RELIEVED AT LAST
WEDNESDAY NIGHT, 7.30 P.M.
MAFEKING, _May 16th, 1900_.
The relief of Mafeking is now an accomplished fact, and the first
Imperial troops to enter our lines were eight of the Imperial Light
Horse, under the command of Major Karri Davis. They had ridden in
advance of the main body in an effort to pierce our lines while
General Mahon, who had already formed a junction with Colonel Plumer,
was engaging the main body of the enemy along the watershed of the
Molopo, some seven miles north-west of the town.
We had known since Sunday that an Imperial force was approaching
Mafeking from the south, and during Monday immense activity was
displayed in the Boer laagers, while towards the south-west a thick
fringe of dust was drifting slowly under the commotion of a column of
Boers who were retiring rapidly before the approach of the Southern
force. During Tuesday we thought we heard the distant booming of the
guns, and we could see the Boers preparing to take up positions along
the north-western ridges of the Molopo River. At an early hour on
Tuesday morning news reached us that the respective commands of
General Mahon and Colonel Plumer had joined at Saane's Town, a few
miles up the valley of the river. From the moment that the town
received this news the memory of the past seven months was dissipated
in the first flash of the glad tidings. Speculation was rife as to the
precise hour of the arrival of the relief, but the day passed without
much prospect of the siege being raised before nightfall. However,
this morning the most positive information had arrived during the
night, and it seemed that within the next forty-eight hours the
combined forces would be here. The morning passed uneventfully. No one
seemed quite to know how to spend the few remaining hours which were
all that remained of the siege. About noon it became known in town
that the forces would not enter Mafeking without having a smart brush
with the enemy. We had observed small, detached forces of Boers making
from north and south of the town for the ridges about the western
areas of the Molopo. Artillery accompanied these men, whose numbers
had been drawn from the various Boer positions around Mafeking. A
large contingent had moved from the eastern laager and similar bodies
had been called out from the south-western and northern camps. It was
an anxious time for us in Mafeking, and, although there was no doubt
about the final result, we still felt that the fate of the relief
column hung in the balance. About half-past two General Mahon's guns
opened upon the enemy, the smoke of the bursting shells being plainly
discernible away towards the north-west. There was a constant booming
of artillery, and the smoke of heavy rifle fire just above the
horizon. As the news swept through the town there were many who
gathered upon coigns of vantage to witness the action. It was
impossible to see details, and indeed it was about half-past four
before we even caught sight of the moving masses of men. It seemed
then that the Boers were falling back; the artillery had ceased to
play, and we were under the impression that they were engaged in
taking up fresh positions. About five o'clock a large force of Boers
was noticed moving rapidly along the ridge to the east, while a
smaller body of three hundred men, detaching themselves from the main
column, were riding rapidly towards the west.
In the meantime Colonel Baden-Powell, Colonel Hore, Colonel Walford,
of the British South Africa Police, and Captain Wilson, A.D.C. to the
Colonel commanding, had taken up their position upon the roof of the
railway sheds, where during the last few days a special outlook had
been prepared. The scene in the railway yards was animated and
dramatic, and in order to be close at hand I secured permission to sit
upon the ladder which led to the outlook. In the town people were
taking events quite calmly. The final in the siege billiard tournament
was taking place at the club, and in many other respects it seemed
difficult to realise that our deliverance was at hand. Between the
railway yards and the outposts there were men shooting small birds,
while in the yards around us natives were engaged in skinning and
cutting the carcase of a horse which, shot overnight, had been handed
over to the soup-kitchens. For perhaps an hour everything was calm and
peaceful, but ever and anon the bubble of voices reached me from the
roof as orders were transmitted over the telephone to Headquarters.
Of a sudden Captain Wilson scrambled down the ladder, calling an
order to Lieutenant Feltham to saddle up the horses and mount. While
this work was in progress orders were issued to Captain Cowan, of the
Bechuanaland Rifles, to march his men at once to the barracks of the
Protectorate Regiment, while in a cloud of dust and with a cheering
rattle Major Panzera galloped by with the guns. "I think we can catch
them," said Colonel Baden-Powell, and a minute afterwards he had
mounted his horse and was off. I found that he was referring to the
detached party of three hundred Boers who were making their way from
the scene of the fight in a south-westerly direction. I mounted and
followed, and the small force which had thus been rapidly collected
moved quickly towards our extreme position in the north-west of the
town. It was just possible that we should catch them between the fire
of General Mahon's guns and our own, and there was every necessity for
speed. In a short time we were out at the "Standard and Diggers' News
Fort," where, while our horses were given a short rest, the guns were
unlimbered. That particular body of Boers who had been our objective
seemed to be unconscious of the movement which had taken place in our
own lines. As they emerged from the valley we opened fire and turned
their head. For a moment they did not seem to realise their situation,
when they rapidly wheeled about and put themselves out of range by a
hurried retreat towards the main body. Dusk was now falling, and it
was impossible to see any longer, and as a consequence the guns were
ordered to retire to town and the men to return. It was half-past six
when we reached town, and General Mahon's artillery had not been heard
to fire for quite an hour. We went to dine, cheered by the comforting
and consoling thought that by noonday upon the morrow the siege would
be raised. However, about seven o'clock, in the bright moonlight, and
totally unexpected, eight mounted men suddenly appeared in the Market
Square. In a short space of time the news flashed round the town, and
a concourse of people gathered to cheer vociferously about the
precincts of the Headquarters Office. As round after round of cheers
broke out it became known that these mysterious horsemen had galloped
in under Major Karri Davis with a despatch from General Mahon. In a
trice they were surrounded, besieged with questions, clapped upon the
back, shaken by the hand, and generally welcomed. These plucky
troopers seemed as surprised as ourselves and as glad. Major Karri
Davis called for cheers for the garrison, while the crowd took up with
tremendous fervour the National Anthem and "Rule Britannia." It was an
exciting moment and a picturesque scene, bathed in the soft moonlight
and irradiated by the glow of countless stars; but the men were
hungry, and Major Lord Edward Cecil, the chief staff officer, busied
himself in making arrangements for the care of these eight Imperial
Light Horse, who, not content with relieving Ladysmith, had insisted
upon being accorded the privilege of making the first entry into
Mafeking.
That night the town retired early, but about two in the morning a
subdued roar came from the direction of the north-western outposts,
and in a very little time word was passed round that the troops were
making their entrance into Mafeking. Just as the relief column had
proceeded from Vryburg without any flourish of trumpets, so was their
entry into Mafeking unexpected and unostentatious. But the town had
aroused itself and was soon flocking across the veldt to the ground
where the combined columns had already begun to form their camp. It
was not a large force; its full muster was below two thousand men; but
amid the soft and eerie shadows of the starry, moonlit night there
seemed no end to the lines of horses, mules, and bullocks, to the camp
fires, to the groups of men, to the number and variety of the waggons.
In a corner, as it were, were the guns, a composite battery of the
Royal Horse Artillery, eight pieces of the Canadian Artillery, and a
number of Maxims. It was these which we had heard booming to us the
first distant echoes of relief, and we were of course proud of them.
Then and there we examined them, felt them over, pondered upon them,
and then and there we thanked our God that we had in our own hands at
last some really serviceable artillery. But there were other sights to
be seen, early as was the hour, tired as were the troopers. There were
the men of the Kimberley Light Horse and their comrades of the
Imperial Light Horse to be inspected, to be patted upon the back, to
be admired, and to be congratulated. There was scarcely any one who
could not claim a friend among the mere handful of men who had marched
from Vryburg to our relief, but if by chance there were such a one he
quickly placed himself _en amitie_ with the first group of troopers
with whom he came in contact. Alas! such was our plight that we could
not give them anything to drink, but we most willingly had prepared
cauldrons of steaming soup and boiling coffee. A cup of coffee is not
much to offer, but the goodwill was taken with the spirit, and there
was no one who did not seem glad to receive even so small a thing. It
was not possible to stay long in the camp. The men were weary, and,
moreover, there was much to be done before, with their martial cloaks
around them, they were able to snatch a few hours' repose; and so the
town returned to its bed, drunk with enthusiasm, in an abortive effort
to calm its excited brain with sleep. But, good heavens! was such a
thing possible? It was now four, and although it was somewhat early,
in the morning we began to call upon one another, passing the hours
between dawn and sunrise in hilarious uproar. About seven the camp was
all a-bustle. There were rumours that the men were to move out and
attack the Boers, who were still in position upon the east side of the
town. Presently, as we moved about the streets down by the western
outposts, clouds of dust were tossing themselves in the air. The guns
were coming--our guns, if you please--and thereupon a pandemonium was
raised. Every one seemed to be screaming, and as the Royal Horse swept
through town we streamed after them, feebly endeavouring to keep pace
with them, so as to be able to witness the effects of their power. The
Market Square at this time presented a picture of military life which
has never been equalled by any of the scenes that have been enacted
there in its earlier days. Men in uniform were hurrying from point to
point, troops from the various squadrons were coming in,
squadron-leaders, majors and colonels were falling over one another.
These were the beginnings of the fight, and much as the relief had
fought its way into Mafeking so were they now going to secure definite
freedom for the townspeople by driving out the Boers. As the guns came
into the Square willing hands tore down and pushed aside the line of
carts and fencing of corrugated iron which for these seven months had
served duty as a traverse. Then the guns of the Horse Artillery swept
on, taking up positions upon the veldt in front of the town, in
readiness to begin the bombardment of the Boer position, while, in
simultaneous co-operation with this movement, the Canadian Artillery
were sent out with orders to shell Game Tree. However, the fight did
not last long. In a very short time the Game Tree fort was deserted,
the Boers from there hurriedly joining their main body. But the
presence of the guns had terrorised the Boers, and they fled
precipitately, leaving their camp, their guns, their stores behind
them. We shelled for an hour with the composite battery of the Royal
Horse, comprising four 12-1/2-pounders and two pom-poms. Then we
advanced in skirmishing order, extending our line rapidly until we had
outflanked their position. Then we charged, and the day was ours. The
enemy had vanished, and we were in possession of their camp, while so
undignified had their retreat been that they did not even wait to
remove their hospital. Upon General Snyman's house there was still
floating the Republican flag, while the Red Cross hung drowsily in the
air above the hospital. There were thirty wounded in the hospital, and
these, for the time being, were placed under a guard, but otherwise
left undisturbed; in this manner did the siege come to an abrupt
conclusion.