A GOVERNMENT ON HORSEBACK.
For ten days we searched the neighbourhood, and finally met one of the
Commandant-General's despatch-riders, who informed me of their
whereabouts, which they were obliged to keep secret for fear of
treachery. We met the whole party on William Smeet's farm near the
Vaal River, every man on horseback or on a mule, without a solitary
cart or waggon. It was a very strange sight to see the whole Transvaal
Government on horseback. Some had not yet got used to this method of
governing, and they had great trouble with their luggage, which was
continually being dropped on the road.
General Spruit and myself undertook to escort the Executive Council
through the Ermelo district, past Bethel to Standerton, where they
were to meet the members of the Orange Free State Government. I had
now with me only 100 men, under Field-Cornet R. D. Young; the
remainder I had left behind near Bethel in charge of General Muller
and Commandants Viljoen and Groenwald, with instructions to keep on
the alert and to fall on any column that ventured a little ahead of
the others.
It was whilst on my way back to them that a burgher brought me a
report from General Muller, informing me that the previous night,
assisted by Commandants W. Viljoen and Groenwald, he had with 130 men
stormed one of the enemy's camps at Wilmansrust, capturing the whole
after a short resistance on the enemy's part, but sustaining a loss of
six killed and some wounded. The camp had been under the command of
Colonel Morris, and its garrison numbered 450 men belonging to the 5th
Victorian Mounted Rifles. About 60 of these were killed and wounded,
and the remainder were disarmed and released. Our haul consisted of
two pom-poms, carts and waggons with teams in harness, and about 300
horses, the most miserable collection of animals I have ever seen.
Here we also captured a well-known burgher, whose name, I believe, was
Trotsky, and who was fighting with the enemy against us. He was
brought before a court-martial, tried for high treason, and sentenced
to death, which sentence was afterwards carried out.
Our Government received about this time a communication from General
Brits, that the members of the Orange Free State Government had
reached Blankop, north of Standerton, and would await us at Waterval.
We hurried thither, and reached it in the evening of the 20th of June,
1901. Here we found President Steyn and Generals De Wet, De la Rey,
and Hertzog, with an escort of 150 men. It was very pleasant to meet
these great leaders again, and still more pleasing was the cordiality
with which they received us. We sat round our fires all that night
relating to each other our various adventures. Some which caused great
fun and amusement, and some which brought tears even to the eyes of
the hardened warrior. General De Wet was then suffering acutely from
rheumatism, but he showed scarcely any trace of his complaint, and was
as cheerful as the rest of us.
Next day we parted, each going separately on our way. We had decided
what each of us was to do, and under this agreement I was to return to
the Lydenburg and Middelburg districts, where we had already had such
a narrow escape. I confess I did not care much about this, but we had
to obey the Commandant-General, and there was an end of it. Meanwhile,
reports came in that on the other side of the railway the burghers who
had been left behind were surrendering day by day, and that a
field-cornet was engaged in negotiations with the enemy about a
general laying down of arms. I at once despatched General Muller there
to put an end to this.
We now prepared once more to cross the railway line, which was guarded
more carefully than ever, and no one dared to cross with a conveyance
of any description. We had, however, become possessed of a laager--a
score of waggons and two pom-poms--and I determined to take these
carts and guns across with me, for my men valued them all the more for
having been captured. They were, in fact, as sweet to us as stolen
kisses, although I have had no very large experience of the latter
commodity.