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THE GREAT BOER WAR
end of that time his railway had been repaired, and enough supplies
brought up to enable him to advance again without anxiety. The
country through which he passed swarmed with herds and fl ocks,
but, with as scrupulous a regard for the rights of property as Wellington showed in the south of France, no hungry soldier was allowed to take so much as a chicken as he passed. The punishment
for looting was prompt and stern. It is true that farms were burned
occasionally and the stock confi scated, but this was as a punishment
for some particular offence and not part of a system. The limping
Tommy looked askance at the fat geese which covered the dam by
the roadside, but it was as much as his life was worth to allow his
fi ngers to close round those tempting white necks. On foul water
and bully beef he tramped through a land of plenty.
Lord Roberts’s eight days’ halt was spent in consolidating the
general military situation. We have already shown how Buller had
crept upwards to the Natal Border. On the west Methuen reached
Hoopstad and Hunter Christiana, settling the country and collecting arms as they went. Rundle in the south-east took possession of
the rich grain lands, and on May 21st entered Ladybrand. In front
of him lay that diffi cult hilly country about Senekal, Ficksburg, and
Bethlehem which was to delay him so long. Ian Hamilton was feeling his way northwards to the right of the railway line, and for the
moment cleared the district between Lindley and Heilbron, passing
through both towns and causing Steyn to again change his capital,
which became Vrede, in the extreme north-east of the State. During
these operations Hamilton had the two formidable De Wet brothers in front of him, and suffered nearly a hundred casualties in the
continual skirmishing which accompanied his advance. His right
fl ank and rear were continually attacked, and these signs of forces
outside our direct line of advance were full of menace for the future.
401
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
On May 22nd the main army resumed its advance, moving forward fi fteen miles to Honing’s Spruit. On the 23rd another march
of twenty miles over a fi ne rolling prairie brought them to Rhenoster River. The enemy had made some preparations for a stand,
but Hamilton was near Heilbron upon their left and French was
upon their right fl ank. The river was crossed without opposition.
On the 24th the army was at Vredefort Road, and on the 26th the
vanguard crossed the Vaal River at Viljoen’s Drift, the whole army
following on the 27th. Hamilton’s force had been cleverly swung
across from the right to the left fl ank of the British, so that the Boers
were massed on the wrong side.
Preparations for resistance had been made on the line of the
railway, but the wide turning movements on the fl anks by the
indefatigable French and Hamilton rendered all opposition of
no avail. The British columns fl owed over and onwards without
a pause, tramping steadily northwards to their destination. The
bulk of the Free State forces refused to leave their own country,
and moved away to the eastern and northern portion of the State,
where the British Generals thought – incorrectly, as the future
was to prove – that no further harm would come from them. The
State which they were in arms to defend had really ceased to exist,
for already it had been publicly proclaimed at Bloemfontein in the
Queen’s name that the country had been annexed to the Empire,
and that its style henceforth was that of ‘The Orange River Colony.’
Those who think this measure unduly harsh must remember that
every mile of land which the Freestaters had conquered in the early
part of the war had been solemnly annexed by them. At the same
time, those Englishmen who knew the history of this State, which
had once been the model of all that a State should be, were saddened by the thought that it should have deliberately committed
suicide for the sake of one of the most corrupt governments which
402
THE GREAT BOER WAR
have ever been known. Had the Transvaal been governed as the
Orange Free State was, such an event as the second Boer war could
never have occurred.
Lord Roberts’s tremendous march was now drawing to a close.
On May 28th the troops advanced twenty miles, and passed Klip
River without fi ghting. It was observed with surprise that the Transvaalers were very much more careful of their own property than
they had been of that of their allies, and that the railway was not
damaged at all by the retreating forces. The country had become
more populous, and far away upon the low curves of the hills were
seen high chimneys and gaunt iron pumps which struck the north
of England soldier with a pang of homesickness. This long distant
hill was the famous Rand, and under its faded grasses lay such riches
as Solomon never took from Ophir. It was the prize of victory; and
yet the prize is not to the victor, for the dust-grimed offi cers and
men looked with little personal interest at this treasure-house of
the world. Not one penny the richer would they be for the fact that
their blood and their energy had brought justice and freedom to the
gold fi elds. They had opened up an industry for the world, men of
all nations would be the better for their labours, the miner and the
fi nancier or the trader would equally profi t by them, but the men
in khakI would tramp on, unrewarded and uncomplaining, to India,
to China, to any spot where the needs of their worldwide empire
called them.
The infantry, streaming up from the Vaal River to the famous
ridge of gold, had met with no resistance upon the way, but great
mist banks of cloud by day and huge twinkling areas of fl ame by
night showed the handiwork of the enemy. Hamilton and French,
moving upon the left fl ank, found Boers thick upon the hills, but
cleared them off in a well-managed skirmish which cost us a dozen
casualties. On May 29th, pushing swiftly along, French found the
403
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
enemy posted very strongly with several guns at Doornkop, a point
west of Klip River Berg. The cavalry leader had with him at this
stage three horse batteries, four pom-poms, and 3000 mounted men.
The position being too strong for him to force, Hamilton’s infantry
(19th and 21st Brigades) were called up, and the Boers were driven
out. That splendid corps, the Gordons, lost nearly a hundred men
in their advance over the open, and the C.I.V.s on the other fl ank
fought like a regiment of veterans. There had been an inclination
to smile at these citizen soldiers when they fi rst came out, but no
one smiled now save the General who felt that he had them at his
back. Hamilton’s attack was assisted by the menace rather than the
pressure of French’s turning movement on the Boer right, but the
actual advance was as purely frontal as any of those which had been
carried through at the beginning of the war. The open formation of
the troops, the powerful artillery behind them, and perhaps also the
lowered morale of the enemy combined to make such a movement
less dangerous than of old. In any case it was inevitable, as the state
of Hamilton’s commisariat rendered it necessary that at all hazards
he should force his way through.
Whilst this action of Doornkop was fought by the British left
fl ank, Henry’s mounted infantry in the centre moved straight upon
the important junction of Germiston, which lies amid the huge
white heaps of tailings from the mines. At this point, or near it, the
lines from Johannesburg and from Natal join the line to Pretoria.
Colonel Henry’s advance was an extremely daring one, for the infantry were some distance behind; but after an irregular scrambling
skirmish, in which the Boer snipers had to be driven off the mine
heaps and from among the houses, the 8th mounted infantry got
their grip of the railway and held it. The exploit was a very fi ne one,
and stands out the more brilliantly as the conduct of the campaign
cannot be said to afford many examples of that well-considered au-
404
THE GREAT BOER WAR
dacity which deliberately runs the risk of the minor loss for the sake
of the greater gain. Henry was much assisted by J battery R.H.A.,
which was handled with energy and judgment.
French was now on the west of the town, Henry had cut the railway on the east, and Roberts was coming up from the south. His infantry had covered 130 miles in seven days, but the thought that every step brought them nearer to Pretoria was as exhilarating as their
fi fes and drums. On May 30th the victorious troops camped outside
the city while Botha retired with his army, abandoning without a battle the treasure-house of his country. Inside the town were chaos and
confusion. The richest mines in the world lay for a day or more at the
mercy of a lawless rabble drawn from all nations. The Boer offi cials
were themselves divided in opinion, Krause standing for law and order while Judge Koch advocated violence. A spark would have set the
town blazing, and the worst was feared when a crowd of mercenaries
assembled in front of the Robinson mine with threats of violence. By
the fi rmness and tact of Mr. Tucker, the manager, and by the strong
attitude of Commissioner Krause, the situation was saved and the
danger passed. Upon May 31st, without violence to life or destruction to property, that great town which British hands have done so
much to build found itself at last under the British fl ag. May it wave
there so long as it covers just laws, honest offi cials, and clean-handed
administrators – so long and no longer!
And now the last stage of the great journey had been reached.
Two days were spent at Johannesburg while supplies were brought
up, and then a move was made upon Pretoria thirty miles to the
north. Here was the Boer capital, the seat of government, the home
of Kruger, the centre of all that was anti- British, crouching amid
its hills, with costly forts guarding every face of it. Surely at last
the place had been found where that great battle should be fought
405
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
which should decide for all time whether it was with the Briton or
with the Dutchman that the future of South Africa lay.
On the last day of May two hundred Lancers under the command
of Major Hunter Weston, with Charles of the Sappers and Burnham
the scout, a man who has played the part of a hero throughout the
campaign, struck off from the main army and endeavoured to descend upon the Pretoria to Delagoa railway line with the intention
of blowing up a bridge and cutting the Boer line of retreat. It was
a most dashing attempt; but the small party had the misfortune to
come into contact with a strong Boer commando, who headed them
off. After a skirmish they were compelled to make their way back
with a loss of fi ve killed and fourteen wounded.
The cavalry under French had waited for the issue of this enterprise at a point nine miles north of Johannesburg. On June 2nd
it began its advance with orders to make a wide sweep round to the
westward, and so skirt the capital, cutting the Pietersburg railway to
the north of it. The country in the direct line between Johannesburg
and Pretoria consists of a series of rolling downs which are admirably adapted for cavalry work, but the detour which French had to
make carried him into the wild and broken district which lies to the
north of the Little Crocodile River. Here he was fi ercely attacked on
ground where his troops could not deploy, but with extreme coolness and judgment beat off the enemy. To cover thirty-two miles in
a day and fi ght a way out of an ambuscade in the evening is an ordeal
for any leader and for any troops. Two killed and seven wounded
were our trivial losses in a situation which might have been a serious one. The Boers appear to have been the escort of a strong convoy
which had passed along the road some miles in front. Next morning
both convoy and opposition had disappeared. The cavalry rode on
amid a country of orange groves, the troopers standing up in their
stirrups to pluck the golden fruit. There was no further fi ghting, and
406
THE GREAT BOER WAR
on June 4th French had established himself upon the north of the
town, where he learned that all resistance had ceased.
Whilst the cavalry had performed this enveloping movement
the main army had moved swiftly upon its objective, leaving one brigade behind to secure Johannesburg. Ian Hamilton advanced upon
the left, while Lord Roberts’s column kept the line of the railway,
Colonel Henry’s mounted infantry scouting in front. As the army
topped the low curves of the veld they saw in front of them two
well-marked hills, each crowned by a low squat building. They were
the famous southern forts of Pretoria. Between the hills was a narrow neck, and beyond the Boer capital.
For a time it appeared that the entry was to be an absolutely
bloodless one, but the booming of cannon and the crash of Mauser
fi re soon showed that the enemy was in force upon the ridge. Botha had left a strong rearguard to hold off the British while his
own stores and valuables were being withdrawn from the town.
The silence of the forts showed that the guns had been removed
and that no prolonged resistance was intended; but in the meanwhile fringes of determined rifl emen, supported by cannon, held
the approaches, and must be driven off before an entry could be
effected. Each fresh corps as it came up reinforced the fi ring line.
Henry’s mounted infantrymen supported by the horse-guns of J
battery and the guns of Tucker’s division began the action. So hot
was the answer, both from cannon and from rifl e, that it seemed for
a time as if a real battle were at last about to take place. The Guards’
Brigade, Stephenson’s Brigade, and Maxwell’s Brigade streamed up
and waited until Hamilton, who was on the enemy’s right fl ank,
should be able to make his presence felt. The heavy guns had also
arrived, and a huge cloud of debris rising from the Pretorian forts
told the accuracy of their fi re.
407
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
But either the burghers were half-hearted or there was no real
intention to make a stand. About half-past two their fi re slackened
and Pole-Carew was directed to push on. That debonnaire soldier
with his two veteran brigades obeyed the order with alacrity, and
the infantry swept over the ridge, with some thirty or forty casualties, the majority of which fell to the Warwicks. The position was
taken, and Hamilton, who came up late, was only able to send on
De Lisle’s mounted infantry, chiefl y Australians, who ran down one
of the Boer maxims in the open. The action had cost us altogether
about seventy men. Among the injured was the Duke of Norfolk,
who had shown a high sense of civic virtue in laying aside the duties and dignity of a Cabinet Minister in order to serve as a simple
captain of volunteers. At the end of this one fi ght the capital lay at
the mercy of Lord Roberts. Consider the fi ght which they made for
their chief city, compare it with that which the British made for the
village of Mafeking, and say on which side is that stern spirit of selfsacrifi ce and resolution which are the signs of the better cause.
In the early morning of June 5th, the Coldstream Guards were
mounting the hills which commanded the town. Beneath them in
the clear African air lay the famous city, embowered in green, the
fi ne central buildings rising grandly out of the wide circle of villas.
Through the Nek part of the Guards’ Brigade and Maxwell’s Brigade
had passed, and had taken over the station, from which at least one
train laden with horses had steamed that morning. Two others, both
ready to start, were only just stopped in time.
The fi rst thought was for the British prisoners, and a small party
headed by the Duke of Marlborough rode to their rescue. Let it be
said once for all that their treatment by the Boers was excellent and
that their appearance would alone have proved it. One hundred
and twenty-nine offi cers and thirty-nine soldiers were found in
the Model Schools, which had been converted into a prison. A day
408
THE GREAT BOER WAR
later our cavalry arrived at Waterval, which is fourteen miles to
the north of Pretoria. Here were confi ned three thousand soldiers,
whose fare had certainly been of the scantiest, though in other respects they appear to have been well treated.
their comrades had been removed by the Boers, but Porter’s cavalry was in time to release the others, under a brisk shell fi re from
a Boer gun upon the ridge. Many pieces of good luck we had in the
campaign, but this recovery of our prisoners, which left the enemy
without a dangerous lever for exacting conditions of peace, was the
most fortunate of all.
In the centre of the town there is a wide square decorated or disfi gured by a bare pedestal upon which a statue of the President was
to have been placed. Hard by is the bleak barnlike church in which
he preached, and on either side are the Government offi ces and the
Law Courts, buildings which would grace any European capital.
Here, at two o’clock on the afternoon of June 5th, Lord Roberts sat
his horse and saw pass in front of him the men who had followed
him so far and so faithfully – the Guards, the Essex, the Welsh, the
Yorks, the Warwicks, the guns, the mounted infantry, the dashing
irregulars, the Gordons, the Canadians, the Shropshires, the Cornwalls, the Camerons, the Derbys, the Sussex, and the London Volunteers. For over two hours the khakI waves with their crests of steel
went sweeping by. High above their heads from the summit of the
Raad-saal the broad Union Jack streamed for the fi rst time. Through
months of darkness we had struggled onwards to the light. Now at
last the strange drama seemed to be drawing to its close. The God
of battles had given the long-withheld verdict. But of all the hearts
which throbbed high at that supreme moment there were few who
felt one touch of bitterness towards the brave men who had been
14
Nine hundred of
14
Further information unfortunately shows that in the case of the
sick and of the Colonial prisoners the treatment was by no means good.
409
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
overborne. They had fought and died for their ideal. We had fought
and died for ours. The hope for the future of South Africa is that they
or their descendants may learn that that banner which has come to
wave above Pretoria means no racial intolerance, no greed for gold,
no paltering with injustice or corruption, but that it means one law
for all and one freedom for all, as it does in every other continent
in the whole broad earth. When that is learned it may happen that
even they will come to date a happier life and a wider liberty from
that 5th of June which saw the symbol of their nation pass for ever
from among the ensigns of the world.
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