DARK PERIOD OF THE WAR--PRESIDENT KRUGER FORCED TO LEAVE FOR
HOLLAND--LORD ROBERTS' ATTEMPTED ATTACK ON BOER WOMEN AND
CHILDREN--LONG TREK THROUGH BUSH VELDT--ENGLISH FORTIFY--BATTLE OF
RHINOSTER KOP--KITCHENER ORDERS ALL FARMS DESTROYED--ENGLISH SAVAGERY
We now arrive at what I call the dark period of the war. For the first
time I really felt that our situation was serious. The Boers were
discouraged in spirit and much scattered, and several hundred of them
deliberately rode into the English lines and surrendered. At one time
it looked as if there would be a general surrender, but President
Kruger was firm and said the war must go on.
[Illustration: MISS ANNIE OLLIVIER OF PRETORIA
A Typical Boer Girl]
President Steyn had arrived from the Free State. He, together with all
the Transvaal officers and officials, concentrated their influence
on President Kruger to persuade him to go to Holland, as he was very
feeble and it required so many men to guard his safety. He positively
refused to go, saying that he could not leave his people and that he
would look after himself. His idea was to go to Pilgrims' Rest, but
that little town was far away and it required many days of hard
travel through the fever stricken bush-veldt to reach it. In the end
President Kruger was practically forced to take the train for Delagoa
Bay en route to Holland, and as the train moved off the staunch old
patriot's eyes filled with tears and he sank down broken hearted. He
handed to General Botha 40,000 sovereigns, ($200,000) for the use
of the burghers. This was his own money. He had no government money
in his possession and the few thousand dollars that he carried to
Holland belonged to him. All the burghers felt very sad at the good old
man's departure and such was their love for him that they one and all
resolved to fight harder than ever and bring back their great friend
and patriot.
On hearing of the old hero's departure, Lord Roberts found a good
opportunity to use his pen again. In effect he cabled the news that
Ex-President Kruger had deserted his wife, his people and land, and
gone to Holland, taking with him a very large amount of gold belonging
to the people. He also had some abusive opinions to express about the
good old man.
_When Lord Roberts wrote and sent those cablegrams, he knew that he
wilfully, maliciously and deliberately lied and I would be exceedingly
happy to tell him so to his face._
Of course, Robert's idea in sending such a slanderous statement was
to deceive the Boers throughout the land, and lead them to believe
that President Kruger was really guilty of such infamous conduct; but
the Boers had known the good old man too many years to be so deceived,
and Lord Roberts only succeeded in making them love him still more.
Roberts and Kitchener each issued many proclamations, all teeming with
treachery and unscrupulousness, and if either had a grain of honor,
and were forced to read his own proclamations to a public audience in
any civilized country, I am sure that each would be stricken with a
vomiting fit. I will have more on the subject of proclamations before I
finish.
Now Lord Roberts had a most excellent opportunity to make an attack on
the Boer women and children, who were helpless and in his hands, and
one may be assured that he did not fail to take advantage of it. He
notified General Botha that he would send all the women and children
to him and that he must take care of them. General Botha replied that
he would be pleased to receive all of them, as he wished to send them
to Holland to remain during the continuance of the war, but that he
must not rush them out all at one time, as it was very cold weather, in
which all would suffer and many die. He wanted no more than a ship load
sent at one time, so that he could properly care for them and send them
at once to Holland.
This floored Roberts and he never answered. He could not stand the
idea of the Boer women and children being sent to Holland, for in that
case he could not fight them, nor could they be killed off in his
concentration camps.
Before the President departed I discussed the position of the Irish
Boys with him, and it was his opinion that all those who were
dismounted should go at once to Koomati Poort and then, if hard
pressed, go to Delagoa Bay and thence to America. All Boers who were
dismounted were sent to the Poort, so the Irish boys went also. Shortly
after they reached Koomati Poort I telegraphed Captain O'Connor that I
thought it best for them to go to America at once. I did this because I
did not wish any of them to be captured. Should any be so unfortunate,
I knew that it would go very hard for them, and probably cause them to
suffer a slow death in some prison. Major McBride thought it best for
them to go too, and he went.
General Botha soon put things in order now at Hector Spruit, and we
started on our long, perilous journey through the bush veldt, our
destination being, for some Pietersburg, for others Pilgrims' Rest and
that vicinity. We left enough coffee, sugar, flour and soforth unharmed
to last the whole British army for at least a month. How I did long
apply the torch and destroy those great stacks of stores! There were
about thirty Irish boys mounted, and determined as ever, with us, but
distributed in small bunches with the different commandos.
I had joined with Major Pretorius of the artillery near Bronkhorst
Spruit in July, but was now separated from him because the English cut
in between us at Dalmanutha when he was with one Long Tom and I was
with the other. My aim was to find Pretorius, and when near Pilgrims'
Rest his brother-in-law, Gustav Preller, and myself set out to find
him. Just before we reached the town of Pilgrims' Rest, we saw the
English, about 15,000 strong, at the drift on the Sabi River, but we
moved rapidly, reached the little town and heard that Major Pretorius
with his guns, was about twenty miles ahead, near Aurichstad. We spent
but little time at Pilgrims' Rest, because the English were very near
us. Three days later we caught up with Major Pretorius near the Devil's
Pulpit on the Olifant River. We had been separated from August 26th at
Dalmanutha till this day, October 1st, so that we had plenty to talk
about. He had saved all his guns and had fought the English at close
range for more than three weeks. We had a hard time getting the guns
down the mountain to the river bank. He had six guns, including one
Long Tom, and twenty-four artillery men with him. So steep and long
was the open way to the river bank that we had to dismount the guns,
put them on slides and turn them loose. Some would roll over, some
would glide nicely, and then some would skip off into the rocks on the
side. It meant a great deal of work, but every gun was landed safely
without any damage whatever. We had a lookout, of course, and on the
last day he reported several thousand English about six miles from us.
They could certainly see the trail of the guns, and why they did not
come over and take us we do not know, unless it was that they were
afraid of an ambush. We now pushed on to Leydsdorp and finally reached
Pietersburg on October 7th. Here we met President Steyn and his escort
under command of a good soldier, Koos Boshof. In two or three days two
or three thousand burghers had assembled. General Botha cut through
by Kruger's Post near Lydenburg and finally reached Botha's-berg
near Middleburg. He had with him quite a good command. South of the
railway the Ermelo, Carolina, Bethel, Wakkerstroom and in fact all the
commandos on the high veldt had gotten themselves into fighting trim.
General de la Rey had assembled 6,000 men in the Western Transvaal who
had surrendered their guns, armed them again, and put them in excellent
fighting condition. General De Wet had put the whole Free State in
perfect order, so that when we finished counting noses we found that we
had about 30,000 fighting men in the field, while the English did not
have over 250,000 men. Our chances were excellent, and the two little
republics would have won their independence if the devil and all his
angels had not been against them.
By the 15th of October General Botha had all his forces in the Eastern
Transvaal along the railway line from Pretoria to Dalmanutha and on
the Natal line from Heidleburg to Laing's Nek. General de la Rey was
close to Johannesburg and Pretoria on the west. General Byers, a most
excellent man and soldier, was north of Pretoria, and General De Wet
was general traffic-manager for the railway line through the Free
State. In fact, we were stronger and in better condition than we had
ever been before, because we were concentrated. Of course, at one
time during the war the Boer force was 35,000 strong, but it was too
scattered and too much used for siege work to be of practical use.
During our six weeks' absence the English had busied themselves
in building all sorts of forts along the railway lines. On a high
commanding mountain a few miles north of Machadadorp they built
eight forts at Helvetia and armed them with cannon, one being a 4.7
naval gun, bearing in large letters the name "Lady Roberts." English
commands were moving about freely, believing that the Boer men were so
scattered and demoralized that they would not dare to make a stand and
fight. They were soon to be sorely disappointed for that able and most
successful fighting general, Ben Viljoen, had gone to Rhinoster Kop,
about fifteen miles north of Balmoral Station, to find out what the
English were doing near Pretoria. Soon General Paget with 3,000 men,
advanced, and attacked General Ben Viljoen and his 600 brave fighters
of the Johannesburg Commando. Captain McCallum, Sergeant Joe Wade, Joe
Kennedy, Mike Hannifin, Mike Halley, John McGlew and Jerry O'Leary, of
the Irish Brigade were there too. General Viljoen took positions near
the Kop, and on the 29th of November General Paget boldly attacked. For
hours his cannon roared, and thundered, and tore up the earth and rocks
generally, but the Johannesburg boys were there and they were there to
stay.
Having fired enough shells to have killed each man at least five times,
then General Paget advanced his lines and the rifles came into play.
Time and again these lines were driven back, and the last time they
advanced to within fifty yards of the Irish boys. Didn't they keep the
air filled with steel and didn't they do good work? Well, I guess they
did. The English were driven back once more all along the line and did
not try again. General Viljoen's men had used up almost all their
ammunition and could not have repelled another advance. At night he
retired a few miles back, in the hope of meeting his ammunition wagons,
which were already due to arrive. General Paget was satisfied. He had
had enough and made no further attempt to molest General Viljoen and
the Johannesburg boys. A board over one pit accounts for seventeen
officers. The other pits bear no mark, so it is not yet known how many
men were killed. However, the slaughter was so terrible, and General
Paget so terribly thrashed, that he was relieved and sent home. Had he
simply made a feint on General Viljoen's right flank the latter would
have been forced to retreat without fighting, but it never occurred
to General Paget for he was so sure that his frontal attack would be
successful. General Viljoen lost three men killed and two wounded, and
taught the English that the demoralized Boers were still able to defeat
the disciplined English army.
[Illustration:
Dr. Nethling GENERAL BEN VILJOEN Docks Young.
And some of his Commandants and Veldtcornets.]
It was about this time that Lord Kitchener's proclamations and orders
for the burning and destruction of Boer farms was given. The English
visited, and destroyed in the end every farm, both in the Transvaal
and in the Free State. All fences, crops, agricultural implements
and soforth were destroyed. Even the towns of Dulstroom, Carolina,
Ermelo, Bethel, Piet Retief, and many others were razed to the ground.
Churches were torn down and the corner stones robbed of old church
papers. Some of these papers were afterwards advertised for sale at
fabulous prices. It was not until November, 1901, that this burning
and destruction of property was completed, and the whole country left
as a desert waste. On searching a farm house the officer in command
would give the family ten minutes to get out what they could, but would
at once spread the oil around and then apply the torch. All fowls,
pigs, sheep and cows would either be shot down or driven off, and then
without a mouthful of food, without shelter or clothing, the women and
children would be left to starve to death on the veldt.
_I do not believe that in the history of the world, one could find more
acts of barbarity and brutality committed by any people in any land
than by the English in the two little republics of the Transvaal and
the Free State._
There were about fifteen of us near Dulstroom watching the movements
of the English in November, 1901. A column of about 500 strong rode up
to a farm house occupied by a widow and eleven girls, her daughters.
Soon we saw the girls pushing the organ out of the door and the smoke
began to fill the windows and roof. Of course, one of the girls brought
out the family bible too, for that is one of the most precious things
in the household to them. The organ was pushed about forty yards away
and placed by a stone cattle kraal. The mother sat down and began to
play and her girls collected about her. The house was now enveloped
in flames, the soldiers were killing fowl, etc., while the officers
were cracking jokes at the poor mother and her children. Of course,
we thought that the old lady and her children were singing a hymn or
psalm, because these are nearest to the Boer heart. The English, having
completed their pleasant duty, rode off in search of other farms. We
then went to the scene of destruction, because we knew that immediate
help was necessary, as the sun would soon go down. On meeting them
we asked the old lady how she could play and sing hymns while her
home behind her back was burning and all her possessions were being
destroyed? She replied, "We were not singing hymns or psalms, but our
'Boer War Song.'"
Here you have a fair sample of the Boer women. They are ready and
willing to suffer from lack of food, to suffer from lack of clothing
and bedding, to endure the cold of winter and the heat and fearful
rainstorms of summer without any shelter over their heads, and, yes,
they are ready and willing to face death itself, if the men will only
stand and fight for the liberty of the people and the land. Yes, they
are noble women, brave and patriotic women, the very women whom the
English strove so hard to exterminate and whom they did murder by
thousands in those prison camps.
So long as the Boer woman lives so long will there be a race of
liberty-loving people in South Africa, so long will there be great Boer
generals and fighting patriots daily born, and sure it is that such
fighting blood will assert its independence. No one is more certain of
this than Roberts, Kitchener, Joe Chamberlain, Alfred Milner and the
thousands of other women-fighters in England.