Of the four British armies in the field I have attempted to tell the
story of the western one which advanced to help Kimberley, of the
eastern one which was repulsed at Colenso, and of the central one which
was checked at Stormberg. There remains one other central one, some
account of which must now be given.
It was, as has already been pointed out, a long three weeks after the
declaration of war before the forces of the Orange Free State began to
invade Cape Colony. But for this most providential delay it is probable
that the ultimate fighting would have been, not among the mountains
and kopjes of Stormberg and Colesberg, but amid those formidable passes
which lie in the Hex Valley, immediately to the north of Cape Town, and
that the armies of the invader would have been doubled by their kinsmen
of the Colony. The ultimate result of the war must have been the same,
but the sight of all South Africa in flames might have brought about
those Continental complications which have always been so grave a
menace.
The invasion of the Colony was at two points along the line of the two
railways which connect the countries, the one passing over the Orange
River at Norval's Pont and the other at Bethulie, about forty miles
to the eastward. There were no British troops available (a fact to
be considered by those, if any remain, who imagine that the British
entertained any design against the Republics), and the Boers jogged
slowly southward amid a Dutch population who hesitated between their
unity of race and speech and their knowledge of just and generous
treatment by the Empire. A large number were won over by the invaders,
and, like all apostates, distinguished themselves by their virulence and
harshness towards their loyal neighbours. Here and there in towns which
were off the railway line, in Barkly East or Ladygrey, the farmers met
together with rifle and bandolier, tied orange puggarees round their
hats, and rode off to join the enemy. Possibly these ignorant and
isolated men hardly recognised what it was that they were doing.
They have found out since. In some of the border districts the rebels
numbered ninety per cent of the Dutch population.
In the meanwhile, the British leaders had been strenuously endeavouring
to scrape together a few troops with which to make some stand against
the enemy. For this purpose two small forces were necessary--the one to
oppose the advance through Bethulie and Stormberg, the other to meet
the invaders, who, having passed the river at Norval's Pont, had now
occupied Colesberg. The former task was, as already shown, committed to
General Gatacre. The latter was allotted to General French, the victor
of Elandslaagte, who had escaped in the very last train from Ladysmith,
and had taken over this new and important duty. French's force assembled
at Arundel and Gatacre's at Sterkstroom. It is with the operations of
the former that we have now to deal.
General French, for whom South Africa has for once proved not the grave
but the cradle of a reputation, had before the war gained some name as
a smart and energetic cavalry officer. There were some who, watching
his handling of a considerable body of horse at the great Salisbury
manoeuvres in 1898, conceived the highest opinion of his capacity, and
it was due to the strong support of General Buller, who had commanded
in these peaceful operations, that French received his appointment for
South Africa. In person he is short and thick, with a pugnacious jaw. In
character he is a man of cold persistence and of fiery energy, cautious
and yet audacious, weighing his actions well, but carrying them out
with the dash which befits a mounted leader. He is remarkable for
the quickness of his decision--'can think at a gallop,' as an admirer
expressed it. Such was the man, alert, resourceful, and determined, to
whom was entrusted the holding back of the Colesberg Boers.
Although the main advance of the invaders was along the lines of the two
railways, they ventured, as they realised how weak the forces were
which opposed them, to break off both to the east and west, occupying
Dordrecht on one side and Steynsberg on the other. Nothing of importance
accrued from the possession of these points, and our attention may be
concentrated upon the main line of action.
French's original force was a mere handful of men, scraped together from
anywhere. Naauwpoort was his base, and thence he made a reconnaissance
by rail on November 23rd towards Arundel, the next hamlet along the
line, taking with him a company of the Black Watch, forty mounted
infantry, and a troop of the New South Wales Lancers. Nothing resulted
from the expedition save that the two forces came into touch with each
other, a touch which was sustained for months under many vicissitudes,
until the invaders were driven back once more over Norval's Pont.
Finding that Arundel was weakly held, French advanced up to it, and
established his camp there towards the end of December, within six
miles of the Boer lines at Rensburg, to the south of Colesberg. His
mission--with his present forces--was to prevent the further advance of
the enemy into the Colony, but he was not strong enough yet to make a
serious attempt to drive them out.
Before the move to Arundel on December 13th his detachment had increased
in size, and consisted largely of mounted men, so that it attained a
mobility very unusual for a British force. On December 13th there was
an attempt upon the part of the Boers to advance south, which was easily
held by the British Cavalry and Horse Artillery. The country over which
French was operating is dotted with those singular kopjes which the Boer
loves--kopjes which are often so grotesque in shape that one feels as
if they must be due to some error of refraction when one looks at them.
But, on the other hand, between these hills there lie wide stretches
of the green or russet savanna, the noblest field that a horseman or
a horse gunner could wish. The riflemen clung to the hills, French's
troopers circled warily upon the plain, gradually contracting the Boer
position by threatening to cut off this or that outlying kopje, and so
the enemy was slowly herded into Colesberg. The small but mobile British
force covered a very large area, and hardly a day passed that one
or other part of it did not come in contact with the enemy. With
one regiment of infantry (the Berkshires) to hold the centre, his
hard-riding Tasmanians, New Zealanders, and Australians, with the Scots
Greys, the Inniskillings, and the Carabineers, formed an elastic
but impenetrable screen to cover the Colony. They were aided by two
batteries, O and R, of Horse Artillery. Every day General French rode
out and made a close personal examination of the enemy's position, while
his scouts and outposts were instructed to maintain the closest possible
touch.
On December 30th the enemy abandoned Rensburg, which had been their
advanced post, and concentrated at Colesberg, upon which French moved
his force up and seized Rensburg. The very next day, December 31st,
he began a vigorous and long-continued series of operations. At five
o'clock on Sunday evening he moved out of Rensburg camp, with R and
half of O batteries R.H.A., the 10th Hussars, the Inniskillings, and the
Berkshires, to take up a position on the west of Colesberg. At the same
time Colonel Porter, with the half-battery of O, his own regiment (the
Carabineers), and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, left camp at two on
the Monday morning and took a position on the enemy's left flank. The
Berkshires under Major McCracken seized the hill, driving a Boer picket
off it, and the Horse enfiladed the enemy's right flank, and after a
risky artillery duel succeeded in silencing his guns. Next morning,
however (January 2nd, 1900), it was found that the Boers, strongly
reinforced, were back near their old positions, and French had to be
content to hold them and to wait for more troops.
These were not long in coming, for the Suffolk Regiment had arrived,
followed by the Composite Regiment (chosen from the Household Cavalry)
and the 4th Battery R.F.A. The Boers, however, had also been reinforced,
and showed great energy in their effort to break the cordon which was
being drawn round them. Upon the 4th a determined effort was made by
about a thousand of them under General Schoeman to turn the left flank
of the British, and at dawn it was actually found that they had eluded
the vigilance of the outposts and had established themselves upon a hill
to the rear of the position. They were shelled off of it, however, by
the guns of O Battery, and in their retreat across the plain they were
pursued by the 10th Hussars and by one squadron of the Inniskillings,
who cut off some of the fugitives. At the same time, De Lisle with his
mounted infantry carried the position which they had originally held. In
this successful and well-managed action the Boer loss was ninety, and we
took in addition twenty-one prisoners. Our own casualties amounted
only to six killed, including Major Harvey of the 10th, and to fifteen
wounded.
Encouraged by this success an attempt was made by the Suffolk Regiment
to carry a hill which formed the key of the enemy's position. The town
of Colesberg lies in a basin surrounded by a ring of kopjes, and the
possession by us of any one of them would have made the place untenable.
The plan has been ascribed to Colonel Watson of the Suffolks, but it
is time that some protest should be raised against this devolution of
responsibility upon subordinates in the event of failure. When success
has crowned our arms we have been delighted to honour our general;
but when our efforts end in failure our attention is called to Colonel
Watson, Colonel Long, or Colonel Thorneycroft. It is fairer to state
that in this instance General French ordered Colonel Watson to make a
night attack upon the hill.
The result was disastrous. At midnight four companies in canvas shoes
or in their stocking feet set forth upon their venture, and just before
dawn they found themselves upon the slope of the hill. They were in a
formation of quarter column with files extended to two paces; H Company
was leading. When half-way up a warm fire was opened upon them in the
darkness. Colonel Watson gave the order to retire, intending, as it is
believed, that the men should get under the shelter of the dead ground
which they had just quitted, but his death immediately afterwards left
matters in a confused condition. The night was black, the ground broken,
a hail of bullets whizzing through the ranks. Companies got mixed in the
darkness and contradictory orders were issued. The leading company held
its ground, though each of the officers, Brett, Carey, and Butler, was
struck down. The other companies had retired, however, and the dawn
found this fringe of men, most of them wounded, lying under the very
rifles of the Boers. Even then they held out for some time, but they
could neither advance, retire, or stay where they were without losing
lives to no purpose, so the survivors were compelled to surrender. There
is better evidence here than at Magersfontein that the enemy were warned
and ready. Every one of the officers engaged, from the Colonel to the
boy subaltern, was killed, wounded, or taken. Eleven officers and
one hundred and fifty men were our losses in this unfortunate but not
discreditable affair, which proves once more how much accuracy and how
much secrecy is necessary for a successful night attack. Four companies
of the regiment were sent down to Port Elizabeth to re-officer, but the
arrival of the 1st Essex enabled French to fill the gap which had been
made in his force.
In spite of this annoying check, French continued to pursue his original
design of holding the enemy in front and working round him on the east.
On January 9th, Porter, of the Carabineers, with his own regiment, two
squadrons of Household Cavalry, the New Zealanders, the New South Wales
Lancers, and four guns, took another step forward and, after a skirmish,
occupied a position called Slingersfontein, still further to the north
and east, so as to menace the main road of retreat to Norval's Pont.
Some skirmishing followed, but the position was maintained. On the 15th
the Boers, thinking that this long extension must have weakened us, made
a spirited attack upon a position held by New Zealanders and a company
of the 1st Yorkshires, this regiment having been sent up to reinforce
French. The attempt was met by a volley and a bayonet charge. Captain
Orr, of the Yorkshires, was struck down; but Captain Madocks, of the
New Zealanders, who behaved with conspicuous gallantry at a critical
instant, took command, and the enemy was heavily repulsed. Madocks
engaged in a point-blank rifle duel with the frock-coated top-hatted
Boer leader, and had the good fortune to kill his formidable opponent.
Twenty-one Boer dead and many wounded left upon the field made a small
set-off to the disaster of the Suffolks.
The next day, however (January 16th), the scales of fortune, which swung
alternately one way and the other, were again tipped against us. It
is difficult to give an intelligible account of the details of these
operations, because they were carried out by thin fringes of men
covering on both sides a very large area, each kopje occupied as a fort,
and the intervening plains patrolled by cavalry.
As French extended to the east and north the Boers extended also to
prevent him from outflanking them, and so the little armies stretched
and stretched until they were two long mobile skirmishing lines. The
actions therefore resolve themselves into the encounters of small
bodies and the snapping up of exposed patrols--a game in which the Boer
aptitude for guerrilla tactics gave them some advantage, though our
own cavalry quickly adapted themselves to the new conditions. On this
occasion a patrol of sixteen men from the South Australian Horse and New
South Wales Lancers fell into an ambush, and eleven were captured. Of
the remainder, three made their way back to camp, while one was killed
and one was wounded.
The duel between French on the one side and Schoeman and Lambert on the
other was from this onwards one of maneuvering rather than of fighting.
The dangerously extended line of the British at this period, over thirty
miles long, was reinforced, as has been mentioned, by the 1st Yorkshire
and later by the 2nd Wiltshire and a section of the 37th Howitzer
Battery. There was probably no very great difference in numbers between
the two little armies, but the Boers now, as always, were working
upon internal lines. The monotony of the operations was broken by the
remarkable feat of the Essex Regiment, which succeeded by hawsers and
good-will in getting two 15-pounder guns of the 4th Field Battery on to
the top of Coleskop, a hill which rises several hundred feet from the
plain and is so precipitous that it is no small task for an unhampered
man to climb it. From the summit a fire, which for some days could not
be localised by the Boers, was opened upon their laagers, which had to
be shifted in consequence. This energetic action upon the part of our
gunners may be set off against those other examples where commanders
of batteries have shown that they had not yet appreciated what strong
tackle and stout arms can accomplish. The guns upon Coleskop not
only dominated all the smaller kopjes for a range of 9000 yards, but
completely commanded the town of Colesberg, which could not however, for
humanitarian and political reasons, be shelled.
By gradual reinforcements the force under French had by the end of
January attained the respectable figure of ten thousand men, strung over
a large extent of country. His infantry consisted of the 2nd Berkshires,
1st Royal Irish, 2nd Wiltshires, 2nd Worcesters, 1st Essex, and 1st
Yorkshires; his cavalry, of the 10th Hussars, the 6th Dragoon Guards,
the Inniskillings, the New Zealanders, the N.S. W. Lancers, some
Rimington Guides, and the composite Household Regiment; his artillery,
the R and O batteries of R.H.A., the 4th R.F.A., and a section of the
37th Howitzer Battery. At the risk of tedium I have repeated the units
of this force, because there are no operations during the war, with the
exception perhaps of those of the Rhodesian Column, concerning which it
is so difficult to get a clear impression. The fluctuating forces, the
vast range of country covered, and the petty farms which give their
names to positions, all tend to make the issue vague and the narrative
obscure. The British still lay in a semicircle extending from
Slingersfontein upon the right to Kloof Camp upon the left, and the
general scheme of operations continued to be an enveloping movement upon
the right. General Clements commanded this section of the forces, while
the energetic Porter carried out the successive advances. The lines had
gradually stretched until they were nearly fifty miles in length, and
something of the obscurity in which the operations have been left is due
to the impossibility of any single correspondent having a clear idea of
what was occurring over so extended a front.
On January 25th French sent Stephenson and Brabazon to push a
reconnaissance to the north of Colesberg, and found that the Boers were
making a fresh position at Rietfontein, nine miles nearer their own
border. A small action ensued, in which we lost ten or twelve of
the Wiltshire Regiment, and gained some knowledge of the enemy's
dispositions. For the remainder of the month the two forces remained
in a state of equilibrium, each keenly on its guard, and neither strong
enough to penetrate the lines of the other. General French descended to
Cape Town to aid General Roberts in the elaboration of that plan which
was soon to change the whole military situation in South Africa.
Reinforcements were still dribbling into the British force, Hoad's
Australian Regiment, which had been changed from infantry to cavalry,
and J battery R.H.A. from India, being the last arrivals. But very much
stronger reinforcements had arrived for the Boers--so strong that they
were able to take the offensive. De la Rey had left the Modder with
three thousand men, and their presence infused new life into the
defenders of Colesberg. At the moment, too, that the Modder Boers
were coming to Colesberg, the British had begun to send cavalry
reinforcements to the Modder in preparation for the march to Kimberley,
so that Clements's Force (as it had now become) was depleted at the very
instant when that of the enemy was largely increased. The result was
that it was all they could do not merely to hold their own, but to avoid
a very serious disaster.
The movements of De la Rey were directed towards turning the right of
the position. On February 9th and 10th the mounted patrols, principally
the Tasmanians, the Australians, and the Inniskillings, came in contact
with the Boers, and some skirmishing ensued, with no heavy loss upon
either side. A British patrol was surrounded and lost eleven prisoners,
Tasmanians and Guides. On the 12th the Boer turning movement developed
itself, and our position on the right at Slingersfontein was strongly
attacked.
The key of the British position at this point was a kopje held by three
companies of the 2nd Worcester Regiment. Upon this the Boers made a
fierce onslaught, but were as fiercely repelled. They came up in the
dark between the set of moon and rise of sun, as they had done at the
great assault of Ladysmith, and the first dim light saw them in the
advanced sangars. The Boer generals do not favour night attacks,
but they are exceedingly fond of using darkness for taking up a good
position and pushing onwards as soon as it is possible to see. This is
what they did upon this occasion, and the first intimation which the
outposts had of their presence was the rush of feet and loom of figures
in the cold misty light of dawn. The occupants of the sangars were
killed to a man, and the assailants rushed onwards. As the sun topped
the line of the veld half the kopje was in their possession. Shouting
and firing, they pressed onwards.
But the Worcester men were steady old soldiers, and the battalion
contained no less than four hundred and fifty marksmen in its ranks. Of
these the companies upon the hill had their due proportion, and their
fire was so accurate that the Boers found themselves unable to advance
any further. Through the long day a desperate duel was maintained
between the two lines of riflemen. Colonel Cuningham and Major Stubbs
were killed while endeavouring to recover the ground which had been
lost. Hovel and Bartholomew continued to encourage their men, and the
British fire became so deadly that that of the Boers was dominated.
Under the direction of Hacket Pain, who commanded the nearest post, guns
of J battery were brought out into the open and shelled the portion of
the kopje which was held by the Boers. The latter were reinforced, but
could make no advance against the accurate rifle fire with which they
were met. The Bisley champion of the battalion, with a bullet through
his thigh, expended a hundred rounds before sinking from loss of blood.
It was an excellent defence, and a pleasing exception to those too
frequent cases where an isolated force has lost heart in face of a
numerous and persistent foe. With the coming of darkness the Boers
withdrew with a loss of over two hundred killed and wounded. Orders had
come from Clements that the whole right wing should be drawn in, and in
obedience to them the remains of the victorious companies were called
in by Hacket Pain, who moved his force by night in the direction of
Rensburg. The British loss in the action was twenty-eight killed and
nearly a hundred wounded or missing, most of which was incurred when the
sangars were rushed in the early morning.
While this action was fought upon the extreme right of the British
position another as severe had occurred with much the same result upon
the extreme left, where the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment was stationed. Some
companies of this regiment were isolated upon a kopje and surrounded
by the Boer riflemen when the pressure upon them was relieved by a
desperate attack by about a hundred of the Victorian Rifles. The gallant
Australians lost Major Eddy and six officers out of seven, with a large
proportion of their men, but they proved once for all that amid all the
scattered nations who came from the same home there is not one with a
more fiery courage and a higher sense of martial duty than the men from
the great island continent. It is the misfortune of the historian when
dealing with these contingents that, as a rule, by their very nature
they were employed in detached parties in fulfilling the duties which
fall to the lot of scouts and light cavalry--duties which fill the
casualty lists but not the pages of the chronicler. Be it said, however,
once for all that throughout the whole African army there was nothing
but the utmost admiration for the dash and spirit of the hard-riding,
straight-shooting sons of Australia and New Zealand. In a host which
held many brave men there were none braver than they.
It was evident from this time onwards that the turning movement had
failed, and that the enemy had developed such strength that we were
ourselves in imminent danger of being turned. The situation was a most
serious one: for if Clements's force could be brushed aside there would
be nothing to keep the enemy from cutting the communications of the army
which Roberts had assembled for his march into the Free State. Clements
drew in his wings hurriedly and concentrated his whole force at
Rensburg. It was a difficult operation in the face of an aggressive
enemy, but the movements were well timed and admirably carried out.
There is always the possibility of a retreat degenerating into a panic,
and a panic at that moment would have been a most serious matter.
One misfortune occurred, through which two companies of the Wiltshire
regiment were left without definite orders, and were cut off and
captured after a resistance in which a third of their number was killed
and wounded. No man in that trying time worked harder than Colonel
Carter of the Wiltshires (the night of the retreat was the sixth which
he had spent without sleep), and the loss of the two companies is to be
set down to one of those accidents which may always occur in warfare.
Some of the Inniskilling Dragoons and Victorian Mounted Rifles were also
cut off in the retreat, but on the whole Clements was very fortunate in
being able to concentrate his scattered army with so few mishaps. The
withdrawal was heartbreaking to the soldiers who had worked so hard and
so long in extending the lines, but it might be regarded with equanimity
by the Generals, who understood that the greater strength the enemy
developed at Colesberg the less they would have to oppose the critical
movements which were about to be carried out in the west. Meanwhile
Coleskop had also been abandoned, the guns removed, and the whole force
on February 14th passed through Rensburg and fell back upon Arundel, the
spot from which six weeks earlier French had started upon this stirring
series of operations. It would not be fair, however, to suppose that
they had failed because they ended where they began. Their primary
object had been to prevent the further advance of the Freestaters into
the colony, and, during the most critical period of the war, this
had been accomplished with much success and little loss. At last the
pressure had become so severe that the enemy had to weaken the most
essential part of their general position in order to relieve it. The
object of the operations had really been attained when Clements found
himself back at Arundel once more. French, the stormy petrel of the war,
had flitted on from Cape Town to Modder River, where a larger prize
than Colesberg awaited him. Clements continued to cover Naauwport, the
important railway junction, until the advance of Roberts's army caused a
complete reversal of the whole military situation.