FROM KROONSTAD TO JOHANNESBURG
From the 12th to the 22nd of May was spent by the main army, at
Kroonstad, where, owing to sickness and other causes, a halt was
obligatory. It was necessary that supplies should be collected, an
advanced depôt formed, the railway repaired, and the safety of both
flanks secured. Meanwhile, efforts were made to protect the farmers who
had surrendered from the revengeful tactics of the Boers. Lord Lovat's
gillies arrived at Kroonstad and met with the approval of the
Commander-in-Chief. General Hutton, with a force of mounted infantry,
had reported an attack on Bothaville and the capture of three
commandants and about a score of Zarps, from their hiding-place near
Smaldeel. On the 20th, the 1st Cavalry Brigade marched out from their
camp near Kroonstad, to open up the country on the left of Lord
Roberts's main advance along the western fringe of the railway. They
were accompanied by the 4th Cavalry Brigade (7th Dragoon Guards and 8th
and 14th Hussars), and supported by General Hutton's Brigade of Mounted
Infantry (Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders). On the 21st, the
cavalry seized the drift at the confluence of the Honing Spruit and the
Rhenoster; and on the 22nd, Lord Roberts and the main army, leaving only
the 1st Suffolks behind, marched from Kroonstad to Honing Spruit, the
third station to the north, and some eighteen or twenty miles off.
General Ian Hamilton, after a series of engagements with De Wet's
hordes, from Lindley, onwards, had secured an advanced position at
Heilbron, while the cavalry division had moved up, crossed the Rhenoster
River, and threatening the right rear of the enemy had forced the
Dutchmen to leave a strongly-entrenched position on the north bank of
the river. The presence of French and Hamilton to west and east of them
had served to unnerve the hostile hordes, who now had our cavalry within
twenty miles of either flank. They spent their bellicose ardour by
destroying some miles of railway, the bridge over the Rhenoster, and
some culverts, and then flying in hot haste before the vast machinery of
the advancing army, to a new point of defence some twenty miles in
front, a point which promised shortly to become equally untenable.
[Illustration: THE GREAT ADVANCE: ROYAL HORSE ARTILLERY (CAVALRY
DIVISION) CROSSING THE VAAL
Drawing by R. Caton Woodville]
The following casualties took place in the Winburg Column, May
21st:--New South Wales Mounted Infantry--Wounded severely, Lieutenant A.
J. M. Onslow, 1st Royal Irish--Lieutenant M. H. E. Welch.
On the 23rd, Lord Roberts and his majestical and magnificent apparatus
of war, its thousands of gallant souls, its multiplicity of vehicles,
its endless supplies and zoological train, encamped on the south bank of
the Rhenoster River. The Boers, apparently demoralised in their
preparations for resistance, and having had their left flank turned by
Hamilton at Heilbron, were now continuously "on the run." Meanwhile
burghers hourly came in to surrender arms and ammunition, the last
vestige of truculence having evaporated. The Boer Government telegraphed
to Lord Roberts offering to exchange an equal number of prisoners on
parole, and threatening if the offer should be refused to remove from
Pretoria to some other district the 4000 prisoners now confined there.
As to the fate of the Johannesburg mines there was considerable
uncertainty; reports declared they would be destroyed in the event of
entry to the Transvaal by the British, and also that the town itself
would be defended, as defence works were being rapidly pushed forward,
guns got into position, and trenches and defences constructed.
On the other hand it was stated that, on hearing of the threat to
destroy the mines and possibly the town, Commandant Louis Botha had
hastened to the President, and in a stormy interview had asserted his
intention, if such a thing were contemplated, himself to defend
Johannesburg from such an act of vandalism. He concluded by denouncing
the diabolical intention and saying, "We are not barbarians." Mr. Kruger
did not argue the subject--possibly his conscience tweaked him on the
subject of barbarity--but gave in. Terrible altercations were daily
taking place between the Boers, the Free Staters, and their mercenaries,
and the burghers were inclined to throw all the blame of defeat on the
Hollanders who had brought about the war and left the Boers to bear the
brunt of the loss to life and property that hostilities entailed. These
were merely reports, but they served, as the passage to the north
proceeded, to show which way the wind blew.
On the Queen's birthday the 4th Brigade of cavalry crossed the Vaal near
Pary's Drift, and the 1st Brigade at a drift farther east of Pary's,
while General Ian Hamilton's column was ordered to move towards
Boschbank still higher up. They arrived just in time to save the
coal-mines from being destroyed. The operation of crossing the Vaal was
one of the most risky that has been undertaken in the campaign, as the
road down to the drifts led through about six miles of mountainous
country forming a narrow pass, well suited to Boer tactics. Fortunately,
although the Boers were seen hovering in the vicinity, the arrival of
the cavalry was unexpected, and they made no effective resistance.
It will be seen that here the distribution of the advance underwent a
change. General French adhered to his original course on the left, but
General Hamilton, screened by Gordon's Cavalry, crossed in front of the
main army, and concentrated near Vredefort on the west, thus preparing a
little surprise for the Boers, who were collected in their thousands
opposite Engelbrecht Drift in the expectation that the British General
would continue to proceed towards the north. Meanwhile, the cavalry, to
a desultory accompaniment of musketry, was engaged in securing the
approaches to Lindique Drift, over which the baggage had to pass. On the
26th, Colonel Henry's Mounted Infantry, and the Bedfordshires, crossed
at Viljoen's Drift and there encountered an Irish-American rabble in act
of injuring the coal-mines and bridge; and the wreckers--an
alcoholically-valiant gang of hirelings--speedily made off, leaving
behind them three days' supplies, which came in most handy for the
benefit of the troops. By this time General Hamilton had reached
Boschbank, and Lord Roberts had arrived at Wolve Hoek.
The Cavalry Division, finding the force of Mounted Infantry had moved to
Vereeniging--and thus opened up communication with Lord Roberts's main
advance--flew on. On the evening of the 27th they seized the head of the
horse-shoe of hills wherein the Boers in large numbers had ensconced
themselves. This dashing exploit was attended with the loss of only one
Scots Grey and one Carabineer wounded. The position thus gained
overlooked the Boers' main position at Klips Wersberg, defending
Johannesburg.
While this was going on (on the 27th) Lord Roberts, with the 7th and
11th Divisions, crossed the Vaal facing Vereeniging, and encamped on the
north bank, and found vacated several intricately prepared positions
whence the Boers had intended to offer opposition. They had abandoned
position after position at the approach of one or other of the great
feelers of the big British machine that threatened to surround them.
The fact was, this enormous army was moving as an avalanche--stupendous
and strong--an avalanche that swept all things before it. Horses and men
were in splendid fettle, their spirits were rising, their confidence
intense, and all endeavoured to emulate the example in activity set them
by the Field-Marshal, who, like a young man of thirty, was up before
dawn and working hard till sundown. In spite of the cold
nights--especially trying after the heat of midday--the
Commander-in-Chief looked healthy and well, while his troops, who had
marched magnificently in trying circumstances, needed no finer eulogy
than to be described as worthy of him.
A grand march of twenty miles brought the main army on the 28th, to
Klip River, within eighteen miles of Johannesburg--a march so rapid and
so well organised that the Boers, who had prepared a delicate salute of
five guns with which to welcome the troops, had barely time to hustle
their weapons into the train and steam off as some of the West
Australian Mounted Infantry dashed into the station! These smart
Colonials were very much to the fore all day and showed a vast amount of
dash and dexterity. Major Pilkington and a patrol of some thirty of them
were moving in advance of the 11th Division in hope to find a suitable
drift for the passage of troops and guns across the Klip River. The
drift was discovered, but also the Boers--a posse of them hovering among
the kopjes that flanked the road. Without ado, the little party prepared
themselves for the worst, spreading themselves, rifles in hand, to
protect the position they had gained, a position of some importance,
since it commanded bridges about a mile and a half to east and west of
the road. The party divided into two groups, arranged themselves at each
bridge, and endeavoured to make a line--a very thin line--as a uniting
link between the groups. It was somewhat like the fable of the frog that
tried to blow himself out to the size of a bull--but in this case the
minute object's pretence was successful; the thirty isolated men deluded
the Boers, and caused them to believe that these sturdy defenders of the
drifts were supported by a huge force in reserve. Blazing away with
their rifles, the Dutchmen attacked the small party, and an uneven
contest commenced and proceeded till dusk. Lieutenant Porter, while
directing some operations, was wounded, but fortunately at this juncture
there came to his rescue some guardsmen, who were escorting a convoy,
and these, owing to the gallant manner in which the drifts had been
held, managed in the darkness to get their convoy into safety, and
enable the Westralians, whose work was accomplished, to "silently steal
away." Meanwhile, during the whole day, some ten miles to the left--on
the west of the railway--sounds of animated knocking portended much
activity on the part of Generals French and Hamilton in the
neighbourhood of Syferfontein and Klip River. General French was engaged
in a reconnaissance in force of the enemy's position. After drawing the
fire of all the Dutch guns, and consuming a good deal of powder, the
casualties on the part of the cavalry were small--about five--mostly
Inniskillings.
On the 29th of May, part of the Cavalry Division, General Ian Hamilton's
Mounted Infantry, the 19th and 21st Brigades, and some Colonials who had
moved parallel to the main advance since it left the Vaal, found
themselves about twelve miles south of Johannesburg. East of Doornkop
some 4000 Boers, with six guns, had taken up a menacing position,
strengthened with various natural obstacles, while the ground had been
blackened with grass fires to afford an effective background to
approaching kharki. The troops, supported by the guns, at once steadily
advanced to attack the Boer centre, while Generals French and Hutton
operated on the west to turn the right flank of the position. After an
hour's smart fighting the infantry were able to push on, Porter's
brigade having ridden five miles to the west, and turned the enemy's
right, while the infantry, with fixed bayonets, had driven the enemy
from every cherished kopje. In the attack, the Gordons in the centre of
the right, the City Imperial Volunteers in the centre on the left,
advanced gradually on the Boer position. The gallant nature of the
advance over the burnt and blackened ground, which made the infantry
into targets for the foe, excited the admiration of all. Grandly the
Gordons flung themselves upon the enemy, in spite of the Boer guns and
"pom-pom," that dealt death and destruction among their numbers. Seventy
of the dashing fellows dropped, and the only consolation for so great a
loss was, that by nightfall 6000 Dutchmen were scudding away in the
darkness, while General Hamilton was bivouacking on the ground seized
from them, and Generals French and Hutton, who had turned the right
flank of the position, were threatening Krugersdorp. The conduct of the
City Imperial Volunteers was magnificent, and to them, as well as to the
Gordons, much of the credit of the day's work was due. They behaved as
skilled troops, taking cover with great ingenuity, and returning the
attacks of the enemy with amazing coolness and precision. Their
sustained volleys succeeded in clearing out the Boers immediately in
front of Roodepoorte. Commandant Botha--not Louis Botha, but a
kinsman--with a hundred foreign and Irish subsidised sympathisers, was
captured, and, in addition to these, a Creusot gun and twelve waggons of
stores and ammunition were secured.
The losses among officers in this engagement were comparatively few.
Captain St. J. Meyrick, 1st Gordon Highlanders, was killed. Among the
wounded were:--
City Imperial Volunteers--Capt. G. W. Barkley. 1st Gordon
Highlanders--Capt. G. E. E. G. Cameron, Lieut.-Col. H. H.
Burney, Capt. P. S. Allen, second Lieut. A. Cameron,
Surg.-Lieut. A. H. Benson, Dr. R. Hunter. Vol. Co. Gordon
Highlanders--Capt. J. B. Buchanan, Lieut. J. Mackinnon, Lieut.
H. Forbes. Royal Army Medical Corps--Lieut. A. H. Benson. 2nd
Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry--Lieut. H. W. Fife (since
dead). 10th Hussars--Lieut. T. Lister.
During General French's operations near Klip River, on the 27th, 28th,
and 29th, the wounded officers were:--
New Zealand Rifles--Captain Palmer. 7th Dragoon Guards--Major
W. J. Mackeson, second Lieut. G. Dunne. Capt. D. L. MacEwen,
Cameron Highlanders, attached to Intelligence Department, was
taken prisoner.
[Illustration: GENERAL IAN HAMILTON THANKING THE GORDONS FOR THEIR
ATTACK AT THE BATTLE OF DOORNKOP
Drawing by S. Begg]
To return to the main advance on this day (29th). While Generals French
and Hamilton were engaging Botha and his hordes outside Johannesburg,
turning their flank wherever they posted themselves, Lord Roberts
decided to pursue boldly the programme of his main advance upon the
enemy's East Rand and Pretoria communications, a programme which was as
faultlessly and rapidly carried out as it was skilfully conceived.
From the neighbourhood of the Klip River the troops pushed on rapidly to
Germiston without meeting with serious opposition. So swiftly were the
movements executed that the nimble Boers were beaten at their own game,
and had to turn tail without removing the whole of the rolling-stock.
Thus, the Commander-in-Chief came at once into possession of the
Junction connecting Johannesburg with Natal, Pretoria, and Klerksdorp by
railway, and through a piece of splendid strategy Boer resistance was
paralysed, and the railway system of the State was brought completely
under his control. Any concentration of forces in Pretoria or on the
fringes was now practically impossible.
The history of the hurried capture of this vital strategical position
was inspiriting. Colonel Henry, with the 8th Mounted Infantry, started
at dawn with orders to seize Elandsfontein at all costs. The 3rd Cavalry
Brigade in support made a detour to the east towards Boksburg, in a
direct line to Pretoria, followed rapidly along the line by Pole-Carew's
and Tucker's Divisions. The object of the somewhat wide easterly move
was to outflank the enemy's defensible positions and secure the
communications to Pretoria, and thus cut off and isolate the force
prepared to check the advance of the British. Just as the advance guard
neared the Natal line, a train was seen conveying half of the Heidelberg
Commando from Volksrust to the north. It was impossible to arrest it,
but after firing on the departing machine, the troops proceeded to
demolish the line and secure the Natal communications. The Mounted
Infantry which, owing to the uselessness of the Klip River Bridge, were
without artillery, were now assailed by a party of Boers with guns, who
had ensconced themselves in the ridges which menaced the southern road,
but nevertheless they pressed forward bent on obeying orders and gaining
Elandsfontein. They pushed ever on and on till the great city, the
monstrous hive of gold-getters, the scene of Boer despotism and
Uitlander servility, became visible from the rolling hills. Momentarily
they expected to hear a roar, to see a flare and an upheaval, and to
know the worst had come--the mines had been destroyed! But all was
silence. The huge town, surrounded in places by a blanket of smoke,
seemed slumbering on the bosom of the undulating downs. In the distance,
however, the station showed active. Trains were steaming off to
Pretoria. Others with their steam up were preparing to follow. These
trains must be arrested, and their freight captured. It was a case,
unfortunately, of horse-flesh versus steam. But still it was worth the
venture! Off went a section of the Yorkshire Mounted Infantry, galloping
like fury to the station, while the main body made for Boksburg; and the
Australians, toolless, tore to Knight's Station, and there piling up
trollies, boulders--anything, in fact, that came to hand--blocked the
line. They were pelted by hidden Boers, but fled carefully to cover
after accomplishing their object.
Meanwhile, some of the Yorkshire Mounted Infantry had seized the
station, and, with it, three locomotives whose steam was up ready for
departure. But the enemy were in strength there--they were at least
strong in proportion to the twenty dashing Yorkshire men who had plunged
into the mêlée, and these gallant fellows found themselves in a critical
position, fighting like demons for their hardly-earned prize with
desperate men, whose sole source of salvation lay in the locomotives
that stolidly panted and wheezed in utter disregard of the fierce fight
raging for their possession. Then, with almost theatrical precision, a
vast procession was seen to be approaching: a river of kharki flowing
down the southern slopes into the Rand. It was the Mounted Infantry from
Boksburg and the Infantry Division--the goodly Grenadiers
leading--pouring in their numbers to the rescue of the gallant little
band! Thus by nightfall one of the most fateful of the operations of the
war was concluded, and Johannesburg was virtually seized without the
wrecking of a mine and with little loss of life. During the operations
Captain MacEwan, Cameron Highlanders, and Lord Cecil Manners
(correspondent to the _Morning Post_) were taken prisoners. Lieutenants
Pepper, West Australian Mounted Infantry, Beddington, Imperial Yeomanry,
and Forrest, 1st Oxford Light Infantry, were wounded. Immense crowds,
surprised to find that the struggle was a matter of hours and not of
days, watched the fighting from west and east corners of the town, and
the shock of the fall of Elandsfontein disorganised their plans and
demoralised themselves.
While this was going on, the Cavalry Division had advanced through the
gold mines, having Johannesburg on their right, and was encamped on the
west of the town, keeping a wary eye on the Boers, who were fleeing
hot-foot to Pretoria.
Within the City of Gold, all was turmoil. On the discovery of the
situation there followed a violent up-rising. The Kaffirs, on seeing the
Boers repulsed, rushed to the Jews' houses to loot them, and the
foreign contingents immediately set out on a species of internal
invasion, breaking open shops and stores and houses, and throwing out of
doors and windows goods collected for the benefit of needy burgher
families. The uproar, however, was speedily suppressed by the firm
measures of Dr. Krause. In answer to the flag of truce sent in by the
Field-Marshal, this official went out to meet him. There being still
many armed burghers in the place, the Transvaal Commandant requested
Lord Roberts to postpone his entry for six hours. To avert disturbance
this arrangement was agreed to, and Lord Roberts decided to postpone
till the 31st his entry into the conquered town.
So Johannesburg was ours! The advance, which appeared to be so rapid,
straightforward, and simple, owed these qualities to Lord Roberts's
splendid, almost prophetic, instinct for gauging the enemy's
expectations with a view to disappointing them; to his strategic
manipulation of his cavalry and mounted infantry, and to the magnificent
marching capability of the infantry. Everywhere, the Boers had fenced
themselves across the route, sometimes extending their line of defence
for twenty miles or more, and everywhere, in dread of having one flank
or the other turned, they had been kept oscillating between stubborn
resistance and rapid flight till their nerves had given way, and they
had scuttled back and back to their undoing. At the Vet, the Zand, the
Valsch, the Rhenoster, and the Klip Rivers, they had cunningly prepared
themselves, till, with the infantry menacing them in front and the
cavalry and infantry threatening both flanks, they had realised that
retreat was inevitable. Their last hope had been set on the city of
mines; and now from thence, a routed, raging rabble, they were fleeing
in despair.
The splendid progress of the infantry was a remarkable achievement, of
which enough cannot be said. It was no mere feat of pedestrianism. It
was a march in face of an enterprising enemy, and harassed with
discomforts sufficiently multifarious to try the endurance of a
Socrates. A scorching sun by day and a frigid temperature by night,
occasional sand blasts rendering drier than ever parched throats already
dry as husk from the tramp through a sand-clogged and almost waterless
country, were but items in the programme. If water there chanced to be,
it was ochreous and fouled by the passage of many quadrupeds, and such
food as there was--bully beef and adamantine biscuit--demanded the jaws
and digestion of an alligator. Yet these sturdy fellows plodded along,
lumbering through sand drifts and squelching in mire and morass, or laid
themselves to rest on the hard or soggy ground with a philosophy so
devil-may-care as almost to fringe on the sublime. With unquenchable
gaiety, they had accomplished a march of 254 miles (the distance from
Bloemfontein to Elandsfontein) in eighteen days, giving as an average
fourteen miles a day. (This calculation naturally excludes the ten days'
halt at Kroonstad.) From Kroonstad to Elandsfontein, a distance of some
126 miles--covered in seven days (22nd to 29th)--marching had gone
forward at the rate of eighteen miles a day. Napoleon's much vaunted
march from the Channel to the Rhine in 1805 showed an average of sixteen
miles a day, when the distance traversed was 400 miles, and the time
taken twenty-five days. But that march, unopposed throughout, was
comparatively plain sailing. Quicker forced marches have been known,[7]
but in the present case the march was continuous, and may be said to
beat all records of rapid marching under equally inconvenient
conditions.
* * * * *
The twenty-four hours were allowed to pass. Then, at the entrance of the
town Dr. Krause met the Commander-in-Chief, and rode with him to the
government offices, and introduced to him the heads of the various
departments, all of whom were requested to continue their respective
duties till they should be relieved of them.
To those who had never seen Johannesburg the first glimpse was a
surprise. Strangely incongruous did it seem to move from the isolation
and rugged simplicity of the open veldt to the centre of a large and
peculiarly civilised town. The note of modernity was sounded on every
side. Buildings more than magnificent greeted the eye accustomed only to
homely farms and mushroom staadts. Tramways ribbed the streets, electric
lights gleamed a whiter glare than moonbeams, and nineteenth-century
luxury, and in some cases refinement, were in evidence at every turn.
But the public buildings were closed, and the handsome shops boarded up
for precaution's sake, while the streets were thinly populated, owing to
the fact that many of the British sympathisers had been expelled, and
the Boer community was on commando.
[Illustration: THE CITY OF LONDON IMPERIAL VOLUNTEERS SUPPORTING GENERAL
HAMILTON'S LEFT FLANK IN THE ACTION AT DOORNKOP ON THE 29TH OF MAY
Drawing by C. E. Fripp, R.W.S., War Artist]
But though at first the place was deserted, by degrees people began to
trickle in, and by the time the square in front of the government
buildings was reached there was a goodly throng. The Vierkleur was still
flying when Lord Roberts, at the head of General Pole-Carew's division,
marched into the town; but presently the keys were formally surrendered,
the flag was hauled down, and a small Union Jack, worked by Lady
Roberts, was hoisted in its place.
At the conclusion of the ceremony the rousing strains of the Guards'
band were heard, and the 11th and 7th Divisions marched past, with the
Naval Brigade, the heavy artillery, and two Brigade Divisions of Royal
Horse Artillery. General Ian Hamilton's column and the Cavalry
Division and Mounted Infantry were too far away to take part in the
proceedings.
[Illustration: VAAL RIVER DEVIATION BRIDGE AT VEREENIGING, NEARLY
COMPLETED. (Photo by W. H. Gill, London.)]
It was an impressive spectacle; one ever to be remembered. From
afternoon till night, troops--great, brawny, bronzed, and workmanlike
Britons--came clanking in procession through the town, while from
balconies and windows banners and flags were waved, and gay ladies, many
of them Englishwomen, wild with excitement and enthusiasm, threw down
flowers and sweets and cigarettes to give vent to their unrestrained
joy. Far into the evening the stream of kharki continued ceaselessly to
flow under the magnesian rays of the electric lights till the infantry
had passed to their camp, three miles to the north, and Lord Roberts had
settled himself at Orange Grove.
FOOTNOTES:
[7] See vol. iv. p. 41.