THE NEW YEAR--JANUARY 1902
TRANSVAAL (EAST)
The troops of General Botha, weakened and disintegrated, still
continued a species of opposition which was met by the persistent
activity of the British commanders. The blockhouse system developed,
enclosing vast areas which were first carefully swept by the British
troops, and subsequently occupied by a network of Constabulary Posts.
With the continued extension of the blockhouse lines, the strain of
night duty, and the arduous labours of constructing fences, trenches,
and ramparts, fell heavily on the lessening garrisons of individual
blockhouses. Yet these overworked, fatigued troops never failed to
respond with spirit and cheerfulness to every fresh call made upon
them.
General B. Hamilton, after the capture of General Erasmus, returned to
Ermelo. Knowing that a Boer laager was located in his vicinity, he
directed Colonel Wing to make a night raid upon Witbank, some
twenty-two miles to north-west of him. Simultaneously Colonel
Mackenzie arranged a descent on the same objective from the
neighbourhood of Carolina--a co-operative movement which acted
splendidly and resulted in the capture of 42 prisoners, including
Major Wolmarans, Captain Wolmarans, and Lieutenant Malan (all of the
Staats Artillery), together with ammunition and camp equipment. Not
completely satisfied with the haul, and suspecting that the Boers,
scattered for the nonce, would return to their old haunt, General
Hamilton, with great wiliness, planned a second night raid in the same
locality. His surmises proved correct. The stragglers had returned,
but, luckily for them, their outlying pickets gave the alarm in time,
and enabled them to escape in hot haste. They secured a fair start,
and though a spirited chase after flying burghers was carried on for
seven miles, some of them managed to get off. Others were ridden down,
and 32 prisoners were secured. Mules, cattle, and vehicles swelled the
bag. On the 18th General Hamilton made a third night expedition in
deplorable weather and over atrocious ground, and captured 27
prisoners. And yet another dash (on the 24th) from Ermelo towards
Boschmansfontein put him in possession of twelve more of the enemy.
The greatest triumph was achieved on the 26th, Colonel Wools-Sampson
and his Intelligence Staff being mainly instrumental in procuring the
success of the affair. Picked men and horses were drawn from the
columns under General Spens, Colonels Allenby, Mackenzie, and Stewart.
These, in ignorance till the last moment of the nature of their
mission, were suddenly directed on Tafel Kop (ten miles north-west of
Ermelo). It was now found that the Boer tracks forked in two, and
therefore the force divided. General B. Hamilton's party proceeded one
way in the pouring rain, and sure enough found a huge laager at
Nelspan. This they charged grandly, and in a few moments a swarm of
Boers fled through the tempest, followed for miles by the troops with
ardour little damped by the nature of the weather. The other way was
taken by a party under Major Pratt (Durham Light Infantry), who drove
the Boers towards the Ermelo-Standerton line of blockhouses, where the
luckless Dutchmen were forced to surrender. Other bands were also run
to earth, and in all 82 prisoners--among them Field-Cornet de
Villiers, Corporal de Jager (Staats Artillery), and Mr. de Jager,
formerly of the First Volksraad--were the reward of this brilliant
enterprise. General Hamilton by these dashing exploits (during the
last his troops covered fifty-two miles in twenty-four hours) had
considerably unnerved the enemy, who now, both by night and by day,
lived on tenter-hooks, and consequently evaded as much as possible all
contact with the British troops. In his operations the General was
materially assisted by the activities of the columns under General
Plumer, Colonels Pulteney and Colville, who effectually barred all
exits to the south, and kept the enemy within range of General B.
Hamilton's schemes. General Plumer scored on the 25th. Then, 24
prisoners were hemmed in and taken in the kloofs between Spitz Kop and
Castrols Nek. Colonel Fry (West Yorkshire Regiment) seized thirty more
straggling burghers who had run their heads against the Piet
Retief-Wakkerstroom blockhouse line. Colonel Mackenzie was meanwhile
guarding the northern avenues of escape leading across the Delagoa
Railway in order to frustrate plans for a junction between Botha and
Viljoen, but the last ruffian remained north of the railway at a farm
between Boschoek and Kruger's Post, where, on the 25th, he was
cleverly captured by a detachment of the Royal Irish under Major Orr.
Thus the enemy lost one of his most prominent and trusted leaders, one
who nursed a supreme hatred for the British. The weather continued
deplorable--fogs, mist, and incessant rain baulked the best
enterprises of the troops--but on the 21st 300 Boers were encountered
by Colonels Park and Urmston, and in spite of the elements some
captures were made. On the 24th, near Houtenbek, another guerilla
gang, with whom the Boer Government was said to be, was encountered.
But this will-o'-the-wisp disappeared at the first shot into the
broken country north of Roosenekal. January closed with the departure
from Lydenburg of Colonel Urmston, who escorted General B. Viljoen and
other prisoners to the railway at Machadodorp.
Early in February, east of Springs, the columns under General G.
Hamilton and Colonel Wing made an important haul. The Boers had broken
back to the west of the constabulary posts, and clung tenaciously to
their ground--most probably in fear of facing, in their efforts to
escape, the fire-swept region of the blockhouse lines. They were
exceedingly wary, and the reward of very hard labour on the part of
the British columns was meagre until the 3rd February, when, at
Grootpan, 31 burghers with their transport were captured, and 3
killed.
TRANSVAAL (NORTH)
Operations here were handicapped by horse sickness. Colonel
Colenbrander, having moved to the south, gave General Beyers the
leisure to conceive a neat little plan for an attack on Pietersburg,
and the simultaneous removal of such peaceably-minded burghers as
occupied the refuge camp there. The attack on the town began at 4.20
A.M. on the 24th January, and continued hotly for some twenty minutes,
after which Beyers was repulsed with the loss of three of his band,
while three others lay dangerously wounded within 300 yards of the
defence. The Dutchman succeeded under cover of darkness, however, in
getting away a certain number of "neutral" burghers, who doubtless
were acting in collusion with him. In the engagement the Volunteer
Town Guard, who had turned out to the assistance of the troops,
displayed grit and steadiness of a remarkable order. His attack
having failed, Beyers retired to the south-east, but some eleven of
his band were caught on the 6th of February by Major Vallancey and a
small force, hunting from Pietersburg.
TRANSVAAL (WEST)
Colonel Colenbrander was now assisting (with Lord Methuen and Colonel
Hickie) in the clearance of the western regions. Of Lord Methuen's
raids and repeated successes it would be tedious to write, though each
was carried out at the risk of life and limb, and with consummate dash
and endurance. On the 16th of January a Free State laager, with
twenty-four burghers, and mules, horses, carts, cattle, and waggons,
was captured on the way from Vryburg to Lichtenburg. Near here, while
a detachment of Yeomanry were reconnoitring, the Boers got their
revenge. Celliers, with 200 men, pounced on the small British party,
who, though they fought bravely, had 40 of their number captured: 8
were killed and 5 wounded. On the 30th, after a brisk engagement,
Celliers was sent flying to the west by Lord Methuen, who returned to
Klerksdorp on the 1st of February. His troops after a rest proceeded,
under Colonel Von Donop, towards Wolmaranstad. On the way they
effected the capture of 36 prisoners, 49 horses, 25 waggons, and 15
Cape carts by means of a neatly-contrived surprise for Potgieter, who
narrowly escaped falling into their hands. By night they surrounded
his laager, which was found at Rhenoster Spruit, and also an adjacent
farm, and at dawn on the 8th came into possession of the prizes
already enumerated.
Colonel Kekewich spent his time in night raids of the same nature,
some profitable, some disappointing. Boers were growing scarce as a
natural consequence of the effective operations for netting them. In
February a smart expedition was arranged for the capture of Delarey,
which failed in its main object, but was yet highly successful in
other ways. Starting from Leeuwfontein on the 4th of February, Major
Leader, with mounted men (from Kekewich's and Hickie's columns),
proceeded north by night, taking a circuitous route towards Roodepan
(fifteen miles north-east of Lichtenburg), where Delarey was reported
to be. After the capture of a Boer piquet, he learnt that the Dutch
general had moved his camp, but the laager of Commandant Sarel Albert
was in the vicinity. A bird in the hand being worth two in the bush,
this laager was surrounded just before daybreak. With a rush and a
roar the Scottish Horse dashed on the Dutchmen, causing a scene of
dire tumult, which was enhanced by the stampeding of the Boer horses,
who had become alarmed at the fire of the British pom-pom. Brilliantly
the attacking force, inspired by the gallant major and his spirited
subalterns, Lawless, Selby, and Wallace, fought for their prize, and
in the end they had the satisfaction of securing Sarel himself, with
his adjutant, Landdrost Potgieter, Field-Cornets Jan du Plessis and
Jan du Toit, two assistant Field-Cornets, and ten corporals. They took
in all 132 prisoners (11 wounded), 130 rifles, 2800 rounds of
ammunition, with horses, mules, and cattle in great number. Unhappily
the gallant Scottish Horse paid for its triumph. Two officers and six
men were wounded.
ORANGE RIVER COLONY
General Elliot and his troops spent the early part of the new year in
chases around Reitz after De Wet, but that skilful personage smartly
evaded them. In spite of all efforts it was impossible to wedge him
against either the Drakensberg or the Harrismith-Bethlehem
blockhouses. Colonel de Lisle, at Kaffir Kop, to the west of Lindley
and Bethlehem, kept an eye on Prinsloo, who threatened the safety of
the blockhouses in course of construction. Colonel Byng's force was
constantly engaged with parties of the enemy between Lindley and
Reitz, while Colonel Rimington operated in the country south of
Frankfort. (At Groothoop, on the 31st of January, he performed useful
work by capturing a convoy and twenty-two prisoners, with their
"effects.") Colonel Dawkins, with his own column and two regiments of
Imperial Light Horse, joined Colonel Rawlinson (who had moved from
Standerton after De Wet), and marched south on the left of Colonel
Rimington's line of advance. On the 29th Colonel Rawlinson, with a
portion of his force, doubled back from near Kaffirstad to Achalia
(near the junction of Cornelis and Wilge Rivers), and at dawn on the
30th pounced on one of Mamie Botha's laagers. This night march and
raid was a feat of remarkable endurance and dash, for the fighting
force in the previous thirty-four hours had marched sixty-seven miles,
the 2nd Battalion Mounted Infantry doing eighty-two miles in the same
interval of time! The captures amounted to 11 prisoners, 120 horses,
2900 cattle, 20 waggons, and 25 carts.
A BIG TRAP FOR DE WET
Meanwhile wheels within wheels of the military machine were revolving,
and preparing a carefully arranged plan for the enclosing of De Wet
should he, on approach of the columns, which were pressing him towards
the Harrismith blockhouses, endeavour to break back to the west.
Troops were quietly being passed to east and south-east of him in
readiness for a general sweep to the west. It was hoped by the
maintenance of perpetual close contact, with patrols and outposts
along the whole front of the British line, to drive the smart Dutchman
into the strongly held angle formed by the Wolvehoek-Kroonstad railway
and the Wolvehoek-Heilbron-Frankfort blockhouse line. De Wet, as was
expected, did break back. He ran within the cordon. He appeared to be
doomed. He was first promptly pursued on the night of the 2nd of
February by Colonel Byng, who on Liebenberg's Vlei (west of Reitz) had
lain in waiting for him. Quickly flew the British troops in pursuit,
and some fifteen miles to the east they came upon a convoy of De Wet's
commando. The New Zealand and Queensland Imperial Bushmen brilliantly
dashed into the rearguard, while the South African Light Horse as
gallantly charged the centre, and with complete success. Such of the
enemy as escaped tore off westwards, but twenty-six prisoners (among
them Captain Muller, O.F.S. Artillery, Captain Villiers, and
Field-Cornet Wessels, who was mortally wounded) fell into our hands.
Many vehicles, cattle, horses, and mules were secured, and also a
15-pounder gun and two pom-poms. Nine Boers were killed and eight
wounded in this brilliant engagement, which was a tug-of-war
creditable to the stamina of both parties. De Wet himself had yet to
be dealt with. Now began the working of the great plan for his
capture. By the 5th of February our columns formed a continuous line
of men (a movable chain of outposts in fact) extending along the west
bank of Leibenberg's Vlei from Frankfort as far south as Fanny's Home
and thence to Kaffir Kop (west of Lindley). Rawlinson's men on the
right were flanked along the Frankfort-Heilbron blockhouse line by the
troops under Wilson (Kitchener's Fighting Scouts) and Keir (Royal
Artillery), and thence, in order from right to left, came columns
under Rimington, De Lisle, and Major Fanshawe. From the south,
Marshall and Holmes (detached from Colonel Knox's command) moved up
to the Lindley-Kroonstad line, gradually connecting General Elliot's
left with the Kroonstad railway line. This, from Kroonstad to
Wolvehoek, had been specially strengthened for the occasion. In
addition to the normal garrisons, the 2nd Battalion Seaforths were
distributed along the line. Four armoured trains were also in
readiness. The Wolvehoek-Heilbron branch line had, moreover, been
reinforced by the 2nd Battalion Leinster Regiment and three armoured
trains. At Wolvehoek itself General Cunningham held the 28th Mounted
Infantry in readiness to pursue such marauders as might be driven
across the railway!
Here was a gigantic chain--every link firmly united to its fellow! On
the 6th it began to move west. By night a British line was held from
Holland, on the Heilbron-Frankfort blockhouse line, to Doornkloop, on
the Kroonstad-Lindley line. This gigantic line was held by entrenched
outposts fifty yards apart. Fires were lit in advance, to give the
effect of a double position. Men were pushed along the flanking
blockhouse line to watch for attempts to break through. Nothing could
be more complete, and at every post were British eyes on the alert and
British hearts beating with anxiety lest their part in the programme
should be weakly performed.
At daybreak a further general advance was made. The line now reached
the Heilbron-Kroonstad road, the left moving up, joined at America
Siding on to the Kroonstad-Wolvehoek blockhouse line. The last night's
arrangements were repeated, and every officer and man in the force
remained on outpost duty. The piquets were constantly attacked, and
Boers, struggling to escape and caught in the toils, caused a
perpetual ripple of bullets to break the stillness of the night. In
one case there was a desperate rush at the Heilbron line of
blockhouses, which was bravely repulsed. The Boers lost ten killed and
several wounded. At this time De Wet--finding himself cornered as it
were--ordered his men in small parties to make each, independently,
his dash for safety, leaving him and a few others to trust to their
native wit for a means of escape. His well-known sagacity came to his
aid. Riding with an immense herd of cattle, he made for
Kroonstad-Lindley blockhouse line. Here, in the intense darkness, he
gathered himself together for a desperate plunge. Racing full speed in
the midst of the herd, he charged the line, breaking the wire
entanglements and simply sweeping every obstacle before him by sheer
weight of the impact! Thus he got away. Three of his followers were
killed, and the mob of horses and cattle that had shielded him was
shot--but his end was achieved! He had outwitted the British. He was
free.
But though his freedom as an individual was maintained, the loss to
his party and the wreck of his hopes were considerable. Two hundred
and eighty-five of his band were either killed, wounded, or prisoners,
the last having been gleaned from among the rushes and reeds in the
bed of the Rhenoster, where they had sought refuge after carefully
divesting themselves of compromising articles of kharki uniform. These
were found lying on the banks!
To the west of the railway, Colonel Rochfort spent January and
February in tussling with commandos under Nieuwhoudt and Pretorius. On
the 26th of January, Major Driscoll came in touch with the former
leader. He pursued him to the Boshof road, about eight miles north of
the Modder, and in a short, sharp engagement secured seventeen
prisoners (including Field-Cornets Venter and Grobelaar), some
waggons, carts, and riding horses. Nieuwhoudt, however, doubled back
and joined Pretorius and 150 burghers, and then prepared to attack
Colonel Du Moulin's column, which had been searching for him in the
Jagersfontein region. On the 27th, Du Moulin's force was bivouacked on
the south bank of the Riet, at Abraham's Kraal. The Dutchmen crossed
the Riet from the north and rushed the piquet that was holding a
kopje, behind which the camp was sheltered. Once in possession of this
commanding point their success seemed assured. At the first sound of
alarm Du Moulin, a brilliant leader who had done incessant and
excellent service, dashed to repel the attack, and was instantly shot.
Many of his men dropped by his side. Major Gilbert (Sussex Regiment)
assuming command, set to work to repulse the enemy, and by 1.45 A.M.
had so effectively reoccupied the defences that a second bold attempt
on the part of the guerillas to carry a position held by one of the
piquets proved a complete failure. But, besides the valiant Colonel,
ten of our men were killed and six wounded in the hardly-fought
engagement.
Colonel Sitwell spent January in covering the passage of convoys in
the Kimberley district. This, always a risky undertaking, on the 13th
of January became more exciting than pleasant. De Villiers with 400
rebels held an entrenched position midway between Campbell and
Griquatown, completely commanding the line of advance. Despite the
energy and dash of the 22nd Battalion Mounted Infantry, who managed to
establish themselves within a comparatively short distance of the
defences, the foe was not to be routed. Finally on the scene came a
small detachment of the Munster Fusiliers, and these, by a
well-executed bayonet charge, carried the position. The engagement
cost us 1 officer and 5 men killed, and 6 men wounded. The Boer loss
was great, but they succeeded in removing their wounded, leaving 50
dead horses and 18 live ones behind them.
CAPE COLONY
The operations of the raiders were gradually becoming confined to the
comparatively waterless and inaccessible districts where, though
politically less menacing, they were, in matters of transport and
supply, decidedly obnoxious. The columns at this time were chiefly
employed in covering the Lambert's Bay-Victoria Road blockhouse line,
and in escorting convoys to supply depots now being established at
Calvinia, Williston, Fraserburg, and Carnarvon.