Mafeking: A Diary of a Siege Part 2

Apropos of sh.e.l.ls, I presume in the course of his life Colonel Baden-Powell has had many curious communications, but certainly none more curious than this one. The other morning a Kaffir picked up an unexploded five-pound sh.e.l.l; when the fuse was unscrewed, instead of a charge the following missive was found:--

"Mr. Baden-Powell,

Pleas excuse me for sending this iron messenger i have no other to send at Present. He is rather exentric but vorgive him if he does not behave well i wish to ask you not to let your men drink all the whisky as i wish to have a drink when we all come to see you. cindly tell Mrs.

Dunkley that her mother and vamily are all quite well.

I remaijn, Yours trewly, a Republican."

I am afraid the ingenious gentleman in question will have to wait a while for his whisky.

8th. Quiet all the morning; but this afternoon sh.e.l.l fire began, killing one man, Protectorate Regiment, and wounding two. Creaky only fired one round, our snipers keeping her quiet; but sniping all round made things pretty lively.

9th. Pretty quiet; not much sh.e.l.l fire in the morning, but began in the evening, and pretty smart sniping continued all day. I must now endeavour to describe the hospital arrangements, and the n.o.ble work done by the ladies of Mafeking. The hospital arrangements for the defence of the town were made under the supervision of Dr. Haves, Major Anderson, R.A.M.C., and Surgeon Holmden a.s.sisting him; Major Anderson being attached to the Protectorate Regiment, which might have been moved at any time. In addition to being under a hot fire the whole of the first fight, he accompanied the ambulance to Cannon Kopje, during the fight there. Bullets whistled round the Red Cross the whole way there and round the stretchers (which he a.s.sisted to carry) on their return to the shelter of the railway embankment. There may have been some excuse for firing on the Red Cross during the first fight, on the second occasion there can have been none; probably the Boers considered that we adopted the same practice as themselves and brought up our ammunition in ambulances. Whether this is a valid excuse or not, I will leave my readers to decide. The Red Cross flag, at the commencement of the siege floated over the railway embankment, the first dressing station, the refugee camp dressing station, the women's laager, Messrs. Weil's (who had placed their house at the disposal of the authorities for the use of the wounded), the convent, which is fitted up as a hospital, and the Victoria Hospital. General Cronje stated, and with some show of reason, that he could only recognize one hospital, and the women's laager.

However, prior to this, he had sent many sh.e.l.ls through the convent, possibly from its being a two-storied building and naturally a conspicuous mark. Consequently Victoria Hospital, always the main hospital, became the only one used throughout the operations. Dr. Haves was the P.M.O., Miss Hill the matron; and here, on behalf of the garrison of Mafeking, I must endeavour to convey our feelings of deep grat.i.tude and admiration for the work done by this lady, the nurses, and their a.s.sistants (the ladies of Mafeking) during the siege. I can testify personally to their devoted care and attention to patients, and Britain may well be proud of them. One ninety-four pounder went through the hospital, wrecking a ward and killing a little native boy. Sh.e.l.ls fell all round it, and bullets were continually hitting it, one, indeed, wounded an already wounded man, but these ladies continued their work undisturbed, a.s.sisted to the utmost by the sisters from the adjacent convent, situated some fifty yards away. These poor ladies having had to abandon their home (which was literally wrecked, and will have to be entirely rebuilt), had to take refuge in a dug-out by the hospital. The hospital arrangements and the attention of Dr. Haves, Major Anderson, and Surgeon Holmden (who was himself sick in the hospital), were beyond all praise. Fortunately the accommodation was adequate, an additional building being erected for Kaffirs. But these for the most part preferred being treated and returning to their own abode. They appear nearly insensible to pain.

To give a few instances, one native was shot with a Martini bullet through the lung; he roared with laughter when it was extracted, and will not part with it for anything, and is now all right. A Zulu wounded in the toe, on seeing a man's temperature being taken, when given the thermometer, placed it between his toes, and on being told to put it in his mouth, said he was not hurt in the mouth, but in the foot.

Another native was shot through the head with a Mauser and lived; so, indeed, did a railway volunteer, Nelson; the bullet went clean through his head, and he is well and out of hospital. But the natives, though suffering from horrible injuries, seem to regard them lightly. Most of the native wounded are by sh.e.l.ls; they are very careless, but I fancy the numerous casualties are making them more cautious. The unfortunate man killed yesterday was a man named Footman, of the Protectorate Regiment, who was in a room singing a song, "Poor old Joe has gone to rest," to the accompaniment of a banjo, when the sh.e.l.l burst on him, and literally blew him to pieces--two more men were slightly injured, and a chaff-cutter knocked to pieces; but the remainder were providentially untouched. The worst of sniping is that it consumes such a lot of the ammunition which we may eventually require, though it certainly has a quietening effect upon the enemy's artillery; but I cannot believe the Boers will abandon this place without one more serious attack, when they hear of the advance of our troops, and the remnants of other commandoes join them. They must have one tangible proof of success. So far, beyond doubt, the prolonged defence of Mafeking has resulted in the natives either keeping quiet or rising on our side, whereas had the Boers been successful in these parts, the natives must have perforce sided with them, as their emissaries had strained every nerve to induce them to do, prior to the war. I sincerely trust that the penalties of treason will be rigidly enforced, and that if not death, at least outlawry and confiscation will be inflicted on the Colonial Dutch who have risen, for no man has a right to a vote who has deliberately risen in British territory and fought against Her Majesty. The Transvaal is another matter, though they have raided our territory, burnt farms, and looted cattle and annexed British Bechua.n.a.land--that is a matter for settlement by the Government and not for individuals to suffer. If the Boers are well thrashed, and they have fought well, the two nationalities will soon settle down together. But a Dutchman, or at least the lower cla.s.ses (which correspond, after all, to poor whites of America with this difference, that they have a lot of black blood in them), cannot understand anything but a good licking. Disarm them rigorously, and give them a just government and they will soon peacefully acquiesce therein. But pack the Hollander-c.u.m-German official back to his own country. South Africa is no place for them. Let them try the South American Republics; with their venal habits, they will be thoroughly at home.

A more heterogeneous garrison has seldom been collected. A mounted corps (the Protectorate Regiment), two detachments of mounted Cape Police, the B.S.A.P., also mounted, the Bechua.n.a.land Rifles, the Railway D.W., and the Town Guard, all employed in trenches, and the horses only used for orderly work. The Town Guard is composed of every white man or householder, Indian or otherwise, capable of bearing arms, unless enrolled under the Red Cross. They are formed into companies in their own districts, and under their own commanders, Colonel Vyvyan being commander of the whole, and range from boys of sixteen to men of seventy. The younger boys are employed as messengers. The Town Guard have been subjected to severe tests, sleeping and living in trenches, and enduring the hardships of war for two months, without a chance of returning the enemy's fire. A few individuals who are good shots are permitted to go out sniping, but the majority have to keep their fire for short ranges, in case of an a.s.sault. They have done their duty well, and been under fire continually. All sorts and conditions of men are there, and a more mixed body it would be impossible to conceive. In any case, they have stood the test well, and surprised myself and indeed everybody by their efficiency. Of the police of both corps, it is impossible to say too much--they are as fine a body of men as you could wish to see, and the work they have done speaks for itself. The B.S.A.P. have had the more opportunities as a body, but wherever the Cape Police have had a chance they have done every bit as well. The Protectorate Regiment I have already described fully, and they also have proved themselves to be the fine fighting material I thought them from the first. But when, oh! when, shall we use our horses? The Bechua.n.a.land Rifles, a fine body of men, largely augmented since the commencement of the war, had a mounted detachment under Captain Cowell.

The Railway Division under Captain Moore, who has been promoted since the commencement of the war, are also a fine body of men who can turn their hand to anything, from fighting in a land ironclad to manning their own works. The authorities were warned long prior to the outbreak of hostilities, that more troops were required here. With even two squadrons of cavalry and half a battery we should have been able to keep the Boers at a greater distance from the town, and beaten them occasionally in the open, well away from our lines. Half a battalion of infantry would have done the garrison work as efficiently as the dismounted men of our mounted corps. In fact, we might long ago have raised the siege by a decisive blow, which we have been, under our present circ.u.mstances, unable to deliver. I think I stated this in a letter some six weeks prior to the outbreak of the war. However, I presume we shall soon be out of this now, though we have no news, as for the past fortnight no runners seem able to get through at all.

10th, Sunday. We had mounted sports, polo, and in the evening, church.

Heavy rain threatened, but held off. I watched through a telescope a party of Dutch ladies being shown Creaky, who was put through her antics, being elevated, depressed, levelled in various directions, for their benefit. So, both sides enjoyed themselves after their kind.

General Snyman's harangues and reports of victories (which roughly surmised are--extirpation of the British army--the only two places in South Africa held by the British, being Mafeking and Cape Town--possession of Delagoa Bay, and a fight at sea, where the British were defeated) are now received in silence and _c.u.m grano_, by his followers, instead of being greeted with cheers, as formerly. Really, I begin to believe there is a limit to the credulity of the Boer, though hitherto I had supposed it boundless. But what can equal their colossal impudence, in invading the suzerain power, annexing Bechua.n.a.land, and proclaiming us rebels. Colonel Baden-Powell has recently organized a troop of old cavalry soldiers, and armed them with lances. They have to-day ridden all round the town, showing themselves in all quarters, to the great astonishment of the Boers, who, I suppose, now expect another little surprise packet, and will be anxious for a few days; as they knew we had no lances with us.

11th, Monday. Colonel Baden-Powell has issued a proclamation calling upon all burghers to return to their farms by the 14th, and that if they do so, and surrendered their rifles and one hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition, they will not be molested, otherwise, they will be treated most rigorously, when we take the offensive; that they are being grossly misled by their leaders; that foreign intervention is hopeless. The Staats Artillery may surrender as prisoners of war at any time; this does not apply to British subjects, traitors or deserters. This might have produced an increase of sh.e.l.l fire, I should fancy, judging from our heavy days' sh.e.l.ling last week. Their General rode forth with his escort, our snipers placed three volleys round him, whereupon he galloped back to the big gun, and all the artillery began merrily, trying to hit our headquarters. They fired a few sh.e.l.ls this morning, but the heavy rain seriously damped their ardour. Still, if the General be annoyed, they will probably re-commence their attentions. Later.

The orderlies with the various flags of truce, have returned, proclamations were sent to each of their outworks, and all the Dutchmen volunteered that they were quite sick of it, and had had enough, which I can quite believe. The rains are beginning, they complained of the soakings they have already had, and with inadequate cover sickness will soon play havoc with them. The orderlies gave them cigarettes and conversed with them, and in two or three cases they asked them how they came to let the re-inforcements in, referring to the lancer troop. In one case the Dutchman said he had heard them come in, but did not know what it was, in the other cases they said they had not seen the re-inforcements, but they had seen their spoor. Sh.e.l.ling has recommenced. To-night we send up fire balloons, weather permitting, which will probably produce some effect on their side.

The following is a copy of Colonel Baden-Powell's letter to Snyman and the proclamation to the burghers:--

A LETTER TO THE BOERS.

Mafeking, 8th Dec., 1899.

To General J. P. Snyman, near Mafeking.

SIR,--I beg to thank you for having handed over Lady Sarah Wilson in exchange for the convict P. Viljoen.

At the same time, I beg to point out that I have only consented to the exchange under protest, as being contrary to the custom of civilised warfare.

In treating this lady as a prisoner of war, as well as in various other acts, you have in the present campaign, altered the usual conditions of war. This is a very serious matter; and I do not know whether it has the sanction of General Joubert or not, but I warn you of the consequences.

The war was at first, and would remain, as far as Her Majesty's troops are concerned, a war between one Government and another; but you are making it one of people against people in which women are considered as belligerents. I warn you that the consequence of this may shortly be very serious to your own people, and you yourself will be to blame for anything that may happen.

Regarding your complaint as to your being attacked by Natives, I beg to refer you to my letter dated 14th November, addressed to your predecessor General Cronje. In this letter I went out of my way, as one white man to another, to warn you that the Natives are becoming extremely incensed at your stealing their cattle, and the wanton burning of their Kraals; they argued that the war lay only between our two Nations, and that the quarrel had nothing to do with themselves, and they had remained neutral in consequence, excepting in the case of the Mafeking Baralongs, who had to defend their homes in consequence of your unjustifiable invasion. Nevertheless you thought fit to carry on cattle thefts and raids against them, and you are now beginning to feel the consequences; and, as I told you, I could not be responsible. And I fear from what I have just heard by wireless telegraph that the Natives are contemplating further operations should your Forces continue to remain within or on the borders of their territories. Before the commencement of the war the High Commissioner issued stringent orders to all Natives that they were to remain quiet and not to take up Arms unless their territory were invaded (in which case, of course, they had a perfect right to defend themselves).

Linchwe--of whom you complain--remained neutral until you brought a force into his princ.i.p.al town and looted his traders' stores, and were making preparations for sh.e.l.ling his stadt on the 26th ultimo. Having obtained accurate information of these intentions of yours, and warned by what had happened to the Natives near Mafeking, he attacked your laager on the 24th in order to save his town from being sh.e.l.led and consequent loss of life amongst his women and children. In this I consider he was quite justified, and you have no one but yourself to blame in the matter.

While on the subject of Natives please do not suppose that I am ignorant of what you have been doing with regard to seeking the a.s.sistance of armed natives, nor of the use of the Natives by you in the destruction of the railway line south of Mafeking. However, having done my duty in briefly giving you warning on these points, I do not propose to further discuss them by letter.

I have the honour to be, Sir, Your obedient servant, R.S.S. BADEN-POWELL.

NOTICE

To THE BURGHERS OP THE Z.A.R. AT PRESENT UNDER ARMS NEAR MAFEKING.

_From the Officer Commanding Her Majesty's Forces, Mafeking_.

BURGHERS,--I address you in this manner because I have only recently learnt how you are being intentionally kept in the dark by your officers and your Government newspapers as to what is really happening in other parts of South Africa.

As officer commanding Her Majesty's troops on this border I think it right to point out to you clearly the inevitable result of your remaining any longer in arms against Great Britain.

You are all aware that the present war was caused by the invasion of British territory by your forces, and as most of you know, without any justifiable reason.

Your leaders do not tell you that so far your forces have met with what is only the advanced guard of the British force, and that circ.u.mstances have changed within the past week; the main body of the British is now daily arriving by thousands from England, Canada, India, and Australia, and is about to advance through your country. In a few weeks the South African Republic will be in the hands of the English; no sacrifice of life on your part can stop it. The question now to put to yourselves before it is, is this: Is it worth while losing your lives in a vain attempt to stop their invasion or to take a town beyond your borders which, if taken, would be of no use to you? (And I may tell you that Mafeking cannot be taken by sitting down and looking at it, for we have ample supplies for several months to come).

The Staat Artillery have done us very little damage, and we are now well protected with forts and mines. Your presence here, or elsewhere, under arms, cannot stop the British advancing into your country.

Your leaders and newspapers are also trying to make you believe that some foreign continental powers are likely to intervene in your behalf against England. This is not in keeping with their pretence that your side is going to be victorious, nor is it in accordance with facts. The S.A.R. having declared war and taken the offensive cannot claim intervention on its behalf. And were it not so, the German Emperor is at present in England, and fully in sympathy with us: the American Government have warned others of their intention to side with England should any other nation interfere; France has large interests in the gold fields identical with those of England; and Italy is entirely in accord with us; and Russia sees no cause to interfere.

The war is a war of one Government against another and not of people against people. The duty a.s.signed to my troops is to sit still here until the proper time arrives and then to fight and to kill until you give in. You, on the other hand, have other interests to think of, in your families and farms and their safety.

Your leaders have caused the destruction of farms in this country and have fired on women and children, and our men are becoming hard to restrain in consequence. Your leaders have also caused invasion of Kaffir territory, and looting of their cattle, and have thus induced them to rise, and in their turn to invade your country, and to kill your burghers. As one white man to another, I warned General Cronje on the 14th November that this would occur, and yesterday I heard that more Kaffirs are rising, and are contemplating similar moves; and I have warned Snyman accordingly. Thus great bloodshed, and destruction of farms threaten you on all sides, and I wish to offer you a chance of avoiding it. To this end my advice to you is to return without delay to your homes and there remain peacefully till the war is over. Those of you who do this before the 14th instant will be as far as possible protected, as regards yourselves, your families, and property, from confiscations, looting, and other penalties to which those who remain under arms may be subjected when the invasion takes place.

Our secret agents will communicate to me the names of those who do and of those who do not avail themselves, before the 13th instant, of the terms now offered. To ensure their property being respected, all the men of a family must be present at home when the troops arrive and be prepared to hand over a rifle and 150 rounds of ammunition each.

The above terms do not apply to officers or to members of the Staats Artillery, who may surrender as prisoners of war at any time; nor do they apply to rebels from British territory or others against whom there may be other charges. It is probable that my force will shortly again take the offensive.

To those who, after this warning, defer their submission till too late, I can offer no promise, and they will only have themselves to blame for an injury or loss of property that they or their families may afterwards suffer.

(Signed) R.S.S. BADEN-POWELL, _Colonel._ MAFEKING, 10th Dec., 1899.

The proclamation has either had a good effect or it is a curious coincidence, that, since its issue, the town has been barely sh.e.l.led at all, sniping has almost ceased, and the Boers have only sh.e.l.led the trenches in front of the native location, and the location itself, in a perfunctory manner, the result being that though we have shot a few Boers, our casualties have been nil, except some natives in the location, and from the 12th to the 15th nothing worth mentioning has happened. I fancy their news from the south must be bad, and undoubtedly men and cattle have gone away lately. Thanks to their recent vigilance, our native runners have failed to get through, and I imagine the same fate has befallen the runners trying to come in, for we have been absolutely without reliable news for the last three weeks. General Snyman sent in a copy of the _Volkstem_, relating our enormities and their victories, all underlined. I am bound to say the news was taken with much salt; but still it was news of a sort. The leading articles were mainly whining for foreign intervention, so we could read between the lines.

15th. Later. I was somewhat previous in my remarks, they have just placed a sh.e.l.l within a hundred yards of the hotel.

December 16th. (Dingaan Day.) We were aroused at 2.39 a.m. by the Boers celebrating their independence. They sent a ninety-four pounder through the corner of Dixon's Hotel, which is our headquarters, consequently all rooms and pa.s.sages are full of sleepers, the orderlies sleeping in the pa.s.sages and billiard room. However, fortunately they managed to put their sh.e.l.l through the bar, which is the only empty room in the house, and wrecked a portion of it and the stoep, which by day is full of occupants. A splinter stopped the town clock, hence the accuracy with which we timed our unlooked-for alarum. They have tried to hit headquarters for some weeks, sh.e.l.ls pitching all round the hotel and wrecking neighbouring buildings, but heretofore we had escaped.

Then, having drawn their bow at a venture by night, they have at last succeeded in hitting it. After having inspected the damage I turned in again. But as our seven-pounder at Cannon Kopje returned the fire, it became universal, and I think the Boers intended to attack. Colonel Baden-Powell having antic.i.p.ated something of the sort, had had the little gun laid on their big one the night before. As it was impossible to sleep, I went down to Ellis's corner to join in the fun. For nearly three weeks we had let them fire away without taking much notice of them. To-day, however, knowing it was their national festival, we were determined to disturb their amus.e.m.e.nt. Our old seven-pounders had their advanced trenches well in range, and three of them, about three-quarters of a mile apart, commenced playing havoc with the said trenches, sh.e.l.ls bursting beautifully in and over them. While Creaky, like a big dog annoyed by little ones, snapped hurriedly at each of its puny antagonists in turn. It made better practice than I have yet seen, and burst its huge sh.e.l.ls within fifteen and twenty yards of the guns. When the smoke from its muzzle was seen, our gun detachments laid down, but the explosion and smoke of the big sh.e.l.ls had not died away before "boom," through the smoke, came the derisive return of its tiny antagonist, showing "a miss to the Boers." The guns took no notice of Creaky after the first shot, but concentrated their attention on the trenches, leaving her to be soothed by musketry volleys. Our sh.e.l.l fire had a most quieting effect on the occupants of the trenches, and we had to stir them up by sniping their individuals, and then when they woke up a bit the Maxims a.s.sisted in calming their unruly spirits again.

Altogether a most enjoyable morning. It is so dull being shot at without answering, but when one's own guns keep the game going, it is quite another thing. This lasted till about 6.30. Just to prevent their being too much taken up by any amus.e.m.e.nts they might have contemplated, to celebrate the day, our guns fired a few rounds again at noon, but the big gun only answered with a few rounds, and after a feeble spatter of musketry we knocked off. On the western front, about dusk, our seven-pounder, under Captain Sandford, knocked out their five-pounder, and they dismantled their fort and withdrew to a more retired position.

[Ill.u.s.tration: REMOVING THE EFFECTS OF A BOER Sh.e.l.l.]

We have advanced our seven-pounder to Fort Ayr, and hope to repeat the process. The first of our sh.e.l.ls burst right among them whilst they were outside making coffee.