DEFEATED AT ELANDSLAAGTE.
In the grey dawn of the 21st of October a number of scouts I had
despatched overnight in the direction of Ladysmith returned with the
tidings that "the khakis were coming." "Where are they, and how many
are there of them?" I asked. "Commandant," the chief scout replied, "I
don't know much about these things, but I should think that the
English number quite a thousand mounted men, and they have guns, and
they have already passed Modderspruit." To us amateur soldiers this
report was by no means reassuring, and I confess I hoped fervently
that the English might stay away for some little time longer.
It was at sunrise that the first shot I heard in this war was fired.
Presently the men we dreaded were visible on the ridges of hills south
of the little red railway station at Elandslaagte. Some of my men
hailed the coming fight with delight; others, more experienced in the
art of war, turned deadly pale. That is how the Boers felt in their
first battle. The awkward way in which many of my men sought cover,
demonstrated at once how inexperienced in warfare we youngsters were.
We started with our guns and tried a little experimental shooting. The
second and third shots appeared to be effective; at any rate, as far
as we could judge, they seemed to disturb the equanimity of the
advancing troops. I saw an ammunition cart deprived of its team and
generally smashed.
The British guns appeared to be of very small calibre indeed.
Certainly they failed to reach us, and all the harm they did was to
send a shell through a Boer ambulance within the range of fire. This
shot was, I afterwards ascertained, purely accidental. When the
British found that we too, strange to say, had guns, and, what is
more, knew how to use them, they retired towards Ladysmith. But this
was merely a ruse; they had gone back to fetch more. Still, though it
was a ruse, we were cleverly deceived by it, and while we were
off-saddling and preparing the mid-day meal they were arranging a new
and more formidable attack. From the Modderspruit siding they were
pouring troops brought down by rail, and although we had a splendid
chance of shelling the newcomers from the high kopje we occupied,
General Kock, who was in supreme command of our corps, for some reason
which has never been explained, refused to permit us to fire upon
them. I went to General Kock and pleaded with him, but he was adamant.
This was a bitter disappointment to me, but I consoled myself with the
thought that the General was much older than myself, and had been
fighting since he was a baby. I therefore presumed he knew better.
Possibly if we younger commanders had had more authority in the
earlier stages of the war, and had had less to deal with arrogant and
stupid old men, we should have reached Durban and Cape Town.
I must here again confess that none of my men displayed any of the
martial determination with which they had so buoyantly proceeded from
Johannesburg. To put it bluntly, some of them were "footing" it and
the English cavalry, taking advantage of this, were rapidly
outflanking them. The British tactics were plain enough. General
French had placed his infantry in the centre with three field
batteries (fifteen pounders), while his cavalry, with Maxims,
encompassed our right and left. He was forming a crescent, with the
obvious purpose of turning our position with his right and left wing.
When charging at the close of the attack the cavalry, which consisted
mainly of lancers, were on both our flanks, and completely prevented
our retreat. It was not easy to estimate the number of our assailant's
forces. Judging roughly, I calculated they numbered between 5,000 and
6,000, while we were 800 all told, and our artillery consisted merely
of two Nordenfeldt guns with shell, and no grape shot.
The British certainly meant business that day. It was the baptismal
fire of the Imperial Light Horse, a corps principally composed of
Johannesburgers, who were politically and racially our bitter enemies.
And what was more unfortunate, our guns were so much exposed that
they were soon silenced. For a long time we did our best to keep our
opponents at bay, but they came in crushing numbers, and speedily dead
and maimed burghers covered the veldt. Then the Gordon Highlanders and
the other infantry detachments commenced to storm our positions. We
got them well within the range of our rifle fire, and made our
presence felt; but they kept pushing on with splendid determination
and indomitable pluck, though their ranks were being decimated before
our very eyes.
This was the first, as it was the last time in the War that I heard a
British band playing to cheer attacking "Tommies." I believe it used
to be a British war custom to rouse martial instincts with lively
music, but something must have gone wrong with the works in this War,
there must have occurred a rift in the lute, for ever after this first
battle of Elandslaagte the British abandoned flags, banners, and bands
and other quite unnecessary furniture.
About half an hour before sunset, the enemy had come up close to our
positions and on all sides a terrible battle raged. To keep them back
was now completely out of the question. They had forced their way
between a kloof, and while rushing up with my men towards them, my
rifle was smashed by a bullet. A wounded burgher handed me his and I
joined Field-Cornet Peter Joubert who, with seven other burghers, was
defending the kloof. We poured a heavy fire into the British, but they
were not to be shaken off. Again and again they rushed up in
irresistible strength, gallantly encouraged by their brave officers.
Poor Field-Cornet Joubert perished at this point.
When the sun had set and the awful scene was enveloped in darkness
there was a dreadful spectacle of maimed Germans, Hollanders,
Frenchmen, Irishmen, Americans, and Boers lying on the veldt. The
groans of the wounded were heartrending; the dead could no longer
speak. Another charge, and the British, encouraged by their success,
had taken our last position, guns and all. My only resource now was to
flee, and the battle of Elandslaagte was a thing of the past.