RISKING JOUBERT'S ANGER.
After the above unpleasant but fairly successful interview with our
Commander-in-Chief, I left the men I had gathered round me in charge
of a field-cornet, and proceeded by train to Newcastle to collect the
scattered remnants of my burghers, and to obtain mules and waggons for
my convoy. For, as I have previously stated, it was at Newcastle we
had left all our commissariat-waggons and draught cattle under a
strong escort. On arrival I summoned the burghers together, and
addressing them in a few words, pointed out that we should, so soon as
possible, resume the march, in order to reach the fighting line
without delay, and there retrieve the pride and honour of our
commando.
"Our beloved country," I said, "as well as our dead, wounded and
missing comrades, require us not to lose courage at this first
reverse, but to continue the righteous struggle even against
overwhelming odds," and so on, in this strain.
I honestly cannot understand why we should have been charged with
cowardice at the battle of Elandslaagte, although many of us seemed to
apprehend that this would be the case. We had made a good fight of it,
but overwhelmed by an organised force of disciplined men, eight or ten
times our number, we had been vanquished, and the British were the
first to admit that we had manfully and honourably defended our
positions. To put a wrong construction on our defeat was a libel on
all who had bravely fought the fight, and I resented it. There are
such things as the fortunes of war, and as only one side can win, it
cannot always be the same. However, I soon discovered that a small
number of our burghers did not seem inclined to join in the
prolongation of the struggle. To have forced them to rejoin us would
have served no purpose, so I thought the best policy would be to send
them home on furlough until they had recovered their spirits and
their courage. No doubt the scorn and derision to which they would be
subjected by their wives and sisters would soon induce them to take up
arms again and to fulfil the duties their country required. I
therefore requested those who had neither the courage nor the
inclination to return to the front to fall out, and about thirty men
fell back, bowing their heads in shame. They were jeered at and
chaffed by their fellows, the majority of whom had elected to proceed.
But the shock of Elandslaagte had been too much for the weaker
brethren, who seemed deaf to every argument, and only wanted to go
home. I gave each of these a pass to proceed by rail to Johannesburg,
which read as follows:--
"Permit..................................... to go to
Johannesburg on account of cowardice, at Government's
expense."
They put the permit in their pockets without suspecting its contents,
and departed with their kit to the station to catch the first
available train.
The reader will now have formed an idea of the disastrous moral effect
of this defeat, and the subsequent difficulty of getting a commando up
to its original fighting strength. But in spite of this I am proud to
say that by far the greater number of the Johannesburgers were
gathered round me and prepared to march to meet the enemy once more.
My trap and all its contents had been captured by the enemy at
Elandslaagte, and I found it necessary to obtain new outfits, &c., at
Newcastle. This was no easy matter, as some of the storekeepers had
moved the greater part of their goods to a safer place, while some
commandos had appropriated most of the remainder. What was left had
been commandeered by Mr. J. Moodie, a favourite of General Joubert,
who was posing there as Resident Justice of the Peace; and he did not
feel inclined to let any of these goods out of his possession. By
alternately buying and looting, or in other words stealing, I managed
to get an outfit by the next morning, and at break of day we left for
Dannhauser Station, arriving there the same evening without further
noteworthy incident.
Next day, when the Johannesburg corps turned out, we numbered 485
mounted men, all fully equipped. On arrival at Glencoe Station I
received a telegram from General Joubert informing me that he had
defeated the enemy at Nicholson's Nek near Ladysmith that day (October
30, 1899) taking 1,300 prisoners, who would arrive at Glencoe the
following morning. He desired me to conduct them to Pretoria under a
strong escort. What a flattering order! To conduct prisoners-of-war,
taken by other burghers! Were we then fit for nothing but police duty?
However, orders have to be obeyed, so I sent one of my officers with
40 men to take the prisoners to Pretoria, and reported to the
Commandant-General by telegram that his order had been executed, also
asking for instructions as to where I was to proceed with my commando.
The reply I received was as follows:--
"Pitch your camp near Dundee, and maintain law and order in the
Province, also aid the Justice of the Peace in forwarding captured
goods, ammunition, provisions, etc., to Pretoria, and see that you are
not attacked a second time."
This was more than flesh and blood could bear; more than a "white man"
could stand. It was not less than a personal insult, which I deeply
resented. Evidently my chief had resolved to keep us in the
background; he would not trust our commando in the fighting line. In
short, he would not keep his word and give us another chance to recoup
our losses.
I had, however, made up my mind, and ordered the commando to march to
Ladysmith. If the General would not have me at the front I should
cease to be an officer. And, although I had no friends of influence
who could help me I resolved to take the bull by the horns, and leave
the rest to fate.
On the 1st November, 1899, we reached the main army near Ladysmith,
and I went at once to tell General Joubert in person that my men
wanted to fight, and not to play policemen in the rear of the army.
Having given the order to dismount I proceeded to Joubert's tent,
walked in with as much boldness as I could muster, and saluted the
General, who was fortunately alone. I at once opened my case, telling
him how unfair it was to keep us in the rear, and that the burghers
were loudly protesting against such treatment. This plea was generally
used throughout the campaign when an officer required something to be
granted him. At first the old General was very wrathful. He said I had
disobeyed his orders and that he had a mind to have me shot for breach
of discipline. However, after much storming in his fine bass voice, he
grew calmer, and in stentorian tones ordered me for the time being to
join General Schalk Burger, who was operating near Lombard's Kop in
the siege of Ladysmith.
That same evening I arrived there with my commando and reported myself
to Lieut-General Burger. One of his adjutants, Mr. Joachim Fourie, who
distinguished himself afterwards on repeated occasions and was killed
in action near his house in the Carolina district, showed me a place
to laager in. We pitched our tents on the same spot where a few days
before Generals White and French had been defeated, and there awaited
developments.
At this place the British, during the battle of Nicholson's Nek, had
hidden a large quantity of rifle and gun ammunition in a hole in the
ground, covering it up with grass, which gave it the appearance of a
heap of rubbish. One of the burghers who feared this would be
injurious to the health of our men in camp, set the grass on fire, and
this soon penetrated to the ammunition. A tremendous explosion
occurred, and it seemed as if there were a real battle in progress.
From all sides burghers dashed up on horseback to learn where the
fighting was taking place. General Joubert sent an adjutant to enquire
whether the Johannesburgers were now killing each other for a change,
and why I could not keep my men under better control. I asked this
gentleman to be kind enough to see for himself what was taking place,
and to tell the Commandant-General that I could manage well enough to
keep my men in order, but could not be aware of the exact spot where
the enemy had chosen to hide their ammunition.
Meanwhile, it became daily more evident to me how greatly Joubert
depreciated my commando, and that we would have to behave very well
and fight very bravely to regain his favour. Other commandos also
seemed to have no better opinion, and spoke of us as the laager which
had to run at Elandslaagte, forgetting how even General Meyer's huge
commando had been obliged to retreat in the greatest confusion at
Dundee. If all the details of this Dundee engagement were published it
would be discovered that it was a Boer disaster only second to that of
Elandslaagte.
We were now, however, at any rate at the front. I sent out my outposts
and fixed my positions, which were very far from good; but I decided
to make no complaints. We had resolved to do our very best to
vindicate our honour, and to prove that our accusers had no reason to
call us either cowards or good-for-nothings.