CHAPTER 23.
THE CLEARING OF THE SOUTH-EAST.
Lord Roberts never showed his self-command and fixed purpose more
clearly than during his six weeks' halt at Bloemfontein. De Wet,
the most enterprising and aggressive of the Boer commanders, was
attacking his eastern posts and menacing his line of
communications. A fussy or nervous general would have harassed his
men and worn out his horses by endeavouring to pursue a number of
will-of-the-wisp commandos. Roberts contented himself by building
up his strength at the capital, and by spreading nearly twenty
thousand men along his line of rail from Bloemfontein to Bethulie.
When the time came he would strike, but until then he rested. His
army was not only being rehorsed and reshod, but in some respects
was being reorganised. One powerful weapon which was forged during
those weeks was the collection of the mounted infantry of the
central army into one division, which was placed under the command
of Ian Hamilton, with Hutton and Ridley as brigadiers. Hutton's
brigade contained the Canadians, New South Wales men, West
Australians, Queenslanders, New Zealanders, Victorians, South
Australians, and Tasmanians, with four battalions of Imperial
Mounted Infantry, and several light batteries. Ridley's brigade
contained the South African irregular regiments of cavalry, with
some imperial troops. The strength of the whole division came to
over ten thousand rifles, and in its ranks there rode the hardiest
and best from every corner of the earth over which the old flag is
flying.
A word as to the general distribution of the troops at this instant
while Roberts was gathering himself for his spring. Eleven
divisions of infantry were in the field. Of these the 1st
(Methuen's) and half the 10th (Hunter's) were at Kimberley, forming
really the hundred-mile-distant left wing of Lord Roberts's army.
On that side also was a considerable force of Yeomanry, as General
Villebois discovered. In the centre with Roberts was the 6th
division (Kelly-Kenny's) at Bloemfontein, the 7th (Tucker's) at
Karee, twenty miles north, the 9th (Colvile's) and the 11th
(Pole-Carew's) near Bloemfontein. French's cavalry division was
also in the centre. As one descended the line towards the Cape one
came on the 3rd division (Chermside's, late Gatacre's), which had
now moved up to Reddersberg, and then, further south, the 8th
(Rundle's), near Rouxville. To the south and east was the other
half of Hunter's division (Hart's brigade), and Brabant's Colonial
division, half of which was shut up in Wepener and the rest at
Aliwal. These were the troops operating in the Free State, with the
addition of the division of mounted infantry in process of
formation.
There remained the three divisions in Natal, the 2nd (Clery's), the
4th (Lyttelton's), and the 5th (Hildyard's, late Warren's), with
the cavalry brigades of Burn-Murdoch, Dundonald, and Brocklehurst.
These, with numerous militia and unbrigaded regiments along the
lines of communication, formed the British army in South Africa. At
Mafeking some 900 irregulars stood at bay, with another force about
as large under Plumer a little to the north, endeavouring to
relieve them. At Beira, a Portuguese port through which we have
treaty rights by which we may pass troops, a curious mixed force of
Australians, New Zealanders and others was being disembarked and
pushed through to Rhodesia, so as to cut off any trek which the
Boers might make in that direction. Carrington, a fierce old
soldier with a large experience of South African warfare, was in
command of this picturesque force, which moved amid tropical
forests over crocodile-haunted streams, while their comrades were
shivering in the cold southerly winds of a Cape winter. Neither our
Government, our people, nor the world understood at the beginning
of this campaign how grave was the task which we had undertaken,
but, having once realised it, it must be acknowledged that it was
carried through in no half-hearted way. So vast was the scene of
operations that the Canadian might almost find his native climate
at one end of it and the Queenslander at the other.
To follow in close detail the movements of the Boers and the
counter movements of the British in the southeast portion of the
Free State during this period would tax the industry of the
historian and the patience of the reader. Let it be told with as
much general truth and as little geographical detail as possible.
The narrative which is interrupted by an eternal reference to the
map is a narrative spoiled.
The main force of the Freestaters had assembled in the
north-eastern corner of their State, and from this they made their
sally southwards, attacking or avoiding at their pleasure the
eastern line of British outposts. Their first engagement, that of
Sanna's Post, was a great and deserved success. Three days later
they secured the five companies at Reddersberg. Warned in time, the
other small British bodies closed in upon their supports, and the
railway line, that nourishing artery which was necessary for the
very existence of the army, was held too strongly for attack. The
Bethulie Bridge was a particularly important point; but though the
Boers approached it, and even went the length of announcing
officially that they had destroyed it, it was not actually
attacked. At Wepener, however, on the Basutoland border, they found
an isolated force, and proceeded at once, according to their
custom, to hem it in and to bombard it, until one of their three
great allies, want of food, want of water, or want of cartridges,
should compel a surrender.
On this occasion, however, the Boers had undertaken a task which
was beyond their strength. The troops at Wepener were one thousand
seven hundred in number, and formidable in quality. The place had
been occupied by part of Brabant's Colonial division, consisting of
hardy irregulars, men of the stuff of the defenders of Mafeking.
Such men are too shrewd to be herded into an untenable position and
too valiant to surrender a tenable one. The force was commanded by
a dashing soldier, Colonel Dalgety, of the Cape Mounted Rifles, as
tough a fighter as his famous namesake. There were with him nearly
a thousand men of Brabant's Horse, four hundred of the Cape Mounted
Rifles, four hundred Kaffrarian Horse, with some scouts, and one
hundred regulars, including twenty invaluable Sappers. They were
strong in guns--two seven-pounders, two naval twelve-pounders, two
fifteen-pounders and several machine guns. The position which they
had taken up, Jammersberg, three miles north of Wepener, was a very
strong one, and it would have taken a larger force than De Wet had
at his disposal to turn them out of it. The defence had been
arranged by Major Cedric Maxwell, of the Sappers; and though the
huge perimeter, nearly eight miles, made its defence by so small a
force a most difficult matter, the result proved how good his
dispositions were.
At the same time, the Boers came on with every confidence of
victory, for they had a superiority in guns and an immense
superiority in men. But after a day or two of fierce struggle their
attack dwindled down into a mere blockade. On April 9th they
attacked furiously, both by day and by night, and on the 10th the
pressure was equally severe. In these two days occurred the vast
majority of the casualties. But the defenders took cover in a way
to which British regulars have not yet attained, and they outshot
their opponents both with their rifles and their cannon. Captain
Lukin's management of the artillery was particularly skilful. The
weather was vile and the hastily dug trenches turned into ditches
half full of water, but neither discomfort nor danger shook the
courage of the gallant colonials. Assault after assault was
repulsed, and the scourging of the cannon was met with stolid
endurance. The Boers excelled all their previous feats in the
handling of artillery by dragging two guns up to the summit of the
lofty Jammersberg, whence they fired down upon the camp. Nearly all
the horses were killed and three hundred of the troopers were hit,
a number which is double that of the official return, for the
simple reason that the spirit of the force was so high that only
those who were very severely wounded reported themselves as wounded
at all. None but the serious cases ever reached the hands of Dr.
Faskally, who did admirable work with very slender resources. How
many the enemy lost can never be certainly known, but as they
pushed home several attacks it is impossible to imagine that their
losses were less than those of the victorious defenders. At the end
of seventeen days of mud and blood the brave irregulars saw an
empty laager and abandoned trenches. Their own resistance and the
advance of Brabant to their rescue had caused a hasty retreat of
the enemy. Wepener, Mafeking, Kimberley, the taking of the first
guns at Ladysmith, the deeds of the Imperial Light Horse--it cannot
be denied that our irregular South African forces have a brilliant
record for the war. They are associated with many successes and
with few disasters. Their fine record cannot, I think, be fairly
ascribed to any greater hardihood which one portion of our race has
when compared with another, for a South African must admit that in
the best colonial corps at least half the men were Britons of
Britain. In the Imperial Light Horse the proportion was very much
higher. But what may fairly be argued is that their exploits have
proved, what the American war proved long ago, that the German
conception of discipline is an obsolete fetish, and that the spirit
of free men, whose individualism has been encouraged rather than
crushed, is equal to any feat of arms. The clerks and miners and
engineers who went up Elandslaagte Hill without bayonets, shoulder
to shoulder with the Gordons, and who, according to Sir George
White, saved Ladysmith on January 6th, have shown for ever that
with men of our race it is the spirit within, and not the drill or
the discipline, that makes a formidable soldier. An intelligent
appreciation of the fact might in the course of the next few years
save us as much money as would go far to pay for the war.
It may well be asked how for so long a period as seventeen days the
British could tolerate a force to the rear of them when with their
great superiority of numbers they could have readily sent an army
to drive it away. The answer must be that Lord Roberts had
despatched his trusty lieutenant, Kitchener, to Aliwal, whence he
had been in heliographic communication with Wepener, that he was
sure that the place could hold out, and that he was using it, as he
did Kimberley, to hold the enemy while he was making his plans for
their destruction. This was the bait to tempt them to their ruin.
Had the trap not been a little slow in closing, the war in the Free
State might have ended then and there. From the 9th to the 25th the
Boers were held in front of Wepener. Let us trace the movements of
the other British detachments during that time.
Brabant's force, with Hart's brigade, which had been diverted on
its way to Kimberley, where it was to form part of Hunter's
division, was moving on the south towards Wepener, advancing
through Rouxville, but going slowly for fear of scaring the Boers
away before they were sufficiently compromised. Chermside's 3rd
division approached from the north-west, moving out from the
railway at Bethany, and passing through Reddersberg towards
Dewetsdorp, from which it would directly threaten the Boer line of
retreat. The movement was made with reassuring slowness and
gentleness, as when the curved hand approaches the unconscious fly.
And then suddenly, on April 21st, Lord Roberts let everything go.
Had the action of the agents been as swift and as energetic as the
mind of the planner, De Wet could not have escaped us.
What held Lord Roberts's hand for some few days after he was ready
to strike was the abominable weather. Rain was falling in sheets,
and those who know South African roads, South African mud, and
South African drifts will understand how impossible swift military
movements are under those circumstances. But with the first
clearing of the clouds the hills to the south and east of
Bloemfontein were dotted with our scouts. Rundle with his 8th
division was brought swiftly up from the south, united with
Chermside to the east of Reddersberg, and the whole force,
numbering 13,000 rifles with thirty guns, advanced upon Dewetsdorp,
Rundle, as senior officer, being in command. As they marched the
blue hills of Wepener lined the sky some twenty miles to the south,
eloquent to every man of the aim and object of their march.
On April 20th, Rundle as he advanced found a force with artillery
across his path to Dewetsdorp. It is always difficult to calculate
the number of hidden men and lurking guns which go to make up a
Boer army, but with some knowledge of their total at Wepener it was
certain that the force opposed to him must be very inferior to his
own. At Constantia Farm, where he found them in position, it is
difficult to imagine that there were more than three thousand men.
Their left flank was their weak point, as a movement on that side
would cut them off from Wepener and drive them up towards our main
force in the north. One would have thought that a containing force
of three thousand men, and a flanking movement from eight thousand,
would have turned them out, as it has turned them out so often
before and since. Yet a long-range action began on Friday, April
20th, and lasted the whole of the 21st, the 22nd, and the 23rd, in
which we sustained few losses, but made no impression upon the
enemy. Thirty of the 1st Worcesters wandered at night into the
wrong line, and were made prisoners, but with this exception the
four days of noisy fighting does not appear to have cost either
side fifty casualties. It is probable that the deliberation with
which the operations were conducted was due to Rundle's
instructions to wait until the other forces were in position. His
subsequent movements showed that he was not a General who feared to
strike.
On Sunday night (April 22nd) Pole-Carew sallied out from
Bloemfontein on a line which would take him round the right flank
of the Boers who were facing Rundle. The Boers had, however,
occupied a strong position at Leeuw Kop, which barred his path, so
that the Dewetsdorp Boers were covering the Wepener Boers, and
being in turn covered by the Boers of Leeuw Kop. Before anything
could be done, they must be swept out of the way. Pole-Carew is one
of those finds which help to compensate us for the war. Handsome,
dashing, debonnaire, he approaches a field of battle as a
light-hearted schoolboy approaches a football field. On this
occasion he acted with energy and discretion. His cavalry
threatened the flanks of the enemy, and Stephenson's brigade
carried the position in front at a small cost. On the same evening
General French arrived and took over the force, which consisted now
of Stephenson's and the Guards brigades (making up the 11th
division), with two brigades of cavalry and one corps of mounted
infantry. The next day, the 23rd, the advance was resumed, the
cavalry bearing the brunt of the fighting. That gallant corps,
Roberts's Horse, whose behaviour at Sanna's Post had been
admirable, again distinguished itself, losing among others its
Colonel, Brazier Creagh. On the 24th again it was to the horsemen
that the honour and the casualties fell. The 9th Lancers, the
regular cavalry regiment which bears away the honours of the war,
lost several men and officers, and the 8th Hussars also suffered,
but the Boers were driven from their position, and lost more
heavily in this skirmish than in some of the larger battles of the
campaign. The 'pom-poms,' which had been supplied to us by the
belated energy of the Ordnance Department, were used with some
effect in this engagement, and the Boers learned for the first time
how unnerving are those noisy but not particularly deadly fireworks
which they had so often crackled round the ears of our gunners.
On the Wednesday morning Rundle, with the addition of Pole-Carew's
division, was strong enough for any attack, while French was in a
position upon the flank. Every requisite for a great victory was
there except the presence of an enemy. The Wepener siege had been
raised and the force in front of Rundle had disappeared as only
Boer armies can disappear. The combined movement was an admirable
piece of work on the part of the enemy. Finding no force in front
of them, the combined troops of French, Rundle, and Chermside
occupied Dewetsdorp, where the latter remained, while the others
pushed on to Thabanchu, the storm centre from which all our
troubles had begun nearly a month before. All the way they knew
that De Wet's retreating army was just in front of them, and they
knew also that a force had been sent out from Bloemfontein to
Thabanchu to head off the Boers. Lord Roberts might naturally
suppose, when he had formed two cordons through which De Wet must
pass, that one or other must hold him. But with extraordinary skill
and mobility De Wet, aided by the fact that every inhabitant was a
member of his intelligence department, slipped through the double
net which had been laid for him. The first net was not in its place
in time, and the second was too small to hold him.
While Rundle and French had advanced on Dewetsdorp as described,
the other force which was intended to head off De Wet had gone
direct to Thabanchu. The advance began by a movement of Ian
Hamilton on April 22nd with eight hundred mounted infantry upon the
waterworks. The enemy, who held the hills beyond, allowed
Hamilton's force to come right down to the Modder before they
opened fire from three guns. The mounted infantry fell back, and
encamped for the night out of range. [Footnote: This was a
remarkable exhibition of the harmlessness of shell-fire against
troops in open formation. I myself saw at least forty shells, all
of which burst, fall among the ranks of the mounted infantry, who
retired at a contemptuous walk. There were no casualties.] Before
morning they were reinforced by Smith-Dorrien's brigade (Gordons,
Canadians, and Shropshires--the Cornwalls had been left behind) and
some more mounted Infantry. With daylight a fine advance was begun,
the brigade moving up in very extended order and the mounted men
turning the right flank of the defence. By evening we had regained
the waterworks, a most important point for Bloemfontein, and we
held all the line of hills which command it. This strong position
would not have been gained so easily if it had not been for
Pole-Carew's and French's actions two days before, on their way to
join Rundle, which enabled them to turn it from the south.
Ian Hamilton, who had already done good service in the war, having
commanded the infantry at Elandslaagte, and been one of the most
prominent leaders in the defence of Ladysmith, takes from this time
onwards a more important and a more independent position. A thin,
aquiline man, of soft voice and gentle manners, he had already
proved more than once during his adventurous career that he not
only possessed in a high degree the courage of the soldier, but
also the equanimity and decision of the born leader. A languid
elegance in his bearing covered a shrewd brain and a soul of fire.
A distorted and half-paralysed hand reminded the observer that
Hamilton, as a young lieutenant, had known at Majuba what it was to
face the Boer rifles. Now, in his forty-seventh year, he had
returned, matured and formidable, to reverse the results of that
first deplorable campaign. This was the man to whom Lord Roberts
had entrusted the command of that powerful flanking column which
was eventually to form the right wing of his main advance. Being
reinforced upon the morning after the capture of the Waterworks by
the Highland Brigade, the Cornwalls, and two heavy naval guns, his
whole force amounted to not less than seven thousand men. From
these he detached a garrison for the Waterworks, and with the rest
he continued his march over the hilly country which lies between
them and Thabanchu.
One position, Israel's Poort, a nek between two hills, was held
against them on April 25th, but was gained without much trouble,
the Canadians losing one killed and two wounded. Colonel Otter,
their gallant leader, was one of the latter, while Marshall's
Horse, a colonial corps raised in Grahamstown, had no fewer than
seven of their officers and several men killed or wounded. Next
morning the town of Thabanchu was seized, and Hamilton found
himself upon the direct line of the Boer retreat. He seized the
pass which commands the road, and all next day he waited eagerly,
and the hearts of his men beat high when at last they saw a long
trail of dust winding up to them from the south. At last the wily
De Wet had been headed off! Deep and earnest were the curses when
out of the dust there emerged a khaki column of horsemen, and it
was realised that this was French's pursuing force, closely
followed by Rundle's infantry from Dewetsdorp. The Boers had
slipped round and were already to the north of us.
It is impossible to withhold our admiration for the way in which
the Boer force was manoeuvred throughout this portion of the
campaign. The mixture of circumspection and audacity, the way in
which French and Rundle were hindered until the Wepener force had
disengaged itself, the manner in which these covering forces were
then withdrawn, and finally the clever way in which they all
slipped past Hamilton, make a brilliant bit of strategy. Louis
Botha, the generalissimo, held all the strings in his hand, and the
way in which he pulled them showed that his countrymen had chosen
the right man for that high office, and that his was a master
spirit even among those fine natural warriors who led the separate
commandos.
Having got to the north of the British forces Botha made no effort
to get away, and refused to be hustled by a reconnaissance
developing into an attack, which French made upon April 27th. In a
skirmish the night before Kitchener's Horse had lost fourteen men,
and the action of the 27th cost us about as many casualties. It
served to show that the Boer force was a compact body some six or
seven thousand strong, which withdrew in a leisurely fashion, and
took up a defensive position at Houtnek, some miles further on.
French remained at Thabanchu, from which he afterwards joined Lord
Roberts' advance, while Hamilton now assumed complete command of
the flanking column, with which he proceeded to march north upon
Winburg.
The Houtnek position is dominated upon the left of the advancing
British force by Thoba Mountain, and it was this point which was
the centre of Hamilton's attack. It was most gallantly seized by
Kitchener's Horse, who were quickly supported by Smith-Dorrien's
men. The mountain became the scene of a brisk action, and night
fell before the crest was cleared. At dawn upon May 1st the
fighting was resumed, and the position was carried by a determined
advance of the Shropshires, the Canadians, and the Gordons: the
Boers escaping down the reverse slope of the hill came under a
heavy fire of our infantry, and fifty of them were wounded or
taken. It was in this action, during the fighting on the hill, that
Captain Towse, of the Gordons, though shot through the eyes and
totally blind, encouraged his men to charge through a group of the
enemy who had gathered round them. After this victory Hamilton's
men, who had fought for seven days out of ten, halted for a rest at
Jacobsrust, where they were joined by Broadwood's cavalry and Bruce
Hamilton's infantry brigade. Ian Hamilton's column now contained
two infantry brigades (Smith-Dorrien's and Bruce Hamilton's),
Ridley's Mounted Infantry, Broadwood's Cavalry Brigade, five
batteries of artillery, two heavy guns, altogether 13,000 men. With
this force in constant touch with Botha's rearguard, Ian Hamilton
pushed on once more on May 4th. On May 5th he fought a brisk
cavalry skirmish, in which Kitchener's Horse and the 12th Lancers
distinguished themselves, and on the same day he took possession of
Winburg, thus covering the right of Lord Roberts's great advance.
The distribution of the troops on the eastern side of the Free
State was, at the time of this the final advance of the main army,
as follows--Ian Hamilton with his mounted infantry, Smith-Dorrien's
brigade, Macdonald's brigade, Bruce Hamilton's brigade, and
Broadwood's cavalry were at Winburg. Rundle was at Thabanchu, and
Brabant's colonial division was moving up to the same point.
Chermside was at Dewetsdorp, and had detached a force under Lord
Castletown to garrison Wepener. Hart occupied Smithfield, whence he
and his brigade were shortly to be transferred to the Kimberley
force. Altogether there could not have been fewer than thirty
thousand men engaged in clearing and holding down this part of the
country. French's cavalry and Pole-Carew's division had returned to
take part in the central advance.
Before entering upon a description of that great and decisive
movement, one small action calls for comment. This was the cutting
off of twenty men of Lumsden's Horse in a reconnaissance at Karee.
The small post under Lieutenant Crane found themselves by some
misunderstanding isolated in the midst of the enemy. Refusing to
hoist the flag of shame, they fought their way out, losing half
their number, while of the other half it is said that there was not
one who could not show bullet marks upon his clothes or person. The
men of this corps, volunteer Anglo-Indians, had abandoned the ease
and even luxury of Eastern life for the hard fare and rough
fighting of this most trying campaign. In coming they had set the
whole empire an object-lesson in spirit, and now on their first
field they set the army an example of military virtue. The proud
traditions of Outram's Volunteers have been upheld by the men of
Lumsden's Horse. Another minor action which cannot be ignored is
the defence of a convoy on April 29th by the Derbyshire Yeomanry
(Major Dugdale) and a company of the Scots Guards. The wagons were
on their way to Rundle when they were attacked at a point about ten
miles west of Thabanchu. The small guard beat off their assailants
in the most gallant fashion, and held their own until relieved by
Brabazon upon the following morning.
This phase of the war was marked by a certain change in the temper
of the British. Nothing could have been milder than the original
intentions and proclamations of Lord Roberts, and he was most ably
seconded in his attempts at conciliation by General Pretyman, who
had been made civil administrator of the State. There was evidence,
however, that this kindness had been construed as weakness by some
of the burghers, and during the Boer incursion to Wepener many who
had surrendered a worthless firearm reappeared with the Mauser
which had been concealed in some crafty hiding-place. Troops were
fired at from farmhouses which flew the white flag, and the good
housewife remained behind to charge the 'rooinek' extortionate
prices for milk and fodder while her husband shot at him from the
hills. It was felt that the burghers might have peace or might have
war, but could not have both simultaneously. Some examples were
made therefore of offending farmhouses, and stock was confiscated
where there was evidence of double dealing upon the part of the
owner. In a country where property is a more serious thing than
life, these measures, together with more stringent rules about the
possession of horses and arms, did much to stamp out the chances of
an insurrection in our rear. The worst sort of peace is an enforced
peace, but if that can be established time and justice may do the
rest.
The operations which have been here described may be finally summed
up in one short paragraph. A Boer army came south of the British
line and besieged a British garrison. Three British forces, those
of French, Rundle, and Ian Hamilton, were despatched to cut it off.
It successfully threaded its way among them and escaped. It was
followed to the northward as far as the town of Winburg, which
remained in the British possession. Lord Roberts had failed in his
plan of cutting off De Wet's army, but, at the expense of many
marches and skirmishes, the south-east of the State was cleared of
the enemy.
