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WITH
THE BOER FORCES
BY
HOWARD C. HILLEGAS
AUTHOR OF "OOM PAUL'S PEOPLE," AND CORRESPONDENT OF
"THE NEW YORK WORLD"
WITH TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS AND A PLAN
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
1900
[Illustration: COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA]
PREFACE
In the following pages I have endeavoured to present an accurate picture
of the Boers in war-time. My duties as a newspaper correspondent carried
me to the Boer side, and herein I depict all that I saw. Some parts of my
narrative may not be pleasing to the British reader; others may offend the
sensibilities of the Boer sympathisers. I have written truthfully, but
with a kindly spirit and with the intention of presenting an unbiased
account of the struggle as it was unfolded to the view from the Boer side.
I shall be criticised, no doubt, for extolling certain virtues of the
Boers, but it must be noticed that their shortcomings are not neglected in
these lines.
In referring to Boer deeds of bravery I do not mean to insinuate that all
British soldiers were cowards any more than I mean to imply that all Boers
were brave, but any man who has been with armies will acknowledge that
bravery is not the exclusive property of the peoples of one nation. The
Boers themselves had thousands of examples of the bravery of their
opponents, and it was not an extraordinary matter to hear burghers express
their admiration of deeds of valour by the soldiers of the Queen. The
burghers, it may be added, were not bitter enemies of the British soldiers,
and upon hundreds of occasions they displayed the most friendly feeling
toward members of the Imperial forces. The Boer respected the British
soldier's ability, but the same respect was not vouchsafed to the British
officer, and it was not unreasonable that a burgher should form such an
opinion of the leaders of his enemy, for the mistakes of many of the
British officers were so frequent and costly that the most unmilitary man
could easily discern them. On that account the Boers' respect for the
British soldier was not without its mixture of pity.
There are those who will assert that there was no goodness in the Boers and
that they conducted the war unfairly, but I shall make no attempt to deny
any of the statements on those subjects. My sympathies were with the Boers,
but they were not so strong that I should tell untruths in order to whiten
the Boer character. There were thieves among them--I had a horse and a pair
of field-glasses stolen from me on my first journey to the front--but that
does not prove that all the Boers were wicked. I spent many weeks with
them, in their laagers, commandos, and homes, and I have none but the
happiest recollections of my sojourn in the Boer country. The generals and
burghers, from the late Commandant-General Joubert to the veriest Takhaar,
were extremely courteous and agreeable to me, and I have nothing but praise
for their actions. In all my experiences with them I never saw one maltreat
a prisoner or a wounded man, but, on the contrary, I observed many of their
acts of kindness and mercy to their opponents.
I have sought to eliminate everything which might have had a bearing on
the causes of the war, and in that I think I have succeeded. In my former
book, dealing with the Boers in peaceful times, I gave my impressions of
the political affairs of the country, and a closer study of the subject
has not caused me to alter my opinions. Three years before the war began,
I wrote what has been almost verified since--
"The Boers will be able to resist and to prolong the campaign for
perhaps eight months or a year, but they will finally be obliterated
from among the nations of the earth. It will cost the British Empire
much treasure and many lives, but it will satisfy those who caused it,
the South African politicians and speculators."
The first part of the prediction has been realised, but at the present
time there is no indication that the Boer nation will be extinguished so
completely or so suddenly, unless the leaders of the burghers yield to
their enemy's forces before all their powers and means of resistance have
been exhausted. If they will continue to fight as men who struggle for the
continued existence of their country and government should fight, and as
they have declared they will go on with the war, then it will be three
times eight months or three times a year before peace comes to South
Africa. Presidents Kruger and Steyn have declared that they will continue
the struggle for three years, and longer if necessary. De Wet will never
yield as long as he has fifty burghers in his commando, and Botha will
fight until every British soldier has been driven from South African soil.
Hundreds of the burghers have made even firmer resolutions to continue the
war until their cause is crowned with victory. There may be some among
them who fought and are fighting because they despise Britons and British
rule, but the vast majority are on commando because they firmly believe
that Great Britain is attempting to take their country and their
government from them by the process of theft which we enlightened
Anglo-Saxons of America and England are wont to style "benevolent
assimilation." They feel that they have the right to govern their country
in accordance with their own ideas of justice and equality, and,
naturally, they will continue to fight until they are victorious, or might
asserts itself over their conception of right. If they have the power to
make Great Britain feel that their cause is just, as our forefathers in
America did a hundred years ago, then the Boers have vindicated themselves
and their actions in their own eyes and in the eyes of the world. If they
lack in the patriotism which men who fight for the life of their country
usually possess, then the Boers of South Africa will be exterminated from
among the nations of the world and no one will offer any sympathy to them.
We Anglo-Saxons of America and Great Britain have a habit of calling our
enemies by names which would arouse the fighting blood of the most
peaceable individual, and when there is a Venezuelan question to be
discussed we do not hesitate to practice this custom, born of our
blood-alliance, by making each other the subjects of the vituperative
attacks. During the Spanish-American war we made most uncomplimentary
remarks concerning our short-lived enemy, and more recently we have been
emphasising the vices of our _protégés_, the Filipinos, with a scornful
disregard of their virtues. The Boers, however, have had a greater burden
to bear. They have had cast at them the shafts of British vituperation and
the lyddite of American venom. In a few instances the lyddite was far more
harrowing than the shafts, and in the vast majority of instances both were
born of ignorance. There are unclean, uncouth, and unregenerate Boers, and
I doubt whether any one will stultify himself by declaring that there are
none such of Britons and Americans. I have been among the Boers in times
of peace and in times of war, and I have always failed to see that they
were in any degree lower than the men of like rank or occupation in
America or England. The farmers in Rustenburg probably never saw a dress
suit or a _décolleté_ gown, but there are innumerable regions in America
and Great Britain where similarly dense ignorance prevails. I have been in
scores of American and British homes which were not more spotlessly clean
than some of the houses on the veld in which it was my pleasure to find a
night's entertainment, and nowhere, except in my own home, have I ever
been treated with more courtesy than that which was extended to me, a
perfect stranger, in scores of daub and wattle cottages in the Free State
and the Transvaal. I will not declare that every Boer is a saint, or that
every one is a model of cleanliness or virtue, but I make bold to say that
the majority of the Boers are not a fraction less moral, cleanly, or
virtuous than the majority of Americans or Englishmen, albeit they may be
less progressive and less handsome in appearance than we imagine ourselves
to be.
As I have stated, the politics of the war has found no part in the
following pages, and an honest effort has been made to give an impartial
account of the proceedings as they unfolded themselves before the eyes of
an American. The struggle is one which was brought about by the
politicians, but it will probably be ended by the layman who wields a
sword, and who knows nothing of the intricacies of diplomacy. The Boers
desire to gain nothing but their countries' independence; the British have
naught to lose except thousands of valuable lives if they continue in
their determination to erase the two nations. Unless the Boers soon decide
to end the war voluntarily, the real struggle will only begin when the
Imperial forces enter the mountainous region in the north-eastern part of
the Transvaal, and then General Lucas Meyer's prophecy that the bones of
one hundred thousand British soldiers will lay bleaching on the South
African veld before the British are victorious may be more than realised.
One word more. The English public is generous, and will not forget that
the Boers are fighting in the noblest of all causes--the independence of
their country. If Englishmen will for a moment place themselves in the
position of the Boers, if they will imagine their own country overrun by
hordes of foreign soldiers, their own inferior forces gradually driven
back to the wilds of Wales and Scotland, they will be able to picture to
themselves the feelings of the men whom they are hunting to death. Would
Englishmen in these circumstances give up the struggle? They would not;
they would fight to the end.
HOWARD C. HILLEGAS.
NEW YORK CITY,
August 1, 1900.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
THE WAY TO THE BOER COUNTRY
The Blockade at Delagoa Bay--Lorenzo Marques in war-time--Portuguese
tax-raising methods--The way to the Transvaal--Koomatipoort, the Boer
threshold--The low-veld or fever country--Old-time battlefields--The Boer
capital and its scenes--The city of peace and its inhabitants.
CHAPTER II.
FROM FARM TO BATTLEFIELD
The old-time lions and lion-hunters and the modern types--Lion-hunting
expeditions of the Boers--The conference between the hunters and the
lions--The great lion-hunt of 1899-1900--Departure to the hunting-grounds.
CHAPTER III.
COMPOSITION OF THE ARMY
Burghers, not soldiers--Home-sickness in the laagers--Boys in
commandos--The Penkop Regiment--Great-grandfathers in battles--The Takhaar
burghers--Boers' unfitness for soldiering--Their uniforms--Comfort in the
laagers--Prayers and religious fervour in the army.
CHAPTER IV.
THE ARMY ORGANISATION
The election of officers--Influences which assert themselves--Civil
officials the leaders in war--The Krijgsraad and its verdicts--Lack of
discipline among the burghers--Generals calling for volunteers to go into
battle--Boers' scouting and intelligence departments.
CHAPTER V.
THE BOER MILITARY SYSTEM
The disparity between the forces--A national and natural system of
fighting--Every burgher a general--The Boers' mobility--The retreat of the
three generals from Cape Colony--Difference in Boer and British
equipment--Boer courage exemplified.
CHAPTER VI.
THE BOERS IN BATTLE
Fighting against forces numerically superior--The battle at
Sannaspost--The trek towards the enemy--The scenes along the route--The
night trek--Finding the enemy, and the disposition of the forces in the
spruit and on the hills--The dawn of day and the preparation for
battle--The Commandant-General fires the first shot--The battle in
detail--Friend and foe sing "Soldiers of the Queen."
CHAPTER VII.
THE GENERALS OF THE WAR
Farmer-generals who were without military experience--A few who studied
military matters--Leaders chosen by the Volksraad--Operating in familiar
territory--Joubert's part in the campaign--His failure in Natal--His death
and its influence--General Cronje, the Lion of Pochefstroom, and his
career--General Botha and his work as successor of Joubert--Generals
Meyer, De Wet, and De la Rey, with narratives concerning each.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE WAR PRESIDENTS
The Boers' real leader in peace and in war--Bismarck's opinion of
Kruger--The President's duties in Pretoria--His visits to the laagers and
the influence he exerted over the disheartened burghers--His oration over
Joubert's body--His opinion of the British, and of those whom he blamed
for the war--His departure from Pretoria--President Steyn and his work
during the war.
CHAPTER IX.
FOREIGNERS IN THE WAR
The soldier of fortune in every war--The fascination which attracts men to
fight--The Boers' view of foreigners--The influx of foreigners into the
Boer country in search of loot, commissions, fame, and experience--Few
foreigners were of great assistance--The oath of allegiance--Number of
foreigners in the Boer army--The various legions and their careers.
CHAPTER X.
BOER WOMEN IN THE WAR
Boer women's glorious heritage--Their part in the political arena before
the war--Urged the men to fight for their independence--Assisting their
embarrassed government in furnishing supplies to the army--Helping the
poor, the wounded, and the prisoners--Sending relatives back to the
ranks--Women taking part in battles--Asking the Government for permission
to fight.
CHAPTER XI.
INCIDENTS OF THE WAR
Amusing tales told and retold by the burghers--Boy-burghers at
Magersfontein capture Highlanders' rifles--The Takhaar at Colenso, who
belonged to "Rhodes' Uncivilised Boer Regiment"--Photographers in
battle--The heliographers at the Tugela amusing themselves--Joubert's
story of the Irishman who wanted to be sent to Pretoria--The value of
credentials in warfare as shown by an American burgher's escapade--The
amusing flight after the fall of Bloemfontein.
APPENDIX.
THE STRENGTH OF THE BOER ARMY
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA
(_Photograph by R. Steger, Pretoria._)
GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER
(_Photograph by Leo Weinthal, Pretoria._)
BATTLEFIELD OF COLENSO, DECEMBER 15, 1899
(_Photograph by R. Steger, Pretoria._)
BOERS WATCHING THE FIGHT AT DUNDEE
(_Photograph by Reginald Sheppard, Pretoria._)
ELECTING A FIELD-CORNET
(_Photograph by the Author._)
KRIJGSRAAD, NEAR THABA N'CHU
(_Photograph by the Author._)
BOER COMMANDANTS READING MESSAGE FROM BRITISH OFFICERS AFTER THE BATTLE OF
DUNDEE
(_Photograph by Reginald Sheppard._)
GENERAL GROBLER
(_Photograph by the Author._)
SPION KOP, WHERE BOERS CHARGED UP THE HILLSIDE
(_Photograph by Reginald Sheppard._)
PLAN OF BATTLEFIELD OF SANNASPOST
(_Drawn by the Author under supervision of General Christian De Wet._)
VILLAGE AND MOUNTAIN OF THABA N'CHU
(_Photograph by the Author._)
THE AUTHOR, AND A BASUTO PONY WHICH ASSISTED IN THE FIGHT AT SANNASPOST
(_Photograph by T.F. Millard, New York._)
CALLING FOR VOLUNTEERS TO MAN CAPTURED CANNON AFTER SANNASPOST
(_Photograph by the Author._)
COMMANDANT-GENERAL CHRISTIAN H. DE WET
(_With Facsimile of his Signature._)
GENERAL PETER DE WET
(_Photograph by the Author._)
GENERAL JOHN DE LA REY
(_Photograph by the Author._)
PRESIDENT KRUGER ADDRESSING AMERICAN VOLUNTEERS
(_Photograph by R. Steger._)
BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE
(_Photograph by Van Hoepen._)
COLONEL JOHN E. BLAKE, OF THE IRISH BRIGADE
(_Photograph by Leo Weinthal._)
MRS. GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER
(_Photograph by Leo Weinthal._)
MRS. OTTO KRANTZ, A BOER AMAZON
(_Photograph by R. Steger._)
MRS. COMMANDANT-GENERAL LOUIS BOTHA
(_Photograph by Leo Weinthal, Pretoria._)
GENERAL HENDRIK SNYMAN
FIRST BRITISH PRISONERS OF WAR CAPTURED NEAR DUNDEE
(_Photograph by Reginald Sheppard._)
CHAPTER I
THE WAY TO THE BOER COUNTRY
Immediately after war was declared between Great Britain and the Boers of
the Transvaal and the Orange Free State, the two South African republics
became ostracised, in a great measure, from the rest of the civilised
world. The cables and the great ocean steamship lines, which connected
South Africa with Europe and America, were owned by British companies, and
naturally they were employed by the British Government for its own
purposes. Nothing which might in any way benefit the Boers was allowed to
pass over these lines and, so far as it was possible, the British
Government attempted to isolate the republics so that the outside world
could have no communication of any sort with them. With the exception of a
small strip of coast-land on the Indian ocean, the two republics were
completely surrounded by British territory, and consequently it was not a
difficult matter for the great Empire to curtail the liberties of the
Boers to as great an extent as it was pleasing to the men who conducted
the campaign. The small strip of coast-land, however, was the property of
a neutral nation, and, therefore, could not be used for British purposes
of stifling the Boer countries, but the nation which "rules the waves"
exhausted every means to make the Boers' air-hole as small as possible by
placing a number of warships outside the entrance of Delagoa Bay, and by
establishing a blockade of the port of Lorenzo Marques.
Lorenzo Marques, in itself, was valueless to the Boers, for it had always
been nothing more than a vampire feeding upon the Transvaal, but as an
outlet to the sea and as a haven for foreign ships bearing men, arms, and
encouragement it was invaluable. In the hands of the Boers Delagoa Bay
would have been worse than useless, for the warships could have taken
possession of it and sealed it tightly on the first day of the war, but as
a Portuguese possession it was the only friend that the Boers were able to
find during their long period of need. Without it, the Boers would have
been unable to hold any intercourse with foreign countries, no envoys
could have been despatched, no volunteers could have entered the country,
and they would have been ignorant of the opinion of the world--a factor in
the brave resistance against their enemy which was by no means
infinitesimal. Delagoa Bay was the Boers' one window through which they
could look at the world, and through which the world could watch the brave
struggle of the farmer-citizens of the veld-republics.
The Portuguese authorities at Delagoa Bay long ago established a
reputation for adroitness in extracting revenues whenever and wherever it
was possible to find a stranger within their gates, but the war afforded
them such excellent opportunities as they had never enjoyed before. Being
the gate of the Boer country was a humanitarian privilege, but it also was
a remunerative business, and never since Vasco de Gama discovered the port
were so many choice facilities afforded for increasing the revenue of the
colony. Nor was the Latin's mind wanting in concocting schemes for filling
the Portuguese coffers when the laws were lax on the subject, for it was
the simplest arrangement to frame a regulation suitable for every new
condition that arose. The Portuguese were willing to be the medium between
the Boers and the people of other parts of the earth, but they asked for
and received a large percentage of the profits.
When the mines of the Johannesburg gold district were closed down, and the
Portuguese heard that they would no longer receive a compulsory
contribution of four shillings from every native who crossed the border to
work in the mines, the officials felt uneasy on account of the great
decrease in the amount of public revenues, but it did not worry them for
any great length of time. They met the situation by imposing a tax of
eight shillings upon every one of the thousands of natives who returned
from the mines to their homes in Portuguese territory. About the same time
the Uitlanders from the Transvaal reached Lorenzo Marques, and, in order
to calm the Portuguese mind, every one of the thousands of men and women
who took part in that exodus was compelled to pay a transit tax, ranging
from eight shillings to a sovereign, according to the size of the tip
tendered to the official.
When the van of the foreign volunteers reached the port there was a new
situation to be dealt with, and again the principle of "When in doubt
impose a tax" was satisfactorily employed. Men who had just arrived in
steamers, and who had never seen Portuguese territory, were obliged to
secure a certificate, indicating that they had not been inhabitants of the
local jail during the preceding six months; a certificate from the
consular representative of their country, showing that they possessed good
characters; another from the Governor-General to show that they did not
purpose going into the Transvaal to carry arms; a fourth from the local
Transvaal consul to indicate that he held no objections to the traveller's
desire to enter the Boer country; and one or two other passports equally
weighty in their bearing on the subject were necessary before a person was
able to leave the town. Each one of these certificates was to be secured
only upon the payment of a certain number of thousand reis and at an
additional expenditure of time and nervous energy, for none of the
officials could speak a word of any language except Portuguese, and all
the applicants were men of other nationalities and tongues. The
expenditure in connection with the certificates was more than a sovereign
for every person, and as there were thousands of travellers into the Boer
countries while the war continued the revenues of the Government were
correspondingly great. To crown it all, the Portuguese imposed the same
tax upon all travellers who came into the country from the Transvaal with
the intention of sailing to other ports. The Government could not be
charged with favouritism in the matter of taxation, for every man, woman,
and child who stepped on Portuguese soil was similarly treated. There was
no charge for entering the country, but the jail yawned for him who
refused to pay when leaving it.
Not unlike the patriots in Cape Town and Durban, the hotel and shopkeepers
of Lorenzo Marques took advantage of the presence of many strangers and
made extraordinary efforts to secure the residue of the money which did
not fall into the coffers of the Government. At the Cardoza Hotel, the
only establishment worthy of the name, a tax of a sovereign was levied for
sleeping on a bare floor; drivers of street cabs scorned any amount less
than a golden sovereign for carrying one passenger to the consulates;
lemonades were two shillings each at the kiosks; and physicians charged
three pounds a call when travellers remained in the town several days and
contracted the deadly coast-fever. At the Custom House duties of ten
shillings were levied upon foreign flags, unless the officer was liberally
tipped, in which event it was not necessary to open the luggage. It was a
veritable harvest for every one who chose to take advantage of the
opportunities offered, and there were but few who did not make the
foreigners their victims.
The blockade by the British warships placed a premium upon dishonesty, and
of those who gained most by it the majority were British subjects. The
vessels which succeeded in passing the blockading warships were invariably
consigned to Englishmen, and without exception these were unpatriotic
enough to sell the supplies to agents employed by the Transvaal
Government. Just as Britons sold guns and ammunition to the Boers before
the war, these men of the same nation made exorbitant profits on supplies
which were necessary to the burgher army. Lorenzo Marques was filled with
men who were taking advantage of the state of affairs to grow wealthy by
means which were not legitimate, and the leaders in almost every
enterprise of that nature were British subjects, although there were not a
few Germans, Americans, and Frenchmen who succeeded in making the fortunes
they deserved for remaining in such a horrible pest-hole as Lorenzo
Marques.
The railroad from Lorenzo Marques to Ressana Garcia, at the Transvaal
border, was interesting only from the fact that it was more historical
than comfortable for travelling purposes. As the train passed through the
dry, dusty, and uninteresting country, which was even too poor and
unhealthy for the blacks, the mind speculated upon the proposition whether
the Swiss judges who decided the litigation concerning the road would have
spent ten years in making a decision if they had been compelled to conduct
their deliberation within sight of the railway. The land adjoining the
railroad was level, well timbered and well watered, and the vast tracts of
fine grass give the impression that it might be an excellent country for
farming, but it was in the belt known as the fever district, and white men
avoided it as they would a cholera-infested city. Shortly before the train
arrived at the English river several lofty white-stone pyramids on either
side of the railway were passed, and the Transvaal was reached. A long
iron bridge spanning the river was crossed, and the train reached the
first station in the Boer country, Koomatipoort.
Courteous Boer officials entered the train and requested the passengers to
disembark with all their luggage, for the purpose of custom-examination.
No gratuities were accepted there, as at Lorenzo Marques, and nothing
escaped the vigilance of the bearded inspectors. Trunks and luggage were
carefully scrutinised, letters read line by line and word for word;
revolvers and ammunition promptly confiscated if not declared; and even
the clothing of the passengers was faithfully examined. Passports were
closely investigated, and, when all appeared to be thoroughly
satisfactory, a white cross was chalked on the boots of the passengers,
and they were free to proceed farther inland. The field-cornet of the
district was one of the few Boers at the station, and he performed the
duties of his office by introducing himself to certain passengers whom he
believed to be foreign volunteers, and offering them gratuitous railway
tickets to Pretoria. No effort was made to conceal the fact that the
volunteers were welcome in the country, and nothing was left undone to
make the foreigners realise that their presence was appreciated.
After Koomatipoort was passed the train crept slowly into the mountainous
district, where huge peaks pierced the clouds and gigantic boulders
overhung the tracks. Narrow defiles stretched away in all directions and
the sounds of cataracts in the Crocodile River flowing alongside the iron
path drowned the roar of the train. Flowering, vari-coloured plants, huge
cacti, and thick tropical vegetation lined the banks of the river, and
occasionally the thatched roof of a negro's hut peered out over the
undergrowth, to indicate that a few human beings chose that wild region
for their abode. Hour after hour the train crept along narrow ledges up
the mountains' sides, then dashed down declines and out upon small level
plains which, with their surrounding and towering eminences, had the
appearance of vast green bowls. In that impregnable region lay the small
town of Machadodorp, which, later, became the capital of the Transvaal. A
few houses of corrugated iron, a pretty railway-station, and much scenery,
serves as a worthy description of the town at the junction of the purposed
railway to the gold-fields of Lydenberg.
After a journey of twelve hours through the fever country the train
reached the western limit of that belt and rested for the night in a
small, green, cup-shaped valley bearing the descriptive name of Waterval
Onder--"under the waterfall." The weary passengers found more corrugated
iron buildings and the best hotel in South Africa. The host, Monsieur
Mathis, a French Boer, and his excellent establishment came as a breath of
fresh air to a stifling traveller on the desert, and long will they live
in the memories of the thousands of persons who journeyed over the
railroad during the war. After the monotonous fare of an east-coast
steamer and the mythical meals of a Lorenzo Marques hotel, the roast
venison, the fresh milk and eggs of Mathis were as welcome as the odour of
the roses that filled the valley.
The beginning of the second day's journey was characterised by a ride up
and along the sides of a magnificent gorge through which the waters of the
Crocodile River rushed from the lofty plateau of the high veld to the
wildernesses of the fever country and filled that miniature South African
Switzerland with myriads of rainbows. A long, curved, and inclined tunnel
near the top of the mountain led to the undulating plains of the
Transvaal--a marvellously rapid transition from a region filled with
nature's wildest panoramas to one that contained not even a tree or rock
or cliff to relieve the monotony of the landscape. On the one side of this
natural boundary line was an immense territory every square mile of which
contained mountain passes which a handful of Boers could hold against an
invading army; on the other side there was hardly a rock behind which a
burgher rifleman could conceal himself. Here herds of cattle and flocks of
sheep, instead of wild beasts, sped away from the roar of the train; here
there was the daub and wattle cottage of the farmer instead of the
thatched hut of the native savage.
Small towns of corrugated iron and mud-brick homes and shops appeared at
long intervals on the veld; grass-fires displayed the presence of the Boer
farmer with his herds, and the long ox-teams slowly rolling over the plain
signified that not all the peaceful pursuits of a small people at war with
a great nation had been abandoned. The coal-mines at Belfast, with their
towering stacks and clouds of smoke, gave the first evidence of the
country's wondrous underground wealth, and then farther on in the journey
came the small city of Middleburg with its slate-coloured corrugated iron
roofs in marked contrast to the green veld grass surrounding it. There
appeared armed and bandoliered Boers, prepared to join their countrymen in
the field, with wounded friends and sad-faced women to bid farewell to
them. While the train lay waiting at the station small commandos of
burghers came dashing through the dusty streets, bustled their horses into
trucks at the rear end of the passenger train, and in a few moments they
were mingling with the foreign volunteers in the coaches. Grey-haired
Boers gravely bade adieu to their wives and children, lovers embraced
their weeping sweethearts, and the train moved on toward Pretoria and the
battlefields where these men were to risk their lives for the life of
their country.
Historic ground, where Briton and Boer had fought before, came in view.
Bronkhorst Spruit, where a British commander led more than one hundred of
his men to death in 1880, lay to the left of the road in a little wooded
ravine. Farther on toward Pretoria appeared rocky kopjes, where afterwards
the Boers, retreating from the capital city, gathered their disheartened
forces, and resisted the advance of the enemy. Eerste Fabriken was a
hamlet hardly large enough to make an impression upon the memory, but it
marked a battlefield where the burghers fought desperately. Children were
then gathering peaches from the trees, whose roots drank the blood of
heroes months afterwards. Several miles farther on were the hills on the
outskirts of Pretoria, where, in the war of 1881, the Boer laagers sent
forth men to encompass the city and to prevent the British besieged in it
from escaping. It was ground hallowed in Boer history since the early
voortrekkers crossed the ridges of the Magaliesberg and sought protection
from the savage hordes of Moselekatse in the fertile valley of the Aapjes
River.
Pretoria in war-time was most peaceful. In the days before the
commencement of hostilities it was a city of peace as contrasted with the
metropolis, Johannesburg, and its warring citizens, but when cannon were
roaring on the frontier, Pretoria itself seemed to escape even the echoes.
After the first commandos had departed the city streets were deserted, and
only women and children gathered at the bulletin boards to learn the fate
of the burgher armies. The stoeps of houses and cottages were deserted of
the bearded yeomanry, and the halls of the Government buildings resounded
only with the tread of those who were not old or strong enough to bear
arms. The long ox-waggons which in former times were so common in the
streets were not so frequently to be seen, but whenever one of them rolled
toward the market square, it was a Boer woman who cracked the raw-hide
whip over the heads of the oxen. Pretoria was the same quaint city as of
old, but it lacked the men who were its most distinguishing feature. The
black-garbed Volksraad members, the officials, and the old retired
farmers, who were wont to discuss politics on the stoeps of the capitol
and the Transvaal Hotel were absent. Inquiries concerning them could be
addressed only to women and children, and the replies invariably were:
"They are on commando," or, "They were killed in battle."
The scenes of activity in the city were few in number, and they were
chiefly in connection with the arrival of foreign volunteers and the
transit of burgher commandos on the way to the field. The Grand Hotel and
the Transvaal Hotel, the latter of which was conducted by the Government
for the temporary entertainment of the volunteers, were constantly filled
with throngs of foreigners, comprising soldiers of fortune, Red Cross
delegations, visitors, correspondents, and contractors, and almost every
language except that of the Boers could be heard in the corridors.
Occasionally a Boer burgher on leave of absence from the front appeared at
the hotels for a respite from army rations, or to attend the funeral of a
comrade in arms, but the foreigners were always predominant. Across the
street, in the War Department, there were busy scenes when the volunteers
applied for their equipments, and frequently there were stormy actions
when the European tastes of the men were offended by the equipment offered
by the Department officials. Men who desired swords and artistic
paraphernalia for themselves and their horses felt slighted when the scant
but serviceable equipment of a Boer burgher was offered to them, but
sulking could not remedy the matter, and usually they were content to
accept whatever was given to them. Former officers in European armies,
noblemen and even professional men were constantly arriving in the city,
and all seemed to be of the same opinion that commissions in the Boer army
could be had for the asking. Some of these had their minds disabused with
good grace, and went to the field as common burghers; others sulked for
several weeks, but finally joined a commando, and a few returned to their
homes without having heard the report of a gun. For those who chose to
remain behind and enjoy the peacefulness of Pretoria, there was always
enough of novelty and excitement among the foreigners to compensate partly
for missing the events in the field.
The army contractors make their presence felt in all countries which are
engaged in war, and Pretoria was filled with them. They were in the
railway trains running to and from Lorenzo Marques; in the hotel
corridors, in all the Government departments, and everywhere in the city.
A few of the naturalised Boers, who were most denunciatory of the British
before the war and urged their fellow-countrymen to resort to arms,
succeeded in evading the call to the field and were most energetic in
supplying bread and supplies to the Government. Nor was their patriotism
dimmed by many reverses of the army, and they selfishly demanded that the
war should be continued indefinitely. Europeans and Americans who partook
of the protection of the Government in times of peace, were transformed by
war into grasping, insinuating contractors who revelled in the country's
misfortune. Englishmen, unworthy of the name, enriched themselves by
furnishing sinews of war to their country's enemy, and in order to secure
greater wealth sought to prolong the war by cheering disheartened Boers
and expressing faith in their final success. The chambers of the
Government building were filled with men who had horses, waggons, flour,
forage and clothing to offer at exorbitant prices, and in thousands of
instances the embarrassed Government was obliged to pay whatever sums were
demanded. Hand-in-hand with the contractors were the speculators who were
taking advantage of the absence of the leading officials to secure
valuable concessions, mining claims, and even gold mines. Before the war,
when hordes of speculators and concession-seekers thronged the city, the
scene was pathetic enough, but when all shrewd Raad members were at the
front and unable to guard their country's interests the picture was dark
and pitiful.
Pretoria seemed to have but one mood during the war. It was never deeply
despondent nor gay. There was a sort of funereal atmosphere throughout the
city, whether its residents were rejoicing over a Spion Kop or suffering
from the dejection of a Paardeberg. It was the same grim throng of old
men, women, and children who watched the processions of prisoners of war
and attended the funerals at the quaint little Dutch church in the centre
of the city. The finest victories of the army never changed the appearance
of the city nor the mood of its inhabitants. There were no parades nor
shouting when a victory was announced, and there was the same stoical
indifference when the news of a bitter defeat was received. A victory was
celebrated in the Dutch church by the singing of psalms, and a defeat by
the offering of prayers for the success of the army.
The thousands of British subjects who were allowed to remain in the
Transvaal, being of a less phlegmatic race, were not so calm when a
victory of their nation's army was announced, and when the news of
Cronje's surrender reached them they celebrated the event with almost as
much gusto as if they had not been in the enemy's country. A fancy dress
ball was held in Johannesburg in honour of the event, and a champagne
dinner was given within a few yards of the Government buildings in
Pretoria, but a few days later all the celebrants were transported across
the border by order of the Government.
One of the pathetic features of Pretoria was the Boers' expression of
faith in foreign mediation or intervention. At the outset of hostilities
it seemed unreasonable that any European nation or America would risk a
war with Great Britain for the purpose of assisting the Boers, yet there
was hardly one burgher who did not cling steadfastly to the opinion that
the war would be ended in such a manner. The idea had evidently been
rooted in their mind that Russia would take advantage of Great Britain's
entanglement in South Africa to occupy Herat and Northern India, and when
a newspaper item to that effect appeared it was gravely presumed to
indicate the beginning of the end. Some over-zealous Irishmen assured the
Boers that, in the event of a South African war, their fellow-countrymen
in the United States would invade Canada and involve Great Britain in an
imbroglio over the Atlantic in order to save British America. For a few
weeks the chimera buoyed up the Boers, but when nothing more than an
occasional newspaper rumour was heard concerning it the rising in Ashanti
was then looked upon as being the hoped-for boon. The departure of the
three delegates to Europe and America was an encouraging sign to them, and
it was firmly believed that they would be able to induce France, Russia,
or America to offer mediation or intervention. The two Boer newspapers,
the Pretoria _Volksstem_ and the Johannesburg _Standard and Diggers'
News_, dwelt at length upon every favourable token of foreign assistance,
however trifling, and attempted to strengthen hopes which at hardly any
time seemed capable of realisation. It was not until after the war had
been in progress for more than six months that the Boers saw the futility
of placing faith in foreign aid, and afterwards they fought like stronger
men.
The consuls who represented the foreign Governments at Pretoria, and
through whom the Boers made representations for peace, were an
exceptionally able body of men, and their duties were as varied as they
were arduous. The French and German consuls were busied with the care of
the vast mining interests of their countrymen, besides the partial
guardianship of the hundreds of French and German volunteers in the Boer
army. They were called upon to entertain noblemen as well as bankrupts; to
bandage wounds and to bury the dead; to find lost relatives and to care
for widows and orphans. In times of peace the duties of a consul in
Pretoria were not light, but during hostilities they were tenfold heavier.
To the American consul, Adelbert S. Hay, and his associate, John G.
Coolidge, fell more work than to all the others combined. Besides caring
for the American interests in the country, Consul Hay was charged with the
guardianship of the six thousand British prisoners of war in the city as
well as with the care of the financial interests of British citizens.
Every one of the thousands of letters to and from the prisoners was
examined in the American Consulate so that they might carry with them no
breach of neutrality; almost twenty thousand pounds, as well as tons of
luxuries, were distributed by him to the prisoners; while the letters and
cablegrams concerning the health and whereabouts of soldiers which reached
him every week were far in excess of the number of communications which
arrived at the Consulate in a year of peaceful times. Consul Hay was in
good favour with the Boer Government notwithstanding his earnest efforts
to perform his duties with regard to the British prisoners and interests,
and of the many consuls who have represented the United States in South
Africa none performed his duties more intelligently or with more credit to
his country.
One of the most interesting and important events in Pretoria before the
British occupation of the city was the meeting of the Volksraads on May
7th. It was a gathering of the warriors who survived the war which they
themselves had brought about seven months before, and, although the enemy
to whom they had thrown down the gauntlet was at their gates, they were as
resolute and determined as on that October day when they voted to pit the
Boer farmer against the British lion. The seats of many of those who took
part in that memorable meeting were filled with palms and evergreens to
mark the patriots' deaths, but the vierkleur and the cause remained to
spur the living. Generals, commandants, and burghers, no longer in the
grimy costumes of the battlefield, but in the black garb of the
legislator, filled the circles of chairs; bandoliered burghers, consuls
and military attachés in spectacular uniform, business men, and women with
tear-stained cheeks filled the auditorium; while on the official benches
were the heads of departments and the Executive Council, State Secretary
Reitz and General Schalk Burger. The Chairman of the Raad, General Lucas
Meyer, fresh from the battlefield, attracted the attention of the throng
by announcing the arrival of the President. Spectators, Raad members,
officials, all rose to their feet, and Paul Kruger, the Lion of
Rustenberg, the Afrikander captain, entered the Chamber and occupied a
seat of honour.
[Illustration: GENERAL LUCAS J. MEYER]
Grave affairs occupied the attention of the country and there were many
pressing matters to be adjusted, was the burden of the meeting, but the
most important work was the defence of the country, and all the members
were as a unit that their proper places were to be found with the burghers
in the field. There was no talk of ending the war, or of surrender; the
President leading in the proposition to continue hostilities until a
conclusion successful to the Boer cause was attained. "Shall we lose
courage?" he demanded. "Never! Never!! Never!!!" and then added
reverently: "May the people and the officers, animated and inspired by a
Higher Power, realising their duty, not only to those brave ones who have
already sacrificed their lives for their Fatherland, but also to posterity
that expects a free country, continue and persevere in this war to the
end." With these words of their aged chieftain engraved on their hearts to
strengthen their resolution the members of the Volksraads doffed the garb
of legislators and returned to their commandos to inspire them with new
zeal and determination.
After that memorable meeting of the Volksraads Pretoria again assumed the
appearance of a city of peace, but the rapid approach of the forces of the
enemy soon transformed it into a scene of desperation and panic. Men with
drawn faces dashed through the city to assist their hard-pressed
countrymen in the field; tearful women with children on their arms filled
the churches with their moans and prayers; deserters fleeing homeward
exaggerated fresh disasters and increased the tension of the
populace--tears and terror prevailed almost everywhere. Railway stations
were filled with throngs intent on escaping from the coming disaster,
commandos of breathless and blood-stained burghers entered the city, and
soon the voice of the conquerors' cannon reverberated among the hills and
valleys of the capital. Above the noise and din of the threatened city
rose the calm assurance of Paul Kruger: "Have good cheer, God will be with
our people in the end."