carried in 1898 as far as New Umtali, where
it was connected with the system of the Mashonaland Railway Company. At
Salisbury the railway ceases, and between this point and Bulawayo, the
terminus of the Cape Railway, a space of 280 miles needed to be covered
by an extension. From Bulawayo all promised to be plain sailing, as,
owing to the untiring energies of Colonel Plumer and his small
force--whose valuable services have never been sufficiently
esteemed--the road and rail to Mafeking had been protected and
preserved.
On the 28th, Lieutenant Moorson left Mafeking and reached Colonel
Plumer's camp at noon of the 29th, conveying to him the latest
intelligence, and helping him to formulate plans for the big project of
relief which will be described anon.
CHAPTER III
THE SIEGE OF WEPENER
Early in April a portion of the Colonial Division, composed of Cape
Mounted Rifles, the Royal Scots Mounted Infantry, Driscoll's Scouts,
Kaffrarian Mounted Rifles under Captain Price, Brabant's Horse, two
15-pounders, two naval 12-pounders, two 7-pounders, one Hotchkiss, and
three Maxims, the whole force under Colonel Dalgety, crossed the Caledon
Bridge at Jammersberg Drift, took possession of it as the most important
strategetical point, and occupied the town of Wepener without
opposition. The Colonel had no sooner done so than he was surrounded by
Dutchmen, and made aware that he must prepare to stand a siege. A party
of Boers accompanying a German officer, who were blindfolded before
being brought in, now entered Wepener bearing a message from the
commandant. He very kindly demanded the instant surrender of the British
to save further bloodshed. The messengers retired without taking with
them a reply to the considerate request, but asking whether some mistake
had not been made, and inviting their surrender instead. As the Boers
were now threatening an attack on the force, Sir G. Lagden demanded a
demonstration by the Basutos on the Basuto border. This was readily
responded to, for the nation naturally resented any invasion of their
territory by their hereditary foes; and, moreover, the chiefs had been
vastly impressed by the "big heart" of the Englishmen with whom they had
come in contact, and their stubborn resistance of the Boer attacks.
Wepener itself was evacuated, but a camp at Jammersberg, three miles
off, was formed, entrenchments made, and defences ingeniously
constructed. The position, somewhat resembling Ladysmith, was situated
in the saucer-shaped hollow of many hills. It was practically isolated,
but the lines were strong, and meat was plentiful.
Colonel Dalgety, who commanded the gallant little force, is an old
officer of the Cape Mounted Rifles, and has as a record of services the
Gaika and Galeka expeditions, and the operations in Basutoland in
1880-81. He had no doubt in his ability to hold out against the
besiegers, although the force was only 1700 to 1800 strong, and the
position was really too extensive. To protect it properly required about
4000 men. The Cape Mounted Rifles, with a company of Royal Scots, were
ordered to hold the left of the position, the weakest point; 1st
Brabants and some Kaffrarian Rifles the front; 2nd Brabants the right;
and Kaffrarian Rifles the rear.
A stirring day's work was recorded on the 8th by an officer, whose
experiences were published in the _Globe_:--
"_April 8_, 7 A.M.--As I write, with my back against the
trench, we have reached the fifth day of the noisy concert
without any appreciable result, except that we have expended
most of our ammunition. Not a gun has been dismounted, not an
inch of our long line of defence (ten miles, about) been
yielded to the enemy; but about 150 gallant fellows, mostly
gentlemen by birth, of the Colonial Division, are _hors de
combat_, and we are still looking and longing to see the relief
columns of Kitchener or Gatacre appear on the horizon.... While
sitting chatting with Captain Cholmondley, I saw across the
ravine my own squadron, 'M,' descending rapidly into the valley
to reoccupy the rifle-pits which Ruttledge had vacated at
daylight, and exposed to a heavy shrapnel fire. I scrambled
down the ridge and joined them at the pits, but had scarcely
got my men posted, when Cookson was seen coming towards us at a
mad gallop. My orders were to leave one troop (Ruttledge's) in
the rifle-pits, and take the other three to support Colonel
Dalgety, who was hard pressed on our left rear. I should have
to cross a plain swept by the Boer fire.
"When I had climbed up the steep ravine on the top of the main
ridge we found all our horses hidden away in a fold of the
ground. To mount was the work of a minute, and then we were
launched on our mad gallop across a plain swept by Boer Maxim
and rifle fire. I led, and the men followed most gallantly into
the 'jaws of death.' Nothing but annihilation seemed to await
us; but on we swept over that mile and a half like wild men, an
excited American, constantly by my side and sometimes ahead of
me, shouting, 'In the joy of battle.' It was, I think, the most
exciting quarter of an hour I have spent in my adventurous
life. My horse was going at racing pace, when suddenly I came
upon a kranze, down which I leaped in fox-hunting style. I
thought this would finish all my bad riders; but although they
tailed off somewhat into a longer line than the open order I
had ordered, they were still in the ruck, and we all came
together somewhat too closely at a wire fence, which brought us
to a standstill. Having negotiated this, we came upon another
similar one, which we all got through somehow. All this time
the little columns of dust were rising all round and constantly
under my horse's belly. Again we were brought up by a deep
donga, along which we had to turn to our right and skirt it
till it was negotiable, where the banks had been cut down on
each side for the horses of the C.M.R. to cross. I made then
for a group of dismounted horses held in shelter behind a
strong causeway. Here was Dalgety, to whom I reported myself.
In a few minutes the Boers brought another gun into position,
which sent a shell into us, killing four gun mules linked
together in their harness, six troop horses, one of mine, and
one nigger, who was holding the mules. They fell in a heap, and
presented a most gruesome appearance. One or two men were also
wounded by the same shell, which was the signal for a skurry
for shelter behind huge boulders. The horses were sent down to
the donga before mentioned, where, though sheltered from shot
and shell, they spent four miserable days, until at last a
heavy rain filled the donga, and some of the horses were
swimming. All had had their saddles on from the first day. Some
of these had been torn off by the horses' frantic efforts to
get out, and were lost in the mud. Finally they all got out,
and covered the plains under the Boer fire. Many of them were
shot.
"After the deadly shell I began to count up my men and find out
how many were missing after the charge across the plain, and
the last dose of shrapnel. To my surprise, they all answered to
their names excepting two. Macarthy had been struck full in the
forehead by a Mauser bullet, and fell from his horse as one
dead. He is now recovering. Reid, an American, was shot through
the side and arm, and is also recovering. Turner, my senior
lieutenant, had been struck in the hip with a bit of segment
shell, but stuck most pluckily to his post."
The officer went on to narrate an episode which deserves to be
remembered among the deeds of heroism which distinguished this notable
period: "Coming across from the C.M.R. lines towards the Kaffrarian
lines was a stretcher carried by four men with a wounded man on it. As
soon as it came from under the shelter of the kopje on which we and the
C.M.R. live, about 1200 yards from the ridge held by the enemy, opposite
the open end of the horse-shoe, it was received by a hail of bullets. On
went the gallant bearers for about a hundred yards, when they came to a
sudden stand, put the stretcher on the ground, and seemed to consult.
First one ran about twenty yards, to fall, apparently shot dead; then
another did the same, and the third; and the three corpses were lying on
the ground. The fourth man fell on his knees between the stretcher and
the enemy. The Boers, then satisfied that they had disposed of this lot,
ceased firing at them for the space of some minutes, when suddenly the
four dead men came to life, rushed to the stretcher, and went on with it
at the double, though little columns of dust rose thicker than ever
round the devoted bearers. When they had crossed the fire zone and came
under the shelter of a small kopje, something very like a cheer rose
from the three hundred spectators of this exciting scene. Putting the
breach of the Geneva Convention out of the question, there could not be
a better exemplification of the savagery of the Boers. Even a savage foe
would have respected such courage as these men showed in their efforts
to save their wounded comrade. The wounded man turned out to be Captain
Goldsworthy of the C.M.R., wounded in two places, whom I afterwards saw
in hospital here, and the one who shielded him with his own body was a
young trumpeter in the C.M.R., who, I believe, will get the V.C."
[Illustration:
(Corporal) (Sergeant)
MOUNTED INFANTRY
Photo by Gregory & Co., London]
On the 8th a commando some 2000 strong, with four guns, laagered five
miles out in the direction of Dewetsdorp, and on the 9th the town of
Wepener was occupied by the Boers, who, in number from 5000 to 6000,
spread themselves crescentwise around the British position. Not long
were they inactive. Their guns began to open on the camp, and received a
prompt answer from the 15-pounders. A vigorous artillery duel,
involving great loss to the besieged, was then kept up throughout the
day.
A member of the stalwart band gave his impressions of the first days of
the fighting: "The brave lot of fellows of the C.M.R. were stormed at
until we almost gave up hope that any human being could stand against
it; but very fortunately for us they did so, and although the Boers came
almost behind them and enfiladed their trenches, killing and wounding
between sixty and seventy of the regiment. Goodness knows how many of
the Boers were killed. Their losses must have been great, no matter what
they may say afterwards. Towards daylight the enemy retired to their
former position, and at daybreak the fight went merrily on its way, but,
luckily, shifted from the poor played-out C.M.R. for a few hours. Major
Sprenger, poor fellow, was simply riddled with bullets. Captain
Goldsworthy and Major Waring, together with several other officers, were
wounded, and now the C.M.R. are commanded by only a few officers,
including their most gallant Colonel Dalgety. Captain Cookson, another
of their officers, is an especial favourite with our men, as he looks
after them as well as his own men in action. He fears no dangers, and so
instils confidence into others.
"All went well with us until the good-night shell, which bursts over our
camp about six o'clock each night, arrived. Cookson and I were
superintending the sending of the food to the trenches, where our brave
men were so bravely holding their own, when I heard the whistle of the
shell and heard it burst, and simultaneously was knocked down by a
shrapnel bullet, which, fortunately for yours truly, did not penetrate
far into my thigh. As no bones were broken, I hope--in fact, I am
sure--I shall be able to walk in a day or two from now. Lieutenant
Duncan, also wounded in the leg, and myself were placed in a small
schanze, erected for the purpose, but as there was no roof to it, and
the rain poured for hours during the night, we were soaked to the bone.
It could not be helped, there being no other place in which to put us;
so we did not complain. It was just as well we did not go to the
hospital, which is already overcrowded--no fewer than 110 wounded men
there--as I learn that one of our wounded men was yesterday killed in it
with a Boer bullet; in fact, the Boers several times fired at it. We now
have a waggon sail over our schanze, and feel nice and comfortable. We
expect to be able to move about by Easter Sunday. Captain Hamilton has
been very kind; comes to visit us two or three times a day, and runs a
strong chance of being shot, as the snipers shoot at every one who shows
himself. He is only one of the lot; they are all the same."
[Illustration: THE DEFENCE OF WEPENER. (From a Sketch by Major A.
Festing.)]
On Tuesday, the 10th, came more duelling. In the morning with artillery,
in the afternoon with rifles. The Cape Mounted Rifles did good
execution, for the Boers who had approached to 250 yards of their
position were forced to remove. An officer of Brabant's Horse spoke most
enthusiastically of the C.M.R. He said:--
"We fought all day and all night. The big gun and rifle fire were almost
deafening, and as we are entirely surrounded, it was pouring in on all
sides, a continuous hail of shot and shell. Towards afternoon they
directed all their gun fire to one spot, and blew to bits the schanzes
of the C.M.R., thus leaving them almost unprotected, and in the night
they attempted to take the position by assault. Although the C.M.R. were
very considerably outnumbered, the Boers were unable to attain their
object. They had not reckoned on the opposition of, undoubtedly, one of
the finest regiments in the whole world, as the C.M.R. are. We (1st
Brabants) were unable to send reinforcements to the gallant fellows, as
we expected an attack ourselves at any moment, and our position is such
an extended one, that it required every man to hold it. If only we had a
few hundreds more to hold the trenches with us, and an ample supply of
ammunition, we would be quite happy."
The scarcity of ammunition began to cause anxiety, and also the
condition of the atmosphere. The air was almost unbreathable. Fumes from
dead horses, cows, pigs, which were strewed on the surrounding plains,
rose in sunshine or rain as from a caldron of pestilence. There was no
avoiding them, and death by worse than shot and shell--by slow ravaging
malaria, or greedy epidemic--seemed to be traced by the finger of
expectation across the foul atmosphere. No longer was there pleasure in
gazing out at the beautiful green hills, that but a little while ago had
been speckled with white tents and draped with the ethereal gossamer of
blue smoke from the fitful flame of the camp fires. War had sounded its
most discordant note--hard--emphatic. The tents were all struck. On the
ground they lay prone, battered by the pouring rain. Camp fires were now
few and far between, and the only smoke to be seen came from the
snorting nozzles of implements of death. The rattle of musketry made the
melody of day and night. The men, huddled up in their trenches, rained
on by heaven-sent storm, rained on by hell-sent shrapnel, unable to
raise a head lest the movement would be their last, still remained
glorious fellows, cheery, jocose, hailing the humours of their tragic
position with shouts of laughter, and skipping, with true heroism, the
ghastly and the terrible that thrust itself between them and their
courage.
One of their number described the trenches as "simply ordinary trenches
dug in the ground, with the earth and stones thrown out on the front
side, strengthened by sand-bags. During the first day's fighting they
were not very good, and the heavy losses sustained were attributable to
that fact. The men improved them during the night, however, and they
grew and grew until they were really like rabbits burrowing into the
ground. During the shelling men would sit or lie down under the bank,
and it was wonderful how the trenches protected them. Some of the
trenches had hundreds of shells fired into them during the day, and as
long as the men kept well down, they got off comparatively lightly. It
was a fearful strain, however, as you might be crouching behind a
traverse of sand-bags, when thump would come a shell and knock the
sand-bags all over the place, upon which you would have to skip into the
traverse and expose yourself while doing so to a hail of bullets from
the Boer snipers. As the Boers were all round us, they brought guns to
bear from different points, so as to enfilade the trenches, so we had to
build transverse walls, sand-bags, or traverses to protect ourselves.
The front Cape Mounted Rifles' trenches were fearfully battered during
the day, and the tired men had to patch them up as best they could
during the night. During the day we could not show our heads over the
parapets, as there would immediately come a volley from the Boer
riflemen."
All the troops had unceasing work, but most of the casualties fell to
the share of those in the southern position--the Cape Mounted Rifles,
Captain Garner's Squadron of Brabant's Horse, Captain Seel's Company of
Royal Scots Mounted Infantry, and Driscoll's energetic scouts. The
Kaffrarians, commanded by Captain Price elsewhere in four different
positions to east and west--took their share of the defence, while on
the heights north-east and north-west, the 1st and 2nd Regiments of
Brabant's Horse, under Major Henderson and Colonel Grenfell
respectively, also worked incessantly to protect the garrison.
The object of the concentration of the Boers around this region was
supposed to be connected with offering opposition to General Brabant's
advance, but the Dutchmen in their policy were somewhat uneasy, owing to
their close proximity to the Basuto border.
Their alarm was not without reason, for if there was a force eager to
attack them it was the Basutos, and these were only held back from
rushing into the fray by the personal influence of Sir Godfrey Lagden
and his British colleagues, who can never sufficiently be applauded for
the skill and diplomacy with which they managed to keep, by invisible
moral coercion, a fiery horde from rushing over the borders and possibly
massacring such Free Staters as came in their way. The Boers, however,
were not conscious of this coercion, and consequently their action
around Wepener was somewhat cramped, and thus it was that the little
community managed to defy them. Meanwhile discomforts were many, and the
clouds often emptied themselves like a vast shower-bath involving doused
trenches, drenched clothing, and the suspension of operations. On the
11th a cheery message was received from Lord Kitchener, who paid a visit
to Aliwal North, and from thence sent word that he hoped "for an early
change" in the circumstances of the besieged. Spirits rose. What
Kitchener, the adamantine, said was sure to be done. On Thursday, 12th,
the fourth day of fierce fighting, the Boers continued their aggression
all day. During the contest an entertaining interlude in the drama of
warfare took place. The enemy was busy shelling one of the garrison's
15-pounders, when a shot knocked off the left sight of Captain Lukin's
gun. The Captain, generous in his admiration, jumped on top of the gun
and made a complimentary salaam to the Boer gunner. Later on, by using
the reserve sight on the right side, he himself planked a shell right
into the adversary's gunpit, whereupon the officer in charge, imitating
Captain Lukin's example, promptly leapt up and bowed his
congratulations!
During the night of the 12th the Dutchmen attempted another attack, but
volley after volley was poured into them with such animation that by 4
A.M. they were glad enough to retire. Fortunately not a man was killed
or wounded, and those who had so well defended themselves felt a
somewhat natural satisfaction in seeing the Boer ambulances at work the
next morning. Soon it was rumoured that the Boers were bringing up
another gun, and the garrison, who were beginning to get tired of being
peppered at by guns big and small, began to long for the arrival of
reinforcements.
Friday the 13th, the following Saturday and Sunday, were used by the
Boers for their Easter devotions--not that they were too devout to enjoy
a little sniping in the intervals. Nasal hymns took the place of the
snorts of Long Tom, but after the reiterations of the Vickers Maxim the
Federals resumed their bombardment with renewed zest, and Oom Sam, the
British howitzer, took up the tune. Unfortunately, the Dutchmen resorted
to expansive bullets. One of the commandants tried to assert that these
were captured from the British, but truth not being the Boer forte, no
effort was made to refute the vile impeachment.
The garrison next made a dashing sortie and captured a Boer gun.
Aggressive action was necessary. Reinforcements were daily reaching the
besiegers, and hostile gangs were collecting in the vicinity of
Dewetsdorp. These soon gathered round the plucky British force, which,
to protect itself, launched out with such vigour that the Boers,
especially the Zastrom Commando, who had assaulted to a jubilate,
retreated to a dirge. The women wept, and the men themselves grew
anxious, for the Basutos, warlike and excited, were massing on the
border, and a sword of Damocles, in the form of an exasperated legion of
natives, threatened to drop on the Dutchmen's heads. They were getting
into difficulties on all sides. One of Olivier's guns was smashed, and
another had been captured in the sortie by the Cape Mounted Rifles. But
the energies of this sprightly corps had also cost them dear. During the
four days' fighting, from the 9th to the 13th, eighteen were slain and
132 wounded! The men on the south-western fringe fared worse even than
the others. They feared to cook in their trenches lest they should
attract the Boer fire, and meals brought from adjacent shelters were
cold before they could reach them. Such reviving and inspiriting
refreshment as hot tea or coffee was almost unknown, and as a natural
consequence, particularly in such damp weather, warmth external and
internal was most craved for and very generally missed. Washing was a
luxury not to be thought of, indeed, a rain bath in a trench had to
serve all purposes. The strain of such conditions on the men was most
trying, and the account given by one of the officers was far from
exaggerated. "They had to go into their trenches on the night of the
8th, and from then till the 25th they had to stay in them, crouching in
them all day while being heavily shelled and 'sniped' at by the enemy's
riflemen. During the night a couple of men from each trench would be
sent to the place near the centre of the position where the food was
prepared and take it up to their comrades. Cooking could only be done at
night in dongas, and behind cover, such as walls, &c., and by the time
the food got to the men it was ice cold, so the poor fellows, or the
majority, in the forward trenches did not get anything hot in the shape
of food or drink for eighteen days. Night was a blessed relief, as they
could get out of the trenches and stretch themselves, but to cap our
misery we had several days' heavy rain, and the trenches got full of
water. The fellows had to bale it out with buckets, patrol tins, and
even hats, I believe. Those rainy nights were awful, and the men were
getting quite 'jumpy.' I really thought some of them would lose their
reason, and was quite prepared to find some dead from exposure in the
morning. However, the rain stopped in time, otherwise we would have been
in great danger as the men could not have stood it. There is a limit to
human endurance."
The investment had no showy nor picturesque characteristics: it was just
a case of stern resistance, of obdurate endurance, that was infinitely
more exigent in its demands on the human character than the brilliant
soul-stirring deeds of open battle. Fortunately the Boers were getting
correspondingly uncomfortable. They had surrounded Wepener, it is true,
but, with a native guard of some 3000 strong assembled to prevent any
encroachments on the Basutoland border, they remained where they were at
their peril, and every hour brought with it the chance of being hemmed
in on all sides. Yet they stuck on, inspired with the belief that by
some, for them, lucky chance Colonel Dalgety might drop into their
hands. Meanwhile the natives were assisting the besieged to the best of
their power, and the resident Commissioner at Mafeteng was exerting
himself to provide ambulances and medical stores, in hope of being able
to forward them should opportunity offer. The charitable arrangement was
much appreciated, for the state of affairs was far from salubrious.
Apart from sick and wounded, many of the Boers, after the night attack
of the 12th, had left their comrades unburied, and the bodies were still
lying in the mill furrow, to the distress of those shut up within the
narrow confines of the camp. The Caledon River now rose and added to the
alarm of the Federals, who were aware that if it should become in flood
they would undoubtedly be cut off. At the same time those within the
besieged area were also beginning to get additionally concerned.
Ammunition for the howitzer was running low, and the rifle ammunition
promised to hold out but for a very limited period. Messages were
continually being received from Lord Roberts, who heliographed _via_
Mafeteng congratulating the troops on their brave defence, and
assuring them that he was keeping a watchful eye on them. This should
have been consoling, but every hour, every instant, was now of
importance. Still there was no lack of pluck. These men who had beaten
the Boers three times were confident that they would make a good fight
of it to the last. "We'll not surrender till half of us are killed,"
they said, and the gallant fellows, in their trenches, under a storm of
shot and shell, pursued their games of cards as though they meant to
"sit tight till Doomsday." Of them an officer writing at this time said:
"The defence, so far, has been heroic. In the Crimea twenty-four hours
on and twenty-four hours off was considered hard work. My men have been
ten days in their trenches without leaving them, wet to the skin oftener
than not, and day and night exposed to shrapnel, not able to raise their
hand above without getting a bullet through them, and yet not a grumble
is heard. As I sit scrawling this in pencil, with my back against the
damp earth, the jest goes round, and peals of laughter follow the
sallies of your light-hearted countrymen from the Emerald Isle. I
positively love these men, and shall never forget, in spite of the ague
attacks and the racked head, the enjoyment of these hours spent packed,
all arms and legs, in the mass of humanity which fills these
trenches--the work of our own hands."
They had tasted neither bread nor biscuits for a week. Fortunately they
had meat in plenty, and occasionally certain meal-cakes which, though
filling, brought about a sensation graphically described as
"hippopotamus on the chest." Some one declared they were quite as hard
and nearly as damaging as Boer bullets!
In spite, however, of their assumed jocosity they could not but be
cognisant of the fact that, what with damp and dysentery, irregular
meals, tainted water, poor medical appliances, and indifferent stores,
the future was threatening. Questions as to the coming of the promised
relief began to be anxiously bandied about, and now and again a terrible
doubt crept in that it might never come at all.
Easter Monday they thought of as Bank Holiday in England. They pictured
the gay Cockney multitude scampering free in parks and sunshine while
they, huddled together in a deluge of perpetual rain, were wondering if
life in trenches was worth living. Then some one, a philosopher,
declared you couldn't get a daily rain-water bath at home for love or
money, and they laughingly made the best of it. They wallowed in damp
and mud, and counted on their fingers that there had been eight days of
hard fighting, and wondered how many more they were good for. Books were
scarce and conversation monotonous. "Any signs of Brabant or Gatacre?"
some one would question. "None. I guess they've got lost somewhere."
"Any chance of the rain stopping?" "None. We shall have deluges
to-morrow." So passed the time between Job and his comforters.
Fighting proceeded wearily, spasmodically. The Boers too were damp, in
spirit and in body, and the carols of Long Tom lost some of their
demoniac mirth. Now and then the besiegers would smarten themselves up
with a volley, occasionally they would snipe intermittently--a little
venomous spitting at the obdurate, sturdy, magnificent fellows they had
learned as much to respect as to detest. Still no relief column. Hoping,
the men in their trenches puzzled and offered solutions for themselves.
"Perhaps the relievers had fallen into a trap," said a pessimist.
"Oh no; the rain must have delayed them," said some one more cheery.
"Perhaps the drifts are unpassable," volunteered a third.
"I wonder if any of us will be left to receive them?" questioned the
pessimist.
"Poof! only ten per cent. of us are disabled as yet!" chaffed the
optimist lightly.
Though they did not know it, General Chermside, with the Third Division,
had now marched about eight miles east of Reddersburg, and encamped in
the locality where the Royal Irish Rifles surrendered. On the 19th a
large body of the enemy was moving on with the apparent object of
encountering General Brabant near Rouxville, and later on from the
distance the muffled roar of musketry gave promise of the relieving
action. Naturally, the spirits of the garrison began to rise, but their
joy was short lived, for soon the Boers appeared on the west, and there
brought five guns to bear on the British force. All day the round lips
of the new visitors opened and hooted and spat! The Kaffrarian Rifles
were treated to no less than 130 shrapnel shells. Brabant's regiment and
the Maxim kept up an active fire on the Boer gunners; but the guns were
so cautiously protected that their efforts were crowned with small
success. Even the redoubtable Captain Lukin failed to make his usual
impression, for this officer had now decided that economy--economy of
ammunition--must make the better part of Wepener valour. Major Maxwell,
at dusk, with his cheery sappers, set to work to remedy the ravages of
the day, but the prospect of affairs was not rendered more heartening by
information which came in to the effect that Olivier, De Wet, Froneman,
and others were closing in with their commandoes and mercenaries,
numbering some 8000, from Rouxville, Smithfield, Ficksburg, and even
from Ladybrand. This discovery caused no little anxiety. All were aware
that Lord Roberts could and would come to their relief; but,
nevertheless, it was impossible to ignore the fact that provisions
began to dwindle and the poor trek oxen began to go, and no signs of a
relieving column were evident. The officers and men were now on duty all
night in the trenches--melancholy work, for deluges of rain made them
sopping, and served to damp even the bellicose ardour of the most
valorous.
[Illustration: LIEUT.-GENERAL SIR H. M. LESLIE-RUNDLE, K.C.B.
Photo by Russell & Sons, London]
Their position by day, too, was pathetic in the extreme. It was
impossible even for the most rollicking and dauntless to look unmoved to
right or to left of him. Perhaps on one side he would be bounded by a
"pal" doubled up and sweating with the agony of his wounds, while on the
other would lie, clay-cold and immobile--with that unmistakable
stiffness that they had learnt to know too well--a form that some
moments before had been vibrant with humanity. In this _entourage_ it
was necessary throughout the long hours to keep up persistent fire at
the enemy, and dodge and manoeuvre so that the fate that loomed large
and unforgetable on either hand might be kept at bay! Few indeed were in
possession of a whole skin in these times--they fought, got wounded,
went into hospital, came out partially healed and fought again, only to
go back with fresh holes for repair. Sometimes they were carried to the
churchyard by comrades of their corps--gaunt, weary, aching, grimy
fellows with large hearts, who grimly professed to envy those--many
there were by now--who had "every night in bed!"
On the evening of the 23rd there was some jubilation in Jammersberg
camp. General Brabant heliographed from a place some fourteen miles
distant, reporting an engagement with the enemy, and that they were
retiring, though there was a strong force on his left flank. Heavy
firing continued to be heard all day, most probably from the artillery
of Generals Rundle and Chermside, who, at this time, were approaching
Dewetsdorp from the south, or of Generals French and Pole-Carew, who
were nearing that destination from the north. The plot was thickening.
The sun was shining, the guns were going, and there was a chance the
Boers might yet be hoist with their own petard, and in expectation
thereof a veritable thrill passed through the camp.
Then the Boer fire began to slacken perceptibly, the barking of big guns
mysteriously subsided. What was happening? Anxiety and suspense made the
young faces--faces that had been young at the commencement of the
war--still more drawn and haggard; it was felt that should the Boers
capture the position they would give little quarter to the Colonial
Division, and these had determined never to hoist the white flag. The
fact was, the Boers were silently preparing to sneak away. They had
heard of the converging of the British armies, they were in receipt of
information regarding a grand scheme for mopping them up, and after
taking a last sullen, despairing lunge they took themselves off.
On the morning of the 25th a serpentine _cortège_ of waggons and carts
and riders was seen winding its way in the direction of Ladybrand.
Colonel Dalgety half suspected that Brabant's force would presently
appear and chase this retreating company, and got himself and some 300
of his men in readiness to assist in harassing those who so recently had
harassed him. But Brabant's force was apparently worn out, and was about
some fourteen miles off when the retirement commenced, and though to his
splendid exertions the retreat was due, it was evident that the enemy
would manage to slide off without chastisement.
[Illustration: WEPENER.]
Thus ended the story of a grand achievement, an almost unique example in
the way of defence of fortified positions, 1700 men having for seventeen
days and nights in the trenches defended seven miles of entrenchment
without giving up a single position! By the end there had been about 200
casualties, and only 1500 men were left to defend the tremendous length
of entrenchments. One of the valiant defenders gave a graphic summary of
the continuous fighting:--
"We lost between twenty and thirty killed and wounded the first
day--not very many, considering what we had against us. At
night the big guns ceased fire, and there was only a shot now
and again during the night. On Tuesday morning at breakfast
time the big guns started again; but there were only five guns
that day, and we found out after the fight that we had knocked
out three of the Boer guns on the previous day. The firing on
the Tuesday was not so brisk, but at 8 P.M. the Boers attacked
in force at the C.M.R. trenches, but our men were ready for
them, and played one of the Boers' own games with them. They
saw them coming, and the Royal Scots lined up on one side and
the C.M.R. on the other side of the spruit. Our men allowed
them to get right in and then opened fire at fifty yards. Every
man had his bayonet fixed and ready, and at the word they went
for them. In less than an hour it was all over, and the Boers
were beaten back, leaving 300 dead. It was pitiful to hear them
crying. They have not the heart of a school-girl, and they
cannot stand a beating. After the Tuesday night the enemy kept
very quiet for a few days, only independent firing going on
both with rifles and big guns. This went on for several days,
at times a little brisk, and then the Boers seemed to get tired
and tried to rush us again with 2000 men. This was on the
fifteenth day at ten in the morning. By twelve o'clock we had
them beaten, and the next day they left us and we came on up
here."
A great deal of the success of the resistance was due to the ingenuity
of the entrenchments. The work had been carried out under the direction
of Colonel Maxwell, R.E., and the splendid stand made by the besieged
was made possible almost entirely by his genius. Captain Lukin was also
a tower of strength, and but for his services with the guns the garrison
would have suffered much more than it did. Captain Grant, C.M.R., too,
was invaluable, working late and early, and carrying out with immense
zeal the plans of the chief, while Colonel Grenfell was an untiring
right-hand man to Colonel Dalgety.
Another of the heroes of the siege was Major Sprenger, of the C.M.R.,
who fell in his country's service almost at the beginning of the siege.
He was a born soldier, and a distinguished member of a distinguished
corps. He won his commission by his smartness and soldierly qualities,
having risen to the rank of sub-inspector in the old F.A.M.P. On the
merging of that corps into the C.M.R., he continued as lieutenant, and
was awarded the next step for gallantry in the field, he being the first
to mount the scaling ladders in the storming of Moirosi's Mountain.
General Brabant afterwards described the Cape Mounted Rifles as being
the very finest corps in her Majesty's service, and recommended them to
the notice of Lord Roberts. As for the artillery under Captain Lukin,
the General said he did not think there was a battery in her Majesty's
service that could excel it.
The casualties at Wepener from April 9th to 18th were:--
_Killed_:--Cape Mounted Rifles--Major Sprenger, Lieutenant E.
A. Taplin. Brabant's Horse--Lieutenant Tharston. _Severely
wounded_:--Cape Mounted Rifles--Major J. C. Warring, Lieutenant
J. Heilford, Lieutenant L. Martin, Lieutenant R. Ayre,
Lieutenant W. H. Nixon, Lieutenant H. G. F. Campbell. Brabant's
Horse--Lieutenant W. J. Holford. Driscoll's Scouts--Lieutenant
W. Weiner. Kaffrarian Rifles--Lieutenant C. Lister. _Slightly
wounded_:--Cape Mounted Rifles--Captain C. L. M. Goldsworthy.
Brabant's Horse--Surgeon-Captain L. C. Perkins (returned to
duty), Lieutenant Turner Duncan, Lieutenant and Quartermaster
P. Williams. 1st Royal Scots Mounted Infantry--Lieutenant C. G.
Hill (1st Berks Regiment, attached).
The total losses were 33 killed and 132 wounded--a somewhat heavy bill
for so small a force, when it is remembered that many of the wounded did
not report their injuries but remained on duty during the siege.
In his diary the officer before quoted wrote: "We were relieved to-day
at last, and march to-morrow. We have gone through an awful time, and
some of the men look quite ghastly. They dragged their wasted forms from
the trenches to-day at a crawl to the camp, which had been repitched. I
had to give up the night before last, and after visiting my sentries,
got back into the trenches in agony. At midnight I reached the hospital,
where they injected morphine, and, after twenty-four hours lying on a
stretcher, I am on my legs again.... Seventeen days and nights under
fire, and the disgusting part of the whole is that it has been in vain.
The Boers have slipped through our fingers after all."
The relief of Wepener may be said to have taken place on the 25th. To
discover how this was automatically accomplished, it is necessary to
follow Lord Roberts's strategic plan, and to return to the events of the
22nd of April.
[Illustration: SCOUT--6th DRAGOON GUARDS
(Carabineers)
Photo by Gregory & Co., London]
OPERATIONS FOR RELIEF
As a continual reorganisation of the forces was taking place, it will
assist us, before going further, to examine a rough table of the date,
as compiled from various authorities by the _Morning Post_:--
DISTRIBUTION OF FORCES
_Commanding-in-chief_--FIELD-MARSHAL LORD ROBERTS.
THIRD DIVISION.
Lieutenant-General Sir H. G. CHERMSIDE.
22nd Brigade (Major-General R. E. Allen).
2nd Royal Irish Rifles.
2nd Northumberland Fusiliers.
1st Royal Scots.
1st Derbyshire.
23rd Brigade (Major-General W. G. Knox).
(Composition not known.)
74th, 77th, and 79th Field Batteries.
SIXTH DIVISION.
Lieutenant-General T. KELLY-KENNY.
12th Brigade (Major-General Clements).
2nd Worcestershire.
2nd Bedfordshire.
2nd Wiltshire.
1st Royal Irish Regiment.
13th Brigade (Major-General A. G. Wavell).
2nd East Kent.
1st Oxfordshire Light Infantry.
1st West Riding.
2nd Gloucester.
76th, 81st, and 82nd Field Batteries.
38th Company Royal Engineers.
SEVENTH DIVISION.
Lieutenant-General G. TUCKER.
14th Brigade (Major-General J. G. Maxwell).
2nd Norfolk.
2nd Lincoln.
1st King's Own Scottish Borderers.
2nd Hants.
15th Brigade (Major-General C. E. Knox).
2nd Cheshire.
1st East Lancashire.
2nd South Wales Borderers.
2nd North Stafford.
83rd, 84th, and 85th Field Batteries.
9th Company Royal Engineers.
EIGHTH DIVISION.
Lieutenant-General Sir H. M. L. RUNDLE.
16th Brigade (Major-General B. B. D. Campbell).
2nd Grenadier Guards.
2nd Scots Guards.
2nd East Yorks.
17th Brigade (Major-General J. E. Boyes).
1st Worcester.
2nd Royal West Kent.
1st South Stafford.
2nd Manchester.
Brigade Division Royal Field Artillery.
5th Company Royal Engineers.
NINTH DIVISION.
Lieutenant-General Sir H. E. COLVILE.
3rd Brigade (Major-General H. A. MacDonald).
1st Argyll and Sutherland.
1st Gordon Highlanders.
2nd Seaforth Highlanders.
2nd Royal Highlanders (Black Watch).
19th Brigade (Major-General H. L. Smith-Dorrien).
(Composition not certainly known.)
Highland Light Infantry.
2nd Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.
2nd Shropshire Light Infantry.
Canadian Regiment.
Brigade Division Royal Field Artillery.
TENTH DIVISION.
Lieutenant-General Sir H. HUNTER.
5th Brigade (Major-General A. Fitzroy Hart).
2nd Somerset Light Infantry.
1st Connaught Rangers.
1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
1st Border.
6th Brigade (Major-General G. Barton).
2nd Royal Fusiliers.
2nd Royal Scots Fusiliers.
1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers.
63rd, 64th, and 73rd Field Batteries.
ELEVENTH DIVISION.
Lieutenant-General R. POLE-CAREW.
18th Brigade (Major-General T. E. Stephenson).
(Composition not certainly known.)
1st Essex.
1st Yorkshire.
1st Welsh.
2nd Royal Wa
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