I BECOME A GENERAL.
In our retreat northwards the English did not pursue us. They
contented themselves by fortifying the position we had evacuated
between Donkerhoek and Wonderboompoort. Meantime our commandos
proceeded along the Delagoa Bay Railway until we reached Balmoral
Station, while other little divisions of ours were at Rhenosterkop,
north of Bronkhorst Spruit.
I may state that this general retreat knocked the spirit out of some
of our weaker brethren. Hundreds of Boers rode into Pretoria with the
white flag suspended from their Mauser barrels. In Pretoria there were
many prominent burghers who had readily accepted the new conditions,
and these were employed by the British to induce other Boers within
reach, by manner of all sorts of specious promises, to lay down their
arms. Many more western district Boers quietly returned to their
homes. Luckily, the Boer loves his Mauser too well to part with it,
except on compulsion, and although the majority of these western Boers
handed in their weapons, some retained them.
They retained their weapons by burying them, pacifying the confiding
British officer in charge of the district by handing in rusty and
obsolete Martini-Henris or a venerable blunderbuss which nobody had
used since ancestral Boer shot lions with it in the mediaeval days of
the first great trek. The buried Mausers came in very useful
afterwards.
About this time General Buller entered the Republic from the Natal
side, and marched with his force through the southern districts of
Wakkerstroom, Standerton, and Ermelo. Hundreds of burghers remained on
their farms and handed their weapons to the British. In some
districts, for instance, at Standerton, the commandant and two out of
his three field-cornets surrendered. Thus, not only were some
commandos without officers, but others entirely disappeared from our
army. Still, at the psychological moment a Joshua would appear, and
save the situation, as, for instance, in the Standerton district,
where Assistant-Field-Cornet Brits led a forlorn hope and saved a
whole commando from extinction. The greatest mischief was done by many
of our landdrosts, who, after having surrendered, sent out
communications to officers and burghers exhorting them to come in.
The majority of our Boer officers, however, remained faithful to their
vow, though since the country was partly occupied by the British it
was difficult to get in touch with the Commandant-General or the
Government, and the general demoralisation prevented many officers
from asserting their authority.
Generals Sarel Oosthuizen and H. L. Lemmer, both now deceased, were
sent to the north of Pretoria, to collect the burghers from the
western districts, and to generally rehabilitate their commandos. They
were followed by Assistant-Commandant General J. H. De la Rey and
State Attorney Smuts (our legal adviser). It was at this point,
indeed, that the supreme command of the western districts was assumed
by General De la Rey, who, on his way to the north, attacked and
defeated an English garrison at Selatsnek.
The "reorganisation" of our depleted commandos proceeded very well;
about 95 per cent. of the fighting Boers rejoined, and speedily the
commandos in the western districts had grown to about 7,000 men.
But just a few weeks after his arrival in the West Krugersdorp
district, poor, plucky Sarel Oosthuizen was severely wounded in the
battle of Dwarsvlei, and died of his wounds some time after.
General H. Lemmer, a promising soldier, whom we could ill spare, was
killed soon after while storming Lichtenburg under General De la Rey,
an engagement in which we did not succeed. We had much trouble in
replacing these two brave generals, whose names will live for all time
in the history of the Boer Republics.
It is hardly necessary to dwell on the splendid work done by
Assistant-Commandant-General De la Rey in the western districts.
Commandant-General Botha was also hard worked at this stage, and was
severely taxed reorganising his commandos and filling up the
lamentable vacancies caused by the deaths of Lemmer and Oosthuizen.
I have already pointed out that General De la Rey had taken with him
the remainder of the burghers from the western districts. The
following commandos were now left to us:--Krugersdorp and Germiston,
respectively, under the then Commandants J. Kemp and C. Gravett, and
the Johannesburg police, with some smaller commandos under the four
fighting generals, Douthwaith, Snyman (of Mafeking fame), Liebenberg,
and Du Toit. The last four generals were "sent home" and their
burghers with those of Krugersdorp, Germiston, Johannesburg, Boksburg
and the Mounted Police, were placed under my command, while I myself
was promoted to the rank of General. I had now under me 1,200 men, all
told--a very fair force.
I can hardly describe my feelings on hearing of my promotion to such a
responsible position. For the first time during the War I felt a sort
of trepidation. I had all sorts of misgivings; how should I be able
to properly guard the interests of such a great commando? Had I a
right to do so? Would the burghers be satisfied? It was all very well
to say that they would have to be satisfied, but if they had shown
signs of dissatisfaction I should have felt bound to resign. I am not
in the habit of blinking at facts; they are stern things. What was to
become of me if I had to tender my resignation? I was eager and rash,
like most young officers, for although the prospects of our cause were
not brilliant and our army had suffered some serious reverses, I still
had implicit faith in the future, and above all, in the justice of the
cause for which we were fighting. And I knew, moreover, that the
burghers we now had left with us were determined and firm.
There was only one way open to me: to take the bull by the horns. I
thought it my duty to go the round of all the commandos, call the
burghers together, tell them I had been appointed, ask them their
opinion on the appointment, and give them some particulars of the new
organisation.
I went to the Krugersdorp Commando first. All went well, and the
burghers comprising the force received me very cordially. There was a
lot of questioning and explanations; one of the commandants was so
moved by my address that he requested those who were present to
conclude the meeting by singing Psalm 134, verse 3, after which he
exhorted his fellow burghers in an impassioned speech to be obedient
and determined.
The worst of it was that he asked me to wind up by offering a prayer.
I felt as if I would gladly have welcomed the earth opening beneath
me. I had never been in such a predicament before. To refuse, to have
pleaded exoneration from this solemn duty, would have been fatal, for
a Boer general is expected, amongst other things, to conduct all
proceedings of a religious character. And not only Boer generals are
required to do this thing, but all subordinate officers, and an
officer who cannot offer a suitable prayer generally receives a hint
that he is not worthy of his position. In these matters the burghers
are backed up by the parsons.
There was, therefore, no help for it; I felt like a stranger in
Jerusalem, and resolved to mumble a bit of a prayer as well as I
could. I need not say it was short, but I doubt very much whether it
was appropriate, for all sorts of thoughts passed through my head, and
I felt as if all the bees in this world were buzzing about my ears. Of
course I had to shut my eyes; I knew that. But I had, moreover, to
screw them up, for I knew that everybody was watching me. I closed my
eyes very tightly, and presently there came a welcome "Amen."
My old commando was now obliged to find a new commandant and I had to
take leave of them in that capacity. I was pleased to find the
officers and men were sorry to lose me as their commandant, but they
said they were proud of the distinction that had been conferred upon
me. Commandant F. Pienaar, who took my place, had soon to resign on
account of some rather serious irregularities. My younger brother, W.
J. Viljoen, who, at the time of writing, is, I believe, still in this
position, replaced him.
At the end of June my commandos marched from Balmoral to near
Donkerhoek in order to get in touch with the British. Only a few
outpost skirmishes took place.
My burghers captured half a score of Australians near Van der Merwe
Station, and three days afterwards three Johannesburgers were
surprised near Pienaarspoort. As far as our information went the
Donkerhoek Kopjes were in possession of General Pole-Carew, and on our
left General Hutton, with a strong mounted force, was operating near
Zwavelpoort and Tigerspoort. We had some sharp fighting with this
force for a couple of days, and had to call in reinforcements from the
Middelburg and Boksburg commandos.
The fighting line by this time had widely extended and was at least
sixty miles in length; on my right I had General D. Erasmus with the
Pretoria commando, and farther still to the right, nearer the
Pietersburg railway, the Waterberg and Zoutpansberg commandos were
positioned. General Pole-Carew tried to rush us several times with his
cavalry, but had to retire each time. Commandant-General Botha finally
directed us to attack General Hutton's position, and I realised what
this involved. It would be the first fight I had to direct as a
fighting general. Much would depend on the issue, and I fully
understood that my influence with, and my prestige among, the burghers
in the future was absolutely at stake.
General Hutton's main force was encamped in a "donk" at the very top
of the randt, almost equidistant from Tigerspoort, Zwavelpoort and
Bapsfontein. Encircling his laager was another chain of "randten"
entirely occupied and fortified, and we soon realised what a large and
entrenched stretch of ground it was. The Commandant-General,
accompanied by the French, Dutch, American and Russian attaches, would
follow the attack from a high point and keep in touch with me by means
of a heliograph, thus enabling Botha to keep well posted about the
course of the battle, and to send instructions if required.
During the night of the 13th of July we marched in the following
order: On the right were the Johannesburg and Germiston commandos; in
the centre the Krugersdorp and the Johannesburg Police; and on the
left the Boksburg and Middelburg commandos. At daybreak I ordered a
general storming of the enemy's entrenchments. I placed a Krupp gun
and a Creusot on the left flank, another Krupp and some pom-poms to
the right, while I had an English 15-pounder (an Armstrong) mounted in
the centre. Several positions were taken by storm with little or no
fighting. It was my right flank which met with the only stubborn
resistance from a strongly fortified point occupied by a company of
Australians.
Soon after this position was in our possession, and we had taken 32
prisoners, with a captain and a lieutenant. When Commandant Gravett
had taken the first trenches we were stubbornly opposed in a position
defended by the Irish Fusiliers, who were fighting with great
determination. Our burghers charged right into the trenches; and a
hand-to-hand combat ensued. The butt-ends of the guns were freely
used, and lumps of rock were thrown about. We made a few prisoners and
took a pom-pom, which, to my deep regret, on reinforcements with guns
coming up to the enemy, we had to abandon, with a loss of five men.
Meanwhile, the Krugersdorpers and Johannesburg Police had succeeded in
occupying other positions and making several prisoners, while half a
dozen dead and wounded were left on the field.
The ground was so exposed that my left wing could not storm the
enemy's main force, especially as his outposts had noticed our march
before sunrise and had brought up a battery of guns, and in this flat
field a charge would have cost too many lives.
We landed several shells into the enemy's laager, and if we had been
able to get nearer he would certainly have been compelled to run.
When darkness supervened we retired to our base with a loss of two
killed and seven wounded; whereas 45 prisoners and 20 horses with
saddles and accoutrements were evidence that we had inflicted a severe
loss upon the enemy. So far as I know, the Commandant-General was
satisfied with my work. On the day after the fight I met an attache.
He spoke in French, of which language I know nothing. My Gallic
friend then tried to get on in English, and congratulated me in the
following terms with the result of the fight: "I congratuly very much
you, le General; we think you good man of war." It was the first time
I had bulked in anyone's opinion as largely as a battleship; but I
suppose his intentions were good enough.
A few days afterwards Lord Roberts sent a hundred women and children
down the line to Van der Merwe Station, despite Botha's vehement
protests. It fell to my lot to receive these unfortunates, and to send
them on by rail to Barberton, where they could find a home. I shall
not go into a question which is still _sub judice_; nor is it my
present purpose to discuss the fairness and unfairness of the war
methods employed against us. I leave that to abler men. I shall only
add that these waifs were in a pitiful position, as they had been
driven from their homes and stripped of pretty nearly everything they
possessed.
Towards the end of July Carrington marched his force to Rustenburg,
and thence past Wonderboompoort, while another force proceeded from
Olifantsfontein in the direction of Witbank Station. We were,
therefore, threatened on both sides and obliged to fall back on
Machadodorp.