IN A TIGHT CORNER.
It was now March, 1901. For some time our burghers had been
complaining of inactivity, and the weary and monotonous existence was
gradually beginning to pall on them. But it became evident that April
would be an eventful month, as the enemy had determined not to suffer
our presence in these parts any longer. A huge movement, therefore,
was being set on foot to surround us and capture the whole commando
_en bloc_.
It began with a night attack on a field-cornet's force posted at
Kruger's Post, north of Lydenburg, and here the enemy succeeded in
capturing 35 men and a quantity of "impedimenta;" the field-cornet in
question, although warned in time, having taken no proper
precautions. By the middle of April the enemy's forward movement was
in full swing. General Plumer came from Pietersburg, General Walter
Kitchener from Lydenburg, and General Barber from Middelburg. They
approached us in six different directions, altogether a force of
25,000 men, and the whole under the supreme command of General Sir
Bindon Blood.
No escape was available for us through Secoekuniland on the north, as
the natives here, since the British had occupied their territory, were
avowedly hostile to us. To escape, therefore, we would have to break
through the enemy's lines and also to cross the railway, which was
closely guarded.
The enemy were advancing slowly from various directions. All our roads
were carefully guarded, and the cordon was gradually tightening around
us. We were repeatedly attacked, now on this side, now on that, the
British being clearly anxious to discover our position and our
strength. In a sharp skirmish with a column from Lydenburg my faithful
Fighting-General Muller was severely wounded in his shoulder, and a
commando of Lydenburgers had been isolated from me and driven by the
enemy along Waterfal River up to Steelpoort, where they encountered
hostile tribes of kaffirs. The commandant of the corps after a short
defence was obliged to destroy his guns, forsake his baggage, and
escape with his burghers in small groups into the mountains.
Our position was growing more critical, but I resolved to make a stand
before abandoning our carts and waggons, although there seemed little
hope of being able to save anything. In fact the situation was
extremely perilous. As far as I could see we were entirely hemmed in,
all the roads were blocked, my best officer wounded, I had barely 900
men with me, and our stock of ammunition was very limited.
I have omitted to mention that early in April, when we first got an
inkling of this move I had liberated all the British officers whom I
had kept as prisoners at Middelburg, and thus saved the British
authorities many a D.S.O. which would otherwise have been claimed by
their rescuers.
The British around us were now posted as follows: At Diepkloof on the
Tautesberg to the north-west of us; at Roodekraal, between Tautesberg
and Bothasberg, to the west of us; at Koebold, under Roodehoogte; at
Windhoek, to the east of us; at Oshoek, to the north-east; and to the
north of us between Magneetshoogte and Klip Spruit. We were positioned
on Mapochsberg near Roos Senekal, about midway between Tautesberg and
Steenkampsberg. We had carts, waggons, two field-pieces, and a
Colt-Maxim.
We speedily discovered that we should have to leave our baggage and
guns, and rely mainly on our horses and rifles. We had placed our
hospitals as well as we could, one in an empty school-building at
Mapochsberg with 10 wounded, under the care of Dr. Manning; the other,
our only field-hospital, at Schoonpoort, under the supervision of Dr.
H. Neethling. Whether these poor wounded Boers would have to be
abandoned to the enemy, was a question which perplexed us
considerably. If so, we should have been reduced to only one
physician, Dr. Leitz, a young German who might get through with a
pack-horse. Many officers and men, however, had lost all hope of
escape.
It was about the 20th of April when the British approached so close
that we had to fight all day to maintain our positions. I gave orders
that same night that we should burn our waggons, destroy our guns with
dynamite, and make a dash through the enemy's lines, those burghers
who had no horses to mount the mules of the convoy. Hereupon about 100
burghers and an officer coolly informed me that they had had enough
fighting, and preferred to surrender. I was at that time powerless to
prevent them doing so, so I took away all their horses and ammunition,
at which they did not seem very pleased. Before dusk our camp was a
scene of wild confusion. Waggons and carts were burning fiercely,
dynamite was being exploded, and horseless burghers were attempting to
break in the mules which were to serve them as mounts. Meanwhile a
skirmish was going on between our outposts and those of the enemy.
It was a strange procession that left Mapochsberg that night in our
dash through the British lines. Many Boers rode mules, whilst many
more had no saddles, and no small number were trudging along on foot,
carrying their rifles and blankets on their shoulders. My scouts had
reported that the best way to get through was on the southern side
along Steelpoort, about a quarter of a mile from the enemy's camp at
Bothasberg. But even should we succeed in breaking through the cordon
around us, we still had to cross the line at Wondersfontein before
daybreak, so as not to get caught between the enemy's troops and the
blockhouses.
About 100 scouts, who formed our advance-guard, soon encountered the
enemy's sentries. They turned to the right, then turned to the left;
but everywhere the inquisitive "Tommies" kept asking: "Who goes
there?" Not being over anxious to satisfy their curiosity, they sent
round word at once for us to lie low, and we started very carefully
exploring the neighbourhood. But there seemed no way out of the mess.
We might have attacked some weak point and thus forced our way
through, but it was still four or five hours' ride to the railway
line, and with our poor mounts we should have been caught and
captured. Besides which the enemy might have warned the blockhouse
garrisons, in which case we should have been caught between two fires.
No; we wanted to get through without being discovered, and seeing that
this was that night hopeless, I consulted my officers and decided to
return to our deserted camp, where we could take up our original
positions without the enemy being aware of our nocturnal excursion.
Next morning the rising sun found us back in our old positions. We
despatched scouts in all directions as usual, so as to make the enemy
believe that we intended to remain there permanently, and we put
ourselves on our guard, ready to repel an attack at any point on the
shortest notice.
But the enemy were much too cautious, and evidently thought they had
us safely in their hands. They amused themselves by destroying every
living thing, and burned the houses and the crops. The whole veldt
all round was black, everything seemed in mourning, the only relief
from this dull monotony of colour being that afforded by the
innumerable specks of khaki all around us. I believe I said there were
25,000 men there, but it now seemed to me as if there were almost
double that number.
We had to wait until darkness set in before making a second attempt at
escape. The day seemed interminable. Many burghers were loudly
grumbling, and even some officers were openly declaring that all this
had been done on purpose. Of course, these offensive remarks were
pointed at me. At last the situation became too serious. I could only
gather together a few officers to oppose an attack from the enemy on
the eastern side, and something had to be done to prevent a general
mutiny. I therefore ordered a burgher who seemed loudest in his
complaints to receive 15 lashes with a sjambok, and I placed a
field-cornet under arrest. After this the grumblers remained sullenly
silent.
The only loophole in the enemy's lines seemed to be in the direction
of Pietersburg on the portion held by General Plumer, who seemed far
too busy capturing cattle and sheep from the "bush-lancers" to
surround us closely. We therefore decided to take our chance there and
move away as quickly as possible in that direction, and then to bear
to the left, where we expected to find the enemy least watchful.
Shortly before sunset I despatched 100 mounted men to ride openly in
the opposite direction to that which we intended to take, so as to
divert the enemy's attention from our scene of operations, and sat
down to wait for darkness.