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LORD
ROBERTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
From: H. W. Wilson, With the Flag to Pretoria, 1902 |
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Arthur Conan Doyle,
The Great Boer War
London, Smith, Elder &
Co., 1902
CHAPTER XXI
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 Philippolis,
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 bad 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 Gape 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
Labuschague'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 northeast, 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 dornination 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
Bloenifontein, 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 Prsidents 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 rebeflion, 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' 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 Bepublic or of the Orange
Free State.'
With this frank and uncompromising reply the Empire, with the exception of a
small party of dupes and doctrin aires, heartily agreed. The pens were
dropped, and the Mauser and the Lee-Metford once more took up the debate.
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