Failing an assault, we resume the bombardment. The firing is slow and
inaccurate. The English reply in much the same fashion, when suddenly
their new cannon appears on the scene, not altogether to our surprise,
for some intercepted letters had warned us of its manufacture. It was
the famous _Long Cecil_.
The _Long Cecil_ was a gun of about 12 centimetres, made in Kimberley
itself during the siege with a piece of steel taken from the machinery
of the De Beers mine.
The piece was drilled and rifled with the means at the disposal of the
besieged.
The closing of the breech, a somewhat fantastic arrangement, was based
on the Canet system. In default of a trial field, the range was arrived
at from observations of actual firing against us.
_Long Cecil_ accordingly began to speak, and to speak very much to the
point. Several times we were covered with earth, and I am certain that
out of twenty shells, the extreme error was not more than 200 metres.
One fortunately fell diagonally on _Long Tom's_ very platform,
rebounded, and burst a little way off. Seven men were killed.
The next day, Thursday, passed in almost precisely the same fashion.
Towards five o'clock the interchange of amenities between _Long Tom_ and
_Long Cecil_ began, and lasted till 8.30; at 8.30, breakfast. After
breakfast, the guns went to work again till 11. At 11, lunch, rest.
From 4 to 6, another cannonade. At 6, dinner.
This respect for meal-times is charming, and greatly facilitates life in
the field.
It is a pity the attention of the Powers is not called to this subject
by an international convention! Many affections of the stomach would be
hereby avoided.
Encouraged by the example of their big brothers, the little 12 and
15-pounder Krupps and Armstrongs join in the concert.
The English have five, and we have four. It is delightful, and one
can't complain of a single second of boredom.
On Friday, the Colonel's request is still unanswered.
'Wait a little while!'
Sternberg has had enough of it. Recognising the impossibility of
persuading Du Toit to take decisive action, he starts off to Jacobsdal,
where the English make him a prisoner. He was a great loss, for he had
an extraordinary repertory of adventures, which he told in a very
amusing manner, and, besides, he was a capital cook.
The 'boys' in these regions, greatly inferior to those of the Soudan in
this respect, claim to be cooks as soon as they know how to light a
fire. Accordingly, we prepare our meals ourselves. Tinned meat, a bit
of roast mutton, or a stew, are the usual dishes.
The Colonel eats very little, and only takes grilled meat; he drinks tea
or milk, and never touches wine or spirits. He does not smoke. He is a
striking contrast to the rest of us, who eat like ogres, drink like
sponges, and smoke like engines!
Our contingent, consisting of Breda, Leon, Michel, Coste, my friend De
C---- and I, remain with Villebois.
Michel has calculated the ranges, and we fire all Friday night. The
points aimed at are: the searchlights, Cecil Rhodes' house, the Grand
Hotel, the last high chimney on the left, and that on the right.
Erasmus was unable to suppress a gentle amusement at the sight of our
preparations for night-firing. But when he grasped the idea that we
were in earnest, and that his _Long Tom_ was being loaded, the
benevolent smile with which one would watch a spoilt child engaged in
some innocent folly changed to a look of real anxiety. He thought poor
Michel had gone mad. He finally got used to the novel proceeding.
Firing ceased on both sides about 12.30 a.m. Early on Saturday morning
it began again. One of our shells fell on the De Beers magazine,
transformed into an ammunition factory, and caused an explosion and a
fire.
The English, despairing of silencing our _Long Tom_ with their _Long
Cecil_, replied to every shot at the town by a shell into our laager.
The accuracy of their fire with this gun at a range of about 7,000
metres was remarkable. We were indeed a capital target: a green
rectangle of 200 metres in the midst of a yellow, arid plain.
The shell arrived in thirty-four seconds, but did no great damage, for a
watchman gave the alarm, 'Skit!' each time when he saw the smoke, and we
retreated into shelter.
The telegraphists of the staff, who were working in a little house, were
placed in communication with the watchman by means of a bell, and,
warned half a minute before the arrival, they had time to take refuge in
a neighbouring trench.
We learnt later that a similar system had been adopted in Kimberley as a
protection against _Long Tom_, and hence the small number of killed
during the siege. One of the first victims of _Long Tom_, however, was
the engineer of the _Long Cecil_, who had just finished his work. A
shell burst on his house and killed him in his bedroom. Another cause
of the slight mortality on both sides was the bad quality of the fuses
for the projectiles, which often burst imperfectly, or not at all. Thus,
one of the English shells fell in the machinery of the waterworks, only
a few inches from our reserve of a hundred shells, and happily failed to
explode. Another went through a cast-iron pipe, over a centimetre
thick, and buried itself in the earth without exploding; its fuse was
completely flattened on the projectile by contact with the pipe.
Nevertheless, a good many, too many indeed, _did_ burst with
satisfactory results--to those who fired them.
A good many of the Boers accordingly took the precaution of digging a
sort of tomb several feet deep, in which they piled mattresses and
blankets. They spent all night and part of the day lying in this
shelter.
On Saturday morning, on arriving at the battery, we were surprised by a
whistling sound. The English, harassed by the fire of _Long Tom_, had
dug trenches during the night to a distance of about 1,200 yards, and
had manned them with riflemen. Their fire was not yet very galling,
because of the distance between us.
Colonel de Villebois, seeing clearly what would happen, renewed his
request for a party of men. He now only asked for twenty-five to make
an assault that very night, for he pointed out that the _shanjes_
(trenches) would be pushed forward during the night, and that our
battery would become untenable. But he was repulsed by the eternal
'Wait a little while!'
Long convoys of Kaffirs that the English could no longer feed came out
of the town every day, preceded by huge white flags. Some were allowed
to pass after a parley, others were sent back again.
The Colonel feared that an attempt would be made against _Long Tom_ by
night, as a sequel to the offensive movement on the part of the garrison
indicated by the making of the trenches.
Everyone goes to spend the night at the battery, and we take the
opportunity of firing at the town. It proves to be merely a pastime.
The English reply, but do not attack us.
On Sunday, February 11, we rest all along the line. The Burghers sing
hymns in chorus, and do not cease till late in the evening. A sort of
patriarchal simplicity obtains among them. Yesterday the Colonel was
shaving. A Boer entered without saying a word, sat down on his little
camp-bed, and remained there motionless. The Colonel, used to their
ways, took no notice, but waited for the visitor to explain his visit.
As this was prolonged considerably, the Colonel continued his toilet by
a tub taken _puris naturalibus_. The Boer remained, staring silently at
him. At last, his toilet ended, the Colonel explained to the visitor
that he must go, as he wanted to close his tent. The Boer departed
without a word. About ten minutes afterwards he came back with a friend,
who explained that he wanted the Colonel's razor. He would bring it
back _afterwards_. It was very hard to make him understand that the
Colonel wished to reserve the implement for his private use.
On this Sunday, the day of rest, we accordingly went off to bathe at a
spring four kilometres from our laager. We enjoy this peaceful pastime
in the company of a young clergyman who was at one time in the camp.
When _Long Cecil_ began to bombard us, he judged its war-like thunders
to be incompatible with his sacred function, and set up his tent beyond
its range.
On Monday morning the firing began again early. Leon and the Colonel
went off to the battery. Our horses had been turned out to graze by
mistake, so we did not start till an hour after them. On arriving, we
found the balls whistling more smartly than on Saturday. We could
plainly distinguish the buzz of the dum-dum bullets amidst the whir of
the ordinary charge.
During the two nights, the English had pushed forward their trenches to
a distance of from 700 to 800 yards from us. We went up on the
platform, where the Colonel, his glass in his eye, was talking
imperturbably to General du Toit. At the same moment we saw Leon, who
was standing behind them, spin round and fall across the gun-carriage.
The poor fellow had been shot right through the forehead just above the
eyes.
The Colonel at once raised him in his arms, others started off in haste
for an ambulance; but the bullets were now falling round us like hail.
Two horses were wounded in an instant, and a Burgher fell, a bullet
clean through his body.
Poor Leon was still conscious. He bid us all good-bye calmly, taking a
particularly affectionate leave of the Colonel, to whom he was greatly
attached. The Colonel took a little water to wash the blood from his
face, and placed the empty pannikin on the parapet of sacks filled with
earth behind which we were sheltered. So heavy was the English fire
that the pannikin instantly fell to the ground pierced by a bullet.
At last a cart appeared with an attendant and a stretcher. The wounded,
who numbered about a dozen by this time, received first aid; then Leon
was carried off on a stretcher.
What a journey was that march of three kilometres, the first part of
which was performed under a rain of bullets! The head of the wounded
man was swathed in cloths, which we kept wetting continually, holding an
umbrella over his head, for the heat was intense--it was eleven o'clock
in the morning. Blood poured from his mouth and nose. Poor fellow! we
made up our minds that it was all over with him.
We reached Waterworks in two hours. But the little house that had been
turned into a hospital was no longer safe since the bombardment of our
camp had begun. A telegram had therefore been sent to Riverton Road,
where there was an ambulance-station with a good doctor. Towards one
o'clock an ambulance-carriage arrived and carried off our comrade.
On Tuesday, the 13th, we missed the salute _Long Tom_ had been in the
habit of giving the enemy at daybreak. What had happened? We sent off
for news. General du Toit replied that Erasmus declared the gun was
broken, and could not be fired. He himself had not been to inquire into
the damage, and seemed to be no more concerned than if he had been told
it was raining at Chicago. We set off to Kampferdam in great distress,
expecting to find the gun a wreck.
As we approached, however, we saw that it was still in place, apparently
wondering at its own silence. We examined it carefully all over, but
could find nothing to account for the catastrophe, and, in despair, we
sent for Erasmus.
Standing back a couple of paces, he showed us that one of the beams of
the platform, which had received the full force of the recoil, had sunk
some few centimetres. It was a matter of no importance, and did not
interfere with the firing in any way. But Erasmus, I suppose, did not
feel inclined to work the gun that day. He had told Du Toit that it was
broken, and the General had at once accepted the statement. After a
severe reprimand to the recalcitrant gunner, the firing recommenced as
usual.
Our provisions began to run out in camp, in spite of a stock of potatoes
we had discovered at the waterworks. It was accordingly arranged that
we should start off with two others of the party to get fresh stores,
and a cart and mules, at Pretoria.
The Colonel, believing that the lack of offensive action among the Boers
would prolong the siege indefinitely, determined to set out himself on
the 15th for Colesberg, where we were to rejoin him in a few days. We
started on the 14th, bound for Brandfort and Pretoria.
On setting out, my mare, an excellent mount, but very fiery, brought me
suddenly to the ground, to the great amusement of the Colonel. The same
accident having happened to Breda a day or two before, it began to be
looked upon as a special privilege of the ex-cavalry officers!
At nightfall we arrived at Riverton Road, where Leon was lying. During
the evening the Colonel himself came over to inquire for him. He had
had a good day, and the operation that was judged necessary had been
fixed for eleven o'clock that night, to avoid the heat of daylight. We
waited about the door of the baggage-shed, which had been converted into
an ambulance.
The operation, which proved perfectly successful, lasted an hour and a
half. The doctor, a Scotchman called Dunlop, assured us that our poor
friend was out of danger.
At daybreak on the 15th we started, the Colonel for the camp, we for
Brandfort. It was terribly hot, and we were in a hurry, for a rumour of
Lord Roberts' arrival had got about. It seemed likely that there would
be some more lively work on hand very soon, and we were anxious to get
through the drudgery of revictualling as quickly as possible.
In the evening we reached Boshof, where a good many wounded had been
brought since our last visit. We rode all day on the 16th, slept in the
bush, and started again at daybreak on the 17th. Towards noon we took a
rest of an hour and a half, and consumed a tin of corned beef.
It was nearly two when we mounted again under a sky of fire, not to draw
rein till we reached Brandfort at ten o'clock on Sunday morning, save
for a compulsory halt of two hours from three to five in the morning,
when the darkness made it impossible for us to continue our journey in
the trackless sand and tangled bush.
We had been in the saddle twenty-six hours out of thirty to accomplish
our journey of 120 miles, and had taken three and a half days, riding
over sixty kilometres a day, in average heat of from 38 deg. to 40 deg.
(centigrade), without fodder and almost without water, in a wild,
unknown country.
Our horses were dead-beat, and we entered the village on foot, dragging
the poor brutes by their bridles. What was our stupefaction to hear
that the siege of Kimberley had been raised without any engagement the
very day after our departure!
The surprise, it seems, had been complete. There was a cry of 'The
English!' and then a panic, which barely left time to carry off the guns
and waggons. Part of the ammunition was left behind, some provisions,
_Long Tom's_ break and its platform. The Colonel had escaped with
Breda. But in the confusion one of our comrades, Coste, was lost, and
eventually joined Cronje.
A story which amused us all at the time may be told here. A volunteer,
no longer in his first youth--well over fifty, in fact--had come to join
the Colonel just at the time of the English attack. A very eccentric
character, and slightly bemused by drink, he found himself in the thick
of the stampede, without any clear idea of what it was all about.
Suddenly the Burghers, who had never seen him in the camp before, struck
by his odd behaviour, demanded his passports. Not understanding a word
of Dutch, he had some difficulty in making out what they wanted.
At last he produced the necessary paper. The pandours of the moment
scrutinized them carefully, then, shaking their heads in the fashion
which among all races implies negation, they said:
'No good! _Obsal!_' (mount).
Two men ranged themselves on either side of the unlucky wight, a
complete novice in horsemanship, and galloped off with him to a farm
several miles off.
'Dismount! Your passports!'
About fifteen persons, men, women and children, were grouped round a
table. The passport, handed round once more, is discussed by the
assembly, each person present giving an opinion. The general verdict is
unfavourable, for heads are again shaken.
'No good! _Obsal!_'
The poor volunteer, aching from his furious gallop, begins to think
things rather beyond a joke; but, anxious to conciliate, he remounts,
and gallops off again under escort. On arriving at another farm another
inspection, also unfavourable, takes place.
'No good! _Obsal!_'
This time the worm turns. Pale, exhausted and racked with pain, he
opposes the force of inertia to the rigour of his tormentors, who,
convinced that he is a spy, set him against a wall and load their
rifles. This argument is so convincing that he remounts, and finally
makes them understand that he will be able to find someone to answer for
him at Brandfort.
Two days later he arrived there, fasting, exhausted, and still guarded
by his escort. Fortunately he was recognised and released. He never
returned to the front.
* * * * *
We leave for Pretoria by the first train, and arrive on the evening of
the 20th. We at once set to work on our re-victualling mission.
Two days later, I got a telegram from Colonel de Villebois-Mareuil.
Having heard of the arrival of a good many French volunteers at
Pretoria, he agrees to take the command of them, and orders me to get
them together. A letter to M. Reitz, sent off at the same time,
explains the project.
Among the new arrivals are ex-petty officers, ex-sailors, ex-legionaries
... a motley crew. Their equipment will take several days, and it is
arranged that they are to join us at Colesberg, for which we start by
that evening's train.
During this short sojourn at Pretoria I was presented by Colonel Gourko
to Captain D----, the French military attache, one of the most charming
men I have ever met.
We noticed numerous placards on the town walls, giving notice of
thanksgiving services for February 26 and 27. It is the anniversary of
Majuba Hill, which is celebrated every year with great pomp. This year,
in spite of the national pre-occupation in current events, the
traditional custom is to be kept up. The usual review of the troops by
the President and the Commander-in-Chief cannot, of course, take place;
but the shops and offices will be closed for forty-eight hours, and the
whole population will flock to the churches.
Shortly after our departure, at a station the name of which I
forget--perhaps intentionally, for I feel a qualm of remorse at the
recollection of it--a little fox-terrier playing about the train jumped
into our carriage. We were just starting.... It would have been cruel
to throw the poor little beast on to the platform at the risk of maiming
it or causing it to be run over.... In short, we kept her, and
christened her Nelly. She was very pretty, pure white, with a black
patch on her head and another on her back. I felt remorseful--until the
next station; then I overcame my scruples. I am so fond of dogs.
At Brandfort, a counter-order awaits us, directing us to go to
Bloemfontein, where the Colonel awaits us, in consequence of Lord
Roberts' latest operations. We land our cart, our mules, and our
provisions. But our worn-out horses have to be replaced. The Colonel,
impatient to be gone, will not wait for us, and starts for Petrusburg,
where we are to join him as quickly as possible.
On the 28th, the news of Cronje's capitulation reaches us. We know
nothing of the details, but the moral effect is terrible.
We had got together hastily at Pretoria a cart, harness, mules, and
three black boys. Individually, each of these acquisitions is highly
satisfactory. The cart is a superb omnibus, freshly painted gray; the
harness is almost new, the mules very handsome--a little black one in
particular. The boys were chosen to suit all tastes: one tall, one
short, and one of medium height. But it proves very difficult to
establish any sort of cohesion between these various elements.
At the first attempt the harness breaks, the mules bite and kick. It
needs the cunning of an Apache even to approach the little black one.
The boys are stupid, and speak neither Dutch nor English, nothing but
Kaffir. The omnibus alone remains stationary, but it creaks and groans
in a pitiable fashion when touched.
A second experiment is no more successful than the first. The third
gives a better result: the vehicle moves, and even goes very near to
losing a wheel.
This remarkable result is achieved, firstly, because all the rotten
leathers of the harness are in pieces, after a double series of joltings
and strainings; only the solid ones are left. Secondly, the pretty
little black mule has run away, after breaking some dozen halters, so
that we are saved the trouble of harnessing her. Lastly, we have
stationed the three boys at a safe distance, begging them on no account
to help us, and Michel, who as an old artilleryman is an adept in
harness, does wonders. Finally we get off, escorting our omnibus, which
groans aloud at every step.
We look like 'The Attack on the Stage Coach' in Buffalo Bill!
V
On the morning of the 7th, the road to Petrusburg was blocked, and the
guns were roaring in front of us. Marais, Botha's adjutant, joined us.
At the first sound of the guns we left the waggons, and galloped off in
the direction he pointed out. The battle of Poplar Grove was about to
be fought under our eyes, though we were unable to take a very active
part in it.
The engagement went on mainly oh our right; we were on the left of the
Boer lines. In front of us was a kopje occupied by a hundred rifles.
About 11 o'clock the English cavalry charged at the guns, about two
miles away. The firing slackened. Then about 2 o'clock the English
began to shell us furiously with shrapnel, also the kopje forming the
Boer centre. An outflanking movement completed the demoralisation of
the Boers, and at 3.30 the retreat became general.
President Kruger came by this morning to announce that he had made the
following peace proposals:
'BLOEMFONTEIN,
'_March_ 5, 1900.
'The blood and tears of the thousands who have suffered by this war, and
the prospect of all the moral and economic ruin with which South Africa
is now threatened, make it necessary for both belligerents to ask
themselves dispassionately, and as in the sight of the Triune God, for
what they are fighting, and whether the aim of each justifies all this
appalling misery and devastation.
'With this object, and in view of the assertions of various British
statesmen to the effect that this war was begun, and is being carried
on, with the set purpose of undermining Her Majesty's authority in South
Africa, and of setting up an administration over all South Africa,
independent of Her Majesty's Government, we consider it our duty
solemnly to declare that this war was undertaken solely as a defensive
measure to safeguard the threatened independence of the South African
Republic, and is only continued in order to secure and safeguard the
incontestable independence of both Republics as sovereign international
States, and to obtain the assurance that those of Her Majesty's subjects
who have taken part with us in this war shall suffer no harm whatsoever
in person or property.
'On these two conditions, but on these alone, are we now, as in the
past, desirous of seeing peace re-established in South Africa, and of
putting an end to the evils now reigning over South Africa; while, if
Her Majesty's Government is determined to destroy the independence of
the Republics, there is nothing left to us and to our people but to
persevere to the end in the course already begun, in spite of the
overwhelming pre-eminence of the British Empire, confident that that God
who lighted the inextinguishable fire of the love of freedom in the
hearts of ourselves and of our fathers will not forsake us, but will
accomplish His work in us and in our descendants.
'We hesitated to make this declaration earlier to your Excellency, as we
feared that, as long as the advantage was always on our side, and as
long as our forces held defensive positions far in Her Majesty's
colonies, such a declaration might hurt the feelings of honour of the
British people; but now that the prestige of the British Empire may be
considered to be assured by the capture of one of our forces by Her
Majesty's troops, and that we are thereby forced to evacuate other
positions which our forces had occupied, that difficulty is over, and we
can no longer hesitate clearly to inform your Government and people in
the sight of the whole civilized world why we are fighting, and on what
conditions we are ready to restore peace.'
Lord Salisbury replied as follows:
'FOREIGN OFFICE,
'_March_ 11, 1900.
'I have the honour to acknowledge your Honours' telegram, dated the 5th
of March, from Bloemfontein, of which the purport is principally to
demand that Her Majesty's Government shall recognise the "incontestable
independence" of the South African Republic and Orange Free State "as
sovereign international States," and to offer on those terms to bring
the war to a conclusion.
'In the beginning of October peace existed between Her Majesty and the
two Republics under the Conventions which were then in existence. A
discussion had been proceeding for some months between Her Majesty's
Government and the South African Republic, of which the object was to
obtain redress for certain very serious grievances under which British
residents in the South African Republic were suffering. In the course of
these negotiations the South African Republic had, to the knowledge of
Her Majesty's Government, made considerable armaments, and the latter
had, consequently, taken steps to provide corresponding reinforcements
to the British garrisons of Cape Town and Natal. No infringement of the
rights guaranteed by the Conventions had, up to that point, taken place
on the British side. Suddenly, at two days' notice, the South African
Republic, after issuing an insulting ultimatum, declared war upon Her
Majesty; and the Orange Free State, with whom there had not even been
any discussion, took a similar step. Her Majesty's dominions were
immediately invaded by the two Republics, siege was laid to three towns
within the British frontier, a large portion of the two colonies was
overrun, with great destruction to property and life, and the Republics
claimed to treat the inhabitants of extensive portions of Her Majesty's
dominions as if those dominions had been annexed to one or other of
them. In anticipation of these operations, the South African Republic
had been accumulating for many years past military stores on an enormous
scale, which, by their character, could only have been intended for use
against Great Britain.
'Your Honours make some observations of a negative character upon the
object with which these preparations were made. I do not think it
necessary to discuss the questions you have raised. But the result of
these preparations, carried on with great secrecy, has been that the
British Empire has been compelled to confront an invasion which has
entailed upon the Empire a costly war and the loss of thousands of
precious lives. This great calamity has been the penalty which Great
Britain has suffered for having in recent years acquiesced in the
existence of the two Republics.
'In view of the use to which the two Republics have put the position
which was given to them, and the calamities which their unprovoked
attack has inflicted upon Her Majesty's dominions, Her Majesty's
Government can only answer your Honours' telegram by saying that they
are not prepared to assent to the independence either of the South
African Republic or of the Orange Free State.'
It was to be war, then, to the bitter end.
* * * * *
At the beginning of the retreat, a field-cornet came to ask my advice,
as often happened. He disregarded it, as always happened. I wanted them
to destroy the reservoirs, burn the forage, and poison the wells all
along the line of retreat.[#] He would never consent.
[#] The writer apparently made this monstrous suggestion quite
seriously.--TRANSLATOR.
Later on, when I was a prisoner, an English officer of rank, who had
taken part in the march across the Orange Free State, told me he had
suffered terribly from thirst, and he assured me that if the measures I
had advised had been taken, Roberts' 40,000 men, for the most part
mounted, would never have achieved their task.
But at the moment time failed me to prove to the brave field-cornet, by
the teaching of history in general, and of the wars in Spain in
particular, what excellent results might be obtained by such a method of
defence. Minutes were becoming precious, and we made off as fast as we
could, while in the distance we saw half our convoy blazing, fired by
bursting shells.
Towards half-past nine we lay down on the veldt, without pitching any
tents, and keeping a sharp look-out. By eleven the last of the Boer
stragglers had passed. Colonel Gourko and Lieutenant Thomson had been
made prisoners.
On the 8th we were astir at daybreak. Our three boys went off to find
our beasts, which had strayed far in search of pasture, on account of
the scanty herbage, in spite of their hobbles. They were all recovered,
however, with the exception of one mule, which remained deaf to every
summons, a most inconsiderate proceeding on his part, seeing that the
English were at our heels.
Time being precious, we started off as well as we could with our reduced
convoy. Suddenly one of our boys, big John, stood tiptoe on his long
feet, gave a sweeping glance around, and went quietly on his way. Half
an hour later, he began again to increase in height and to study the
horizon.... We could see absolutely nothing. As my acquaintance with
John was slight, I imagined that he probably suffered from some nervous
affection. But this time he sniffed the air loudly, and, without a
word, darted off obliquely from our track.
An hour passed, and he did not return. Grave doubts of his fidelity
began to afflict us. At last, two hours later, we noticed a speck on the
horizon, then two. It was John with the missing mule. John is an
angel--a black angel!
All the farms we passed on the road had hoisted the white flag. At noon
we reached the point where the road to Bloemfontein bifurcates. A few
Burghers were gathered there. We pitched our tents.
During the evening the French military attache, Captain D----, passed,
and told us that Colonel de Villebois was only about an hour distant
from us.
On March 9 we set out to join him. We found him with about fifty men,
coming from Pretoria. These men were divided into two companies, the
first under Breda, the second under me. Directly we arrived it was
agreed to start at ten o'clock. We stopped long enough to add our cart
to the Colonel's convoy, which we were to pick up near the farm of
Abraham's Kraal. The 'French Corps' was formed!
About four o'clock we arrived on the height of Abraham's Kraal. The
farm so-called lies along the Modder River, which flows from east to
west. Its steep, bush-entangled banks are bathed with yellow, turbid
water, whence its name--Modder (Mud) River. A line of kopjes, starting
from the edge of the river, stretches several miles south of it. In
front of them, to the west, lies a barren yellow plain. Far off on the
horizon lie the kopjes of Poplar Grove, where we were forty-eight hours
before.
The Colonel, who has gone off on a scouting expedition with his troop,
is not to be found. We wait for him vainly all the evening with General
Delarey's staff, in company with Baron von Wrangel, an ex-lieutenant of
the German Guards. In this expedition a young volunteer named Franck, a
quartermaster of the Chasseurs d'Afrique, whose term had just expired,
distinguished himself by his coolness and his boldness under fire. He
was a brave fellow, as he was to prove later on.
Night came on fast, our chief was still absent, and we went off to sleep
at a little deserted farm, with the officers of the Johannesburg
Politie. We lay down beside them and slept like men who have been in the
saddle for twelve hours.
On March 10, at 5 a.m., we started for General Delarey's bivouac. It
might have been 6.30, when Vecht-General Sellier passed us at a gallop,
crying: '_Obsal!_ The English!'
Our positions, chosen the night before, were as follows: Our right, with
the Modder River beyond, consisted of about 400 men of the Johannesburg
Politie, with a Krupp gun, an Armstrong, and two Maxims. Then a space
in the plain, where a commando of 200 men, with three cannon and a Maxim
gun, constituting our centre, had taken up a position early in the
morning. Finally, to the south, on our left, 300 men on a round kopje,
fairly high.
At Poplar Grove two days before we had numbered several thousands; but
the Boers, discouraged by the check they had undergone, had returned to
their farms, refusing to fight. This was a proceeding very
characteristic of these men, slow physically and morally, profoundly
obstinate, astute rather than intelligent, distrustful, sometimes
magnanimous. Easily depressed and as easily elated, without any
apparent cause, they are a curious jumble of virtues and failings, often
of the most contradictory kinds. The sort of panics frequent among them
are due, I think, rather to their total lack of organization than to
their temperament; for, not to speak of individual instances of valour,
by no means rare among them, the Johannesburg Politie, with their very
primitive discipline, have shown what might have been done by the Boers
with some slight instruction and some slight discipline.[#]
[#] Ten years ago the Duc de Broglie, in his 'Marie-Therese
Imperatrice,' wrote as follows of the campaign of 1744 against Frederick
the Great:
'Prince Charles had not even all his force at his disposal.... All that
had been left him were the Hungarian levies, who had indeed been the
main strength of the Austrian army; but these irregular troops, passing
from ardour to discouragement with that mobility proper to men with whom
enthusiasm does duty for experience and discipline, now thought of
nothing but of a speedy return to their homesteads, and entered
reluctantly upon every enterprise that retarded this return. Whole
companies deserted the flag and took the road for Hungary.'
These words, written of the Hungarians of the seventeenth century, are
literally applicable to the Boers of to-day, and it is curious to
note--though I do not for a moment compare Lord Roberts to Frederick the
Great--that the Hungarians often inflicted a check on the King of
Prussia, just as the Boers have occasionally stopped the English
Marshal.
They alone had remained, with a handful of foreigners and some stray men
from various commandos.
The Heilbron Commando, consisting of over 200 men, was represented by
the corporal and three men. All the rest, the commandant at their head,
had gone home; hence their reduced fighting strength. At last all the
remnant of the force was in its place, behind little rocky entrenchments
hastily thrown up.
In the distance a long column of 'khakis' defiles, marching from north
to south, presenting its left flank to us from a distance of seven or
eight miles, and preceded by a body of mounted scouts.
We go to inspect the mounting of our guns, which are arriving on our
left and in the centre of our line. Then we return to the kopje where
we were before with the Johannesburg Politie. Captain D----, the French
military attache, is there following all the movements.
About eight o'clock an English detachment essays a movement against us,
and we open fire with our Krupp gun. English regiments defile against
the horizon till eleven o'clock. Some Maxims and a battery of
field-guns have been mounted against us.
Between the English and Boer lines a herd of springbock are running
about in terror under the shells. The poor beasts finally make off to
more tranquil regions and disappear.
The Maxims fire short, but after a few seconds the field-guns find the
range, and fire with a certain precision. Two shrapnel-shells fired one
after the other burst over our heads. My right-hand neighbour gets a
bullet just below his right eye, and falls against me; I am covered with
his blood. He died soon after.
As I bathe his face, I see Captain D---- hobbling back. I go to him.
He has been struck on the hip by a ball, which, having fortunately spent
most of its force, has not penetrated the flesh. The wound was not
dangerous, but it swelled a good deal at once, and caused a numbness in
the leg. I hastily applied the necessary dressing, which the Captain
had with him, and then went to fetch his horse.
After his departure, we return to the kopje. The Mounted Rifles advance
in force. We wait till they are about 500 metres off, and then open a
heavy fire upon them, supported by the two Maxims. They retreat
rapidly, leaving some dozen of their number on the field. We make four
prisoners. They are sailors who have been mounted, lads of barely
twenty. There is a lull after this attempt.
About four o'clock the artillery fire begins again with redoubled fury,
heralding a violent charge by the infantry, who have been concentrated
under the shelter of the field-guns. A simultaneous charge is made on
our left wing. All along the line and on both flanks we sustain a heavy
fusillade from the enemy. Although protected to some extent by our
rocks, our losses are pretty heavy.
The English come up to be killed with admirable courage. Three times
they return to the charge in the open, losing a great many men. At
nightfall they are close upon us.
I go in search of Colonel Villebois, who means to rest his men in a
little wood behind a kopje on the banks of the Modder. We have eaten
nothing since the night before.
At eight o'clock comes an order for a general retreat. We learn that an
outflanking movement is to be attempted against us. In the evening
General Delarey telegraphed as follows:
'The English are advancing upon our positions in two different
directions. They have begun to bombard General Sellier, and are keeping
up a sharp rifle-fire. We have been heavily engaged from nine o'clock
this morning till sunset. The federated troops fought like heroes.
Three times they repulsed a strong force of the English, who brought up
fresh troops against us every time. Each attack was repulsed, and at
sunset the English troops were only about forty metres from us. Their
losses were very heavy. Our own have not yet been ascertained. A
report on this point will follow.'
We found afterwards that Roberts' entire army was present, some 40,000
men, and that he had engaged over 12,000. Our losses were 380 men out
of about 950.
At 8.30 we set out hastily for Bloemfontein, carrying off our prisoners
and wounded on trolleys drawn by mules. About eleven o'clock we pass
some English outposts, which are pointed out to us on our right at a
distance of only a few hundred metres.
At three in the morning we arrive at the store where we had bivouacked
two nights before. We leave our horses to graze in a field of maize,
and take a short rest. About five we are greeted by distant volleys.
'_Obsal!_'
But my horse is dead lame in the right hind-leg. I try to bind it up
with the remains of an old waistcoat. Impossible. He cannot drag
himself along. I am forced to 'find' another which is grazing near by.
I seem to be forming predatory habits. Here I am now with a dog I
'found,' which follows me faithfully, on a horse I also 'found'! But it
is in the cause of liberty.
Besides, these habits are so much in vogue among the Boers. I could
tell a tale of one of my comrades, to whose detriment some half-dozen
horses had been 'found' by the Burghers (the process is called by them
_obtail_). And, to conclude, my find was no great acquisition.
We finally arrive at Bloemfontein about three o'clock in the afternoon.
Here we meet numbers of English men and women, smartly dressed in summer
costumes, smiling and cheerful, starting out in carriages to meet the
victors. They are not aggressive, however; our sullen bearing perhaps
warns them that a misplaced exuberance might have unpleasant
consequences.
We find our convoy at the entrance of the town, and we pass through to
our camp on the east.
Poor capital! What terror, what disorder shows itself on every side!
The shops have been hurriedly shut; men, carriages, riders pass each
other in every direction, and the two main streets are encumbered with
an interminable string of bullock-waggons. In the market-place and in
the market itself an improvised ambulance has been set up, and the
wounded are being tended. On every threshold stand women and children,
whose anxious eyes seem to ask: 'Where are they?'