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CHAPTER X
TO SPRINGS
Boers retreat during the night – Elandsrivier station – Through the Boer positions – To Pretoria – Off again – Irene – Bad state of clothing and boots – Difficulty of repairing the latter – To Springs – Clothing and stores obtained from Johannesburg
During the night the Boers vacated their position absolutely, so on the 13th June we made an early start, and the Brigade moved round to the south-east in a circular direction and then headed east to Elandsrivier station. On the way we passed some low hills on the south which had been held the day before by the enemy, and we saw the place, at the foot of the hills, where their horses had been standing, apparently for many hours. These were the horses which had been seen by the General, but which it was too dark for our shells to reach. The ground was also strewn with Mauser cartridge papers and boxes, showing that they must have refilled their bandoliers at this place before starting. Their final position at Diamond Hill was plainly visible, due north of this spot, the intervening ground being flat and open veldt; and it was, possibly, very wise of them to have retreated during the night, and not exposed themselves to the risk of being caught with open country in their rear and no cover for miles.
Elandsrivier is a small roadside station, with no town or houses near. The Boers had done all the damage they could, smashed the water-tank and pump, broken into the booking-office, looked into the safe with the aid of a hammer and cold chisel, and written a notice for us on a sheet of paper which we found pinned to the wall.
It was written in pencil and ran as follows:
"Sorry not to have found here the price of a ticket to St Helena.
De Van der Merwe,Lieut. – Colonel Commanding the Potchefstroom Infantry.Elandsrivier, 12th June, 1900."
Possibly Colonel De Van der Merwe has, ere this, been provided with a free passage to the island he mentions!
The Camerons rejoined us on the 14th, having been detained with their baggage and the convoy all this time, and having to their great sorrow missed all the fighting.
On the next day, the 15th of June, the Brigade moved off towards Pretoria, passing on the road the Diamond Mine, and entering the defile which had formed part of the main Boer position on the 12th. This defile had been, seemingly, held in great force by the enemy, and it was somewhere on the right of the defile that they had had their gun in position: the defile, which was the main road to Pretoria, wound in and out, the track threading its way among the hills for some considerable distance.
About half way through we passed a farm with a large dam, and here there were numerous indications of the recent presence of a large body of Boers with their wagons, as the ground was covered for some space with hoofmarks, remains of fires, cartridge papers, etc. This laager had been immediately in rear of the final Boer position, which we passed, black and frowning, on our left; from the front it was steep and impassable and covered with huge rocks; on top, the hill sloped to the rear, and the descent on the enemy's side was easy, so that the position presented many points in favour of the Boers.
On either side of the defile, or pass, at this point were huge ravines covered with black rocks, running up into the hills: one of these ravines on our left was recognised as being the one which had lain between us and the enemy, and just beyond it was the hill which we had occupied.
We were now just clearing the defile, and the position revealed itself to us in all its massive strength: on the right it ran back for miles, a huge wall of rock, black and glistening, and rising almost sheer out of the plain, but with a low glacis of grassy veldt in front; on the left the position was more in the nature of a range of grass covered hills, with some broken ground and a few isolated kopjes in front. This was the ground that we had manœuvred over on the two previous days, and, having now passed through the Boer position in two places, we were quite at a loss to understand why they did not make a better stand, and we thought ourselves very fortunate in having escaped with the moderate loss that we had experienced.
The road to Pretoria wound off to the right, and passed for some miles at the base of this precipitous range of rocks, which continued to run in a northerly direction towards Pretoria.
We camped at night at the foot of these hills, at a farm called Schwartz Kopje; from here the range became lower and lower until it merged into the hills round Pretoria.
Around us were many farms, and some country houses belonging to Pretoria people, whilst a few miles to the north lay the railway line, and a large distillery at a spot called Eerstefabrieken.
Lord Roberts wired to the War Office on the 14th of June as follows: —
"As I telegraphed yesterday from our outposts 15 miles east of Pretoria, the Boers evacuated their position during the night of the 12th. They had paid so much attention to strengthening their flanks that their centre was weakly held, and as soon as this became evident on the 12th I directed Ian Hamilton to attack.
"He moved against Diamond Hill with the Sussex, Derby and City Imperial Volunteers, supported on his left by the Guards' Brigade under Inigo Jones.
"It was grand seeing the way our men advanced over difficult ground and under heavy fire. The casualties were, I am thankful to say, less than 100 – a very small number considering the natural strength of the position that had to be carried. Our seizure of Diamond Hill caused the Boers to feel that they were practically surrounded, and this resulted in their hasty retirement. They were being followed yesterday by some of our mounted troops.
"Hamilton speaks in high terms of the three battalions above mentioned, and of the admirable manner in which the 82nd Field Battery covered the advance, the good work performed by De Lisle's Mounted Infantry, and the valuable assistance afforded by the Guards' Brigade."
Next day we made our second entry into Pretoria, this time from the East. The place was full of troops, the Guards' Brigade, 19th Brigade, and others being camped close to us on the east of the town. On Sunday, the 17th, and the next day, we remained in camp, but spent a good deal of time roaming over the town, and buying bread and whatever else we could find to eat. Although the first day was Sunday, the Canteen people found out that the worthy shopkeepers of Pretoria were not averse to turning an honest penny, and were mostly inside their shops, like spiders in their webs, waiting for business – but only, of course, through the back door. The Canteen laid in a good stock, although at famine prices, but in the afternoon the District Commissioner ordered the shops to be opened, so that the troops could buy what they wanted. This thoughtful act was productive of much benefit to the rank and file.
Too much rest, however, has always been an unknown quantity to the 21st Brigade, so the next morning we trekked again, and, going through part of the town, we were all pleased to find that Lord Roberts had come out in the early morning to see us go by. The band struck up the march past, and we all looked our best and strode onward as though we had only just landed. There is one point about Lord Roberts which every man on that column realised, and that is the power of the veteran Commander-in-Chief to see more in a glance than most men in a prolonged stare. There were few men in the battalion who did not catch the Field-Marshal's piercing eye as we went past, and each felt that his innermost thoughts were being ferreted out. General Kelly was by his chief's side, and looked very pleased to see his old regiment, and to hear the familiar old tune.
We reached Irene in good time, and found there Captain Mackenzie and about a hundred men, mostly lame ducks: they had been left at Irene when we were there last in order to escort a battery by rail to Vereeniging, and had now returned, having completed this duty.
Unfortunately for them they had missed all the fighting of the 11th and 12th round Diamond Hill, but their turn was to come in good time. A large number of soldiers of all regiments, released prisoners, were at Irene employed in repairing the railway line. The Boers had blown up the bridge some time previously, but it was an easy matter to make a diversion, and the traffic was not stopped for long.
From Irene, Captain Wroughton and myself were sent on by the General by train to Johannesburg, with orders to buy canteen stores and some clothing for the men, and to rejoin at Springs in two days time. As regards clothing, the men were pretty well in rags, and their boots were in tatters. The khaki serge, with which the reserve men had been provided, was shoddy of the worst quality, and wore out with the greatest rapidity: the City Imperial Volunteers, who were all dressed, or rather undressed, in it, were a piteous sight: in fact they were so badly off that many of them had bought themselves tweed and moleskin trousers in Pretoria, to cover their nakedness.
The khaki drill lasts much longer, and has the advantage of being washable: besides, it keeps the dust out much better than the serge, or rather shoddy, and it possesses the further advantage of being all of one colour: it was a common sight to see men in serge with coats and sleeves, or pockets, of quite different shades, while, as for trousers, they were all the colours of the rainbow. Khaki drill is, of course, not so warm as the shoddy, but the addition of cardigan jackets and drawers enables men to suit themselves as to warmth. We had never received the warm coats issued to many regiments; we could not have carried them if we had, as we were so short of transport; but De Wet had collared all our clothing, boots and mails at Rhenoster. By the way, the British soldier, no matter how generous he may be to an enemy, will never forgive De Wet for destroying all the mails on that occasion, as the harm that was done and the uneasiness that was caused to thousands of friends at home was inflicted on the unfortunate writers of the letters, not on the soldiers to whom they were addressed.
As regards boots, we were in a terribly bad way; the incessant marching and want of grease, which we had no means of carrying, and the absence of any means of executing slight repairs had played the deuce with them. Our shoemakers were always at work in camp, whenever there was a halt for a day; but leather and other materials were not easily procurable, and we should have needed at least twenty-five men to cope with the work in the time available: nor is any provision made for carrying tools and leather in the wagons. On every march quite a number of men, who had no boots, had to be carried on wagons, and I have often seen men walking along with no boots at all, merely their putties twisted round their feet. Nothing could be done, either, to improve matters: boots were not to be had, although in every town a demand was at once made for all the boots in the shops. Those produced were either Bond-street shoes, or else miners' boots, which are not intended for walking in, as a number of our officers and men, who tried them, found to their cost.
It seems such a farce to establish shoemakers' shops in peace time, when there are hundreds of civilian cobblers to be had, and then, immediately a regiment goes on service and the shop would be of some benefit, to close it.
Another ridiculous anomaly, which will hardly be believed, is that in the Artillery, the drivers, who never walk, carry two pairs of ankle boots, one on their feet and one on their saddles; but, in the Infantry, who never ride, only one pair of boots is allowed, those on their feet!
The advance on Pretoria had been so rapidly executed that the railway was occupied, day and night, in bringing up food for the troops, and had absolutely no room for stores, clothing, boots, or even, for some time, for the mails.
On the 20th of June the battalion left Irene, and marched about 14 miles to Vlakfontein, bivouacing near the head quarters of the East Rand Exploration Company: the evening was enlivened by the biggest veldt fire experienced, as yet, during the campaign. With a strong wind blowing, it came down on the Brigade camp at such a pace, that although steps were taken to burn a fire guard along the hill above the camp, when the fire was about a mile and a half away, yet the zone was completed only just in time; indeed several carts had to be hurriedly removed to places of security.
Next day the march was continued through the usual undulating country; on the way a vast pan, or depression in the ground more or less full of water, was passed: it was fully a mile across, and, although at the time nearly dried up, it gave us an idea (for it was the first that we had come across in the course of our wanderings) of what these enormous natural reservoirs must be in the rainy season.
On the right flank, large numbers of tall chimneys and mining shafts could be seen about eight miles off, which proved to belong to the coal mines of Boksburg and Brakpan. These must be most prosperous centres in times of peace, but just then only one or two gave signs of being at work, and probably they were only pumping to keep the water within limits.
This 21st of June was eventful from the fact that it brought the first rain which the battalion had experienced since leaving Glen; and as all our notable events were heavily scored and immense successes, so was this thunderstorm. Rain and hail came down in torrents, followed by a fall of snow, which was more interesting than pleasant; and the unfortunate battalion, which on this day was on baggage and rear guard, reached its camp at Springs wet and wretched after a tramp of about fourteen miles.
Fortunately the weather cleared up, and this, with a plentiful supply of coal procured from the railway station, completely altered the complexion of affairs; and, as is usual with soldiers (particularly on service), in half an hour all trouble was forgotten.
The Royal Canadian Regiment of Infantry was in garrison at Springs: they formed part of General Smith-Dorrien's Brigade, which was on the line of communications between Pretoria, Johannesburg and the Vaal; they had fixed themselves up in the large engine shed at the railway station, and were quite settled down, with bugle calls and other camp comforts.
Springs is purely a railway station, there being no town or village, or anything of that kind; in course of time this little station will find itself on the direct line, via Middleburg, to Delagoa Bay, as the branch line, which already exists, to the coal mines at Springs is undoubtedly on the direct road between Johannesburg and the main line at Middelburg; this new line will save a considerable journey round by Pretoria, and will enhance the importance of Johannesburg, bringing it into direct communication with the sea.
Captain Wroughton and I, when we left the battalion at Irene, had a long journey to Johannesburg: we started at half past six in the evening and, although the usual run by train is about two hours, the distance being only 24 miles, yet we did not get into the Park station until 1.30 a.m. Later in the day we went round to the larger shops, and bought stores and tobacco for the Brigade canteen to the value of about £1,500. We were lucky to be able to buy about £350 worth of English tobacco, at such a price as enabled it to be sold retail at 8s. a pound, the usual price in the shops in Johannesburg being 12s. a pound; but we had been told of a Bonded Customs store in Johannesburg, in which was a large quantity of tobacco belonging to Boer dealers, whose property had been confiscated; this was being sold by our Government to the British troops, so we decided to purchase a large quantity.
We then went round to the wholesale clothing merchants to try and buy shirts, trousers and socks for the men of the Brigade, and were fortunate in finding a large quantity in a store owned by Lazarus and Jacobson; we took all the shirts they had and all their stock of socks, and that of another large firm close by. The trousers were very fancy articles: they were mostly of moleskin and corduroy, cut in the approved coster pattern "saucy over the trotters," and we took all that we could find large enough to fit our men. We visited several other large warehouses, but could find no more of the articles we wanted. At the railway goods station we had some trouble with the stationmaster, who was a new hand. He was a sergeant in an Infantry regiment, who, of course, tried to introduce red tape into the matter, and kept back the cases, two whole truck loads of them, saying that they were officers' mess stores and that we must pay freight first; all this trouble with the train starting in half an hour, and the Brigade leaving Springs, the other end of the line, the next morning. However, this stationmaster listened to reason eventually, and we got away at last, only two hours late, and arrived at Springs during the night. Early the next morning the stores were transferred to ox wagons, and went on with the Brigade.
CHAPTER XI
TO REITZ
Heidelberg – The ladies' flag – Surrenders – Useless rifles – A duck hunt – Grass fires – Villiersdorp – Frankfort – Reitz – A Boer farm
We left Springs on the 22nd of June, and had a march of about ten miles before we reached our next camp, Grootfontein. This we found to be about eight miles from Heidelberg, which we reached fairly early the next day, the Cavalry and the Mounted Infantry having gone on in advance and having come into contact with several strong parties of the enemy.
Just outside the town we were met by some ladies in a carriage, who had come out to meet the British troops, and who had brought a most gorgeous banner, all worked in silk by hand, with a portrait of the Queen on one side and the Union Jack on the other, together with an inscription, embroidered in white silk, "Presented to the Royal Sussex Regiment by the Ladies of Heidelberg, 23rd June, 1900."
Of course, the name of the regiment was left blank at the time the banner was presented, but the ladies stitched the name in that afternoon. It seems that they had been working hard, embroidering this flag in secret, for several months, and had determined to present it to the first British regiment to enter the town after the Boers had been driven out; and as luck would have it, it was our turn to lead the Brigade that day.
The ladies explained all this while the regiment halted by the roadside, and then the colonel thanked them in the name of the regiment, saying we would always keep the banner in the regiment in remembrance of the loyalty of the ladies of Heidelberg. Then the band struck up and we marched off to camp, the Sergeant-Major carrying the flag at the head of the battalion, and we all cheering the ladies as we passed them. They were greatly pleased at this, and stood and watched us go by, smiling and waving their hands; while we, all in rags and tatters, with dirty, hairy faces and worn out boots, grinned amiably in return.
We remained four days at Heidelberg, most of us being accommodated in the railway goods sheds, and in some tents which we found there; the Derbyshire were in some small empty houses, and the Camerons in tents, the C.I.V.'s being put up in the engine shed. There was now leisure to issue the clothing which I had bought in Johannesburg, and which was sadly needed; and we had time to wash ourselves and our clothes, and to clean up a bit – not before it was needed.
Extract from Divisional Orders, 25th June, 1900
"A telegram has been received from the F. – M. C. in C. heartily congratulating Hamilton's force on the occupation by them of the important town of Heidelberg and on the dispersal of the enemy from its vicinity. In this telegram the F. – M. desires Lieut. – Gen. Ian Hamilton to remain quiet in Heidelberg until his broken collar bone is set, when he will rejoin his force. Meanwhile Lieut. – Gen. Sir Archibald Hunter is ordered to take over temporary command, and Gen. Hamilton, much as he regrets his enforced separation from his troops, cannot refrain from congratulating them in passing under the orders of so distinguished a leader as his friend Gen. Hunter."
The Brigade Canteen opened at the railway station, and in three days sold out the whole of the enormous stock brought from Johannesburg; the profits of this canteen up to the date of leaving Heidelberg worked out to £186 15s. 9d., which was divided among the battalions of the Brigade and the battery, the former receiving £44 16s. 4d. each, and the latter £7 10s. 5d.
Heidelberg is the prettiest little town that we have seen in these colonies, and the most English; there is quite a large population, and a large colony of Hindustanis working on the railway, which is an important line, as it connects Johannesburg with Natal. The bridges and culverts had been destroyed by the Boers before leaving, so that trains could not run up to the town just yet from the west, but had to wait outside, some miles away.
Quite a large number of Boers had come in to surrender their arms and to take the oath of allegiance, but I am afraid that this was, in many cases, merely an empty form; in this town, as in others, many of the rifles brought in were old and valueless. The older rifles, which were of all kinds and patterns (Westley Richards, Enfields, Martinis and many bearing no maker's name, merely the seller's), must have been splendid and costly weapons in their day. There were many quaint old shot guns, besides several of the earlier patterns of breech loading rifles, such as Whitworths, Spencers and Remingtons, many of which were rusty, damaged and out of order.
Every man over 16 and under 60 in the colony had been compelled to purchase a Mauser rifle from the Boer Government at a cost of £3. 7s. 6d., so that if he did not return it to us when he surrendered, he must have either disposed of it or hidden it for use on some future occasion, by himself or his friends.
General FitzRoy Hart, who had commanded the Brigade in which we served when at Aldershot, marched in with his Brigade of Irish troops the day after we arrived at Heidelberg, and encamped on the opposite side of the hill to us. We were greatly interested at seeing them proceed to pitch tents, when we poor wretches had been sleeping out on the veldt for months, and had every prospect of continuing to do so for some time to come – a prospect, I may as well say at once, which was realised to the full, as we did not receive tents until the 13th of November.
On the 26th of June the Brigade marched out of Heidelberg and trekked away south, accompanied by an enormous convoy of about 180 wagons of supplies, which retarded our progress considerably. We camped that evening at Bierlaagte, a pleasant little farm belonging to an English company and managed by an Englishman, where there was a large dam in the centre of a big depression in the hills, which afforded plenty of water to the transport animals. There were a few duck on this water, but what with Major Cardew on one side and Capt. Gilbert on another, and a crowd of men throwing stones on the other two sides, those duck had an unhappy time, and had to bow to the inevitable. There were other amusements on this occasion besides duck shooting; we were just seeking our bivouacs when we got orders to turn out and protect the camp against another enemy, which was approaching rapidly from the south east. This was an enormous grass fire, which was roaring and flaming and throwing out immense clouds of smoke about a mile away. Driven by a strong breeze, the fire, which extended over a wide front, was travelling towards us at an alarming rate; the whole Brigade turned out, formed line just beyond the limits of the camp, and lit small fires in hundreds. By judicious fanning and with the aid of the in-draught, these small fires soon joined hands and roared away to meet their friend in front. When the two fires did meet there was a most tempestuous greeting, and then they both disappeared and all was over. Our manœuvre was most successful, and we slept peacefully, without any fear of being burnt in our beds.
It is astonishing what an amount of damage these grass fires can do when they flash over a camp: rifles are charred, belts and clothes scorched, harness destroyed, rations ruined, and animals severely burned; and all by a wretched little flicker of flame running across the grass.
Frequently these fires are caused by carelessness, and, as a rule, the mounted scouts in our front got the credit of starting them; but the result to the country was terrible at this time, July. There wasn't a patch of grass, from Reitz to Winburg, for miles on each side of the road, and the wretched transport animals suffered terribly from the want of grazing.
Villiersdorp was reached at seven in the evening on the 29th of June, after a tiring march of 17 miles, during which the battalion was convoy escort to the 180 wagons, which contained our supplies for 14 days.
This escort duty is a wearisome business, as the ox wagons are always the last to start; and although they travel at a good pace – quite as fast as infantry want to march – yet even one drift is disastrous to thoughts of getting into camp reasonably early. As a rule, the wagons move four or even eight abreast on open country; but once a drift is reached, single file is very often the only means of crossing, and this means a long wait for the escort. If the drift is a bad one, and double teams of bullocks have to be used to get each wagon across, the loss of time is very great.
Villiersdorp is a tiny little town on the banks of the Vaal, situated in a hollow of the ground, where it is not seen until one is quite close upon it. There are a few stone houses and a shop, but the town is, as yet, quite in its infancy, although like Topsy, it will grow in time. Anyhow the designers of the place have left lots of room, as the town is well laid out, with wide streets and plenty of elbow room. I sincerely trust that the very first job that the Town Council of Villiersdorp set about, will be the construction, over the drift, of a first class, man's size, doubled bottomed and copper fastened bridge of the most expensive quality, so that future generations of tired foot soldiers may not have to lug heavy wagons up and down banks.
On arrival we camped on the Transvaal side of the stream, as it was late; but the ox wagons started crossing at daybreak, so that by mid-day nearly all of them were over. They were followed by the Brigade baggage, and at three o'clock in the afternoon the troops moved across the Vaal once more, and led off to our camp, six miles out. The last time we crossed the Vaal was on our entry into the Transvaal on the 26th of May; now, just over a month later, we recrossed it and moved into a part of the Orange Free State, or Orange River Colony, as it should be called, which had not hitherto been traversed by our troops.
Frankfort was reached next day, the 1st of July, and here we remained a couple of days to rest the transport animals. It is a larger town than Villiersdorp, but not nearly so important as Heidelberg, and apparently does a trade with the surrounding farmers in wool and hides – as is the way with most of the small towns in this colony, whose raison d'être is apparently exchange and barter.
The farmers bring in the wool, mealies and hides, and the dealers take them over at a price – not too high, you may depend – and serve out clothes, agricultural implements and other things in exchange. The dealer ships off his lot of wool down to the railway, and eventually to the large firms at the coast, who send him consignments of stores in exchange, and so the game goes on merrily. The ox wagons which take the hides and wool down to the railway bring back stores, building materials and so on; thus there are no empty wagons wasting their time trekking about the country. Most of the shops in a town have the inscription – "Wolkoper, Allgemene Handlaar" – which may be interpreted as "Wool-broker, General Dealer," – and most articles required on a farm may be purchased there. On market day farm produce, bullocks, cows and other animals are sold or exchanged: every town, however small, has its market square, and its bell, and its day when the farmers come in and sell their stuff and talk politics and drink too much whisky. – The C.I.V.'s left the Brigade on the 4th of July and proceeded with a convoy to Heilbron; they never rejoined the Brigade again.
Leaving Frankfort on the 4th of July, the battalion had a terribly bad time with the convoy, as we were on guard over it on that day, and there was one of the worst sandy drifts in South Africa to be crossed, three miles out of Frankfort. If there is one kind of drift which is worse than another it is the sandy one; wet drifts are no trouble, except that the mules stop in the middle to drink and take their own time in starting again: rocky ones can be cleared: muddy ones can be repaired: steep ones can be cut down, but for sandy drifts there is no cure except brute force to haul the wagons out of the sticky, clinging sand.
Although to the next camp we had only eight or nine miles to go, and we started at eleven in the morning, yet we did not get into our bivouacs at Rietfontein until exactly twelve hours later, and then it had been freezing since seven o'clock that evening. However, that good old soldier Pearce, the Quartermaster, who had got in fairly early, had started fires and boiled water for the men's tea, although he had to take all the wood off the biscuit boxes for fuel. We thought at the time that that day's work was pretty well a record, but it was to be beaten hollow by one or two days which we experienced afterwards.
The next was also a long day's work, but good going over the veldt, although there was lots of it, as we tramped a good twenty miles before settling down for the night. Scarcity of water was the reason of this long march: we had halted for a couple of hours at mid-day, and went on again with the intention of reaching water, so we had to stick to it and trek away until we did come to water. Major Shaw, the Brigade Major, did a fair amount of galloping that day, looking for water, and no doubt his pony, if he is still alive, has not forgotten the 5th of July.
