BATTLE OF RHENOSTERKOP.
On the 27th of November, 1900, our scouts reported that a force of the
enemy was marching from the direction of Pretoria, and proceeding
along Zustershoek. I sent out Commandant Muller with a strong patrol,
while I placed the laager in a safe position, in the ridge of kopjes
running from Rhenosterkop some miles to the north. This is the place,
about 15 miles to the north-east of Bronkhorst Spruit, where Colonel
Anstruther with the 94th regiment was attacked in 1881 by the Boers
and thoroughly defeated. Rhenosterkop is a splendid position, rising
several hundred feet above the neighbouring heights, and can be seen
from a great distance. Towards the south and south-east this kopje is
cut off from the Kliprandts (known by the name of Suikerboschplaats)
by a deep circular cleft called Rhenosterpoort.
On the opposite side of this cleft the so-called "banks" form a
"plateau" about the same height as the Rhenosterkop, with some smaller
plateaux, at a lesser altitude, towards the Wilge River. These
plateaux form a crescent running from south-east to north of the
Rhenosterkop. Only one road leading out of the "bank" near Blackwood
Camp and crossing them near Goun, gives access to this crescent. On
the west side is a great gap up to Zustershoek, only interrupted by
some "randjes," or ridges, near the Albert silver mines and the row of
kopjes on which I had now taken up a position.
The enemy's force had been estimated at 5,000 men, mostly mounted,
who, quite against their usual tactics, charged us so soon as they
noticed us. Muller had to fall back again and again. The enemy under
General Paget, pursued us as if we were a lot of game, and it soon
became apparent that they had made up their mind to catch us this
time. I sent our carts into the forest along Poortjesnek to
Roodelaager, and made a stand in the kopjes near Rhenosterkop.
On the 28th--the next day--General Paget pitched his camp near our
positions, shelling us with some batteries of field guns till dusk.
The same evening I received information that a force under General
Lyttelton had marched from Middelburg and arrived near Blackwood Camp.
This meant that our way near Gourjsberg had been cut off. All we could
do was to keep the road along Poortjesnek well defended, for if the
enemy were to succeed in blocking that as well, we would be in a trap
and be entirely cut up.
There was General Paget against us to the west, to the south there was
Rhenosterkop with no way out, and General Lyttelton to the east, while
to the north there was only one road, running between high chains and
deep clefts. If General Paget were to make a flanking movement
threatening the road to the north, I should have been obliged to
retire in hot haste, but we were in hopes the General would not think
of this. General Lyttelton only needed to advance another mile, right
up to the first "randts" of the mountain near Blackwood Camp, for his
guns to command our whole position, and to make it impossible for us
to hold it. I had, however, a field-cornet's company between him and
my burghers, with instructions to resist as long as possible, and to
prevent our being attacked from behind, which plan succeeded, as luck
would have it. My Krupp and pom-pom guns had been repaired, or rather,
patched up, though the former had only been fired fourteen times when
it was done up.
I placed the Johannesburgers on the left, the Police in the centre,
and the Boksburgers on the right. As I have already pointed out, these
positions were situated in a row of small kopjes strewn with big
"klips," while the assailant would have to charge over a bare "bult,"
and we should not be able to see each other before they were at 60 to
150 paces distant.
Next morning, when the day dawned, the watchmen gave the alarm, the
warning we knew so well, "The Khakis are coming!" The horses were all
put out of range of the bullets behind the "randts." I rode about
with my officers in front of our positions, thus being able to
overlook the whole ground, just at daybreak.
It gave me a turn when I suddenly saw the gigantic army of "Khakis"
right in front of us, slowly approaching, in grand formation, regiment
upon regiment, deploying systematically, in proper fighting order, and
my anxiety was mingled with admiration at the splendid discipline of
the adversary. This, then, was the first act in the bloody drama which
would be played for the next fifteen hours. The enemy came straight up
to us, and had obviously been carefully reconnoitring our positions.
General Paget seemed to have been spoiling for a fight, for it did not
look as if he simply meant to threaten our only outlet. His heavy
ordnance was in position near his camp, behind the soldiers, and was
firing at us over their heads, while some 15-pounders were divided
amongst the different regiments. The thought of being involved in such
an unequal struggle weighed heavily on my mind. Facing me were from
four to five thousand soldiers, well equipped, well disciplined,
backed up by a strong artillery; just behind me my men, 500 at the
outside, with some patched-up guns, almost too shaky for firing
purposes.
But I could rely on at least 90 per cent. of my burghers being
splendid shots, each man knowing how to economise his store of
ammunition, while their hearts beat warmly for the Cause they were
fighting.
The battle was opened by our Krupp gun, from which they had orders to
fire the fourteen shells we had at our disposal, and then "run." The
enemy's heavy guns soon answered from the second ridge. When it was
broad daylight the enemy tried his first charge on the Johannesburg
position, over which my brother had the command, and approached in
skirmishing order. They charged right up to seventy paces, when our
men fired for the first time, so that we could not very well have
missed our aim at so short a distance, in addition to which the
assailants' outline was just showing against the sky-line as he was
going over the last ridge. Only two volleys and all the Khakis were
flat on the ground, some dead, others wounded, while those who had not
been hit were obliged to lie down as flat as a pancake.
The enemy's field-pieces were out of our sight behind the ridge which
the enemy had to pass in charging, and they went on firing without any
intermission. Half an hour later the position of the Johannesburg
Police, under the late Lieutenant D. Smith, was stormed again, this
time the British being assisted by two field-pieces which they had
brought up with them in the ranks and which were to be used as soon as
the soldiers were under fire. They came to within a hundred paces. One
of these guns, I think, I saw put up, but before they could get the
range it had to be removed into safety, for the attacking soldiers
fared equally badly here as on our left flank.
Then, after a little hesitation, they tried the attack on our right
flank again, when Commandant Muller and the Boksburgers and some
Pretoria burghers, under Field-Cornet Opperman held the position, but
with the same fatal result to the attackers. Our fifteen-pounder,
after having been fired a few times, had given out, while our pom-pom
could only be used from time to time after the artilleryman had
righted it.
I had a heliograph post near the left-hand position, one near the
centre and the one belonging to my staff on our extreme right. I
remained near this, expecting a flank movement by General Paget after
his front attacks had failed. From this coign of vantage I was able to
overlook the whole of the fighting ground, besides which I was in
constant touch with my officers, and could tell them all the enemy's
movements.
About 10 o'clock they charged again, and so far as I could see with a
fresh regiment. We allowed them to come up very closely again and once
more our deadly Mauser fire mowed them down, compelling those who went
scot-free to go down flat on the ground, while during this charge some
who had been obliged to drop down, now jumped up and ran away. If I
remember rightly, it was during this charge that a brave officer, who
had one of his legs smashed, leant on a gun or his sword, and kept on
giving his orders, cheering the soldiers and telling them to charge
on. While in this position, a second bullet struck him, and he fell
mortally wounded. We afterwards heard it was a certain Colonel Lloyd
of the West Riding Regiment. A few months after, on passing over this
same battlefield, we laid a wreath of flowers on his grave, with a
card, bearing the inscription: "In honour of a brave enemy."
General Paget seemed resolved to take our positions, whatever the
sacrifice of human lives might be. If he succeeded at last, at this
rate, he might find half a score of wounded burghers and, if his
cavalry hurried up, perhaps a number of burghers with horses in bad
condition, but nothing more.
Whereas, if he had made a flanking movement, he might have attained
his end, perhaps without losing a single man.
Pride or stupidity must have induced him not to change his tactics.
Nothing daunted by the repeated failures in the morning, our
assailant charged again, now one position and then another, trying to
get their field-pieces in position, but each time without success. At
their wits' end, the enemy tried another dodge, bringing his guns
right up to our position under cover of some Red Cross waggons. The
officer who perceived this, reported to me by heliograph, asking for
instructions. I answered: 'If a Red Cross waggon enters the fighting
lines during the battle, it is there on its own responsibility.'
Besides, General Paget, under protection of the white flag, might have
asked any moment or an hour, or longer, to carry away his many
unfortunate wounded, who were lying between two fires in the burning
sun.
When the Red Cross waggon was found to be in the line of fire, it was
put right-about face, while some guns remained behind to fire shrapnel
at us from a short distance. They could only fire one or two shots,
for our burghers soon put out of action the artillerists who were
serving them. Towards the afternoon some of my burghers began to run
short of ammunition, I had a field-cornet's force in reserve, from
which five to ten men were sent to the position from time to time, and
this cheered the burghers up again.
The same attacking tactics were persisted in by General Paget all day
long, although they were a complete failure. When the sun disappeared
behind the Magaliesbergs, the enemy made a final, in fact, a desperate
effort to take our positions, the guns booming along while we were
enveloped by clouds of dust thrown up by the shells.
The soldiers charged, brave as lions, and crept closer to our
positions than they had done during the day.
But it seemed as if Fate were favouring us, for our 15-pounder had
just got ready, sending his shells into the enemy's lines in rapid
succession, and finding the range most beautifully. The pom-pom
too--which we could only get to fire one or two shells all day long,
owing to the gunner having to potter about for two or three hours
after each shot to try and repair it--to our great surprise suddenly
commenced booming away, and the two pieces--I was going to say the
"mysterious" pieces--poured a stream of murderous steel into the
assailants, which made them waver and then retire, leaving many
comrades behind.
On our side only two burghers were killed, while 22 were wounded. The
exact loss of the enemy was difficult to estimate. It must, however,
have amounted to some hundreds.
Again night spread a dark veil over one of the most bloody dramas of
this war. After the cessation of hostilities, I called my officers
together and considered our position. We had not lost an inch of
ground that day, while the enemy had gained nothing. On the contrary,
they had suffered a serious repulse at our hands. But our ammunition
was getting scarce, our waggons, with provisions, were 18 miles away.
All we had in our positions was mealies and raw meat, and the burghers
had no chance of cooking them. We therefore decided, as we had no
particular interest in keeping these positions, to fall back that
night on Poortjesnek, which was a "half-way house" between the place
we were leaving and our carts, from which we should be able to draw
our provisions and reserve ammunition.
We therefore allowed General Paget to occupy these positions without
more ado.
I have tried to describe this battle as minutely as possible in order
to show that incompetence of generals was not always on our side only.
I have seen from the report of the British Commander-in-Chief,
published in the newspapers, that this battle had been a most
successful and brilliant victory, gained by General Paget. People will
say, perhaps, that it was silly on my part to evacuate the positions,
and that I should have gone on defending them the next day. Well, in
the old days this would have been done by European generals, but no
doubt they were fighting under different circumstances. They were not
faced by a force ten times their own strength; not restricted to a
limited quantity of ammunition; nor were they in want of proper food
or reinforcements. The nearest Boer commando was at Warmbad, about 60
miles distant. Besides, there was no necessity, either for military
or strategical reasons, for us to cling to these positions. It had
already become our policy to fight whenever we could, and to retire
when we could not hold on any longer. The Government had decided that
the War should be continued and it was the duty of every general to
manoeuvre so as to prolong it. We had no reserve troops, so my motto
was: "Kill as many of the enemy as you possibly can, but see you do
not expose your own men, for we cannot spare a single one."
On the 30th of November, the day after the fight, I was with a patrol
on the first "randts," north-east of Rhenosterkop, just as the sun
rose, and had a splendid view of the whole battlefield of the previous
day. I saw the enemy's scouts, cautiously approaching the evacuated
positions, and concluded from the precautions they were taking that
they did not know we had left overnight. Indeed, very shortly after I
saw the Khakis storming and occupying the kopjes. How great must have
been their astonishment and disappointment on finding those positions
deserted, for the possession of which they had shed so much blood. A
number of ambulance waggons were brought up and were moving backwards
and forwards on the battlefield, taking the wounded to the hospital
camp, which must have assumed colossal proportions. Ditches were seen
to be dug, in which the killed soldiers were buried. A troop of
kaffirs carried the bodies, as far as I could distinguish, and I could
distinctly see some heaps of khaki-coloured forms near the graves.
[Illustration: Battle of Rhenosterkop--How Colonel Lloyd died.]
As the battlefield looked now, it was a sad spectacle. Death and
mutilation, sorrow and misery, were the traces yesterday's fight had
left behind. How sad, I thought, that civilised nations should thus
try to annihilate one another. The repeated brave charges made by
General Paget's soldiers, notwithstanding our deadly fire, had won our
greatest admiration for the enemy, and many a burgher sighed even
during the battle. What a pity such plucky fellows should have to be
led on to destruction like so many sheep to the butcher's block!
Meanwhile, General Lyttelton's columns had not got any nearer, and it
appeared to us that he had only made a display to confuse us, and with
the object of inducing us to flee in face of their overwhelming
strength.
On the 1st of December General Paget sent a strong mounted force to
meet us, and we had a short, sharp fight, without very great loss on
either side.
This column camped at Langkloof, near our positions, compelling us to
graze and water our horses at the bottom of the "neck" in the woods,
where horse-sickness was prevalent. We were, therefore, very soon
obliged to move.
About this time I received a report to the effect that a number of
women and children were wandering about near Rhenosterkop along the
Wilge River. Their houses had been burnt by order of General Paget,
and we were asked to protect these unfortunate people.
Some burghers offered to ride out at night time to try and find them,
and the next morning they brought several families into our camp. The
husbands of these poor sufferers were on duty in the neighbourhood, so
that they were now enabled to do the needful for their wives and
children. I put some questions to some of the women, from which it
appeared that although they had besought the English not to burn their
clothes and food, yet this had been done. Some Australians and
Canadians, who had been present, had done their best to save some of
the food and clothes, and these Colonials had shown them much
consideration in every respect, but, the women added, a gang of
kaffirs, who were ordered to cause this destruction, were behaving in
the most barbarous and cruel manner, and were under no control by the
British soldiers.
I felt bound to protest against these scandalous acts of vandalism,
and sent two of my adjutants to the English camp next day with a note
of about the following tenour:--
"To GENERAL PAGET, _commanding H.M's. forces at
Rhenosterkop_.
"It is my painful duty to bring under your Honour's notice
the cruel way in which the troops under your command are
acting in ill-treating defenceless women and children. Not
only their homes, but also their food and clothes, are being
burnt. These poor creatures were left in the open veldt, at
the mercy of the kaffirs, and would have died of starvation
and exhaustion but for our assistance. This way of treating
these unfortunate people is undoubtedly against the rules of
civilised warfare, and I beg to emphasise that the
responsibility for this cruelty will be entirely yours. You
may rest assured that a similar treatment of our families
will not shorten the duration of the War, but that, on the
contrary, such barbarities will force the burghers to
prolong the struggle and to fight on with more bitterness
and determination than ever."
The two despatch carriers whom I sent to the British General under a
white flag were taken for spies, and however much they tried to
establish their identity, General Paget was not to be convinced, and
had them arrested, detaining them for three days. Their horses were
used every day by the English officers, which I consider far from
gentlemanly. On the third day my two adjutants were again taken before
the general, and cross-examined, but no evidence could be found
against their being bona-fide messengers. Paget told them that my
despatch was all nonsense, and did not give them the right to enter
his lines under the white flag, adding, while he handed them a letter
addressed to me:
"You can go now; tell your General that if he likes to fight I shall
be pleased to meet him at any time in the open. You have killed some
of my Red Cross people, but I know it was done by those 'damned'
unscrupulous Johannesburgers. Tell them I shall pay them for this!"
Before my adjutants left, a certain Captain ---- said to one of them:
"I say, what do your people think of the fight?"
"Which fight do you mean?" asked the adjutant.
"The fight here," returned the captain.
"Oh," remarked the adjutant, "we think it was rather a mismanagement."
To which the captain replied: "By Jove! you are not the only people
who think so."
The contents of General Paget's letter were short and rough; "The
responsibility for the suffering of women and children rests on the
shoulders of those who blindly continue the helpless struggle," etc.,
etc.
I may say here that this was the first time in this War the English
officers treated my despatch riders under the white flag in such a
manner, giving me at the same time such a discourteous answer.
No doubt we have had generals acting like this on our side, and I
admit that we did not always stand on etiquette.
As already stated, part of the enemy's forces were camping out near
Poortjesnek, so close by that we had to shift our laager and commando
to a more healthy part on account of the horse-sickness. The enemy
installed a permanent occupation at Rhenosterkop, and we moved into
the Lydenberg district, where we knew we should find some wholesome
"veldt" on the Steenkamps Mountains. We went through the forest near
Maleemskop via Roodekraal, to the foot of Bothasberg, where we had a
few weeks' rest.