CAPTURING A FREEBOOTER'S LAIR.
Early in the morning of the 6th of August, as the breaking dawn was
tinting the tops of the Lebombo Mountains with its purple dye and the
first rays of the rising sun shed its golden rays over the sombre
bushveldt, the commando under Commandants Moll and Schoeman were
slowly approaching the dreaded M'pisana's fort. When within a few
hundred paces of it they left the horses behind and slowly crept up to
it in scattered order; for as none of us knew the arrangement or
construction of the place, it had been arranged to advance very
cautiously and to charge suddenly on the blowing of a whistle. Nothing
was stirring in the fort as we approached, and we began to think that
the garrison had departed; but when barely 70 yards from it the
officers noticed some forms moving about in the trenches, which
encompassed it. The whistle was blown and the burghers charged, a
cheer rising from a hundred throats. Volley after volley was
discharged from the trenches, but our burghers rushed steadily on,
jumped into the trenches themselves and drove the defenders into the
fort through secret passages. The English now began firing on us
through loopholes in the walls and several of our men had fallen, when
Commandant Moll shouted, "Jump over the wall!" A group of burghers
rushed at the 12-foot wall, and attempted to scale it; but a heavy
fire was directed on them and seven burghers, including the valiant
Commandant Moll, fell severely wounded. Nothing daunted, Captain
Malan, who was next in command of the division, urged his men to go
on, and most of them succeeded in jumping into the fort, where, after
a desperate resistance, in which Captain ----, their leader, fell
mortally wounded, the whole band surrendered to us. Our losses were
six burghers killed, whilst Commandant Moll and 12 others were
severely wounded. The burghers found one white man killed in the
fort, and two wounded, whilst a score of kaffirs lay wounded and dead.
We took 24 white prisoners and about 50 kaffirs. I repeat that the
whites were the lowest specimens of humanity that one can possibly
imagine.
Hardly was the fight over and our prisoners disarmed when a sentry we
had posted on the wall called out:
"Look out, there is a kaffir commando coming!"
It was, in fact, a strong kaffir commando, headed by the chief
M'pisana himself, who had come to the rescue of his friends of
Steinacker's Horse. They opened fire on us at about 100 yards, and the
burghers promptly returned their greeting, bowling over a fair number
of them, at which the remainder retired.
Alongside the fort were about 20 small huts, in which we found a
number of kaffir girls. On being asked who they were, they repeated
that they were the "missuses" of the white soldiers. Inside the
captured fort we found many useful articles, and the official books
of this band. They contained systematic entries of what had been
plundered, looted and stolen on their marauding expeditions and showed
how they had been divided amongst themselves, deducting 25 per cent.
for the British Government.
A long and extensive correspondence now took place about this matter
between myself and Lord Kitchener. I wished first to know whether the
gang was a recognised part of the British Army, as otherwise I should
have to treat them as ordinary brigands. After some delay Lord
Kitchener answered that they were a part of His Majesty's Army. I then
wished to know if he would undertake to try the men for their
misdeeds, but this was refused. This correspondence ultimately led to
a meeting between General Bindon Blood and myself, which was held at
Lydenburg on the 27th August, 1901.
The captured kaffirs were tried by court-martial and each punished
according to his deserts. The 24 Englishmen were handed over to the
enemy, after having given their word of honour not to return to their
barbarous life. How far this promise was kept I do not know; but from
the impression they made upon me I do not think they had much idea of
what honour meant. The captured cattle which we had hoped to find at
the fort had been sent away to Komati Poort a few days before our
attack and according to their "books" it must have numbered about
4,000 heads. Another section of this notorious corps met with a like
fate about this time at Bremersdorp in Swaziland. They did not there
offer such a determined resistance, and the Ermelo burghers captured
two good Colt-Maxims and two loads of ammunition probably intended for
Swaziland natives.