LORD ROBERTS BREAKS HIS PLEDGE MADE IN PROCLAMATION--BOERS IN GREAT
DISORDER ON LEAVING PRETORIA--MAKE GRAND STAND AT DONKERHOEK--GENERAL
BULLER ARRIVES IN TRANSVAAL--BATTLE OF DALMANUTHA.
After the occupation of Pretoria, Lord Roberts issued his usual
proclamation, to induce the burghers to lay down their arms. They were
not to be sent away, their property was not to be molested, and they
were to be allowed to peacefully occupy their farms. Thousands of
the burghers, really believing that the war was over, took advantage
of this proclamation and surrendered their rifles. Almost the entire
Rustenburg district surrendered, and hundreds of men of the other
districts did likewise.
As in the Free State, so in the Transvaal, as soon as Lord Roberts
had the men and the guns in his possession, he at once violated his
pledge, sent the men away, and afterwards destroyed all their property.
The reason that the Boers did not make a stand at Pretoria, was that
every shell the English might fire would land in the town, and kill
women and children. Of course, this would please the English immensely,
but the Boers never gave them the chance. As it was, they fired a few
shells on the outskirts of the town, and wounded three Boer women. The
English are bent on killing women, because they know that, so long as
they are in the land, the Union Jack trembles with fear as it floats
above them.
The Boers were in the greatest disorder when leaving Pretoria. There
seemed to be no head, and burghers were going in all directions, north,
east, south and west. General Botha ordered as many as he could reach,
to proceed on the Delagoa railway line toward Middleburg. The English
now made up their minds that there was no more fight in the Boers, and
that the time was ripe to make a gallant display of dash and bravery
on the fast retreating Boers. All titled persons of noble blood, were
anxious to fill the London press with long accounts of their brave
exploits, and Lord Roberts himself was not behind them in his desire
for praise. The result was, that a large force was started in pursuit
of the Boers, with Lord Roberts in command. The fleeing Boers, on
reaching Donkerhoek, about fifteen miles from Pretoria, were assembled
by General Botha and General de la Rey, and all agreed not to run any
further. There were about 7,000 of them, and they took up a position
on a line about twenty miles long. It was on the 12th of June, that
the British army, and the lords, dukes, earls and so forth, appeared
on the scene, and proceeded at once to wipe out what was left of the
Boer forces. A very hot fight was the result, and the Boers wiped up
the English, and gave them such a shock that they did not recover their
nerve for months. Go to the graveyard in Pretoria, read some of the
inscriptions on the head-boards, and you will find some missing earls,
dukes and soforth, accounted for. Lord Roberts turned tail also and
went back to Pretoria, to get out some more proclamations. He is a
wonderful general, on paper, but on the battle field he is a pitiful
failure.
After this fight, General de la Rey, with 1,500 men, went to the
Rustenburg district west of Pretoria, where all the burghers had
laid down their arms. Lord Roberts had not had time yet to violate
his pledge, so the men were still on their farms. General Botha now
made Commandant Ben Viljoen a fighting general, and he proved a most
excellent man. The Boers regained hope, and were as full of fight as
ever. From Donkerhoek to Machadadorp is about 110 miles, a long stretch
of beautiful, rolling prairie, well watered, dotted here and there
with beautiful farms, and in all respects suited for cavalry, infantry
and artillery to display great skill and excellent work. General Botha
is a nervy man, and he determined to contest every inch of ground to
Machadadorp, and make it cost the English much time and many men to
cross the fair prairie. Every day General Botha and his small force
fought the English army, and in all the engagements he was generally
successful, as is shown by the fact that it required sixty days to
drive him back to Dalmanutha, nine miles from Machadadorp. Here he took
up a position to make a firm stand. He had to scatter his men along a
line about twenty-four miles long, in order to prevent the English from
turning his flanks. I think the position at Machadadorp was much better
and stronger, but he did not think so. I believe now, however, if he
had the opportunity again, he would try his luck at Machadadorp, for
his line would not be over ten miles long, his flanks would be safe,
and in case of defeat, he could retreat in good order.
I left General Buller and his army at Ladysmith on February 28th. Now
he appears on the scene again. He had a most difficult task to fight
his way through the mountains of Natal and cross into the Transvaal,
but at last he had succeeded, and was on his way to join the army
opposed to General Botha. It was about the middle of August that
General Buller arrived. The entire British force now to attack the
Boer forces was about 65,000 strong, while General Botha had less than
7,000 men. He did not have hills and mountains, as in Natal, but,
instead, open, rolling prairies. It looked as if the English would ride
right over us and kill or capture our whole force, but they didn't.
Lord Roberts sent about 600 women and children in open coal trucks to
Belfast when it was midwinter and so cold that no one could keep warm.
He did this, thinking that the Boers, rather than see their women and
children suffer, and probably die, would come in and surrender. He was
fooled, however, for General Botha put them all on the train and sent
them to Barberton, where it was warm and where all had friends. Lord
Roberts likes to fight women and children and takes as much pleasure in
seeing them suffer as does Lord Kitchener. After General Buller arrived
and took command, there was fighting daily on some part of the line
for nine days before the final effort was made on the 27th of August.
In the centre of our line were seventy-two of the Johannesburg police,
who were on the ridge between Belfast and Dalmanutha. They had built
for themselves stone breastworks about two feet high, but a shell would
easily destroy any of them.
On the night of the 26th, General Buller changed his plans and
concentrated his force on the centre, instead of on our left flank,
and at six o'clock of the morning of the 27th he began with thirty-six
guns to bombard the seventy-two Johannesburg police. As the railway
line had been left in good order by General Botha's instructions,
two huge siege guns came up on some flat cars. When they were fired,
the whole earth seemed to tremble and the explosion of the shell was
fairly deafening, yet they did no damage. I could see every one of
the seventy-two police plainly, for I was with a Long Tom on a high
point to their left. For seven hours without intermission, heavy
lyddite shells were bursting on the ground about them and a dozen or
so shrapnel were bursting over their heads at the same time. When at
about two o'clock in the afternoon I saw a long line of cavalry put in
readiness to charge their position, I felt sure that there was not one
of them alive, for it did not seem possible for them with their little
protection to escape.
Suddenly all the cannon ceased to roar and a dead stillness reigned
for a moment, but only for a moment, for here comes the long line of
cavalry at full gallop. It rapidly approaches and when within about 100
yards of the police there was a ring of musketry heard that positively
filled me with an ecstacy of joy. The police were still alive, and with
such rapidity did they use their rifles, and to such good effect, that
saddles were emptied fast, and loose horses were running frantically
across the veldt, some dragging wounded men whose feet were caught in
the stirrups. They could not stand such a deadly fire, and turned and
fled back, the police continuing to mow them down. They form line, are
re-enforced, and again they charge, only to be driven back as before
after a heavy loss. Four charges were made, and four times the charges
were driven back, and no doubt a fifth charge would have followed had
General Botha not ordered the police to retire. These brave men retired
as coolly as they had passed through the seven hours' shell storm, and
four times driven back that long line of cavalry.
Of the seventy-two men, nineteen were killed and wounded, among the
killed being three officers.
Lord Roberts, who arrived at twenty minutes to one o'clock, according
to his own report, pronounced this the severest bombardment of the war,
and could not understand why the whole Boer force was not annihilated.
Of course, Lord Roberts came up just as the battle was over, to save
General Buller the trouble of making his report announcing a victory.
There is no getting round the fact that Roberts is cute and smart and
knows how to use the pen and steal the credit that belongs to others.
He certainly deserves the title of Lord, or Earl, or any big-sounding
name like that, with at least double the number of letters in the
alphabet following it as a tail, for he has the gall to keep his title
up to the high-water mark. General Botha having ordered a retreat,
of course Lord Roberts hastened back to Pretoria to issue another
proclamation. He didn't say very much this time, for he was very tired
sending cablegrams telling of his great victory, but he still had
strength enough to proclaim the war at an end, annex the Transvaal to
the British Empire, entreat the burghers to come in like good boys and
lay down their arms, and forget his many dastardly deeds.
It was during this battle that that wonderful artillerist, Major J.L.
Pretorius put Long Tom to the test that I had so strongly advocated at
Ladysmith and other places. The Boer officers were all convinced that
it would be dangerous to fire Long Tom except when fastened down to a
heavy wooden platform. To build these platforms to stand the work a
great deal of labor, at least twenty-four hours of time, and a great
deal of strong material were required. My contention was that Long
Tom could be used as an ordinary field gun, and would do good work
without a platform as well as with one. To have so used this big gun at
Ladysmith would have kept the British guessing, and the results would
have been very different. At Dalmanutha, Major Pretorius did not have
time to finish the platform, so he took the chances of firing Long
Tom as he stood without one, and the result was excellent. He found
his shooting was just as accurate, and that the recoil was never more
than two or three yards. Thereafter Long Tom was always used as an
ordinary field gun, and Major Pretorius took him over the mountains by
Lydenburg. With the exception of about twenty men, the Irish boys were
all dismounted, having lost their horses near Pretoria. They were in
position under Commandant Kruger, and when the English broke through
our centre it looked as though they would be captured. They had to make
about ten miles to reach Machadadorp, where they could take the train,
and they barely made connection before the English arrived. The Boers
scattered in all directions, some going towards Lydenburg, some to Neil
Spruit, some to Devil's Kantoor, and others southward towards Ermelo
and Carolina. President Kruger and the Government were at Neil Spruit.