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+ font-weight: bold; + font-size: 130% +} + +blockquote p { + margin-left: 3em; + text-indent: -2em; +} + +@media print { + a:link, a:visited {color: black; background-color: transparent} + a:hover {color: black; background-color: transparent} + hr { display: none } + div#MAIN, div.contents, div.back { border-top: none } + div.frontispiece, div.contents, div.titlePage { border-bottom: none } +} + +@media screen { + a:link, a:visited {color: #0000A0; background-color: transparent} + a:hover {color: #0000A0; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: underline;} +} + /* ]]> */ + </style> +</head> + +<body lang="en-UK" xml:lang="en-UK"> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of With the Boer Forces, by Howard C. Hillegas + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: With the Boer Forces + +Author: Howard C. Hillegas + +Release Date: August 7, 2005 [EBook #16462] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WITH THE BOER FORCES *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Dainis Millers and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="titlePage"> + +<div class="title-main">WITH</div> +<div class="title-main">THE BOER FORCES</div> + +<div class="byline">BY <div class="docAuthor">HOWARD C. HILLEGAS</div> +AUTHOR OF “OOM PAUL’S PEOPLE,” AND CORRESPONDENT OF<br /> +“THE NEW YORK WORLD”</div> + +<div class="title-main" style="font-size:100%;margin:20ex auto">WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS AND A PLAN</div> + +<div class="docImprint">METHUEN & CO.<br /> +36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br /> +LONDON<br /> +1900 +</div> + +</div> + +<div class="frontispiece"> +<table class="figure" summary="COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA" id="FIG.01"> + <tr> + <td class="ctr"> + <a href="#TOC.FIG.01"><img src="images/image001.jpg" + title="COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA" + alt="COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA" + width="416" height="576" /></a> + </td> + </tr> + <tr><td class="figure-attribution">COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div class="preface"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page5">[5]</span> + +<h2 class="num" id="PREFACE">PREFACE</h2> + +<p> +In the following pages I have endeavoured to +present an accurate picture of the Boers in +war-time. My duties as a newspaper correspondent +carried me to the Boer side, and herein +I depict all that I saw. Some parts of my +narrative may not be pleasing to the British +reader; others may offend the sensibilities of the +Boer sympathisers. I have written truthfully, but +with a kindly spirit and with the intention of +presenting an unbiased account of the struggle as +it was unfolded to the view from the Boer side. +I shall be criticised, no doubt, for extolling certain +virtues of the Boers, but it must be noticed that +their shortcomings are not neglected in these lines. +</p> + +<p> +In referring to Boer deeds of bravery I do not +mean to insinuate that all British soldiers were +cowards any more than I mean to imply that all +Boers were brave, but any man who has been with + +<span class="pagenum" id="page6">[6]</span> + +armies will acknowledge that bravery is not the +exclusive property of the peoples of one nation. +The Boers themselves had thousands of examples +of the bravery of their opponents, and it was not +an extraordinary matter to hear burghers express +their admiration of deeds of valour by the soldiers +of the Queen. The burghers, it may be added, +were not bitter enemies of the British soldiers, and +upon hundreds of occasions they displayed the +most friendly feeling toward members of the +Imperial forces. The Boer respected the British +soldier’s ability, but the same respect was not +vouchsafed to the British officer, and it was not +unreasonable that a burgher should form such an +opinion of the leaders of his enemy, for the +mistakes of many of the British officers were so +frequent and costly that the most unmilitary man +could easily discern them. On that account the +Boers’ respect for the British soldier was not +without its mixture of pity. +</p> + +<p> +There are those who will assert that there was +no goodness in the Boers and that they conducted +the war unfairly, but I shall make no attempt to +deny any of the statements on those subjects. +My sympathies were with the Boers, but they were +not so strong that I should tell untruths in order +to whiten the Boer character. There were thieves +among them—I had a horse and a pair of field-glasses + +<span class="pagenum" id="page7">[7]</span> + +stolen from me on my first journey to the +front—but that does not prove that all the Boers +were wicked. I spent many weeks with them, in +their laagers, commandos, and homes, and I have +none but the happiest recollections of my sojourn +in the Boer country. The generals and burghers, +from the late Commandant-General Joubert to the +veriest <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">Takhaar</span>, were extremely courteous and +agreeable to me, and I have nothing but praise for +their actions. In all my experiences with them I +never saw one maltreat a prisoner or a wounded +man, but, on the contrary, I observed many of +their acts of kindness and mercy to their opponents. +</p> + +<p> +I have sought to eliminate everything which +might have had a bearing on the causes of the war, +and in that I think I have succeeded. In my former +book, dealing with the Boers in peaceful times, I +gave my impressions of the political affairs of the +country, and a closer study of the subject has not +caused me to alter my opinions. Three years +before the war began, I wrote what has been +almost verified since— +</p> + +<p> +“The Boers will be able to resist and to prolong +the campaign for perhaps eight months or a year, +but they will finally be obliterated from among the +nations of the earth. It will cost the British +Empire much treasure and many lives, but it will + +<span class="pagenum" id="page8">[8]</span> + +satisfy those who caused it, the South African +politicians and speculators.” +</p> + +<p> +The first part of the prediction has been realised, +but at the present time there is no indication that +the Boer nation will be extinguished so completely +or so suddenly, unless the leaders of the burghers +yield to their enemy’s forces before all their powers +and means of resistance have been exhausted. If +they will continue to fight as men who struggle for +the continued existence of their country and government +should fight, and as they have declared they +will go on with the war, then it will be three times +eight months or three times a year before peace +comes to South Africa. Presidents Kruger and +Steyn have declared that they will continue the +struggle for three years, and longer if necessary. +De Wet will never yield as long as he has fifty +burghers in his commando, and Botha will fight +until every British soldier has been driven from +South African soil. Hundreds of the burghers +have made even firmer resolutions to continue the +war until their cause is crowned with victory<span class="add" title="Added">.</span> +There may be some among them who fought and +are fighting because they despise Britons and +British rule, but the vast majority are on commando +because they firmly believe that Great Britain is +attempting to take their country and their government +from them by the process of theft which we + +<span class="pagenum" id="page9">[9]</span> + +enlightened Anglo-Saxons of America and England +are wont to style “benevolent assimilation.” They +feel that they have the right to govern their country +in accordance with their own ideas of justice and +equality, and, naturally, they will continue to fight +until they are victorious, or might asserts itself over +their conception of right. If they have the power +to make Great Britain feel that their cause is just, +as our forefathers in America did a hundred years +ago, then the Boers have vindicated themselves and +their actions in their own eyes and in the eyes of +the world. If they lack in the patriotism which +men who fight for the life of their country usually +possess, then the Boers of South Africa will be +exterminated from among the nations of the world +and no one will offer any sympathy to them. +</p> + +<p> +We Anglo-Saxons of America and Great Britain +have a habit of calling our enemies by names +which would arouse the fighting blood of the most +peaceable individual, and when there is a Venezuelan +question to be discussed we do not hesitate +to practice this custom, born of our blood-alliance, +by making each other the subjects of the vituperative +attacks. During the Spanish-American war +we made most uncomplimentary remarks concerning +our short-lived enemy, and more recently we +have been emphasising the vices of our <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">protégés</i>, +the Filipinos, with a scornful disregard of their + +<span class="pagenum" id="page10">[10]</span> + +virtues. The Boers, however, have had a greater +burden to bear. They have had cast at them the +shafts of British vituperation and the lyddite of +American venom. In a few instances the lyddite +was far more harrowing than the shafts, and in the +vast majority of instances both were born of ignorance. +There are unclean, uncouth, and unregenerate +Boers, and I doubt whether any one will stultify +himself by declaring that there are none such of +Britons and Americans. I have been among the +Boers in times of peace and in times of war, and I +have always failed to see that they were in any +degree lower than the men of like rank or occupation +in America or England. The farmers in +Rustenburg probably never saw a dress suit or a +<i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">décolleté</i> gown, but there are innumerable regions +in America and Great Britain where similarly dense +ignorance prevails. I have been in scores of +American and British homes which were not more +spotlessly clean than some of the houses on the +veld in which it was my pleasure to find a night’s +entertainment, and nowhere, except in my own +home, have I ever been treated with more courtesy +than that which was extended to me, a perfect +stranger, in scores of daub and wattle cottages in +the Free State and the Transvaal. I will not +declare that every Boer is a saint, or that every one +is a model of cleanliness or virtue, but I make bold + +<span class="pagenum" id="page11">[11]</span> + +to say that the majority of the Boers are not a +fraction less moral, cleanly, or virtuous than the +majority of Americans or Englishmen, albeit they +may be less progressive and less handsome in +appearance than we imagine ourselves to be. +</p> + +<p> +As I have stated, the politics of the war has +found no part in the following pages, and an honest +effort has been made to give an impartial account +of the proceedings as they unfolded themselves +before the eyes of an American. The struggle is +one which was brought about by the politicians, +but it will probably be ended by the layman who +wields a sword, and who knows nothing of the +intricacies of diplomacy. The Boers desire to gain +nothing but their countries’ independence; the +British have naught to lose except thousands of +valuable lives if they continue in their determination +to erase the two nations. Unless the Boers +soon decide to end the war voluntarily, the real +struggle will only begin when the Imperial forces +enter the mountainous region in the north-eastern +part of the Transvaal, and then General Lucas +Meyer’s prophecy that the bones of one hundred +thousand British soldiers will lay bleaching on the +South African veld before the British are victorious +may be more than realised. +</p> + +<p> +One word more. The English public is generous, +and will not forget that the Boers are + +<span class="pagenum" id="page12">[12]</span> + +fighting in the noblest of all causes—the independence +of their country. If Englishmen will +for a moment place themselves in the position +of the Boers, if they will imagine their own +country overrun by hordes of foreign soldiers, +their own inferior forces gradually driven back to +the wilds of Wales and Scotland, they will be able +to picture to themselves the feelings of the men +whom they are hunting to death. Would Englishmen +in these circumstances give up the struggle? +They would not; they would fight to the end. +</p> + +<p class="signature">HOWARD C. HILLEGAS.</p> +<p class="signplace">New York City,</p> +<p class="signdate"><i>August</i> 1, 1900.</p> +</div> + +<div id="contents" class="contents"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page13">[13]</span> + +<table summary="Table of contents"> + +<caption>CONTENTS</caption> + +<tr> + <td colspan="2" style="text-align:right;font-size:80%">PAGE</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.1"> + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER I.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter1">The Way to the Boer Country </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page19">19</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td > + <p class="block"> + The Blockade at Delagoa Bay—Lorenzo Marques + in war-time—Portuguese tax-raising methods—The + way to the Transvaal—Koomatipoort, the + Boer threshold—The low-veld or fever country—Old-time + battlefields—The Boer capital and its + scenes—The city of peace and its inhabitants. + </p> + </td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.2"> + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER II.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter2">From Farm to Battlefield </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page45">45</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td > + <p class="block">The old-time lions and lion-hunters and the + modern types—Lion-hunting expeditions of the + Boers—The conference between the hunters and + the lions—The great lion-hunt of 1899-1900—Departure + to the hunting-grounds.</p> + </td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.3"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER III.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter3">Composition of the Army </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page61">61</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +Burghers, not soldiers—Home-sickness in the +laagers—Boys in commandos—The Penkop +Regiment—Great-grandfathers in battles—The + +<span class="pagenum" id="page14">[14]</span> + +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">Takhaar</span> burghers—Boers’ unfitness for soldiering—Their +uniforms—Comfort in the laagers—Prayers +and religious fervour in the army. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.4"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER IV.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter4">The Army Organisation </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page88">88</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +The election of officers—Influences which assert +themselves—Civil officials the leaders in war—The +Krijgsraad and its verdicts—Lack of +discipline among the burghers—Generals calling +for volunteers to go into battle—Boers’ scouting +and intelligence departments. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.5"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER V.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter5">The Boer Military System </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page113">113</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +The disparity between the forces—A national and +natural system of fighting—Every burgher a +general—The Boers’ mobility—The retreat of +the three generals from Cape Colony—Difference +in Boer and British equipment—Boer courage +exemplified. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.6"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER VI.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter6">The Boers in Battle </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page141">141</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +Fighting against forces numerically superior—The +battle at Sannaspost—The trek towards +the enemy—The scenes along the route—The +night trek—Finding the enemy, and the disposition +of the forces in the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> and on the hills—The +dawn of day and the preparation for +battle—The Commandant-General fires the first +shot—The battle in detail—Friend and foe sing +“Soldiers of the Queen.” +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.15"> + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page15">[15]</span> + +CHAPTER VII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter7">The Generals of the War </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page173">173</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +Farmer-generals who were without military +experience—A few who studied military matters—Leaders +chosen by the Volksraad—Operating in +familiar territory—Joubert’s part in the campaign—His +failure in Natal—His death and its influence—General +Cronje, the Lion of Pochefstroom, +and his career—General Botha and his +work as successor of Joubert—Generals Meyer, +De Wet, and De la Rey, with narratives concerning +each. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.8"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER VIII.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter8">The War Presidents </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page219">219</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +The Boers’ real leader in peace and in war—Bismarck’s +opinion of Kruger—The President’s +duties in Pretoria—His visits to the laagers and +the influence he exerted over the disheartened +burghers—His oration over Joubert’s body—His +opinion of the British, and of those whom he +blamed for the war—His departure from Pretoria—President +Steyn and his work during the war. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.9"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno">CHAPTER IX.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter9">Foreigners in the War </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page247">247</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +The soldier of fortune in every war—The fascination +which attracts men to fight—The Boers’ view +of foreigners—The influx of foreigners into the +Boer country in search of loot, commissions, +fame, and experience—Few foreigners were of +great assistance—The oath of allegiance—Number +of foreigners in the Boer army—The various +legions and their careers. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.16"> + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page16">[16]</span> + +CHAPTER X.</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter10">Boer Women in the War </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page274">274</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +Boer women’s glorious heritage—Their part in +the political arena before the war—Urged the +men to fight for their independence—Assisting +their embarrassed government in furnishing +supplies to the army—Helping the poor, the +wounded, and the prisoners—Sending relatives +back to the ranks—Women taking part in battles—Asking +the Government for permission to fight. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.11"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno"> +CHAPTER XI. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#chapter11">Incidents of the War </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page295">295</a></td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td> +<p class="block"> +Amusing tales told and retold by the burghers—Boy-burghers +at Magersfontein capture Highlanders’ +rifles—The <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">Takhaar</span> at Colenso, who +belonged to “Rhodes’ Uncivilised Boer +Regiment”—Photographers in battle—The heliographers +at the Tugela amusing themselves—Joubert’s +story of the Irishman who wanted to +be sent to Pretoria—The value of credentials in +warfare as shown by an American burgher’s +escapade—The amusing flight after the fall of +Bloemfontein. +</p> +</td> +</tr> + +<tr id="toc.APPENDIX"> + + <td colspan="2" class="toc-chapno"> +APPENDIX. +</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td class="toc-chapname"><a href="#APPENDIX">The Strength of the Boer Army </a></td> + <td class="toc-pageref"><a href="#page313">313</a></td> +</tr> +</table> +</div> + +<div id="illustrations" class="contents"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page17">[17]</span> + +<table summary="Table of illustrations"> + +<caption> +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS +</caption> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.01"> +<a href="#FIG.01">COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by R. Steger, Pretoria.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.02"> +<a href="#FIG.02">GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Leo Weinthal, Pretoria.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.03"> +<a href="#FIG.03">BATTLEFIELD OF COLENSO, DECEMBER 15, 1899</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by R. Steger, Pretoria.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.04"> +<a href="#FIG.04">BOERS WATCHING THE FIGHT AT DUNDEE</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Reginald Sheppard, Pretoria.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.05"> +<a href="#FIG.05">ELECTING A FIELD-CORNET</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by the Author.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.06"> +<a href="#FIG.06">KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N’CHU</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by the Author.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.07"> +<a href="#FIG.07">BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM +BRITISH OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF +DUNDEE</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Reginald Sheppard.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.08"> +<a href="#FIG.08">GENERAL GROBLER</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by the Author.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.09"> +<a href="#FIG.09">SPION KOP, WHERE BOERS CHARGED UP THE +HILLSIDE</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Reginald Sheppard.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.10"> +<a href="#FIG.10">PLAN OF BATTLEFIELD OF SANNASPOST</a> + +<p>(<i>Drawn by the Author under supervision of General +Christian De Wet.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.11"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page18">[18]</span> + + +<a href="#FIG.11">VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N’CHU</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by the Author.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.12"> +<a href="#FIG.12">THE AUTHOR, AND A BASUTO PONY WHICH ASSISTED +IN THE FIGHT AT SANNASPOST</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by T.F. Millard, New York.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.13"> +<a href="#FIG.13">CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO MAN CAPTURED +CANNON AFTER SANNASPOST</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by the Author.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.14"> +<a href="#FIG.14">COMMANDANT-GENERAL CHRISTIAN H. DE WET</a> + +<p>(<i>With Facsimile of his Signature.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.15"> +<a href="#FIG.15">GENERAL PETER DE WET</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by the Author.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.16"> +<a href="#FIG.16">GENERAL JOHN DE LA REY</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by the Author.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.17"> +<a href="#FIG.17">PRESIDENT KRUGER ADDRESSING AMERICAN +VOLUNTEERS</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by R. Steger.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.18"> +<a href="#FIG.18">BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Van Hoepen.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.19"> +<a href="#FIG.19">COLONEL JOHN E. BLAKE, OF THE IRISH BRIGADE</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Leo Weinthal.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.20"> +<a href="#FIG.20">MRS. GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Leo Weinthal.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.21"> +<a href="#FIG.21">MRS. OTTO KRANTZ, A BOER AMAZON</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by R. Steger.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.22"> +<a href="#FIG.22">MRS. COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Leo Weinthal, Pretoria.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.23"> +<a href="#FIG.23">GENERAL HENDRIK SNYMAN</a> +</td></tr> + +<tr><td class="toc-name" id="TOC.FIG.24"> +<a href="#FIG.24">FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR DUNDEE</a> + +<p>(<i>Photograph by Reginald Sheppard.</i>) +</p> +</td></tr> + +</table> +</div> + +<div id="MAIN" class="div1"> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page19">[19]</span> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter1">CHAPTER I</h2> +<h2> +THE WAY TO THE BOER COUNTRY +</h2> + +<p> +Immediately after war was declared between +Great Britain and the Boers of the +Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the two +South African republics became ostracised, in a +great measure, from the rest of the civilised world. +The cables and the great ocean steamship lines, +which connected South Africa with Europe and +America, were owned by British companies, and +naturally they were employed by the British +Government for its own purposes. Nothing +which might in any way benefit the Boers was +allowed to pass over these lines and, so far as it +was possible, the British Government attempted +to isolate the republics so that the outside world +could have no communication of any sort with +them. With the exception of a small strip of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page20">[20]</span> + +coast-land on the Indian ocean, the two republics +were completely surrounded by British territory, +and consequently it was not a difficult matter +for the great Empire to curtail the liberties of the +Boers to as great an extent as it was pleasing to +the men who conducted the campaign. The +small strip of coast-land, however, was the +property of a neutral nation, and, therefore, could +not be used for British purposes of stifling the +Boer countries, but the nation which “rules the +waves” exhausted every means to make the +Boers’ air-hole as small as possible by placing +a number of warships outside the entrance of +Delagoa Bay, and by establishing a blockade of +the port of Lorenzo Marques. +</p> + +<p> +Lorenzo Marques, in itself, was valueless to the +Boers, for it had always been nothing more than a +vampire feeding upon the Transvaal, but as an +outlet to the sea and as a haven for foreign ships +bearing men, arms, and encouragement it was +invaluable. In the hands of the Boers Delagoa +Bay would have been worse than useless, for the +warships could have taken possession of it and +sealed it tightly on the first day of the war, but +as a Portuguese possession it was the only + +<span class="pagenum" id="page21">[21]</span> + +friend that the Boers were able to find during +their long period of need. Without it, the Boers +would have been unable to hold any intercourse +with foreign countries, no envoys could have been +despatched, no volunteers could have entered the +country, and they would have been ignorant of +the opinion of the world—a factor in the brave +resistance against their enemy which was by no +means infinitesimal. Delagoa Bay was the Boers’ +one window through which they could look at +the world, and through which the world could +watch the brave struggle of the farmer-citizens of +the veld-republics. +</p> + +<p> +The Portuguese authorities at Delagoa Bay long +ago established a reputation for adroitness in +extracting revenues whenever and wherever it +was possible to find a stranger within their gates, +but the war afforded them such excellent opportunities +as they had never enjoyed before. Being +the gate of the Boer country was a humanitarian +privilege, but it also was a remunerative business, +and never since Vasco de Gama discovered the +port were so many choice facilities afforded for +increasing the revenue of the colony. Nor was +the Latin’s mind wanting in concocting schemes + +<span class="pagenum" id="page22">[22]</span> + +for filling the Portuguese coffers when the laws +were lax on the subject, for it was the simplest +arrangement to frame a regulation suitable for +every new condition that arose. The Portuguese +were willing to be the medium between the Boers +and the people of other parts of the earth, but they +asked for and received a large percentage of the +profits. +</p> + +<p> +When the mines of the Johannesburg gold district +were closed down, and the Portuguese heard +that they would no longer receive a compulsory +contribution of four shillings from every native who +crossed the border to work in the mines, the officials +felt uneasy on account of the great decrease in the +amount of public revenues, but it did not worry +them for any great length of time. They met the +situation by imposing a tax of eight shillings +upon every one of the thousands of natives who +returned from the mines to their homes in Portuguese +territory. About the same time the +<span lang="af" xml:lang="af" class="af">Uitlanders</span> from the Transvaal reached Lorenzo +Marques, and, in order to calm the Portuguese +mind, every one of the thousands of men and +women who took part in that exodus was compelled +to pay a transit tax, ranging from eight + +<span class="pagenum" id="page23">[23]</span> + +shillings to a sovereign, according to the size of +the tip tendered to the official. +</p> + +<p> +When the van of the foreign volunteers reached +the port there was a new situation to be dealt +with, and again the principle of “When in doubt +impose a tax” was satisfactorily employed. Men +who had just arrived in steamers, and who had +never seen Portuguese territory, were obliged to +secure a certificate, indicating that they had not +been inhabitants of the local jail during the +preceding six months; a certificate from the +consular representative of their country, showing +that they possessed good characters; another +from the Governor-General to show that they did +not purpose going into the Transvaal to carry +arms; a fourth from the local Transvaal consul +to indicate that he held no objections to the +traveller’s desire to enter the Boer country; and +one or two other passports equally weighty in +their bearing on the subject were necessary before +a person was able to leave the town. Each one +of these certificates was to be secured only upon +the payment of a certain number of thousand reis +and at an additional expenditure of time and +nervous energy, for none of the officials could speak + +<span class="pagenum" id="page24">[24]</span> + +a word of any language except Portuguese, and +all the applicants were men of other nationalities +and tongues. The expenditure in connection +with the certificates was more than a sovereign +for every person, and as there were thousands +of travellers into the Boer countries while the +war continued the revenues of the Government +were correspondingly great. To crown it all, the +Portuguese imposed the same tax upon all +travellers who came into the country from the +Transvaal with the intention of sailing to other +ports. The Government could not be charged +with favouritism in the matter of taxation, for +every man, woman, and child who stepped on +Portuguese soil was similarly treated. There was +no charge for entering the country, but the jail +yawned for him who refused to pay when +leaving it. +</p> + +<p> +Not unlike the patriots in Cape Town and +Durban, the hotel and shopkeepers of Lorenzo +Marques took advantage of the presence of many +strangers and made extraordinary efforts to secure +the residue of the money which did not fall into +the coffers of the Government. At the Cardoza +Hotel, the only establishment worthy of the name, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page25">[25]</span> + +a tax of a sovereign was levied for sleeping on a +bare floor; drivers of street cabs scorned any +amount less than a golden sovereign for carrying +one passenger to the consulates; lemonades were +two shillings each at the kiosks; and physicians +charged three pounds a call when travellers remained +in the town several days and contracted +the deadly coast-fever. At the Custom House +duties of ten shillings were levied upon foreign +flags, unless the officer was liberally tipped, in +which event it was not necessary to open the +luggage. It was a veritable harvest for every one +who chose to take advantage of the opportunities +offered, and there were but few who did not make +the foreigners their victims. +</p> + +<p> +The blockade by the British warships placed a +premium upon dishonesty, and of those who +gained most by it the majority were British subjects. +The vessels which succeeded in passing +the blockading warships were invariably consigned +to Englishmen, and without exception these were +unpatriotic enough to sell the supplies to agents +employed by the Transvaal Government. Just +as Britons sold guns and ammunition to the Boers +before the war, these men of the same nation made + +<span class="pagenum" id="page26">[26]</span> + +exorbitant profits on supplies which were necessary +to the burgher army. Lorenzo Marques was +filled with men who were taking advantage of +the state of affairs to grow wealthy by means +which were not legitimate, and the leaders in +almost every enterprise of that nature were British +subjects, although there were not a few Germans, +Americans, and Frenchmen who succeeded in +making the fortunes they deserved for remaining +in such a horrible pest-hole as Lorenzo Marques. +</p> + +<p> +The railroad from Lorenzo Marques to Ressana +Garcia, at the Transvaal border, was interesting +only from the fact that it was more historical than +comfortable for travelling purposes. As the train +passed through the dry, dusty, and uninteresting +country, which was even too poor and unhealthy +for the blacks, the mind speculated upon the +proposition whether the Swiss judges who decided +the litigation concerning the road would have +spent ten years in making a decision if they had +been compelled to conduct their deliberation within +sight of the railway. The land adjoining the railroad +was level, well timbered and well watered, +and the vast tracts of fine grass give the impression +that it might be an excellent country for farming, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page27">[27]</span> + +but it was in the belt known as the fever district, +and white men avoided it as they would a cholera-infested +city. Shortly before the train arrived at +the English river several lofty white-stone pyramids +on either side of the railway were passed, and the +Transvaal was reached. A long iron bridge spanning +the river was crossed, and the train reached +the first station in the Boer country, Koomatipoort. +</p> + +<p> +Courteous Boer officials entered the train and +requested the passengers to disembark with all their +luggage, for the purpose of custom-examination. +No gratuities were accepted there, as at Lorenzo +Marques, and nothing escaped the vigilance of the +bearded inspectors. Trunks and luggage were +carefully scrutinised, letters read line by line and +word for word; revolvers and ammunition +promptly confiscated if not declared; and even +the clothing of the passengers was faithfully +examined. Passports were closely investigated, +and, when all appeared to be thoroughly satisfactory, +a white cross was chalked on the boots +of the passengers, and they were free to proceed +farther inland. The field-cornet of the district +was one of the few Boers at the station, and he +performed the duties of his office by introducing + +<span class="pagenum" id="page28">[28]</span> + +himself to certain passengers whom he believed to +be foreign volunteers, and offering them gratuitous +railway tickets to Pretoria. No effort was made +to conceal the fact that the volunteers were welcome +in the country, and nothing was left undone +to make the foreigners realise that their presence +was appreciated. +</p> + +<p> +After Koomatipoort was passed the train crept +slowly into the mountainous district, where huge +peaks pierced the clouds and gigantic boulders +overhung the tracks. Narrow defiles stretched +away in all directions and the sounds of cataracts +in the Crocodile River flowing alongside the +iron path drowned the roar of the train. Flowering, +vari-coloured plants, huge cacti, and thick +tropical vegetation lined the banks of the river, +and occasionally the thatched roof of a negro’s hut +peered out over the undergrowth, to indicate that +a few human beings chose that wild region for their +abode. Hour after hour the train crept along +narrow ledges up the mountains’ sides, then dashed +down declines and out upon small level plains +which, with their surrounding and towering eminences, +had the appearance of vast green bowls. +In that impregnable region lay the small town + +<span class="pagenum" id="page29">[29]</span> + +of Machadodorp, which, later, became the capital +of the Transvaal. A few houses of corrugated +iron, a pretty railway-station, and much scenery, +serves as a worthy description of the town at the +junction of the purposed railway to the gold-fields +of Lydenberg. +</p> + +<p> +After a journey of twelve hours through the +fever country the train reached the western limit +of that belt and rested for the night in a small, +green, cup-shaped valley bearing the descriptive +name of Waterval Onder—“under the waterfall.” +The weary passengers found more corrugated iron +buildings and the best hotel in South Africa. The +host, Monsieur Mathis, a French Boer, and his +excellent establishment came as a breath of fresh +air to a stifling traveller on the desert, and long +will they live in the memories of the thousands of +persons who journeyed over the railroad during +the war. After the monotonous fare of an east-coast +steamer and the mythical meals of a Lorenzo +Marques hotel, the roast venison, the fresh milk +and eggs of Mathis were as welcome as the odour +of the roses that filled the valley. +</p> + +<p> +The beginning of the second day’s journey was +characterised by a ride up and along the sides of a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page30">[30]</span> + +magnificent gorge through which the waters of the +Crocodile River rushed from the lofty plateau of +the high veld to the wildernesses of the fever +country and filled that miniature South African +Switzerland with myriads of rainbows. A long, +curved, and inclined tunnel near the top of the +mountain led to the undulating plains of the +Transvaal—a marvellously rapid transition from +a region filled with nature’s wildest panoramas +to one that contained not even a tree or rock or +cliff to relieve the monotony of the landscape. +On the one side of this natural boundary line +was an immense territory every square mile of +which contained mountain passes which a handful +of Boers could hold against an invading army; +on the other side there was hardly a rock behind +which a burgher rifleman could conceal himself. +Here herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, instead +of wild beasts, sped away from the roar of the +train; here there was the daub and wattle cottage +of the farmer instead of the thatched hut of the +native savage. +</p> + +<p> +Small towns of corrugated iron and mud-brick +homes and shops appeared at long intervals on +the veld; grass-fires displayed the presence of the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page31">[31]</span> + +Boer farmer with his herds, and the long ox-teams +slowly rolling over the plain signified that not all +the peaceful pursuits of a small people at war with +a great nation had been abandoned. The coal-mines +at Belfast, with their towering stacks and +clouds of smoke, gave the first evidence of the +country’s wondrous underground wealth, and then +farther on in the journey came the small city of +Middleburg with its slate-coloured corrugated iron +roofs in marked contrast to the green veld grass +surrounding it. There appeared armed and bandoliered +Boers, prepared to join their countrymen in +the field, with wounded friends and sad-faced +women to bid farewell to them. While the train +lay waiting at the station small commandos of +burghers came dashing through the dusty streets, +bustled their horses into trucks at the rear end of +the passenger train, and in a few moments they +were mingling with the foreign volunteers in the +coaches. Grey-haired Boers gravely bade adieu +to their wives and children, lovers embraced their +weeping sweethearts, and the train moved on +toward Pretoria and the battlefields where these +men were to risk their lives for the life of their +country. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page32">[32]</span> + + +<p> +Historic ground, where Briton and Boer had +fought before, came in view. Bronkhorst Spruit, +where a British commander led more than one +hundred of his men to death in 1880, lay to the +left of the road in a little wooded ravine. Farther +on toward Pretoria appeared rocky <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span>, where +afterwards the Boers, retreating from the capital +city, gathered their disheartened forces, and +resisted the advance of the enemy. Eerste +Fabriken was a hamlet hardly large enough to +make an impression upon the memory, but it +marked a battlefield where the burghers fought +desperately. Children were then gathering peaches +from the trees, whose roots drank the blood of +heroes months afterwards. Several miles farther +on were the hills on the outskirts of Pretoria, +where, in the war of 1881, the Boer laagers sent +forth men to encompass the city and to prevent +the British besieged in it from escaping. It was +ground hallowed in Boer history since the early +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">voortrekkers</span> crossed the ridges of the Magaliesberg +and sought protection from the savage +hordes of Moselekatse in the fertile valley of +the Aapjes River. +</p> + +<p> +Pretoria in war-time was most peaceful. In the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page33">[33]</span> + +days before the commencement of hostilities it was +a city of peace as contrasted with the metropolis, +Johannesburg, and its warring citizens, but when +cannon were roaring on the frontier, Pretoria itself +seemed to escape even the echoes. After the first +commandos had departed the city streets were +deserted, and only women and children gathered +at the bulletin boards to learn the fate of the +burgher armies. The stoeps of houses and cottages +were deserted of the bearded yeomanry, and +the halls of the Government buildings resounded +only with the tread of those who were not old or +strong enough to bear arms. The long ox-waggons +which in former times were so common +in the streets were not so frequently to be seen, +but whenever one of them rolled toward the +market square, it was a Boer woman who cracked +the raw-hide whip over the heads of the oxen. +Pretoria was the same quaint city as of old, but it +lacked the men who were its most distinguishing +feature. The black-garbed Volksraad members, +the officials, and the old retired farmers, who were +wont to discuss politics on the stoeps of the +capitol and the Transvaal Hotel were absent. +Inquiries concerning them could be addressed + +<span class="pagenum" id="page34">[34]</span> + +only to women and children, and the replies +invariably were: “They are on commando,” or, +“They were killed in battle.” +</p> + +<p> +The scenes of activity in the city were few in +number, and they were chiefly in connection with +the arrival of foreign volunteers and the transit +of burgher commandos on the way to the field. +The Grand Hotel and the Transvaal Hotel, the +latter of which was conducted by the Government +for the temporary entertainment of the volunteers, +were constantly filled with throngs of foreigners, +comprising soldiers of fortune, Red Cross delegations, +visitors, correspondents, and contractors, +and almost every language except that of the +Boers could be heard in the corridors. Occasionally +a Boer burgher on leave of absence from the +front appeared at the hotels for a respite from +army rations, or to attend the funeral of a comrade +in arms, but the foreigners were always predominant. +Across the street, in the War Department, +there were busy scenes when the volunteers +applied for their equipments, and frequently there +were stormy actions when the European tastes of +the men were offended by the equipment offered +by the Department officials. Men who desired + +<span class="pagenum" id="page35">[35]</span> + +swords and artistic paraphernalia for themselves +and their horses felt slighted when the scant but +serviceable equipment of a Boer burgher was +offered to them, but sulking could not remedy +the matter, and usually they were content to +accept whatever was given to them. Former +officers in European armies, noblemen and even +professional men were constantly arriving in the +city, and all seemed to be of the same opinion +that commissions in the Boer army could be had +for the asking. Some of these had their minds +disabused with good grace, and went to the field +as common burghers; others sulked for several +weeks, but finally joined a commando, and a +few returned to their homes without having heard +the report of a gun. For those who chose to +remain behind and enjoy the peacefulness of +Pretoria, there was always enough of novelty +and excitement among the foreigners to compensate +partly for missing the events in the +field. +</p> + +<p> +The army contractors make their presence felt +in all countries which are engaged in war, and +Pretoria was filled with them. They were in the +railway trains running to and from Lorenzo + +<span class="pagenum" id="page36">[36]</span> + +Marques; in the hotel corridors, in all the Government +departments, and everywhere in the city. A +few of the naturalised Boers, who were most denunciatory +of the British before the war and urged +their fellow-countrymen to resort to arms, succeeded +in evading the call to the field and were +most energetic in supplying bread and supplies +to the Government. Nor was their patriotism +dimmed by many reverses of the army, and they +selfishly demanded that the war should be continued +indefinitely. Europeans and Americans +who partook of the protection of the Government +in times of peace, were transformed by war into +grasping, insinuating contractors who revelled in +the country’s misfortune. Englishmen, unworthy +of the name, enriched themselves by furnishing +sinews of war to their country’s enemy, and in +order to secure greater wealth sought to prolong +the war by cheering disheartened Boers and +expressing faith in their final success. The +chambers of the Government building were filled +with men who had horses, waggons, flour, forage +and clothing to offer at exorbitant prices, and in +thousands of instances the embarrassed Government +was obliged to pay whatever sums were + +<span class="pagenum" id="page37">[37]</span> + +demanded. Hand-in-hand with the contractors +were the speculators who were taking advantage +of the absence of the leading officials to secure +valuable concessions, mining claims, and even +gold mines. Before the war, when hordes of +speculators and concession-seekers thronged the +city, the scene was pathetic enough, but when all +shrewd Raad members were at the front and unable +to guard their country’s interests the picture +was dark and pitiful. +</p> + +<p> +Pretoria seemed to have but one mood during +the war. It was never deeply despondent nor gay. +There was a sort of funereal atmosphere throughout +the city, whether its residents were rejoicing +over a Spion Kop or suffering from the dejection +of a Paardeberg. It was the same grim throng of +old men, women, and children who watched the +processions of prisoners of war and attended the +funerals at the quaint little Dutch church in the +centre of the city. The finest victories of the army +never changed the appearance of the city nor the +mood of its inhabitants. There were no parades +nor shouting when a victory was announced, and +there was the same stoical indifference when the +news of a bitter defeat was received. A victory + +<span class="pagenum" id="page38">[38]</span> + +was celebrated in the Dutch church by the singing +of psalms, and a defeat by the offering of prayers +for the success of the army. +</p> + +<p> +The thousands of British subjects who were +allowed to remain in the Transvaal, being of a less +phlegmatic race, were not so calm when a victory +of their nation’s army was announced, and when +the news of Cronje’s surrender reached them they +celebrated the event with almost as much gusto as +if they had not been in the enemy’s country. A +fancy dress ball was held in Johannesburg in +honour of the event, and a champagne dinner was +given within a few yards of the Government buildings +in Pretoria, but a few days later all the celebrants +were transported across the border by order +of the Government. +</p> + +<p> +One of the pathetic features of Pretoria was +the Boers’ expression of faith in foreign mediation +or intervention. At the outset of hostilities +it seemed unreasonable that any European nation +or America would risk a war with Great Britain +for the purpose of assisting the Boers, yet there +was hardly one burgher who did not cling steadfastly +to the opinion that the war would be ended +in such a manner. The idea had evidently been + +<span class="pagenum" id="page39">[39]</span> + +rooted in their mind that Russia would take +advantage of Great Britain’s entanglement in +South Africa to occupy Herat and Northern +India, and when a newspaper item to that effect +appeared it was gravely presumed to indicate the +beginning of the end. Some over-zealous Irishmen +assured the Boers that, in the event of a +South African war, their fellow-countrymen in the +United States would invade Canada and involve +Great Britain in an imbroglio over the Atlantic in +order to save British America. For a few weeks +the chimera buoyed up the Boers, but when nothing +more than an occasional newspaper rumour was +heard concerning it the rising in Ashanti was then +looked upon as being the hoped-for boon. The +departure of the three delegates to Europe and +America was an encouraging sign to them, and it +was firmly believed that they would be able to +induce France, Russia, or America to offer mediation +or intervention. The two Boer newspapers, +the Pretoria <i lang="af" xml:lang="af">Volksstem</i> and the Johannesburg +<i>Standard and Diggers’ News</i>, dwelt at length +upon every favourable token of foreign assistance, +however trifling, and attempted to strengthen +hopes which at hardly any time seemed capable + +<span class="pagenum" id="page40">[40]</span> + +of realisation. It was not until after the war had +been in progress for more than six months that +the Boers saw the futility of placing faith in +foreign aid, and afterwards they fought like +stronger men. +</p> + +<p> +The consuls who represented the foreign Governments +at Pretoria, and through whom the Boers +made representations for peace, were an exceptionally +able body of men, and their duties were +as varied as they were arduous. The French and +German consuls were busied with the care of the +vast mining interests of their countrymen, besides +the partial guardianship of the hundreds of French +and German volunteers in the Boer army. They +were called upon to entertain noblemen as well as +bankrupts; to bandage wounds and to bury the +dead; to find lost relatives and to care for widows +and orphans. In times of peace the duties of a +consul in Pretoria were not light, but during hostilities +they were tenfold heavier. To the American +consul, Adelbert S. Hay, and his associate, John G. +Coolidge, fell more work than to all the others combined. +Besides caring for the American interests +in the country, Consul Hay was charged with the +guardianship of the six thousand British prisoners + +<span class="pagenum" id="page41">[41]</span> + +of war in the city as well as with the care of the +financial interests of British citizens. Every one of +the thousands of letters to and from the prisoners +was examined in the American Consulate so that +they might carry with them no breach of neutrality; +almost twenty thousand pounds, as well +as tons of luxuries, were distributed by him to +the prisoners; while the letters and cablegrams +concerning the health and whereabouts of soldiers +which reached him every week were far in excess +of the number of communications which arrived +at the Consulate in a year of peaceful times. +Consul Hay was in good favour with the Boer +Government notwithstanding his earnest efforts +to perform his duties with regard to the British +prisoners and interests, and of the many consuls +who have represented the United States in South +Africa none performed his duties more intelligently +or with more credit to his country. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most interesting and important events +in Pretoria before the British occupation of the +city was the meeting of the Volksraads on May 7th. +It was a gathering of the warriors who survived the +war which they themselves had brought about +seven months before, and, although the enemy to + +<span class="pagenum" id="page42">[42]</span> + +whom they had thrown down the gauntlet was at +their gates, they were as resolute and determined +as on that October day when they voted to pit the +Boer farmer against the British lion. The seats of +many of those who took part in that memorable +meeting were filled with palms and evergreens to +mark the patriots’ deaths, but the vierkleur and +the cause remained to spur the living. Generals, +commandants, and burghers, no longer in the grimy +costumes of the battlefield, but in the black garb +of the legislator, filled the circles of chairs; bandoliered +burghers, consuls and military attachés in +spectacular uniform, business men, and women +with tear-stained cheeks filled the auditorium; +while on the official benches were the heads of +departments and the Executive Council, State +Secretary Reitz and General Schalk Burger. The +Chairman of the Raad, General Lucas Meyer, fresh +from the battlefield, attracted the attention of the +throng by announcing the arrival of the President. +Spectators, Raad members, officials, all rose to their +feet, and Paul Kruger, the Lion of Rustenberg, +the Afrikander captain, entered the Chamber and +occupied a seat of honour. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER" id="FIG.02"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.02"><img src="images/image002.jpg" +title="GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER" +alt="GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER" +width="423" height="601" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page43">[43]</span> + + +<p> +Grave affairs occupied the attention of the +country and there were many pressing matters to +be adjusted, was the burden of the meeting, but +the most important work was the defence of the +country, and all the members were as a unit that +their proper places were to be found with the +burghers in the field. There was no talk of ending +the war, or of surrender; the President leading in +the proposition to continue hostilities until a conclusion +successful to the Boer cause was attained. +“Shall we lose courage?” he demanded. “Never! +Never!! Never!!!” and then added reverently: +“May the people and the officers, animated and +inspired by a Higher Power, realising their duty, +not only to those brave ones who have already +sacrificed their lives for their Fatherland, but also +to posterity that expects a free country, continue +and persevere in this war to the end.” With these +words of their aged chieftain engraved on their +hearts to strengthen their resolution the members +of the Volksraads doffed the garb of legislators +and returned to their commandos to inspire them +with new zeal and determination. +</p> + +<p> +After that memorable meeting of the Volksraads +Pretoria again assumed the appearance of a city of +peace, but the rapid approach of the forces of the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page44">[44]</span> + +enemy soon transformed it into a scene of desperation +and panic. Men with drawn faces dashed +through the city to assist their hard-pressed +countrymen in the field; tearful women with +children on their arms filled the churches with +their moans and prayers; deserters fleeing homeward +exaggerated fresh disasters and increased +the tension of the populace—tears and terror +prevailed almost everywhere. Railway stations +were filled with throngs intent on escaping from +the coming disaster, commandos of breathless and +blood-stained burghers entered the city, and soon +the voice of the conquerors’ cannon reverberated +among the hills and valleys of the capital. Above +the noise and din of the threatened city rose the +calm assurance of Paul Kruger: “Have good cheer, +God will be with our people in the end.” +</p> +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page45">[45]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter2">CHAPTER II</h2> +<h2> +FROM FARM TO BATTLEFIELD +</h2> + +<p> +In the olden days, before men with strange +languages and customs entered their country +and disturbed the serenity of their life, the Boers +were accustomed to make annual trips to the +north in search of game, and to exterminate the +lions which periodically attacked their flocks and +herds. It was customary for relatives to form +parties, and these trekked with their long ox-waggons +far into the northern Transvaal, and +oftentimes into the wilderness beyond the Zambesi. +Women and children accompanied the expeditions +and remained behind in the ox-waggons while the +men rode away into the bush to search for buck, +giraffe, and lion. Hardy men and women these +were who braved the dangers of wild beasts and +the terrors of the fever country, yet these treks + +<span class="pagenum" id="page46">[46]</span> + +to the north were as certain annual functions as +the Nachtmaals in the churches. Men who went +into the wild bush to hunt for the lions, which had +been their only unconquerable enemy for years, +learned to know no fear, and with their wives and +children formed as hardy a race as virgin soil ever +produced. With these pioneers it was not a +matter of great pride to have shot a lion, but it +was considered a disgrace to have missed one. +To husband their sparse supplies of ammunition +was their chief object, and to waste a shot by +missing the target was to become the subject of +good-natured derision and ridicule. Fathers, sons, +and grandsons entered the bush together, and +when there was a lion or other wild beast to be +stalked the amateur hunter was initiated into the +mysteries of backwoodsmanship by his experienced +elders. Consequently the Boers became a nation +of proficient lion-hunters, and efficiently ridded +their country of the pest which continually +threatened their safety, the safety of their families +and that of their possessions of live-stock. +</p> + +<p> +In later years, when the foreigner who bought +his farms and searched for the wealth hidden on +them became so numerous that the Boer appeared + +<span class="pagenum" id="page47">[47]</span> + +to be an unwelcome guest in his own house, the +old-time lion-hunter had foundation for believing +that a new enemy had suddenly arisen. The Boer +attempted to placate the new enemy by means +which failed. Afterward a bold but unsuccessful +inroad was made into the country for the purpose +of relieving him of the necessity of ruling it. +Thereupon the old-time lion-fighting spirit arose +within the Boer, and he began to prepare for +future hunting expeditions. He stocked his +arsenals with the best guns and ammunition the +world produced, and he secured instructors to +teach him the most modern and approved +methods of fighting the new-style lion. He +erected forts and stockades in which he might +take refuge in the event that the lions should +prove too strong and numerous, and he made +laws and regulations so that there might be no +delay when the proper moment arrived for attacking +the enemy. While these matters were being +perfected further efforts were made to conciliate +the enemy, but they proved futile, and it became +evident that the farmer and the lion of 1899 were +as implacable enemies as the farmer and lion of +1850. The lion of 1899 believed his cause to be + +<span class="pagenum" id="page48">[48]</span> + +as just as did the lion of half a century before, +while the farmer felt that the lion, having been +created by Nature, had a just claim upon Nature +and her works for support, but desired that sustenance +should be sought from other parts of +Nature’s stores. He insisted, moreover, if the lion +wished to remain on the plantation that he should +not question the farmer’s ownership nor assume +that the lion was an animal of a higher and finer +grade than the farmer. +</p> + +<p> +A meeting between the representatives of the +lions and the farmers led to no better understanding; +in fact when, several days afterward, +all the farmers gathered at the historic Paardekraal +monument, they were unanimously of the +opinion that the lion should be driven out of the +country, or at least subdued to such an extent +that peace might come and remain. Not since +the days of 1877, when, at the same spot, each +Boer, holding a stone above his head, vowed to +shed his last drop of blood in defence of his +country, was the community of farmers so indignant +and excited. The aged President himself, +fresh from the conference with the lions, urged +his countrymen to prevent a conflict but to fight + +<span class="pagenum" id="page49">[49]</span> + +valiantly for their independence and rights if the +necessity arose. Piet Joubert, who bore marks +of a former conflict with the enemy, wept as he +narrated the efforts which had been made to +pacify the lions, and finally expressed the belief +that every farmer in the country would yield his +life’s blood rather than surrender the rights for +which their fathers had bled and died. When +other leaders had spoken, the picturesque custom +of renewing the oath of fealty to the country’s +flag was observed, as it had been every fifth year +since the days of Majuba Hill. Ten thousand +farmers uncovered their heads, raised their eyes +toward the sky and repeated the Boer oath:— +</p> + +<blockquote> +<p> +“In the presence of God Almighty, who searcheth +the hearts of men, from our homes in the +Transvaal we have journeyed to meet again, +Free burghers, we ask His mercy and trust +in His grace and bind ourselves and our +children in a solemn oath to be faithful to +one another and to stand by one another +in repelling our enemy with our last drop +of life-blood. So truly help us, God +Almighty.” +</p> +</blockquote> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page50">[50]</span> + + +<p> +Ten thousand voices then joined in singing the +national anthem and a psalm, and the memorable +meeting at this fount of patriotism was closed +with a prayer and a benediction. +</p> + +<p> +After this meeting it was uncertain for some +months which should attack first; both were +preparing as rapidly as possible for the conflict, +and the advantage seemed to lie with the one +who would strike first. The leaders of the lions +seemed to have forgotten that they had lion-hunters +as their opponents, and the farmers +neglected to take into account the fact that the +lion tribe was exceedingly numerous and spread +over the whole earth. When the leading farmers +met in conclave at Pretoria and heard the demands +of the lions they laughed at them, sent an ultimatum +in reply, and started for the frontier to join +those of their countrymen who had gone there +days before to watch that no body of lions should +make another surreptitious attack upon their +country. Another community of farmers living +to the south, who had also been harassed by the +lions for many years and felt that their future +safety lay in the subjugation of the lion tribe, +joined their neighbours in arms and went forth + +<span class="pagenum" id="page51">[51]</span> + +with them to the greatest lion-hunt that South +Africa has ever had. +</p> + +<p> +The enemy and all other men called it war, but +to the Boers it was merely a hunt for lions such +as they had engaged in oftentimes before. +</p> + +<p> +The old Boer farmer hardly needed the proclamation +from Pretoria to tell him that there was to +be a lion-hunt, and that he should prepare for it +immediately. He had known that the hunt was +inevitable long before October 11, 1899, and he +had made preparations for it months and even +years before. When the official notification from +the Commandant-General reached him through +the field-cornet of the district in which he lived, he +was prepared in a few minutes to start for the +frontier where the British lions were to be found. +The new Mauser rifle, which the Government had +given him a year or two before, was freshly oiled +and its working order inspected. The bandolier, +filled with bright new cartridges, was swung over +his shoulder, and then, after putting a Testament +into his coat pocket, he was ready to proceed. +He despised a uniform of any kind as smacking +of anti-republican ideas and likely to attract the +attention of the enemy. The same corduroy or + +<span class="pagenum" id="page52">[52]</span> + +mole-skin trousers, dark coat, wide-brimmed hat, +and home-made shoes which he was accustomed +to wear in every-day life on the farm were good +enough for a hunting expedition, and he needed +and yearned for nothing better. A uniform would +have caused him to feel uneasy and out of place, +and when lions were the game he wanted to be +thoroughly comfortable so that his arm and aim +might be steady. His <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">vrouw</span>, who was filling a +linen sack with bread, biltong, and coffee to be +consumed on his journey to the hunting grounds, +may have taken the opportunity while he was +cleaning his rifle to sew a rosette of the vierkleur +of the Republic on his hat, or, remembering the +custom observed in the old-time wars against the +natives, may have found the fluffy brown tail of a +meerkatz and fixed it on the upturned brim of his +grimy hat. When these few preparations were +concluded the Kafir servant brought his master’s +horse and fixed to the front of the saddle a small +roll containing a blanket and a mackintosh. To +another part of the saddle he strapped a small +black kettle to be used for the preparation of the +lion-hunter’s only luxury, coffee, and then the list +of impedimenta was complete. The horseman who + +<span class="pagenum" id="page53">[53]</span> + +brought the summons to go to the frontier had +hardly reached the neighbouring farmhouse when +the Boer lion-hunter, uniformed, outfitted, and +armed, was on his horse’s back and ready for any +duty at any place. With a rifle, bandolier, and a +horse the Boer felt as if he were among kindred +spirits, and nothing more was necessary to complete +his temporal happiness. The horse is a part +of the Boer hunter, and he might as well have +gone to the frontier without a rifle as to go in the +capacity of a foot soldier. The Boer is the modern +Centaur, and therein is found an explanation for +part of his success in hunting. +</p> + +<p> +When once the Boer left his home he became an +army unto himself. He needed no one to care for +himself and his horse, nor were the leaders of the +army obliged to issue myriads of orders for his +guidance. He had learned long before that he +should meet the other hunters of his ward at a +certain spot in case there was a call to arms, and +thither he went as rapidly as his pony could carry +him. When he arrived at the meeting-place he +found all his neighbours and friends gathered in +groups and discussing the situation. Certain ones +of them had brought with them big white-tented + +<span class="pagenum" id="page54">[54]</span> + +ox-waggons for conveying ammunition, commissariat +stores, and such extra luggage as some +might wish to carry; and these were sent ahead +as soon as the field-cornet, the military leader of +the ward, learned that all his men had arrived from +their homes. The individual hunters then formed +what was called a commando, whether it consisted +of fifteen or fifty men, and proceeded in a body to +a second pre-arranged meeting-place, where all the +ward-commandos of a certain district were asked +to congregate. When all these commandos had +arrived in one locality, they fell under the authority +of the commandant who had been elected to that +post by the burghers at the preceding election. +This official had received his orders directly from +the Commandant-General, and but little time was +consumed in disseminating them to the burghers +through the various field-cornets. After all the +ward-commandos had arrived, the district-commando +was set in motion toward that part of the +frontier where its services were required; and a +most unwarlike spectacle it presented as it rolled +along over the muddy, slippery veld. In the van +were the huge, lumbering waggons with hordes of +hullabalooing natives cracking their long raw-hide + +<span class="pagenum" id="page55">[55]</span> + +whips and urging the sleek, long-horned oxen forward +through the mud. Following the waggon-train +came the cavalcade of armed lion-hunters, grim +and determined-looking enough from a distance, +but most peaceful and inoffensive when once they +understood the stranger’s motives. No order or +discipline was visible in the commando on the +march, and if the rifles and bandoliers had not +appeared so prominently it might readily have +been mistaken for a party of Nachtmaal celebrants +on the way to Pretoria. Now and then some +youths emerged from the crowd and indulged +in an impromptu horse-race, only to return and +receive a chiding from their elders for wasting +their horses’ strength unnecessarily. Occasionally +the keen eyes of a rider spied a buck in the distance, +and then several of the lion-hunters sped obliquely +off the track and replenished the commando larder +with much smaller game than was the object of +their expedition. +</p> + +<p> +If the commando came from a district far from +the frontier, it proceeded to the railway station +nearest to the central meeting-place, and then +embarked for the front. No extraordinary preparations +were necessary for the embarking of a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page56">[56]</span> + +large commando, nor was much time lost before +the hunters were speeding towards their destination. +Every man placed his own horse in a cattle-car, +his saddle, bridle, and haversack in the +passenger-coach, and then assisted in hoisting +the cumbersome ox-waggons on flat-top trucks. +There were no specially deputised men to entrain +the horses, others to load the waggons, and still +others to be subtracted from the fighting strength +of the nation by attending to such detail duties as +require the services of hundreds of men in other +armies. +</p> + +<p> +After the burghers were entrained and the long +commando train was set in motion the most +fatiguing part of the campaign was before them. +To ride on a South African railway is a disagreeable +duty in times of peace, but in war-times, when +trains were long and overcrowded, and the rate of +progress never higher than fifteen miles an hour, +then all other campaigning duties were pleasurable +enjoyments. The majority of burghers, unaccustomed +to journeying in railway trains, relished the +innovation and managed to make merry even +though six of them, together with all their saddles +and personal luggage, were crowded into one + +<span class="pagenum" id="page57">[57]</span> + +compartment. The singing of hymns occupied +much of their time on the journey, and when they +tired of this they played practical jokes upon one +another and amused themselves by leaning out of +the windows and jeering at the men who were +guarding the railway bridges and culverts. At +the stations they grasped their coffee-pots and +rushed to the locomotive to secure hot water with +which to prepare their beverage. It seldom +happened that any Boer going to the front +carried any liquor with him and, although the +delays and vexations of the journey were sufficiently +irritating to serve as an excuse, drunkenness +practically never occurred. Genuine good-fellowship +prevailed among them, and no quarrelling +was to be observed. It seemed as if every +one of them was striving to live the ideal life +portrayed in the Testament which they read +assiduously scores of times every day. Whether +a train was delayed an hour at a siding or whether +it stopped so suddenly that all were thrown from +their seats, there was no profane language, but +usually jesting and joking instead. Little discomforts +which would cause an ordinary American +or European soldier to use volumes of profanity + +<span class="pagenum" id="page58">[58]</span> + +were passed by without notice or comment by +these psalm-singing Boers, and inconveniences of +greater moment, like the disarrangement of the +commissariat along the route, caused only slight +remonstrances from them. An angry man was as +rarely seen as one who cursed, and more rare than +either was an intoxicated one. +</p> + +<p> +Few of the men were given to boasting of the +valour they would display in warfare or of their +abilities in marksmanship. They had no battle-cry +of revenge like “Remember the <i>Maine!</i>” or +“Avenge Majuba!” except it was the motto: +“For God, Country, and Independence!” which +many bore on the bands of their hats and on the +stocks of their rifles. Very occasionally one +boasted of the superiority of the Boer, and still +more rarely would one be heard to set three +months as the limit required to conquer the +British army. The name of Jameson, the raider, +was frequently heard, but always in a manner +which might have led one unacquainted with +recent Transvaal history to believe that he was +a patron-saint of the Republic. It was not a cry +of “Remember Jameson” for the wrongs he committed +but rather a plea to honour him for having + +<span class="pagenum" id="page59">[59]</span> + +placed the Republic on its guard against the +dangers which they believed threatened it from +beyond its borders. It was frequently suggested, +when his name was mentioned, that after the war +a monument should be erected to him because +he had given them warning and that they had +profited by the warning to the extent that they +had armed themselves thoroughly. Seldom was +any boasting concerning the number of the enemy +that would fall to Boer bullets; instead there was +a tone of sorrow when they spoke of the soldiers +of the Queen who would die on the field of battle +while fighting for a cause concerning the justice or +injustice of which the British soldier could not +speak. +</p> + +<p> +After the commando-train reached its destination +the burghers again took charge of their own +horses and conveyances, and in even less time than +it required to place them on the train they were +unloaded and ready to proceed to the point where +the generals needed their assistance. The Boer was +always considerate of his horse, and it became a +custom to delay for several hours after leaving the +train, in order that the animals might feed and +recover from the fatigues of the journey before + +<span class="pagenum" id="page60">[60]</span> + +starting out on a trek over the veld. After the +horses had been given an opportunity to rest, the +order to “upsaddle” came from the commandant, +and then the procession, with the ox-waggons in +the van, was again formed. The regular army +order was then established, scouts were sent ahead +to determine the location of the enemy, and the +officers for the first time appeared to lead their +men in concerted action against the opposing +forces. To call the Boer force an army was to +add unwarranted elasticity to the word, for it had +but one quality in common with such armed forces +as Americans or Europeans are accustomed to call +by that name. The Boer army fought with guns +and gunpowder, but it had no discipline, no drills, +no forms, no standards, and not even a roll-call. +It was an enlarged edition of the hunting parties +which a quarter-century ago went into the Zoutpansberg +in search of game—it was a massive +aggregation of lion-hunters. +</p> + +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page61">[61]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter3">CHAPTER III</h2> +<h2> +THE COMPOSITION OF THE BOER ARMY +</h2> + +<p> +A visitor in one of the laagers in Natal +once spoke of a Boer burgher as a “soldier.” +A Boer from the Wakkerstroom district interrupted +his speech and said there were no Boer +soldiers. “If you want us to understand concerning +whom you are talking,” he continued, +“you must call us burghers or farmers. Only +the English have soldiers.” It was so with all +the Boers; none understood the term soldier as +applying to anybody except their enemy, while +many considered it an insult to be called a soldier, +as it implied, to a certain extent, that they were +fighting for hire. In times of peace the citizen of +the Boer republics was called a burgher, and when +he took up arms and went to war he received no +special title to distinguish him from the man who + +<span class="pagenum" id="page62">[62]</span> + +remained at home. “My burghers,” Paul Kruger +was wont to call them before the war, and when +they came forth from battle they were content +when he said, “My burghers are doing well.” +The Boers were proud of their citizenship, and +when their country was in danger they went forth +as private citizens and not as bold warriors to +protect it. +</p> + +<p> +There was a law in the two republics which +made it incumbent upon all burghers between the +ages of sixteen and sixty to join a commando and +to go to war when it was necessary. There was no +law, however, which prevented a man, of whatever +youthfulness or age, to assist in the defence of his +country, and in consequence the Boer commandos +contained almost the entire male population between +the ages of thirteen and eighty years. In +peaceful times the Boer farmer rarely travelled +away from his home unless he was accompanied +by his family, and he would have felt the pangs +of homesickness if he had not been continually +surrounded by his wife and children. When the +war began it was not an easy matter for the +burgher to leave his home for an indefinite period, +and in order that he might not be lonely he took + +<span class="pagenum" id="page63">[63]</span> + +with him all his sons who were strong enough to +carry rifles. The Boer youth develops into manhood +early in life in the mild South African +climate, and the boy of twelve and thirteen years +is the equal in physical development of the +American or European youth of sixteen or seventeen. +He was accustomed to live on the open +veld and hunting with his elders, and, when he +saw that all his former companions were going to +war, he begged for permission to accompany the +commando. The Boer boy of twelve does not wear +knickerbocker trousers as the youth of like age in +many other countries, but he is clothed exactly like +his father, and, being almost as tall, his youthful +appearance is not so noticeable when he is among a +large number of his countrymen. Scores of boys +not more than twelve years were in the laagers in +Natal, and hundreds of less age than the minimum +prescribed by the military law were in every +commando in the country. When Ladysmith was +still besieged one youth of eleven years was +conspicuous in the Standerton laager. He seemed +to be a mere child, yet he had the patriotism of +ten men. He followed his father everywhere, +whether into battle or to the spring for water. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="BATTLEFIELD OF COLENSO, DECEMBER 15, 1899" id="FIG.03"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.03"><img src="images/image003.jpg" +title="BATTLEFIELD OF COLENSO, DECEMBER 15, 1899" +alt="BATTLEFIELD OF COLENSO, DECEMBER 15, 1899" +width="767" height="558" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>BATTLEFIELD OF COLENSO, DECEMBER 15, 1899</p></td></tr> +<tr><td class="figure-caption"> + <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Figure Caption"> + <tr> + <td class="figure-caption"> + <p>1 GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA’S COMMANDO</p> + <p>2 BOKSBURG COMMANDO</p> + <p>3 COLENSO</p> + <p>4 KRUGERSDORP COMMANDO</p> + <p>5 WAKKERSTROM COMMANDO</p> + </td> + <td class="figure-caption"> + <p> 6 ERMELO COMMANDO</p> + <p> 7 SWAZILAND POLICE</p> + <p> 8 ERMELO COMMANDO</p> + <p> 9 BRITISH CAMP, CHIEVELY</p> + <p>10 TUGELA RIVER</p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + </td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page64">[64]</span> + + +<p> +“When my father is injured or killed, I will take +his rifle,” was his excuse for being away from +home. When General De Wet captured seven +cannon from the enemy at the battle of Sannaspost +two of the volunteers to operate them were boys +aged respectively fourteen and fifteen years. Pieter +J. Henning, of the Potchefstroom commando, who +was injured in the battle of Scholtznek on +December 11th, was less than fifteen years old, yet +his valour in battle was as conspicuous as that of +any of the burghers who took part in the engagement. +Teunis H.C. Mulder, of the Pretoria +commando, celebrated his sixteenth birthday only +a few days before he was twice wounded at +Ladysmith on November 9th, and Willem François +Joubert, a relative of the Commandant-General, +was only fifteen years old when he was wounded +at Ladysmith on October 30th. At the battle of +Koedoesrand, fifteen-year-old Pieter de Jager, of +the Bethlehem commando, was seriously injured +by a shell while he was conveying his injured +father from the field. With the army of General +Cronje captured at Paardeberg were no less than +a hundred burghers who had not reached the +sixteenth year, and among those who escaped + +<span class="pagenum" id="page65">[65]</span> + +from the laager in the river-bed were two +Bloemfontein boys named Roux, aged twelve and +fourteen years. At Colenso a Wakkerstroom +youth of twelve years captured three English +scouts and compelled them to march ahead of him +to the commandant’s tent. During one of the +lulls in the fighting at Magersfontein a burgher of +fifteen years crept up to within twenty yards of +three British soldiers and shouted “Hands up!” +Thinking that there were other Boers in the +vicinity the men dropped their guns and became +prisoners of the boy, who took them to General De +la Rey’s tent. When the General asked the boy +how he secured the prisoners the lad replied, +nonchalantly, “Oh, I surrounded them.” These +youths who accompanied the commando were +known as the “Penkop Regiment”—a regiment +composed of school children—and in their +connection an amusing story has been current in +the Boer country ever since the war of 1881, when +large numbers of children less than fifteen years +old went with their fathers to battle. The story is +that after the fight at Majuba Hill, while the peace +negotiations were in progress, Sir Evelyn Wood, +the Commander of the British forces, asked + +<span class="pagenum" id="page66">[66]</span> + +General Joubert to see the famous Penkop +Regiment. The Boer General gave an order that +the regiment should be drawn up in a line before +his tent, and when this had been done General +Joubert led General Wood into the open and +introduced him to the corps. Sir Evelyn was +sceptical for some time, and imagined that General +Joubert was joking, but when it was explained to +him that the youths really were the much-vaunted +Penkop Regiment he advised them to return to +their school-books. +</p> + +<p> +When a man has reached the age of sixty it +may be assumed that he has outlived his usefulness +as a soldier; but not so with the Boer. There +was not one man, but hundreds, who had passed +the Biblical threescore years and ten but were +fighting valiantly in defence of their country. +Grey-haired men who, in another country, might +be expected to be found at their homes reading +the accounts of their grandsons’ deeds in the war, +went out on scouting duty and scaled hills with +almost as much alacrity as the burghers only half +their age. Men who could boast of being grandfathers +were innumerable, and in almost any +laager there could be seen father, sons, and grandsons, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page67">[67]</span> + + all fighting with equal vigour and enthusiasm. +Paul Kruger is seventy-five years old, +but there were many of his burghers several years +older than he who went to the frontier with their +commandos and remained there for several months +at a time. A great-grandfather serving in the +capacity of a private soldier, may appear like a +mythical tale, but there were several such. Old +Jan van der Westhuizen, of the Middleberg laager, +was active and enthusiastic at eighty-two years, +and felt more than proud of four great-grand-children. +Piet Kruger, a relative of the President, +and four years his senior, was an active participant +in every battle in which the Rustenburg commando +was engaged while it was in Natal, and he +never once referred to the fact that he fought in +the 1881 war and in the attack upon Jameson’s +men. Four of Kruger’s sons shared the same tent +and fare with him, and ten of his grandsons were +burghers in different commandos. Jan C. <span class="sic" title="sic, corr: van (?)">ven</span> +Tander, of Boshof, exceeded the maximum of the +military age by eight years, but he was early in +the field, and was seriously wounded at the battle +of Scholtznek on December 11th. General +Joubert himself was almost seventy years old + +<span class="pagenum" id="page68">[68]</span> + +but as far as physical activity was concerned +there were a score of burghers in his commando, +each from five to ten years older, who exhibited +more energy in one battle than he did during the +entire Natal campaign. The hundreds of bridges +and culverts along the railway lines in the Transvaal, +the Orange Free State, and Upper Natal +were guarded day and night by Boers more than +sixty years old, who had volunteered to do the +work in order that younger men might be sent to +localities where their services might be more +necessary. Other old Boers and cripples attended +to the commissariat arrangements along the railways, +conducted commissariat waggons, gathered +forage for the horses at the front, and arranged +the thousands of details which are necessary to +the well-being and comfort of every army, however +simple its organisation. +</p> + +<p> +Among the Boers were many burghers who had +assisted Great Britain in her former wars in South +Africa—men who had fought under the British +flag, but were now fighting against it. Colonel +Ignace Ferreira, a member of one of the oldest +Boer families, fought under Lord Wolseley in the +Zulu war, and had the Order of the Commander + +<span class="pagenum" id="page69">[69]</span> + +of the Bath conferred upon him by the Queen. +Colonel Ferreira was at the head of a commando +at Mafeking. Paul Dietzch, the military secretary +of General Meyer, fought under the British flag in +the Gaika and several other native wars. +</p> + +<p> +It was not only the extremely old and the +extremely young who went to war; it was a +transfer of the entire population of the two +Republics to the frontiers, and no condition or +position was sufficient excuse to remain behind. +The professional man of Pretoria and Johannesburg +was in a laager which was adjacent to a +laager of farthest-back veld-farmers. Lawyers +and physicians, photographers and grocers, speculators +and sextons, judges and schoolmasters, +schoolboys and barkeepers—all who were burghers +locked their desks and offices and journeyed to +the front. Even clergymen closed their houses +of worship in the towns and remained among the +commandos to pray and preach for those who +did the fighting. The members of the Volksraads, +who brought on the war by their ultimatum, were +among the first in the field, and foremost in +attacking the soldiers of their enemy. Students +in European universities, who hastened home when + +<span class="pagenum" id="page70">[70]</span> + +war-clouds were gathering, went shoulder to +shoulder into battle with the backwoodsman, the +Boer <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span>. There was no pride among them; +no class distinction which prevented a farmer from +speaking to a millionaire. A graduate of Cambridge +had as his boon companion for five months +a farmer who thought the earth a square, and +imagined the United States to be a political division +of Australia. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="BOERS WATCHING THE FIGHT AT DUNDEE" id="FIG.04"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.04"><img src="images/image004.jpg" +title="BOERS WATCHING THE FIGHT AT DUNDEE" +alt="BOERS WATCHING THE FIGHT AT DUNDEE" +width="745" height="523" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>BOERS WATCHING THE FIGHT AT DUNDEE</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +The Boer who was bred in a city or town good-naturedly +referred to his country cousin as a +“<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span>”—a man with grizzly beard and unkempt +hair. It was a good descriptive term, and the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> was not offended when it was applied to +him. The <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> was the modern type of the +old <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">voortrekker</span> Boer who, almost a hundred years +ago, trekked north from Cape Colony, and after +overcoming thousands of difficulties settled in the +present Boer country. He was a religious, big-hearted +countryman of the kind who would +suspect a stranger until he proved himself worthy +of trust. After that period was passed the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> +would walk the veld in order that you might ride +his horse. If he could not speak your language he +would repeat a dozen times such words as he + +<span class="pagenum" id="page71">[71]</span> + +knew, meanwhile offering to you coffee, mutton, +bread, and all the best that his laager larder +afforded. He offered to exchange a pipe-load of +tobacco with you, and when that occurred you +could take it for granted that he was your friend +for life. The <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> was the man who went to +the frontiers on his own responsibility weeks before +the ultimatum was sent, and watched day and +night lest the enemy might trample a rod beyond +the bounds. He was the man who stopped +Jameson, who climbed Majuba, and who fought +the natives. The <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> was the Boer before +gold brought restlessness into the country, and he +was proud of his title. The fighting ability of the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> is best illustrated by repeating an incident +which occurred after the battle of Dundee when a +large number of Hussars were captured. One of +the Hussar officers asked for the name of the +regiment he had been fighting against. A fun-loving +Boer replied that the Boers had no +regiments; that their men were divided into three +brigades—the Afrikanders, the Boers, and the +Takhaars—a distinction which carried with it but +a slight difference. “The Afrikander brigade,” +the Boer explained, “is fighting now. They fight + +<span class="pagenum" id="page72">[72]</span> + +like demons. When they are killed, then the Boers +take the field. The Boers fight about twice as +well and hard as the Afrikanders. As soon as all +the Boers are killed, then come the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaars</span>, and +they would rather fight than eat.” The officer +remained silent for a moment, then sighed and +said, “Well, if that is correct, then our job is +bigger than I thought it was.” +</p> + +<p> +The ideal Boer is a man with a bearded face +and a flowing moustache, and in order to appear +idyllic almost every Boer burgher, who was not +thus favoured before war was began, engaged in +the peaceful process of growing a beard. Young +men who, in times of peace, detested hirsute +adornments of the face allowed their beards and +moustaches to grow, and after a month or two it +was almost impossible to find one burgher who +was without a growth of hair on his face. The +wearing of a beard was almost equal to a badge +of Boer citizenship, and for the time being every +Boer was a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> in appearance if not in fact. +The adoption of beards was not so much fancy as +it was a matter of discretion. The Boer was aware +of the fact that few of the enemy wore beards, and +so it was thought quite ingenious for all burghers + +<span class="pagenum" id="page73">[73]</span> + +to wear facial adornments of that kind in order +that friend and foe might be distinguished more +readily at a distance. +</p> + +<p> +Notwithstanding their ability to fight when it is +necessary, it is doubtful whether twenty per cent +of the Boer burghers in the commandos would be +accepted for service in any continental or American +army. The rigid physical examinations of many +of the armies would debar thousands from becoming +regular soldiers. There were men in the +Boer forces who had only one arm, some with only +one leg, others with only one eye; some were +almost totally blind, while others would have felt +happy if they could have heard the reports of their +rifles. Men who were suffering from various kinds +of illnesses, and who should have been in a physician’s +care, were to be seen in every laager. Men +who wore spectacles were numerous, while those +who suffered from diseases which debar a man +from a regular army were without number. The +high percentage of men unfit for military duty +was not due to the Boer’s unhealthfulness, for he +is as healthy as farmers are in other parts of the +earth. Take the entire male population of any +district in Europe and America and compare the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page74">[74]</span> + +individuals with the standard required by army +rules, and the result will not differ greatly from +the result of the Boer examination. If all the +youths and old men, the sick and maimed, could +have been eliminated from the Boer forces, eighty +per cent. would probably have been found to be a +low estimate of the number thus subtracted from +the total force. It would have been heartrending +to many a continental or American general to see +the unmilitary appearance of the Boer burgher, +and in what manner an army of children, great-grandfathers, +invalids, and blind men, with a +handful of good men to leaven it, could be of +any service whatever would have been quite +beyond his conception. It was such a mixed +force that a Russian officer, who at the outset +of the war entered the Transvaal to fight, became +disgusted with its unmilitary appearance and +returned to his own country. +</p> + +<p> +The accoutrement of the Boer burgher was +none the less incongruous than the physical +appearance of the majority of them, although +no expensive uniform and trappings could have +been of more practical value. The men of the +Pretoria and Johannesburg commandos had the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page75">[75]</span> + +unique honor of going to the war in uniforms +specially made for the purpose, but there was +no regulation or law which compelled them to +wear certain kinds of clothing. When these commandos +went to the frontier several days before +the actual warfare had begun they were clothed +in khaki-coloured cloth of almost the same description +as that worn by the soldiers whom they +intended to fight. These two commandos were +composed of town-folk who had absorbed many +of the customs and habits of the foreigners who +were in the country, and they felt that it would +be more warlike if they should wear uniforms +made specially for camp and field. The old Boers +of the towns and the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaars</span> looked askance at +the youth of Pretoria and Johannesburg in their +uniforms, and shook their heads at the innovation +as smacking too much of an anti-republican +spirit. +</p> + +<p> +Like Cincinnatus, the majority of the old Boers +went directly from their farms to the battlefields, +and they wore the same clothing in the laagers +as they used when shearing their sheep or herding +their cattle. When they started for the frontier +the Boer farmers arranged matters so that they + +<span class="pagenum" id="page76">[76]</span> + +might be comfortable while the campaign continued. +Many, it is true, dashed away from home +at the first call to arms and carried with them, +besides a rifle and bandolier, nothing but a mackintosh, +blanket, and haversack of food. The majority +of them, however, were solicitous of their future +comfort and loaded themselves down with all kinds +of luggage. Some went to the frontier with the +big, four-wheeled ox-waggons and in these they +conveyed cooking utensils, trunks, boxes with food +and flour, mattresses, and even stoves. The Rustenburg +farmers were specially solicitous about +their comfort, and those patriotic old <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaars</span> +practically moved their families and household +furniture to the camps. Some of the burghers +took two or three horses each in order that there +might be no delay or annoyance in case of misfortune +by death or accident, and frequently a +burgher could be seen who had one horse for +himself, another for his camp utensils and extra +clothing, and a third and fourth for native servants +who cooked his meals and watched the horses +while they grazed. +</p> + +<p> +Without his horse the Boer would be of little +account as a fighting man, and those magnificent + +<span class="pagenum" id="page77">[77]</span> + +little ponies deserve almost as much credit for +such success as attended the campaign as their +riders. If some South African does not frame +a eulogy of the little beasts it will not be +because they do not deserve it. The horse was +half the Centaur and quite the life of him. Small +and wiry, he was able to jog along fifty and sixty +miles a day for several days in succession, and +when the occasion demanded it, he was able to +attain a rate of speed that equalled that of the +ordinary South African railway train which, however, +makes no claims to lightning-like velocity. +He bore all kinds of weather, was not liable to +sickness except in one season of the year, and he +was able to work two and even three days without +more than a blade of grass. He was able to +thrive on the grass of the veld, and when winter +killed that product he needed but a few bundles +of forage a day to keep him in good condition. +He climbed rocky mountain-sides as readily as a +buck, and never wandered from a path by darkest +night. He drank and apparently relished the +murky water of mud-pools and needed but little +attention with the currycomb and brush. He was +trained to obey the slightest turn of the reins, and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page78">[78]</span> + +a slight whistle brought him to a full stop. When +his master left him and went forward into battle +the Boer pony remained in the exact position +where he was placed, and when perchance a shell +or bullet ended his existence, then the Boer paid +a tribute to the value of his dead servant by +refusing to continue the fight and by beating a +hasty retreat. +</p> + +<p> +In the early part of the campaign in Natal the +laagers were filled with ox-waggons, and, in the +absence of tents which were sadly wanted during +that season of heavy rains, they stood in great +stead to the burghers. The rear half of the +waggons were tented with an arched roof, as all +the trek-waggons are, and under these shelters the +burghers lived. Many of the burghers who left +their ox-waggons at home took small, light, four-wheeled +carriages, locally called spiders, or the +huge two-wheelers or Cape-carts so serviceable +and common throughout the country. These were +readily transformed into tents, and made excellent +sleeping accommodations by night and transport-waggons +for the luggage when the commandos +moved from one place to another. When a rapid +march was contemplated all the heavy waggons + +<span class="pagenum" id="page79">[79]</span> + +were left behind in charge of native servants with +which every burgher was provided. +</p> + +<p> +It was quite in keeping with their other ideas of +personal comfort for many Boer burghers to carry +a coloured parasol or an umbrella to protect them +from the rays of the sun, and it was not considered +beneath their dignity to wear a woman’s shawl +around their shoulders or head when the morning +air was chilly. At first sight of these unique +spectacles the stranger in the Boer country felt +amused, but if he cared to smile at every unmilitary +scene he would have had little time for other +things. It was a republican army composed of +republicans, and anything that smacked of the +opposite was abhorred. There were no flags or +insignia of any kind to lead the burghers on. +What mottoes there were that expressed their +cause were embroidered on the bands of their +slouch-hats and cut on the stocks of their rifles. +“For God and Freedom,” “For Freedom, Land, +and People,” and “For God, Country, and Justice,” +were among the sentiments which some of the +burghers carried into battle on their hats and rifles. +Others had vierkleur ribbons as bands for their +hats, while many carried on the upturned brim of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page80">[80]</span> + +their hats miniatures containing the photographs +of the Presidents. +</p> + +<p> +Aside from the dangers arising from a contact +with the enemy and the heart-burns resulting from +a long absence from his home, the Boer burgher’s +experiences at the front were not arduous. First +and foremost he had a horse and rifle, and with +these he was always more or less happy. He had +fresh meat provided to him daily, and he had +native servants to prepare and serve his meals for +him. He was under no discipline whatever, and +he could be his own master at all times. He +generally had his sons or brothers with him in the +same laager, and to a Boer there was always much +joy in this. He could go on picket duty and have +a brush with the enemy whenever he felt inclined +to do so, or he could remain in his laager and never +have a glimpse of the enemy. Every two months +he was entitled to a ten days’ leave of absence to +visit his home, and at other times during the first +five months of the war, his wife and children were +allowed to visit him in his laager. If he was +stationed along the northern or western frontiers of +the Transvaal he was in the game country, and he +was able to go on buck-shooting expeditions as + +<span class="pagenum" id="page81">[81]</span> + +frequently as he cared. He was not compelled to +rise at a certain hour in the morning, and he could +go to bed whenever he wished. There was no +drill, no roll-calls, nor any of the thousands of +petty details which the soldiers of even the +Portuguese army are compelled to perform. As a +result of a special law there was no work on +Sundays or Church-holidays unless the enemy +brought it about, and then, if he was a stickler for +the observance of the Sabbath, he was not compelled +to move a muscle. The Boer burgher could +eat, sleep, or fight whenever he wished, and +inasmuch as he was a law unto himself, there was +no one who could compel him to change his habits. +It was an ideal idle-man’s mode of living and the +foreign volunteers who had leaves of absence from +their own armies made the most of their holiday, +but in that respect they did not surpass their +companion, the Boer burgher. +</p> + +<p> +The most conspicuous feature of the Boer forces +was the equality of the officers and the men, and +the entire absence of any assumption of superiority +by the leaders of the burghers. None of the +generals or commandants wore any uniform of a +distinctive type, and it was one of the most + +<span class="pagenum" id="page82">[82]</span> + +difficult problems to distinguish an officer from +the burghers. All the officers, from the Commandant-General +down to the corporal, carried +rifles and bandoliers, and all wore the ordinary +garb of a civilian, so that there was nothing to +indicate the man’s military standing. The officers +associated with their men every hour of the day, +and, in most instances, were able to call the +majority of them by their Christian names. With +one or two exceptions, all the generals were farmers +before the war started, and consequently they were +unable to assume any great degree of superiority +over their farmer-burghers if they had wished to +do so. General Meyer pitched quoits with his +men, General Botha swapped tobacco with any +one of his burghers, and General Smuts and one of +his officers held the whist championship of their +laager. Rarely a burgher touched his hat before +speaking to an officer, but he invariably shook +hands with him at meeting and parting. It is a +Boer custom to shake hands with friends or +strangers, and whenever a general visited a laager +adjoining his own, the hand-shaking reminded one +of the President’s public reception days at Washington. +When General Joubert went from camp to + +<span class="pagenum" id="page83">[83]</span> + +camp he greeted all the burghers who came near +him with a grasp of the hand, and it was the same +with all the other generals and officers. Whenever +Presidents Kruger and Steyn went to the commandos, +they held out their right hands to all the +burghers who approached them, and one might +have imagined that every Boer was personally +acquainted with every other one in the republics. +It was the same with strangers who visited the +laagers, and many a sore wrist testified to the +Boer’s republicanism. Some one called it the +“hand-shaking army,” and it was a most descriptive +title. Many of the burghers could not restrain +from exercising their habit, and shook hands with +British prisoners, much to the astonishment of the +captured. +</p> + +<p> +Another striking feature of life in the Boer +laagers was the deep religious feeling which +manifested itself in a thousand different ways. +It is an easy matter for an irreligious person to +scoff at men who pass through a campaign with +prayer and hymn-singing, and it is just as easy to +laugh at the man who reads his Testament at +intervals of shooting at the enemy. The Boer +was a religious man always, and when he went + +<span class="pagenum" id="page84">[84]</span> + +to war he placed as much faith in prayer and +in his Testament as in his rifle. He believed +that his cause was just, and that the Lord +would favour those fighting for a righteous +cause in a righteous spirit. On October 11th, +before the burghers crossed the frontier at Laing’s +Nek, a religious service was conducted. Every +burgher in the commandos knelt on the ground +and uttered a prayer for the success and the +speedy ending of the campaign. Hymns were +sung, and for a full hour the hills, whereon almost +twenty years before many of the same burghers +sang and prayed after the victory at Majuba, were +resounding with the religious and patriotic songs +of men going forward to kill and to be killed. In +their laagers the Boers had religious services at +daybreak and after sunset every day, whether they +were near to the enemy or far away. At first the +novelty of being awakened early in the morning +by the voices of a large commando of burghers +was not conducive to a religious feeling in the +mind of the stranger, but a short stay in the +laagers caused anger to turn to admiration. After +sunset the burghers again gathered in groups +around camp-fires, and made the countryside re-echo + +<span class="pagenum" id="page85">[85]</span> + + with the sound of their deep, bass voices +united in Dutch hymns and psalms of praise and +thanksgiving. +</p> + +<p> +Whether they ate a big meal from a well-equipped +table, or whether they leaped from their +horses to make a hasty meal of biltong and bread, +they reverently bowed their heads and asked a +blessing before and after eating. Before they went +into battle they gathered around their general and +were led in prayer by the man who afterwards led +them against the enemy. When the battle was +concluded, and whether the field was won or lost, +prayers were offered to the God of battles. In the +reports which generals and commandants made to +the war departments, victories and defeats were +invariably ascribed to the will of God, and such +phrases as “All the glory belongs to the Lord of +Hosts who led us,” and “God gave us the victory,” +and “Divine favour guided our footsteps,” were +frequent. When one is a stranger of the Boers +and unacquainted with the simple faith which they +place in Divine guidance, these religious manifestations +may appear inopportune in warfare, but it is +necessary to observe the Boer burgher in all his +various actions and emotions to know that he is + +<span class="pagenum" id="page86">[86]</span> + +sincere in his religious beliefs and that he endeavours +to be a Christian in deed as well as in word. +</p> + +<p> +The Boer army, like Cromwell’s troopers, could +fight as well as pray, but in reality it was not a +fighting organisation in the sense that warfare was +agreeable to the burghers. The Boer proved that +he could fight when there was a necessity for it, +but to the great majority of them it was heartrending +to slay their fellow human beings. The +Boer’s hand was better adapted to the stem of a +pipe than to the stock of an army rifle, and he +would rather have been engaged in the former +peaceful pursuit had he not believed that it was a +holy war in which he was engaged. That he was +not eager for fighting was displayed in a hundred +different ways. He loved his home more than the +laagers at the front, and he took advantage of +every opportunity to return to his home and family. +He lusted not for battle, and he seldom engaged +in one unless he firmly believed that success depended +partly upon his individual presence. He +did not go into battle because he had the lust of +blood, for he abhorred the slaughter of men, and it +was not an extraordinary spectacle to see a Boer +weeping beside the corpse of a British soldier. On + +<span class="pagenum" id="page87">[87]</span> + +the field, after the Spion Kop battle, where Boer +guns did their greatest execution, there were scores +of bare-headed Boers who deplored the war, and +amidst ejaculations of “Poor Tommy,” and “This +useless slaughter,” brushed away the tears that +rolled down over their brown cheeks and beards. +Never a Boer was seen to exult over a victory. +They might say “That is good” when they heard +of a Spion Kop or a Magersfontein, but never a +shout or any other of the ordinary methods of +expressing joy. The foreigners in the army frequently +were beside themselves with joy after +victories, but the Boers looked stolidly on and +never took any part in the demonstrations. +</p> + +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page88">[88]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter4">CHAPTER IV</h2> +<h2> +THE ARMY ORGANISATION +</h2> + +<p> +When the Boer goes on a lion-hunting +expedition he must be thoroughly acquainted +with the game country; he must be +experienced in the use of the rifle, and he must +know how to protect himself against the attacks +of the enemy. When he is thus equipped and he +abandons lion-hunting for the more strenuous life +of war the Boer is a formidable enemy, for he has +combined in him the qualities of a general as well +as the powers of a private soldier. In lion-hunting +the harm of having too many men in authority is +not so fatal to the success of the expedition as it +is in real warfare, where the enemy may have less +generals but a larger force of men who will obey +their commands. All the successes of the Boer +army were the result of the fact that every + +<span class="pagenum" id="page89">[89]</span> + +burgher was a general, and to the same cause +may be attributed almost every defeat. Whenever +this army of generals combined and agreed +to do a certain work it was successful, but it was +unsuccessful whenever the generals disagreed. If +the opportunity had given birth to a man who +would have been accepted as general of the +generals—a man was needed who could introduce +discipline and training into the rudimentary +military system of the country—the chances +of the Boer success would have been far +greater. +</p> + +<p> +The leaders of the Boer army were elected by a +vote of the people in the same manner in which +they chose their presidents and civil officials. Age, +ability, and military experience did not have any +bearing on the subject except in so far as they influenced +the mind of the individual voter. Family +influences, party affiliations, and religion had a +strong bearing on the result of the elections, and, +as is frequently the case with civil authorities in +other countries, the men with the best military minds +and experience were not always chosen. It was +as a result of this system that General Joubert was +at the head of the army when a younger, more + +<span class="pagenum" id="page90">[90]</span> + +energetic, and more warlike man should have been +Commandant-General. At the last election for +Commandant-General, Joubert, a Progressive, also +received the support of the Conservatives, so that +two years later he might not be a candidate for +the Presidency against Paul Kruger. In the same +manner the commandants of the districts and the +field-cornets of the wards were chosen, and in the +majority of the cases no thought was taken of +their military ability at the time of the election. +The voters of a ward, the lowest political division +in the country, elected their field-cornet more with +a view of having him administer the laws in times +of peace than with the idea of having him lead +them into a battle, and in like manner the election +of a commandant for a district, which generally +consisted of five wards, was more of a victory for +his popularity in peace than for his presumed +bravery in war. The Boer system of electing +military leaders by vote of the people may have +had certain advantages, but it had the negative +advantage of effacing all traces of authority +between officers and men. The burgher who +had assisted in electing his field-cornet felt that +that official owed him a certain amount of gratitude + +<span class="pagenum" id="page91">[91]</span> + +for having voted for him, and obeyed his +orders or disobeyed them whenever he chose to +do so. The field-cornet represented authority +over his men, but of real authority there was +none. The commandants were presumed to have +authority over the field-cornets and the generals +over the commandants, but whether the authority +was of any value could not be ascertained until +after the will of those in lower rank was +discovered. By this extraordinary process it +happened that every burgher was a general and +that no general was greater than a burgher. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="ELECTING A FIELD-CORNET" id="FIG.05"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.05"><img src="images/image005.jpg" +title="ELECTING A FIELD-CORNET" +alt="ELECTING A FIELD-CORNET" +width="746" height="465" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">ELECTING A FIELD-CORNET</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +The military officers of the Boers, with the +exception of the Commandant-General, were the +same men who ruled the country in times of +peace. War suddenly transformed pruning-hooks +into swords, and conservators of peace into +leaders of armies. The head of the army was +the Commandant-General, who was invested +with full power to direct operations and lead +men. +</p> + +<p> +Directly under his authority were the Assistant +Commandant-Generals, five of whom were appointed +by the Volksraad a short time before +the beginning of hostilities. Then in rank were + +<span class="pagenum" id="page92">[92]</span> + +those who were called Vecht-Generals, or fighting +generals, in order to distinguish them from the +Assistant-Generals. Then followed the Commandants, +the leaders of the field-cornets of one +district, whose rank was about that of colonels. +The field-cornets, who were in command of the +men of a ward, were under the authority of a +commandant, and ranked on a par with majors. +The burghers of every ward were subdivided +into squads of about twenty-five men under the +authority of a corporal, whose rank was equal +to that of a lieutenant. There were no corps, +brigades, regiments, and companies to call for +hundreds of officers; it was merely a commando, +whether it had ten men or ten thousand, and +neither the subdivision nor the augmentation +of a force affected the list of officers in any way. +Nor would such a multiplication of officers weaken +the fighting strength of a force, for every officer, +from Commandant-General to corporal, carried +and used a rifle in every battle. +</p> + +<p> +When the officers had their men on the field, +and desired to make a forward movement or an +attack on the enemy, it was necessary to hold a +Krijgsraad, or council of war, and this was conducted + +<span class="pagenum" id="page93">[93]</span> + + in such a novel way that the most unmilitary +burgher’s voice bore almost as much +weight as that of the Commandant-General. +Every officer, from corporal to Commandant-General, +was a member of the Krijgsraad, and +when a plan was favoured by the majority of +those present at the council it became a law. +The result of a Krijgsraad meeting did not necessarily +imply that it was the plan favoured by the +best military minds at the council, for it was +possible and legal for the opinions of sixteen +corporals to be adopted although fifteen generals +and commandants opposed the plan with all their +might. That there ever was such a result is +problematical, but there were many Krijgsraads +at which the opinion of the best and most experienced +officers were cast aside by the votes +of field-cornets and corporals. It undoubtedly +was a representative way of adopting the will of +the people, but it frequently was exceedingly +costly. At the Krijgsraad in Natal which determined +to abandon the positions along the Tugela, +and retire north of Ladysmith the project was +bitterly opposed by the generals who had done +the bravest and best fighting in the colony, but + +<span class="pagenum" id="page94">[94]</span> + +the votes of the corporals, field-cornets, and +commandants outnumbered theirs, and there was +nothing for the generals to do but to retire and +allow Ladysmith to be relieved. At Mafeking +scores of Krijgsraad were held for the purpose +of arriving at a determination to storm the town, +but invariably the field-cornets and corporals out-voted +the commandants and generals and refused +to risk the lives of their men in such a hazardous +attack. Even the oft-repeated commands of the +Commandant-General to storm Mafeking were +treated with contempt by the majority of the +Krijgsraad who constituted the highest military +authority in the country so far as they and their +actions were concerned. When there happened +to be a deadlock in the balloting at a Krijgsraad +it was more than once the case that the vote +of the Commandant-General counted for less than +the voice of a burgher. In one of the minor +Krijgsraads in Natal there was a tie in the voting, +which was ended when an old burgher called +his corporal aside and influenced him to change +his vote. The Commandant-General himself had +not been able to change the result of the voting, +but the old burgher who had no connection with + +<span class="pagenum" id="page95">[95]</span> + +the council of war practically determined the +result of the meeting. +</p> + +<p> +The Krijgsraad was the supreme military +authority in the country, and its resolutions were +the law, all its infractions being punishable by +fines. The minority of a Krijgsraad was obliged +to assist in executing the plans of the majority, +however impracticable or distasteful they might +have been to those whose opinions did not prevail. +There were innumerable instances where generals +and commandants attended a Krijgsraad and +afterward acted quite contrary to the resolution +adopted by the council. In any other army such +action would have been called disobedience of +orders, with the corresponding punishment, but in +the Boer army it amounted to little beyond personal +animosity. According to Boer military law +an officer offending in such a manner should have +been arraigned before the Krijgsraad and tried by +his fellow officers, but such occurrences were +extremely rare. +</p> + +<p> +One of the few instances where a man was +arraigned before a Krijgsraad for dereliction of +duty was after the enemy succeeded in damaging +one of the “Long Tom’s” around Ladysmith. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page96">[96]</span> + + +<p> +The artillery officer who was in charge of the gun +when the dynamite was exploded in its muzzle +was convicted of neglect of duty and was disgraced +before the army. After the battle of +Belmont Vecht-General Jacob Prinsloo, of the +Free State, was court-martialled for cowardice +and was reduced to the rank of burgher. It was +Prinsloo’s first battle, and he was thoroughly +frightened. When some of his men came up to +him and asked him for directions to repel the +advancing British force Prinsloo trembled, rubbed +his hands, and replied: “God only knows; I +don’t,” and fled with all his men at his +heels. +</p> + +<p> +Two instances where commandants acted contrary +to the decisions of Krijgsraad were the +costly disobedience of General Erasmus, at Dundee, +and the still more costly mistake of Commandant +Buis at Hlangwe. When the Boers invaded Natal +and determined to attack the British forces then +stationed at the town of Dundee, it was decided at +a Krijgsraad that General Lucas Meyer should +attack from the east and south, and General +Erasmus from the north. General Meyer occupied +Talana Hill, east of Dundee, and a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> south of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page97">[97]</span> + +the town, and attacked General Penn-Symons’s +forces at daybreak. General Erasmus and the +Pretoria commando, with field pieces and a “Long +Tom,” occupied Impati Mountain on the north, +but when the time arrived for him to assist in the +attack on the enemy several hundred yards below +him he would not allow one shot to be fired. As +a result of the miscarriage of plans General Meyer +was compelled to retire from Talana Hill in the +afternoon, while the British force was enabled to +escape southward into Ladysmith. If General +Erasmus had followed the decision of the Krijgsraad, +and had assisted in the attack, there is +hardly any doubt that the entire force of the +enemy would have been captured. Even more +disastrous was the disobedience of Commandant +Buis, of the Heidelberg commando, who was +ordered to occupy a certain point on the Boschrand, +called Hlangwe, about February 19th. The +British had tried for several weeks to drive the +Boers from the Boschrand, but all their attempts +proved fruitless. A certain commando had been +holding Hlangwe for a long time, and Commandant +Buis was ordered to take his commando +and relieve the others by night. Instead of going + +<span class="pagenum" id="page98">[98]</span> + +to Hlangwe immediately that night he bivouacked +in a small nek near by, intending to occupy the +position early the following morning. During the +night the British discovered that the point was +unoccupied and placed a strong force there. In +this manner the British wedge was forced into the +Boschrand, and shortly afterwards the Boers were +obliged to retreat across the Tugela and secure +positions on the north bank of the stream. Of +less serious consequence was General De la Rey’s +refusal to carry out a decision he himself had +assisted in framing. It was at Brandfort, in the +Free State, several weeks after Bloemfontein was +occupied, and all the Boer generals in the vicinity +met in Krijgsraad and voted to make a concerted +attack upon the British force at Tafelkop, midway +between Bloemfontein and Brandfort. Generals +Smuts and Botha made a long night trek to the +positions from which they were to attack the +enemy at daybreak. It had been arranged that +General De la Rey’s commando should open the +attack from another point, and that no operations +should begin until after he had given a certain +signal. The signal was never given, and, after +waiting for it several hours, the other generals + +<span class="pagenum" id="page99">[99]</span> + +returned to Brandfort only to find that General +De la Rey had not even moved from his laager. +</p> + +<p> +When the lower ranks of officers—the field-cornets +and corporals—disobeyed the mandates +of the Krijgsraads, displayed cowardice or misbehaved +in any other manner, the burghers under +their command were able to impeach them and +elect other officers to fill the vacancies. The +corporals were elected by the burghers after war +was begun, and they held their posts only so long +as their behaviour met with the favour of those +who placed them in authority. During the first +three months of the war innumerable changes of +that nature were made, and not infrequently was +it the case that a corporal was unceremoniously +dismissed because he had offended one of his men +who happened to wield much influence over his +fellows in the commando. Personal popularity +had much to do with the tenure of office, but +personal bravery was not allowed to go unrewarded, +and it happened several times in the +laagers along the Tugela that a corporal resigned +his rank so that one of his friends who had +distinguished himself in a battle might have his +work recognised and appreciated. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page100">[100]</span> + + +<p> +However independent and irresponsible the +Boer officer may have been, he was a man in +irons compared with the Boer burgher. The +burgher was bound by no laws except such as +he made for himself. There was a State law +which compelled him to join a commando and +to accompany it to the front, or in default of that +law to pay a small fine. As soon as he was “on +commando,” as he called it, he became his own +master and could laugh at Mr. Atkins across the +way who was obliged to be constantly attending +to various camp duties when not actively engaged. +No general, no act of Volksraad could compel +him to do any duty if he felt uninclined to +perform it, and there was no power on earth +which could compel him to move out of his tent +if he did not desire to go. In the majority of +countries a man may volunteer to join the army +but when once he is a soldier he is compelled to +fight, but in the Boer country the man was +compelled to join the army, but he was not +obliged to fight unless he volunteered to do so. +There were hundreds of men in the Natal laagers +who never engaged in one battle and never fired +a shot in the first six months of the war. Again, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page101">[101]</span> + +there were hundreds of men who took part in +almost every one of the battles, whether their +commando was engaged or not, but they joined +the fighting voluntarily and not because they +were compelled to do so. +</p> + +<p> +When a Krijgsraad determined to make or +resist an attack it was decided by the officers +at the meeting how many men were needed +for the work. Immediately after the meeting +the officers returned to their commandos, and, +after explaining to their burghers the nature and +object of the expedition, asked for volunteers. +The officer could not call upon certain men and +order them to take part in the purposed proceedings; +he could only ask them to volunteer their +services. It happened at times that an entire +commando of several hundred men volunteered to +do the work asked of them, but just as often it +happened that only from one-tenth to one-twentieth +of the burghers expressed their willingness to +accompany the expedition. Several days after the +Spion Kop battle General Botha called for four +hundred volunteers to assist in resisting an attack +that it was feared would be made. There were +almost ten thousand men in the environs of Ladysmith + +<span class="pagenum" id="page102">[102]</span> + +at that time, but it was with the utmost +difficulty that the four hundred men could be +gathered. Two hundred men came from one +commando, one hundred and fifty-three from +another, twenty-eight from a third, fifteen from +another, and five from another made a total of four +hundred and one men—one more than was called +for. +</p> + +<p> +When Commandant-General Joubert, at his +Hoofd—or head-laager at Modderspruit, received +an urgent request for reinforcements he was not +able to order one of the commandos that was in +laager near him to go to the assistance of the +fighting burghers; he could only make a request +of the different commandants and field-cornets to +ask their men to volunteer for the service. If the +men refused to go, then naturally the reinforcements +could not be sent, and those who were in +dire need of assistance had the alternative of continuing +the struggle alone or of yielding a position +to the enemy. The relief of Ladysmith was due +to the fact that Generals Botha, Erasmus, and +Meyer could not receive reinforcements from +Commandant-General Joubert, who was north of +Ladysmith with almost ten thousand men. Botha, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page103">[103]</span> + +Meyer, and Erasmus had been fighting for almost +a week without a day’s intermission, and their +two thousand men were utterly exhausted when +Joubert was asked to send reinforcements, or even +men enough to relieve those from fighting for a +day or two, but a Krijgsraad had decided that the +entire army should retreat to the Biggarsberg, and +Joubert could not, or at least would not, send any +burghers to the Tugela, with the result that Botha +was compelled to retreat and abandon positions +which could have been held indefinitely if there +had been military discipline in the commandos. +It was not always the case that commandants and +generals were obliged to go begging for volunteers, +and there were innumerable times when every man +of a commando did the work assigned to him +without a murmur. +</p> + +<p> +During the Natal campaign the force was so +large, and the work seemed so comparatively +easy that the majority of the burghers never +went to the firing line, but when British +successes in the Free State placed the Boers +on the defensive it was not so easy to remain +behind in the laagers and allow others more willing +to engage in the fighting. General Cronje was able + +<span class="pagenum" id="page104">[104]</span> + +to induce a much larger percentage of his men to +fight than Commandant-General Joubert, but the +reasons for this were that he was much firmer with +his men and that he moved from one place to +another more frequently than Joubert. Towards +the end of General Cronje’s campaign all his men +were willing to enter a battle, but that was because +they realised that they must fight, and in that there +was much that was lacking in the Natal army. +When a Boer realised that he must fight or lose his +life or a battle, he would fight as few other men +were able to fight, but when he imagined that his +presence at the firing line was not imperative he +chose to remain in laager. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N’CHU" id="FIG.06"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.06"><img src="images/image006.jpg" +title="KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N’CHU" +alt="KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N’CHU" +width="741" height="493" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N’CHU</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +There were hundreds of burghers who took part +in almost every battle in Natal, and these were the +individuals who understood the frame of mind of +some of their countrymen, and determined that +they must take upon themselves the responsibilities +of fighting and winning battles. Among those who +were most forward in fighting were the Johannesburg +police, the much-despised “Zarps” of peaceful +times; the Pretoria commando, and the younger +men of other commandos. There were many old +Boers who left their laagers whenever they heard + +<span class="pagenum" id="page105">[105]</span> + +the report of a gun, but the ages of the great +majority of those who were killed or injured were +between seventeen and thirty years. After the +British captured Bloemfontein, and the memorable +Krijgsraad at Kroonstad determined that guerilla +warfare should be followed thereafter, it was not an +easy matter for a burgher to remain behind in the +laagers, for the majority of the ox-waggons and +other camp paraphernalia was sent home and +laager life was not so attractive as before. Commandos +remained at one place only a short time, +and there was almost a daily opportunity for a +brush with the enemy. The war had been going +on for six months, but many of the men had their +first taste of actual war as late as that, and, after +the first battle had been safely passed through, the +following ones were thought of little consequence. +When General Christian De Wet began his campaign +in the eastern part of the Free State there +were hardly enough men left in the laagers to guard +them properly when battles were in progress, and +in the battles at Sannaspost, Moester’s Hoek, and +Wepener probably ninety-nine per cent. of his men +took part in every battle. In Natal the real fighting +spirit was lacking from the majority of the men, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page106">[106]</span> + +or Commandant-General Joubert might never have +been wiped aside from the path to Durban; but +months afterward, when the burgher learned that +his services were actually needed, and that, if he +did not fight, he was liable to be captured and sent +to St. Helena, he polished his Mauser and fought +as hard and well as he was able. +</p> + +<p> +The same carelessness or indifference which +manifested itself throughout the early part of the +Natal campaign with regard to the necessity of +assisting in the fighting was evident in that all-important +part of an army’s work, the guarding of +the laagers. The Boers did not have sentries or outposts +as they are understood in trained armies, but +they had what was called a “Brandwacht,” or fire-guard, +which consisted of a hundred men or more +who were supposed to take positions at a certain +distance from the laagers, and remain there until +daybreak. These men were volunteers secured +by the corporal, who was responsible to his field-cornet +for a certain number of men every night. +It was never made compulsory upon any one +to go on Brandwacht, but the duty was not +considered irksome, and there were always as +many volunteers as were required for the work. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page107">[107]</span> + + +<p> +The men on Brandwacht carried with them +blankets, pipes, and kettles, and, after reaching the +point which they were to occupy during the +night, they tethered their horse to one of their +feet and made themselves comfortable with pipe +and coffee. When the enemy was known to be +near by the Brandwacht kept awake, as a matter +of personal safety, but when there seemed to be no +danger of attack he fastened his blankets around +his body and, using his saddle for a pillow, slept +until the sun rose. There was a mild punishment +for those who slept while on this duty, and +occasionally the burgher found in the morning +that some one had extracted the bolt of his +rifle during the night. When the corporal produced +the bolt as evidence against him in the +morning and sentenced him to carry a stone or +a box of biscuits on his head the burgher might +decline to be punished, and no one could say +aught against his determination. +</p> + +<p> +The Boer scouts, or spies as they called them, +received their finest tribute from Sir George +White, the British Commander at Ladysmith. In +a speech which he delivered at Cape Town, Sir +George said— +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page108">[108]</span> + + +<p> +“All through this campaign, from the first day +the Boers crossed the frontier to the relief of +Ladysmith, I and others who have been in +command near me, have been hampered by their +excellent system of intelligence, for which I give +them all credit. I wish to goodness that they +had neglected it, for I could not move a gun, +even if I did not give the order till midnight, but +they knew it by daylight next morning. And +they had their agents, who gave them their +intelligence through thick and thin. I locked up +everybody who I thought could go and tell, but +somehow or other the intelligence went on.” +</p> + +<p> +The Boer was an effective scout because he +was familiar with the country, and because his +eyes were far better than those of any of the +men against whom he was pitted. The South +African atmosphere is extraordinarily clear, and +every person has a long range of vision, but the +Boer, who was accustomed to the climatic conditions, +could distinguish between Boer and Briton +where the stranger could barely see a moving +object. Field-glasses were almost valueless to +Boer scouts, and few of them were carried by +any one except the generals and commandants, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page109">[109]</span> + +who secured them from the War Department +before the beginning of the war. There was no +distinct branch of the army whose exclusive duty +it was to scout, and there was even greater lack +of organisation in the matter of securing information +concerning the movements of the enemy than +in the other departments of the army’s work. +When a general or commandant felt that it was +necessary to secure accurate information concerning +the enemy’s strength and whereabouts he +asked for volunteers to do the work. Frequently, +during the Natal campaign, no scouting was done +for days, and the generals were absolutely ignorant +of everything in connection with the enemy. +Later in the campaign several scouting corps +composed of foreign volunteers were organised, +and thereafter the Boers depended wholly upon +the information they secured. There was no +regulation which forbade burghers from leaving +the laagers at any time, or from proceeding in +any direction, and much of the information that +reached the generals was obtained from these +rovers over the veld. It was extremely difficult +for a man who did not have the appearance of +a burgher to ride over the veld for more than a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page110">[110]</span> + +mile without being hailed by a Boer who seemed +to have risen out of the earth unnoticed. “Where +are you going?” or “Where are you coming +from?” were his invariable salutations, and if the +stranger was unable to give a satisfactory reply +or show proper passports he was commanded, +“Hands up.” The burghers were constantly on +the alert when they were on the veld, whether +they were merely wandering about, leaving for +home, or returning to the laager, and as soon as +they secured any information which they believed +was valuable they dashed away to the nearest +telegraph or heliograph station, and reported it +to their general or commandant. In addition to +this valuable attribute the Boers had the advantage +of being among white and black friends who could +assist them in a hundred different ways in securing +information concerning the enemy, and all these +circumstances combined to warrant General White’s +estimate of the Boers’ intelligence department, +which, notwithstanding its efficiency, was more or +less chimerical. +</p> + +<p> +In no department or branch of the army was +there any military discipline or system, except in +the two small bodies of men known as the State + +<span class="pagenum" id="page111">[111]</span> + +Artillery of the Transvaal and the State Artillery +of the Free State. These organisations were in +existence many years before the war was begun, +and had regular drills and practice which were +maintained when they were at the front. The +Johannesburg Police also had a form of discipline +which, however, was not strict enough to prevent +the men from becoming mutinous when they +imagined that they had fought the whole war +themselves, and wanted to have a vacation in +order that they might visit their homes. The +only vestige of real military discipline that was +to be found in the entire Boer army was that +which was maintained by Field-Cornet A.L. +Thring, of the Kroonstad commando, who had a +roll-call and inspection of rifles every morning. +This extraordinary procedure was not relished by +the burghers, who made an indignant protest to +General Christian De Wet. The general upheld +the field-cornet’s action, and told the men that if +all the officers had instituted similar methods +more success might have attended the army’s +operations. +</p> + +<p> +With the exception of the instances cited, +every man was a disciplinary law unto himself, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page112">[112]</span> + +and when he transgressed that law no one +would punish him but his conscience. There were +laws on the subject of obedience in the army, and +each had penalties attached to it, but it was extremely +rare that a burgher was punished. When +he endured discipline he did it because he cared +to do so, and not because he feared those who had +authority over him. He was deeply religious, and +he felt that in being obedient he was finding favour +in the eyes of the Providence that favoured his +cause. It was as much his religion as his ability +to aim unerringly that made the Boer a good +soldier. If the Boer army had been composed of +an irreligious, undisciplined body of men, instead +of the psalm-singing farmers, it would have been +conquered by itself. The religion of the Boers +was their discipline. +</p> + +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page113">[113]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter5">CHAPTER V</h2> +<h2> +THE BOER MILITARY SYSTEM +</h2> + +<p> +The disparity between the British and Boer +armies seemed to be so great at the time +the war was begun that the patriotic Englishman +could hardly be blamed for asserting that the +struggle would be of only a month’s duration. +On the one side was an army every branch of +which was highly developed and specialised and +kept in constant practice by many wars waged +under widely different conditions. Back of it was +a great nation, with millions of men and unlimited +resources to draw upon. At the head of the army +were men who had the theory and practice of +warfare as few leaders of other armies had had +the opportunities of securing them. Opposed +to this army was practically an aggregation of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page114">[114]</span> + +farmers, hastily summoned together and utterly +without discipline or training. They were unable +to replace with another a single fallen burgher +and prevented from adding by importation to their +stock of ammunition a single rifle or a single +pound of powder. At the head were farmers who, +perhaps, did not know that there existed a theory +of warfare and much less knew how recent wars +were fought and won. The means by which thirty +thousand farmers of no military training were +enabled to withstand the opposition of several +hundred thousand well-trained soldiers for the +greater part of a year must be attributed to the +military system which gave such a marvellous +advantage. Such success as attended the Boer +army was undoubtedly the success of its system of +warfare against that of the British. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF DUNDEE" id="FIG.07"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.07"><img src="images/image007.jpg" + title="BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF DUNDEE" + alt="BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF DUNDEE" + width="742" height="525" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF DUNDEE</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +The Boers themselves were not aware that +they had a military system; at least, none of +the generals or men acknowledged the existence +of such, and it was not an easy matter to find +evidences that battles were fought and movements +made according to certain established rules which +suggested a system. The Boers undoubtedly had +a military plan of their own which was naturally + +<span class="pagenum" id="page115">[115]</span> + +developed in their many wars with natives and +with the British troops. It might not have been +a system, according to the correct definition of the +term—it might have been called an instinct for +fighting, or a common-sense way of attempting to +defeat an enemy—but it was a matter which +existed in the mind of every single citizen of the +two Republics. It was not to be learned from +books or teachers, nor could it be taught to those +who were not born in the country. Whatever that +system was, it was extremely rudimentary, and +was never developed to any extent by the discipline +and training which any system necessarily +requires in order to make it effective. There was a +natural system or manner used by the Boers when +hunting for lion or buck, and it was identically +the same which they applied against the British +army. Every Boer was expert in the use of his +rifle; he had an excellent eye for country and +cover; he was able to tell at a glance whether a +hill or an undulation in the ground was suitable +for fighting purposes, whether it could be defended +and whether it offered facilities for attack or +retreat. Just as every Boer was a general, so it +was that every burgher had in his mind a certain + +<span class="pagenum" id="page116">[116]</span> + +military plan fashioned after the needs and opportunities +of the country, and this was their system—a +sort of national as well as natural military +system. +</p> + +<p> +In the British army, as well as in the other +modern armies, the soldier is supposed to understand +nothing, know nothing, and do nothing but +give obedience to the commands of his officers. +The trained soldier learns little, and is supposed +to learn little, of anything except the evolutions +he is taught on the drill-grounds. It is presumed +that he is stupid, and the idea appears to be to +prevent him from being otherwise in order that he +may the better fulfil his part in the great machine +to which a trained army has been likened. The +soldier is regarded as an animal of low mental +grade, whose functions are merely to obey the +orders of the man who has been chosen by beings +of superior intelligence to lead him. When the +man who was chosen in times of peace to lead the +men in times of war meets the enemy and fails to +make a display of the military knowledge which it +was presumed he possessed, then the soldiers who +look to him for leadership are generally useless, +and oftentimes worse than useless, inasmuch as + +<span class="pagenum" id="page117">[117]</span> + +their panic is likely to become infectious among +neighbouring bodies of soldiers who are equipped +with better leaders. In trained armies the value +of a soldier is a mere reflection of the value of the +officer who commands him, and the value of the +army is relatively as great as the ability of its +generals. In the Boer army the generals and +commandants were of much less importance, for +the reason that the Boer burgher acted almost +always on his own initiative. The generals were +of more service before the beginning of a battle +than while it was in progress. When a burgher +became aware of the presence of the enemy his +natural instincts, his innate military system, told +him the best manner in which to attack his +adversary as well as his general could have +informed him. The generals and other officers +were of prime importance in leading the burghers +to the point where the enemy was likely to be +found, but when that point was reached their +period of usefulness ended, for the burghers knew +how to wage the battle as well as they did. +Generally speaking, the most striking difference +between the Boer army and a trained army was +the difference in the distribution of intelligence. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page118">[118]</span> + + +<p> +All the intelligence of a trained army is centred +in the officers; in the Boer army there was much +practical military sense and alertness of mind +distributed throughout the entire force. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Disraeli once said: “Doubtless to think +with vigour, with clearness, and with depth in the +recess of a cabinet is a fine intellectual demonstration; +but to think with equal vigour, clearness, +and depth among bullets, appears the loftiest +exercise and the most complete triumph of the +human faculties.” Without attempting to insinuate +that every Boer burgher was a man of the high +mental attainments referred to by the eminent +British statesman, it must be acknowledged that +the fighting Boer was a man of more than ordinary +calibre. +</p> + +<p> +In battle the Boer burgher was practically his +own general. He had an eye which quickly +grasped a situation, and he never waited for an +order from an officer to take advantage of it. +When he saw that he could with safety approach +the enemy more closely he did so on his own +responsibility, and when it became evident to him +that it would be advantageous to occupy a different +position in order that he might stem the advance + +<span class="pagenum" id="page119">[119]</span> + +of the enemy he acted entirely on his own +initiative. He remained in one position just as +long as he considered it safe to do so, and if +conditions warranted he went forward, and if they +were adverse he retreated, whether there was an +order from an officer or not. When he saw that +the burghers in another part of the field were hard +pressed by the enemy he deserted his own position +and went to their assistance, and when his own +position became untenable, in his own opinion, he +simply vacated it and went to another spot where +bullets and shells were less thick. If he saw +a number of the enemy who were detached +from the main body of their own force, and +he believed that they could be taken prisoner, +he enlisted a number of the burghers who were +near him, and made an effort to capture them, +whether there was an officer close at hand or +a mile distant. +</p> + +<p> +No one was surfeited with orders; in fact, the +lack of them was more noticeable, and it was well +that it was so, for the Boer burgher disliked to be +ordered, and he always did things with better grace +when he acted spontaneously. An illustration of +this fact was an incident at the fight of Modderspruit + +<span class="pagenum" id="page120">[120]</span> + +where two young Boers saved an entire +commando from falling into the hands of the +enemy. Lieutenant Oelfse, of the State Artillery, +and Reginald Sheppard, of the Pretoria commando, +observed a strong force of the British advancing +towards a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> where the Krugersdorp commando +was concealed. The two men saw that the +Krugersdorpers would be cut off in a short time +if they were not informed of the British advance, +so they determined to plunge across the open veld, +six hundred yards from the enemy’s guns, and tell +them of their danger. No officer could have compelled +the men to undertake such a hazardous +journey across a bullet-swept plain, but Oelfse and +Sheppard acted on their own responsibility, +succeeded in reaching the Krugersdorp commando +without being hit, and gave to the commandant +the information which undoubtedly saved him and +his men from being captured. Incidents of like +nature occurred in almost every battle of the campaign, +and occasionally the service rendered so +voluntarily by the burghers was of momentous +consequences, even if the act itself seemed trivial +at the time. +</p> + +<p> +A second feature of the Boer army, and equally + +<span class="pagenum" id="page121">[121]</span> + +as important as the freedom of action of its individuals, +was its mobility. Every burgher was +mounted on a fleet horse or pony, and consequently +his movements on the battlefield, whether in an +advance or in a retreat, were many times more +rapid that those of his enemy—an advantage +which was of inestimable value both during an +engagement and in the intervals between battles +when it was necessary to secure new positions. +During the progress of a battle the Boers were +able to desert a certain point for a time, mount +their horses and ride to another position, and +throw their full strength against the latter, yet +remaining in such close touch with the former that +it was possible to return and defend it in an +exceedingly short space of time. With the aid of +their horses they could make such a sudden rush +from one position to another that the infantry of +the enemy could be surrounded and cut off from +all communications with the body of its army +almost before it was known that any Boers were +in the vicinity, and it was due to that fact that the +Boers were able to make so many large numbers +of captives. +</p> + +<p> +The fighting along the Tugela furnished many + +<span class="pagenum" id="page122">[122]</span> + +magnificent examples of the Boers’ extreme +mobility. There it was a constant jump from +one position to another—one attack here yesterday, +another there to-day. It was an incessant +movement made necessary by the display of +energy by the British, whose thrice-larger forces +kept the Boers in a state of continued ferment. +On one side of the river, stretched out from the +south of Spion Kop, in the west, to almost +Helpmakaar, in the east, were thirty thousand +British troops watching for a weak point where +they might cross, and attacking whenever there +seemed to be the slightest opportunity of breaking +through; on the other side were between two and +three thousand mounted Boers, jumping from one +point to another in the long line of territory to be +guarded, and repelling the attacks whenever they +were made. The country was in their favour, it is +true, but it was not so favourable that a handful of +men could defend it against thousands, and it was +partly due to the great ease and rapidity with +which the Boers could move from one place +to another, that Ladysmith remained besieged +so long. The mobility of the Boers was +again well demonstrated by the retreat of the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page123">[123]</span> + +burghers from the environs of Ladysmith. After +the Krijgsraad decided to withdraw the forces +into the Biggarsberg, it required only a few +hours for all the many commandos to leave the +positions they had held so long; to load their +impedimenta and to be well on the way to the +northward. The departure was so rapid that it +surprised even those who were in Ladysmith. One +day the Boers were shelling the town as usual and +all the commandos were observed in the same positions +which they had occupied for several months; +the following day not a single Boer was to be seen +anywhere. They had quietly mounted their horses +by night and before the sun rose in the morning +they were trekking north beyond Modderspruit and +Elandslaagte, on the way to Glencoe. General +Cronje’s flight from Magersfontein was also accomplished +with great haste and in good order, but +what probably was the finest example of the Boers’ +mobility was the magnificent retreat along the +Basuto border of Generals Grobler, Olivier, and +Lemmer, with their six thousand men, when the +enemy was known to be in great strength within +several days’ march of them. After the capture of +Cronje at Paardeberg the three generals, who had + +<span class="pagenum" id="page124">[124]</span> + +been conducting the campaign in the eastern provinces +of Cape Colony, were in a most dangerous +position, having the enemy in the rear, the left and +left front, the neutral Basuto land on the right +front, and only a small strip of territory along the +western border of the Basuto country apparently +free of the enemy. The British were in Bloemfontein +and in the surrounding country, and it +seemed almost impossible that the six thousand +men could ever extricate themselves from such a +position to join the Boer forces in the north. It +would have been a comparatively easy matter for +six thousand mounted men to make the journey if +they had not been loaded down with impedimenta, +but the three generals were obliged to carry with +them all their huge transport waggons and heavy +camping paraphernalia. The trek northward was +begun near Colesburg on March 12th, and when +all the different commandos had joined the main +column the six thousand horsemen, the seven +hundred and fifty transport-waggons, the two +thousand natives, and twelve thousand cattle +formed a line extending more than twenty-four +miles. The scouts, who were despatched westward +from the column to ascertain the whereabouts of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page125">[125]</span> + +the enemy, reported large forces of British cavalry +sixty and seventy miles distant, but for some inexplicable +reason the British made no attempt to +cut off the retreat of the three generals, and on +March 28th they reached Kroonstad, having +traversed almost four hundred miles of territory +in the comparatively short time of sixteen days. +Sherman’s march to the sea was made under +extraordinary conditions, but the retreat of the +three generals was fraught with dangers and difficulties +much greater. Sherman passed through a +fertile country, and had an enemy which was disheartened. +The three generals had an enemy +flushed with its first victories, while the country +through which they passed was mountainous and +muddy. If the column had been captured so soon +after the Paardeberg disaster, the relief of Kimberley +and the relief of Ladysmith, it might have +been so disheartening to the remaining Boer commandos +that the war might have been ended at +that time. It was a magnificent retreat and well +worthy to be placed in the Boer’s scroll of honour +with Cronje’s noble stand at Paardeberg, with +Spion Kop and Magersfontein. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="GENERAL GROBLER" id="FIG.08"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.08"><img src="images/image008.jpg" +title="GENERAL GROBLER" alt="GENERAL GROBLER" width="745" height="507" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">GENERAL GROBLER</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + + + +<p> +The Boer army was capable of moving rapidly + +<span class="pagenum" id="page126">[126]</span> + +under almost any conditions. The British army +demonstrated upon many occasions that it could +not move more than two or three miles an hour +when the column was hampered with transport +waggons and camping paraphernalia, and frequently +it was impossible to proceed at that pace for many +consecutive hours. A Boer commando easily +travelled six miles an hour and not infrequently, +when there was a necessity for rapid motion, seven +and even eight miles an hour were traversed. +When General Lucas Meyer moved his commandos +along the border at the outset of the war +and learned that General Penn-Symons was +located at Dundee he made a night march of +almost forty miles in six hours and occupied +Talana Hill, a mile distant from the enemy, who +was ignorant of the Boers’ proximity until the +camp was shelled at daybreak. When General +De Wet learned that Colonel Broadwood was +moving westward from Thaba N’Chu on March +30th, he was in laager several miles east of +Brandfort, but it required only several minutes for +all the burghers to be on their horses and ready +to proceed toward the enemy. The journey of +twenty-five miles to Sannaspost, or the Bloemfontein + +<span class="pagenum" id="page127">[127]</span> + +waterworks, was made in the short time of five +hours, while Colonel Broadwood’s forces consumed +seven hours in making the ten miles’ journey from +Thaba N’Chu to the same place. The British +column was unable to move more rapidly on +account of its large convoy of waggons, but even +then the rate of progress was not as great as that +made by the trekking party of the three generals +who were similarly hampered. It was rarely the +case that the Boers attempted to trek for any +considerable distance with their heavy waggons +when they were aware of the presence of the +enemy in the vicinity. Ox-waggons were always +left behind, while only a small number of mule-waggons, +bearing provisions and ammunition, were +taken, and on that account they were able to +move with greater rapidity than their opponents. +Frequently they entered dangerous territory with +only a few days’ provisions and risked a famine of +food and ammunition rather than load themselves +down with many lumbering waggons which were +likely to retard their progress. After fighting the +battle at Moester’s Hoek, General De Wet had +hardly three days’ food and very little ammunition +with him, yet rather than delay his march and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page128">[128]</span> + +send for more waggons, he proceeded to Wepener +where, after several days’ fighting, both his food +and ammunition became exhausted and he was +obliged to lie idle around the enemy and await the +arrival of the supplies which he might have carried +with him at the outset of the trek if he had cared +to risk such an impediment to his rapid movements. +</p> + +<p> +One of the primary reasons why the Boer could +move more rapidly than the British was the difference +in the weight carried by their horses. The +Boer paid no attention to art when he went to +war, and consequently he carried nothing that was +not absolutely essential. His saddle was less than +half the weight of a British saddle, and that was +almost all the equipment he carried when on a +trek. The Boer rider and equipment, including +saddle, rifle, blankets, and a food-supply, rarely +weighed more than two hundred and fifty pounds, +which was not a heavy load for a horse to carry. +A British cavalryman and his equipment of heavy +saddle, sabre, carbine, and saddle-bags, rarely +weighed less than four hundred pounds—a burden +which soon tired a horse. Again, almost every +Boer had two horses, so that when one had been + +<span class="pagenum" id="page129">[129]</span> + +ridden for an hour or more he was relieved and +led, while the other was used. In this manner the +Boers were able to travel from twelve to fourteen +hours in a day when it was absolutely necessary +to reach a certain point at a given time. Six +miles an hour was the rate of progress ascribed +to horses in normal condition, and when a forced +march was attempted they could travel sixty and +seventy miles in a day, and be in good condition +the following morning to undertake another +journey of equal length. Small commandos often +covered sixty and seventy miles in a day, especially +during the fighting along the Tugela, while +after the battles of Poplar Grove and Abraham’s +Kraal, and the capture of Bloemfontein, it seemed +as if the entire army in the Free State were +moving northward at a rate of speed far exceeding +that of an express train. The mobility of the +Boer army was then on a par with that of the +British army after the battle of Dundee, and it +was difficult to determine which of the two +deserved the palm for the best display of accelerated +motion. +</p> + +<p> +A feature of the Boer system of warfare which +was most striking was the manner in which each + +<span class="pagenum" id="page130">[130]</span> + +individual protected himself, as far as possible, +from danger. In lion-hunting it is an axiom that +the hunter must not pursue a wounded lion into +tall grass or underbrush lest the pursuer may be +attacked. In the Boer army it was a natural +instinct, common to all the burghers, which led +them to seek their own safety whenever danger +seemed to be near. Men who follow the most +peaceful pursuits of life value their lives highly. +They do not assume great risks even if great ends +are to be attained. The majority of the Boers +were farmers who saw no glory in attempting to +gain a great success, the attainment of which made +it necessary that they should risk their lives. It +seemed as if each man realised that his death +meant a great loss to the Boer army, already +small, and that he did not mean to diminish its +size if he could possibly prevent it. The Boer +was quick in noting when the proper time arrived +for retreat, and he was not slothful in acting +upon his observations. Retreating at the proper +time was one of the Boers’ characteristics, but +it could not be called an advantage, for frequently +many of the Boers misjudged the proper +time for retreating and left the field when a battle + +<span class="pagenum" id="page131">[131]</span> + +was almost won. At Poplar Grove the Boers +might have won the day if the majority of the +burghers had remained and fought an hour or two +longer instead of retreating precipitately when the +individuals determined that safety was to be found +only in flight. At Elandslaagte the foreigners +under General Kock did not gauge the proper +moment for retreat, but continued with the +fighting and were almost annihilated by the +Lancers because of their lack of discretion in that +respect. The burghers of the Free State, in particular, +had the instinct of retreating abnormally +developed, and whenever a battle was in progress +large numbers of burghers could be observed +going in an opposite direction as rapidly as their +ponies could carry them over the veld. The lack +of discipline in the commandos made such practices +possible; in fact there was no rule or law by +which a burgher could be prevented from retreating +or deserting whenever he felt that he did not care +to participate in a battle. After the British occupation +of Bloemfontein there was a small skirmish +about eight miles north of that city at a place +called Tafelkop which sent the Free Staters +running in all directions. The veld seemed to be + +<span class="pagenum" id="page132">[132]</span> + +filled with deserters, and at every farmhouse there +were from two to six able-bodied men who had +retreated when they believed themselves to be in +grave danger. +</p> + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="SPION KOP, WHERE BOERS CHARGED UP THE HILLSIDE" id="FIG.09"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.09"><img src="images/image009.jpg" +title="SPION KOP, WHERE BOERS CHARGED UP THE HILLSIDE" +alt="SPION KOP, WHERE BOERS CHARGED UP THE HILLSIDE" +width="750" height="523" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>SPION KOP, WHERE BOERS CHARGED UP THE HILLSIDE</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +Foolish men attribute all the moral courage in +the world to the soldiers of their own country, but +nature made a wise distribution of that gift, and +not all the Boers were cowards. Boer generals +with only a few hundred men time and again +attacked thousands of British soldiers, and +frequently vanquished them. General Botha’s +twenty-five hundred men held out for a week +against General Buller’s thirty or forty thousand +men, and General Cronje with his four thousand +burghers succumbed to nothing less than forty +thousand men and a hundred and fifty heavy guns +under Field-Marshal Lord Roberts. Those two +examples of Boer bravery would suffice to prove +that the South African farmers had moral courage +of no mean order if there were not a thousand and +one other splendid records of bravery. The +burghers did not always lie behind their shelter +until the enemy had come within several hundred +yards and then bowl them over with deadly +accuracy. At the Platrand fight near Ladysmith, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page133">[133]</span> + +on January 6th, the Boers charged and captured +British positions, drove the defenders out, and did +it so successfully that only a few Boers were +killed. The Spion Kop fight, a second Majuba +Hill, was won after one of the finest displays of +moral courage in the war. It requires bravery +of the highest type for a small body of men to +climb a steep hill in the face of the enemy which +is three times greater numerically and armed +with larger and more guns, yet that was the +case with the Boers at Spion Kop. There were +but few battles in the entire campaign that the +Boer forces were not vastly outnumbered by +the enemy, who usually had from twice to twenty +times their number of cannon, yet the burghers +were well aware of the fact and did not allow +it to interfere with their plans nor did they +display great temerity in battling with such +a foe. When Lord Roberts and his three +thousand cavalry entered Jacobsdal there were +less than one hundred armed Boers in the +town, but they made a determined stand against +the enemy, and in a street-fight a large percentage +of the burghers fell, and their blood mingled with +that of those they had slain. Large bodies of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page134">[134]</span> + +Boers rarely attacked, and never resisted the +enemy on level stretches of veld, not because they +lacked courage to do so, but because they saw the +futility of such action. After the British drove +the Boers out of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> east and north-east of +Bloemfontein the burghers had no broken country +suited to their particular style of warfare, and +they retreated to the Vaal without much effort +to stop the advance of the enemy. The Boer +generals knew that the British were equipped with +innumerable cannon, which could sweep the level +veld for several miles before them and make the +ground untenable for the riflemen—the mainstay +of the Boer army. +</p> + +<p> +When they were on hills the Boers were able to +entrench themselves so thoroughly that the fire +of several hundred heavy guns made hardly any +impression on them, but as soon as they attempted +to apply those tactics on level ground the results +were most disastrous. At Colenso and Magersfontein +the burghers remained in their trenches on +the hills while thousands of shrapnel and other +shells exploded above and around them, but very +few men were injured, and when the British +infantry advanced under cover of the shell fire the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page135">[135]</span> + +Boers merely remained in the trenches until the +enemy had approached to within several hundred +yards and then assailed them with rifle fire. +Trenches always afforded perfect safety from +shell fire, and on that account the Boers were able +to cope so long and well with the British in the +fighting along the Tugela and around Kimberley. +The Boers generally remained quietly in their +trenches and made no reply to the British cannon +fire, however hot it was. The British generals +several times mistook this silence as an indication +that the Boers had evacuated the trenches, and +sent forward bodies of infantry to occupy the +positions. When the infantry reached the Boer +zone of fire they usually met with a terrific Mauser +fire that could not be stemmed, however gallant +the attacks might have been. Hundreds of +British soldiers lost their lives while going forward +under shell fire to occupy a position which, it was +presumed by the generals, was unoccupied by +the Boers. +</p> + +<p> +There were innumerable instances, also, of +extraordinarily brave acts by individual burghers, +but it was extremely difficult to hear of them +owing to the Boers’ disinclination to discuss a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page136">[136]</span> + +battle in its details. No Boer ever referred to +his exploits or those of his friends of his own +volition, and then only in the most indefinite +manner. He related the story of a battle in +much the same manner he told of the tilling of +his fields or the herding of his cattle, and when +there was any part of it pertaining to his +own actions he passed it over without comment. +It seemed as if every one was fighting, not for +his own glorification, but for the success of his +country’s army, and consequently there was +little hero-worship. Individual acts of bravery +entitled the fortunate person to have his name +mentioned in the <i>Staats-Courant</i>, the Government +gazette, but hardly any attention was paid to the +search for heroes, and only the names of a few +men were even chronicled in the columns of that +periodical. One of the bravest men in the Natal +campaign was a young Pretoria burgher named +Van Gas, who, in his youth, had an accident which +made it necessary that his right arm should be +amputated at the elbow. Later in life he was +injured in one of the native wars and the upper +arm was amputated, so that when he joined a +commando he had only the left arm. It was an + +<span class="pagenum" id="page137">[137]</span> + +extraordinary spectacle to observe young Van +Gaz holding his carbine between his knees while +loading it with cartridges, and quite as strange to +see the energy with which he discharged his rifle +with one hand. He was in the van of the storming +party at Spion Kop, where a bullet passed completely +through his chest. He continued, however, +to work his rifle between his knees and to shoot +with his left arm, and was one of the first men to +reach the summit of the hill, where he snatched +the rifles from the hands of two British soldiers. +After the battle was won he was carried to a +hospital by several other burghers, but a month +afterwards he was again at the front at the Tugela, +going into exposed positions and shouting, “Come +on, fellows, here is a good chance!” His companions +desired to elect him as their field-cornet, +but he refused the honour. +</p> + +<p> +Evert Le Roux and Herculaas Nel, of the +Swaziland Police, and two of the best scouts in +the Boer army, were constantly engaged in recklessly +daring enterprises, none of which, however, +was quite equal to their actions on April 21st, +when the vicinity of Ladysmith had been in +British hands for almost two months. The two +men went out on patrol and by night crept up + +<span class="pagenum" id="page138">[138]</span> + +a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> behind which about three hundred British +cavalrymen were bivouacking. The men were +twenty miles distant from their laagers at Dundee +and only a short distance from Ladysmith, but +they lay down and slept on the other side of the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>, less than a hundred yards from the cavalrymen. +In the morning the British cavalry was +divided into three squads, and all started for +Ladysmith. Le Roux and Nel swept down +toward the last squad, and called, “Hands up,” +to one of the men in the van. The cavalryman +promptly held up his hands and a minute afterward +surrendered his gun and himself, while the +remainder of the squad fled precipitately. The +two scouts, with their prisoner, quickly made a +<i>détour</i> of another <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>, and appeared in front +of the first squad, of whom they made a similar +demand. One of the cavalrymen, who was in +advance of the others, surrendered without attempting +to make any resistance, while the others +turned quickly to the right and rode headlong into +a deep sluit. Le Roux shot the horse of one of +the men before he reached the sluit, loaded the +unhorsed man on one of the other prisoner’s +horses, and then pursued the fleeing cavalrymen +almost to the city-limits of Ladysmith. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page139">[139]</span> + + +<p> +Major Albrecht, the head of the Free State-Artillery, +was one of the bravest men in General +Cronje’s commando, and his display of courage at +the battle of Magersfontein was not less extraordinary +than that which he made later in the +river bed at Paardeberg. At Magersfontein +Albrecht and two of his artillerymen operated the +cannon which were located behind schanzes twenty +feet apart. The British had more than thirty +cannon, which they turned upon the Boer cannon +whenever one of them was discharged. After a +short time the fire became so hot that Albrecht +sent his assistants to places of safety, and operated +the guns alone. For eight hours the intrepid Free +State artilleryman jumped from one cannon to +another, returning the fire whenever there was a +lull in the enemy’s attack and seeking safety +behind the schanze when shells were falling too +rapidly. It was an uneven contest, but the +bravery of the one man inspired the others, and +the end of the day saw the Boers nearer victory +than they were in the morning. At Tafelkop, on +March 30th, three burghers were caught napping +by three British soldiers, who suddenly appeared +before them and shouted, “Hands up!” While +the soldiers were advancing toward them the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page140">[140]</span> + +three burghers succeeded in getting their rifles at +their captors’ heads, and turned the tables by +making prisoners of them. There were many +such instances of bravery, but one that is almost +incredible occurred at the place called Railway +Hill, near the Tugela, on February 24th. On that +day the Boers did not appear to know anything +concerning the position of the enemy, and James +Marks, a Rustenburg farmer, determined to go out +of the laager and reconnoitre on his own responsibility. +Marks was more than sixty-two years old, +and was somewhat decrepit, a circumstance which +did not prevent him from taking part in almost +every one of the Natal battles, however. The old +farmer had been absent from his laager less than +an hour when he saw a small body of British +soldiers at the foot of a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>. He crept cautiously +around the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>, and, when he was within a +hundred yards of the men, he shouted, “Hands +up!” The soldiers immediately lifted their arms, +and, in obedience to the orders of Marks, stacked +their guns on a rock and advanced toward him. +Marks placed the men in a line, saw that there +were twenty-three big, able-bodied soldiers, and +then marched them back into camp, to the great +astonishment of his generals and fellow burghers. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="PLAN OF BATTLEFIELD OF SANNASPOST" id="FIG.10"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.10"><img src="images/image010.jpg" + title="PLAN OF BATTLEFIELD OF SANNASPOST" + alt="PLAN OF BATTLEFIELD OF SANNASPOST" + width="752" height="528" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">PLAN OF BATTLEFIELD OF SANNASPOST</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page141">[141]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter6">CHAPTER VI</h2> +<h2> +THE BOERS IN BATTLE +</h2> + +<p> +The battle of Sannaspost on March 31st was +one of the few engagements in the campaign +in which the forces of the Boers and the British +were almost numerically equal. There were two +or three small battles in which the Boers had more +men engaged than the British, but in the majority +of instances the Boers were vastly outnumbered +both in men and guns. At Elandslaagte the +Boers had exactly seven hundred and fifty +burghers pitted against the five or six thousand +British; Spion Kop was won from three thousand +British by three hundred and fifty Boers; at the +Tugela Botha with not more than twenty-six +hundred men fought for more than a week against +ten times that number of soldiers under General +Buller; while the greatest disparity between the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page142">[142]</span> + +opposing forces was at Paardeberg, where Cronje +spent a week in trying to lead his four thousand +men through the encircling wall of forty or fifty +thousand British soldiers. +</p> + +<p> +Sannaspost was not a decisive battle of the war, +since no point of great strategical importance was +at stake, but it was more in the nature of a demonstration +of what the Boers were able to do when +they were opposed to a force of equal strength. +It was a test which was equally fair to both contestants, +and neither of them could reasonably +claim to have possessed an advantage over the +other a day before the battle was fought. The +British commander, Colonel Broadwood, had +seventeen hundred men in his column, and General +De Wet was at the head of about two hundred and +fifty less than that number, but the strength of the +forces was equalised by the Boer general’s intimate +knowledge of the country. Colonel Broadwood +was experienced in Indian, Egyptian, and South +African warfare, and the majority of his soldiers +were seasoned in many battles. De Wet and his +men were fresh from Poplar Grove, Abraham’s +Kraal, and the fighting around Kimberley, but +they were not better nor worse than the average + +<span class="pagenum" id="page143">[143]</span> + +of the Boer burghers. The British commander +was hampered by a large transport train, but he +possessed the advantage of more heavy guns than +his adversary. All in all, the two forces were +equally matched when they reached the battlefield. +</p> + +<p> +The day before the battle General De Wet and +his men were in laager several miles east of +Brandfort, whither they had fled after the fall of +Bloemfontein. His scouts brought to him the +information that a small British column was +stationed in the village of Thaba N’Chu, forty +miles to the east, and he determined to march +thither and attack it. He gave the order, “Opzaal!” +and in less than eight minutes every one of +his burghers was on his horse, armed, provided +with two days’ rations of biltong, biscuit, coffee, +and sugar, and ready to proceed. De Wet himself +leaped into a light, ramshackle four-wheeler, and +led the advance over the dusty veld. Without +attempting to proceed with any semblance of +military order, the burghers followed in the course +of their leader, some riding rapidly, others walking +beside their horses, and a few skirmishing far +away on the veld for buck. The mule-teams + +<span class="pagenum" id="page144">[144]</span> + +dragging the artillery and the ammunition waggons +were not permitted by their hullabalooing Basuto +drivers to lag far behind the general, and the dust +which was raised by this long cavalcade was not +unlike the clouds of locusts which were frequently +mistaken for the signs of a trekking commando. +Mile after mile was rapidly traversed, until darkness +came on, when a halt was made so that the +burghers might prepare a meal, and that the +general might hear from the scouts, who were far +in advance of the body. After the men and horses +had eaten, and the moon rose over the dark peak +of Thaba N’Chu mountain, the burghers lighted +their pipes and sang psalms and hymns until the +peaceful valley resounded with their voices. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N’CHU" id="FIG.11"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.11"><img src="images/image011.jpg" +title="VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N’CHU" +alt="VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N’CHU" +width="745" height="523" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N’CHU</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +Panting horses brought to the little stone farmhouse, +where General De Wet was drinking milk, +the long-awaited scouts who carried the information +that the British force had evacuated Thaba N’Chu +late in the afternoon, and that it was moving +hurriedly toward Bloemfontein. Again the order: +“Opzaal,” and the mule train came into motion +and the burghers mounted their horses. A chill +night air arose, and shivering burghers wrapped +blankets around their shoulders. The humming of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page145">[145]</span> + +hymns and the whistling ceased, and there was +nothing but the clatter of horses’ hoofs, the shouts +of the Basutos, and the noises of the guns and +waggons rumbling over the stones and gullies to +mark the nocturnal passage of the army. Lights +appeared at farmhouse windows, and at their gates +were women and children with bread and bowls +of milk and prayers for the burghers. Small walls +enclosing family burial plots where newly-dug +ground told its own story of the war seemed grim +in the moonlight; native huts with their inhabitants +standing like spectres before the doors appeared +like monstrous ant-heaps—all these were passed, +but the drooping eyes of the burghers saw nothing. +At midnight another halt was made, horses were +off-saddled and men lay down on the veld to +sleep. The generals and officers met in Krijgsraad, +and other scouts arriving told of the enemy’s +evident intention of spending the remainder of the +night at an old-time off-saddling station known as +Sannaspost. The news was highly important, and +the heads of the generals came closer together. +Maps were produced, pencil marks were made, +plans were formed, and then the sleeping burghers +were aroused. The trek was resumed, and shortly + +<span class="pagenum" id="page146">[146]</span> + +afterward the column was divided into two parts; +the one consisting of nine hundred men under +General Peter De Wet, proceeding by a circuitous +route to the hills south of Sannaspost, and the +other of five hundred men commanded by General +Christian De Wet moving through a maze of <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> +to a position west of the trekking station. +</p> + +<p> +The burghers were not informed of the +imminence of a battle; but they required no such +announcement from their generals. The atmosphere +seemed to be surcharged with premonitions +of an engagement, and men rubbed sleep out of +their eyes and sat erect upon their horses. The +blacks even ceased to crack their whips so sharply, +and urged the mules forward in whispers instead of +shrieks. Burghers took their rifles from their +backs, tested the workings of the mechanism and +filled the magazine with cartridges. Artillerymen +leaped from their horses and led them while they +sat on the cannon and poured oil into the bearings. +Young men speculated on the number of prisoners +they would take; old men wrote their names on +their hats by the light of the moon. The lights of +Bloemfontein appeared in the distance, and grey-beards +looked longingly at them and sighed. But + +<span class="pagenum" id="page147">[147]</span> + +the cavalcade passed on, grimly, silently, and +defiantly, into the haunts of the enemy. +</p> + +<p> +After four hours of trekking over veld, <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>, +sluit, and donga, the two columns halted, the +burghers dismounted, and, weary from the long +journey and the lack of sleep, lay down on the +earth beside their horses. Commandants, field-cornets +and corporals, bustling about among the +burghers, horses and waggons, gave orders in +undertones; generals summoned their scouts and +asked for detailed information concerning the +whereabouts of the enemy; patrols were scurrying +hither and thither to secure accurate ideas of the +topography of the territory in front of them; all +who were in authority were busy, while the +burghers, who carried the strength of battle in +their bodies, lay sleeping and resting. +</p> + +<p> +The first dim rays of the day came over the tops +of the eastern hills when the burghers were aroused +and asked to proceed to the positions chosen by +their leaders. The men under Peter De Wet, the +younger brother of the Commandant-General, were +led to an elevation about a mile and a half south +of Sannaspost, where they placed their cannon +into position and waited for the break of day. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page148">[148]</span> + + +<p> +Christian De Wet and his five hundred burghers +advanced noiselessly and occupied the dry bed of +Koorn Spruit, a stream which crossed the main +road running from Thaba N’Chu to Bloemfontein +at right angles about a mile from the station where +the British forces had begun their bivouac for the +night, two hours before. No signs of the enemy +could be seen; there were no pickets, no outposts, +and none of the usual safeguards of an army, and +for some time the Boers were led to believe that +the British force had been allowed to escape +unharmed. +</p> + +<p> +The burghers under the leadership of Christian +De Wet were completely concealed in the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>. +The high banks might have been held by the +forces of their enemy, but unless they crept to the +edge and looked down into the stream they would +not have been able to discover the presence of the +Boers. Where the road crossed the stream deep +approaches had been dug into the banks in order +to facilitate the passage of conveyances—a “drift” +it is called in South Africa—and on either side for +a distance of a mile, up and down the stream, the +burghers stood by their horses and waited for +the coming of the day. The concealment was + +<span class="pagenum" id="page149">[149]</span> + +perfect; no specially constructed trenches could +have served the purposes of the Boers more advantageously. +</p> + +<p> +Dawn lighted the flat-topped <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> that lay in +a huge semicircle in the distance, and men clambered +up the sides of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> to ascertain the +camp of the enemy. The white smoke-stack of +the Bloemfontein waterworks appeared against the +black background of the hills in the east, but it +was still too dark to distinguish objects on the +ground beneath it. A group of burghers in the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, absent-mindedly, began to sing a deep-toned +psalm, but the stern order of a commandant +quickly ended their matutinal song. A donkey in +an ammunition waggon brayed vociferously, and a +dozen men, fearful lest the enemy should hear the +noise, sprang upon him with clubs and whips, and +even attempted to close his mouth by force of +hands. It was the fateful moment before the +battle, and men acted strangely. Some walked +nervously up and down, others dropped on their +knees and prayed, a few lighted their pipes, many +sat on the ground and looked vacantly into space, +while some of the younger burghers joked and +laughed. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page150">[150]</span> + + +<p> +At the drift stood the generals, scanning the +hills and undulations with their glasses. Small +fires appeared in the east near the tall white +stack. “They are preparing their breakfast,” +some one suggested. “I see a few tents,” another +one reported excitedly. All eyes were turned in +the direction indicated. Some estimated the intervening +distance at a mile, others were positive +it was not more than a thousand yards—it was +not light enough to distinguish accurately. “Tell +the burghers that I will fire the first shot,” said +General De Wet to one of his staff. Immediately +the order was spread to the men in the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>. “I +see men leading oxen to the waggons; they are +preparing to trek,” remarked a commandant. +“They are coming down this way,” announced +another, slapping his thigh joyfully. +</p> + +<p> +A few minutes afterwards clouds of dust arose, +and at intervals the waggons in the van could be +seen coming down the slope toward the drift. The +few tents fell, and men in brown uniforms moved +hither and thither near the waterworks building. +Waggon after waggon joined in the procession; +drivers were shrieking and wielding their whips +over the heads of the oxen, and farther behind + +<span class="pagenum" id="page151">[151]</span> + +were cavalrymen mounting their horses. It was +daylight then, although the sun was still below the +horizon, and the movements of the enemy could +be plainly discerned. The ox-teams came slowly +down the road—there seemed to be no limit to +their number—and the generals retreated down +the drift to the bottom of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, so that their +presence should not be discerned by the enemy, +and to await the arrival of the waggons. +</p> + +<p> +The shrieking natives drew nearer, the rumbling +of the waggons became more distinct, and soon the +first vehicle descended the drift. A few burghers +were sent forward to intercept it. As soon as it +reached the bottom of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> the men grasped +the bridles of the horses, and instantly there were +shrieks from the occupants of the vehicle. It was +filled with women and children, all pale with fright +on account of the unexpected appearance of the +Boers. The passengers were quickly and gently +taken from the waggon and sent to places of +safety in the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, while a burgher jumped into +the vehicle and drove the horses up the other drift +and out upon the open veld. The operation of +substituting drivers was done so quickly and +quietly that none of those approaching the drift + +<span class="pagenum" id="page152">[152]</span> + +from the other side noticed anything extraordinary, +and proceeded into the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>. Other +burghers stood prepared to receive them as they +descended the drift with their heavily laden +ammunition and provision waggons, and there +was little trouble in seizing the British drivers +and placing the whips into the hands of Boers. +Waggon after waggon was relieved of its drivers +and sent up to the other bank without creating a +suspicion in the minds of the others who were +coming down the slope from the waterworks. +</p> + +<p> +After fifty or more waggons had crossed the +drift a solitary cavalry officer with the rank of +captain, riding leisurely along, followed one of +them. His coat had a rent in it and he was +holding the torn parts together, as if he were +planning the mending of it when he reached +Bloemfontein. A young Boer sprang toward him, +called “Hands up!” and projected the barrel of +his carbine toward him. The officer started out of +his reverie, involuntarily reached for his sword, but +repented almost instantly, and obeyed the order. +General De Wet approached the captain, touched +his hat in salute, and said, “Good morning, sir.” +The officer returned the complimentary greeting + +<span class="pagenum" id="page153">[153]</span> + +and offered his sword to the Boer. De Wet +declined to receive the weapon and told the officer +to return to his men and ask them to surrender. +“We have a large force of men surrounding you,” +the general explained, “and you cannot escape. +In order to save many lives I ask you to surrender +your men without fighting.” The officer remained +silent for a moment, then looked squarely into the +eyes of the Boer general and said, “I will return to +my men and will order them to surrender.” De +Wet nodded his head in assent, and the captain +mounted his horse. “I will rely upon your +promise,” the general added, “if you break it I +will shoot you.” +</p> + +<p> +General De Wet and several of his commandants +followed the cavalry officer up the drift and stood +on the bank while the horseman galloped slowly +toward the troops which were following the +waggons down the slope. The general raised +his carbine and held it in his arms. His eyes +were fixed on the officer, and he stood as firm as +a statue until the cavalryman reached his men. +There was a momentary pause while the captain +stood before his troops, then the horses were +wheeled about and their hoofs sent showers of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page154">[154]</span> + +dust into the air as they carried their riders in +retreat. General De Wet stepped forward several +paces, raised his carbine to his shoulder, aimed +steadily for a second, then fired. The bullet +whistled menacingly over the heads of oxen and +drivers—it struck the officer, and he fell.<sup class="footnoteref"><a href="#chapter6.FNDEF.1" id="chapter6.FNREF.1">1</a></sup> +</p> + +<p> +All along the banks of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, for a mile on +either side of the ravine, and over on the hills +where Peter De Wet and his burghers lay, men had +been waiting patiently and expectantly for that +signal gun of Christian De Wet. They had been +watching the enemy toiling down the slope under +the very muzzles of their guns for almost an age, +it seemed, yet they dared not fire lest the plans of +the generals should be thwarted. Men had lain +flat on the ground with their rifles pointing minute +after minute at individuals in the advancing column, +but the words of their general, “I will fire the first +shot,” restrained them. The flight of the bullet + +<span class="pagenum" id="page155">[155]</span> + +which entered the body of the cavalry officer +marked the ending of the long period of nervous +tension, and the burghers were free to use their +guns. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="THE AUTHOR, AND A BASUTO PONY WHICH ASSISTED IN THE FIGHT AT SANNASPOST" id="FIG.12"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.12"><img src="images/image012.jpg" +title="THE AUTHOR, AND A BASUTO PONY WHICH ASSISTED IN THE FIGHT AT SANNASPOST" +alt="THE AUTHOR, AND A BASUTO PONY WHICH ASSISTED IN THE FIGHT AT SANNASPOST" +width="750" height="524" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">THE AUTHOR, AND A BASUTO PONY WHICH ASSISTED IN THE FIGHT AT SANNASPOST</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +Until the officer advised his men to retreat and +he himself fell from his horse the main body of +the British troops was ignorant of the presence of +the Boers, but the report of the rifle was a summons +to battle and instantly the field was filled with +myriads of stirring scenes. The lazy transport-train +suddenly became a thing of rapid motion; +the huge body of troops was quickly broken into +many parts; horses that had been idling along the +road plunged forward as if projected by catapults. +Officers with swords flashing in the sunlight +appeared leading their men into different positions, +cannon were hurriedly drawn upon commanding +elevations, and Red Cross waggons scattered to +places of safety. The peaceful transport-train +had suddenly been transformed into a formidable +engine of war by the report of a rifle, and the +contest for a sentiment and a bit of ground was +opened by shrieking cannon-shell and the piercing +cry of rifle-ball. +</p> + +<p> +Down at the foot of the slope, where the drift + +<span class="pagenum" id="page156">[156]</span> + +crossed the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, Boers were dragging cannon +into position, and in among the waggons which +had become congested in the road, burghers and +soldiers were engaging in fierce hand-to-hand +encounters. A stocky Briton wrestled with a +youthful Boer, and in the struggle both fell to +the ground; near by a cavalryman was firing his +revolver at a Boer armed with a rifle, and a hundred +paces away a burgher was fighting with a +British officer for the possession of a sword. Over +from the hills in the south came the dull roar of +Boer cannon, followed by the reports of the shells +exploding in the east near the waterworks. +British cannon opened fire from a position near +the white smoke-stack and scores of bursting +projectiles fell among the waggons at the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>. +Oxen and horses were rent limb from limb, waggons +tumbled over on their sides; boxes of provisions +were thrown in all directions, and out of the cloud +of dust and smoke stumbled men with blood-stained +faces and lacerated bodies. Terrified and +bellowing oxen twisted and tugged at their yokes; +horses broke from their fastenings in the waggons +and dashed hither and thither, and weakling donkeys +strove in vain to free themselves from waggons + +<span class="pagenum" id="page157">[157]</span> + +set on fire by the shells. Explosion followed +explosion, and with every one the mass became +more entangled. Dead horses fell upon living +oxen; wheels and axles were thrown on the +backs of donkeys, and plunging mules dragged +heavy waggons over great piles of <i>débris</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The cannon on the southern hills became more +active and their shells caused the landscape surrounding +the waterworks to be filled with geysers +of dust. Troops which were stationed near the +white smoke-stack suddenly spurred their horses +forward and dashed northward to seek safety +behind a long undulation in the ground. The +artillerymen in the hills followed their movements +with shells, and the dust-fountains sprang up at +the very heels of the troops. The cannon at the +drift joined in the attack on the horsemen scattered +over the slope, and the big guns at the waterworks +continued to reply vigorously. The men in the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> were watching the artillery duel intently as +they sped up and down the bottom of the water-less +stream, searching for points of vantage. A +large number of them moved rapidly down the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> towards its confluence with the Modder +River in order to check the advance of the troops + +<span class="pagenum" id="page158">[158]</span> + +driven forward by the shell-fire, and another party +rushed eastward to secure positions in the rear of +the British cannon at the waterworks. The banks +of the stream still concealed them, but they dared +not fire lest the enemy should disturb their plans. +On and on they dashed, over rocks and chasms, +until they were within a few hundred yards of a part +of the British force. Slowly they crept up the +sides of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, cautiously peered out over +the edge of the bank and then opened fire on the +men at the cannon and the troops passing down the +slope. Little jets of dust arose where their bullets +struck the ground, men fell around the cannon, and +cavalrymen quickly turned and charged toward +the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>. The shells of the cannon at the drift +and on the southern hills fell thicker and thicker +among the troops and the air above them was +heavy with the light blue smoke of bursting +shrapnel. The patter of the Boer rifles at the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> increased in intensity and the jets of brown +dust became more numerous. The cavalrymen +leaped from their horses and ran ahead to find protection +behind a line of rocks. The intermittent, +irregular firing of the Boers was punctuated by +the regular, steady reports of British volleys. The + +<span class="pagenum" id="page159">[159]</span> + +brown dust-geysers increased among the rocks +where the British lay, and soon the soldiers turned +and ran for their horses. Burghers crept from +rock to rock in pursuit of them, and their bullets +urged the fleeing horsemen on. The British +cannon spoke less frequently, and shells and +bullets fell so thickly around them that bravery +in such a situation seemed suicidal, and the last +artilleryman fled. Boers ran up and turned the +loaded guns upon the backs of those who had +operated them a few moments before. +</p> + +<p> +Down in the north-western part of the field a +large force of troops was dashing over the veld +toward the banks of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>. Officers, waving +swords above their heads and shouting commands +to their subordinates, led the way. A few shells exploding +in the ranks scattered the force temporarily +and caused horses to rear and plunge, but the gaps +quickly disappeared, and the men moved on down +the slope. Boers rode rapidly down the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> +and out upon the veld behind a low range of +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> which lay in front of the British force. +Horses were left in charge of native servants, and +the burghers crept forward on hands and knees to +the summit of the range. They carefully concealed + +<span class="pagenum" id="page160">[160]</span> + +themselves behind rocks and bushes and waited for +the enemy to approach more closely. The cavalrymen +spread out in skirmishing order as they +proceeded, and, ignorant of the proximity of the +Boers, drew their horses into a walk. The +burghers in the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> fired a few shots, and the +troops turned quickly to the left and again broke +into a gallop. The firing from the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> increased +in volume, the cannon from the hills again broke +forth, the little dust-clouds rose out of the earth on +all sides of the troopers, and shrapnel bursting in +the air sent its bolts and balls of iron and steel; +into the midst of the brown men and earth. +Horses and riders fell, officers leaped to the +ground and shouted encouragement to their +soldiers, men sprang behind rocks and discharged +their rifles. Minutes of agony passed. Officers +gathered their men and attempted to lead them +forward, but they had not progressed far when the +Boers in the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> in front of them swept the +ground with the bullets of their rifles. Burghers +crept around the edge of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> and emptied +their carbines into the backs of the cavalrymen, +cannons poured shell upon them from three +different directions, and these men on the open + +<span class="pagenum" id="page161">[161]</span> + +plain could not see even a brace of Boers to fire +upon. Men and horses continued to fall, the +wounded lay moaning in the grass, while shells +and bullets sang their song of death more loudly +every second to those who braved the storm. A +tiny white cloth was raised, the firing ceased +instantly, and the brave band threw down its +arms to the burghers who sprang out from the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> and rocky <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>. +</p> + +<p> +In the east the low hills were dotted with +men in brown. To the right and left of +them, a thousand yards apart, were Boer horsemen +circling around <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> and seeking positions +for attacking the already vanquished but stubborn +enemy. Rifle fire had ceased and cannon +sounded only at intervals of a few minutes. +Women at the doors of the two farmhouses in the +centre of the battlefield, and a man drawing water +at a well near by, were not inharmonious with the +quietness and calmness of the moment, but the +epoch of peace was of short duration. The Boer +horsemen stemmed the retreat of the men in brown, +and compelled them to retrace their steps. Another +body of burghers made a wide <i>détour</i> north-eastward +from the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, and, jumping from their + +<span class="pagenum" id="page162">[162]</span> + +horses, crept along under the cover of an undulation +in the ground for almost a half-mile to a point +which overlooked the route of the British retreat. +</p> + +<p> +The enemy was slow in coming, and a few of the +Boers lay down to sleep. Others filled their pipes +and lighted them, and one abstracted a pebble from +his shoe. As the cavalrymen drew nearer to them +the burghers crept forward several paces and sought +the protection of rocks or piled stones together in +the form of miniature forts. “Shall we fire now?” +inquired a beardless Free State youth. “Wait +until they come nearer,” replied an older burgher +close by. Silence was maintained for several +minutes, when the youth again became uneasy. +“I can hit the first one of those Lancers,” he begged, +as he pointed with his carbine to a cavalryman +known to the Boers as a “Lancer,” whether he +carried a lance or not. The cannon in the south +urged the cavalrymen forward with a few shells +delivered a short distance behind them, and then +the old burgher called to the youth, “See if you +can hit him now.” +</p> + +<p> +The boy missed the rider but killed the horse, +and the British force quickly dismounted and sought +shelter in a small ravine. The reports of volley + +<span class="pagenum" id="page163">[163]</span> + +firing followed, and bullets cut the grass beside the +burghers and flattened themselves against the +rocks. Another volley, and a third, in rapid +succession, and the burghers pressed more closely +to the ground. An interval of a minute, and they +glanced over their tiny stockades to find a British +soldier. “They are coming up the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>!” shouted +a burgher, and their rifles swept the hillside with +bullets. More volleys came from below and, while +the leaden tongues sang above and around them, +the burghers turned and lay on their backs to refill +the magazines of their rifles. Another interval, +and the attack was renewed. “They are running!” +screamed a youth exultingly, and burghers rose and +fired at the men in brown at the foot of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>. +Marksmen had their opportunity then, and long +aim was taken before a shot was fired. Men knelt +on the one knee and rested an elbow on the other, +while they held their rifles to their shoulders. +Reports of carbines became less frequent as the +troops progressed farther in an opposite direction, +but increased again when the cavalrymen returned +for a second attack upon the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>. “Lend me a +handful of cartridges, Jan,” asked one man of his +neighbour, as they watched the oncoming force. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page164">[164]</span> + + +<p> +“They must want this <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>,” remarked another +burgher jocularly, as he filled his pipe with tobacco +and lighted it. +</p> + +<p> +The British cannon in the east again became +active, and the dust raised by their shells was +blown over the heads of the burghers on the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>. The reports of the big guns of the Boers +reverberated among the hills, while the regular +volleys of the British rifles seemed to be beating +time to the minor notes and irregular reports of +the Boer carbines. At a distance the troops +moving over the brown field of battle resembled +huge ants more than human beings; and the use +of smokeless powder, causing the panorama to +remain perfectly clear and distinct, allowed every +movement to be closely followed by the observer. +Cannon poured forth their tons of shells, but there +was nothing except the sound of the explosion to +denote where the guns were situated. Rifles cut +down lines of men, but there was no smoke to +indicate where they were being operated, and +unless the burghers or soldiers displayed themselves +to their enemy there was nothing to +indicate their positions. Shrapnel bursting in the +air, the reports of rifles and heavy guns and the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page165">[165]</span> + +little puffs of dust where shells and bullets struck +the ground were the only evidences of the battle’s +progress. The hand-to-hand conflicts, the duels +with bayonets and swords and the clouds of +smoke were probably heroic and picturesque +before the age of rapid-fire guns, modern rifles, +and smokeless ammunition, but here the field of +battle resembled a country fox-chase with an exaggerated +number of hunters, more than a representation +of a battle of twenty-five years ago. +</p> + +<p> +On the summit of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> the burghers were +firing leisurely but accurately. One man aimed +steadily at a soldier for fully twenty seconds, then +pressed the trigger, lowered his rifle and watched +for the effect of the shot. Bullets were flying +high over him, and the shrapnel of the enemy’s +guns exploded far behind him. There seemed to +be no great danger, and he fired again. “I missed +that time,” he remarked to a burgher who lay +behind another rock several yards distant. His +neighbour then fired at the same soldier, and both +cried simultaneously: “He is hit!” The enemy +again disappeared in the little ravine, and the +burghers ceased firing. Shells continued to tear +through the air, but none exploded in the vicinity + +<span class="pagenum" id="page166">[166]</span> + +of the men, and they took advantage of the lull in +the battle to light their pipes. A swarm of yellow +locusts passed overhead, and exploding shrapnel +tore them into myriads of pieces, their wings and +limbs falling near the burghers. “I am glad I am +not a locust,” remarked a burgher farther to the +left of the others, as he dropped a handful of torn +fragments of the insects. Shells and bullets +suddenly splashed everywhere around the burghers, +and they crouched more closely behind the rocks. +The enemy’s guns had secured an accurate range, +and the air was filled with the projectiles of iron +and lead. Exploding shells splintered rocks into +atoms and sent <span class="corr" title="original: then">them</span> tearing through the grass. +Puffs of smoke and dirt were springing up from +every square yard of ground, and a few men rose +from their retreats and ran to the rear where the +Basuto servants were holding their horses. More +followed several minutes afterwards, and when +those who remained on the summit of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> +saw that ten times their number of soldiers were +ascending the hill under cover of cannon fire they +also fled to their horses. +</p> + +<p> +An open plain half a mile wide lay between the +point where the burghers mounted their horses, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page167">[167]</span> + +and another <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> in the north-east. The men lay +closely on their horses’ backs, plunged their spurs +in the animals’ sides, and dashed forward. The +cavalrymen, who had gained the summit of the +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> meanwhile, opened fire on the fleeing Boers, +and their bullets cut open the horses’ sides and +ploughed holes into the burgher’s clothing. One +horse, a magnificent grey who had been leading +the others, fell dead as he was leaping over a +small gully, and his rider was thrown headlong to +the ground. Another horseman turned in his +course, assisted the horseless rider to his own +brown steed, and the two were borne rapidly +through the storm of bullets towards the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>. +Another horse was killed when he had carried his +rider almost to the goal of safety, and the Boer +was compelled to traverse the remainder of the +distance on foot. Apparently all the burghers had +escaped across the plain, and their field-cornet was +preparing to lead them to another position when a +solitary horseman, a mere speck of black against a +background of brown, lifeless grass, issued from a +rocky ravine below the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> occupied by the +enemy, and plunged into the open space. Lee-Metfords +cracked and cut open the ground around + +<span class="pagenum" id="page168">[168]</span> + +him, but the rider bent forward and seemed to +become a part of his horse. Every rod of progress +seemed to multiply the fountains of dust near him; +every leap of his horse seemed necessarily his last. +On, on he dashed, now using his stirrups, now beating +his horse with his hands. It seemed as if he +were making no progress, yet his horse’s legs were +moving so swiftly. “They will get him,” sighed +the field-cornet, looking through his glasses. “He +has a chance,” replied a burgher. Seconds dragged +wearily, the firing increased in volume, and the +dust of the horse’s heels mingled with that raised +by the bullets. The sound of the hoofs beating +down on the solid earth came louder and louder +over the veld, the firing slackened and then ceased, +and a foaming, panting horse brought his burden +to where the burghers stood. The exhausted rider +sank to the ground, and men patted the neck and +forehead of the quivering beast. +</p> + +<p> +Down in the valley, near the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span>, the foreign +military attachés in uniforms quite distinct were +watching the effect of the British artillery on the +saddle belonging to one of their number. “They +will never hit it,” volunteered one, as a shell +exploded ten yards distant from the leathern mark. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page169">[169]</span> + + +<p> +“They must think it is a crowd of Boers,” suggested +another, when a dozen shells had fallen +without injuring the saddle. Fifteen, twenty +tongues of dust arose, but the leather remained +unmarred by scratch or rent, and the attachés +became the target of the heavy guns. “I am hit,” +groaned Lieutenant Nix, of the Netherlands-Indian +army, and his companions caught him in +their arms. Blood gushed from a wound in the +shoulder, but the soldier spirit did not desert +him. “Here, Demange!” he called to the +French attaché, “Hold my head. And you, +Thompson and Allen, see if you cannot bind this +shoulder.” The Norwegian and Hollander bound +the wound as well as they were able. “Reichman!” +the injured man whispered, “I am going to die in +a few minutes, and I wish you would write a letter +to my wife.” The American attaché hastily procured +paper and pencil, and while shells and +shrapnel were bursting over and around them the +wounded man dictated a letter to his wife in +Holland. Blood flowed copiously from the wound +and stained the grass upon which he lay. He +was pale as the clouds above him, and the pain +was agonising, but the dying man’s letter was + +<span class="pagenum" id="page170">[170]</span> + +filled with nothing but expressions of love and +tenderness. +</p> + +<p> +In the south-eastern part of the field a large +party of cavalrymen was speeding in the direction +of Thaba N’Chu. On two sides of them, a thousand +yards behind, small groups of horsemen were +giving chase. At a distance, the riders appeared +like ants slowly climbing the hillside. Now and +then a Boer rider suddenly stopped his horse, +leaped to the ground, and fired at the fleeing +cavalrymen. A second afterwards he was on his +horse again, bending to the chase. Shot followed +shot, but the distance between the forces grew +greater, and one by one the burghers turned their +animals’ heads and slowly retraced their steps. A +startled buck bounded over the veld, two rifles +were turned upon it, and its flight was ended. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO MAN CAPTURED CANNON AFTER SANNASPOST" id="FIG.13"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.13"><img src="images/image013.jpg" +title="CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO MAN CAPTURED CANNON AFTER SANNASPOST" +alt="CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO MAN CAPTURED CANNON AFTER SANNASPOST" +width="672" height="472" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO MAN CAPTURED + CANNON AFTER SANNASPOST</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +The sound of firing had ceased, and the battle +was concluded. Waggons with Red Cross flags +fluttering from the tall staffs above them, issued +from the mountains and rumbled through the +valleys. Burghers dashed over the field in search +of the wounded and dying. Men who a few +moments before were straining every nerve to kill +their fellow-beings became equally energetic to + +<span class="pagenum" id="page171">[171]</span> + +preserve lives. Wounded soldiers and burghers +were lifted out of the grass and carried tenderly to +the ambulance waggons. The dead were placed +side by side, and the same cloth covered the bodies +of Boer and Briton. Men with spades upturned +the earth, and stood grimly by while a man in +black prayed over the bodies of those who died for +their country. +</p> + +<p> +Boer officers, with pencils and paper in their +hands, sped over the battlefield from a group of +prisoners to a line of passing waggons, and made +calculations concerning the result of the day’s +battle. Three Boers killed and nine wounded was +one side of the account. On the credit sheet were +marked four hundred and eight British soldiers, +seven cannon, one hundred and fifty waggons, five +hundred and fifty rifles, two thousand horses and +cattle, and vast stores of ammunition and provisions +captured during the day. +</p> + +<p> +In among the north-eastern hills, where a +farmer’s daub-and-wattle cottage stood, were the +prisoners of war, chatting and joking with their +captors. The officers walked slowly back and +forth, never raising their eyes from the ground. +Dejection was written on their faces. Near them + +<span class="pagenum" id="page172">[172]</span> + +were the captured waggons, with groups of noisy +soldiers climbing over them in search of their +luggage. On the ground others were playing +cards and matching coins. Young Boers walked +amongst them and engaged them in conversation. +Near the farmhouse stood a tall Cape Colony Boer +talking with his former neighbour, who was a +prisoner. Several Americans among the captured +disputed the merits of the war with a Yankee +burgher, who had readily distinguished his countrymen +among the throng. Some one began to whistle +a popular tune, others joined, and soon almost +every one was participating. An officer gave the +order for the prisoners to fall in line, and shortly +afterward the men in brown tramped forward, +while the burghers stepped aside and lined the +path. A soldier commenced to sing another +popular song, British and Boer caught the refrain, +and the noise of tramping feet was drowned by +the melody of the united voices of friend and foe +singing— +</p> + +<div class="lg"> + +<div class="l">“It’s the soldiers of the Queen, my lads,</div> +<div class="l">Who’ve been, my lads—who’ve seen, my lads, </div> + +<div class="l" style="padding-left:7em">* * * * * </div> + +<div class="l">We’ll proudly point to every one </div> +<div class="l">Of England’s soldiers of the Queen.”</div> +</div> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<div class="footnote" id="chapter6.FNDEF.1"> +<a href="#chapter6.FNREF.1">[1]</a> This incident of the battle was witnessed by the writer, +as well as by several of the foreign military attachés. +Whether the British officer broke his promise by asking his +men to retreat or whether his troopers were disobedient is a +question, but it is more than likely that he endeavoured to +act in good faith. Whether the officer was killed or only +wounded by General De Wet’s shot could not be ascertained. +</div> +</div> +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page173">[173]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter7">CHAPTER VII</h2> +<h2> +THE GENERALS OF THE WAR +</h2> + +<p> +The names and deeds of the men who led +thirty thousand of their fellow-peasants +against almost a quarter of a million of the trained +troops of the greatest empire in the world, and +husbanded their men and resources so that they +were enabled to continue the unequal struggle for +the greater part of a year will live for ever in +the history of the Dark Continent. When racial +hatred and the bitternesses of the war have been +forgotten, and South Africa has emerged from its +long period of bloodshed and disaster, then all +Afrikanders will revere the memory of the valiant +deeds of Cronje, Joubert, Botha, Meyer, De Wet, +and the others who fought so gallantly in a cause +which they considered just and holy. Such noble +examples of heroism as Cronje’s stand at Paardeberg, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page174">[174]</span> + + Botha’s defence of the Tugela and the region +east of Pretoria; De Wet’s warfare in the Free +State, and Meyer’s fighting in the Transvaal will +shine in African history as long as the Southern +Cross illumes the path of civilised people in that +region. When future generations search the pages +of history for deeds of valour they will turn to the +records of the Boer-British war of 1899-1900, and +find that the military leaders of the farmers of +South Africa were not less valorous than those of +the untrained followers of Cromwell or William +of Orange, the peace-loving mountaineers of +Switzerland, or the patriotic countrymen of +Washington. +</p> + +<p> +The leaders of the Boer forces were not generals +in the popular sense of the word. Almost without +exception, they were men who had no technical +knowledge of warfare; men who were utterly +without military training of any nature, and who +would have been unable to pass an examination +for the rank of corporal in a European army. +Among the entire list of generals who fought in +the armies of the two Republics there were not +more than three who had ever read military works, +and Cronje was the only one who ever studied the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page175">[175]</span> + +theory and practice of modern warfare, and made +an attempt to apply the principles of it to his +army. Every one of the Boer generals was a +farmer who, before the war, paid more attention +to his crops and cattle than he did to evolving +ideas for application in a campaign, and the +majority of them, in fact, never dreamed that they +would be called upon to be military leaders until +they were nominated for the positions a short time +before hostilities were commenced. Joubert, Cronje, +Ferreira, and Meyer were about the only men in +the two Republics who were certain that they +would be called upon to lead their countrymen, +for all had had experience in former wars; but +men like Botha, De Wet, De la Rey, and Snyman, +who occupied responsible positions afterward, had +no such assurance, and naturally gave little or no +attention to the study of military matters. The +men who became the Boer generals gained their +military knowledge in the wilds and on the veld +of South Africa where they were able to develop +their natural genius in the hunting of lions and the +tracking of game. The Boer principle of hunting +was precisely the same as their method of warfare +and consequently the man who, in times of peace, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page176">[176]</span> + +was a successful leader of shooting expeditions +was none the less adept afterward as the leader of +commandos. +</p> + +<p> +When the Volksraad of the Transvaal determined +to send an ultimatum to Great Britain, +it was with the knowledge that such an act +would provoke war, and consequently preparations +for hostilities were immediately made. One of +the first acts was the appointment of five assistant +commandant-generals—Piet Cronje, Schalk +Burgher, Lucas Meyer, Daniel Erasmus, and Jan +Kock—all of whom held high positions in the +Government, and were respected by the Boer +people. After hostilities commenced, and it +became necessary to have more generals, six +other names were added to the list of assistants +of Commandant-General Joubert—those chosen +being Sarel Du Toit, Hendrik Schoeman, John +De la Rey, Hendrik Snyman, and Herman R. +Lemmer. The selections which were so promiscuously +made were proved by time to be +wise, for almost without exception the men +developed into extraordinarily capable generals. +In the early part of the campaign many costly +mistakes and errors of judgment were made by + +<span class="pagenum" id="page177">[177]</span> + +some of the newly-appointed generals, but such +misfortunes were only to be expected from men +who suddenly found themselves face to face with +some of the best-trained generals in the world. +Later, when the campaign had been in progress +for several months, and the farmers had had +opportunities of learning the tactics of their +opponents, they made no move unless they were +reasonably certain of the result. +</p> + +<p> +One of the prime reasons for the great success +which attended the Boer army before the strength +of the enemy’s forces became overwhelming, was +the fact that the generals were allowed to operate +in parts of the country with which they were +thoroughly acquainted. General Cronje operated +along the western frontiers of the Republics, where +he knew the geographical features of the country +as well as he did those of his own farm. General +Meyer spent the greater part of his life in the +neighbourhood of the Biggarsberg and northern +Natal, and there was hardly a rod of that territory +with which he was unfamiliar. General Botha +was born near the Tugela, and, in his boyhood +days, pursued the buck where afterward he made +such a brave resistance against the forces of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page178">[178]</span> + +General Buller. General Christian De Wet was +a native of Dewetsdorp, and there was not a sluit +or donga in all the territory where he fought so +valiantly that he had not traversed scores of times +before the war began. General De la Rey spent +the greater part of his life in Griqualand West, +Cape Colony, and when he was leading his men +around Kimberley and the south-western part of +the Free State he was in familiar territory. +General Snyman, who besieged Mafeking, was +a resident of the Marico district, and consequently +was acquainted with the formation of the country +in the western part of the Transvaal. In the +majority of cases the generals did not need the +services of an intelligence department, except to +determine the whereabouts of the enemy, for no +scouts or patrols could furnish a better account +of the nature of the country in which they were +fighting than that which existed in the minds of +the leaders. Under these conditions there was +not the slightest chance for any of the generals +falling into a trap laid by the enemy, but there +always were opportunities for leading the enemy +into ambush. +</p> + +<p> +The Boer generals also had the advantage of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page179">[179]</span> + +having excellent maps of the country in which +they were fighting, and by means of these they +were enabled to explain proposed movements to +the commandants and field-cornets who were not +familiar with the topography of the land. These +maps were made two years before the war by a +corps of experts employed by the Transvaal +Government, and on them was a representation of +every foot of ground in the Transvaal, Free State, +Natal, and Cape Colony. A small elevation near +Durban and a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> near Cape Town were +marked as plainly as a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> near Pretoria, while +the British forts at Durban and Cape Town were +as accurately pictured as the roads that led to +them. The Boers had a map of the environs of +Ladysmith which was a hundred times better than +that furnished by the British War Office, yet +Ladysmith was the Natal base of the British +army for many years. +</p> + +<p> +The greater part of the credit for the Boers’ +preparedness must be given to the late Commandant-General +Piet J. Joubert, who was the +head of the Transvaal War Department for many +years. General Joubert, or “Old Piet,” as he was +called by the Boers, to distinguish him from the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page180">[180]</span> + +many other Jouberts in the country, was undoubtedly +a great military leader in his younger +days, but he was almost seventy years old when +he was called upon to lead his people against the +army of Great Britain, and at that age very few +men are capable of great mental or physical +exertion. There was no greater patriot in the +Transvaal than he, and no one who desired the +absolute independence of his country more sincerely +than the old general; yet his heart was not +in the fighting. Like Kruger, he was a man of +peace, and to his dying day he believed that the +war might have been avoided easily. Unlike +Kruger, he clung to the idea that the war, having +been forced upon them, should be ended as +speedily as possible, and without regard to the +loss of national interests. Joubert valued the lives +of the burghers more highly than a clause in a +treaty, and rather than see his countrymen slain in +battle he was willing to make concessions to those +who harassed his Government. +</p> + +<p> +Joubert was one of the few public men in the +Transvaal who firmly believed that the differences +between the two countries would be amicably +adjusted, and he constantly opposed the measures + +<span class="pagenum" id="page181">[181]</span> + +for arming the country which were brought before +him. The large armament was secured by him, it +is true, but the Volksraads compelled him to purchase +the arms and ammunition. If Joubert had +been a man who loved war he would have secured +three times as great a quantity of war material as +there was in the country when the war was begun; +but he was distinctly a man who loved peace. He +constantly allowed his sentiments to overrule his +judgment of what was good for his country, and +the result of that line of action was that at the +beginning of hostilities there were more Boer guns +in Europe and on the ocean than there were in the +Transvaal. +</p> + +<p> +General Joubert was a grand old Boer in many +respects, and no better, more righteous, and more +upright man ever lived. He worked long and +faithfully for his people, and he undoubtedly +strove to do that which he believed to be the +best for his country, but he was incapable of performing +the duties of his office as a younger, more +energetic, and a more warlike man would have +attended to them. Joubert was in his dotage, and +none of his people were aware of it until the +crucial moment of the war was passed. When he + +<span class="pagenum" id="page182">[182]</span> + +led the Boers at Majuba and Laing’s Nek, in +1881, he was in the prime of his life—energetic, +resourceful, and undaunted by any reverses. In +1899, when he followed the commandos into Natal, +he was absolutely the reverse—slow, wavering, and +too timid to move from his tent. He constantly +remained many miles in the rear of the advance +column, and only once went into the danger zone, +when he led a small commando south of the +Tugela. Then, instead of leading his victorious +burghers against the forces of the enemy, he +retreated precipitately at the first sign of danger, +and established himself at Modderspruit, a day’s +journey from the foremost commandos, where he +remained with almost ten thousand of his men for +three months. +</p> + +<p> +Joubert attempted to wage war without the +shedding of blood, and he failed. When General +Meyer reported that about thirty Boers had been +killed and injured in the fight at Dundee, the +Commandant-General censured him harshly for +making such a great sacrifice of blood, and forbade +him from following the fleeing enemy, as such a +course would entail still greater casualties. When +Sir George White and his forces had been imprisoned + +<span class="pagenum" id="page183">[183]</span> + +in Ladysmith, and there was almost a +clear path to Durban, Joubert held back and would +not risk the lives of a few hundred burghers, even +when it was pointed out to him that the men +themselves were eager to assume the responsibility. +He made only one effort to capture Ladysmith, +but the slight loss of life so appalled him that he +would never sanction another attack, although the +town could easily have been taken on the following +day if an attempt had been made. Although he +had a large army round the besieged town he did +not dig a yard of entrenchment in all the time he +was at Modderspruit, nor would he hearken to any +plans for capturing the starving garrison by means +of progressive trenches. While Generals Botha, +Meyer, and Erasmus, with less than three thousand +men, were holding the enemy at the Tugela, +Joubert, with three times that number of men to +guard impotent Ladysmith, declined to send any +ammunition for their big guns, voted to retreat, +and finally fled northward to Colenso, deserting +the fighting men, destroying the bridges and +railways as he progressed, and even leaving his +own tents and equipment behind. +</p> + +<p> +There were extenuating circumstances in connection + +<span class="pagenum" id="page184">[184]</span> + +with Joubert’s failure in the campaign—his +age, an illness, and an accident while he was in +laager—and it is but charitable to grant that these +were fundamentally responsible for his shortcomings, +but it is undoubted that he was primarily +responsible for the failure of the Natal campaign. +The army which he commanded in Natal, although +only twelve or thirteen thousand men in strength, +was the equal in fighting ability of seventy-five +thousand British troops, and the only thing it lacked +was a man who would fight with them and lead +them after a fleeing enemy. If the Commandant-General +had pursued the British forces after all their +defeats and had drawn the burghers out of their +laagers by the force of his own example, the major +part of the history of the Natal campaign would +have been made near the Indian Ocean instead of +on the banks of the Tugela. The majority of the +Boers in Natal needed a commander-in-chief who +would say to them “Come,” but Joubert only said +“Go.” +</p> + +<p> +The death of General Joubert in Pretoria, on +March 26th, was sincerely regretted by all South +Africans, for he undoubtedly was one of the most +distinguished men in the country. During his + +<span class="pagenum" id="page185">[185]</span> + +long public career he made many friends who held +him in high honour for his sterling qualities, his +integrity, and his devotion to his country’s cause. +He made mistakes—and there are few men who +are invulnerable to them—but he died while +striving to do that which he regarded the best for +his country and its cause. If dying for one’s +country is patriotism, then Joubert’s death was +sweet. +</p> + +<p> +When war-clouds were gathering and the storm +was about to burst over the Transvaal Piet Cronje +sat on the stoep of his farmhouse in Potchefstroom, +evolving in his mind a system of tactics which he +would follow when the conflict began. He was +certain that he would be chosen to lead his people, +for he had led them in numerous native wars, in +the conflict in 1881, and later when Jameson made +his ill-starred entry into the Transvaal. Cronje +was a man who loved to be amid the quietude of +his farm, but he was in the cities often enough to +realise that war was the only probable solution of +the differences between the <span lang="af" xml:lang="af" class="af">Uitlanders</span> and the +Boers, and he made preparations for the conflict. +He studied foreign military methods and their +application to the Boer warfare; he evolved new + +<span class="pagenum" id="page186">[186]</span> + +ideas and improved old ones; he planned battles +and the evolutions necessary to win them; he +had a natural taste for things military. +</p> + +<p> +Before all the world had heard the blast of +the war-trumpet, Cronje had deserted the peaceful +stoep and was attacking the enemy on the veld +at Mafeking. A victory there, and he was riding +at the head of his men toward Kimberley. A +skirmish here, a hard-fought battle there, and +he had the Diamond City in a state of siege. +Victories urged him on, and he led the way +southward. A Magersfontein to his wreath, a +Belmont and a Graspan—and it seemed as if +he were more than nominally the South African +Napoleon. A reverse, and Cronje was no longer +the dashing, energetic leader of the month before. +Doggedly and determinedly he retraced his steps, +but advanced cautiously now and then to punish +the enemy for its over-confidence. Beaten back +to Kimberley by the overpowering force of the +enemy, he endured defeat after defeat until finally +he was compelled to abandon the siege in order +to escape the attacks of a second army sent +against him. The enemy’s web had been spun +around him, but he fought bravely for freedom + +<span class="pagenum" id="page187">[187]</span> + +from entanglement. General French was on one +side of him, Lord Roberts on another, Lord +Kitchener on a third—and against the experience +and troops of all these men was pitted the genius +of the Potchefstroom farmer. A fight with +Roberts’s Horse on Thursday, February 15th; a +march of ten miles and a victorious rear-guard +action with Lord Kitchener on Friday; a repulse +of the forces under Lords Roberts and Kitchener +on Saturday, and on Sunday morning the discovery +that he and his four thousand men in +the river-bed at Paardeberg were surrounded by +forty thousand troops of the enemy—that was a +four days’ record which caused the Lion of Potchefstroom +merely to show his fangs to his enemy. +</p> + +<p> +When General Cronje entered the river-bed on +Saturday he was certain that he could fight his +way out on the following day. Scores of his +burghers appealed to him to trek eastward that +night, and Commandant-General Ferreira, of the +Free State, asked him to trek north-east in order +that their two Boer forces might effect a junction, +but Cronje was determined to remain in the +positions he then occupied until he could carry +all his transport-waggons safely away. In the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page188">[188]</span> + +evening Commandants De Beer and Grobler +urged the general to escape and explained to +him that he would certainly be surrounded the +following day, but Cronje steadfastly declined, +and expressed his ability to fight a way through +any force of the enemy. Even late that night, +while the British troops were welding the chain +which was to bind him hard and fast in the river-bed, +many of Cronje’s men begged the general +to desert the position, and when they saw him +so determined they deserted him and escaped to +the eastward. +</p> + +<p> +Cronje might have accepted the advice of his +officers and men if he had not believed that he +could readily make his way to the east, where +he did not suspect the presence of any of Lord +Roberts’s troops. Not until the following forenoon, +when he saw the British advance-guard marching +over the hills on the south side of the river, did +he realise that the enemy had surrounded him and +that he had erred when he determined to hold the +position. The grave mistake could not be rectified, +and Cronje was in no mood for penitence. He told +his men that he expected reinforcements from the +east and counselled them to remain cool and fire + +<span class="pagenum" id="page189">[189]</span> + +with discretion until assistance came to them. +Later in the day the enemy attacked the camp +from all sides but the little army repulsed the +onslaught and killed and wounded more than a +thousand British soldiers. When the Sabbath sun +descended and the four thousand Boers sang their +psalms and hymns of thanksgiving there was +probably only one man who believed that the +burghers would ever be able to escape from the +forces which surrounded them, and that man was +General Cronje. He realised the gravity of the +situation, but he was as calm as if he had been +victorious in a battle. He talked cheerily with his +men, saying, “Let the English come on,” and +when they heard their old commander speak in +such a confident manner they determined to fight +until he himself announced a victory or a defeat. +</p> + +<p> +On Monday morning it seemed as if the very +blades of grass for miles around the Boer laager +were belching shot and shell over the dongas and +trenches where the burghers had sought shelter. +Lyddite shells and shrapnel burst over and around +them; the bullets of rifles and machine-guns swept +close to their heads, and a few yards distant from +them were the heavy explosions of ammunition-waggons + +<span class="pagenum" id="page190">[190]</span> + +set on fire by the enemy’s shells. Burghers, +horses and cattle fell under the storm of lead and +iron, and the mingled life-blood of man and beast +flowed in rivulets to join the waters of the river<span class="corr" title="original: ,">.</span> +The wounded lay groaning in the trenches; the +dead unburied outside, and the cannonading was +so terrific that no one was able to leave the +trenches and dongas sufficiently long to give a +drink of water to a wounded companion. There +was no medicine in the camp, all the physicians +were held in Jacobsdal by the enemy, and the +condition of the dead and dying was such that +Cronje was compelled to ask for an armistice. +The reply from the British commander was “Fight +or surrender,” and Cronje chose to continue the +fight. The bombardment of the laager was +resumed with increased vigour, and there was not +a second’s respite from shells and bullets until +after night descended, when the burghers were +enabled to emerge from their trenches and holes +to exercise their limbs and to secure food. +</p> + +<p> +The Boers’ cannon became defective on Tuesday +morning, and thereafter they could reply to the +continued bombardment with only their rifles. +Hope rose in their breasts during the day when a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page191">[191]</span> + +heliograph message was received from Commandant +Froneman; “I am here with Generals De Wet and +Cronje,” the message read; “Have good cheer. I +am waiting for reinforcements. Tell the burghers +to find courage in Psalm xxvii.” The fact that +reinforcements were near, even though the enemy +was between, imbued the burghers with renewed +faith in their ability to defeat the enemy and, when +a concerted attack was made against the laager +in the afternoon, a gallant resistance followed. +</p> + +<p> +On Wednesday morning the British batteries +again poured their shells on the miserable and +exhausted Boers. Shortly before midday there +was a lull in the storm, and the beleaguered +burghers could hear the reports of the battle +between the relieving force and the British troops. +The sounds of the fight grew fainter and fainter, +then subsided altogether. The bombardment of +the laager was renewed, and the burghers realised +that Froneman had been beaten back by the enemy. +The disappointment was so great that one hundred +and fifty Boers bade farewell to their general, and +laid down their arms to their enemy. The +following day was merely the repetition of the +routine of former days, with the exception that + +<span class="pagenum" id="page192">[192]</span> + +the condition of the men and the laager was +hourly becoming more miserable. The wounded +clamouring for relief was in itself a misery to +those who were compelled to hear it, but to allow +such appeals to go unanswered was heartrending. +To have the dead unburied seemed cruel enough, +but to have the corpses before one’s eyes day after +day was torture. To know that the enemy was +in ten times greater strength was disheartening, +but to realise that there was no relief at hand +was enough to dim the brightest courage. Yet +Cronje was undaunted. +</p> + +<p> +Friday and Saturday brought nothing but a +message from Froneman, again encouraging them +to resist until reinforcements could be brought +from Bloemfontein. On Saturday evening Jan +Theron, of Krugersdorp, succeeded in breaking +through the British lines with despatches from +General De Wet and Commandants Cronje and +Froneman, urging General Cronje to fight a way +through the lines whilst they would engage the +enemy from their side. Cronje and his officers +decided to make an attempt to escape, and on +Sunday morning the burghers commenced the +construction of a chain-bridge across the Modder + +<span class="pagenum" id="page193">[193]</span> + +to facilitate the crossing of the swollen river. +Fortunately for the Boers the British batteries +fired only one shot into the camp that day, and +the burghers were able to complete the bridge +before night by means of the ropes and chains +from their ox-waggons. On Monday morning +the British guns made a target of the bridge, and +shelled it so unremittingly that no one was able +to approach it, much less make an attempt to +cross the river by means of it. The bombardment +seemed to grow in intensity as the day +progressed, and when two shells fell into a group +of nine burghers, and left nothing but an arm +and a leg to be found, the Krijgsraad decided to +hoist a white flag on Tuesday morning. General +Cronje and Commandant Schutte were the only +officers who voted against surrendering. They +begged the other officers to reconsider their decision, +and to make an attempt to fight a way out, +but the confidence of two men was too weak to +change the opinions of the others. +</p> + +<p> +In a position covering less than a square mile +of territory, hemmed in on all sides by an army +almost as great as that which defeated Napoleon +at Waterloo, surrounded by a chain of fire from + +<span class="pagenum" id="page194">[194]</span> + +carbines, rapid-fire guns and heavy cannon, the +target of thousands of the vaporous lyddite shells, +his trenches enfiladed by a continuous shower of +lead, his men half dead from lack of food, and +stiff from the effect of their narrow quarters in +the trenches, General Cronje chose to fight and +to risk complete disaster by leading his four +thousand men against the forty thousand of the +enemy. +</p> + +<p> +The will of the majority prevailed, and on February +27th, the anniversary of Majuba Hill, after ten +days of fighting, the white flag was hoisted above +the dilapidated laager. The bodies of ninety-seven +burghers lay over the scene of the disaster, +and two hundred and forty-five wounded men +were left behind when General Cronje and his +three thousand six hundred and seventy-nine +burghers and women limped out of the river-bed +and surrendered to Field-Marshal Lord +Roberts. +</p> + +<p> +In many respects General Cronje was the Boers’ +most brilliant leader, but he was responsible for +many serious and costly reverses. At Magersfontein +he defeated the enemy fairly, and he +might have reaped the fruits of his victory if he + +<span class="pagenum" id="page195">[195]</span> + +had followed up the advantage there gained. +Instead, he allowed his army to remain inactive +for two months while the British established a +camp and base at the river. General French’s +march to Kimberley might readily have been prevented +or delayed if Cronje had placed a few +thousand of his men on the low range of <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> +commanding French’s route, but during the two +days which were so fateful to him and his army +General Cronje never stirred from his laager. At +Magersfontein Cronje allowed thirty-six cannon, +deserted by the British, to remain on several +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopjes</span> all of one night and until ten o’clock +next morning, when they were taken away by +the enemy. When he was asked why he did not +send his men to secure the guns Cronje replied, +“God has been so good to us that I did not have +the heart to send my overworked men to fetch +them.” +</p> + +<p> +Cronje was absolutely fearless, and in all the +battles in which he took part he was always in the +most exposed positions. He rarely used a rifle, +as one of his eyes was affected, but the short, +stoop-shouldered, grey-bearded man, with the +long riding-whip, was always in the thick of a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page196">[196]</span> + +fight, encouraging his men and pointing out the +positions for attack. He was a fatalist when in +battle, if not in times of peace, and it is told of +him that at Modder River he was warned by one +of the burghers to seek a less exposed position. +“If God has ordained me to be shot to-day,” the +grim old warrior replied, “I shall be shot, whether +I sit here or in a well.” Cronje was one of the +strictest leaders in the Boer army, and that feature +made him unpopular with the men who constantly +applied to him for leaves-of-absence to return to +their homes. They fought for him in the trenches +at Paardeberg not because they loved him, but +because they respected him as an able leader. +He did not have the affection of his burghers +like Botha, Meyer, De Wet, or De la Rey, but +he held his men together by force of his superior +military attainments—a sort of overawing authority +which they could not disobey. +</p> + +<p> +Personally, Cronje was not an extraordinary +character. He was urbane in manner and a +pleasant conversationalist. Like the majority of +the Boers he was deeply religious, and tried to +introduce the precepts of his religion into his daily +life. Although he was sixty-five years old when + +<span class="pagenum" id="page197">[197]</span> + +the war began he had the energy and spirit of a +much younger man, and the terrors and anxieties +of the ten days’ siege at Paardeberg left but little +marks on the face which has been described as +Christlike. His patriotism was unbounded, and +he held the independence of his country above +everything. “Independence with peace, if possible, +but independence at all costs,” he was wont +to say, and no one fought harder than he, to +attain that end. +</p> + +<p> +When the Vryheid commandos rode over the +western border of their district and invaded Natal, +Louis Botha, the successor of Commandant-General +Joubert, was one of the many Volksraad +members who went forth to war in the ranks +of the common burghers. After the battle of +Dundee, in which he distinguished himself by +several daring deeds, Botha became Assistant-General +to his lifelong friend and neighbour +General Lucas Meyer. Several weeks later, when +General Meyer fell ill, he gave his command to +his compatriot, General Botha, and a short time +afterward, when Commandant-General Joubert was +incapacitated by illness, Botha was appointed to +assume the responsibilities of the commander-in-chief. + +<span class="pagenum" id="page198">[198]</span> + +When Joubert was on his deathbed he +requested that Botha should be his successor, +and in that manner Louis Botha, burgher, became +Louis Botha, Commandant-General, in less than +six months. +</p> + +<p> +It was remarkable, this chain of fortuitous +circumstances which led to Botha’s rapid advancement, +but it was not entirely due to extraneous +causes, for he was deserving of every step of his +promotion. There is a man for every crisis, but +rarely in history is found a record of a soldier who +rose from the ranks to commander-in-chief of an +army in one campaign. It was Meyer’s misfortune +when he became ill at a grave period of +the war, but it was the country’s good fortune +to have a Botha ready at hand to fight a Colenso +and a Spion Kop. When the burgher army along +the Tugela was hard pressed by the enemy and +both its old-time leaders, Joubert and Meyer, lay +ill at the same time, it seemed little less than +providential that a Botha should step out of the +ranks and lead the men with as much discretion +and valour as could have been expected from the +experienced generals whose work he undertook to +accomplish. It was a modern representation of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page199">[199]</span> + +the ploughman deserting his farm in order to lead +in the salvation of Rome. +</p> + +<p> +Thirty-five years before he was called upon to +be Commandant-General of the army of his nation +Louis Botha was born near the same spot where +he was chosen for that office, and on the soil of +the empire against whose forces he was pitting his +strength and ability. In his youth he was wont +to listen to the narratives of the battles in which +his father and grandfather fought side by side +against the hordes of natives who periodically +dyed the waters of the Tugela crimson with the +blood of massacred men and women. In early +manhood Botha fought against the Zulus and +assisted Lucas Meyer in establishing the New +Republic, which afterward became his permanent +home. Popularity, ability, and honesty brought +him into the councils of the nation as a member +of the First Volksraad, where he wielded great +influence by reason of his conscientious devotion +to duty and his deep interest in the welfare of his +country. When public affairs did not require his +presence in Pretoria, Botha was with his family on +his farm in Vryheid, and there he found the only +happiness which he considered worth having. The + +<span class="pagenum" id="page200">[200]</span> + +joys of a pastoral existence combined with the +devotion and love of his family were the keystone +of Botha’s happiness, and no man had a finer +realisation of his ambitions in that respect than +he. Botha was a warrior, no doubt, but primarily +he was a man who loved the peacefulness of a +farm, the pleasures of a happy home-life, and the +laughter of his four children more than the tramp +of victorious troops or the roar of cannon. +</p> + +<p> +There are a few men who have a certain magnetic +power which attracts and holds the admiration +of others. Louis Botha was a man of this +class. Strangers who saw him for the first time +loved him. There was an indescribable something +about him which caused men looking at him +for the first time to pledge their friendship for all +time. The light in his blue eyes seemed to mesmerise +men, to draw them, willing or unwilling, to +him. It was not the quality which gained friends +for Kruger nor that which made Joubert popular, +but rather a mysterious, involuntary influence +which he exerted over everybody with whom he +came in contact. A man less handsome, of less +commanding appearance than Botha might have +possessed such a power, and been considered less + +<span class="pagenum" id="page201">[201]</span> + +extraordinary than he, but it was not wholly his +personal appearance—for he was the handsomest +man in the Boer army—which aroused the admiration +of men. His voice, his eyes, his facial +expression and his manner—all combined to +strengthen the man’s power over others. It may +have been personal magnetism or a mysterious +charm which he possessed—but it was the mark +of a great man. +</p> + +<p> +The early part of Botha’s career as a general +was fraught with many difficulties, the majority +of which could be traced to his lack of years. +The Boer mind could not grasp the fact that a +man of thirty-five years could be a military leader, +and for a long time the Boers treated the young +commander with a certain amount of contempt. +The old <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaars</span> laughed at him when he asked +them to perform any duties, and called him a boy. +They were unable to understand for a long time +why they should act upon the advice or orders of +a man many years younger than they themselves, +and it was not until Botha had fought Colenso and +Spion Kop that the old burghers commenced to +realise that ability was not always monopolised +by men with hoary beards. Before they had these + +<span class="pagenum" id="page202">[202]</span> + +manifestations of Botha’s military genius hundreds +of the burghers absolutely refused to obey his +commands, and even went to the length of protesting +to the Government against his continued +tenure of the important post. +</p> + +<p> +The younger Boers, however, were quicker to +discern the worth of the man, and almost without +exception gave him their united support. There +was one instance when a young Boer questioned +Botha’s authority, but the burgher’s mind was +quickly disabused, and thereafter he was one of +the Commandant-General’s staunchest supporters. +It was at the battle of Pont Drift, when General +Botha was busily engaged in directing the movements +of his men and had little time to argue fine +points of authority. The general asked two young +Boers to carry ammunition to the top of a <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span> +which was being hard-shelled by the enemy. One +of the Boers was willing immediately to obey the +general, but the other man refused to undertake +the hazardous journey. The general spoke kindly +to the Boer, and acknowledged that he would be +risking his life by ascending the hill, but insisted +that he should go. The Boer finally declared he +would not go, and added that Botha was too + +<span class="pagenum" id="page203">[203]</span> + +young to give orders to men. The Commandant-General +did not lose his temper, but it did not +require much time for him to decide that a rebuke +of some sort was necessary, so he knocked the +man to the ground with his fist. It was a good, +solid blow, and the young Boer did not move for +a minute, but when he rose he had fully decided +that he would gladly carry the ammunition to the +top of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">kopje</span>. +</p> + +<p> +After General Botha demonstrated that he was +a capable military leader he became the idol of all +the Boers. His popularity was second only to +that of President Kruger, and the hero-worshippers +arranged for all sorts of honours to be accorded to +him after the war. He was to be made President, +first of all things; then his birthday anniversary +was to be made the occasion of a national holiday; +statues were to be erected for him, and nothing +was to be left undone in order that his services to +his country might be given the appreciation they +deserved. The stoical Boers were never known to +worship a man so idolatrously as they did in this +case, and it was all the more noteworthy on account +of the adverse criticism which was bestowed upon +him several months before. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page204">[204]</span> + + +<p> +General Botha’s reputation as a gallant and +efficient leader was gained during the campaign +in Natal, but it was not until after the relief of +Ladysmith that his real hard work began. After +the advance of Lord Roberts’s large army from +Bloemfontein was begun myriads of new duties +devolved upon the Commandant-General, and +thereafter he displayed a skill and ingenuity in +dealing with grave situations which was marvellous, +when it is taken into consideration that +he was opposing a victorious army with a +mere handful of disappointed and gloomy +burghers. The situation would have been grave +enough if he had had a trained and disciplined +army under his command, but in addition to +making plans for opposing the enemy’s advance, +General Botha was compelled to gather together +the burghers with whom he desired to make the +resistance. His work would have been comparatively +easy if he could have remained at the spot +where his presence was most necessary, but it was +absolutely impossible for him to lead the defensive +movements in the Free State without men, and in +order to secure them he was obliged to desert that +important post and go to the Biggarsberg, where + +<span class="pagenum" id="page205">[205]</span> + +many burghers were idle. Telegraph wires +stretched from the Free State to Natal, but a command +sent by such a route never caused a burgher +to move an inch nearer to the Free State front, +and consequently the Commandant-General was +compelled to go personally to the Biggarsberg in +search of volunteers to assist the burghers south of +Kroonstad. When General Botha arrived in Natal +in the first days of May he asked the Standerton +commando to return with him to the Free State. +They flatly refused to go unless they were first +allowed to spend a week at their homes, but Botha +finally, after much begging, cajoling, and threatening, +induced the burghers to go immediately. The +Commandant-General saw the men board a train, +and then sped joyously northward toward Pretoria +and the Free State in a special train. When he +reached Pretoria Botha learned that the Standerton +commando followed him as far as Standerton +station, and then dispersed to their homes. His +dismay was great; but he was not discouraged, and +several hours later he was at Standerton, riding +from farm to farm to gather the men. This +work delayed his arrival in the Free State two +days, but he secured the entire commando, and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page206">[206]</span> + +went with it to the front, where it served him +valiantly. +</p> + +<p> +The masterly retreat of the Boer forces northward +along the railway and across the Vaal River, +and the many skirmishes and battles with which +Botha harassed the enemy’s advance, were mere +incidents in the Commandant-General’s work of +those trying days. There were innumerable instances +not unlike that in connection with the +Standerton commando, and, in addition, there was +the planning to prevent the large commandos in +the western part of the Transvaal, and Meyer’s +large force in the south-eastern part, from being +cut off from his own body of burghers. It was a +period of grave moment and responsibilities, but +Botha was the man for the occasion. Although +the British succeeded in entering Pretoria, the +capital of the country, the Boers lost little in prestige +or men, and Botha and his burghers were as +confident of the final success of their cause as they +were when they crossed the Natal border seven +months before. Even after all the successive +defeats of his army, Commandant-General Botha +continued to say, “We will fight—fight until not a +single British soldier remains on South African + +<span class="pagenum" id="page207">[207]</span> + +soil.” A general who can express such a firm +faith in his cause when he sees nothing but disaster +surrounding him is great even if he is not +always victorious. +</p> + +<p> +The military godfather of Commandant-General +Botha was General Lucas Meyer, one of the best +leaders in the Boer army. The work of the two +men was cast in almost the same lines during the +greater part of the campaign, and many of the +Commandant-General’s burdens were shared by +his old-time tutor and neighbour in the Vryheid +district. Botha seldom undertook a project unless +he first consulted with Meyer, and the two constantly +worked hand-in-hand. Their friends frequently +referred to them as Damon and Pythias, +and the parallel was most appropriate, for they +were as nearly the counterparts of those old +Grecian warriors as modern limitations would +allow. Botha attained the post of Commandant-General +through the illness of Meyer, who would +undoubtedly have been Joubert’s successor if he +had not fallen ill at an important period of the +campaign, but the fact that the pupil became the +superior officer of the instructor never strained the +amicable relations of the two men. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page208">[208]</span> + + +<p> +General Meyer received his fundamental military +education from the famous Zulu chieftain, Dinizulu, +in 1884, when he and eight hundred other +Boers assisted the natives in a war against the +chieftains of other tribes. In a battle at Labombo +mountain, June 6th of that year, Meyer and Dinizulu +vanquished the enemy, and as payment for +their services the Boers each received a large farm +in the district now known as Vryheid. A Government +named the New Republic was organised by +the farmers, and Meyer was elected President, a +post which he held for four years, when the Transvaal +annexed the republic to its own territory. +In the war of 1881 Meyer took part in several +battles, and at Ingogo he was struck on the head +by a piece of shell, which caused him to be unconscious +for forty-two days. In the later days of the +republic General Meyer held various military and +civil positions in the Vryheid district, where his +large farm, “Anhouwen,” is located, and was the +chairman of the Volksraad which decided to send +the ultimatum to Great Britain. +</p> + +<p> +When war was actually declared, General Meyer, +with his commandos, was on the Transvaal border +near his farm, and he opened hostilities by making + +<span class="pagenum" id="page209">[209]</span> + +a bold dash into Natal and attacking the British +army encamped at Dundee. The battle was carefully +planned by Meyer, and it would undoubtedly +have ended with the capture of the entire British +force if General Erasmus, who was to co-operate +with him, had fulfilled the part assigned to him. +Although many British soldiers were killed and +captured, and great stores of ammunition and +equipment taken, the forces under General Yule +were allowed to escape to the south. General +Meyer followed the fleeing enemy as rapidly as +the muddy roads could be traversed, and engaged +them at Modderspruit. There he gained a decisive +victory, and compelled the survivors to enter +Ladysmith, where they were immediately besieged. +Meyer was extremely ill before the battle +began, but he insisted upon directing his men, and +continued to do so until the field was won, when +he fell from his horse, and was seriously ill for a +month. He returned to the front, against the +advice of his physicians, on December 24th, and +took part in the fighting at Pont Drift, Boschrand, +and in the thirteen days’ battle around Pieter’s +Hill. In the battle of Pont Drift a bullet struck +the General’s field-glasses, flattened itself, and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page210">[210]</span> + +dropped into one of his coat pockets, to make a +souvenir brooch for Mrs. Meyer, who frequently +visited him when no important movements were in +progress. +</p> + +<p> +When General Joubert and his Krijgsraad determined +to retreat from the Tugela and allow Ladysmith +to be relieved, General Meyer was one of +those who protested against such a course, and +when the decision was made Meyer returned to +the Tugela, and remained there with his friend +Louis Botha during the long and heroic fight +against General Buller’s column. Meyer and +Botha were among the last persons to leave the +positions which they had defended so long, and on +their journey northward the two generals decided +to return and renew the fight as soon as they +could reach Modderspruit and secure food for +their men and horses. When they arrived at +Modderspruit they found that Joubert and his +entire army had fled northward, and had carried +with them every ounce of food. It was a bitter +disappointment to the two generals, but there was +nothing to be done except to travel in the direction +of the scent of food, and the journey led the +dejected, disappointed, starved generals and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page211">[211]</span> + +burghers north over the Biggarsberg mountains, +where provisions could be secured. +</p> + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure-float-right" summary="COMMANDANT-GENERAL CHRISTIAN H. DE WET" id="FIG.14"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.14"><img src="images/image014.jpg" + title="COMMANDANT-GENERAL CHRISTIAN H. DE WET" + alt="COMMANDANT-GENERAL CHRISTIAN H. DE WET" + width="286" height="680" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">COMMANDANT-GENERAL CHRISTIAN H. DE WET</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +During the long period in March and April when +neither Boers nor British seemed to be doing anything, +General Meyer arranged a magnificent series +of entrenchments in the Biggarsberg mountains +which made an advance of the enemy practically +impossible. Foreign military experts pronounced +the defence impregnable and expressed the greatest +astonishment when they learned that Meyer formulated +the plans of the entrenchments without ever +having read a book on the subject or without +having had the benefit of any instruction. The +entrenchments began at a point a few miles east of +the British outposts and continued for miles and +miles north-east and north-west to the very apex +of the Biggarsberg. <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">Spruits</span> and rivers were connected +by means of trenches so that a large Boer +force could travel many miles without being observed +by the enemy, and the series of entrenchments +was fashioned in such a manner that the +Boers could retreat to the highest point of the +mountains and remain meanwhile in perfect concealment. +Near the top of the mountain long +schanzes or walls were built to offer a place of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page212">[212]</span> + +security for the burghers, while on the top were +miles of walls to attract and to inveigle the enemy +to approach the lower wall more closely. The plan +was magnificent, but the British forces evaded the +Biggarsberg in their advance movements, and the +entrenchments were never bathed in human blood. +</p> + +<p> +When the Boers in the Free State were unable +to stem the advance of the British, General Meyer +was compelled to retreat northward to ensure his +own safety, but he did it so slowly and systematically +that he lost only a few men and was able, +now and then, to make bold dashes at the enemy’s +flying columns with remarkable success. The retreat +northward through the Transvaal was fraught with +many harassments, but General Meyer joined forces +with General Botha east of Pretoria and thereafter +the teacher and pupil again fought hand in hand in +a common cause. +</p> + +<p> +The Free State was not as prolific of generals as +the Transvaal, but in Christian De Wet she had +one of the ablest as well as one of the most fearless +leaders in the Republican ranks. Before he was +enlisted to fight for his country De Wet was a +farmer, who had a penchant for dealing in potatoes, +and his only military training was secured when he + +<span class="pagenum" id="page213">[213]</span> + +was one of the sixty Boer volunteers who ascended +the slopes of Majuba Hill in 1881. There was +nothing of the military in his appearance; in fact, +Christian De Wet, Commandant-General of the +Orange Free State in 1900, was not a whit unlike +Christian De Wet, butcher of Barberton of 1879, +and men who knew him in the gold-rush days of +that mining town declared that he was more martial +in appearance then as a licensed slayer of oxen +than later as a licensed slayer of men. He himself +prided himself on his unmilitary exterior, and it +was not a little source of satisfaction to him to +say that his fighting regalia was the same suit of +clothing which he wore on his farm on the day +that he left it to fight as a soldier in his country’s +army. +</p> + +<p> +Before the war, De Wet’s chief claim to notoriety +lay in the fact that he attempted to purchase the +entire supply of potatoes in South Africa for the +purpose of effecting a “corner” of that product on +the Johannesburg market. Unfortunately for himself, +he held his potatoes until the new crop was +harvested, and he became a bankrupt in consequence. +Later he appeared as a potato farmer +near Kroonstad, and still later, at Nicholson’s Nek + +<span class="pagenum" id="page214">[214]</span> + +in Natal, he captured twelve hundred British +prisoners and, incidentally, a large stock of British +potatoes, which seemed to please him almost as +greatly as the human captives. Although the +vegetable strain was frequently predominant in +De Wet’s constitution, he was not over-zealous +to return to his former pastoral pursuits, and continued +to lead his commandos over the hills of +the eastern Free State long after that territory +was christened the Orange River Colony. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="GENERAL PETER DE WET" id="FIG.15"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.15"><img src="images/image015.jpg" +title="GENERAL PETER DE WET" +alt="GENERAL PETER DE WET" width="672" height="469" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>GENERAL PETER DE WET</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +General De Wet was at the head of a number +of the Free State commandos which crossed into +Natal at the outbreak of the war, and he took part +in several of the battles around Ladysmith; but his +services were soon required in the vicinity of Kimberley, +and there he made an heroic effort to effect +a junction with the besieged Cronje. It was not +until after the British occupation of Bloemfontein +that De Wet really began his brilliant career as +a daring commander, but thereafter he was continually +harassing the enemy. He led with three +big battles in one week, with a total result of a +thousand prisoners of war, seven cannon, and +almost half a million pounds’ worth of supplies. +At Sannaspost, on March 31st, he swept down + +<span class="pagenum" id="page215">[215]</span> + +upon Colonel Broadwood’s column and captured +one-fourth of the men and all their vast supplies +almost before the British officer was aware of the +presence of the enemy. The echoes of that battle +had hardly subsided when he fell upon another +British column at Moester’s Hoek with results +almost as great as at Sannaspost, and two days +later he was besieging a third British column in +his own native heath of Wepener. Column after +column was sent to drive him away, but he clung +fast to his prey for almost two weeks, when he +eluded the great force on his capture bent, and +moved northward to take an active part in +opposing the advance of Lord Roberts. He led +his small force of burghers as far as the northern +border of the Free State, while the enemy advanced, +and then turned eastward, carrying President Steyn +and the capital of the Republic with him to places +of safety. Whenever there was an opportunity +he sent small detachments to attack the British +lines of communications and harassed the enemy +continually. In almost all his operations the Commandant-General +was assisted by his brother, +General Peter De Wet, who was none the less +daring in his operations. Christian De Wet was + +<span class="pagenum" id="page216">[216]</span> + +responsible for more British losses than any of the +other generals. In his operations in Natal and +the Free State he captured more than three +thousand prisoners, thousands of cattle and horses, +and stores and ammunition valued at more than +a million pounds. The number of British soldiers +killed and wounded in battles with De Wet is a +matter for conjecture, but it is not limited by the +one thousand mark. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="GENERAL JOHN DE LA REY" id="FIG.16"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.16"><img src="images/image016.jpg" +title="GENERAL JOHN DE LA REY" +alt="GENERAL JOHN DE LA REY" +width="740" height="523" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">GENERAL JOHN DE LA REY</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +General John De la Rey, who operated in the +Free State with considerable success, was one of +the most enthusiastic leaders in the army, and his +confidence in the Boers’ fighting ability was not +less than his faith in the eventual success of their +arms. De la Rey was born on British soil, but he +had a supreme contempt for the British soldier, +and frequently asserted that one burgher was able +to defeat ten soldiers at any time or place. He +was the only one of the generals who was unable +to speak the English language, but he understood +it well enough to capture a spy whom he overheard +in a Free State hotel. De la Rey was a +Transvaal general, and when the retreat from +Bloemfontein was made he harassed the enemy +greatly, but was finally compelled to cross the + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page217">[217]</span> + +Vaal into his own country, where he continued to +fight under Commandant-General Botha. +</p> + +<p> +Among the other Boer generals who took active +part in the campaign in other parts of the +Republics were J. Du P. De Beer, a Raad member, +who defended the northern border of the Transvaal; +Sarel Du Toit, whose defence at Fourteen +Streams was admirably conducted; Snyman, the +old Marico farmer, who besieged Mafeking; +Hendrik Schoeman, who operated in Cape +Colony; Jan Kock, killed at the Elandslaagte battle +early in the campaign; and the three generals, +Lemmer, Grobler, and Olivier, whose greatest +success was their retreat from Cape Colony. +</p> + +<p> +The Boer generals and officers, almost without +exception, were admirable men, personally. Some +of them were rough, hardy men, who would have +felt ill at ease in a drawing-room, but they had +much of the milk of human kindness in them, and +there was none who loved to see or partake of +bloodshed. There may have been instances when +white or Red Cross flags were fired upon, but +when such a breach of the rules of war occurred +it was not intentional. The foreigners who +accompanied the various Boer armies—the correspondents, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page218">[218]</span> + +military attachés, and the volunteers—will +testify that the officers, from Commandant-General +Botha down to the corporals, were always +zealous in their endeavours to conduct an honourable +warfare, and that the farmer-generals were as +gentlemanly as they were valorous. +</p> + +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page219">[219]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter8">CHAPTER VIII</h2> +<h2> +THE WAR PRESIDENTS +</h2> + +<p> +The real leader of the Boers of the two +Republics was Paul Kruger, their man of +peace. His opinions on the momentous questions +that agitated the country and his long political +supremacy caused him many and bitter enemies, +but the war healed all animosities and he was +the one man in the Republics who had the +respect, love, and admiration of all the burghers. +Wherever one might be, whether in the houses on +the veld or in the battlefield’s trenches, every one +spoke of “Oom Paul” in a manner which indicated +that he was the Boer of all Boers. There was not +one burgher who would not declare that Kruger +was a greater man than he was before he despatched +his famous ultimatum to Great Britain. +His old-time friends supported him even more + +<span class="pagenum" id="page220">[220]</span> + +faithfully than before hostilities began, and his +political energies of other days became the might +of his right arm. Those who opposed him most +bitterly and unremittingly when it was a campaign +between the Progressive and Conservative parties +were most eager to listen to his counsels and to +stand by his side when their country’s hour of +darkness had arrived. Not a word of censure for +him was heard anywhere; on the contrary, every +one praised him for opposing Great Britain so +firmly, and prayed that his life might be spared +until their dream of absolute independence was +realised. +</p> + +<p> +Sir Charles Dilke once related a conversation +he had with Bismarck concerning Paul Kruger. +“Cavour was much smarter, more clever, more +diplomatically gifted than I,” said the Prince, “but +there is a much stronger, much abler man than +Cavour or I, and that man is President Kruger. +He has no gigantic army behind him, no great +empire to support him. He stands alone with +a small peasant people, and is a match for us +by mere force of genius. I spoke to him—he +drove me into a corner.” Kruger’s great ability, +as delineated by Bismarck, was indisputable, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page221">[221]</span> + +and a man with less of it might have been +President and might have avoided the war, but +only at a loss to national interests. The President +had one aim and one goal, his country’s +independence, and all the force of his genius +was directed toward the attainment of that +end. He tried to secure his country’s total +independence by peaceable means, but he had +planted the seed of that desire so deeply in +the minds of his countrymen that when it +sprouted they overwhelmed him and he was +driven into war against his will. Kruger would +not have displaced diplomacy with the sword, +but his burghers felt that peaceful methods +of securing their independence were of no avail, +and he was powerless to resist their wishes. He +did not lead the Boers into war; they insisted that +only war would give to them the relief they desired, +and he followed under their leadership. When the +meetings of the Volksraad immediately preceding +the war were held, it was not Paul Kruger who +called for war; it was the representatives of the +burghers, who had been instructed by their constituents +to act in such a manner. When the +President saw that his people had determined to + +<span class="pagenum" id="page222">[222]</span> + +have war, he was leader enough to make plans +which might bring the conflict to a successful +conclusion, and he chose a moment for making a +declaration that he considered opportune. The +ultimatum was decided upon eleven days before +it was actually despatched, but it was delayed +eight days on account of the Free State’s unpreparedness. +Kruger realised the importance of +striking the first blow at an enemy which was +not prepared to resist it, and the Free State’s +tardiness at such a grave crisis was decidedly +unpleasant to him. Then, when the Free State +was ready to mobilise, the President secured +another delay of three days in order that diplomacy +might have one more chance. His genius +had not enabled him to realise the dream of his +life without a recourse to war, and when the +ultimatum was delivered into the hands of the +British the old man wept. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="PRESIDENT KRUGER ADDRESSING AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS" id="FIG.17"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.17"><img src="images/image017.jpg" +title="PRESIDENT KRUGER ADDRESSING AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS" +alt="PRESIDENT KRUGER ADDRESSING AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS" +width="738" height="521" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">PRESIDENT KRUGER ADDRESSING AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +When the multitudinous executive duties to +which he attended in peaceful times were suddenly +ended by the declaration, the President +busied himself with matters pertaining to the +conduct of the war. He worked as hard as any +man in the country, despite his age, and on many + +<span class="pagenum" id="page223">[223]</span> + +occasions he displayed the energy of a man many +years younger. The war caused his daily routine +of work and rest to be changed completely. He +continued to rise at four o’clock in the morning, a +habit which he contracted in early youth and +followed ever after. After his morning devotions +he listened to the reading of the despatches from +the generals at the front, and dictated replies in +the shape of suggestions, censure, or praise. He +slept for an hour after breakfast, and then went to +the Government Buildings, arriving there punctually +every morning as the clock on the dome +struck nine. He remained in consultation with +the other members of the Executive Council and +the few Government officials, who had remained +in the city, for an hour or more. After luncheon +he again worked over despatches, received burghers +on leave of absence from the front and foreigners +who sympathised with his people’s cause. He +never allowed himself to be idle, and, in fact, there +was no opportunity for him to be unemployed, +inasmuch as almost all the leading Government +officials were at the front, while many of their +duties remained behind to be attended to by some +one. Kruger himself supervised the work of all + +<span class="pagenum" id="page224">[224]</span> + +the departments whose heads were absent, and the +labour was great. His capacity for hard labour +was never better demonstrated than during the +war, when he bore the weight of his own duties +and those of other Government officials, as well as +the work of guiding the Boer emissaries in foreign +countries. Added to all these grave responsibilities, +when the reverses of the army grew more +serious, was the great worry and the constant +dread of new disasters which beset a man who +occupies a position such as he occupied. +</p> + +<p> +No man had greater influence over the Boers +than Kruger, and his counsel was always sought +and his advice generally followed. When the first +commandos went to the front it was considered +almost absolutely necessary for them to stop at +Pretoria and see “Oom Paul” before going to +battle, and it seemed to affect the old man strangely +when he addressed them and bade them God-speed +in the accomplishment of their task. It was in the +midst of one of these addresses that the President, +while standing in the centre of a group of burghers, +broke down and wept as he referred to the many +men who would lose their lives in the war. When +the Boer army was having its greatest successes + +<span class="pagenum" id="page225">[225]</span> + +Kruger constantly sent messages to his burghers, +thanking them for their good work, and reminding +them not to neglect thanking their God for His +favours. One of the most characteristic messages +of this nature was sent to the generals, commandants, +officers, and burghers on January 8th, +and was a most unique ebullition to come from a +President of a Republic. The message was composed +by himself, and, as literally translated, +read:— +</p> + +<p> +“For your own and the war-officers’ information, +I wish to state that, through the blessing of +our Lord, our great cause has at present been +carried to such a point that, by dint of great +energy, we may expect to bring it to a successful +issue on our behalf. +</p> + +<p> +“In order that such an end be attained, it is, +however, strictly necessary that all energy be used, +that all burghers able to do active service go +forward to the battlefield, and that those who are +on furlough claim no undue extension thereof, but +return as soon as possible, every one to the place +where his war-officers may be stationed. +</p> + +<p> +“Brothers! I pray you to act herein with all + +<span class="pagenum" id="page226">[226]</span> + +possible promptitude and zeal, and to keep your +eyes fixed on that Providence who has miraculously +led our people through the whole of South Africa. +Read Psalm 33, from verse 7 to the end. +</p> + +<p> +“The enemy have fixed their faith in Psalm 83, +where it is said that this people shall not exist and +its name must be annihilated; but the Lord says: +‘It shall exist’ Read also Psalm 89, the 13th and +14th verses, where the Lord saith that the children +of Christ, if they depart from His words, shall be +chastised with bitter reverses, but His favour and +goodness shall have no end and never fail. What +He has said remains strong and firm. For, see, +the Lord purifieth His children, even unto gold, +proven by fire. +</p> + +<p> +“I need not draw your attention to all the +destructiveness of the enemy’s works, for you +know it, and I again point to the attack of the +Devil on Christ and His Church. This has been +the attack from the beginning, and God will not +countenance the destruction of His Church. You +know that our cause is a just one, and there +cannot be any doubt, for it is with the contents +of just this Psalm that they commenced with us +in their wickedness, and I am still searching the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page227">[227]</span> + +entire Bible, and find no other way which can be +followed than that which has been followed by us, +and we must continue to fight in the name of the +Lord. +</p> + +<p> +“Please notify all the officers of war and the +entire public of your district of the contents of this +telegram, and imbue them with a full earnestness +of the cause.” +</p> + +<p> +When the President learned that Commandant-General +Joubert had determined to retreat from +the neighbourhood of Ladysmith he sent a long +telegram to his old friend, imploring him not to +take such a step, and entreating him to retain his +forces at the Tugela. The old General led his +forces northward to Glencoe, notwithstanding the +President’s protest, and a day afterward Kruger +arrived on the scene. The President was warrior +enough to know that a great mistake had been +made, and he did not hesitate to show his displeasure. +He and Joubert had had many disagreements +in their long experiences with one another, +but those who were present in the General’s tent +at that Glencoe interview said that they had never +seen the President so angry. When he had finished + +<span class="pagenum" id="page228">[228]</span> + +giving his opinion of the General’s action the +President shook Joubert’s hand, and thereafter +they discussed matters calmly and as if there had +been no quarrel. To the other men who were +partly responsible for the retreat he showed his +resentment of their actions by declining to shake +hands with them, a method of showing disapprobation +that is most cutting to the Boers. +</p> + +<p> +“If I were five years younger, or if my eyesight +were better,” he growled at the recalcitrants, “I +would take a rifle and bandolier and show you +what we old Boers were accustomed to do. We +had courage; you seem to have none.” +</p> + +<p> +After the President had encouraged the officers, +and had secured their promises to continue the +resistance against their enemy he wandered about +in the laagers, shaking hands with and infusing +new spirit into the burghers who had flocked +together to see their revered leader. When several +thousand of the Boers had gathered around him +and were trying to have a word with him the +President bared his head and asked his friends +to join him in prayer. Instantly every head was +bared, and Kruger’s voice spread out over the vast +concourse in a grand appeal to the God of Battles + +<span class="pagenum" id="page229">[229]</span> + +to grant His blessing to the burgher army. The +grey-haired old man was conspicuous in a small +circle which was formed by the burghers withdrawing +several paces when he began the prayer. +On all sides there spread out a mass of black-garbed, +battle-begrimed Boers with eyes turned to +the ground. Here and there a white tent raised +its head above the assemblage; at other points +men stood on waggons and cannon. Farther on, +burghers dismounted from their horses and joined +the crowd. In the distance were Talana Hill, +where the first battle of the campaign was fought; +the lofty Drakensberg where more than fifty years +before the early Boer <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">Voortrekkers</span> had their first +glimpses of fair Natal, while to the south were the +hills of Ladysmith of sombre history. There in +the midst of bloody battlefields, and among several +thousand men who sought the blood of the enemy, +Kruger, the man of peace, implored Almighty God +to give strength to his burghers. It was a +magnificent spectacle. +</p> + +<p> +He had been at Glencoe only a short time when +the news reached him that the burghers in the Free +State had lost their courage, and were retreating +rapidly towards Bloemfontein. He abbreviated + +<span class="pagenum" id="page230">[230]</span> + +his visit, hastened to the Free State, and met the +fleeing Boers at Poplar Grove. He exhorted them +to make a stand against the enemy, and, by his +magnetic power over them, succeeded in inducing +the majority to remain and oppose the British +advance. His own fearlessness encouraged them, +and when they saw their old leader standing in +the midst of shell fire as immobile as if he were +watching a holiday parade, they had not the heart +to run. While he was watching the battle a shell +fell within a short distance of where he stood, and +all his companions fled from the spot. He walked +slowly away, and when the men returned to him +he chided them, and made a witty remark concerning +the shell, naming it one of “the Queen’s +pills.” While the battle continued, Kruger followed +one of the commandos and urged the men to +fight. At one stage of the battle the commando +which he was following was in imminent danger +of being cut off and captured by the British forces, +but the burghers fought valiantly before their +President, and finally conveyed him to a place +of safety, although the path was shell and bullet +swept. +</p> + +<p> +He returned to Bloemfontein, and in conjunction + +<span class="pagenum" id="page231">[231]</span> + +with President Steyn, addressed an appeal to Lord +Salisbury to end the war. They asked that the +republics should be allowed to retain their independence, +and firmly believed that the appeal +would end hostilities, inasmuch as the honours of +war were then about equally divided between the +two armies. To those who watched the proceedings +it seemed ridiculous to ask for a cessation +of hostilities at that time, but Kruger sincerely +believed that his appeal would not be in vain, and +he was greatly surprised, but not discomfited, +when a distinct refusal was received in reply. +</p> + +<p> +Several weeks after the memorable trip to the +Free State, President Kruger made another journey +to the sister-republic, and met President Steyn +and all the Boer generals at the famous Krijgsraad +at Kroonstad. No one who heard the President +when he addressed the burghers who gathered +there to see him, will ever forget the intensity of +Kruger’s patriotism. Kroonstad, then the temporary +capital of the Free State, was not favoured +with any large public hall where a meeting might +be held, so a small butcher’s stand in the market-square +was chosen for the site of the meeting. +After President Steyn, Commandant-General + +<span class="pagenum" id="page232">[232]</span> + +Joubert, and several other leading Boers had +addressed the large crowd of burghers standing +in the rain outside the tradesman’s pavilion, +Kruger stepped on one of the long tables, and +exhorted the burghers to renewed efforts, to fight +for freedom and not to be disconsolate because +Bloemfontein had fallen into the hands of the +enemy. When the President concluded his address +the burghers raised a great cheer, and then +returned to their laagers with their minds filled +with a new spirit, and with renewed determination +to oppose the enemy—a determination which +displayed itself later in the fighting at Sannaspost, +Moester’s Hoek, and Wepener. Kruger found the +burghers in the Free State in the depths of +despair; when he departed they were as confident +of ultimate victory as they were on the day war +was begun. The old man had the faculty of +leading men as it is rarely found. In times of +peace he led men by force of argument as much +as by reason of personal magnetism. In war-time +he led men by mere words sent over telegraph +wires, by his presence at the front, and by his +display of manly dignity, firm resolution and +devotion to his country. He was like the kings + +<span class="pagenum" id="page233">[233]</span> + +and rulers of ancient times, who led their cohorts +into battle, and wielded the sword when there was +a necessity for such action. +</p> + +<p> +During the war President Kruger suffered many +disappointments, endured many griefs, and withstood +many trials and tribulations; but none +affected him so deeply as the death of his intimate +friend, Commandant-General Joubert. Kruger and +Joubert were the two leading men of the country +for many years. They were among those who +assisted in the settlement of the Transvaal and in +the many wars which were coincident with it. They +had indelibly inscribed their names on the scroll +of the South African history of a half-century, and +in doing so they had become as intimate as two +brothers. For more than two score years Kruger +had been considered the Boers’ leader in peaceful +times, while Joubert was the Boers’ warrior. The +ambition of both was the independence of their +country, and, while they differed radically on the +methods by which it was to be attained, neither +surpassed the other in strenuous efforts to secure it +without a recourse to war. The death of Joubert +was as saddening to Kruger, consequently, as the +Demise of his most dearly-beloved brother could + +<span class="pagenum" id="page234">[234]</span> + +have been, and in the funeral-oration which the +President delivered over the bier of the General, he +expressed that sense of sorrow most aptly. This +oration, delivered upon an occasion when the +country was mourning the death of a revered +leader and struggling under the weight of recent +defeats, was one of the most remarkable utterances +ever made by a man at the head of a nation. +</p> + +<p> +“Brothers, sisters, burghers, and friends,” he +began,—“Only a few words can I say to you to-day, +for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. +We have lost our brother, our friend, our Commandant-General. +I have lost my right hand, not +of yesterday, but my right hand since we were +boys together, many long years ago. To-night I +alone seem to have been spared of the old people +of our cherished land, of the men who lived and +struggled together for our country. He has gone +to heaven whilst fighting for liberty, which God has +told us to defend; for the freedom for which he and +I have struggled together for so many years, and +so often, to maintain. Brothers, what shall I say +to you in this our greatest day of sorrow, in this +hour of national gloom? The struggle we are + +<span class="pagenum" id="page235">[235]</span> + +engaged in is for the principles of justice and +righteousness, which our Lord Has taught us is the +broad road to heaven and blessedness. It is our +sacred duty to keep on that path, if we desire a +happy ending. Our dear dead brother has gone +on that road to his eternal life. What can I say of +his personality? It is only a few short weeks ago +that I saw him at the fighting front, humbly and +modestly taking his share of the privations and +the rough work of the campaign like the poorest +burgher, a true general, a true Christian—an +example to his people. And he spoke to me then +and even more recently; and, let me tell you, +that the days are dark. We are suffering +reverses on account of wickedness rampant in +our land. No success will come, no blessings +be given to our great cause unless you remove +the bad elements from among us; and then you +may look forward to attaining the crowning point, +the reward of righteousness and noble demeanour. +We have in our distinguished departed brother an +example. Chosen, as he was, by the nation, time +after time, to his honourable position, he had their +trust to such an extent that everything was left in +his hands; and he did his work well. He died, as + +<span class="pagenum" id="page236">[236]</span> + +he has lived, in the path of duty and honour. Let +the world rage around us, let the enemy decry us, +I say, Follow his example. The Lord will stand +by you against the ruthless hand of the foe, and at +the moment when He deems it right for interference +peace will come once more. Why is the +sympathy of the whole world with us in this +struggle for freedom? Why are the strangers pouring +in from Europe to assist to the maintenance +of our beloved flag, to aid us in the just defence of +our independence? Is it not God’s hand? I +feel it in my heart. I declare to you again, the end +of our struggle will be satisfactory. Our small +nation exists by the aid of the Almighty, and will +continue to do so. The prophets say the closed +books shall be opened, the dead shall arise, darkness +be turned into light; nothing be concealed. +Every one will face God’s judgment throne. You +will listen to His voice, and your eyes shall be open +for the truth of everything. Think of the costly +lives given by us for our cause, and you will rally +to the fight for justice to the end. Brothers, to the +deeply bereaved widow of our Commandant-General, +to his family, to you all, I say trust more +than ever in the Almighty; go to Him for condolence; + +<span class="pagenum" id="page237">[237]</span> + +think and be trustful in the thought that +our brother’s body has gone from amongst us to +rise again in a beautiful and eternal home. Let us +follow his example. Weep not, the Lord will +support you; the hour of all our relief is near; and +let us pray that we may enter heaven, and be +guided to eternity in the same way as he whom we +mourn so deeply. Amen.” +</p> + +<p> +Early in his life Kruger formed an idea that the +Boers were under the direct control of Providence, +and it displeased him greatly to learn that many +petty thefts were committed by some of the +burghers at the front. In many of the speeches to +the burghers he referred to the shortcomings of +some of them, and tried to impress on their minds, +that they could never expect the Lord to took with +favour on their cause if they did not mend their +ways. He made a strong reference to those sins in +the oration he delivered over Joubert’s body, and +never neglected to tell the foreign volunteers that +they had come into the country for fighting and +not for looting. When an American corps of about +fifty volunteers arrived in Pretoria in April he requested +that they should call at his residence before +leaving for the front, and the men were greatly + +<span class="pagenum" id="page238">[238]</span> + +pleased to receive and accept the invitation. The +President walked to the sidewalk in front of his +house to receive the Americans, and then addressed +them in this characteristically blunt speech: “I am +very glad you have come here to assist us. I want +you to look after your horses and rifles. Do not +allow any one to steal them from you. Do not +steal anybody else’s gun or horse. Trust in God, +and fight as hard as you can.” +</p> + +<p> +Undoubtedly one of the most pathetic incidents +in Kruger’s life was his departure from Pretoria +when the British army was only a short distance +south of that city. It was bitter enough to him to +witness the conquest of the veld district, the farms +and the plantations, but when the conquerors were +about to possess the capital of the country which +he himself had seen growing out of the barren veld +into a beautiful city of brick and stone, it was indeed +a grave epoch for an old man to pass through. +It hurt him little to see Johannesburg fall to the +enemy, for that city was ever in his enemy’s hands, +but when Pretoria, distinctly the Boer city, was +about to become British, perhaps for ever, the old +man might have been expected to display signs of +the great sorrow which he undoubtedly felt in his + +<span class="pagenum" id="page239">[239]</span> + +heart. At the threshold of such a great calamity +to his cause it might have been anticipated that he +would acknowledge defeat and ask for mercy from +a magnanimous foe. It was not dreamt of that +a man of almost four score years would desert +his home and family, his farms and flocks, the +result of a lifetime’s labour, and endure the discomforts +of the field merely because he believed +in a cause which, it seemed, was about to be +extinguished by force of arms. But adversity +caused no changes in the President’s demeanour. +When he bade farewell to his good old wife—perhaps +it was a final farewell—he cheered and +comforted her, and when the weeping citizens +and friends of many years gathered at his little +cottage to bid him goodbye he chided them for +their lack of faith in the cause, and encouraged +them to believe that victory would crown the +Boers’ efforts. Seven months before, Kruger stood +on the verandah of his residence, and, doffing his +hat to the first British prisoners that arrived in the +city, asked his burghers not to rejoice unseemingly; +in May the old man, about to flee before the +enemy, inspired his people to take new courage, +and ridiculed their ideas that all was lost. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page240">[240]</span> + + +<p> +Whether the Boers were in the first flush of +victory or in the depths of despair Paul Kruger +was ever the same to them—patriot, adviser, encourager, +leader, and friend. +</p> + +<p> +It was an easy matter to see the President when +he was at his residence at Pretoria, and he +appeared to be deeply interested in learning the +opinions of the many foreigners who arrived in his +country. The little verandah of the Executive +Mansion—a pompous name for the small, one-storey +cottage—was the President’s favourite resting +and working place during the day. Just as in +the days of peace he sat there in a big armchair, +discussing politics with groups of his countrymen, +so while the war was in progress he was seated +there pondering the grave subjects of the time. +The countrymen who could always be observed +with him at almost any time of the day were missing. +They were at the front. Occasionally two +or three old Boers could be seen chatting with him +behind Barnato’s marble lions, but invariably they +had bandoliers around their bodies and rifles across +their knees. Few of the old Boers who knew the +President intimately returned from the front on +leaves-of-absence unless they called on him to + +<span class="pagenum" id="page241">[241]</span> + +explain to him the tide and progress of the +war. +</p> + +<p> +According to his own declaration his health was +as good as it ever was, although the war added +many burdens to his life. Although he was +seventy-five years old he declared he was as +sprightly as he was twenty years before, and he +seemed to have the energy and vitality of a man +of forty. The reports that his mind was affected +were cruel hoaxes which had not the slightest +foundation of fact. The only matter concerning +which he worried was his eyesight, which had been +growing weaker steadily for five years. That misfortune +alone prevented him from accompanying +his burghers to the front and sharing their burdens +with them, and he frequently expressed his disappointment +that he was unable to engage more +actively in the defence of his country. When +Pretoria fell into British hands Kruger again +sacrificed his own interests for the welfare of his +Government and moved the capital into the fever-districts, +the low-veld of the eastern part of the +Transvaal. The deadly fever which permeates the +atmosphere of that territory seemed to have no +more terrors for him than did the British bullets at + +<span class="pagenum" id="page242">[242]</span> + +Poplar Grove, and he chose to remain in that +dangerous locality in order that he might be in +constant communication with his burghers and the +outside world rather than to go farther into the +isolated interior where he would have assumed no +such great risks to his health. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Kruger was not a bitter enemy of the +British nation, as might have been supposed. He +was always an admirer of Britons and British +institutions, and the war did not cause him to +alter his convictions. He despised only the men +whom he charged with being responsible for the +war, and he never thought to hide the identity of +those men. He blamed Mr. Rhodes, primarily, +for instigating the war, and held Mr. Chamberlain +and Sir Alfred Milner equally responsible for +bringing it about. Against these three men he +was extremely bitter, and he took advantage of +every opportunity for expressing his opinions of +them and their work. In February he stated that +the real reason of the war between the Boers and +the British was Rhodes’s desire for glory. “He +wants to be known as the maker of the South +African empire,” he said, “and the empire is not +complete so long as there are two Republics in +the centre of the country.” +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page243">[243]</span> + + +<p> +Whatever were the causes of the war, it is certain +that President Kruger did not make it in order +to gain political supremacy in the country. The +Dutch of Cape Colony, President Steyn of the +Free State, and Secretary Reitz of the Transvaal, +may have had visions of Dutch supremacy, but +President Kruger had no such hopes. He +invariably and strenuously denied that he had +any aspirations other than the independence of his +country, and all his words and works emphasised +his statement to that effect. Several days before +Commandant-General Joubert died, that intimate +friend of the President declared solemnly that +Kruger had never dreamt of expelling the British +Government from South Africa and much less had +made any agreement with the Dutch in other parts +of the country with a view to such a result. It +was a difficult matter to find a Transvaal Boer or +a Boer from the northern part of the Free State +who cared whether the British or the Dutch were +paramount in South Africa so long as the Republics +were left unharmed, but it was less difficult to meet +Cape Colonists and Boers from the southern part +of the Free State who desired that Great Britain’s +power in the country should be broken. If there + +<span class="pagenum" id="page244">[244]</span> + +was any real spirit against Great Britain it was +born on British soil in Cape Colony and blown +northward to where courage to fight was more +abundant. Its source certainly was not in the +north, and more certainly not with Paul Kruger, +the man of peace. +</p> + +<p> +President Steyn, of the Orange Free State, +occupied even a more responsible position than +his friend President Kruger, of the Transvaal. +At the beginning of hostilities, Steyn found that +hundreds of the British-born citizens of his State +refused to fight with his army, and consequently +he was obliged to join the Transvaal with a much +smaller force than he had reckoned upon. He +was handicapped by the lack of generals of any +experience, and he did not have a sufficient +number of burghers to guard the borders of his +own State. His Government had made but few +preparations for war, and there was a lack of guns, +ammunition, and equipment. The mobilisation of +his burghers was extremely difficult and required +much more time than was anticipated, and everything +seemed to be awry at a time when every +detail should have been carefully planned and +executed. As the responsible head of the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page245">[245]</span> + +Government and the veritable head of the army +Steyn passed a crisis with a remarkable display of +energy, ingenuity, and ability. After the army +was in the field he gave his personal attention to +the work of the departments whose heads were at +the front and attended to many of the details of +the commissariat work in Bloemfontein. He +frequently visited the burghers in the field and +gave to them such encouragement as only the +presence and praise of the leader of a nation can +give to a people. In February he went to the +Republican lines at Ladysmith and made an +address in which he stated that Sir Alfred Milner’s +declaration that the power of Afrikanderism must +be broken had caused the war. Several days later +he was with his burghers at Kimberley, praising +their valour and infusing them with renewed +courage. A day or two afterward he was again in +Bloemfontein, arranging for the comfort of his men +and caring for the wives and children who were +left behind. His duties were increased a hundred-fold +as the campaign progressed, and when the +first reverses came he alone of the Free Staters +was able to imbue the men with new zeal. After +Bloemfontein was captured by the British he + +<span class="pagenum" id="page246">[246]</span> + +transferred the capital to Kroonstad, and there, +with the assistance of President Kruger, re-established +the fighting spirit of the burgher army. +He induced the skulking burghers to return to +their compatriots at the front, and formed the +plans for future resistance against the invading +army. When Lord Roberts’s hosts advanced from +Bloemfontein, President Steyn again moved the +capital and established it at Heilbron. Thereafter +the capital was constantly transferred from one +place to another, but through all those vicissitudes +the President clung nobly to his people and +country. +</p> + +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page247">[247]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter9">CHAPTER IX</h2> +<h2> +FOREIGNERS IN THE WAR +</h2> + +<p> +In every war there are men who are not citizens +of the country with whose army they are +fighting, and the “soldier-of-fortune” is as much a +recognised adjunct of modern armies as he was in +the days of knight-errantry. In the American +revolutionary war both the colonial and British +forces were assisted by many foreigners, and in +every great and small war since then the contending +armies have had foreigners in their service. In +the Franco-Prussian war there was a great number +of foreigners, among them having been one of the +British generals who took a leading part in the +Natal campaign. The brief Græco-Turkish war +gave many foreign officers an opportunity of +securing experience, while the Spaniards in the +Hispano-American war had the assistance of a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page248">[248]</span> + +small number of European officers. Even the +Filipinos have had the aid of a corps of foreigners, +the leader of whom, however, deserted Aguinaldo +and joined the Boer forces. +</p> + +<p> +There is a fascination in civilised warfare which +attracts men of certain descriptions, and to them a +well-fought battle is the highest form of exciting +amusement. All the world is interested in warfare +among human beings, and there are men who +delight in fighting battles in order that their own +and public interest may be gratified. It may +suggest a morbid or bloodthirsty spirit, this love +of warfare, but no spectacle is finer, more magnificent, +than a hard-fought game in which human +lives are staked against a strip of ground—a +position. It is not hard to understand why many +men should become fascinated with warfare and +travel to the ends of the earth in order to take part +in it, but a soldier of fortune needs to make no +apologies. The Boer army was augmented by +many of these men who delighted in war for +fighting’s sake, but a larger number joined the +forces because they believed the Republics were +fighting in a just cause. +</p> + +<p> +The Boer was jealous of his own powers of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page249">[249]</span> + +generalship, and when large numbers of foreigners +volunteered to lead their commandos the farmers +gave a decidedly negative reply. Scores of foreign +officers arrived in the country shortly after the +beginning of hostilities and, intent on securing fame +and experience, asked to be placed in command, +but no request of that kind was granted. The +Boers felt that their system of warfare was the +perfect one, and they scoffed at the suggestion +that European officers might teach them anything +in the military line. Every foreign officer was +welcomed in Pretoria and in the laagers, but he +was asked to enlist as a private, or ordinary +burgher. Commissions in the Boer army were +not to be had for the asking, as was anticipated, +and many of the foreign officers were deeply +disappointed in consequence. The Boers felt that +the foreigners were unacquainted with the country, +the burgher mode of warfare, and lacked adroitness +with the rifle, and consequently refused to place +lives and battles in the hands of incompetent men. +There were a few foreigners in the service of the +Boers at the beginning of the war, but their +number was so small as to have been without +significance. Several European officers had been + +<span class="pagenum" id="page250">[250]</span> + +employed by the Governments of the Republics to +instruct young Boers in artillery work—-and their +instruction was invaluable—but the oft-repeated +assertion that every commando was in charge of a +foreign officer was as ridiculous as that of the +<i>Cape Times</i> which stated that the British retired +from Spion Kop because no water was found on +its summit. +</p> + +<p> +The influx of foreigners into the country began +simultaneously with the war, and it continued thereafter +at the rate of about four hundred men a month. +The volunteers, as they were called by the burghers, +consisted of the professional soldier, the man in +search of loot, the man who fights for love of +justice, and the adventurer. The professional +soldier was of much service to the burghers so long +as he was content to remain under a Boer leader, +but as soon as he attempted to operate on his own +responsibility he became not only an impediment +to the Boers, but also a positive danger. In the +early stages of the war the few foreign legions that +existed met with disaster at Elandslaagte, and +thereafter all the foreign volunteers were obliged +to join a commando. After several months had +passed the foreigners, eager to have responsible + +<span class="pagenum" id="page251">[251]</span> + +command, prevailed upon the generals to allow the +formation of foreign legions to operate independently. +The Legion of France, the American +Scouts, the Russian Scouts, the German Corps, +and several other organisations were formed, and +for a month after the investment of Bloemfontein +these legions alone enlivened the situation by their +frolicsome reports of attacks on the enemy’s outposts. +During those weeks the entire British army +must have been put to flight scores of times at the +very least, if the reports of the foreign legions may +be believed, and the British casualty list must have +amounted to thrice the number of English soldiers +in the country. The free-rein given to the foreign +legionaries was withdrawn shortly after Villebois-Mareuil +and his small band of Frenchmen met +with disaster at Boshof, and thereafter all the +foreigners were placed under the direct command +of General De la Rey. +</p> + +<p> +The man in search of the spoils of war was not +so numerous, but he made his presence felt by +stealing whatever was portable and saleable. +When he became surfeited with looting houses +in conquered territory and stealing horses, luggage, +and goods of lesser value in the laagers he returned + +<span class="pagenum" id="page252">[252]</span> + +to Johannesburg and Pretoria and assisted in +emptying residences and stores of their contents. +This style of soldier-of-fortune never went into a +battle of his own accord, and when he found himself +precipitated into the midst of one he lost little +time in reaching a place of safety. Almost on a +par with the looter was the adventurer, whose chief +object of life seemed to be to tell of the battles he +had assisted in winning. He was constantly in the +laagers when there was no fighting in progress, but +as soon as the report of a gun was heard the adventurer +felt the necessity of going on urgent business +to Pretoria. After the fighting he could always be +depended upon to relate the wildest personal +experiences that camp-fires ever heard. He could +tell of amazing experiences in the wilds of South +America, on the steppes of Siberia, and other ends +of the earth, and after each narrative he would +make a request for a “loan.” The only adventures +he had during the war were those which he encountered +while attempting to escape from battles, and +the only service he did to the Boer army was to +assist in causing the disappearance of commissariat +supplies. +</p> + +<p> +The men who fought with the Boers because + +<span class="pagenum" id="page253">[253]</span> + +they were deeply in sympathy with the Republican +cause were in far greater numbers than those +with other motives, and their services were of +much value to the federal forces. The majority +of these were in the country when the war was +begun, and were accepted as citizens of the +country. They joined commandos and remained +under Boer leaders during the entire campaign. +In the same class were the volunteers who entered +the Republics from Natal and Cape Colony, for +the purpose of assisting their co-religionists and +kinsmen. Of these there were about six thousand +at the beginning of hostilities, but there were +constant desertions, so that after the first six +months of the war perhaps less than one-third of +them remained. The Afrikanders of Natal and +Cape Colony were not inferior in any respect to +the Boers whose forces they joined, but when +the tide of war changed and it became evident +that the Boers would not triumph, they returned +to their homes and farms in the colonies, in order +to save them from confiscation. Taking into +consideration the fact that four-fifths of the white +population of the two colonies was of the same +race and religion as the Boers, six thousand was + +<span class="pagenum" id="page254">[254]</span> + +not a large number of volunteers to join the +federal forces. +</p> + +<p> +The artillery fire of the Boer was so remarkably +good that the delusion was cherished by the +British commanders that foreign artillerists were +in charge of all their guns. It was not believed +that the Boers had any knowledge of arms other +than rifles, but it was not an easy matter to find +a foreigner at a cannon or a rapid-fire gun. The +field batteries of the State Artillery of the Transvaal +had two German officers of low rank, who +were in the country long before the war began, +but almost all the other men who assisted with +the field guns were young Boers. The heavy +artillery in Natal was directed by MM. Grunberg +and Leon, representatives of Creusot, who +manufactured the guns. M. Leon’s ability as an +engineer and gunner pleased Commandant-General +Joubert so greatly that he gave him +full authority over the artillery. Major Albrecht, +the director of the Free State Artillery, was +a foreigner by birth, but he became a citizen +of the Free State long before the war, and did +sterling service to his country until he was +captured with Cronje at Paardeberg. Otto von + +<span class="pagenum" id="page255">[255]</span> + +Lossberg, a German-American who had seen +service in the armies of Germany and the United +States, arrived in the country in March, and was +thereafter in charge of a small number of heavy +guns, but the majority of them were manned by +Boer officers. +</p> + +<p> +None of the foreigners who served in the Boer +army received any compensation. They were +supplied with horses and equipment, at a cost to +the Boer Governments of about £35 for each +volunteer, and they received better food than +the burghers, but no wages were paid to them. +Before a foreign volunteer was allowed to join +a commando, and before he received his equipment, +he was obliged to take an oath of allegiance +to the Republic. Only a few men who declined +to take the oath were allowed to join the army. +The oath of allegiance was an adaptation of the +one which caused so much difficulty between Great +Britain and the Transvaal before the war. A +translation of it reads— +</p> + +<blockquote><p> +“I hereby make an oath of solemn allegiance +to the people of the South African +Republic, and I declare my willingness to + +<span class="pagenum" id="page256">[256]</span> + +assist, with all my power, the burghers of +this Republic in the war in which they are +engaged. I further promise to obey the +orders of those placed in authority according +to law, and that I will work for nothing +but the prosperity, the welfare, and the +independence of the land and people of +this Republic, so truly help me, God +Almighty.” +</p> +</blockquote> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE" id="FIG.18"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.18"><img src="images/image018.jpg" +title="BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE" +alt="BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE" +width="673" height="464" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +No army lists were ever to be found at Pretoria +or at the front, and it was as monumental a task +to secure a fair estimate of the Boer force as it +was to obtain an estimate of the number of the +foreigners who assisted them. The Boers had no +men whom they could spare to detail to statistical +work, and, in consequence, no correct figures can +ever be obtained. The numerical strength of the +various organisations of foreigners could readily +be obtained from their commanders, but many +of the foreigners were in Boer commandos, and +their strength is only problematical. An estimate +which was prepared by the British and American +correspondents, who had good opportunities of +forming as nearly a correct idea as any one, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page257">[257]</span> + +resulted in this list, which gives the numbers of +those in the various organisations, as well as those +in the commandos:— +</p> + +<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Figure Caption"> +<tr> +<th>Nationality.</th> +<th>In Organisations.</th> +<th> </th> +<th>In Commandos.</th> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>French </td><td class="number">300</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">100</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Hollanders</td><td class="number">400</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">250</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Russian </td><td class="number">100</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">125</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Germans </td><td class="number">300</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">250</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Americans</td><td class="number">150</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">150</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Italians </td><td class="number">100</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">100</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Scandinavians</td><td class="number">100</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">50</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Irishmen </td><td class="number">200</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">... </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td>Afrikanders</td><td class="number">... </td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">6,000</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-left:2em">Total in Organisations</td><td class="number">1,650</td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">... </td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-left:2em">Total in Commandos</td><td class="number">... </td><td class="ctr">...</td><td class="number">7,025</td> +</tr> + +<tr> +<td style="padding-left:4em">Grand Total</td><td class="number">... </td><td class="number">8,675</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> +The French legionaries were undoubtedly of +more actual service to the Boers than the volunteers +of any other nationality, inasmuch as they +were given the opportunities of doing valuable +work. Before the war one of the large forts at +Pretoria was erected by French engineers, and +when the war was begun Frenchmen of military +experience were much favoured by General +Joubert, who was proud of his French extraction. +The greater quantity of artillery had been purchased +from French firms, and the Commandant-General + +<span class="pagenum" id="page258">[258]</span> + +wisely placed guns in the hands of the +men who knew how to operate them well. MM. +Grunberg and Leon were of incalculable assistance +in transporting the heavy artillery over the +mountains of Natal, and in securing such positions +for them where the fire of the enemy’s guns +could not harm them. The work of the heavy +guns, the famous “Long Toms” which the besieged +in Ladysmith will remember as long as +the siege itself remains in their memory, was +almost entirely the result of French hands and +brains, while all the havoc caused by the heavy +artillery in the Natal battles was due to the +engineering and gunnery of Leon, Grunberg, +and their Boer assistants. After remaining in +Natal until after the middle of January the two +Frenchmen joined the Free State forces, to whom +they rendered valuable assistance. Leon was +wounded at Kimberley on February 12th, and, +after assisting in establishing the ammunition +works at Pretoria and Johannesburg, returned +to France. Viscount Villebois-Mareuil was one +of the many foreigners who joined the Boer +army and lost their lives while fighting with the +Republican forces. While ranking as colonel on + +<span class="pagenum" id="page259">[259]</span> + +the General Staff of the French army, and when +about to be promoted to the rank of general, he +resigned from the service on account of the +Dreyfus affair. A month after the commencement +of the war Villebois-Mareuil arrived in the +Transvaal and went to the Natal front, where his +military experience enabled him to give advice +to the Boer generals. In January the Colonel +attached himself to General Cronje’s forces, with +whom he took part in many engagements. He +was one of the few who escaped from the disastrous +fight at Paardeberg, and shortly afterwards, +at the war council at Kroonstad, the French +officer was created a brigadier-general—the first +and only one in the Boer army—and all the +foreign legions were placed in his charge. It +was purposed that he should harass the enemy +by attacks on their lines of communication, and +it was while he was at the outset of the first of +these expeditions that he and twelve of his small +force of sixty men were killed at Boshof, in the +north-western part of the Free State, early in +April. Villebois-Mareuil was a firm believer in +the final success of the Boer arms, and he received +the credit of planning two battles—second Colenso + +<span class="pagenum" id="page260">[260]</span> + +and Magersfontein—which gave the Boers at least +temporary success. The Viscount was a writer +for the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Revue des Deux Mondes</i>, the <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Correspondant</i>, +and <i lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">La Liberté</i>, the latter of which referred to him +as the latter-day Lafayette. Colonel Villebois-Mareuil +was an exceptionally brave man, a fine +soldier, and a gentleman whose friendship was +prized. +</p> + +<p> +Lieutenant Gallopaud was another Frenchman +who did sterling service to the Boers while he +was subordinate to Colonel Villebois-Mareuil. At +Colenso Gallopaud led his men in an attack which +met with extraordinary success, and later in the +Free State campaign he distinguished himself by +creditable deeds in several battles. Gallopaud +went to the Transvaal for experience, and he +secured both that and fame. After the death of +Villebois-Mareuil, Gallopaud was elected commandant +of the French Legion, and before he +joined De la Rey’s army he had the novel pleasure +of subduing a mutiny among some of his men. +An Algerian named Mahomed Ben Naseur, who +had not been favoured with the sight of blood for +several weeks, threatened to shoot Gallopaud with +a Mauser, but there was a cessation of hostilities + +<span class="pagenum" id="page261">[261]</span> + +on the part of the Algerian shortly after big, +powerful Gallopaud went into action. +</p> + +<p> +The majority of the Hollanders who fought +with the Boers were in the country when the war +was begun, and they made a practical demonstration +of their belief in the Boer cause by going into +the field with the first commandos. The Dutch +corps was under the command of Commandant +Smoronberg, the former drill-master of the Johannesburg +Police. Among the volunteers were many +young Hollanders who had been employed by +the Government in Pretoria and Johannesburg +establishments, and by the Netherlands railways. +In the first engagement, at Elandslaagte, in +November, the corps was practically annihilated +and General Kock, the leader of the <span lang="af" xml:lang="af" class="af">Uitlander</span> +brigade, himself received his death wounds. Afterward +the surviving members of the corps joined +Boer commandos where stray train-loads of +officers’ wines, such as were found the day before +the battle of Elandslaagte, were not allowed to +interfere with the sobriety of the burghers. The +Russian corps, under Commandant Alexis de +Ganetzky and Colonel Prince Baratrion-Morgaff, +was formed after all the men had been campaigning + +<span class="pagenum" id="page262">[262]</span> + +under Boer officers in Natal for several months. +The majority of the men were Johannesburgers +without military experience who joined the army +because there was nothing else to do. +</p> + +<p> +The German corps was as short-lived as the +Hollander organisation, it having been part of the +force which met with disaster at Elandslaagte. +Colonel Schiel, a German-Boer of brief military +experience, led the organisation, but was unable to +display his abilities to any extent before he was +made a prisoner of war. Captain Count Harran +von Zephir was killed in the fight at Spion Kop, +and Herr von Brusenitz was killed and Colonel +von Brown was captured at the Tugela. The +corps was afterward reorganised and, under the +leadership of Commandant Otto Krantz of +Pretoria, it fought valiantly in several battles in +the Free State. Among the many German +volunteers who entered the country after the +beginning of hostilities was Major Baron von +Reitzenstein, the winner of the renowned long-distance +horseback race from Berlin to Vienna. +Major von Reitzenstein was a participant in +battles at Colesburg and in Natal, and was eager +to remain with the Boer forces until the end of + +the war, but was recalled by his Government, +which had granted him a leave of absence from +the German army. Three of the forts at Pretoria +were erected by Germans, and the large fort at +Johannesburg was built by Colonel Schiel at an +expense of less than £5,000. +</p> + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="COLONEL JOHN E. BLAKE, OF THE IRISH BRIGADE" id="FIG.19"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.19"><img src="images/image019.jpg" +title="COLONEL JOHN E. BLAKE, OF THE IRISH BRIGADE" +alt="COLONEL JOHN E. BLAKE, OF THE IRISH BRIGADE" +width="418" height="537" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>COLONEL JOHN E. BLAKE, OF THE IRISH BRIGADE</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page263">[263]</span> + + + + +<p> +The Americans in South Africa who elected to +fight under the Boer flags did not promise to win +the war single-handed, and consequently the Boers +were not disappointed in the achievements of the +volunteers from the sister-republic across the +Atlantic. In proportion to their numbers the +Americans did as well as the best volunteer +foreigners, and caused the Government less trouble +and expense than any of the <span lang="af" xml:lang="af" class="af">Uitlanders</span>’ organisations. +The majority of the Americans spent the +first months of the war in Boer commandos, and +made no effort to establish an organisation of their +own, although they were of sufficient numerical +strength. A score or more of them joined the +Irish Brigade organised by Colonel J.E. Blake, +a graduate of West Point Military Academy and +a former officer in the American army, and accompanied +the Brigade through the first seven months +of the Natal campaign. After the exciting days + +<span class="pagenum" id="page264">[264]</span> + +of the Natal campaign John A. Hassell, an +American who had been with the Vryheid commando, +organised the American Scouts and succeeded +in gathering what probably was the +strangest body of men in the war. Captain Hassell +himself was born in New Jersey, and was well educated +in American public schools and the schools of +experience. He spent the five years before the +war in prospecting and with shooting expeditions +in various parts of South Africa, and had a better +idea of the geological features of the country than +any of the commandants of the foreign legions. +While he was with the Vryheid commando Hassell +was twice wounded, once in the attack on Caesar’s +Hill and again at Estcourt, where he received +a bayonet thrust which disabled him for several +weeks and deprived him of the brief honour of +being General Botha’s adjutant. +</p> + +<p> +The one American whose exploits will long +remain in the Boer mind was John N. King, of +Reading, Pennsylvania, who vowed that he would +allow his hair to grow until the British had been +driven from federal soil. King began his career +of usefulness to society at the time of the Johnstown +flood, where he and some companions + +<span class="pagenum" id="page265">[265]</span> + +lynched an Italian who had been robbing the +dead. Shortly afterward he gained a deep insight +into matters journalistic by being the boon companion +of a newspaper man. The newspaper man +was in jail on a charge of larceny; King for +murder. When war was begun King was employed +on a Johannesburg mine, and when his +best friend determined to join the British forces +he decided to enlist in the Boer army. Before +parting the two made an agreement that neither +should make the other prisoner in case they met. +At Spion Kop, King captured his friend unawares +and, after a brief conversation and a farewell grasp +of the hand, King shot him dead. King took part +in almost every one of the Natal battles, and when +there was no fighting to do he passed the time +away by such reckless exploits as going within +the British firing-line at Ladysmith to capture pigs +and chickens. He bore a striking resemblance +to Napoleon I., and loved blood as much as the +little Corsican. When the Scouts went out from +Brandfort in April and killed several of the British +scouts, King wept because he had remained in +camp that day and had missed the opportunity +of having a part in the engagement. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page266">[266]</span> + + +<p> +The lieutenant of the Scouts was John Shea, +a grey-haired man who might have had grand-children +old enough to fight. Shea fought with +the Boers because he thought they had a righteous +cause, and not because he loved the smell of +gunpowder, although he had learned to know what +that was in the Spanish-American war. Shea +endeavoured to introduce the American army +system into the Boer army, but failed signally, and +then fought side by side with old <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaars</span> all +during the Natal campaign. He was the guardian +of the mascot of the scouts, William Young, a +thirteen-year-old American, who was acquainted +with every detail of the preliminaries of the war. +William witnessed all but two of the Natal battles, +and several of those in the Free State, and could +relate all the stirring incidents in connection with +each, but he could tell nothing more concerning +his birthplace than that it was “near the shore in +America,” both his parents having died when he +was quite young. Then there was Able-Bodied +Seaman William Thompson, who was in the +<i>Wabash</i> of the United States Navy, and served +under MacCuen in the Chinese-Japanese war. +Thompson and two others tried to steal a piece + +<span class="pagenum" id="page267">[267]</span> + +of British heavy artillery while it was in action +at Ladysmith, but were themselves captured by +some Boers who did not believe in modern +miracles. Of newspaper men, there were half a +dozen who laid aside the pen for the sword. George +Parsons, a <i>Collier’s Weekly</i> man, who was once left +on a desert island on the east end of Cuba to deliver +a message to Gomez, several hundred miles away; +J.B. Clarke, of Webberville, Michigan, who was +correspondent for a Pittsburg newspaper whenever +some one could commandeer the necessary stamps; +and four or five correspondents of country weeklies +in Western States. Starfield and Hiley were two +Texans, of American army experience, who fought +with the Boers because they had faith in their +cause. Starfield claimed the honour of having +been pursued for half a day by two hundred British +cavalryman, while Hiley, the finest marksman in +the corps, had the distinction of killing Lieutenant +Carron, an American, in Lord Loch’s Horse, in a +fierce duel behind ant-heaps at Modder River on +April 21st. Later in the campaign many of the +Americans who entered the country for the purpose +of fighting joined Hassell’s Scouts, and added to +the cosmopolitan character of the organisation. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page268">[268]</span> + + +<p> +One came from <span class="sic" title="sic, corr: Puget">Paget</span> Sound in a sailing vessel. +Another arrival boldly claimed to be the American +military attaché at the Paris Exposition, and then +requested every one to keep the matter a secret +for fear the War Department should hear of his +presence in South Africa and recall him. On the +way to Africa he had a marvellous midnight experience +on board ship with a masked man who +shot him through one of his hands. Later the +same wound was displayed as having been received +at Magersfontein, Colenso, and Spion Kop. This +industrious youth became adjutant to Colonel +Blake, and assisted that picturesque Irish-American +in securing the services of the half-hundred +Red Cross men who entered the country +in April. +</p> + +<p> +Of the many Americans who fought in Boer +commandos none did better service nor was +considered more highly by the Boers than Otto +von Lossberg, of New Orleans, <span class="sic" title="sic, corr:Louisiana">Louisana</span>. +Lossberg was born in Germany, and received +his first military training in the army of his +native country. He afterwards became an +American citizen, and was with General Miles’ +army in the Porto-Rico campaign. Lossberg + +<span class="pagenum" id="page269">[269]</span> + +arrived in the Transvaal in March, and on the +last day of that month was in charge of the +artillery which assisted in defeating Colonel +Broadwood’s column at Sannaspost. Two days +later, in the fight between General Christian De +Wet and McQueenies’ Irish Fusiliers, Lossberg +was severely wounded in the head, but a month +later he was again at the front. With him continually +was Baron Ernst von Wrangel, a grandson +of the famous Marshal <span class="sic" title="sic, corr: Wrangel">Wrangle</span>, and who was a +corporal in the American army during the Cuban +war. +</p> + +<p> +When one of the four sons of State Secretary +Reitz who were fighting with the Boer army +asked his father for permission to join the Irish +Brigade, the Secretary gave an excellent description +of the organisation: “The members of the +Irish Brigade do their work well, and they fight +remarkably well, but, my son, they are not gentle +in their manner.” Blake and his men were among +the first to cross the Natal frontier, and their +achievements were notable even if the men lacked +gentility of manner. The brigade took part in +almost every one of the Natal engagements +and when General Botha retreated from the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page270">[270]</span> + +Tugela Colonel Blake and seventy-five of his men +bravely attacked and drove back into Ladysmith +a squadron of cavalry which intended to cut off +the retreat of Botha’s starving and exhausted +burghers. Blake and his men were guarding a +battery on Lombard Kop, a short distance east +of Ladysmith, when he learned that Joubert was +leading the retreat northward, and allowing Botha, +with his two thousand men, to continue their ten +days’ fighting without reinforcements. Instead of +retreating with the other commandos, Blake and +seventy-five of his men stationed themselves on +the main road between Ladysmith and Colenso +and awaited the coming of Botha. A force of +cavalry was observed coming out of the besieged +city, and it was apparent that they could readily +cut off Botha from the other Boers. Blake determined +to make a bold bluff by scattering his small +force over the hills and attacking the enemy from +different directions. The men were ordered to +fire as rapidly as possible in order to impress the +British cavalry with a false idea of the size of the +force. The seventy-five Irishmen and Americans +made as much noise with their guns as a Boer +commando of a thousand men usually did, and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page271">[271]</span> + +the result was that the cavalry wheeled about and +returned into Ladysmith. Botha and his men, +dropping out of their saddles from sheer exhaustion +and hunger, came up from Colenso a short +time after the cavalry had been driven back and +made their memorable journey to Joubert’s new +headquarters at Glencoe. It was one of the few +instances where the foreigners were of any really +great assistance to the Boers. +</p> + +<p> +After the relief of Ladysmith the Irish Brigade +was sent to Helpmakaar Pass, and remained there +for six weeks, until Colonel Blake succeeded in +inducing the War Department to send them to +the Free State, where these “sons of the ould +sod” might make a display of their valour to the +world, and more especially to Michael Davitt, +who was then visiting in the country. When the +Brigade was formed it was not necessary to show +an Irish birth certificate in order to become a +member of the organisation, and consequently +there were Swedes, Russians, Germans, and +Italians marching under the green flag. A half-dozen +of the Brigade claimed to be Irish enough +for themselves and for those who could not lay +claim to such extraction, and consequently a fair + +<span class="pagenum" id="page272">[272]</span> + +mean was maintained. A second Irish Brigade +was formed in April by Arthur Lynch, an Irish-Australian, +who was the former Paris correspondent +of a London daily newspaper. Colonel +Lynch and his men were in several battles in +Natal and received warm praise from the Boer +generals. +</p> + +<p> +The Italian Legion was commanded by a man +who loved war and warfare. Camillo Richiardi +and General Louis Botha were probably the two +handsomest men in the army, and both were the +idols of their men. Captain Richiardi had his +first experience of war in Abyssinia, when he +fought with the Italian army. When the Philippine +war began he joined the fortunes of Aguinaldo, +and became the leader of the foreign legion. +For seven months he fought against the American +soldiers, not because he hated the Americans, but +because he loved fighting more. When the Boer +war seemed to promise more exciting work +Richiardi left Aguinaldo’s forces and joined a +Boer commando as a burgher. After studying +Boer methods for several months he formed an +organisation of scouts which was of great service +to the army. Before the relief of Ladysmith the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page273">[273]</span> + +Italian Scouts was the ablest organisation of the +kind in the Republics. +</p> + +<p> +The Scandinavian corps joined Cronje’s army +after the outbreak of war, and took part in the +battle of Magersfontein on December 11th. The +corps occupied one of the most exposed positions +during that battle and lost forty-five of the fifty-two +men engaged. Commandant Flygare was +shot in the abdomen and was being carried off +the field by Captain Barendsen when a bullet +struck the captain in the head and killed him +instantly. Flygare extricated himself from beneath +Barendsen’s body, rose, and led his men +in a charge. When he had proceeded about +twenty yards a bullet passed through his head, +and his men leapt over his corpse only to meet +a similar fate a few minutes later. +</p> + +</div> + + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page274">[274]</span> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter10">CHAPTER X</h2> +<h2> +BOER WOMEN IN THE WAR +</h2> + +<p> +One of the most glorious pages in the history +of the Boer nation relates to the work of +the women who fought side by side with their +husbands against the hordes of murderous Zulus +in the days of the early <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">Voortrekkers</span>. It is the +story of hardy Boer women, encompassed by +thousands of bloodthirsty natives, fighting over +the lifeless bodies of their husbands and sons, and +repelling the attacks of the savages with a spirit +and strength not surpassed by the valiant burghers +themselves. The magnificent heritage which these +mothers of the latter-day Boer nation left to their +children was not unworthily borne by the women +of the end of the century, and the work which they +accomplished in the war of 1899-1900 was none +the less valuable, even though it was less hazardous + +and romantic, than that of their ancestors whose +blood mingled with that of the savages on the +grassy slopes of the Natal mountains. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="MRS. GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER" id="FIG.20"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.20"><img src="images/image020.jpg" +title="MRS. GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER" +alt="MRS. GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER" +width="419" height="604" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>MRS. GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page275">[275]</span> + + +<p> +The conspicuous part played in the war by the +Boer women was but a sequence to that which +they took in the political affairs of the country +before the commencement of hostilities, and both +were excellent demonstrations of their great +patriotism and their deep loyalty to the Republics +which they loved. Some one has said that real +patriotism is bred only on the farms and plains of +a country, and no better exemplification of the +truth of the saying was necessary than that which +was afforded by the wives and mothers of the +burghers of the two South African Republics. +Many months before the first shot of the war +was fired the patriotic Boer women commenced to +take an active interest in the discussion of the +grave affairs of State, and it increased with such +amazing rapidity and volume that they were prepared +for hostilities long before the men. Women +urged their husbands, fathers, and brothers to end +the long period of political strife and uncertainty +by shouldering arms and fighting for their independence. +Even sooner than the men, the Boer + +<span class="pagenum" id="page276">[276]</span> + +women realised that peace must be broken sometime +in order to secure real tranquillity in the +country, and she who lived on the veld and was +patriotic was anxious to have the storm come and +pass as quickly as possible. So enthusiastic were +the women before the war that it was a common +saying among them that if the men were too +timorous to fight for their liberty the daughters +and grand-daughters of the heroines who fought +against the Zulus at Weenen and Doornkop would +take up arms. +</p> + +<p> +Even before the formal declaration of war was +made, many of the Boer women prevailed upon +their husbands, brothers, and sons to leave their +homes and go to the borders of the Boer country +to guard against any raids that might be attempted +by the enemy, and in many instances women +accompanied the men to prepare their meals and +give them comfort. These manifestations of warlike +spirit were not caused by the women’s love of +war, for they were even more peace-loving than +the men, but they were the natural result of a +desire to serve their country at a time when they +considered it to be in great peril. The women +knew that war would mean much bloodshed and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page277">[277]</span> + +the death of many of those whom they loved, but +all those selfish considerations were laid aside +when they believed that the life of their country +was at stake. +</p> + +<p> +For weeks preceding the commencement of +hostilities farmers’ wives on the veld busied +themselves with making serviceable corduroy +clothing, knapsacks, and bread-bags for their male +relatives who were certain to go on commando; +and when it became known that an ultimatum +would be sent to Great Britain the women prepared +the burghers’ outfits, so that there would be +no delay in the men’s departure for the front as +soon as the declaration of war should be made. +</p> + +<p> +No greater or harder work was done by the +women during the entire war than that which fell +to their lot immediately following the formal +declaration of war by the authorities. In the +excitement of the occasion the Government had +neglected to make any satisfactory arrangements +for supplying the burghers with food while on the +journey to the front and afterward, and consequently +there was much suffering from lack of +provisions and supplies. At this juncture the +women came to the rescue, and in a trice they + +<span class="pagenum" id="page278">[278]</span> + +had remedied the great defect. Every farmhouse +and every city residence became a bakery, and for +almost two months all the bread consumed by the +burgher army was prepared by the Boer women. +Organisations were formed for this purpose in +every city and town in the country, and by means +of a well-planned division of labour this improvised +commissariat department was as effective as that +which was afterward organised by the Government. +Certain women baked the bread, prepared sandwiches, +and boiled coffee; others procured the +supplies, and others distributed the food at the +various railway stations through which the commando-trains +passed, or carried it directly to the +laagers. One of the women who was tireless in +her efforts to feed the burghers and make them +comfortable as they passed through Pretoria on +the railway was Mrs. F.W. Reitz, the wife of the +Transvaal State Secretary, and never a commando-train +passed through the capital that she was not +there to distribute sandwiches, coffee, and milk. +</p> + +<p> +When the first battles of the campaign had +been fought and the wounded were being brought +from the front the women again volunteered to +relieve an embarrassed Government, and no nobler, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page279">[279]</span> + +more energetic efforts to relieve suffering were ever +made than those of the patriotic daughters of the +Transvaal and Orange Free State. Women from +the farms assisted in the hospitals; wives who +directed the herding of cattle during the absence +of their husbands went to the towns and to the +laager hospitals; young school girls deserted their +books and assisted in giving relief to the burghers +who were bullet-maimed or in the delirium of +fever. No station in life was unrepresented in +the humanitarian work. Two daughters of the +former President of the Transvaal, the Rev. +Thomas François Burgers, were nurses in the +Burke hospital in Pretoria, which was established +and maintained by a Boer burgher. Miss Martha +Meyer, a daughter of General Lucas Meyer, +devoted herself assiduously to the relief of the +wounded in the same hospitals, and in the +institution which Barney Barnato established in +Johannesburg there were scores of young women +nurses who cared for British and Boer wounded +with unprejudiced attention. In every laager at +the front were young Boer <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">vrouwen</span> who, under +the protection of the Red Cross, and indifferent, +to the creed, caste, or country of the wounded and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page280">[280]</span> + +dying, assuaged the suffering of those who were +entrusted to their care. In the hospital-trains +which carried the wounded from the battlefields +to the hospitals in Pretoria and Johannesburg +were Boer women who considered themselves +particularly fortunate in having been able to +secure posts where they could be of service, +while at the stations where the trains halted +were Boer women bearing baskets of fruit and +bottles of milk for the unfortunate burghers and +soldiers in the carriages. +</p> + +<p> +When the war began and all the large mines +on the Witwatersrand and all the big industries +and stores in Johannesburg and Pretoria were +obliged to cease operations, much distress prevailed +among the poorer classes of foreigners +who were left behind when the great exodus +was concluded, and after a few months their +poverty became most acute. Again the Boer +women shouldered the burden, and in a thousand +different ways relieved the suffering of those who +were the innocent victims of the war. Subscription +lists were opened and the wealthy Boers +contributed liberally to the fund for the distressed. +Depôts where the needy could secure food and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page281">[281]</span> + +clothing were established, while a soup-kitchen +where Mrs. Peter Maritz Botha, one of the +wealthiest women in the Republics, stood behind +a table and distributed food to starving men +and women, was a veritable blessing to hundreds +of needy foreigners. In Johannesburg, Boer +women searched through the poorest quarters +of the city for families in need of food or +medicine and never a needy individual was +neglected. Among the few thousand British +subjects who remained behind there were many +who were in dire straits, but Boer women +made no distinctions between friend and +enemy when there was an opportunity for +performing a charitable deed. Nor was their +charity limited to civilians and those who were +neutral in their sentiments with regard to the war. +When the British prisoners of war were confined +in the racecourse at Pretoria the Boer women sent +many a waggon-load of fruit, luxuries, and reading +matter to the soldiers who had been sent against +them to deprive them of that which they esteemed +most—the independence of their country. The +spirit which animated the women was never better +exemplified than by the action of a little Boer girl + +<span class="pagenum" id="page282">[282]</span> + +of about ten years who approached a British +prisoner on the platform of the station at Kroonstaad +and gave him a bottle of milk which she had +kept carefully concealed under her apron. The +soldier hardly had time to thank her for her gift +before she turned and ran away from him as +rapidly as she had the strength. It seemed as +if she loved him as a man in distress, but feared +him as a soldier, and hated him as the enemy of +her country. +</p> + +<p> +Besides assisting in the care of the wounded, the +baking of bread for the burghers, and giving aid +to the destitute, the women of the farms were +obliged to attend to the flocks and herds which +were left in their charge when the fathers, husbands, +and brothers went to the front to fight. +All the laborious duties of the farm were performed +by the women, and it was common to +witness a woman at work in the fields or driving +a long ox-waggon along the roads. When the +tide of war changed and the enemy drove the +burghers to the soil of the Republics the work +of the women became even more laborious and +diversified. The widely-separated farmhouses +then became typical lunch stations for the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page283">[283]</span> + +burghers, and the women willingly were the +proprietresses. Boers journeying from one commando +to another, or scouts and patrols on active +duty, stopped at the farmhouses for food for themselves +and their horses, and the women gladly +prepared the finest feasts their larder afforded. +No remuneration was ever accepted, and the +realisation that they were giving even indirect +assistance to their country’s cause was deemed +sufficient payment for any work performed. +Certain farmhouses which were situated near +frequently travelled roads became the well-known +rendezvous of the burghers, and thither all the +women in the neighbourhood wended their way +to assist in preparing meals for them. Midway +between Smaldeel and Brandfort was one of that +class of farmhouses, and never a meal-time passed +that Mrs. Barnard did not entertain from ten to +fifty burghers. Near Thaba N’Chu was the residence +of John Steyl, a member of the Free State +Raad, whose wife frequently had more than one +hundred burgher guests at one meal. When the +battle of Sannaspost was being fought a short +distance from her house, Mrs. Steyl was on one +of the hills overlooking the battlefield, interspersing + +<span class="pagenum" id="page284">[284]</span> + +the watching of the progress of the +battle with prayers for the success of the +burghers’ arms. As soon as she learned that +the Boers had won the field she hastened home +and prepared a sumptuous meal for her husband, +her thirteen-year-old son, and all the generals who +took part in the engagement. +</p> + +<p> +When the winter season approached and the +burghers called upon the Government for the +heavy clothing which they themselves could not +secure, there was another embarrassing situation, +for there was only a small quantity of ready-made +clothing in the country, and it was not an easy +matter to secure it through the blockaded port at +Delagoa Bay. There was an unlimited quantity +of cloth in the country, but, as all the tailors were +in the commandos at the front, the difficulty of +converting the material into suits and overcoats +seemed to be insurmountable until the women +found a way. Unmindful of the other vast duties +they were engaged in they volunteered to make the +clothing, and thenceforth every Boer home was a +tailor’s shop. President Kruger’s daughters and +grand-daughters, the Misses Eloff, who had been +foremost in many of the other charitable works, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page285">[285]</span> + +undertook the management of the project, and they +continued to preside over the labours of several +hundred women who worked in the High Court +Building in Pretoria until the British forces entered +the city. Thousands of suits of clothing and overcoats +were made and forwarded to the burghers in +the field to protect them against the rigors of the +South African winter’s nights. +</p> + +<p> +One of the most conspicuous parts played in the +war by the Boer women was that of urging their +husbands and sons to abbreviate their leaves-of-absence +and return to their commandos. The +mothers and wives of the burghers of the Republics +gave many glorious examples of their unselfishness +and deep love of country, but none was of more +material benefit than their efforts to preserve the +strength of the army in the field. When the +burghers returned to their homes on furloughs of +from five days to two weeks the wives urged their +immediate return, and, in many instances, insisted +that they should rejoin their commandos forthwith +upon pain of receiving no food if they remained at +home. It was one of the Boer’s absolute necessities +to have a furlough every two or three months, and +unless it was given to him by the officers he was + +<span class="pagenum" id="page286">[286]</span> + +more than likely to take it without the prescribed +permission. When burghers without such written +permits reached their homes they were not received +by their wives with the customary cordiality, and +the air of frigidity which encompassed them soon +compelled them to return to the field. The Boer +women despised a coward, or a man who seemed +to be shirking his duty to his country, and, not +unlike their sisters in countries of older civilisation, +they possessed the power of expressing their disapprobation +of such acts. It was not uncommon +for the women to threaten to take their husbands’ +post of duty if the men insisted upon remaining +at home, and invariably the ruse was efficient in +securing the burghers’ early return. +</p> + +<p> +During the war there were many instances to +prove that the Boer women of the end of the +century inherited the bravery and heroic fortitude +of their ancestors who fell victims to the Zulu +assegais in the Natal valley, in 1838. The Boer +women were as anxious to take an active part in +the campaign as their grandmothers were at +Weenen, and it was only in obedience to the rules +formulated by the officers that Amazon corps were +absent from the commandos. Instances were not + +<span class="pagenum" id="page287">[287]</span> + +rare of women trespassing these regulations, and +scores of Boer women can claim the distinction of +having taken part in many bloody battles. Not a +few yielded up their life’s blood on the altar of +liberty, and many will carry the scars of bullet-wounds +to the grave. +</p> + +<p> +In the early part of the campaign there was no +military rule which forbade women journeying to +the front, and in consequence the laagers enjoyed +the presence of many of the wives and daughters +of the burghers. Commandant-General Joubert +set an example to his men by having Mrs. Joubert +continually with him on his campaigning trips, +and the burghers were not slow in patterning after +him. While the greater part of the army lay +around besieged Ladysmith large numbers of +women were in the laagers, and they were continually +busying themselves with the preparation +of food for their relatives and with the care of the +sick and wounded. Not infrequently did the +women accompany their husbands to the trenches +along the Tugela front, and it was asserted, with +every evidence of veracity, that many of them +used the rifles against the enemy with even more +ardour and precision than the men. On February + +<span class="pagenum" id="page288">[288]</span> + +28th, while the fighting around Pieter’s Hills was +at its height, the British forces captured a Boer +woman of nineteen years who had been fatally +wounded. Before she died she stated that she had +been fighting from the same trench with her +husband, and that he had been killed only a +few minutes before a bullet struck her. +</p> + +<p> +While the Boer army was having its many early +successes in Natal few of the women partook in +the actual warfare from choice, or because they +believed that it was necessary for them to fight. +The majority of those who were in the engagements +happened to be with their husbands when +the battles were begun, and had no opportunity of +escaping. The burghers objected to the presence of +women within the firing lines, and every effort was +made to prevent them from being in dangerous +localities, but when it was impossible to transfer +them to places of safety during the heat of the +battle there was no alternative but to provide them +with rifles and bandoliers so that they might protect +themselves. The half-hundred women who +endured the horrors of the siege at Paardeberg +with Cronje’s small band of warriors chose to +remain with their husbands and brothers when + +Lord Roberts offered to convey them to places of +safety, but they were in no wise an impediment to +the burghers, for they assisted in digging trenches +and wielded the carbines as assiduously as the +most energetic men. +</p> + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="MRS. OTTO KRANTZ, A BOER AMAZON" id="FIG.21"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.21"><img src="images/image021.jpg" +title="MRS. OTTO KRANTZ, A BOER AMAZON" +alt="MRS. OTTO KRANTZ, A BOER AMAZON" +width="422" height="578" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>MRS. OTTO KRANTZ, A BOER AMAZON</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page289">[289]</span> + +<p> +One of the women who received the Government’s +sanction to join a commando was Mrs. +Otto Krantz, the wife of a professional hunter. +Mrs. Krantz accompanied her husband to Natal at +the commencement of hostilities, and remained in +the field during almost the entire campaign in that +colony. In the battle of Elandslaagte, where some +of the hardest hand-to-hand fighting of the war +occurred, this Amazon was by the side of her +husband in the thick of the engagement, but +escaped unscathed. Later she took part in the +battles along the Tugela, and when affairs in the +Free State appeared to be threatening she was one +of the first to go to the scene of action in that part +of the country. +</p> + +<p> +Among the prisoners captured by the British +forces at Colesburg were three Boer women who +wore men’s clothing, but it was not until after they +had been confined in the prison-ship at Cape Town +for several weeks that their sex was discovered. A + +<span class="pagenum" id="page290">[290]</span> + +real little Boertje was Helena Herbst Wagner, of +Zeerust, who spent five months in the laagers and +in the trenches without her identity being revealed. +Her husband went to the field early in the war and +left her alone with a baby. The infant died in +January and the disconsolate woman donned her +husband’s clothing, obtained a rifle and bandolier, +and went to the Natal front to search for her +soldier-spouse. Failing to find him, she joined the +forces of Commandant Ben Viljoen and faced +bullets, bombs, and lyddite at Spion Kop, Pont +Drift, and Pieter’s Hills. During the retreat to +Van Tonder’s Nek the young woman learned that +her husband lay seriously wounded in the Johannesburg +hospital, and she deserted the army temporarily +to nurse him. +</p> + +<p> +When Louis Botha became Commandant-General +of the army he issued an order that women would +not be permitted to visit the laagers, and few, if any, +took part in the engagements for some time thereafter. +When the forces of the enemy approached +Pretoria the women made heroic efforts to encourage +the burghers, and frequently went to the laagers to +cheer them to renewed resistance. Mrs. General +Botha and Mrs. General Meyer were specially + +<span class="pagenum" id="page291">[291]</span> + +energetic and effective in their efforts to instil new +courage in the men, and during the war there was +no scene which was more edifying than that of +those two patriotic Boer women riding about the +laagers and beseeching the burghers not to yield to +despair. +</p> + +<p> +On the fifteenth of May more than a thousand +women assembled in the Government Buildings at +Pretoria for the purpose of deciding upon a course +of action in the grave crisis which confronted the +Republic. It was the gravest assemblage that was +ever gathered together in that city—a veritable +concourse of Spartan mothers. There was little +speech, for the hearts of all were heavy, and tears +were more plentiful than words, but the result of +the meeting was the best testimonial of its value. +</p> + +<p> +It was determined to ask the Government to +send to the front all the men who were employed +in the Commissariat, the Red Cross, schools, post +and telegraph offices, and to fill the vacancies thus +created with women. A memorial, signed by Mrs. +H.S. Bosman, Mrs. General Louis Botha, Mrs. F. +Eloff, Mrs. P.M. Botha, and Mrs. F.W. Reitz, was +adopted for transmission to the Government asking +for permission to make such changes in the commissariat + +<span class="pagenum" id="page292">[292]</span> + +and other departments, and ending with +these two significant clauses:— +</p> + +<p> +1.—A message of encouragement will be sent to +our burghers who are at the front, beseeching them +to present a determined stand against the enemy +in the defence of our sacred cause, and pointing +out to those who are losing heart the terrible consequences +which will follow should they prove +weak and wanting in courage at the present crisis +in our affairs. +</p> + +<p> +2.—The women throughout the whole State +are requested to provide themselves with weapons, +in the first instance to be employed in self-defence, +and secondly so that they may be in a position to +place themselves entirely at the disposition of the +Government. +</p> + +<p> +The last request was rather superfluous in view +of the fact that the majority of the women in the +Transvaal were already provided with arms. +There was hardly a Boer homestead which was not +provided with enough rifles for all the members of +the family, and there were but few women who +were not adepts in the use of firearms. In Pretoria +a woman’s shooting club was organised at +the outset of the war, and among the best shots + +<span class="pagenum" id="page293">[293]</span> + +were the Misses Eloff, the President’s grand-daughters; +Mrs. Van Alphen, the wife of the +Postmaster-General, and Mrs. Reitz, the wife of +the State Secretary. The object of the organisation +was to train the members in the use of the +rifle so that they might defend the city against the +enemy. The club members took great pride in +the fact that Mrs. Paul Kruger was the President +of the organisation, and it was mutually agreed +that the aged woman should be constantly guarded +by them in the event of Pretoria being besieged. +Happily the city was not obliged to experience +that horror, and the club members were spared the +ordeal of protecting President and Mrs. Kruger +with their rifles as they had vowed to do. +</p> + +<p> +The Boer women endured many discomforts, +suffered many griefs, and bore many heartaches on +account of the war and its varying fortunes, but +throughout it all they acted bravely. There were +no wild outbursts of grief when fathers, husbands, +brothers or sons were killed in battle, and no untoward +exclamations of joy when one of them +earned distinction in the field. Reverses of the +army were made the occasions for a renewed display +of patriotism or the signal for the sending of + +<span class="pagenum" id="page294">[294]</span> + +another relative to the field. Unselfishness marked +all the works of the woman of the city or veld, and +the welfare of the country was her only ambition. +She might have had erroneous opinions concerning +the justice of the war and the causes which +were responsible for it, but she realised that the +land for which her mother and her grandmother +had wept and bled and for which all those whom +she loved were fighting and dying was in distress, +and she was patriotic enough to offer herself for a +sacrifice on her country’s altar. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="MRS. COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA" id="FIG.22"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.22"><img src="images/image022.jpg" +title="MRS. COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA" +alt="MRS. COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA" +width="419" height="565" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>MRS. COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +</div> + + +<div class="chapter"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page295">[295]</span> + +<h2 class="num" id="chapter11">CHAPTER XI</h2> +<h2> +INCIDENTS OF THE WAR +</h2> + +<p> +In every battle, and even in a day’s life in the +laagers, there were multitudes of interesting +incidents as only such a war produces, and +although Sherman’s saying that “War is hell” is +as true now as it ever was, there was always a +plenitude of amusing spectacles and events to +lighten the burdens of the fighting burghers. +There were the sad sides of warfare, as naturally +there would be, but to these the men in the armies +soon became hardened, and only the amusing +scenes made any lasting impression upon their +minds. It was strange that when a burgher during +a battle saw one of his fellow-burghers killed in a +horrible manner, and witnessed an amusing runaway, +that after the battle he should relate the +details of the latter and say nothing of the former, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page296">[296]</span> + +but such was usually the case. Men came out of +the bloody Spion Kop fight and related amusing +incidents of the struggle, and never touched upon +the grave phases until long afterward when their +fund of laughable experiences was exhausted. +After the battle of Sannaspost the burghers would +tell of nothing but the amusing manner in which +the drivers of the British transport waggons acted +when they found that they had fallen into the +hands of the Boers in the bed of the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">spruit</span> and +the fun they had in pursuing the fleeing cavalrymen. +At the ending of almost every battle there +was some conspicuous amusing incident which was +told and retold and laughed about until a new and +fresh incident came to light to take its place. +</p> + +<p> +In one of the days’ fighting at Magersfontein a +number of youthful Boers, who were in their first +battle, allowed about one hundred Highlanders to +approach to within a hundred yards of the trench +in which they were concealed, and then sprang up +and shouted: “Hands up!” The Highlanders +were completely surprised, promptly threw down +their arms, and advanced with arms above their +heads. One of the young Boers approached them, +then called his friends, and, scratching his head, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page297">[297]</span> + +asked: “What shall we do with them?” There +was a brief consultation, and it was decided to +allow the Highlanders to return to their column. +When the young burghers arrived at the Boer +laager with the captured rifles and bandoliers, +General Cronje asked them why they did not +bring the men. The youths looked at each other +for a while; then one replied, rather sheepishly, +“We did not know they were wanted.” In the +same battle an old Boer had his first view of the +quaintly dressed Highlanders, and at a distance +mistook them for a herd of ostriches from a farm +that was known to be in the neighbourhood, +refused to fire upon them, and persuaded all the +burghers in his and the neighbouring trenches that +they were ostriches and not human beings. +</p> + +<p> +During the second battle at Colenso a large +number of Boers swam across the river and captured +thirty or forty British soldiers who had lost +the way and had taken refuge in a sluit. An old +<span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span> among the Boers had discarded almost all +his clothing before entering the river, and was an +amusing spectacle in shirt, bandolier, and rifle. +One of the soldiers went up to the <span class="af" lang="af" xml:lang="af">takhaar</span>, looked +at him from head to foot, and, after saluting most + +<span class="pagenum" id="page298">[298]</span> + +servilely, inquired, “To what regiment do you +belong, sir?” The Boer returned the salute, and, +without smiling, replied, “I am one of Rhodes’ +‘uncivilised Boers,’ sir.” In the same fight an +ammunition waggon, heavily laden, and covered +with a huge piece of duck, was in an exposed +position, and attracted the fire of the British +artillery. General Meyer and a number of +burghers were near the waggon, and were waiting +for a lull in the bombardment in order to take the +vehicle to a place of safety. They counted thirty-five +shells that fell around the waggon without +striking it, and then the firing ceased. Several +men were sent forward to move the vehicle, and +when they were within several yards of it two +Kafirs crept from under the duck covering, shook +themselves, and walked away as if nothing had +interrupted their sleep. +</p> + +<p> +In the Pretoria commando there was a young +professional photographer named Reginald Shepperd +who carried his camera and apparatus with +him during the greater part of the campaign, and +took photographs whenever he had an opportunity. +On the morning of the Spion Kop fight, when the +burghers were preparing to make the attack on + +<span class="pagenum" id="page299">[299]</span> + +the enemy, Mr. Shepperd gathered all the burghers +of the Carolina laager and posed them for a +photograph. He was on the point of exposing the +plate when a shrapnel shell exploded above the +group, and every one fled. The camera was left +behind and all the men went into the battle. In +the afternoon when the engagement had ended it +was found that another shell had torn off one of +the legs of the camera’s tripod and that forty-three +of the men who were in the group in the morning +had been killed or wounded. Before the same +battle, General Schalk Burger asked Mr. Shepperd +to photograph him, as he had had a premonition of +death, and stated that he desired that his family +should have a good likeness of him. The General +was in the heat of the fight, but he was not killed. +</p> + +<p> +While Ladysmith was being besieged by the +Boers there were many interesting incidents in the +laagers of the burghers, even if there was little of +exciting interest. In the Staats Artillery there +were many young Boers who were constantly +inventing new forms of amusement for themselves +and the older burghers, and some of the games +were as hazardous as they seemed to be interesting +to the participants. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page300">[300]</span> + + +<p> +The “Long Tom” on Bulwana Hill was fired +only when the burghers were in the mood, but +occasionally the artillery youths desired to amuse +themselves, and then they operated the gun as +rapidly as its mechanism would allow. When the +big gun had been discharged, the young Boers +were wont to climb on the top of the sandbags +behind which it was concealed, and watch for the +explosion of the shell in Ladysmith. After each +shot from the Boer gun it was customary for the +British to reply with one or more of their cannon +and attempt to dislodge “Long Tom.” After seeing +the flash of the British guns the burghers on the +sandbags waited until they heard the report of the +explosion, then called out, “I spy!” as a warning +that the shell would be coming along in two or +three seconds, and quietly jumped down behind the +bags, while the missile passed over their retreats. +It was a dangerous game, and the old burghers +frequently warned them against playing it, but they +continued it daily, and no one was ever injured. +The men who operated the British and Boer heliographs +at the Tugela were a witty lot, and they +frequently held long conversations with each other +when there were no messages to be sent or received + +<span class="pagenum" id="page301">[301]</span> + +by their respective officers. In February the Boer +operator signalled to the British operator on the +other side of the river and asked: “When is +General Buller coming over here for that Christmas +dinner? It is becoming cold and tasteless.” The +good-natured Briton evaded the question and +questioned him concerning the date of Paul +Kruger’s coronation as King of South Africa. The +long-distance conversation continued in the same +vein, each operator trying to have amusement at +the expense of the other. What probably was the +most mirth-provoking communication between the +two combatants in the early part of the campaign +was the letter which Colonel Baden-Powell sent to +General Snyman, late in December, and the reply +to it. Colonel Baden-Powell, in his letter, which +was several thousand words in length, told his +besieger that it was utter folly for the Boers to +continue fighting such a great power as Great +Britain, that the British army was invincible, that +the Boers were fighting for an unjust cause, and +that the British had the sympathy of the American +nation. General Snyman made a brief reply, the +gist of which was, “Come out and fight.” +</p> + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="GENERAL SNYMAN" id="FIG.23"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.23"><img src="images/image023.jpg" +title="GENERAL SNYMAN" +alt="GENERAL SNYMAN" +width="420" height="545" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution"><p>GENERAL SNYMAN</p></td></tr> +</table> +</div> + + +<p> +A British nobleman, who was captured by the + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page302">[302]</span> + +Boers at the Moester’s Hoek fight in the Free State +in April, was the author of a large number of communications +which were almost as mirthful as +Colonel Baden-Powell’s effort. When he was made +a prisoner of war the Earl had a diary filled with +the most harrowing personal experiences ever +penned, and it was chiefly on that evidence that +General De Wet sent him with the other prisoners +to Pretoria. The Earl protested against being sent +to Pretoria, asserting that he was a war correspondent +and a non-combatant, and dispatched +most pitiful telegrams to Presidents Kruger and +Steyn, State Secretary Reitz and a host of other +officials, demanding an instant release from custody. +In the telegrams he stated that he was a peer of +the realm; that all doubts on that point could be +dispelled by a reference to Burke’s Peerage; that +he was not a fighting-man; that it would be +disastrous to his reputation as a correspondent if +he were not released in order that he might cable +an exclusive account of the Moester’s Hoek battle +to his newspaper, and finally ended by demanding +his instant release and safe conduct to the British +lines. The Boers installed the Earl in the officers’ +prison, and printed his telegrams in the newspapers, + +<span class="pagenum" id="page303">[303]</span> + +with the result that the Briton was the +most laughed-at man that appeared in the Boer +countries during the whole course of the war. +</p> + +<p> +Several days before Commandant-General +Joubert died he related an amusing story of an +Irishman who was taken prisoner in one of the +Natal battles. The Irishman was slightly wounded +in one of his hands and it was decided to send +him to the British lines together with all the other +wounded prisoners, but he refused to be sent back. +After he had protested strenuously to several +other Boer officers, the soldier was taken before +General Joubert, who pointed out to him the +advantages of being with his own people and the +discomforts of a military prison. The Irishman +would not waver in his determination and finally +exclaimed: “I claim my rights as a prisoner of +war and refuse to allow myself to be sent back. I +have a wife and two children in Ireland, and I +know what is good for my health.” The man was +so obdurate, General Joubert said, that he could +do nothing but send him to the Pretoria military +prison. An incident of an almost similar nature +occurred at the battle of Sannaspost, where the +Boers captured almost two hundred waggons. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page304">[304]</span> + + +<p> +Among the convoy was a Red Cross ambulance +waggon filled with rifles and a small quantity of +ammunition. The Boers unloaded the waggon +and then informed the physician in charge of it +that he might proceed and rejoin the column to +which he had been attached. The physician +declined to move and explained his action by +saying that he had violated the rules of the International +Red Cross and would therefore consider +himself and his assistants prisoners of war. +General Christian De Wet would not accept them +as prisoners and trekked southward, leaving them +behind to rejoin the British column several days +afterward. +</p> + + + +<div class="ctr"> +<table class="figure" summary="FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR DUNDEE" id="FIG.24"> +<tr> +<td> +<a href="#TOC.FIG.24"><img src="images/image024.jpg" +title="FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR DUNDEE" +alt="FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR DUNDEE" +width="674" height="473" /></a> +</td> +</tr> +<tr><td class="figure-attribution">FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR DUNDEE</td></tr> +</table> +</div> + +<p> +During the war it was continually charged by +both combatants that dum-dum bullets were being +used, and undoubtedly there was ample foundation +for the charges. Both Boers and British used that +particular kind of expansive bullet notwithstanding +all the denials that were made in newspapers and +orations. After the battle of Pieter’s Hills, on +February 28th, Dr. Krieger, General Meyer’s Staff +Physician, went into General Sir Charles Warren’s +camp for the purpose of exchanging wounded +prisoners. After the interchange of prisoners had + +<span class="pagenum" id="page305">[305]</span> + +been accomplished General Warren produced a +dum-dum bullet which had been found on a dead +Boer’s body and, showing it to Dr. Krieger, asked +him why the Boers used the variety of cartridge +that was not sanctioned by the rules of civilised +warfare. Dr. Krieger took the cartridge in his +hand and, after examining it, returned it to Sir +Charles with the remark that it was a British Lee-Metford +dum-dum. General Warren seemed to +be greatly nonplussed when several of his officers +confirmed the physician’s statement and informed +him that a large stock of dum-dum cartridges had +been captured by the Boers at Dundee. It is an +undeniable fact that the Boers captured thousands +of rounds of dum-dum cartridges which bore the +“broad arrow” of the British army, and used them +in subsequent battles. It was stated in Pretoria +that the Boers had a small stock of dum-dum +ammunition, which was not sent to the burghers +at the front at the request of President Kruger, +who strongly opposed the use of an expansive +bullet in warfare. It was an easy matter, however, +for the Boers to convert their ordinary Mauser +cartridges into dum-dum by simply cutting off the +point of the bullet, and this was occasionally done. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page306">[306]</span> + + +<p> +One of the pluckiest men in the Boer army was +Arthur Donnelly, a young Irish American from +San Francisco, who served in the Pretoria detective +force for several years, and went to the war +in one of the commandos under General Cronje. +At the battle of Koodoesberg Donnelly and Captain +Higgins, of the Duke of Cornwall’s regiment, both +lay behind ant-heaps, several hundred yards apart, +and engaged in a duel with carbines for almost an +hour. After Donnelly had fired seventeen shots +Captain Higgins was fatally wounded by a bullet, +and lifted his handkerchief in token of surrender. +When the young Irish-American reached him the +officer was bleeding profusely, and started to say: +“You were a better man than I,” but he died in +Donnelly’s arms before he could utter the last two +words of the sentence. At Magersfontein Donnelly +was in a perilous position between the two forces, +and realised that he could not escape being +captured by the British. He saw a number of +cavalrymen sweeping down upon him, and started +to run in an opposite direction. Before he had +proceeded a long distance he stumbled across the +corpse of a Red Cross physician which lay partly +concealed under tall grass. In a moment Donnelly + +<span class="pagenum" id="page307">[307]</span> + +had exchanged his own papers and credentials for +those in the physician’s pockets, and a minute +later the cavalrymen were upon him. He was +sent to Cape Town, and confined in the prison-ship +<i>Manila</i>, from which he and two other Boers +attempted to escape on New Year’s night. One +of the men managed to reach the water without +being observed by the guards, and swam almost +three miles to shore, but Donnelly and the other +prisoner did not succeed in their project. Several +days later he was released on account of his Red +Cross credentials, and was sent to the British +front to be delivered to the Boer commander. +He was taken out under a flag of truce by several +unarmed British officers, and several armed Boers +went to receive him. While the transfer was +being made a British horseman, with an order to +the officers to hold the prisoner, dashed up to the +group and delivered his message. The officers +attempted to take Donnelly back to camp with +them, but he refused to go, and, taking one of the +Boer’s rifles, ordered them to return without him—a +command which they obeyed with alacrity in +view of the fact that all of them were unarmed, +while the Boers had carbines. +</p> + + +<span class="pagenum" id="page308">[308]</span> + + +<p> +When the British column under Colonel +Broadwood left the village of Thaba N’Chu on +March 30th all the British inhabitants were invited +to accompany the force to Bloemfontein, where +they might have the protection of a stronger part +of the army. Among those who accepted the +invitation were four ladies and four children, +ranging in ages from sixteen months to fifteen +years. When the column was attacked by the +Boers at Sannaspost the following morning, the +ladies and children were sent by the Boers to +a culvert in the incomplete railway line which +crossed the battlefield, and remained there during +almost the entire battle. They were in perfect +safety, so far as being actually in the line of fire +was concerned, but bullets and shells swept over +and exploded near them, and they were in constant +terror of being killed. The nervous tension was so +great and continued for such a long time that one +of the children, a twelve-year-old daughter of Mrs. +J. Shaw McKinlay, became insane shortly after +the battle was ended. +</p> + +<p> +An incident of the same fight was a duel +between two captains of the opposing forces. In +the early parts of the engagement the burghers + +<span class="pagenum" id="page309">[309]</span> + +and the soldiers were so close together that many +hand-to-hand encounters took place and many a +casualty followed. Captain Scheppers, of the Boer +heliographers, desired to make a prisoner of a +British captain and asked him to surrender. The +British officer said that he would not be captured +alive, drew his sword, and attempted to use it. +The Boer grasped the blade, wrenched the sword +from the officer’s hand, and knocked him off his +horse. The Briton fired several revolver shots at +Scheppers while the Boer was running a short +distance for his carbine, but missed him. After +Scheppers had secured his rifle the two fired five +or six shots at each other at a range of about ten +yards and, with equal lack of skill, missed. Finally, +Scheppers hit the officer in the chest and laid him +low. At the same time near the same spot two +Boers called upon a recruit in Roberts’s Horse to +surrender, but the young soldier was so thoroughly +frightened that he held his rifle perpendicularly in +front of him and emptied the magazine toward the +clouds. +</p> + +<p> +While the siege of Ladysmith was in progress, +Piet Boueer, of the Pretoria commando, made a +remarkable shot which was considered as the record + +<span class="pagenum" id="page310">[310]</span> + +during the Natal campaign. He and several +other Boers were standing on one of the hills near +the laager when they observed three British soldiers +emerging from one of the small forts on the +outskirts of the city. The distance was about +1,400 yards, or almost one mile, but Boueer fired +at the men, and the one who was walking between +the others fell. The two fled to the fort, but +returned to the spot a short time afterward, and +the Boer fired at them a second time. The bullet +raised a small cloud of dust between the men, +sent them back again, and they did not return +until night for their companion, who had undoubtedly +been killed by the first shot. There +were many other excellent marksmen in the Boer +army, whose ability was often demonstrated in +the interims of battles. After 1897, shooting +clubs were organised at Pretoria, Potchefstroom, +Krugersdorp, Klerksdorp, Johannesburg and +Heidelberg, and frequent contests were held +between the various organisations. In the last +contest before the war E. Blignaut, of Johannesburg, +won the prize by making one hundred and +three out of a possible one hundred and five +points, the weapon having been a Mauser at a + +<span class="pagenum" id="page311">[311]</span> + +range of seven hundred yards. These contests, +naturally, developed many fine marksmen, and, in +consequence, it was not considered an extraordinary +feat for a man to kill a running hare +at five hundred yards. While the Boers were +waiting for Lord Roberts’s advance from Bloemfontein, +Commandant Blignaut, of the Transvaal, +killed three running springbok at a range of more +than 1,700 yards, a feat witnessed by a score of +persons. +</p> + +<p> +The Boers were not without their periods of +depression during the war, but when these had +passed there was no one who laughed more +heartily over their actions during those times +than they. The first deep gloom that the Boers +experienced was after the three great defeats at +Paardeberg, Kimberley and Ladysmith, and the +minor reverses at Abraham’s Kraal, Poplar Grove +and Bloemfontein. It was amusing, yet pitiful, +to see an army lose all control of itself and flee +like a wild animal before a forest fire. As soon +as the fight at Poplar Grove was lost the burghers +mounted their horses and fled northward. President +Kruger and the officers could do nothing but follow +them. They passed through Bloemfontein and + +<span class="pagenum" id="page312">[312]</span> + +excited the population there; then, evading roads +and despising railway transportation, they rode +straight across the veld and never drew rein until +they reached Brandfort, more than thirty miles +from Poplar Grove. Hundreds did not stop even +at Brandfort, but continued over the veld until +they reached their homes in the north of the Free +State and in the Transvaal. In their alarm they +destroyed all the railway bridges and tracks as +far north as Smaldeel, sixty miles from Bloemfontein, +and made their base at Kroonstad, almost +forty miles farther north. A week later a small +number of the more daring burghers sallied toward +Bloemfontein and found that not a single British +soldier was north of that city. So fearful were +they of the British army before the discovery of +their foolish flight that two thousand cavalrymen +could have sent them all across the Vaal river. +</p> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class="appendix"> + +<span class="pagenum" id="page313">[313]</span> + + + +<h2 class="num" id="APPENDIX">APPENDIX</h2> +<h2> +THE STRENGTH OF THE BOER ARMY +</h2> + +<p> +The War Departments of the two Boer Governments +never made any provision for obtaining +statistics concerning the strength of the armies in +the field, and consequently the exact number of +burghers who bore arms at different periods of the +war will never be accurately known. A year +before the war was begun the official reports of the +two Governments stated that the Transvaal had +thirty thousand and the Free State ten thousand +men between the ages of sixteen and sixty, capable +of performing military duties, but these figures +proved to be far in excess of the number of men +who were actually bearing arms at any one period +of the war. In the early stages of the war men +who claimed to have intimate knowledge of Boer + +<span class="pagenum" id="page314">[314]</span> + +affairs estimated the strength of the Republican +armies variously from sixty thousand to more than +one hundred thousand men. Major Laing, who +had years of South African military experience, +and became a member of Field-Marshal Lord +Roberts’s bodyguard, in December estimated the +strength of the Boer forces at more than one +hundred thousand men, exclusive of the foreigners +who joined the fortunes of the Republican armies. +Other men proved, with wondrous arrays of +figures and statistics, that the Boer army could +not possibly consist of less than eighty or ninety +thousand men. +</p> + +<p> +The real strength of the Boer armies at no time +exceeded thirty thousand armed men, and of that +number more than one-half were never in the mood +for fighting. If it could be ascertained with any +degree of accuracy it would be found that not +more than fifteen thousand Boers were ever +engaged in battles, while the other half of the +army remained behind in the laagers and allowed +those who were moved by the spirit or by patriotism +to volunteer for waging battles. As has been +pointed out in other chapters, the officers had no +power over their men, and consequently the armies + +<span class="pagenum" id="page315">[315]</span> + +were divided into two classes of burghers: those +who volunteered their services whenever there was +a battle, and those who remained in the laagers—the +“Bible-readers,” as they were called by some +of the more youthful Boers. There were undoubtedly +more than thirty thousand men in +the Republics capable of bearing arms, but it +was never possible to compel all of them to go to +the front, nor was it less difficult to retain them +there when once they had reached the commando-laagers. +Ten per cent. of the men in the commandos +were allowed to return to their homes on leave +of absence, and about an equal proportion +left the laagers without permission, so that the +officers were never able to keep their forces at +their normal strength. +</p> + +<p> +The War Departments at Pretoria and Bloemfontein +and the officers of the commandos at the +front had no means of learning the exact strength +of the forces in the field except by making an +actual enumeration of the men in the various +commandos, and this was never attempted. There +were no official lists in either of the capitals and +none of the commandos had even a roll-call, so +that to obtain a really accurate number of burghers + +<span class="pagenum" id="page316">[316]</span> + +in the field it was necessary to visit all the +commandos and in that way arrive at a conclusion. +</p> + +<p> +Early in December the Transvaal War Department +determined to make a Christmas gift to all +the burghers of the two Republics who were in the +field, and all the generals and commandants were +requested to send accurate lists of the number of +men in their commands. Replies were received +from every commando, and the result showed that +there were almost twenty-eight thousand men +in the field. That number of presents was +forwarded, and on Christmas day every burgher +at the front received one gift, but there were +almost two thousand packages undistributed. +This was almost conclusive proof that the Boer +armies in December did not exceed twenty-six +thousand men. +</p> + +<p> +At various times during the campaign the +foreign newspaper correspondents—Mr. Douglas +Story, of the London <i>Daily Mail</i>; Mr. John O. +Knight, of the <i>San Francisco Call</i>; Mr. Thomas +F. Millard, of the <i>New York Herald</i>, and the +writer—made strenuous efforts to secure accurate +information concerning the Boers’ strength, and +the results invariably showed that there were less + +<span class="pagenum" id="page317">[317]</span> + +than thirty thousand men in the field. The +correspondents visited all the principal commandos +and had the admirable assistance of the generals +and commandants, as well as that of the officers of +the War Departments, but frequently the results +did not rise above the twenty-five thousand mark. +According to the statement of the late Commandant-General +Joubert, made several days +before his death, he never had more than thirteen +thousand men in Natal, and of that number less +than two thousand were engaged in the trek to +Mooi River. After the relief of Ladysmith the +forces in Natal dwindled down, by reason of +desertions and withdrawals, to less than five +thousand, and when General Buller began his +advance there were not more than four thousand +five hundred Boers in that Colony to oppose him. +</p> + +<p> +The strength of the army in the field varied +considerably, on account of causes which are +described elsewhere, and there is no doubt that +it frequently fell below twenty thousand men +while the Boers were still on their enemy’s +territory. The following table, prepared with +great care and with the assistance of the leading +Boer commanders, gives as correct an idea of the + +<span class="pagenum" id="page318">[318]</span> + +burghers’ numerical strength actually in the field +at various stages of the campaign as will probably +ever be formulated:— +</p> + +<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Strength of the Boer army" class="free-borders"> +<tr> + <th>Date.</th> + <th class="lborder">Natal.</th> + <th class="lborder">Free State <br />and Border.</th> + <th class="lborder">Transvaal <br />and Border.</th> + <th class="lborder">Total.</th> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>November 1, 1899</td> + <td class="number">12,000</td> + <td class="number">12,000</td> + <td class="number">5,000</td> + <td class="number">29,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>December 1, 1899</td> + <td class="number">13,000</td> + <td class="number">12,000</td> + <td class="number">5,000</td> + <td class="number">30,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>January 1, 1900</td> + <td class="number">13,000</td> + <td class="number">12,000</td> + <td class="number">3,000</td> + <td class="number">28,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>February 1, 1900</td> + <td class="number">12,000</td> + <td class="number">10,000</td> + <td class="number">3,000</td> + <td class="number">25,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>March 1, 1900</td> + <td class="number">8,000</td> + <td class="number">8,000</td> + <td class="number">7,000</td> + <td class="number">23,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>April 1, 1900</td> + <td class="number">5,000</td> + <td class="number">10,000</td> + <td class="number">10,000</td> + <td class="number">25,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>May 1, 1900</td> + <td class="number">4,500</td> + <td class="number">9,000</td> + <td class="number">9,000</td> + <td class="number">22,500</td> +</tr> +<tr> + <td>June 1, 1900</td> + <td class="number"> </td> + <td class="number">4,500</td> + <td class="number">16,000</td> + <td class="number">20,500</td> + +</tr> +<tr> + <td>July 1, 1900</td> + <td class="number"> </td> + <td class="number">4,000</td> + <td class="number">15,000</td> + <td class="number">19,000</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> +According to this table, the average strength +of the Boer forces during the nine months was +considerably less than 25,000 men. In refutation +of these figures it may be found after the conclusion +of hostilities that a far greater number +of men surrendered their guns to the British +army, but it must be remembered that not every +Boer who owned a weapon was continually in +the field. +</p> + +</div> + +<div class="back"> + +<p class="oldenglish">The Gresham Press,</p> + +<p> +UNWIN BROTHERS, +</p> +<p> +WOKING AND LONDON. +</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's With the Boer Forces, by Howard C. 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