- Husnain Fateh Ahmad - Economics
- Issue 51 Archives - Page 2 of 4 - GGA
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Accordingly, General Plumer was moved from Orange River Colony and directed to hold Pietersburg, and prepare to co-operate in the combined movement just described. At this time, 26th March, Pienaars River was the most advanced garrison on the Pietersburg line.
Beyond Pienaars River repairs to the line had to be effected, which caused delay, then the troops advanced from Warmbad, Nylstroom, to Piet Potgietersrust over a clear line. Here the enemy meant mischief, for they had blown up one of the smaller railway bridges, but this was soon repaired, and on the 8th of April the advanced troops reached Pietersburg, the average distance covered being fifteen miles a day.
The town had been evacuated in the night.
Here provisions, supplies, and remounts had to be collected, in order that the attack, once begun, might be carried on without a hitch, and that the Boers, chased from one quarter, might not be sent trekking into Rhodesia, but be enveloped and swept up en masse as they had been at Paardeberg and at Fouriesburg. The projected advance was full of difficulties and the preliminaries were endless. It must be remembered that the columns were preparing to march some miles across the veldt, where the greatest of all enemies, the tsetze fly, harassed every inch of the road.
In addition to this deadly foe to horses, there were now the wintry nights, following grilling days, to be encountered, and chilly shocks which bring enteric and other diseases in their train. At Pietersburg forty-six Boers voluntarily surrendered, and the following captures were made:—one Krupp gun, thirty rifles, rounds 7-pounder ammunition, , small-arm ammunition, lbs. Two truck-loads of ammunition had been blown up by the Boers on their departure.
The line from Warmbaths to Pietersburg was now placed in charge of Colonel Hall, the posts being occupied by the Northamptonshire and Wiltshire Regiments, together with the 12th Battalion Mounted Infantry. General Plumer himself was at Commissie Drift. Schalk Burger at this time was said to have deposited himself at Tolesburg, west of Middelburg, where he still endeavoured to carry on the parody of government.
Colonel Jeffreys on the 18th, while operating with his mobile column along the Olifant, came on a party of Boers east of Druehoek. He captured eleven and seized their ammunition. While in charge of his patrol he located a Boer laager some fifteen miles east of the drift. Under cover of night he and his handful of Colonials crept towards the camp, surrounded it, and at dawn on the 24th boldly attacked it. The Boers, on their side, scored slightly elsewhere. On the day following this brilliant episode, while Major Twyford, with a small escort, was moving from Machadodorp to Lydenburg, there to join the Royal Scots, the enemy lay in ambush [Pg 45] near Badfontein, a valley on the Crocodile River.
Their plans were successful, for it was not difficult in this shelving and dipping region to surprise a small party moving over a vast tract of difficult country. The tussle that followed was a tough one, the men fighting desperately and refusing to surrender. At last Major Twyford was killed and his band overpowered. On the day 14th April that General Plumer, having garrisoned Pietersburg, left there to seize the drifts on the Olifant River, and thus close the avenues of escape leading towards the north-west, Sir Bindon Blood disposed his force in the following manner.
These columns, admirably placed for the work in hand, now began to move, so that the enemy in this difficult region might no longer plume himself on being secure from attack. Kitchener near Rietfontein. In this region Colonel Park remained, so as to check any attempt on the part of the Boers to move north from Roosenekal, while General Kitchener continued his advance across the Steelpoort River to Fort Weber, which was reached on the 18th of April.
On his approach Mr. Schalk Burger and his Government, in hot haste, bolted to Leydsdorp, leaving papers of the South African Republic and many banknotes behind. Some of the documents captured at Roosenekal by the forces under Sir Bindon Blood consisted of 1 a circular issued by the Boer Commandant-General as to the treatment of burghers who have surrendered; 2 a letter of representatives of the Central [Pg 46] Peace Committee, Pretoria, urging surrender; and 3 a certificate of the execution of M.
In the letter from the Central Peace Committee, one of the signatories of which was M. Oh, I trust that you and your fellow-burghers will accept it as such, and not do as we Afrikanders generally do, when such representations are made to us, to consider it a sign of weakness, because the Lord knows that he Lord Kitchener is doing so from pure nobility of soul, and the wish of the British people to prevent further bloodshed.
The foregoing was evidently issued after M. Then followed a circular by Commandant C. De Wet stated:—.
Husnain Fateh Ahmad - Economics
To Roosenekal Colonel Benson, with Column Five, also directed his steps, marching by Bankfontein and Klupspruit and Blinkwater, clearing the surrounding country as he went. He and Colonel Pulteney having come in touch with each other, they now scoured the valley around Steelpoort, unearthing Boers and capturing burghers innumerable.
General Beatson, with Column Six, was engaged in a prodigious task. Later, General W. Kitchener, from Fort Weber, moved south to Paardeplaats, in the vicinity of which place he operated for some days making captures of prisoners and stock, and then proceeding farther south to clear the Bothaberg before going to Middelburg. Thus the country was completely weeded of the enemy, and though some few effected their escape through the rugged region east of the Steelpoort Valley, Boers surrendered.
Other captures included a 1-pounder quick-firing Krupp gun complete, with one hundred rounds of ammunition, one pom-pom, rifles, , rounds of ammunition, horses, waggons and carts. One Long Tom, one 4. Unfortunately a gallant Victorian, Lieutenant Beatty, lost his life.
The combined operations thus satisfactorily concluded, General Plumer concentrated his troops and marched by the line of Elands and Kameel Rivers to Eerste Fabrieken. The enemy was now dispersing in every direction.
Only one party driven westward by [Pg 48] General Beatson was caught. Major Vialls and the 3rd Victorian Bushmen, after an exciting chase over the rugged wilds, brought in twenty-seven prisoners, eighteen rifles, thirty waggons, and head of cattle. Concurrently with the activities of General Plumer and Sir Bindon Blood, events of some importance took place near Pietersburg. No sooner had General Plumer turned his back on the place than the Boers, some fifteen miles to the north, began to collect. A reconnaissance conducted by Mounted Infantry scented out a big commando, said to be under the command of Van Rensburg, at Klipdam.
Moving by night on the 26th of April , the troops came on the laager at Klipdam a little before dawn, and with the first streak of day delivered their attack. The fight was short, sharp, and brilliant.
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Seven Boers were killed. Only one of our men was wounded. Forty-one Dutchmen were captured, together with their camp, twenty-six horses, ten mules, waggons multifarious, and 76, rounds of ammunition. This dashing exploit was soon followed by another, less showy but decidedly practical. Report having declared that the last Long Tom of the enemy was ensconced somewhere twenty miles east of Pietersburg, Colonel Grenfell directed his energies towards its capture. But the enemy was on the qui vive. They determined that Long Tom should show fight till his last gasp, and opened fire at over 10, yards range.
The great object, therefore, of the splendid rush was defeated, but ten prisoners were secured, together with thirty-five rounds of ammunition for the defunct Long Tom. Two of the British party were wounded. While proceeding to search for further spoil, , rounds of Martini-Henry ammunition were unearthed at a neighbouring farm and destroyed. A detachment of the 12th Mounted Infantry under Major Thomson, too, did splendid work, and succeeded, in the midst of a dense fog, in capturing Commandant Marais and forty of his followers. Beyers, who had fled from Pietersburg on the approach of the British, was still at large, however, and in the Waterberg district was doing his best to intercept such commandos as were on the way to surrender.
It is, however, necessary, in order to comply with the Grondwet of this Republic and otherwise, that, before any steps are taken in that direction, the condition of our country and our cause be brought to the notice of his Honour State President Kruger in Europe; and I therefore wish to send two persons to him in order to acquaint him fully with that condition. If, however, your Honour desires, with the object of bringing hostilities to a close, to consult with any person in Europe I will forward any telegram your Honour desires on the subject and let you have the reply.
By the 10th of April this force was ready to take the field. In consequence of a seeming recrudescence of activity of the enemy in the north-west of the Colony, and certain signs of a possible junction between them and their confederates of the south-west of the Transvaal, General Elliot directed his energies to the sweeping of the district about Reitzburg and Parys. Here supplies in some quantities served as an attraction to the hungry commandos. These were satisfactorily disposed of by the 20th of April, when the force returned to Kroonstad. But it remained not long idle.
General Elliot proceeded to scour the districts beyond the Wilge River, where the Dutchmen were again beginning to hoard their goods for further activity. The whole division, moving north in line, was then to press the Boers and their stock back on the Vaal River. At the same time the columns of Colonels E. Knox and Rimington were to move from Heidelberg and Standerton respectively towards the junction of the Vaal and Waterval Rivers. In accordance with this scheme, General C. On the 9th the General, who was at Cornelia, despatched a force to Vrede, and sent off forty prisoners, horses, and a large number of waggons and cattle to Standerton.
Flying in despair to the hilly cover south of Greylingstad, they jumped into the open arms of Colonels E. Knox and Rimington, who were lying in wait for them. Those who were smart enough to escape scurried across the river, but 34 prisoners, cattle, waggons and carts, and rounds of ammunition were secured, and the haul served as a successful finale to the first phase of these well-directed operations.
Quick as lightning he was off again, marching stealthily by night in the direction of the quarry, and rushing the camp at dawn on the 9th of May. It was a splendidly conceived and splendidly executed affair, and thirty-two prisoners, with horses, waggons, and carts, were the prize of the undertaking. June opened with more dexterous swoops, and after clearing the ground from Vereeniging to Parys, and thoroughly sweeping Venterskroom and Vredefort, the force returned eastward to the rail, bringing with them nine prisoners, 16, rounds of ammunition, and many waggons.
Issue 51 Archives - Page 2 of 4 - GGA
After refitting at Rhenoster, Colonel Western scoured the country between the junction of the Vaal and Rhenoster Rivers and Coal Mine Drift, but the enemy vanished, having now every reason to reserve their ammunition, or to spend it only on forces inferior to their own in number. They were not in all cases successful in their disappearance, for a convoy was caught on the 23rd of June, and the guerillas had to fight for dear life; six prisoners and all the waggons and stock were captured.
Colonel Western then marched to Klerksdorp to replenish his supplies, after which he co-operated with General Gilbert Hamilton and Colonel Allenby—attacked the enemy in the mountain fastnesses of Hartebeestefontein, and captured more prisoners, horses, and rifles. Two Boers were killed. General Elliot, his left column following the course of the Klip River, his right extended to the south beyond Vrede , meanwhile marched towards the Natal border.
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Beyond an engagement with some of the foe, who were found on his right flank some twenty miles below Vrede, General Elliot met with slight opposition. The Boers by this time had found for themselves a new and naturally strong position some twenty-five miles to the south, and from this rugged and honeycombed region it was imperative to rout them. On the 21st they were attacked and without much difficulty driven off, as their resistance was mainly intended to cause a diversion while their convoy got away in safety to the cover of the broken country along the banks of the Wilge River.
It was on the way to Reitz that one of the most exciting conflicts of the march took place. The movement was executed with the utmost secrecy, and before they knew of the coming of the troops the Boers in their slumbers found themselves surrounded. All that could get away bolted precipitately, but forty-five prisoners were secured. Then Major Sladen, after sending some forty of his party to communicate with Colonel De Lisle, took up a defensive position and awaited [Pg 53] reinforcements. During the interval the fleeing Boers had a chance to draw breath; they calculated the smallness of the British party by which they had been attacked, and knew that, weighted with prisoners and waggons, it would be impossible for them to move on.
The small and fatigued British party remained gallant as ever. Captain Finlay Bedford Regiment and Captain Langley South African Bushmen and their men met the attack with immense energy, but in the course of the action the Boers succeeded in getting away some of the waggons which were parked outside the position. But they were swiftly pursued. Fighting recom [Pg 54] menced with ferocity—hand-to-hand combats on all sides—and the waggons, all but two, were recaptured.
Among the deeds of valour which were numerous on this memorable occasion, was the dashing exploit of young Ashburner, who, at the head of a few men, plunged into the thick of the fray, and at point of bayonet effected the recapture of the leading waggons. Poor Lieutenant Cameron of the Gordon Highlanders, who had many times before been notable for conspicuous gallantry, was killed. A gallant young officer, White of the Gordon Highlanders, escaped by a marvel.
He was taken prisoner during the first fight, and stripped by the Boers; but when the second attack commenced he succeeded in escaping, and, further, managed to run six miles and bring up reinforcements.