THE ATTACK UPON GAME TREE
MAFEKING, _December 27th, 1899_.
Barely had the celebration of Christmas Day passed in Mafeking when
the order to prepare for immediate action was sent out from
Headquarters, and in the early hours of Boxing Day two dismounted
squadrons began to move to the front. We had spent a pleasant holiday
that day, which of all days brings glad tidings and goodwill
throughout the civilised and Christian world; but when, hereafter, we
come to speak of the Christmas season of 1899, our stories will be
impressed with the sinister memories of the tragic events which have
for us marked the time as one of lamentation. Nothing could have been
in more complete contrast to the happiness of Christmas Day, imbued
with much real meaning to beleaguered Mafeking, than those early
morning preparations which were made as the day closed. For some
little time we have been desirous to attack the enemy's position at
Game Tree, and in my last letter I mentioned the fact that, in
anticipation of such an event, I had camped one night recently with
Captain Vernon at his western outpost. That attack, however, did not
take place, and, although the town and garrison were disappointed,
there was a very strong feeling that it would not be long before they
were compensated for their disappointment.
Game Tree, against which our force moved, is a strongly fortified
position of the enemy, about two miles from the town, and it has been
from this spot that our front to the north-west has been subjected to
a persistent rifle and artillery fire during many weeks. The attack
was ordered for the purpose of breaking the cordon around Mafeking,
with a view to ultimately reopening our communications to the north. D
and C Squadrons of the Protectorate Regiment, under the Imperial
Service officers, Captain Vernon, of the King's Royal Rifles, and
Captain Fitzclarence, of the Royal Fusiliers, were detailed to carry
out the attack from the east, under the protection of the armoured
train, and Captain Williams and twenty men of the British South Africa
Police, with a one-pounder Hotchkiss and Maxim. This right flank was
further supported by Captain Cowan and seventy men of the Bechuanaland
Rifles, the whole of the wing being under the command of Major Godley.
The left wing comprised three seven-pounders, one cavalry Maxim, and a
troop of the Protectorate Regiment under Major Panzera; Captain Lord
Charles Bentinck with two troops of A Squadron holding the reserve.
The entire operations from this side were conducted by Colonel Hore.
Colonel Baden-Powell and his staff--Major Lord Edward Cecil, Chief
Staff Officer, Captain Wilson, A.D.C., and Lieutenant the Hon. A. H.
C. Hanbury-Tracy--watched the progress of the fight from Dummie Fort.
Our guns moved into position during the night, throwing up
emplacements for the attack, and as soon as they could see, Major
Panzera opened fire. It was yet dark, although there came a faint
glimmer of light from the east, but not sufficient to prevent the
flashes from the muzzles of the guns and the glow of the bursting
shells from being plainly visible. Until that moment there had been no
sign of any living thing about the veldt between us and the Boer
lines, and there was no sound. We had seen C and D Squadrons creeping
to their positions under the guidance of the scout Cooke. Captain Lord
Charles Bentinck had deployed across the front of the Boer position,
taking up his place upon the left of the line. Close to him and but
little in advance, the gunners had ensconced themselves behind a few
sods of earth and sacks of sand. These operations marked the
preliminary of the fight, from which, as the armoured train steamed to
its post, completing the units in our attack, nothing had been omitted
which might increase our chances of success.
At 4.15 a.m. our first shells were thrown upon the enemy's position,
the shells bursting short and beyond Game Tree with no very striking
effect. Upon the left of Game Tree and extending to the receding wall
of the fort, some sixty yards distant, there was a heavy overgrowth of
bushes, upon which, as the enemy seemed to be firing from concealed
pits in their midst, the cavalry Maxim concentrated its fire. Away to
the right there was the automatic rattle of the Maxim in the armoured
train, and the sharp crack of the Hotchkiss. For the first
three-quarters of an hour the attack was left to Major Panzera, who,
it was hoped, would effect a breach in the parapet through the agency
of his guns. But, unfortunately, the damage inflicted upon the fort
did not materially aid the charge which our men were so soon and so
very gallantly to make, and which, when completed, revealed the fact
that Colonel Baden-Powell had also organised a frontal attack upon an
entrenched and impregnable position, with most lamentable results. A
few of the enemy were put out of action by our shrapnel shells
bursting in such a manner as to search out the interior of the fort
with their sharp-edged segments, but the strength of the fort was so
great and had been so increased during the night, that the artillery
which was available was not sufficiently heavy for our purpose, while
the wisdom of using the guns at all is eminently questionable. The
character of our attack needed a movement which was quietly delivered,
and which was in the nature of a surprise. So far as the fact is of
value, in appreciating the appalling disaster which upon that morning
befell our arms, our gunfire simply warned the garrison in the fort to
stand to their arms. There is no doubt that the employment of the guns
was a blunder in keeping with the conception of the attack. Colonel
Baden-Powell, one has to say regretfully, upon this occasion was
instrumental in bringing about quite needless loss of life. Presently,
as we watched, we could see the signal being given to the armoured
train "to cease fire," and a moment afterwards the base notes of the
steam whistle boomed forth, when, as though waiting for this signal,
"Big Ben," whose emplacement was some 6,000 yards to the south-east in
the rear, began to shell the armoured train. As the echoes of the big
gun died away, a roll of musketry from our own line and from the fort
swept across the veldt, and for a few brief moments the hail of
bullets was like the opening shower of a tropical deluge. Upon the
east Captain Vernon with C and D Squadrons had begun the charge. Their
position at this moment was in echelon--Captain Sandford with a troop
of C Squadron was upon the right extremity, with Captain Vernon in the
centre, and Captain Fitzclarence upon his left. As Captain Vernon gave
the word to charge they opened out into skirmishing order, maintaining
the while successive volleys with perfect accuracy. The advance was
well carried out; indeed, its order and style were worthy of the best
traditions of our army, and received tributes of admiration from all
the commanding officers present. As they advanced the fire of the
enemy was principally delivered from the front of the fort and the
rifle intrenchments in the scrub. For a moment it seemed as though the
face opposed to the rush of Captain Vernon and Captain Sandford was a
mere wall requiring only to be scaled for the fort to be captured.
But, when the men approached within three hundred yards of the fort,
rifles rang out from every possible point, and the ground was swept by
Mauser and Martini bullets. The men who charged through this zone of
fire suffered terribly, and the conclusion must have forced itself
upon their minds that they were going to their death. As each face of
the fort became engaged the fire of the enemy began to have a telling
effect upon our charging line. Captain Sandford was the first to fall,
mortally wounded with a bullet in the spine. He fell down, calling to
his men to continue the charge; but where he had fallen, he died. Our
men now began to drop rather rapidly, and Captain Fitzclarence was
disabled with a bullet in the thigh. His place was taken by Lieutenant
Swinburne, who at once continued the charge, that officer and
Lieutenant Bridges, of the same squadron, being among the nine who,
upon the termination of the fight, were unwounded. The ground around
the fort was becoming dotted with the figures of our wounded men,
who, although they were but an irregular soldiery, followed their
officers with the pluck and dogged determination of veterans. The
brunt of the fight now fell upon the companies under the immediate
command of Captain Vernon, who, undaunted by the impossibility of his
task, steadily fought his way forward. As they approached still
nearer, his men, undisturbed by the shower of bullets which fell about
them, cheered repeatedly, the echo of those cheers, giving rise to the
impression that the capture of the position was imminent. The steady
rush of our men, undeflected by the worst that the enemy could do, was
rapidly demoralising those who were firing from behind the loopholes
in the fort, and it may have been that, had we not had our responsible
officers shot or killed before we reached the walls of the fort, a
different story might have to be told. As it happened, when Captain
Vernon, with whom was Lieutenant Paton, steadied his men for the wild
impetuosity of the last charge, a bullet struck him in the body. For a
brief interval he stopped, but, refusing the entreaty of Lieutenant
Paton that he should fall out, he joined that officer once more in
taking the lead. From the point which they had gained the character of
the fort was seen, and the heavy fire under which it was defended
showed it to be impregnable. It rose some seven feet from the ground,
from the edges of a ditch with sides that it was almost impossible to
climb. It was certain death which stared them in the face within
twenty-five yards, but not a man was dismayed. They continued. The
ditch was before them, the fort above them, and through double tiers
of loopholes came the enemy's fire. Our men from one side of the ditch
fired point-blank at an enemy who, from behind his loophole, fired
point-blank at him. Here those who had survived until now were either
killed or wounded, and it was here that Captain Vernon was hit again,
as he, with Lieutenant Paton and the scout Cooke, whose tunic at the
end of the engagement was found to be riddled with bullets,
endeavoured to clamber into the fort. Captain Vernon and Lieutenant
Paton managed by superhuman efforts to reach the loopholes, into which
they emptied their revolvers. Their example was eagerly followed by
the few who remained, and who were shot down as they plied their
bayonets through the apertures. Here Captain Vernon, Lieutenant Paton,
Corporal Pickard, Sergeant Ross, and many others were killed. Captain
Vernon was shot in the head, the third wound which he had received
within two hundred yards. Lieutenant Paton was shot in the region of
the heart. Bugler Morgan, who was the first to ply his bayonet, was
shot in three places, but it is believed that he will live. Then a
mighty roar rose up, and we who had not taken part in the charge,
again thought that the position had been carried. But it was the
triumphant shout of the Boers, who, from the quick manner in which
they followed us in hoisting up the Red Cross flag, would seem to have
been partially demoralised by the keenness of our attack. With the
dead and dying about them, and the area of the wounded encircling the
fort, those of our men who were left fell back savagely and sullenly,
with a contempt of the enemy's fire and the desire to renew the
attack. Further assault was impossible, and, though we continued to
fire upon the position until stretcher-parties were sent out, the
fight was practically over upon our retirement. When they fell in
again, out of the sixty men that had been engaged in the charge only
nine were unwounded. Our killed were twenty-one; our wounded thirty,
of whom four have since died. There were also three who were prisoners
in the hands of the enemy.
Soon after the commencement of operations the chief staff officer gave
me permission to move forward from Dummie Fort, and I therefore rode
over to the position occupied by Captain Lord Charles Bentinck, and
afterwards to Game Tree, joining Surgeon-Major Anderson, when the Red
Cross flag was hoisted on the scene of the engagement. The heavy
vapour from the shells still impregnated the air, and hanging loosely
over the veldt were masses of grey-black and brown-yellow smoke
clouds. Boers on horseback and on foot were moving quickly in all
directions, and mounted detachments were seen advancing at a gallop
from the big laager upon the eastern front, with their rifles swung
loosely across their knees. They had been proceeding to reinforce Game
Tree Fort, upon an order from Field Cornet Steinekamp, when the
cessation of hostilities had taken place under the provisions of the
Red Cross. Game Tree Fort presented an animated picture. The enemy
thronged its walls, held noisy conversation in scattered groups, that,
breaking up in one spot, congregated the next moment in some other.
The bushes about the fort were alive with men who, with their rifles
in their hands and a few loose cartridges at their side, were prepared
at any moment to resume hostilities. The fort itself showed no traces
of the shelling, although it were impossible, from the seventy-five
yards limit, up to which we were permitted to approach, to examine it
very thoroughly. It has been claimed that the fort was strengthened
during the night, but signs were absent by which one could detect
traces of the new work, and, in view of this fact, one is disinclined
to impugn the statement of Commandant Botha, who told me that he had
been expecting the attack for the past two weeks. From where we were
the strength of the fort was very apparent, seeming altogether
unnecessary for the requirements of such a post, unless definite
information had been carried to the enemy about our plans. It may be
that the night attack which Captain Fitzclarence had led against the
Boer trenches upon the east of the town earlier in the siege had
prompted the enemy to strengthen all their positions. The fort itself
had been given a head covering of wooden beams, earth, and corrugated
iron; the entrance in the rear was blocked, and in every other way it
appeared impregnable. When the order came for our men to retire, Dr.
Hamilton proceeded from the armoured train with the Red Cross flag,
making his way to the wounded in the face of a heavy fire. But as soon
as it was recognised by the enemy that he was desirous of helping the
sufferers the firing was at once stopped, and Commandant Botha himself
apologised. The field around the Boer position at once became dotted
with similar emblems, for the character of the charge and the severity
of the fire had confined our losses within a very small radius of the
position. The scene here was intensely pathetic, and everywhere there
were dead or dying men. The Boers moved out from their trenches and
swarmed around with idle curiosity to inspect the injuries which they
had inflicted upon their foe, while a constant procession came from
the immediate precincts of the fort, bearing those of our men who had
fallen within its actual circumference. In their way they assisted us,
although for some time they would not permit the waggons of the
ambulance to approach nearer than half a mile, nor at first would
they entertain our proposal that the services of the armoured train
should be employed to facilitate the conveyance of casualties to the
base.
[Illustration: Boers Inspecting the British Killed at Game Tree Hill.]
As Surgeon-Major Anderson proceeded with his work, assisted by Dr. T.
Hayes, Dr. Hamilton and a staff of dressers, the character of the
wounds which our men had suffered gave rise to the impression that the
enemy had used explosive bullets, although it is perhaps possible that
Martini rifles fired at close range would account for the wide area of
injury on those who had been wounded. In one case a bullet in the head
had blown off rather more than half the skull; in another a small
puncture in the thigh had completely pulverised the limb; while in a
third, in which the bullet had struck just above the knee-cap, it had
raised a mass of shattered flesh and bone into a pulpy mound. With
these fearful injuries before one it was scarcely possible to believe
that the wounds inflicted had originated through the impact of Mauser
or Martini bullets. The Field Cornet, with whom I conversed at some
length, upon being shown the dreadful condition of the wounds,
admitted that at one time explosive bullets had been served out, but
that it was not possible that they could have been used that morning,
since he was convinced that that particular ammunition had already
been expended. He then produced a bandolier filled with Dum-dum
bullets, and suggested that since so much of the Mark IV. ammunition
had been taken by them from us, our men had been hit by bullets which
we ourselves had manufactured. I pointed out that this particular
ammunition had been recalled, so far as Mafeking was concerned, since
it had been found to strip in the barrel of the rifle. The Field
Cornet then said that he and his men were already aware of the
uselessness of this particular pattern of bullet, since upon many
occasions they had been hit by some curious missile from which it was
evident that the casing had stripped, and from which no injury had
been sustained. It was a strange conversation to have with a man
against whom the moment before we had been fighting, but from time to
time, as we were waiting for the wounded to be brought up, the
conversation was reopened between us.
The attitude of the Boers around us was one of stolid composure, not
altogether unmixed with sympathy. At one time almost one hundred had
assembled around those who were dressing the wounded. With their
rifles upon their backs and two bandoliers crossing each other upon
their chests, they appeared a stalwart body of men; for the most part
they were big and burly, broad in their shoulders, ponderous in their
gait, and uncouth in their appearance, combining a somewhat soiled and
tattered appearance with an air of triumph. Their clothing was an
ill-assorted array of patterns and materials, altogether incongruous
and out of keeping with the campaign upon which they were then
engaged. Some of them, with quite unnecessary brutality, had doffed
their own rifles and bandoliers, in order that they might show and
swing somewhat aggressively before our notice, the spoils of the
battlefield. In this manner they sported Lee-Metford rifles and
bandoliers containing Mark II. and Mark IV. ammunition. But for the
most part they behaved with a certain decorum, and it may be that the
weapon which they bore was the silent confirmation of the Field
Cornet's words. Here and there they made some attempt to rob the
wounded and despoil the dead, but when I remonstrated with the Field
Cornet he expressed, with every appearance of sincerity, his very keen
regret, ordering the transgressors from the field, and explaining that
he was unable to accept the responsibility for such acts, since,
although they had instructions to respect the dead, the younger men
were so unruly as to be beyond his control. The Field Cornet proceeded
to assert that the acts of his men were neither so barbarous nor so
inhuman as those which our own soldiers had committed after the battle
of Elandslaagte, where, he said, Imperial troops had stripped the body
of General de Koch, leaving him to lie upon the field wounded and
naked, and adding that we were morally responsible, and held as such
by every right-minded person in the Transvaal and Orange Free State,
for the subsequent death of the Boer general. This opinion was loudly
endorsed by a number of the enemy, who had collected around us, one of
whom stated that he had received orders from Commandant Botha to take
possession of any effects which were found upon the bodies of the
wounded or dead. I referred this man's statement to the Field Cornet,
when quite a lively altercation in Dutch ensued. The Field Cornet
denied that any such order had been given by Commandant Botha, and
that, had any orders at all been given, they referred merely to papers
and to the removal of side arms and ammunition. I pointed out to him
the bodies of five of our men whose pockets had been turned inside
out, and who were at that moment being brought up under an escort of
the enemy. He was also confronted with three wounded who declared that
they had had their personal effects stolen as they lay about the Boer
trenches, their rings taken from their fingers, and their money taken
from their pockets. The Field Cornet then promised that if any man who
had done such a thing could be identified he would be immediately
punished, while the more reputable of those who gathered round us
guaranteed, if not the restitution of the property, summary conviction
for the offenders. And in this connection it must be said that during
the course of the afternoon a Boer orderly came in, under a flag of
truce, to our lines to restore to Bugler Morgan his silver watch and
_L_3, which had been taken from him as he lay, shot through each
thigh, in the trenches of the enemy.
Very striking was the tone of harmony which characterised this
temporary intercourse upon the field of battle between Boer and
Briton. People who had been pitted against each other in mortal combat
the moment before were now fraternising with every outward sign of
decency and amity. This is doubtless due in some measure to the
strange composition of the two contending forces, since so many upon
the one side have friends and even relatives fighting against them
that it seems the most natural thing in the world for any mutual
acquaintance of one particular individual to make inquiries about his
welfare. These greetings impressed the scene with a note of
pleasantness and good feeling which was in most happy contrast to the
surroundings.