COLENSO AND SPION KOP FIGHTS.
Eight days after my commando had been stationed in my new position
under General Erasmus, I received instructions to march to
Potgietersdrift, on the Upper Tugela, near Spion Kop, and there to put
myself at Andries Cronje's disposal. This gentleman was then a general
in the Orange Free State Army, and although a very venerable looking
person, was not very successful as a commander. Up to the 14th of
December, 1899, no noteworthy incident took place, and nothing was
done but a little desultory scouting along the Tugela, and the digging
of trenches.
At last came the welcome order summoning us to action; and we were
bidden to march on Colenso Heights with 200 men to fill up the ranks,
as a fight was imminent. We left under General Cronje and arrived the
next morning at daybreak, and a few hours after began the battle now
known to the world as the Battle of Colenso (15th December, 1899).
I afterwards heard that the commandos under General Cronje were to
cross the river and attack the enemy's left flank. This did not
happen, as the greatest confusion prevailed owing to the various
contradictory orders given by the generals. For instance, I myself
received four contradictory orders from four generals within the space
of ten minutes. I, however, took the initiative in moving my men up to
the river to attempt the capture of a battery of guns on the enemy's
left flank which had been left unprotected, as was the case with the
ten guns which fell into our hands later in the day. I had approached
within 1,400 paces of the enemy, and my burghers were following close
behind me when an adjutant from General Botha (accompanied by a
gentleman named C. Fourie, who was then also parading as a general)
galloped up to us and ordered us at once to join the Ermelo commando,
which was said to be too weak to resist the attacks of the enemy. We
hurried thither as quickly as we could round the rear of the fighting
line, where we were obliged to off-saddle and walk up to the position
of the Ermelo burghers. This was no easy task; the battle was now in
full swing, and the enemy's shells were bursting in dozens around us,
and in the burning sun we had to run some miles.
When we arrived at our destination Mr. Fourie (the pseudo general) and
his adjutant could nowhere be found. As to the Ermelo burghers, they
said they were quite comfortable, and had asked for no assistance.
Not a single shell had reached them, for a clump of aloe trees stood a
hundred yards away, which the English presumably had taken for Boers,
judging by the terrific bombardment these trees were being subjected
to.
[Illustration: Along the Tugela--Coming suddenly upon an English
Outpost.]
By this time the attack was repulsed, and General Buller was in full
retreat to Chieveley, though our commando had been unable to take an
active part in the fighting, at which we were greatly disappointed.
It is much to be regretted that the retreat of the enemy was not
followed up at once. Had this been done, the campaign in Natal would
have taken an entirely different aspect, and very probably would have
been attended by a more favourable conclusion. I consider myself far
from a prophet, but this I know; and if we had then and on subsequent
occasions followed up our successes, the result of the Campaign would
have been far more satisfactory to us.
After I had assisted in bringing away through the river the guns we
had taken, and seen to other matters which required my immediate
attention, I was ordered to remain with the Ermelo commando at
Colenso, near Toomdrift, and to await there further instructions.
A few weeks of inactivity followed, the English sending us each day a
few samples of their shells from their 4.7 Naval guns. Unfortunately,
our guns were of much smaller calibre, and we could send them no
suitable reply. As a rule we would lie in the trenches, and a burgher
would be on the look-out. So soon as he saw the flash of an English
gun, he would cry out; "There's a shell," and we then sought cover, so
that the enemy seldom succeeded in harming us.
One day one of these big shells fell amongst a group of fourteen
burghers who were at dinner. The shell struck a sharp rock, which it
splintered into fragments, and was emitting its yellow lyddite; but,
fortunately, the fuse refused to burn, and the shell did not explode,
so we had a narrow escape that day from a small catastrophe.
My laager had been at Potgietersdrift all this time, and for the time
being we were deprived of our tents. We were not sorry, therefore,
when we were ordered to leave Colenso and to return to our camp.
A few days after we were told off to take up a position at the
junction of the Little and the Big Tugela, between Spion Kop and
Colenso. Here we celebrated our first Christmas in the field; our
friends at Johannesburg had sent us a quantity of presents by means of
a friend, Attorney Raaff, comprising cakes, cigars, cigarettes,
tobacco and other luxuries. Along this part of the Tugela we found a
fair quantity of vegetables, and poultry, and as their respective
owners had fled we were unable to pay for what we had. We were
obliged, therefore, to "borrow" all these things for the banquet
befitting to the occasion.
But General Buller had not quite finished with us yet. He marched on
Spion Kop, but with the exception of a feint attack nothing of
importance happened then. One day I went across the river with a
patrol to discover what the enemy was doing, when we suddenly came
across nine English spies, who fled as soon as they saw us. We
galloped after them, trying to cut them off from the main body, which
was at a little distance away from us, and would no doubt have
overtaken them, but, riding at a breakneck speed over a mountain
ridge, we found ourselves suddenly confronted with a strong English
mounted corps, apparently engaged in drilling. We were only 500 paces
away from them, and we jumped off our horses, and opened fire. But
there were only a dozen of us, and the enemy soon began sending us a
few shells, and prepared to attack us with their whole force. About a
hundred mounted men, with horses in the best of condition, set off to
pursue us.
We were obliged to ride back by the same path we had come by, which
was fortunate for us, as we knew the way and could ride through
crevices and dongas without any hesitation. In this way we soon gave
our pursuers the slip.
Buller's forces seemed at first to have the intention of forcing their
way through near Potgietersdrift, and they took possession of all the
"randts" on their side of the river, causing us to strengthen the
position on our side. We thus had to shift our commando again to
Potgietersdrift, where we soon had the enemy's Naval guns playing on
our positions. This continued day and night for a whole week.
It seemed as if General Buller were determined to annihilate all the
Boers with his lyddite shells, so as to enable the soldiers to walk at
their leisure to the release of Ladysmith. Certainly we suffered
considerably from lyddite fumes.
The British next made a feint attack near Potgietersdrift, advancing
with a great clamour till they had come within 2,000 paces of us,
where they occupied various "randts" and kopjes, always under cover of
their artillery. Once they came a little too close to our positions,
and we suddenly opened fire on them. The result was that their
ambulance waggons were seen to become very busy driving backwards and
forwards.
This "feint," however, was only made in order to divert our attention,
while Buller was concentrating his troops and guns on Spion Kop. The
ruse succeeded to a large extent, and on the 21st January the
memorable battle of Spion Kop (near the Upper Tugela) began.
General Warren, who, I believe, was in command here, had ordered
another "feint" attack from the extreme right wing. General Cronje and
the Free Staters had taken up a position at Spion Kop, assisted by the
commandos of General Erasmus and Schalk Burger.
The fight lasted the whole of that day and the next, and became more
and more fierce. Luckily General Botha appeared on the scene in time,
and re-arranged matters so well and with so much energy that the enemy
found itself well employed, and was kept in check at all points.
I had been ordered to defend the position at Potgietersdrift, but the
fighting round Spion Kop became so serious that I was obliged to send
up a field cornet with his men as a reinforcement, which was soon
followed by a second contingent, making altogether 200 Johannesburgers
in the fight, of whom nine were killed and 18 wounded. The enemy had
reached the top of the "kop" on the evening of the second day of the
fight, not, however, without having sustained considerable losses. At
this juncture one of our generals felt so disheartened that he sent
away his carts, and himself left the battlefield.
But General Botha kept his ground like a man, surrounded by the
faithful little band who had already borne the brunt of this important
battle. And one can imagine our delight when next morning we found
that the English had retreated, leaving that immense battlefield,
strewn with hundreds of dead and wounded, in our hands.
"What made them leave so suddenly last night," was the question we
asked each other then, and which remains unanswered to this day.
General Warren has stated that the cause of his departure was the want
of water, but I can hardly credit that statement, as water could be
obtained all the way to the top of Spion Kop; and even had it been
wanting it is not likely that after a sacrifice of 1,200 to 1,300
lives the position would have been abandoned on this account alone.
Our victory was undoubtedly a fluke.