Two Years on Trek Part 14

" Joubert 190 "

" Du Plooy 227 "

" Potgieter 512 "

To these had to be added four men who were sent down by the Provost Marshal, and seven had to be deducted, who were admitted to hospital in the town, making a net total of 1,544.

After the roll call was concluded the burghers were directed to give up all property belonging to the Free State or to the British Government, and this order resulted in a most miscellaneous collection of articles being made, comprising tents, waterproof sheets, entrenching tools, bayonets, military clothing of all kinds which had been looted from the Derby Militia, and from the trains which had been held up and wrecked by De Wet; saddlery and telescopes taken from the Yeomanry who surrendered at Lindley; and hundreds of smaller articles, Gladstone bags, tin uniform cases, water bottles, haversacks, ration baskets, signalling panniers, books, canteens and equipment, which had all at one time belonged to the Derby Militia.

There was very little property belonging to the Orange Free State, with the exception of a few tents and some waterproof sheets; we were careful not to receive anything which might be considered as the private property of the burghers, and the whole day long numbers of these simple minded men came to us, bringing all sorts of articles, and asking if they could retain them.

In any case each Boer was allowed to keep a blanket for himself and one for his horse, a water bottle and a waterproof sheet; and we did not interfere with the clothing they were wearing, much of which was our khaki serge, with many overcoats and khaki warm coats.

Some of the wagons, which were covered in and suitable for the purpose, were sent over to the hospital to a.s.sist in carrying the sick and wounded.

During the afternoon the commandants were received by General Hunter at his quarters in the town, where they drank coffee, and, with the a.s.sistance of an interpreter, made the polite and cautious remarks usual on such occasions.

A few horses were exchanged for some in the Mounted Infantry, but all those which were of the slightest use had already been taken. At night our custom was for all horses, after watering, to be taken to the Mounted Infantry lines, where they were fastened together in huge rings, under a guard, the Boers going back to their lines and coming at daybreak again to receive their animals. Any possibility of our friends taking French leave during the night was thus precluded.

The commandants were warned and directed to inform their men that any insubordination would be severely punished, the offender being placed under a guard and compelled to walk instead of riding; and the commandants were held personally responsible that none of their men attempted to escape.

During our subsequent march to the railway, prisoners were constantly being received in twos and threes from the Provost Marshal, and a large number, some seventy-five, of the remainder of those who had surrendered to General Hunter at Fouriesburg, were handed over to us on one occasion.

The morning of the 7th of August saw us out of Bethlehem for the second time and tramping along the well-known road to Meyer's Kop, over which some of us had already marched three times.

Bethlehem looked better by daylight than it did when we left it in the dark on the 16th of July; it is a large town and, as is usual, well laid out with a fine church in the middle, but it would be a good deal prettier if the indolent Boers could be persuaded to plant a few more trees. It is a curious trait in the Boer character that, notwithstanding their Dutch origin, they do not appear to care in the least for flowers, or trees, or gardening of any kind.

In the teeth of an icy cold wind, which raised clouds of dust, we tramped along, past Sevastopol, and our old friend, Meyer's Kop, to Bester's Farm, a few miles beyond the latter place, and continued our march the next day and the next in similar fashion, halting at each mid-day for a couple of hours.

On the road we pa.s.sed the redoubtable Biddulph's Berg, which had been some time previously the scene of a severe action, where a battalion of Guards was heavily engaged and suffered from a very large number of casualties, over 150, I believe. They had a terrible experience in this action which has happily seldom occurred in warfare before; the gra.s.s was very long and dry, and there was a breeze blowing from the rear, where a number of people were watching the fight; these individuals were seen to drop matches on to the dry gra.s.s, and the consequent fire was soon beyond their power to extinguish. Rapidly the flames grew and spread to the right and left, and rushed, fanned by the breeze, straight down upon the unfortunate Guardsmen, extended and carrying on the attack upon the enemy in front: there was no escape, and the roaring flames swept like a rolling torrent down upon the soldiers, scattering them in all directions and scorching them severely: worse than this, the wounded, of whom there were a considerable number lying in the long gra.s.s, were badly burned and suffered terrible agony: it was a truly dreadful experience.

On the 9th of August we reached Senekal, crossed the drift, and camped just beyond the town; the opportunity was here taken to buy what food could be purchased, for the Brigade Canteen; but there was little to be had, and that was at famine prices.

Captain Wisden, however, struck what shopmen call a "line" of sardines, in which he invested largely for the Officers' mess, and which proved to be the worst possible kind of fish that had ever been put in a tin. How the wretched animal had existed when it was alive was a marvel, as it consisted, seemingly, of one huge backbone and little else; but no doubt the bad oil, into which it was put when it was tinned, brought about a speedy death and released the poor creature from its sufferings! Captain Wisden will never hear the end of this, and all our officers will in future beware of that particular brand of sardines.

Senekal is a small and neat town at the foot of a huge kopje, and was occupied, when we pa.s.sed through, by the other half battalion of the Bedfords: it is the scene of one of the mishaps to the Yeomanry when Major D'Albiac was killed and a number of others killed, wounded, and taken prisoners; through great negligence they had not searched or occupied the kopje, which frowns over the little town at a distance of a few hundred yards, and from here the Boers suddenly opened fire on the men walking about down below, and shot Major D'Albiac, a well-known man, who had been in the Royal Horse Artillery, as he rushed out of the hotel.

The next three days were occupied in moving towards Winburg, two marches of 11 miles each, and the last of fifteen, into the town, which we reached about three o'clock in the afternoon. Each day we had halted for a mid-day rest, but the journey, although through open country, was not a pleasant one owing to the wind and the dust; the camping grounds also were filthy, as they had been used so frequently during the last few months, no water being procurable elsewhere: they were surrounded by dead mules, horses and bullocks: carcases littered each side of the road as well, between one camp and another.

So we were pleased to reach Winburg and to camp on the plain beyond the railway station, with the possibility of a few days' rest, and the chance of buying some bread--a commodity we had not seen in any quant.i.ty since leaving Pretoria in the middle of June. I foresaw, however, a good deal of work for myself and the ten officers with the Boer laager, as the burghers were to be handed over and despatched by train to Cape Town: they had not been told this or given any hint of their destination, and even now we were careful to say nothing further than that they were going off in the train; but, of course, the more intelligent of them quickly grasped the facts and fully imagined that they were bound for St. Helena: they had not, apparently, heard of Ceylon.

For the next three days there was very little rest in the Boer laager for any of us: the very afternoon of our arrival round came Major Maclaughlin and another officer of the Remount Department, who demanded all the horses and ponies: Captain Camilleri, one of the Transport Officers, also turned up and said he wanted all the Cape carts and most of the wagons: Major Cardew said all the saddles and harness were to go to the Ordnance Stores, and Major Orr, of the 18th Royal Irish, the Railway Staff Officer, had his little say, too, about the probable departure of the Boers, which was to take place as soon as trains could be made up.

We did not attempt to do much that afternoon, as the whole camp was overrun with visitors from the town and idlers of all kinds who came to stare at the Boers and ask us questions, which we had no time to answer.

The first thing was to get off the horses and ponies, which were sent in batches to some cattle kraals near by; the animals belonging to the Commandants and Field Cornets, which had not been taken from them or exchanged during the journey, were collected together and sent separately to the same place, and by a little after dark we had got rid of all the horses and ponies, some 1,200 in number.

Next morning, the 13th of August, we were early at our work, and got all the saddles and harness together and laid out in rows, and collected any more Government property, tents and other things, which had been used on the march.

The drinking water was a long distance away, and the Boers were much amused at our forming some of them into water parties and marching them off, under a guard, to fetch water for their messes; they tramped off in fours, calling to each other and laughing, just like so many children.

After breakfast there was a muster parade of each commando, when the officers in charge called the rolls and ascertained that all their men were actually present: this was a long business and took some hours. The rest of the day was occupied in moving all the wagons and Cape carts to the outskirts of the camp, and closing in the commandos a good deal, so as to form a smaller circle for the sentries to guard; for, all this time, and in fact ever since leaving Bethlehem, the Boer laager had been surrounded by a cordon of sentries by day and night.

The following morning, such wagons, oxen and Cape carts as were of any use, were removed by the transport people, and the saddles and harness, about four wagon loads, taken away to the Ordnance stores: the burghers did not like this part of the performance as they had all written their names on the saddles, with what object goodness only knows, and were not at all pleased when some of them were called upon to come and load the saddles on to the wagons.

In the course of this day pa.s.ses were given to the families, several of whom were still with us, and they were permitted to go to their farms with their wagons and oxen; the old men and the boys were also mustered, and a selection made of those to whom pa.s.ses might be issued with the privilege of going to their farms and remaining there. A large number turned up, most of the men being old and feeble, and some of the boys being very young, so that we made a careful selection, rejecting all those whose appearance gave the impression that they were able to carry and use a rifle, and issuing pa.s.ses to the remainder.

Altogether, there were no less than 105 permitted to go away, and they were sent off that afternoon: some of the boys and older men, who belonged to the Bethulie District, and who had no wagons, were provided with railway pa.s.ses to enable them to get to their homes speedily.

Had it been known that the disturbance and guerilla warfare in the Orange River Colony would continue for so long after the dispersal of what might be called the Boer army, it is probable that not a single man, woman or child would have been permitted to go back to their farms; which, although their occupants had taken the oath of allegiance to the Queen, became centres whence horses, wagons and supplies of all kinds, besides information as to our movements, were furnished to the nomadic bands of insurgents who roamed the country.

That afternoon we succeeded in despatching Potgieter's commando, 477 strong, by train to Cape Town; the burghers fell in, with their blankets and rations, and marched down to the train (which had steamed up close to the camp), with all the regularity of soldiers; they were to travel under a guard of militia, who were ready waiting, and to whom we handed the Boers over as they got into the trucks.

They all seemed happy enough, laughing and chatting, and many of them waved their hands to us as the train steamed off.

The next morning another batch, over 800 strong, was sent off, and the remainder followed an hour later, bringing our connection with the Boer laager to a close.

CHAPTER XVI.

UP AND DOWN.

Bloemfontein--Men and officers waiting there--Kroonstad--The Brigade re-fitted--Wasted comforts--Shopping for the canteen--Famine prices--Traders' profits--Ventersburg road--Half battalion to Winburg--Winburg attacked--Capture of Commandant Olivier--Bloemfontein--Ladybrand--Leeuw River Mills.

I went down in the train with the last batch of prisoners as far as Bloemfontein, as the General wished me to go to the Ordnance stores, and see what could be done about bringing up clothing, boots and other stores for the men, who were now in rags again and very badly off for boots. Several officers from the Brigade had been sent down at various times for this purpose, and I, with these officers and what stuff we could get, was to meet the Brigade at Kroonstad on the 20th of August.

Leaving Winburg about mid-day, the train reached our destination about half-past six, and there we quitted it, seeing the last of our friends, the Boer prisoners: they were lively enough and, all the way down, had looked with interest at the Militia battalions guarding the line and the bridges, and at the various entrenchments thrown up by them, and at the fortifications of biscuit boxes and barbed wire at each place. At Brandfort they met plenty of friends and evident sympathisers, who had apparently been allowed on the platform to see them, but at Bloemfontein the train stopped outside the station, and then ran through without stopping at the platform.

I stayed a couple of days in Bloemfontein and found all the other officers there; they had succeeded in getting all the ordnance stores they wanted and were ready to return, but could not get permission to do so; however, a visit to the D. A. A. G. soon settled that, and the next trouble was to get all the trucks, which had been loaded at the Ordnance siding, attached to a train and despatched.

The a.s.sistant Director of Railways, Captain Nathan, R.E., was an old friend of mine, and arranged to have the trucks put on to a train on the 18th of August, by which we also arranged to leave. There was a most serious congestion of traffic at that time: rows and rows of trucks were waiting, and had been waiting for some time, for an opportunity to be despatched up country; there were no less than fourteen trains of remounts pa.s.sing forward, and these, of course, had to receive precedence over others; the mails also had been waiting for days. There was the greatest strictness observed as to who travelled and why, and the contents of each truck were carefully examined to see that no private stores were loaded on it, and even the carriages were examined, just before the trains started, by the Railway Staff Officers. I had tried to get some Canteen stores shipped; four cases of tobacco, which were urgently wanted by the men, I had even brought down to the station, and I succeeded in smuggling one on to a truck. There was plenty of room in the guard's van and lots of s.p.a.ce upon several trucks upon which troops were travelling, but the guard was a surly Dutchman, an uncivil brute, who started the train as the three cases were actually being loaded; so they had to be dropped on to the line and left behind, to be eventually sent up by ox wagon, which cost the Brigade Canteen no less than 5.

The streets of Bloemfontein were a curious sight in the daytime, crowded with soldiers of every imaginable regiment, and full of staff officers, whose red tabs on their collars had procured for them the designation of "rooineks," or red necks, which is the sneering nickname the Boers have had for years for British soldiers. I saw more than one man of the Royal Suss.e.x, who seemed in no anxiety to rejoin; several others had got hold of jobs which kept them away from the hard work and danger of marching and fighting, and put extra pay in their pockets.

The rest camp was crowded with soldiers, all perfectly well and fit for duty, and waiting to go up country and rejoin their regiments; many of them had been waiting for weeks; there were officers, too, in dozens, and all had the same tale to tell--they had been stopped at Bloemfontein on their way up country, and had been ordered to remain and do garrison duty indefinitely.

It is a severe blot on the administration of the Line of Communications that such a state of matters should be allowed to exist; that regiments at the front should have been kept short-handed of both officers and men, while numbers of both ranks were loafing about the streets of Bloemfontein, or spending hours picking up weeds and placing white stones in rows in the Rest Camp. Not only did this happen in Bloemfontein, but the larger towns, such as Winburg and Kroonstad, were all full of unattached soldiers whose regiments were at the front. If these men were required for purposes of defence, it seems curious that a battalion or a half battalion could not have been detailed instead of an incongruous mob.

Towards the close of the campaign our battalion must have had several hundred men scattered about in various places: many of them were employed in hospitals and at offices and in all sorts of ways, but directly any attempt was made to get them back, many men were reported as "unfit to march." The conclusion I came to was, that these men must either have been discharged before being fully recovered, or else their detention at other than their proper duty was being winked at by certain officers for their own convenience.

Leaving Bloemfontein at six o'clock in the evening, our train had run only about 15 miles before a truck succeeded in getting off the rails; this was caused by a bale of blankets falling from a wagon on to the line and getting under the guard rail of the axle and grease box, which lifted the wheels and shoved them to one side: however, by the aid of two iron slides carried on the engine for the purpose, we were soon up again on the line and on our way to Kroonstad, which we reached the day before the Brigade was due. There was still a good deal to be done in getting the stores carted up to camp, but, with some trouble, this was managed by the next morning, when the Brigade arrived. The stores were unpacked, and the men were soon issued with some clean shirts, socks and boots, while some cases of comforts, sent out by people at home, were eagerly opened and their contents distributed. The articles which were most appreciated were drawers, shirts, socks, handkerchiefs and writing sets, which were all really useful; but, unfortunately, the contents of many bales and boxes consisted largely of Tam o'Shanters and knitted garments, which the men had no means of carrying, except on their backs; and they had quite enough on them as it was with rifle, equipment, 100 rounds of ammunition, blanket and two days' rations. After a man had once been issued with a soft cap and a cardigan jacket, he did not want another; and the quant.i.ty of these articles, in proportion to other things, sent out by the kind and thoughtful donors at home was unfortunately large.

Among the bales of ordnance stores were many containing warm khaki overcoats of the Indian pattern, but as our transport was so limited we had to return these useful garments, having no means of carrying them.

As the Brigade was likely to proceed on the trek again, it never having been known to rest more than two or three days at a time, the opportunity was taken to fill up the Brigade Canteen wagons with stores, and a small party went shopping with a traction engine and three trucks and bought all they could get; as usual the shopkeepers, some English, some German, declined to part with any quant.i.ty of their stock, which they were, of course, hanging on to in the hope of prices rising, and I had to obtain an order from the District Commissioner to compel them to sell, though at enormous prices--eighteenpence for a tin of milk or a pot of jam, and other things in proportion.

As luck would have it, I succeeded, at my next visit to the town, in discovering the exact profit which these firms had made out of the Brigade Canteen over this transaction, and as all this talk about stores and prices serves to show how an English soldier is treated by his affectionate countrymen on his arrival in a beleaguered town, this must be my excuse for harping so long on one string.

There was an enterprising man who had arrived from Bloemfontein with several wagons full of stores, which he sold equally to the few merchants in Kroonstad. On the very day and at the time delivery was being made, I turned up with my traction engine and trucks and my order from the District Commissioner, and purchased most of these stores, nearly all the cases being handed over at the storehouse of the enterprising man. The prices I was charged by the various storekeepers were those fixed as the selling prices in the shops; the prices the traders paid to the enterprising man I was afterwards fortunate enough to drop upon, and I found that in every case the profits were enormous, averaging over 36 per cent., and ranging from 75 per cent. for sardines to 20 per cent. for jam and milk.