DE WET CORNERED AGAIN--DE LA REY CORNERED TOO--GENERAL KEMP FIGHTS A
GOOD FIGHT--THE WAY BY WHICH THE BOERS SO SUCCESSFULLY OUTWITTED THE
ENGLISH.
In many parts of the Free State several skirmishes took place, but
the English columns generally were occupied in trying to corner De
Wet. A mighty army was brought to bear on him, for the English were
convinced that, once he was cornered and captured, the war would come
to a sudden end; but they did not reckon on the fact that a mighty army
without a trace of military sense to guide its movements was a very
harmless thing in the presence of such an able strategist as General De
Wet. The Free State, with its broad, grassy, level plains, is a most
beautiful country for cavalry and artillery operations, and although
the English had thousands of cavalry, and guns without number, yet
they seemed to be able to effect but little with either, or the two
combined. They were so numerous that they fell over each other, and
in the scramble General De Wet managed to pick up some of them. In
Cape Colony matters were daily growing worse for the British, and the
Boers, ever increasing in numbers, were very active and aggressive in
many districts. General Kritsinger captured a convoy, some prisoners
and one or two fortified towns. General Brand had helped himself to one
of the English supply trains, and Commandant Malan in the far south was
fighting and accumulating war supplies. Commandants Fouche, Wessels,
Latigan and other officers were doing good work in their respective
districts.
In fact, there was daily fighting throughout the Cape, and the English
were so upset and worried that they scarcely knew how to defend
themselves. In the Western Transvaal General de la Rey's commandos had
done some damage, and all were progressing nicely. Lord Methuen was
active enough, but his columns were misguided and made suffer severely.
Near the Mafeking railway line General de la Rey was much interested
in several columns that were trying to corner and capture him. He had
several skirmishes with them, took some prisoners, among them being
three burghers who had deserted and taken up arms with the British.
These were afterwards shot, and the English were convinced that General
de la Rey had committed a great crime. A pity it is that all the other
Boer generals did not commit many such great crimes in the beginning of
the war.
When these numerous columns were about to make it very warm for him,
General de la Rey doubled back between two of them and left for other
parts. It was a week before Lord Methuen discovered that his bird had
flown and was creating trouble elsewhere. It was on his return from
his Mafeking expedition that Major Pretorius and myself met him and
delivered our despatches.
Some time ago I mentioned something about booming cannon in our rear
a few days after leaving General Kemp, with whom we had spent a most
pleasant week. It was this very General Kemp, who was always seeking a
fight, that caused all that noise which so puzzled us. Shortly after
we left, General Kemp's scouts reported an English column moving about
from farm to farm and destroying all of them. He had his men saddle
their horses, and off they went in search of this column. They found
it at Vlakfontein, where Major Pretorius and I had slept the day after
leaving General Kemp. He set the grass on fire to conceal his men in
smoke, advanced to within short range, surprised General Dixon and
his 1,500 men, and in a short time put them to flight. General Kemp
killed and wounded over 200, captured more than 100 men and horses, and
took two cannon, which they turned on the fleeing column. This was a
good piece of work accomplished by General Kemp and his 400 burghers.
General Dixon and his men never stopped running till far away from
all danger, for they supposed that Kemp must have had two or three
thousand men. No better men ever lived than those Krugersdorp men, and,
taking the war from start to finish, I believe they did more and harder
fighting than any other commando in the field. Like the Johannesburg
boys they were brave, reckless, dashing patriots who defeated the
English in many battle-fields. General Beyers in the north troubled
Pietersburg a great deal, but no fighting of any consequence took
place. He had with him a most capable man, in the person of Captain
Henry Dutoit, who commanded his scouts. Captain Dutoit was an artillery
officer and was nearly torn to pieces at the battle of Modderspruit on
October 30, 1899. He was patched up by such able and competent surgeons
as Dr. Max Mehliss, Dr. Lillepop, and Dr. Wepner, and in some way
managed to survive.
A year afterwards some of his numerous wounds were still open, yet he
was one of the most active and energetic officers in the field. He
spurned all danger and fought like a very tiger to the end of the war.
Now I come to the month of June, a cold bleak month with piercing
winds. We had but one blanket each, no overcoats, no tents, no shelter
of any description, and how well I remember how near all came to
freezing stiff every night. Still we had to keep on the alert, for the
English were on all sides of us. They had burnt the entire high veldt,
and but a little patch of grass could be found here and there. All
houses were burned, all property was burned, all the grass was burned,
and the scene was a most dreary, desolate one.
Before relating the events of this month I will try to tell in as few
words as possible how we lived and managed so successfully to outwit
the thousands of English about us and with whom we practically lived,
because we were never out of each other's sight. The Boers were divided
up into small bands 100, 200 or 300 strong, and each little band went
as it pleased, and when it pleased, but generally confined itself to
its own little district. These small commands were always in close
touch with each other and could quickly come together if there was a
chance of taking in some single English column that might be passing
by. During the day, when not fighting, we would camp near some old
ruins where we would find a little patch of grass that had escaped the
fire. The English would generally see us and we were sure to see them
at all times. After sunset and darkness had set in, we would saddle up,
dodge behind the English, find another little patch of grass, and then
unsaddle, hobble our horses and try to get a little sleep. So cold it
was that precious little any of us had during the night. We would put
out no guards, but at four o'clock in the morning all would get their
horses, saddle up and prepare for fight. We would then send out a man
here and there, say about 1000 yards distance, to wait for daylight
and to locate the English if possible. If none were to be seen at hand
after the sun came up, we would unsaddle, hobble our horses again
and try to get in some sleep under the warm sunshine. If the English
were found near, we would probably have a short skirmish with them,
knock a few from their horses, and then fly away to some other part of
our district where we would be safe to get something to eat. We were
surrounded many times at daylight, but I will tell something about that
later on.
As everything was destroyed on the high veldt, the reader will
naturally ask how we got anything to eat, as we had no carts or wagons
to carry food. I will tell him just how we managed to live and grow fat
and strong on nothing. Before the rainy season set in, about October,
the burghers would pull out their hidden plows, put the fields in good
shape and then plant their mealies, (Indian corn). All this had to be
done under the cover of darkness, and it meant a great deal of hard,
tiresome work. In the following March and April we would have plenty
of green mealies, and, later on, dry mealies. The English could not
destroy these crops, though they tried and failed. If they turned their
horses out to eat and trample it down, the green corn would kill
them. When the corn ripened and became dry they tried to burn it, but
failed because there was little or no grass in the fields. The result
was that we had mealies on the stalk in all the districts. Many would
be gathered, hidden in the high reeds along the small rivers, or buried
in nice, dry pits. The English have often ridden over these without
discovering them. Now, the reader may understand how we had mealies to
eat ourselves, and some besides for our horses.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN WILLIAMS
Commanding Boer Scouts.]
The English took all the Kaffirs away and burnt their kraals. In these
kraals there were large Kaffir baskets, some that would hold fifty bags
of mealies or Kaffir corn. The English would set these on fire, but
they would not burn. Then they would destroy the baskets and scatter
the corn. In a pinch we would take this corn, wash and dry it and find
it as good as ever with the exception of a little sand or gravel that
might be in it. But a hungry soldier has little regard for sand and
gravel under the circumstances. Now, we always had cattle near by, and
generally two or three good fat bullocks with us. These we would drive
along with us, until they were wanted. In every mess of two or three
men, there was one ordinary coffee mill, but of course we had neither
coffee nor sugar. We used these mills, however, to grind the corn into
a rather coarse meal. It was hard, tedious work, but do it we must, if
we were to have anything with our fresh meat. Having ground sufficient
meal for breakfast, a small tin pot filled with water would be brought
to the boiling point, the meal carefully stirred in and constantly
stirred for about forty minutes, when it would be cooked. Of course
we had no salt; so our fresh meat would be thrown into the ashes,
broiled to suit each one's taste, and then breakfast was ready. There
is ammonia or some other kind of salts in the ashes, that help the meat
out. For coffee, we had in each little mess another small tin bucket,
which would be filled with water and boiled. Some meal would be burnt
in a small pan, till black, and then put into the boiling water; this
makes a very good drink, but I don't believe, reader, that you would
like it.
When near the bush veldt, we often used acorns for the same purpose,
and the coffee was very good. At times, during peach season, we dried
some peaches, charred them and had a really delicious drink. Sweet
potatoes prepared in the same way make a nice beverage, too. So you see
that, after all, we lived very well. Live on mush and fresh meat, as we
did, and you will never be sick.
We lived in this way for two long years, fighting all the time or
trying to evade the English, and we lost but one man from sickness;
this, too, in the face of the fact that we had nothing to protect us
against the cold of winter, or the severe rain storms of summer.
Of course many English convoys were taken, and many railway trains,
too, but the Boers have good sense, and will not eat any canned stuff.
They would destroy all such, and only take what they could comfortably
carry on their horses. To every man's saddle you would see tied either
a small tin bucket, or a coffee mill, and these constituted our
complete cooking outfit. On this high veldt there is practically no
wood. So for fuel we would go about the veldt and collect dry cow dung,
just as they did in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona in the early days.
Now, reader, you are sure to tell me that the English captured all
our cattle, because you read it in the paper. Well, I confess they
did; and let me tell you about it. When the war began, the number of
cattle in the Transvaal and Free State together, was nearly 300,000.
The English captured all these cattle, time and time again, and if
you will take the trouble to look up their official reports, you
will find that during the war they captured some 2,000,000 head from
us, although we had less than 300,000 to begin with. Here is the
explanation: the English would capture our cattle to-day, and make
their report. Tomorrow, we would take the cattle back, but the English
would make no report of it. They always reported the capture, but not
the re-capture, and that is how they captured some 2,000,000 head of
cattle. The cattle were captured and re-captured so often that they
grew to know the khaki's uniform as well as the Boer's rags; so when
they saw a man or two coming, if he or they wore khaki uniforms, they
would at once start toward the railway line. If the men were recognized
by their rags as Boers, they would all start for the high veldt, where
the Boers always took them.
The poor, patient and willing cattle had hard lives, and many and many
miles they travelled during the war. At the end of it, the Boers still
had nearly one-fifth the original number, and all were fat and in good
eating condition.
Now, I will drop this subject for the present, and tell what was done
during June. All the columns made another drive at General Louis Botha,
east of Ermelo, and they had him cornered this time sure; "there was
no possible chance for his escape," and all that remained to be done
was to go through the formal ceremony of surrender of the Commandant
General of the Boer forces. True it is they gave him a lively dance, in
double quick time, too, but when they closed they found that General
Botha and his men were missing, and had left them nothing but the
corner. This was too bad, for the English felt much disappointed at
the idea of having to correct all previous reports. To add to their
misery, General Chris. Botha slipped up behind them, fired a volley
into their rear, and nearly shattered the nervous system of the whole
English force. It was simply a joke on the part of General Chris.
Botha, and having played it, he and his men rode away to some warm spot
where they could rest and eat their mealie pap and fresh meat. One of
these English "drives" is a wonderful tactical success when the number
of telegrams, and the quantity of paper required in the execution, are
considered. However, as long as there were any women and children on
the veldt they managed to get some of them, and these they could kill
in the concentration camps, if they couldn't kill their men on the
battle field.