Three Years' War Part 10

I came up with Wessels' division on the 6th of April at Badenhorst, on the road from Dewetsdorp to Wepener. Badenhorst lies at a distance of some ten miles from a ford on the Caledon River, called Tammersbergsdrift, where Colonel Dalgety, with the highly renowned C.M.R.[36] and Brabant's Horse were at that time stationed. I call them "highly renowned" to be in the fashion, for I must honestly avow that I never could see for what they were renowned.

During the fight at Mostertshoek on the previous day I had kept them under observation, with the result that I learnt that they had entrenched themselves strongly, and that they numbered about sixteen hundred men, though this latter fact was a matter of indifference to me.

The history of Ladysmith, Mafeking, and Kimberley, however, served me as a warning, and I asked myself whether it would be better to besiege the wolf or to wait and see if he would not come out of his lair.

But the wolf, on this occasion, was not to be enticed out on any pretext; and moreover it was probable that Lord Roberts would be able to send a relieving force from Bloemfontein; so I decided to attack at once. First, however, I despatched some of my best scouts in the direction of Bloemfontein and Reddersburg, while I ordered the commandos under Generals Piet de Wet and A.P. Cronje to take up positions to the east and south-east of the capital.

Early in the morning of the 7th of April I made an attack on two points: one to the south-west, the other to the south-east of Dalgety's fortifications, opening fire on his troops at distances of from five to fifteen hundred paces. I dare not approach any nearer for lack of suitable cover. The place was so strongly fortified that many valuable lives must have been sacrificed, had I been less cautious than I was.

After a few days I received reinforcements, and was thus enabled to surround the English completely. But their various positions were so placed that it was impossible for me to sh.e.l.l any of them from both sides, and thus to compel their occupants to surrender.

Day succeeded to day, and still the siege continued.

Before long we had captured some eight hundred of the trek-oxen, and many of the horses of the enemy. Things were not going so badly for us after all; and we plucked up our courage, and began to talk of the probability of a speedy surrender on the part of the English.

To tell the truth, there was not a man amongst us who would have asked better than to make prisoners of the Cape Mounted Rifles and of Brabant's Horse. They were Afrikanders, and as Afrikanders, although neither Free-Staters nor Transvaalers, they ought, in our opinion, to have been ashamed to fight against us.

The English, we admitted, had a perfect right to hire such sweepings, and to use them against us, but we utterly despised them for allowing themselves to be hired. We felt that their motive was not to obtain the franchise of the Uitlanders, but--five shillings a day! And if it should by any chance happen that any one of them should find his grave there--well, the generation to come would not be very proud of that grave. No! it would be regarded with horror as the grave of an Afrikander who had helped to bring his brother Afrikanders to their downfall.

Although I never took it amiss if a colonist of Natal or of Cape Colony was unwilling to fight with us against England, yet I admit that it vexed me greatly to think that some of these colonists, for the sake of a paltry five shillings a day, should be ready to shoot down their fellow-countrymen. Such men, alas! there have always been, since, in the first days of the human race, Cain killed his brother Abel. But Cain had not long to wait for his reward!

Whilst we were besieging these Afrikanders, news came that large columns from Reddersburg and Bloemfontein were drawing near. So overwhelming were their numbers that the commandos of Generals A.P. Cronje and Piet de Wet were far too weak to hold them in check, and I had to despatch two reinforcing parties, the first under Commandant Fourie, the second under General J.B. Wessels.

General Froneman had now returned from Smithfield, whither I had sent him to attack the garrison. He told me that he had been unable to carry out my orders, for, on his arrival at Smithfield, he had discovered that the garrison--which had only consisted of some two or three hundred men--had just departed. He learnt, however, that it was still possible to overtake it before it reached Aliwal North. Unfortunately, he was unable to persuade Commandant Swanepoel, who was in command of the burghers, to pursue the retreating troops. He therefore had to content himself with the fifteen men he had with him. He came in sight of the enemy at Branziektekraal, two hours from Aliwal North; but with the mere handful of men, which was all that he had at his command, an attack upon them was not to be thought of, and he had to turn back.

His expedition, however, had not been without good result, for he returned with about five hundred of those burghers who had gone home after our commandos had left Stormberg.

We had to thank Lord Roberts for this welcome addition to our forces.

The terms of the proclamation in which Lord Roberts had guaranteed the property and personal liberty of the non-combatant burghers had not been abided by. In the neighbourhood of Bloemfontein, Reddersburg, and Dewetsdorp, and at every other place where it was possible, his troops had made prisoners of burghers who had remained quietly on their farms.

The same course of action had been pursued by the column which fell into our hands at Mostertshoek--I myself had liberated David Strauss and four other citizens whom I had found there. While peacefully occupied on their farms they had been taken prisoners by the English column, which was then on its way from Dewetsdorp to Reddersburg.

This disregard of his proclamations did not increase the respect which the burghers felt for Lord Roberts. They felt that the word of the English was not to be trusted, and, fearing for their own safety, they returned to their commandos. I sent President Steyn a telegram, informing him that our burghers were rejoining, and adding that Lord Roberts was the best recruiting sergeant I had ever had!

General Froneman and the men whom he had collected soon found work to do. The enemy was expecting a reinforcement from Aliwal North, and I sent the General, with six hundred troops, to oppose it. He came into touch with it at Boesmanskop, and a slight skirmish took place.

In the meanwhile I received a report from General Piet de Wet, who was at Dewetsdorp, notifying me that the English forces outnumbered his own so enormously that he could not withstand their advance. He suggested that I ought at once to relinquish the siege and proceed in the direction of Thaba'Nchu.

I also received discouraging news from General Piet Fourie, who had had a short but severe engagement with the troops that were coming from Bloemfontein, and had been compelled to give way before their superior forces.

Piet de Wet's advice appealed to me all the more strongly since reinforcements were pouring in upon the enemy from all sides. But I was of opinion that I ought to go with a strong force after the enemy in the direction of Norvalspont, as I was convinced that it was no longer possible to check their advance. But General Piet de Wet differed from me on this point, and held that we ought to keep in front of the English, and I was at last compelled to give in to him.

Accordingly I issued orders to General Froneman to desist from any further attack upon the reinforcement with which he had been engaged, and to join me. When he arrived I fell back on Thaba'Nchu.

My siege of Colonel Dalgety, with his Brabant's Horse and Cape Mounted Rifles, had lasted for sixteen days. Our total loss was only five killed and thirteen wounded. The English, as I learnt from prisoners, had suffered rather severely.

[Footnote 36: Cape Mounted Rifles.]

CHAPTER XII

The English Swarm over our Country

On April 25th we arrived at Alexandrie, six miles from Thaba'Nchu. The latter place was already occupied by English outposts. General Philip Botha now joined me; he had been engaging the enemy in the triangle formed by Brandfort, Bloemfontein and Thaba'Nchu. My commandos numbered some four thousand men, and I decided that it was time to concentrate my forces.

Lord Roberts was about to carry out the plans which he had formed at Bloemfontein, namely, to outflank us with large bodies of mounted troops. He attempted to do this to the north-east of Thaba'Nchu, but at first was not successful. On a second attempt, however, he managed, after a fierce fight, to break through our lines. It was during this action that Commandant Lubbe was shot in the leg, and had the misfortune to be taken prisoner. At Frankfort also, Lord Roberts met with success, and General De la Rey was forced to retreat northwards.

I was now firmly convinced, although I kept the belief to myself, that the English would march to Kroonstad; and I could see, more clearly than ever, the necessity of operating in their rear. I had suggested to President Steyn when he had visited us at Alexandrie, that I should proceed to Norvalspont, or even into Cape Colony, but he was against any such project. This, however, was not because he disapproved of my suggestion in itself, but because he feared that the Transvaalers might say that the Free-Staters, now that their own country was in the enemy's hands, were going to leave them in the lurch. Yet in spite of his opposition, I had ultimately to carry out my own ideas, for, even if I was misunderstood, I had to act as I thought best. I can only say that each man of us who remained true to our great cause acted up to the best of his convictions. If the results proved disastrous, one had best be silent about them. There is no use crying over spilt milk.

We now pushed our commandos forward to Zand River. At Tabaksberg General Philip Botha had a short but severe engagement with Lord Roberts'

advanced columns. I was the last of the Generals to leave Thaba'Nchu.

I was very anxious to prevent the "granary"[37] of the Orange Free State from falling into the hands of the English; with this object in view, I left behind me at Korannaberg General De Villiers, with Commandants De Villiers, of Ficksburg, Crowther, of Ladybrand, Roux, of Wepener, and Potgieter, of Smithfield, and ordered the General to carry on operations in the south-eastern districts of the Free State.

This valiant General did some fine work, and fought splendidly at Gouveneurskop and Wonderkop, inflicting very serious losses upon the English. But nevertheless he had to yield to the superior numbers of the enemy, who ultimately gained possession of the "granary" districts. But he made them pay for it dearly.

General De Villiers followed the English to Senekal and Lindley, and at Biddulphsberg, near the first named village, he again engaged them successfully, killing and wounding many of them. But a grave misfortune overtook us here, for the General received a dangerous wound on the head.

There was still another most deplorable occurrence. In some way or other the gra.s.s caught fire; and as it was very dry, and a high wind was blowing, the flames ran along the ground to where many of the English wounded were lying. There was no time to rescue them; and thus in this terrible manner many a poor fellow lost his life.

General De Villiers' wound was so serious, that the only course open was to ask the commanding officer of the Senekal garrison to let him have the benefit of the English doctors' skill. This request was willingly granted, and De Villiers was placed under the care of the English ambulance. Sad to say, he died of his wound.

Some time later I was informed that the man who had carried the request into Senekal was ex-Commandant Vilonel, who was then serving as a private burgher. A few days later he surrendered, so that one naturally inferred that he had arranged it all during his visit to Senekal.

Shortly after he had given up his arms, he sent a letter to one of the Veldtcornets, asking him to come to such and such a spot on a certain evening, to meet an English officer and himself. The letter never reached the hands of the person to whom Vilonel had addressed it; and instead of the Veldtcornet, it was Captain Pretorius with a few burghers, who went to the appointed place. The night was so dark that it was impossible to recognize anybody.

"Where is Veldtcornet--?" asked Mr. Vilonel.

"You are my prisoner," was Captain Pretorius' reply, as he took Vilonel's horse by the bridle.

"Treason! treason!" cried poor Vilonel.

They brought him back to the camp, and sent him thence to Bethlehem. A court-martial[38] was shortly afterwards held at that town, and he was condemned to a long term of imprisonment.

In the place of General De Villiers I appointed Deacon Paul Roux as Vechtgeneraal. He was a man in whom I placed absolute confidence. As a minister of religion he had done good service among the commandos, and in the fiercest battles he looked after the wounded with undaunted courage. His advice to the officers on matters of war had also been excellent, so that he was in every way a most admirable man. But his fighting career unfortunately soon came to an end, for he was taken prisoner in a most curious way near Naauwpoort, when Prinsloo surrendered.

I must now retrace my steps, and give some account of what I myself had been doing during this time.

I proceeded to the west of Doornberg, and only halted when I reached the Zand River. What memories does the name of that river bring back to me!

It was on its banks that in 1852 the English Government concluded a Convention with the Transvaal--only to break it when Sir Theophilus Shepstone annexed that country on the 12th of April, 1877. But this Convention was re-established by Gladstone--greatest and n.o.blest of English statesmen--when he acknowledged the independence of the South African Republic.

Here on the banks of this river, which was so pregnant with meaning, we should stand, so I thought, and hold the English at bay. But alas! the name with all its memories did not check the enemy's advance.

On the 10th of May Lord Roberts attacked us with his united forces; and although his losses were heavy, he succeeded in breaking through our lines near Ventersburg, at two points which were held by General Froneman. And thus the English were free to advance on Kroonstad.

I gave orders to my commando to move on to Doornkop, which lies to the east of Kroonstad. I myself, with Commandant Nel and some of his adjutants, followed them when the sun had set. We rode the whole of that night, and reached the township on the following morning. We immediately arranged that the Government should withdraw from Kroonstad, and that very day it was removed to Heilbron. President Steyn, however, did not go to Heilbron, but paid a visit to General Philip Botha, whose commando had held back the English outposts some six miles from Kroonstad.

The President, before leaving the town, had stationed police on the banks of the Valsch River with orders to prevent burghers from entering the dorp[39]; he had only just crossed the drift before my arrival. I came upon some burghers who, as they had been ordered, had off-saddled at the south side of the river, and I asked them if they had seen the President. As they were Transvaalers, they answered my question in the negative.