THE FIGHTING BOER AND HIS OFFICER.
There is great difference between the relations of a Boer officer to
his following and the relation of a European officer to his men, for
while in the former case no social distinction between the two exists,
in the latter the officers and men are drawn from two distinct
branches of society. The Boers in their normal state are independent
farmers differing only in wealth. One Boer might be the possessor of
perhaps ten farms and be worth a quarter of a million, while another
might be but a poor "bywoner" and not worth a hundred pence, yet the
two men would occupy the same rank in time of war.
Immediately martial law is promulgated the entire Boer adult male
population is amenable for military service. In the ranks of a
commando one finds men of every profession, from the advocate and
doctor to the blacksmith and plumber. From these ranks the officers
are chosen, and a man who one day is but an ordinary soldier might be
the next promoted to the rank of field-cornet or commandant, and might
possibly in a few days attain the position of a General.
The officer and the men that follow him have in most cases been drawn
from the same district, and they know one another personally. If,
therefore, a Boer falls in battle, whatever be his rank, his loss is
keenly felt by his comrades in arms, for they, having known him of
old, lose a personal friend by his death.
The Boer officers can be divided into two classes--the brave and the
cowardly. The brave officer fights whenever he gets the chance,
whereas his chicken-hearted brother always waits for orders and makes
elaborate plans to escape fighting. It is quite easy in the Boer Army
to succeed in the course adopted by the latter class, and it not
infrequently occurred that the Boers preferred this class of officer
to his more reckless comrade, for they argued--"We like to serve
under him because he will keep us out of danger." And just as the
officers could be divided so could the men.
In this campaign it was noticeable that during the last stages of the
struggle the younger officers replaced the older ones. Many of these
latter got tired of the War and surrendered to the British, others
were removed from their commands as being too old-fashioned in their
methods and incapable of adapting themselves to the altered
circumstances. Moreover, we found that the younger officers were more
industrious, more mischievous, and more reckless. Of course, when I
speak of the young Boer officers I do not intend to convey the idea of
children of seventeen to twenty years of age, such as I have sometimes
encountered among the junior officers of the British Army.
The life training of the burghers in horsemanship and musketry stood
them in good stead. I may say that a Boer even early in life is a good
horseman and marksman. He does not shoot without purpose for he can
generally estimate at a glance the distance at which he is shooting,
and he has been taught economy in the use of ammunition. The burgher
knows perfectly well how valuable to him is his horse, and he is thus
constrained to use his knowledge in carefully tending it; moreover,
considerable affection exists, in many instances, between the master
and his beast.
Taken all round the Boer is a brave man, but his attitude on the
battlefield is influenced very largely by the character of his
officer. And being brave, the Boer is, in the main, sympathetic
towards prisoners-of-war, and especially towards such as are wounded.
Possessing bravery and humanity the Boer has besides what the British
"Tommy Atkins" lacks, the power of initiative. The death of an officer
does not throw the ranks of a Boer commando into chaos, for everybody
knows how to proceed. It must not be supposed, however, that the death
of an officer does not exercise a certain amount of demoralising
influence. What I wish to impress is that the members of a commando
can act independently of the officer and can exercise their own
judgment.
As regards the fortitude of the Boers, I can best illustrate it by
pointing to the fact that it frequently happened that having been
repulsed with loss one day we attacked our conqueror with better
success the next. We often assumed the aggressive when a favourable
opportunity offered itself, and did not always wait to be shot at.
Frequently we held out for hours notwithstanding severe punishment.
I think even the bitterest of our enemies will allow that the Boers
who remained faithful to their country to the last were animated with
noble principles. Were it not that so many of my compatriots lacked
that which is so largely characteristic of the British soldier, the
quality of patriotism and the intense desire to uphold the traditions
of his nationality, I would ask what people in the world would have
been able to conquer the Afrikander? I say this with great
deliberation, and I do not believe that any impartial compatriot will
attempt to deny the truth of the statement.
The question suggests itself how would the English have fared had
they been placed in a plight similar to that to which we found
ourselves reduced? Supposing that we Boers had taken London and other
large towns, and had driven the English people before us and compelled
them to hide in the mountains with nothing upon which to subsist but
mealie pap and meat without salt, with only worn and rent clothes as a
covering, their houses burnt, and their women and children placed in
Concentration Camps in the hands of the enemy. How would the English
have acted under such circumstances? Would they not have surrendered
to the conqueror? However that may be, one thing is certain, that the
patriotism of a nation is only to be learned when put to such a severe
test as this.
In his book, "The Great Boer War," Dr. Conan Doyle has, on the whole,
gained the admiration of the Afrikanders by his moderate language. But
here and there, where he has been carried away by his English
sympathies to use bitter and libellous language with respect to the
Boers, that admiration has been changed into contempt. Dr. Conan Doyle
attempts to defend the British Army by abusing the Boers. Abuse is
not argument. To prove that Van der Merwe is a thief does not
exonerate Brown from the crime of theft if he have been stealing.
The author describes the shooting of Lieutenant Neumeyer, for refusing
to surrender and for attempting to escape from his captors as murder,
and the shooting of kaffir spies it also glibly described as murder;
whereas, the incident at Frederickstad, where a number of Boers were
shot dead by the British because they continued firing after hoisting
the white flag, is justified by him. Of course, the execution of
Scheepers is also justified by the author. I object to such things
appearing in a book, because they must tend to sow anew the seeds of
dissension, hate and bitterness, and these have been planted
sufficiently deep without being nurtured by Dr. Conan Doyle. Neither
Boer nor Briton can speak impartially on this question, and both would
be better employed in attempting to find out the virtues rather than
the vices in one another's characters.
Whoever in the future governs South Africa, the two races must live
together, and when the day of Peace arrives and the sword is sheathed,
let us hold out our hands to each other like men, forgetting the past
and remembering the motto--
="Both Nations have Done their Duty."=
APPENDIX.
_Some Correspondence between the British and Boer Military Officials._
Lyndenburg,
_20th August, 1901_.
ASSISTANT COMMANDANT-GENERAL B. J. VILJOEN.
SIR,
I have the honour to enclose herewith a copy of a communication
received from Lord Kitchener. _Begins_:--With reference to your letter
of the 10th August on the subject of employment of natives, I have the
honour to inform you, as I have already informed Commandant-General
Botha, that natives are employed by me as scouts and as police in
native districts, especially in the low country, where white men, if
not by long residence inured to the climate, suffer much from fever.
I would point out to you that in numerous cases armed natives have
been employed by the burgher forces, particularly in the commando of
General Beyers, and that armed natives have frequently been found in
the commandos fighting against us. I do not wish to bring the native
population of the country into this quarrel between British and Boers.
I have invariably told the natives that, although I could not forbid
their defending themselves if attacked by burghers, they were on no
account to attack. I am convinced that but for the strict orders which
I have issued on this subject, the hatred engendered by the wholesale
slaughter of unarmed natives by the burghers during this War would
have led to a native rising, with deplorable results to the Boer race.
It must also be within your knowledge that most of the rifles in
possession of M'pisana's natives were sold to them by men of your own
commando when moving from Hector's Spruit to Pietersburg last year.
In answer to your questions regarding the British prisoners now in
your hands, the persons named are enlisted soldiers in His Majesty's
Army, and have been acting under my orders. They should be treated as
prisoners-of-war.--_Ends._
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
A. CURRAN,
_Lieutenant-Colonel
Commanding Lydenburg_.
_23rd July, 1901._
TO HIS EXCELLENCY LORD KITCHENER,
_Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Troops in South Africa, Pretoria._
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
I am compelled to emphatically protest against the methods of your
officers. Last April your Excellency's brother, General W. Kitchener,
took our ambulance veldt-hospital, near Roos Senekal, and only after
much trouble were a number of the vehicles restored to us. On that
occasion, General W. Kitchener refused to return to me the slaughter
oxen belonging to the field-hospital, saying that we could steal such
oxen from the kaffirs. In consequence of those acts, my wounded were
rendered without food, and robbed of means of transportation.
Now, again, a column of your troops, which was proceeding on the 9th
or 10th inst. from Machadodorp across Witpoort, attacked a Red Cross
hospital occupied by sick women and children, notwithstanding the
patients were in charge of a certificated nurse, named Mrs. W. Botha.
One of your officers, misled by a former burgher, who is now
treacherously fighting against his own people, declared that the Red
Cross was not genuine, and burned all the buildings and food found
therein, placed the patients on open trucks, and removed them.
The first night of their deportation the sick patients and nurses
slept in a camp at Steelpoortdrift, under the trolley waggons and in
the bitter cold, and although the women and children were lamenting
and weeping the entire night, their complaints were not listened to. I
have declarations testifying to the most inhuman, heartless, and cruel
maltreatment committed towards helpless women and children on this
occasion.
Probably, your Excellency knows nothing about these incidents, and as
regards the _bona-fides_ of our ambulances, I wish to point out to you
that British officers depend largely on the assertions of kaffirs, and
especially on the allegations of traitors, and on the slightest
provocation ignore the rights of the Red Cross.
The column referred to also burned, and plundered and destroyed many
houses at Steenkampsberg, Witpoort and many other places, without
there being one single shot fired in the neighbourhood by our
burghers. And all this was allowed to occur in spite of your
Excellency's promises at the meeting of the Commandant-General Botha
at Middelburg.
Latterly, it has often occurred that British ambulances have fallen
into my hands. At Bethel, three doctors and an ambulance attached to
General Plumer's force fell into my hands. Near Vaalkop, Major
Morris's ambulance, and near Belfast an ambulance, attached to your
brother's forces, were in my power, but I always regarded and treated
ambulances flying the Red Cross as neutral and humane institutions,
and I even liberated the soldiers employed to attend your wounded.
And not a single one of these doctors or attendants was provided with
a certificate, and I have invariably accepted their word that they
were legally attached to the Red Cross. But what is the attitude of
the British officers towards us?
I trust your Excellency will give me a satisfactory reply to these
complaints, and issue orders to remedy them.
I am,
Your Excellency's most obedient servant,
B. J. VILJOEN.
_Assistant Commandant-General._
District Lydenburg,
_8th September, 1901_.
TO HIS EXCELLENCY, LORD KITCHENER,
_Commanding the British Troops in South Africa, Pretoria_.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your Excellency's letter
to General Blood, dated Pretoria, 31st of August, from which I
understand that your Excellency essays to justify the use of the white
flag for the dissemination of proclamations through our lines, in
connection with which your Excellency offers arguments which I do not
hesitate to say are utterly untenable.
Firstly, it is asserted by your Excellency that the sending of these
documents addressed to individuals is justified under the white flag;
secondly, that your Excellency considers it your Excellency's duty to
render us conversant with the contents of your Excellency's
proclamations in order that we shall be informed what our fate shall
be after the 15th September next, &c., &c., &c.
With regard to the first argument introduced, I regret that I must
dispute your Excellency's contention that this is legal, and I am
assured that an impartial court would declare it as illegal. I enclose
herewith the copy of a letter from General W. Kitchener, dated 1st
September last, in answer to a complaint of my _locum tenens_,
"Fighting"-General Muller, with respect to the taking and removing by
the said General W. Kitchener's troops of our ambulance and hospital
attendants, from which letter it will appear that General Kitchener
considers the sending of a white flag despatch concerning important
and serious irregularities as "trivial communications." How am I to
understand British officers?
Your Excellency thinks that it is permissible to employ the white flag
to send pernicious and misleading proclamations within our lines,
whereas General W. Kitchener warns us not to employ the white flag
when we are compelled to complain concerning the British Army where
the latter removes and robs us of our ambulances, as occurred in
connection with the ambulance of Dr. Neethling, which was removed to
Middelburg, and after being relieved of food, medical instruments, a
number of vehicles, eight mules, and 10 oxen, was sent back.
With regard to the second matter, your Excellency, I should say,
appears to display as keen an interest in our ultimate fate as
Messrs. Dillon and Labouchere, and, if I possessed any prophetic
faculty, I should probably be better able to appreciate your
Excellency's interest in ourselves.
In the letter referred to above, your Excellency mentions a letter
sent to his Honour, Commandant-General Botha, in which your Excellency
asserts that certain murders committed by us filled the British public
with horror, and that these murders provoked Mr. Chamberlain's remark
"that the acts of the Boers justified the description of marauding
ruffianisms." I cannot believe such acts have been committed by us or
ours with the knowledge of our officers, or that any such acts will be
committed. It is, of course, impossible for me to discuss this matter
further, as I am ignorant of the circumstances.
With reference to your Excellency's contention that the destruction of
our enemy's railway lines is unjustifiable, I can only say that such
action is not only regarded as legal by all military authorities, but
that in a handbook published by Sir Garnet Wolseley circumstantial
instructions are given in this connection for interrupting hostile
supplies. As your Excellency rightly remarks, we, as soldiers, must
take the rough with the smooth, and not complain petulantly when in
certain cases a less gentle treatment is dealt out. Military
operations, such as the blowing up of railway lines, are as unpleasant
to us as I hope the destruction of our houses, the burning of our
food, and the deportation of our families may be to your Excellency.
I have the honour to be,
Your Excellency's obedient servant,
B. J. VILJOEN,
_Assistant Commandant-General,
Transvaal Burgher Forces._
District Lydenburg,
_21st September, 1901_.
TO HIS HONOUR GENERAL SIR BINDON BLOOD, _Middelburg_.
YOUR HONOUR,
I am compelled to protest against the methods of one of your columns,
which during the past week has been operating round about Roos
Senekal, and which has burnt and destroyed the food of a number of
families which it did not deport. This is surely a most inhuman
action, inasmuch that the families mentioned are now in a destitute
position. The families in question are those of Mr. Hans Grobler of
Klip River, and others at Tondeldoos. I should also like to know why
Dr. Manning and his ambulance and wounded have been removed from
Tondeldoos, notwithstanding former assurances that the Red Cross
should be regarded as neutral and left unmolested.
I have the honour to be,
Your Honour's obedient servant,
B. J. VILJOEN.
_Assistant Commandant-General._
Head Quarters, Pretoria,
_26th October, 1901_.
TO GENERAL BEN VILJOEN.
SIR,
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 8th of
October, in which you complain of attacks upon your burghers, and the
families and the property of your burghers, by kaffirs. You specify
two particular incidents in your letter:--
(_a_) The incident at Wit River on the 22nd September, 1901.
(_b_) The burning and plundering of homesteads at Ohrigstad.
I have investigated both cases and find that the facts are as
follows:--
(_a_) In the first case a small body of mounted troops in
charge of an officer attempted to capture a number of Boer
waggons near Wit River on the 22nd September. A fight took
place, and during the battle a band of kaffirs, of whose
proximity His Majesty's troops had no knowledge, approached
from another direction and commenced shooting on the
burghers. This being observed, His Majesty's troops were
withdrawn in order to avert any appearance of co-operation
with the kaffirs, and a report in connection with the
incident was immediately sent in.
(_b_) In the second case Colonel Parke, the commanding
officer of His Majesty's troops in the district named,
reports that there is no foundation for the report supplied
to you. On the 3rd of September all families in Ohrigstad
district were removed by him. Harber's burgher commando was
present, but took no part in the operation. On this occasion
it was reported by a Boer woman that a number of kaffirs had
appeared there the day previous and had plundered the
village of Ohrigstad, but the kaffirs were acting
independently of His Majesty's troops, and no further
information as regards the matter is available except the
report as stated above.
In conclusion, I think that it is not improbable that kaffirs have
made attacks in the districts named by you, but I can only attribute
these attacks to the action of your own burghers, _i.e._, to the
shooting and robbing of kaffirs, and the enmity thereby awakened among
the kaffirs by such maltreatment. While at the same time they (the
burghers) have supplied the kaffirs, by manner of sale, of weapons and
ammunition wherewith the attacks were made concerning which you
complain. I emphatically deny that they (the kaffirs) were armed or
incited by His Majesty's troops.
I have the honour to be,
Your obedient servant,
KITCHENER,
_Commander-in-Chief in
South Africa_.
District Lydenburg,
_6th November, 1901._
TO HIS EXCELLENCY LORD KITCHENER,
_Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Forces in South Africa._
YOUR EXCELLENCY,--
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's
letter of the 26th October, containing a denial of certain acts
committed by armed kaffirs in the neighbourhood of Wit River and
Ohrigstad.
With respect to the first incident, _i.e._, that at Wit River, I can
only say that it appeared to us not only strange, but even improbable
that a band of armed kaffirs could attack simultaneously, and in
evident harmony with His Majesty's troops, and that neither party
should have any cognisance of the other's presence.
If it were the first occasion that His Majesty's troops had acted in
conjunction and with the assistance of kaffirs to make raids on the
burghers, then His Excellency's explanation would be feasible.
But, alas, our bitter experience in this War is otherwise. I shall,
therefore, be causing your Excellency no surprise if I contend that
your Excellency's explanation is untenable. As to what occurred at
Ohrigstad, I adhere to what I said, and to my letter of the 8th of
October, and I regret to observe that Colonel Parke misled your
Excellency by giving you an inaccurate account of the true facts.
To assist Colonel Parke's memory I may state that the same night he
left Lydenburg on his way to Kruger's Post, the Boer, Harber, with his
band of traitors, proceeded through Klipkloof and across
Joubertshoogte, accompanied by 100 armed kaffirs, and passed
Field-Cornet Zwart's farm at Uitkomst, where the plundering of Boer
families and homesteads was commenced. This was done at the explicit
instructions and in the presence of the said Harber.
The same afternoon Harber was met by the forces under Colonel Parke,
at Rustplaats, whence they conjointly withdrew to Kruger's Post Nek.
The next morning Colonel Parke once more proceeded to Ohrigstad, where
our families were again plundered and deported, and the homesteads
raided and burned.
Accordingly, only the last paragraph of Colonel Parke's report is
correct; and if your Excellency would take the trouble to question
and examine the families now in your hands--as requested in my former
letter--your Excellency would easily ascertain the true facts.
Since I construe from your Excellency's letter that Harber and his
corps are recognised as attached to His Majesty's forces, His
Majesty's officers must be held responsible for the acts of the said
Harber and his kaffir hordes.
It is not to be assumed that Harber and his corps, all armed, and
attired in khaki, only accompanied His Majesty's Army as spectators or
military attaches.
In conclusion, I observe that your Excellency repeats the allegation
that kaffirs are promiscuously shot, robbed, and maltreated by our
burghers, and that arms have been sold to the kaffirs by our burghers;
and that you trace the hostile attitude of the kaffirs towards us to
these causes.
As regards the hostile attitude of the kaffir races I can refer your
Excellency to a letter from his Honour, General Louis Botha, on the
same subject, wherein it is notified, _inter alia_, that prior to the
arrival of British troops in these districts, and in Swaziland, the
kaffir races, without exception, maintained a pacific attitude, a fact
which speaks for itself.
I must again repeat that the allegation that burghers sold arms to
the kaffirs is, so far as I know, untrue, and that this is merely one
of the many baseless accusations which have emanated from traitors and
unscrupulous individuals, and are offered by them as "important
information" to the British officers.
That kaffirs were provided by His Majesty's officers with arms can be
proved by intercepted documents, and I enclose herewith an extract
from the diary of Sergeant Buchanan, of Steinacker's Horse, from which
your Excellency will perceive that Lieutenant Gray, an officer of His
Majesty's Army, did personally supply kaffirs with arms and
ammunition.
I have the honour to be,
Your Excellency's obedient servant,
B. J. VILJOEN.
_Assistant Commandant-General._
District of Lydenburg,
_7th November, 1901._
THE OFFICER COMMANDING LYDENBURG,
DEAR SIR,--
I shall be obliged by your bringing the following to the attention of
Lord Kitchener, namely, that on 29th October last the residence of a
certain D. Coetzee, on the Vrischgewaard Farm, in this district, was
surrounded during the night of that day, or approximately at that
time, by His Majesty's troops, assisted by a number of kaffirs and
traitors, and that only the youth Abraham Coetzee, occupied the house,
and that this youth, while attempting to escape, was shot through the
stomach. Coetzee was, furthermore, left in a shed, and robbed of all
his personal goods, and even his clothes.
The following day I found him still alive, but he died shortly after.
He declared that in the presence of white British troops he had been
robbed, knocked about, and kicked by armed kaffirs. I know beforehand
that the officer responsible for this noble and civilised act will
attempt to pervert the truth, because I am assured that His Excellency
cannot sanction this method of warfare. But this case is personally
known to me, and in my opinion, the declaration of a dying man is
worthy of credit.
I have the honour to be,
Your very obedient servant,
B. J. VILJOEN.
On the Veldt,
_11th November, 1901._
TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE MARQUIS OF SALISBURY,
_Prime Minister of His British Majesty's Government_.
YOUR EXCELLENCY,
Whereas His Honour the Commandant-General, and other commanding
officers, have already more than once, without any result, protested
to the Commanding Officer of your Forces in South Africa against the
employment of savage aborigines in this War, and notwithstanding that
we have repeatedly assured your military authorities here that on our
side every effort is being made to keep kaffirs entirely outside this
War, this Government is of opinion that it is its duty to earnestly
and solemnly protest to your Government, as we hereby do, and at the
same time to point out and direct its attention to the horrible and
cruel consequences of this manner of warfare.
Former protests sent in to your military authorities here in this
connection have met with the reply that such kaffirs were only
employed as unarmed scouts, though we have proof that they actually
fight against us, and pursue their destructive methods while in the
ranks of your forces, and as isolated commandos directed by British
officers.
These kaffirs, being ignorant of the rules of civilised warfare, have
not hesitated on various occasions and even in the presence of your
troops, to kill prisoners-of-war in a barbarous fashion. This is only
one of the evil consequences resulting from the employment of
barbarians in war, because it has also occurred that defenceless women
and children have been made prisoners by these wild ruffians, and
removed to kaffir kraals for detention until they were handed over to
the British military authorities.
This Government is prepared, in case the above allegations are denied,
to send your Excellency a large number of sworn declarations
confirming the facts.
We have the honour to be,
Your Excellency's most obedient servants,
S. W. BURGER
(_Acting State President_).
F. W. REITZ
(_Acting State Secretary_).
Army Headquarters, Pretoria, South Africa.
_1st December, 1901._
SIR,
I observe from a communication which his Honour Schalk Burger has
requested me to forward to Lord Salisbury, and which I have so
forwarded, that his Government complains of the treatment of the women
and children in the camps which we have established for their
reception.
Everything has been done which the conditions of a state of war
allowed to provide for the well-being of the women and children; but
as you complain of that treatment and must, therefore, be in a
position to provide for them, I have the honour to inform you that all
women and children at present in our camps who are willing to leave
will be sent to your care, and I shall be happy to be informed where
you desire that they should be handed over to you.
I have addressed a reply to His Honour Schalk Burger in the above
sense.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
KITCHENER,
_General Commanding-in-Chief,
South Africa_.
TO GENERAL C. DE WET.
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&c., &c., &c.
Price 2s. 6d. per copy (postage extra), or 10s. per annum post free.
* * * * *
IN PREPARATION.
=The Boer Leaders=. A Book of Portraits and Biographies of the
principal leaders in the War. By BEN VILJOEN. _Price Three Shillings
and Sixpence._
* * * * *
=The Gainsborough Duchess.= The Romantic History of a Famous Painting.
Fully Illustrated. 1s.
_The Aberdeen Free Press:_ "A finely printed Brochure with
excellent reproduction of the portrait."
_The Glasgow Herald:_ "Several capital illustrations."
"DR. JOHNSON PRESS," FLEET LANE, LONDON, E.C.