Paardeberg
An hour after sunrise we off-saddled, and heard, from the direction of
Paardeberg, the indescribable thunder of bombardment. That sound gave us
all the more reason for haste. We allowed our horses the shortest
possible time for rest, partook of the most hurried of breakfasts, and
at once were again on the move, with the frightful roar of the guns
always in our ears.
About half-past four that afternoon, we reached a point some six miles
to the east of Paardeberg, and saw, on the right bank of the Modder
River, four miles to the north-east of the mountain, General Cronje's
laager. It was surrounded completely by the enemy, as a careful
inspection through our field-glasses showed.
Immediately in front of us were the buildings and kraals of
Stinkfontein, and there on the opposite bank of the river stood
Paardeberg. To the left and to the right of it were khaki-coloured
groups dotted everywhere about--General Cronje was hemmed in on all
sides, he and his burghers--a mere handful compared with the encircling
multitude.
What a spectacle we saw! All round the laager were the guns of the
English, belching forth death and destruction, while from within it at
every moment, as each successive shell tore up the ground, there rose a
cloud--a dark red cloud of dust.
It was necessary to act--but how?
We decided to make an immediate attack upon the nearest of Lord Roberts'
troops, those which were stationed in the vicinity of Stinkfontein, and
to seize some ridges which lay about two and a half miles south-east of
the laager.
Stinkfontein was about a thousand paces to the north of these ridges,
and perhaps a few hundred paces farther from where Cronje was stationed.
We rode towards the ridges, and when we were from twelve to fourteen
hundred paces from Stinkfontein, we saw that the place was occupied by a
strong force of British troops.
General Botha and I then arranged that he should storm the houses,
kraals and garden walls of Stinkfontein, whilst I charged the ridges.
And this we did, nothing daunted by the tremendous rifle fire which
burst upon us. Cronje's pitiable condition confronted us, and we had but
one thought--could we relieve him?
We succeeded in driving the English out of Stinkfontein, and took sixty
of them prisoners.
The enemy's fire played on us unceasingly, and notwithstanding the fact
that we occupied good positions, we lost two men, and had several of our
horses killed and wounded.
We remained there for two and a half days--from the 22nd to the 25th of
February--and then were forced to retire. While evacuating our
positions, three of my burghers were killed, seven wounded, and fourteen
taken prisoner.
But the reader will justly demand more details as to the surrender of
Cronje, an event which forms one of the most important chapters in the
history of the two Republics. I am able to give the following
particulars.
After we had captured the positions referred to above, I gave orders
that the Krupp and the Maxim-Nordenfeldt should be brought up. For with
our hurried advance, the oxen attached to the big guns, as well as some
of the burghers' horses, had become so fatigued, that the guns and a
number of the burghers had been left behind. The ridges were so thickly
strewn with boulders, that even on the arrival of the guns, it was
impossible to place them in position until we had first cleared a path
for them. I made up my mind to turn these boulders to account by using
them to build _schanzes_, for I knew that a tremendous bombardment would
be opened upon our poor Krupp and Maxim-Nordenfeldt as soon as they made
themselves heard.
During the night we built these _schanzes_, and before the sun rose the
following morning, the guns were placed in position.
By daybreak the English had crept up to within a short distance of our
lines. It was the Krupp and the Maxim-Nordenfeldt that gave our answer.
But we had to be very sparing of our ammunition, for it was almost
exhausted, and it would take at least five days to get a fresh supply
from Bloemfontein.
Our arrival on the previous day had made a way of escape for General
Cronje. It is true that he would have been obliged to leave everything
behind him, but he and his burghers would have got away in safety. The
British had retreated before our advance, thus opening a road between us
and the laager. That road was made yet wider by the fire from our guns.
But General Cronje would not move. Had he done so, his losses would not
have been heavy. His determination to remain in that ill-fated laager
cost him dearly.
The world will honour that great general and his brave burghers; and if
I presume to criticize his conduct on this occasion, it is only because
I believe that he ought to have sacrificed his own ideas for the good of
the nation, and that he should have not been courageous at the expense
of his country's independence, to which he was as fiercely attached as
I.
Some of the burghers in the laager made their escape, for, on the second
day, when our guns had cleared a wide path, Commandants Froneman and
Potgieter (of Wolmaranstadt), with twenty men, came galloping out of
the laager towards us.
Although we were only a few in number, the British had their work cut
out to dislodge us. First they tried their favourite strategy of a
flanking movement, sending out strong columns of cavalry, with heavy
guns to surround us. It was necessary to prevent the fulfilment of this
project. I, therefore, removed the Krupp and the Maxim-Nordenfeldt from
their positions, and divided our little force into three portions. I
ordered the first to remain in their position, the second was to proceed
with the Krupp round our left wing, while I despatched the third party
to hold back the left wing of the British. I had no wish to share
General Cronje's unenviable position.
We succeeded in checking the advance of the enemy's wings; and when he
saw that we were not to be outflanked he changed his tactics, and while
still retaining his wings where they were, in order to keep our men
occupied, he delivered at mid-day, on the 20th, an attack on our centre
with a strong force of infantry.
The result of this was that the British gained one of our positions,
that, namely, which was held by Veldtcornet Meyer, an officer under
Commandant Spruit. Meyer was entirely unable to beat off the attack,
and, at nightfall, was compelled to retire about two or three hundred
paces, to a little ridge, which he held effectively.
As the English took up the abandoned position, they raised a cheer, and
Commandant Spruit, who was ignorant of its meaning, and believed that
his men were still in possession, went there alone.
"_Hoe gaat het?_"[22] he called out.
"Hands up!" was the reply he received.
There was nothing left for the Commandant to do but to give himself up.
The soldiers led him over a ridge, and struck a light to discover his
identity. Finding papers in his pocket which showed that their prisoner
was an important personage, they raised cheer upon cheer.[23]
I heard them cheering, and thought that the enemy were about to attempt
another attack, and so gave orders that whatever happened our positions
must be held, for they were the key to General Cronje's escape. However,
no attack was delivered.
Nobody could have foreseen that two thousand infantry would give up the
attack on positions which they had so nearly captured, and we all
expected a sanguinary engagement on the following morning. We had made
up our minds to stand firm, for we knew that if General Cronje failed to
make his way out, it would be a real calamity to our great cause.
Fully expecting an attack, we remained all that night at our posts. Not
a man of us slept, but just before dawn we heard this order from the
English lines:
"Fall in."
"What can be the meaning of this?" we ask one another.
Lying, sitting or standing, each of us is now at his post, and staring
out into the darkness, expecting an attack every moment. We hold our
breath and listen. Is there no sound of approaching footsteps? And now
the light increases. Is it possible? Yes, our eyes do not deceive us.
The enemy is gone.
Surprise and joy are on every face. One hears on all sides the
exclamation, "If only Cronje would make the attempt now." It was the
morning of the 25th of February.
But the enemy were not to leave us alone for long. By nine o'clock they
were advancing upon us again, with both right and left wing reinforced.
I had only a few shots left for the Krupp, and thirty for the
Maxim-Nordenfeldt, and this last ammunition must now be expended on the
wings. One gun I despatched to the right, the other to the left, and the
English were checked in their advance. I had ordered the gunners, as
soon as they had fired their last round to bring their guns into safe
positions in the direction of Petrusberg. Very soon I observed that this
order was being executed, and thus learnt that the ammunition had run
out.
The burghers who, with their rifles, had attempted to hold back the
wings, now having no longer any support from the big guns, were unable
to stand their ground against the overpowering forces of the enemy, and
shortly after the guns were removed, I saw them retreat.
What was I to do? I was being bombarded incessantly, and since the
morning had been severely harassed by small-arm fire. All this, however,
I could have borne, but now the enemy began to surround me. It was a
hard thing to be thus forced to abandon the key to General Cronje's
escape.
In all haste I ordered my men to retire. They had seen throughout that
this was unavoidable, and had even said to me:
"If we remain here, General, we shall be surrounded with General
Cronje."
All made good their retreat, with the exception of Veldtcornet Speller,
of Wepener, who, to my great regret, was taken prisoner there with
fourteen men. That occurred owing to my adjutant forgetting, in the
general confusion, to give them my orders to retreat. When Speller found
that he, with his fourteen men, was left behind, he defended himself, as
I heard later, with great valour, until at last he was captured by
overpowering numbers. It cost the English a good many dead and wounded
to get him out of his _schanzes_.
Although I had foreseen that our escape would be a very difficult and
lengthy business, I had not thought that we should have been in such
danger of being made prisoners. But the English had very speedily taken
up positions to the right and left, with guns and Maxims, and for a good
nine miles of our retreat we were under their fire. Notwithstanding the
fact that during the whole of this time we were also harassed by
small-arm fire, we lost--incredible as it may appear--not more than one
killed and one wounded, and a few horses besides. The positions which we
had abandoned the British now occupied, hemming in General Cronje so
closely that he had not the slightest chance of breaking through their
lines.
No sooner had we got out of range of the enemy's fire, than the first of
the reinforcements, which we had expected from Bloemfontein, arrived,
under the command of Vechtgeneraal Andreas Cronje. With him were
Commandants Thewnissen, of Winburg, and Vilonel, of Senekal.
A council was at once held as to the best method of effecting the
release of General Cronje. It was decided to recapture the positions
which I had abandoned. But now the situation was so changed that there
were _three_ positions which it was necessary for us to take. We agreed
that the attack should be made by three separate parties, that General
Philip Botha, with Commandant Thewnissen, should retake the positions
which we had abandoned at Stinkfontein, General Froneman the position
immediately to the north of these, and I, with General Andreas Cronje,
others still further north.
The attack was made on the following morning. General Botha's attempt
failed, chiefly owing to the fact that day dawned before he reached his
position; a hot fight ensued, resulting in the capture of Commandant
Thewnissen and about one hundred men. As I was so placed as to be unable
to see how affairs were developing, it is difficult for me to hazard an
opinion as to whether Commandant Thewnissen was lacking in caution, or
whether he was insufficiently supported by General Botha. The burghers
who were present at the engagement accused General Botha, while he
declared that Thewnissen had been imprudent. However that may be, we had
failed in our essay. The position had not been taken, and Commandant
Thewnissen, with a hundred whom we could ill spare, were in the hands of
the enemy, And to make matters still worse, our men were already seized
with panic, arising from the now hopeless plight of General Cronje and
his large force.
I, however, was not prepared to abandon all hope as yet. Danie Theron,
that famous captain of despatch-riders, had arrived on the previous day
with reinforcements. I asked him if he would take a verbal message to
General Cronje--I dare not send a written one, lest it should fall into
the hands of the English. Proud and distinct the answer came at
once--the only answer which such a hero as Danie Theron could have
given:
"Yes, General, I will go."
The risk which I was asking him to run could not have been surpassed
throughout the whole of our sanguinary struggle.
I took him aside, and told him that he must go and tell General Cronje
that our fate depended upon the escape of himself and of the thousands
with him, and that, if he should fall into the enemy's hands, it would
be the death-blow to all our hopes. Theron was to urge Cronje to
abandon the laager, and everything contained in it, to fight his way out
by night, and to meet me at two named places, where I would protect him
from the pursuit of the English.
Danie Theron undertook to pass the enemy's lines, and to deliver my
message. He started on his errand on the night of the 25th of February.
The following evening I went to the place of meeting, but to my great
disappointment General Cronje did not appear.
On the morning of the 27th of February Theron returned. He had performed
an exploit unequalled in the war. Both in going and returning he had
crawled past the British sentries, tearing his trousers to rags during
the process. The blood was running from his knees, where the skin had
been scraped off. He told me that he had seen the General, who had said
that he did not think that the plan which I had proposed had any good
chance of success.
At ten o'clock that day, General Cronje surrendered. Bitter was my
disappointment. Alas! my last attempt had been all in vain. The stubborn
General would not listen to good advice.
I must repeat here what I have said before, that as far as my personal
knowledge of General Cronje goes, it is evident to me that his obstinacy
in maintaining his position must be ascribed to the fact that it was too
much to ask him--intrepid hero that he was--to abandon the laager. His
view was that he must stand or fall with it, nor did he consider the
certain consequences of his capture. He never realized that it would be
the cause of the death of many burghers, and of indescribable panic
throughout not only all the laagers on the veldt, but even those of
Colesberg, Stormberg and Ladysmith. If the famous Cronje were captured,
how could any ordinary burgher be expected to continue his resistance?
It may be that it was the will of God, who rules the destinies of all
nations, to fill thus to the brim the cup which we had to empty, but
this consideration does not excuse General Cronje's conduct. Had he but
taken my advice, and attempted a night attack, he might have avoided
capture altogether.
I have heard men say that as the General's horses had all been killed,
the attempt which I urged him to make must have failed--that at all
events he would have been pursued and overtaken by Lord Roberts' forces.
The answer to this is not far to seek. The English at that time did not
employ as scouts Kaffirs and Hottentots, who could lead them by night as
well as by day. Moreover, with the reinforcements I had received, I had
about sixteen hundred men under me, and they would have been very useful
in holding back the enemy, until Cronje had made his escape.
No words can describe my feelings when I saw that Cronje had
surrendered, and noticed the result which this had on the burghers.
Depression and discouragement were written on every face. The effects of
this blow, it is not too much to say, made themselves apparent to the
very end of the war.
[Footnote 22: "How is it with you?"]
[Footnote 23: Eleven or twelve days after, Commandant Spruit was again
with us. When he appeared, he seemed to us like one risen from the dead.
We all rejoiced, not only because he was a God-fearing man, but also
because he was of a lovable disposition. I heard from his own mouth how
he had escaped. He told me that the day after his capture, he was sent,
under a strong escort, from Lord Roberts' Headquarters to the railway
station at Modder River, and that he started from there, with a guard of
six men on his road to Cape Town. During the night as they drew near De
Aar, his guards fell asleep, and our brave Commandant prepared to leave
the train. He seized a favourable opportunity when the engine was
climbing a steep gradient and jumped off. But the pace was fast enough
to throw him to the ground, though fortunately he only sustained slight
injury. When daylight came he hid himself. Having made out his bearings
he began to make his way back on the following night. He passed a house,
but dared not seek admission, for he did not know who its occupants
might be. As he had no food with him, his sufferings from hunger were
great, but still he persevered, concealing himself during the day, and
only walking during the hours of darkness. At last he reached the
railway line to the north of Colesberg, and from there was carried to
Bloemfontein, where he enjoyed a well-earned rest. In the second week of
March he returned to his commando, to the great delight of everybody.]