CHAPTER 21.
STRATEGIC EFFECTS OF LORD ROBERTS'S MARCH.
From the moment that Lord Roberts with his army advanced from
Ramdam all the other British forces in South Africa, the Colesberg
force, the Stormberg force, Brabant's force, and the Natal force,
had the pressure relieved in front of them, a tendency which
increased with every fresh success of the main body. A short
chapter must be devoted to following rapidly the fortunes of these
various armies, and tracing the effect of Lord Roberts's strategy
upon their movements. They may be taken in turn from west to east.
The force under General Clements (formerly French's) had, as has
already been told, been denuded of nearly all its cavalry and horse
artillery, and so left in the presence of a very superior body of
the enemy. Under these circumstances Clements had to withdraw his
immensely extended line, and to concentrate at Arundel, closely
followed by the elated enemy. The situation was a more critical one
than has been appreciated by the public, for if the force had been
defeated the Boers would have been in a position to cut Lord
Roberts's line of communications, and the main army would have been
in the air. Much credit is due, not only to General Clements, but
to Carter of the Wiltshires, Hacket Pain of the Worcesters, Butcher
of the 4th R.F.A., the admirable Australians, and all the other
good men and true who did their best to hold the gap for the
Empire.
The Boer idea of a strong attack upon this point was strategically
admirable, but tactically there was not sufficient energy in
pushing home the advance. The British wings succeeded in
withdrawing, and the concentrated force at Arundel was too strong
for attack Yet there was a time of suspense, a time when every man
had become of such importance that even fifty Indian syces were for
the first and last time in the war, to their own supreme
gratification, permitted for twenty-four hours to play their
natural part as soldiers. [Footnote: There was something piteous in
the chagrin of these fine Sikhs at being held back from their
natural work as soldiers. A deputation of them waited upon Lord
Roberts at Bloemfontein to ask, with many salaams, whether 'his
children were not to see one little fight before they returned.']
But then with the rapid strokes in front the hour of danger passed,
and the Boer advance became first a halt and then a retreat.
On February 27th, Major Butcher, supported by the Inniskillings and
Australians, attacked Rensburg and shelled the enemy out of it.
Next morning Clements's whole force had advanced from Arundel and
took up its old position. The same afternoon it was clear that the
Boers were retiring, and the British, following them up, marched
into Colesberg, around which they had manoeuvred so long. A
telegram from Steyn to De Wet found in the town told the whole
story of the retirement: 'As long as you are able to hold the
positions you are in with the men you have, do so. If not, come
here as quickly as circumstances will allow, as matters here are
taking a serious turn.' The whole force passed over the Orange
River unimpeded, and blew up the Norval's Pont railway bridge
behind it. Clements's brigade followed on March 4th, and succeeded
in the course of a week in throwing a pontoon bridge over the river
and crossing into the Orange Free State. Roberts having in the
meanwhile seized Bloemfontein, communication was restored by
railway between the forces, and Clements was despatched to
Phillipolis, Fauresmith, and the other towns in the south-west to
receive the submission of the inhabitants and to enforce their
disarmament. In the meantime the Engineers worked furiously at the
restoration of the railway bridge over the Orange River, which was
not, however, accomplished until some weeks later.
During the long period which had elapsed since the repulse at
Stormberg, General Gatacre had held his own at Sterkstroom, under
orders not to attack the enemy, repulsing them easily upon the only
occasion when they ventured to attack him. Now it was his turn also
to profit by the success which Lord Roberts had won. On February
23rd he re-occupied Molteno, and on the same day sent out a force
to reconnoitre the enemy's position at Stormberg. The incident is
memorable as having been the cause of the death of Captain de
Montmorency [Footnote: De Montmorency had established a remarkable
influence over his rough followers. To the end of the war they
could not speak of him without tears in their eyes. When I asked
Sergeant Howe why his captain went almost alone up the hill, his
answer was, 'Because the captain knew no fear.' Byrne, his soldier
servant (an Omdurman V.C. like his master), galloped madly off next
morning with a saddled horse to bring back his captain alive or
dead, and had to be forcibly seized and restrained by our cavalry.
], one of the most promising of the younger officers of the British
army. He had formed a corps of scouts, consisting originally of
four men, but soon expanding to seventy or eighty. At the head of
these men he confirmed the reputation for desperate valour which he
had won in the Soudan, and added to it proofs of the enterprise and
judgment which go to make a leader of light cavalry. In the course
of the reconnaissance he ascended a small kopje accompanied by
three companions, Colonel Hoskier, a London Volunteer soldier,
Vice, a civilian, and Sergeant Howe. 'They are right on the top of
us,' he cried to his comrades, as he reached the summit, and
dropped next instant with a bullet through his heart. Hoskier was
shot in five places, and Vice was mortally wounded, only Howe
escaping. The rest of the scouts, being farther back, were able to
get cover and to keep up a fight until they were extricated by the
remainder of the force. Altogether our loss was formidable rather
in quality than in quantity, for not more than a dozen were hit,
while the Boers suffered considerably from the fire of our guns.
On March 5th General Gatacre found that the Boers were retreating
in front of him--in response, no doubt, to messages similar to
those which had already been received at Colesberg. Moving forward
he occupied the position which had confronted him so long. Thence,
having spent some days in drawing in his scattered detachments and
in mending the railway, he pushed forward on March 12th to
Burghersdorp, and thence on the 13th to Olive Siding, to the south
of the Bethulie Bridge.
There are two bridges which span the broad muddy Orange River,
thick with the washings of the Basutoland mountains. One of these
is the magnificent high railway bridge, already blown to ruins by
the retreating Boers. Dead men or shattered horses do not give a
more vivid impression of the unrelenting brutality of war than the
sight of a structure, so graceful and so essential, blown into a
huge heap of twisted girders and broken piers. Half a mile to the
west is the road bridge, broad and old-fashioned. The only hope of
preserving some mode of crossing the difficult river lay in the
chance that the troops might anticipate the Boers who were about to
destroy this bridge.
In this they were singularly favoured by fortune. On the arrival of
a small party of scouts and of the Cape Police under Major
Nolan-Neylan at the end of the bridge it was found that all was
ready to blow it up, the mine sunk, the detonator fixed, and the
wire laid. Only the connection between the wire and the charge had
not been made. To make sure, the Boers had also laid several boxes
of dynamite under the last span, in case the mine should fail in
its effect. The advance guard of the Police, only six in number,
with Nolan-Neylan at their head, threw themselves into a building
which commanded the approaches of the bridge, and this handful of
men opened so spirited and well-aimed a fire that the Boers were
unable to approach it. As fresh scouts and policemen came up they
were thrown into the firing line, and for a whole long day they
kept the destroyers from the bridge. Had the enemy known how weak
they were and how far from supports, they could have easily
destroyed them, but the game of bluff was admirably played, and a
fire kept up which held the enemy to their rifle pits.
The Boers were in a trench commanding the bridge, and their brisk
fire made it impossible to cross. On the other hand, our rifle fire
commanded the mine and prevented any one from exploding it. But at
the approach of darkness it was certain that this would be done.
The situation was saved by the gallantry of young Popham of the
Derbyshires, who crept across with two men and removed the
detonators. There still remained the dynamite under the further
span, and this also they removed, carrying it off across the bridge
under a heavy fire. The work was made absolutely complete a little
later by the exploit of Captain Grant of the Sappers, who drew the
charges from the holes in which they had been sunk, and dropped
them into the river, thus avoiding the chance that they might be
exploded next morning by shell fire. The feat of Popham and of
Grant was not only most gallant but of extraordinary service to the
country; but the highest credit belongs to Nolan-Neylan, of the
Police, for the great promptitude and galantry of his attack, and
to McNeill for his support. On that road bridge and on the pontoon
bridge at Norval's Pont Lord Roberts's army was for a whole month
dependent for their supplies.
On March 15th Gatacre's force passed over into the Orange Free
State, took possession of Bethulie, and sent on the cavalry to
Springfontein, which is the junction where the railways from Cape
Town and from East London meet. Here they came in contact with two
battalions of Guards under Pole-Carew, who had been sent down by
train from Lord Roberts's force in the north. With Roberts at
Bloemfontein, Gatacre at Springfontein, Clements in the south-west,
and Brabant at Aliwal, the pacification of the southern portion of
the Free State appeared to be complete. Warlike operations seemed
for the moment to be at an end, and scattered parties traversed the
country, 'bill-sticking,' as the troops called it--that is,
carrying Lord Roberts's proclamation to the lonely farmhouses and
outlying villages.
In the meantime the colonial division of that fine old African
fighter, General Brabant, had begun to play its part in the
campaign. Among the many judicious arrangements which Lord Roberts
made immediately after his arrival at the Cape was the assembling
of the greater part of the scattered colonial bands into one
division, and placing over it a General of their own, a man who had
defended the cause of the Empire both in the legislative assembly
and the field. To this force was entrusted the defence of the
country lying to the east of Gatacre's position, and on February
15th they advanced from Penhoek upon Dordrecht. Their Imperial
troops consisted of the Royal Scots and a section of the 79th
R.F.A., the Colonial of Brabant's Horse, the Kaffrarian Mounted
Rifles, the Cape Mounted Rifles and Cape Police, with Queenstown
and East London Volunteers. The force moved upon Dordrecht, and on
February 18th occupied the town after a spirited action, in which
Brabant's Horse played a distinguished part. On March 4th the
division advanced once more with the object of attacking the Boer
position at Labuschagne's Nek, some miles to the north.
Aided by the accurate fire of the 79th R.F.A., the colonials
succeeded, after a long day of desultory fighting, in driving the
enemy from his position. Leaving a garrison in Dordrecht Brabant
followed up his victory and pushed forward with two thousand men
and eight guns (six of them light 7-pounders) to occupy Jamestown,
which was done without resistance. On March 10th the colonial force
approached Aliwal, the frontier town, and so rapid was the advance
of Major Henderson with Brabant's Horse that the bridge at Aliwal
was seized before the enemy could blow it up. At the other side of
the bridge there was a strong stand made by the enemy, who had
several Krupp guns in position; but the light horse, in spite of a
loss of some twenty-five men killed and wounded, held on to the
heights which command the river. A week or ten days were spent in
pacifying the large north-eastern portion of Cape Colony, to which
Aliwal acts as a centre. Barkly East, Herschel, Lady Grey, and
other villages were visited by small detachments of the colonial
horsemen, who pushed forward also into the south-eastern portion of
the Free State, passing through Rouxville, and so along the
Basutoland border as far as Wepener. The rebellion in the Colony
was now absolutely dead in the north-east, while in the north-west
in the Prieska and Carnarvon districts it was only kept alive by
the fact that the distances were so great and the rebel forces so
scattered that it was very difficult for our flying columns to
reach them. Lord Kitchener had returned from Paardeberg to attend
to this danger upon our line of communications, and by his
exertions all chance of its becoming serious soon passed. With a
considerable force of Yeomanry and Cavalry he passed swiftly over
the country, stamping out the smouldering embers.
So much for the movements into the Free State of Clements, of
Gatacre, and of Brabant. It only remains to trace the not very
eventful history of the Natal campaign after the relief of
Ladysmith.
General Buller made no attempt to harass the retreat of the Boers,
although in two days no fewer than two thousand wagons were counted
upon the roads to Newcastle and Dundee. The guns had been removed
by train, the railway being afterwards destroyed. Across the north
of Natal lies the chain of the Biggarsberg mountains, and to this
the Transvaal Boers had retired, while the Freestaters had hurried
through the passes of the Drakensberg in time to make the fruitless
opposition to Roberts's march upon their capital. No accurate
information had come in as to the strength of the Transvaalers, the
estimates ranging from five to ten thousand, but it was known that
their position was formidable and their guns mounted in such a way
as to command the Dundee and Newcastle roads.
General Lyttelton's Division had camped as far out as Elandslaagte
with Burn Murdoch's cavalry, while Dundonald's brigade covered the
space between Burn Murdoch's western outposts and the Drakensberg
passes. Few Boers were seen, hut it was known that the passes were
held in some strength. Meanwhile the line was being restored in the
rear, and on March 9th the gallant White was enabled to take train
for Durban, though it was not until ten days later that the Colenso
bridge was restored. The Ladysmith garrison had been sent down to
Colenso to recruit their health. There they were formed into a new
division, the 4th, the brigades being given to Howard and Knox, and
the command to Lyttelton, who had returned his former division, the
second, to Clery. The 5th and 6th brigades were also formed into
one division, the 10th, which was placed under the capable command
of Hunter, who had confirmed in the south the reputation which he
had won in the north of Africa. In the first week of April Hunter's
Division was sent down to Durban and transferred to the western
side, where they were moved up to Kimberley, whence they advanced
northwards. The man on the horse has had in this war an immense
advantage over the man on foot, but there have been times when the
man on the ship has restored the balance. Captain Mahan might find
some fresh texts in the transference of Hunter's Division, or in
the subsequent expedition to Beira.
On April 10th the Boers descended from their mountains and woke up
our sleepy army corps by a brisk artillery fire. Our own guns
silenced it, and the troops instantly relapsed into their slumber.
There was no movement for a fortnight afterwards upon either side,
save that of Sir Charles Warren, who left the army in order to take
up the governorship of British Bechuanaland, a district which was
still in a disturbed state, and in which his presence had a
peculiar significance, since he had rescued portions of it from
Boer domination in the early days of the Transvaal Republic.
Hildyard took over the command of the 5th Division. In this state
of inertia the Natal force remained until Lord Roberts, after a six
weeks' halt in Bloemfontein, necessitated by the insecurity of his
railway communication and his want of every sort of military
supply, more especially horses for his cavalry and boots for his
infantry, was at last able on May 2nd to start upon his famous
march to Pretoria. Before accompanying him, however, upon this
victorious progress, it is necessary to devote a chapter to the
series of incidents and operations which had taken place to the
east and south-east of Bloemfontein during this period of
compulsory inactivity.
One incident must be recorded in this place, though it was
political rather than military. This was the interchange of notes
concerning peace between Paul Kruger and Lord Salisbury. There is
an old English jingle about 'the fault of the Dutch, giving too
little and asking too much,' but surely there was never a more
singular example of it than this. The united Presidents prepare for
war for years, spring an insulting ultimatum upon us, invade our
unfortunate Colonies, solemnly annex all the portions invaded, and
then, when at last driven back, propose a peace which shall secure
for them the whole point originally at issue. It is difficult to
believe that the proposals could have been seriously meant, but
more probable that the plan may have been to strengthen the hands
of the Peace deputation who were being sent to endeavour to secure
European intervention. Could they point to a proposal from the
Transvaal and a refusal from England, it might, if not too
curiously examined, excite the sympathy of those who follow
emotions rather than facts.
The documents were as follow:--
'The Presidents of the Orange Free State and of the South African
Republic to the Marquess of Salisbury. Bloemfontein March 5th,
1900.
'The blood and the tears of the thousands who have suffered by this
war, and the prospect of all the moral and economic ruin with which
South Africa is now threatened, make it necessary for both
belligerents to ask themselves dispassionately and as in the sight
of the Triune God for what they are fighting and whether the aim of
each justifies all this appalling misery and devastation.
'With this object, and in view of the assertions of various British
statesmen to the effect that this war was begun and is carried on
with the set purpose of undermining Her Majesty's authority in
South Africa, and of setting up an administration over all South
Africa independent of Her Majesty's Government, we consider it our
duty to solemnly declare that this war was undertaken solely as a
defensive measure to safeguard the threatened independence of the
South African Republic, and is only continued in order to secure
and safeguard the incontestable independence of both Republics as
sovereign international States, and to obtain the assurance that
those of Her Majesty's subjects who have taken part with us in this
war shall suffer no harm whatsoever in person or property.
'On these conditions, but on these conditions alone, are we now as
in the past desirous of seeing peace re-established in South
Africa, and of putting an end to the evils now reigning over South
Africa; while, if Her Majesty's Government is determined to destroy
the independence of the Republics, there is nothing left to us and
to our people but to persevere to the end in the course already
begun, in spite of the overwhelming pre-eminence of the British
Empire, conscious that that God who lighted the inextinguishable
fire of the love of freedom in our hearts and those of our fathers
will not forsake us, but will accomplish His work in us and in our
descendants.
'We hesitated to make this declaration earlier to your Excellency
as we feared that, as long as the advantage was always on our side,
and as long as our forces held defensive positions far in Her
Majesty's Colonies, such a declaration might hurt the feelings of
honour of the British people. But now that the prestige of the
British Empire may be considered to be assured by the capture of
one of our forces, and that we are thereby forced to evacuate other
positions which we had occupied, that difficulty is over and we can
no longer hesitate to inform your Government and people in the
sight of the whole civilised world why we are fighting and on what
conditions we are ready to restore peace.'
Such was the message, deep in its simplicity and cunning in its
candour, which was sent by the old President, for it is Kruger's
style which we read in every line of it. One has to get back to
facts after reading it, to the enormous war preparations of the
Republics, to the unprepared state of the British Colonies, to the
ultimatum, to the annexations, to the stirring up of rebellion, to
the silence about peace in the days of success, to the fact that by
'inextinguishable love of freedom' is meant inextinguishable
determination to hold other white men as helots--only then can we
form a just opinion of the worth of his message. One must remember
also, behind the homely and pious phraseology, that one is dealing
with a man who has been too cunning for us again and again--a man
who is as wily as the savages with whom he has treated and fought.
This Paul Kruger with the simple words of peace is the same Paul
Kruger who with gentle sayings insured the disarmament of
Johannesburg, and then instantly arrested his enemies--the man
whose name was a by-word for 'slimness' [craftiness] throughout
South Africa. With such a man the best weapon is absolute naked
truth with which Lord Salisbury confronted him in his reply:--
Foreign Office: March 11th.
'I have the honour to acknowledge your Honours' telegram dated
March 5th from Bloemfontein, of which the purport was principally
to demand that Her Majesty's Government shall recognise the
"incontestable independence" of the South African Republic and
Orange Free State as "sovereign international States," and to offer
on those terms to bring the war to a conclusion.
'In the beginning of October last peace existed between Her Majesty
and the two Republics under the conventions which then were in
existence. A discussion had been proceeding for some months between
Her Majesty's Government and the South African Republic, of which
the object was to obtain redress for certain very serious
grievances under which British residents in the. Republic were
suffering. In the course of those negotiations the Republic had, to
the knowledge of Her Majesty's Government, made considerable
armaments, and the latter had consequently taken steps to provide
corresponding reinforcements to the British garrisons of Cape Town
and Natal. No infringement of the rights guaranteed by the
conventions had up to that time taken place on the British side.
Suddenly, at two days' notice, the South African Republic, after
issuing an insulting ultimatum, declared war, and the Orange Free
State with whom there had not even been any discussion, took a
similar step. Her Majesty's dominions were immediately invaded by
the two Republics, siege was laid to three towns within the British
frontier, a large portion of the two Colonies was overrun with
great destruction to property and life, and the Republics claimed
to treat the inhabitants as if those dominions had been annexed to
one or other of them. In anticipation of these operations the South
African Republic had been accumulating for many years past military
stores upon an enormous scale, which by their character could only
have been intended for use against Great Britain.
'Your Honours make some observations of a negative character upon
the object with which these preparations were made. I do not think
it necessary to discuss the questions which you have raised. But
the result of these preparations, carried on with great secrecy,
has been that the British Empire has been compelled to confront an
invasion which has entailed a costly war and the loss of thousands
of precious lives. This great calamity has been the penalty which
Great Britain has suffered for having in recent years acquiesced in
the existence of the two Republics.
'In view of the use to which the two Republics have put the
position which was given to them, and the calamities which their
unprovoked attack has inflicted upon Her Majesty's dominions, Her
Majesty's Government can only answer your Honours' telegram by
saying that they are not prepared to assent to the independence
either of the South African Republic or of the Orange Free State.'
With this frank and uncompromising reply the Empire, with the
exception of a small party of dupes and doctrinaires, heartily
agreed. The pens were dropped, and the Mauser and the Lee-Metford
once more took up the debate.
