Two Years on Trek Part 25

It was now 4.30 p.m. The baggage had been successfully pa.s.sed over the low hills, and the column moved forward to Wilgefontein, camping there for the night. Major Gilbert and the men with him returned over the west end of the Boer position. On the crest lay a man, hit in the head by a pom-pom sh.e.l.l; a notice was pinned to his coat: "This is ---- of ----; please let his father know that he is killed."

To return to Commandant Brand: he had so far played a singularly ineffective part in the day's proceedings. With a considerable force of Boers under him, he had been out-manoeuvred and kept at a distance in rear by Major Gilbert and his company, although the resources of the column were fully employed against the Ridge in front, and, till that Ridge was forced, a dashing charge of two or three hundred Boers from the rear would have been at least a serious matter.

It appears that Brand had not left Ackerman any orders to hold the Ridge, as he did not expect the column to go that way. When firing broke out in that direction, he did not know how many Boers were involved, or which side was on the Ridge. He, therefore, sent round two men to find out what was happening, and to tell Ackerman (if it was he) to hold the Ridge as long as he could, and he (Brand) would attack the British in rear.

Ackerman got this message, and held on (which he had not intended to do), momentarily expecting Brand to turn up: Brand waited for an answer from Ackerman, which Ackerman omitted to send. So Brand lay, checked and ineffective, until the Ridge was forced and the chance had gone.

The retreating Ackerman became involved with a small column of S.A.C.

under Captain Malcolm. His Khaki clad Boers again deceived a squadron, who rode up to them thinking they were Malcolm's main body. The Boers opened fire at forty yards; luckily, however, the gun on the south piquet at Ventershoek opened fire at the same time upon the real main body of the British, driving them down upon the scene of action. The forces became considerably mixed, but were eventually disentangled without many casualties.

After the fighting at De Put was over, two men with white flags left the Ridge and came to surrender with their rifles. They said that they were tired of fighting (one of them had a bullet through his hat): that they were Transvaalers, and had only promised to fight for two years, which were up: and that the camp was to be attacked that night. The column accordingly lay ready and waiting; but the Boers thought better of it.

The report of the action spread by the Boers was that they, with 150 men and a machine gun, had surprised and routed a column of 400, with pom-pom and maxim. The British losses they put at 150--in actual fact they were two killed and nine wounded (including four natives).[18] It was said that the Boers had three killed and six wounded; but the man who lay upon the hillside provided the only certain piece of information.

The pom-pom fired 900 rounds; while over 30,000 rounds of small arm ammunition were expended.[19]

Civil-Surgeon Leach did very well during the action, riding with a large red cross flag through heavy fire to a.s.sist the wounded.

FOOTNOTES:

[18] _Killed_: Intelligence Agent White; Pte. J. Farrant, H Co.

_Wounded_: Sgt. Finucane, H Co.; Cpl. E. Manning, Vol.; Pte. F. Webb, C Co.; Pte. C. Dymock, F Co.; Pte. M. Hunt, G Co.

[19] The bulk of this ammunition was fired at the jagged crest-line of the Ridge, and kept the Boers down under cover, checking their fire. The Boers themselves remained invisible.

CHAPTER XXVI.

TO VLAKFONTEIN.

The King's Road--On the track of a commando--A stern chase--Wearing out the Boers--Kritzinger appears--The column goes to meet him--Kaffir's Kop--A melee--A gallant death--Kritzinger gets through--Moving westwards--Night march on Jagersfontein--Boers surprised at dawn--Captures at Vlakfontein--Christmas Day--Fauresmith--Vlakfontein again.

After the fight at De Put, the column again divided into two "commandos," of which Major Gilbert's returned with Head Quarters to Ventershoek. Very heavy rain on the 29th and 30th of October flooded the camp there.

Col. du Moulin had from the first determined to shorten the route from this camp to Edenburg. The convoy, in bringing supplies from the line, had to go round by Mooifontein, 6 miles north of Ventershoek, in order to cross the ridge running in that direction. Close to the camp, this ridge was cut by a small stream (Hex River) running through a stony gorge. The gorge was of considerable length, and was strewn throughout with great boulders of ironstone. Through this gorge the Colonel decided to make a road, and the cyclists had been for some time employed in preparing it. All the men in the camp were now turned on to the work.

Chains were fastened to the larger rocks, and they were hauled to one side or rolled into the stream. Boulders were blasted and embankments made, and by the 31st of October the convoy on its way to Edenburg was able to pa.s.s along "King's Road." Frequent use was subsequently made of this road when moving troops out to the west and south, and Boers of the neighbourhood who were brought in by it, were considerably astonished.

The people of the district probably still find it a great convenience.

The country round Ventershoek was constantly patrolled by parties of ten or twelve men under an officer, who went out at night so as to reach positions from which they could see the country round, by dawn. One of these patrols under Lt. Bond located a Boer commando at Lakensvlei, to the south-west, on November 7th; and on November 8th, a general move of columns was begun with the object of surrounding it. Col. du Moulin moved out with the whole of his force at 2 a.m. on the 9th, getting into touch with the other columns that afternoon. A Boer hospital was found among the hills, and the three ambulances with it were ordered to rejoin their commando.

On the 10th two Boers were captured by Liliveld at Lakensvlei, and others were seen in the distance; and on the 11th, Ackerman's commando was found in the middle of the circle of columns. Col. du Moulin had made an early march from Lakensvlei to Parys (a farm some miles south of Ventershoek) that morning; and while the column was breakfasting, a helio message came from Ventershoek to say that a party of Boers were being driven by Col. Hamilton towards Parys. The column was off in ten minutes, and chased Ackerman for the remainder of the day, capturing his Cape cart, eighty horses and twenty-five rifles. A halt was made that night at Mooifontein, after a day's trek of 30 miles for the baggage and 40 for the mounted troops, the Boers being still ahead. Col. Hamilton had taken seven prisoners.

One hundred men under Lieut. Bond were sent out at midnight to a hill (the Bulsberg) where the Boers were last seen. Silently they rode through the darkness, and, nearing the hill, took one end of it at a gallop; but the Boers had gone. This party was, during the morning, itself attacked by another small column that had come on the same mission. Fortunately the attack was stayed before any harm was done. The Boers escaped out of the ring of columns--so harried, however, that twelve went straight to Bloemfontein to surrender, five of whom were too weak from want of food and sleep to reach the town, and had to be fetched in in Cape carts.

On the night of the 23rd November, Lieut. Crawley-Boevey was sent with 100 men (cyclists and mounted men) to search the hills at Parys for stray Boers. At dawn he saw a couple of Boers watering their horses at a dam near; he despatched a dozen men to cut them off, but these soon returned, having found a commando of sixty on the other side of the hill. The Boers at once moved off towards Ospoort, where Captain Montresor lay hidden; took fright at the smoke of some fires there and moved north; were headed off by column after column, and lost twenty-six prisoners before the day was over, four of them falling to Crawley-Boevey. At dawn on the 26th Captain Montresor was sent to Lakensvlei, where the Boers were reported to have gone; but Col. Pilcher was before him, and had captured twelve more. Thus the commando, which was Joubert's, was practically wiped out.

At this time Kritzinger with 300 men and a number of led horses was making his way down to the Colony; and on the 27th of November Col. du Moulin got orders to move out and try to intercept him, 150 South African Constabulary under Major Vaughan and fifty Edenburg M.I. under Lieut. Kentish (Royal Irish Fusiliers) being added to the column. By the evening of the 28th he reached Roodepoort, 25 miles east of Ventershoek as the crow flies and considerably more by road. The baggage, with which were one of the guns (under Lt. Warren, R.F.A.) and the pom-pom (under Capt. Harrington, R.G.A.) went by a different route from that taken by the main body. On emerging from De Rand pa.s.s, fire was opened by both gun and pom-pom upon Captain Montresor's "commando," which was crossing the front--fortunately without inflicting any damage. By the evening six Boers had been captured, with four rifles.

Kritzinger was known to be close to Roodepoort, and likely to break west; Col. du Moulin therefore decided to occupy a line north and south, and after dark sent Captain Montresor with two companies two miles to the north, and the S. A. C. the same distance to the south.

The men, who were carrying Maconochie rations, were served out that evening with a ration of raw meat. It was late however, and many did not trouble to cook the meat, eating the tinned stew instead; as a result they went short the next day.

The column started again at four the next morning. The Colonel moved out with the main body at a fast trot in a N.W. direction towards a long high ridge called Kaffir's Kop. The S. A. C. were on his right; Captain Montresor was on the left, but the ground there was so broken that he could not be seen. Owing to a misunderstanding, the advanced guard took a wrong direction, and a second one had to be sent out somewhat hurriedly. Shortly afterwards Boers were reported on the left. The Colonel and his staff, the main body (in close order), the gun, pom-pom and escort all turned on to a rise to the left of the road, and saw a large body of Boers going west at the foot of Kaffir's Kop, a couple of miles away. Almost at the same moment, a smart fire was opened from a small kopje 1,000 yards in rear, which, owing to the pace and the change of advanced guards, had not been searched. Colonel, staff, men and guns all turned sharp to the right again and galloped under cover of the rise, the crest of which was at once lined, while the guns opened fire.

The Boers in rear did not wait, however, and streamed away from the other side of the kopje--to which gun, pom-pom, and troops followed them. Their course lay directly over a ridge on which were half of Captain Montresor's men, and a general melee ensued, the two sides getting so involved that in one case a drummer and a Boer took shots at each other at ten yards distance, and then threw down their rifles and closed. Lieut. Woodruffe fired his revolver up at a Boer as he jumped his horse over the depression in which Woodruffe was lying.

Unfortunately the pom-pom had again opened on Captain Montresor's men by mistake--it being almost impossible to tell which of the scattered parties were Boers and which not. Beset by friend and foe, they had a bad quarter of an hour, losing two men killed by the Boers (Sergt.

Waters and Private Elphick) and one mortally wounded (Corporal Robinson).[20] Elphick (whose horse had been shot) died splendidly: he was found behind an ant-heap, his bayonet fixed, all the cartridges in his bandolier used--killed by a shot from a Boer who had worked round behind him. The Boers also lost two killed and one wounded.

Another column was pressing the rear of the main body of the Boers, who hurried west some miles to the north of Col. du Moulin, and then turned south in a wide circle. The Colonel turned and followed them. On their way the Boers picked up and looted one of the company kit wagons that had broken down, taking the mules and a native guide away with them. The latter they shot.

The column followed the Boers till three in the afternoon without a halt, and stopped then at Ganspoort, unable to go further. The first meal of the day was at 4 p.m. Kritzinger's men, however, had got through; the columns ahead were not in position to block them; and on the following day they crossed the line to the west, shifting their laager half a mile further from the railway when they found that the gun on the armoured train could reach them.

The local Boers were at this time finding the eastern district too hot to hold them. They were harried by the columns and short of food; for although a certain amount of grain was still left, hidden in broken down sheds and under bushes, meat was getting scarce, and the few wild sheep on the hills were growing wilder.[21] A general movement of the Boers therefore set in to the west; and towards the end of December the columns followed.

Col. du Moulin's column moved into Edenburg on the 19th of December, and down the line to Jagersfontein Road on the 22nd. Capt. Griffin had joined it on the 12th.[22]

On the evening of December 23rd, the column moved out of Jagersfontein Road and made for Jagersfontein Town, 25 miles to the west. The camp was not struck till dark, and the baggage was left to follow in the morning.

It was known that the Commandants had been summoned by De Wet to a conference in the North, and it was intended to attack the local commandos (believed to be at Jagersfontein) during their absence.

Col. du Moulin started at 7 p.m., having with him about 300 mounted men of the Suss.e.x and the pom-pom; and the column trekked along in bright moonlight till midnight, and then halted and off-saddled for a couple of hours under the black ma.s.s of Boomplaats Hill. Starting again at 2 a.m., they went forward till the setting of the moon, which occurred shortly before dawn. A halt was then made to wait for the light.

The advanced guard (H. Company) were now on the edge of a broad plain that stretched across to Jagersfontein and the hills behind it, 6 miles away. Lt. Crawley-Boevey and his cyclists were to the left front of the advanced guard. As the light grew stronger, two farms could be seen half way across the plain, about a mile apart; and a number of horses were made out grazing round them. The Colonel ordered the advanced guard, and F Company under Major Gilbert, to gallop these farms. The two companies spread out into a line nearly two miles long, and set off at a canter.

Other companies supported them in rear.

The sun was just rising, shewing up a row of eucalyptus trees that stood out between the farms like the teeth of a comb, and casting long shadows in front of the galloping men. As H Company got nearer to the farm house on the left (Vlakfontein) figures could be seen making for the horses.

Nearer still, and across a spruit, and they were in among the dazed Boers, those who had not been able to jump on a horse and get away throwing up their hands and surrendering.

On the right Major Gilbert came upon a donga in which Field Cornet du Toit and a number of Boers were sleeping. These rolled out of their blankets, and started firing, wounding two men.[23] The advancing Company was checked by a wire fence, and there was an awkward moment till the wire was cut; then the donga was taken, and the Field Cornet and his men surrendered. A desultory fire was kept up for a short time from a kopje on the extreme right, but soon ceased.

All the Boers had now either got away towards Jagersfontein, or been taken prisoners. Two companies were sent on towards the Jagersfontein hills; but there was no chance of stopping the retreating Boers, and the companies soon returned to Vlakfontein. Heaps of rifles, saddles, bandoliers and other equipment were brought in and piled against the verandah of the farmhouse, the Colonel and the other officers a.s.sembled on the verandah, the horses were picketed in lines in front of the house, the men started to brew their coffee over little fires, and a general air of cheerful satisfaction pervaded the place; for it had been a very successful raid. Besides twenty-eight prisoners, the column had taken 52 rifles, 78 bandoliers, 2,500 rounds of ammunition, 105 horses, 96 saddles, 130 blankets, 25 cloaks and 8 bags of wheat.

One shadow however fell upon the day. One of the Boers taken was in a complete suit of Khaki, regimental badges, slouch hat and all. Too many British had been killed, deceived by a British uniform upon a Boer, for it to be possible to be lenient: and he was accordingly tried by Court Martial, and shot in the evening.

Companies were sent out in the afternoon to search adjoining hills and kloofs; no Boers however had remained within reach. In the afternoon the explosion of Mauser cartridges which were being destroyed by burning sounded to those who had not been warned like a counter-attack, and caused a momentary sensation.

It was thought very probable that the Boers would rally and try to take their revenge, and with the first light of Christmas morning the column stood to arms, and waited. Nothing occurred, however, until soon after sunrise, when guns were heard from the south. Col. du Moulin started off as soon as possible in that direction, and trekked through the long midsummer morning. Very hot and dusty, the column arrived about mid-day at Fauresmith, without, however, having come across anything more aggressive than a swarm of locusts, many miles in length.

The guns had been those of Col. Hamilton, who, with Major Driscoll, was co-operating with Col. du Moulin. Col. Hamilton had surprised a commando at dawn that morning, taken fifteen of them and chased the remainder, but in turn got his own baggage cut off at Kok's Kraal by a party of 150 who slipped behind him. A number of his wagons were looted and burned.

Fauresmith was a deserted town (three streets of tin-roofed houses and a market place) lying at the foot of a high, boldly-shaped hill: the column camped outside, and soon parties were making their way in to explore.

At the entrance to the town was a spring running freely. The water was clear, not muddy; cold, not tepid; it did not smell; there was plenty of it. The explorers filled themselves, and pa.s.sed on.