Chapter 7

Plan of Battle of Frederickstadt.

Then we heard the story of the fight. General Barton's position, which he had occupied for some days, extended along a line of low hills, the two main features of which were divided by a valley running back at right angles to the railway into the Gatsrand, the general line of the position being parallel with the railway. The station was held and used as a hospital, while the hill on which General Barton's camp was situated extended down to the railway, and was the nearest point to the river. For some days the Boers, under De Wet, had been gathering round this position, and the force had been subjected to a constant shell-fire and the intermittent attentions of a particularly aggressive and unlocatable pompom. Under the railway, about midway between General Barton's two main positions, ran a small, dry donga. Into this underfeature De Wet had ordered about 200 men on the night of the 24th-25th. The first indication of their presence was a somewhat foolish attempt made by them to capture some mules. Unaware of their numbers—and truly the situation was such that any one could be pardoned for not grasping it at once—a company or part of a company was sent forward to dislodge them and clear up matters. The Boers allowed them to approach quite close, and then annihilated them. It was now very evident that the donga was held in force, and, as the General was aware by this time of the arrival of Colonel Hicks' column, he launched a vigorous attack. This was the heavy firing we heard on our arrival. After offering a slight resistance, some of the enemy surrendered, the remainder flying on foot as already stated to their horses, which they had left amongst the trees near the river. It is not often the Boer leaves his horse thus, and it offered strong presumptive evidence of their confidence in their ability to rush the position, in accordance with De Wet's intention.

The battalion bivouacked on the hill, and threw out outposts.To them was also assigned next morning the intensely unpleasant duty of shooting three prisoners who had been tried and found guilty of showing the white flag and afterwards resuming their fire. 'G' company, being the nearest piquet to the place selected for the execution, was detailed to carry it out. The casualties on our side had been about forty-one killed and wounded, while twenty-four Boers were killed, sixteen wounded, and twenty-six taken prisoner.

Sergeant French and the Officers' Mess, Nachtmaal.

After remaining at Frederickstadt on the 26th, orders came for our return to Krugersdorp on the 27th. We had an uneventful march to Wolverdiend, and there entrained, reaching our destination late in the evening. The officers, as usual, rode in the guard's van, and, as these trains used to bump and jolt in the most unpleasant manner, we made ourselves as comfortable as we could in a sort of 'zariba' composed of our valises and a number of large packages sewn up in sackcloth. Our feelings when we later on discovered that these packages were corpses may be left to the imagination.

We returned to our last camp, and set to work to make itmore comfortable, running up wood and corrugated-iron shelters for stores, officers' mess, &c. We were also kept perpetually busy in building more forts and improving those already in existence. Captain Romer gave his name to a work which he erected and on which he expended much time, pains, and ingenuity. Posts and piquets also had to be held on all the principal roads into the town. Captain Nelson, R.M.L.I., in command of one of these, one afternoon shouted to two men who were driving through his posts to stop. Unfortunately for them, they paid no attention and drove on, so he seized a rifle and fired, killing one of the occupants stone-dead, an exemplary lesson to the inhabitants to make them understand that outposts were not posted for amusement.

General Clements' column was now stationed at Krugersdorp, and we saw something of Captain MacBean, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, his Brigade-Major. Alas! poor MacBean; he was killed a few days later, standing close beside his General, at the battle of Nooitgedacht. A universal favourite, and one of the most popular officers in the regiment, he was also probably the ablest. Passing brilliantly into and through the Staff College, he went on to the Egyptian Army, taking part in all the principal actions up to and including the battle of Omdurman, receiving a D.S.O. in recognition of his services. In the present campaign he had commenced the war as a Brigade-Major, later on serving on General Hunter's staff, and now transferred to General Clements', who had the highest opinion of his capabilities. Amongst many other accomplishments he was one of the best bridge-players in the service. There is little doubt that if he had been spared he would have risen to the highest rank. He was gazetted to a Brevet-Majority after his death.

On November 15th Lord Roberts inspected the regiment, and congratulated them on the work they had done, afterwards speaking to Major English and telling him how highly he had thought of the Zuikerbosch affair. It is these littleacts of kindness and remembrance that make all the difference, and their effect is much more far-reaching than those who confer them often imagine. One only does one's duty, of course, but yet one is only human, and it is very pleasant to feel that that duty has been appreciated.

Captain Lowndes, the adjutant, who had been home after his severe wound at Talana, now rejoined the regiment, and took over the adjutancy from Captain Fetherstonhaugh. That officer had filled the post with marked zeal and ability for over twelve months, and was the only officer who was present with the Headquarters of the battalion from the start of the war without being wounded.

On November 16th the regiment formed part of a column,[18]ordered to march off and scour the veld, though our destination was, as usual, shrouded in mystery. The night of the 15th-16th however, precluded any possibility of carrying out the intended early start, as the rain descended in torrents, deluging kits and country. At about 2 p.m., however, a start was effected, and all went well till a small drift was reached, when the 'cow-gun,' which had taken the place of our old and tried friend, the Naval gun, stuck hopelessly. Colonel Hicks fell out 120 men and put them on to the drag-ropes. Their first pull was too much for the rope, which broke, with the inevitable result that the whole 120 were deposited on the veld, on the broad of their backs. Another and a stouter rope was produced, which proved itself equal to the strain, and with a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull all together, the heavy weapon was dragged on toterra firma, and the march resumed, a halt being made for the night about eight or nine miles out, and almost on the historic site of Doornkop.

The trek was resumed next morning under more favourable auspices, but these soon proved a delusion and a snare. The column was making for a pass in the Gatsrand, not far fromthe waterworks, known to be in the enemy's occupation, when at about 11 o'clock a violent thunderstorm broke directly overhead. Marching along, soaked to the skin, with a lightning-conductor in the shape of a rifle over one's shoulder, was not conducive to steady nerves, but so dense was the rain that it had, at all events, one beneficial effect, for the Boers holding the pass left their positions and took shelter in some farmhouses, with the result that they were very nearly captured by our cavalry, who, indeed, succeeded in taking possession of the pass without opposition, the enemy, taken completely by surprise, having only just time to jump on their horses and gallop off. Getting the 'cow-gun' over the pass, however, was no easy matter, but it was eventually accomplished, and after a march of about sixteen miles, the force halted for the night in rather a pretty camp, on a farm known as Hartebeestfontein.

4·7 Crossing a Drift, assisted by the Dublin Fusiliers.

The column marched to Klip River, about seventeen miles, next day, arriving there about 5 p.m. The rearguard was sniped at the whole way by our friends of the day before, butwithout effecting much damage. A cavalry brigade under Brigadier-General Gordon was here on our arrival, and an exchange of troops took place, we receiving some Greys and Carabineers in exchange for half a battalion of South Wales Borderers.

A halt was now made for a day, most of us taking the opportunity to get a bathe in the river.

Leaving Klip River on the morning of the 20th, we marched back in the direction whence we had come two days before, and were soon engaged with the enemy's snipers, of whom we captured one; but they had the best of the argument, as they killed two of our column. One of these poor fellows had very bad luck: he had received a letter at Klip River only the day before, telling him he had come into a sum of money, sufficient to enable him to retire and spend the remainder of his days in peace and quiet.

Nor was the day to prove uneventful for the rest of us. About 1 p.m. it began to cloud over, and presently to rain; this soon turned into hail, of the variety which one is accustomed to at home. This was at first refreshing, and one would pick up the cool hailstones—they were about as big as peas—and eat them, and the rattle they made on the helmets was quite musical. When they grew to the size of gooseberries, and began to sting, they provided less amusement, shoulders being shrugged up and necks arched to obtain as much protection as possible. The unfortunate dogs, of which a variety invariably turned up with every column, howled with pain, and the cattle and horses grew very restive. But soon the stones, driven by a gale of wind, increased to the size of cherries and strawberries, with occasional jagged lumps of ice an inch in diameter. As there seemed no particular reason why they should not run through the whole gamut of the orchard, and rival plums, peaches, and melons, and as there was no earthly chance of obtaining a vestige of shelter of any kind, men began to wonder what was going to happennext, with an occasional sharper-than-usual belt between the shoulders or on the boot to quicken their fancy. It was only with the greatest difficulty that the horses were controlled, but the stones providentially grew no larger, though the storm continued. The entire country-side was a rolling mass of ice nearly over the tops of boots. Runnels and rivulets became roaring torrents, roads became rivers. When the storm eventually subsided the transport of course could not go another yard, and camp was pitched where we were. The carpet of hailstones in the tents slowly melted into mud, and we made ourselves as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. Several kids and lambs we had with us were killed by the stones. Not one of us had ever been out in such a storm before, but, as those who had not been on 'the Natal side' confidently predicted, those who had been declared that this was mere child's play to the hailstones they had seen there.

What became of the Boers we never knew: up to the commencement of the storm we had been merrily sniping away at each other at extreme ranges, but during and after it they entirely disappeared, so entirely that even next day we never got a sign of them, and concluded they had all been drowned.

There was, however, nothing to complain of on this score the day after, as sniping was carried on all the time. Though this form of fighting resulted in few casualties, it was destructive to peace and comfort and enjoyment of the scenery. It was interesting to notice what officers recognised when we arrived at places we had visited on previous treks, and instructive to note that it was almost always those who were addicted to sport and field-pursuits who were the first to pick up their bearings and the lie of the land. The force eventually encamped at the foot of the hill on which 'G' company had spent such a cold and miserable night when waiting for the transport to pass, two months before.

On the 23rd, the march took us up again through Orange Grove and on past Leeuwport Nek, moving along the south side of the main ridge of the Gatsrand, with three companies making the best of their way along their jagged peaks. Two of Roberts' Horse were hit on this march, one being killed.

The column reached Buffelsdoorn Pass on the 24th, after a spirited rearguard action, the brunt of which fell on the South Wales Borderers, who had several men and one officer hit. We remained in this pass for some days, sending out small expeditions among the adjacent hills, and erecting fortifications to cover the defile. It was in its way an important place, being within a few miles of Wolverdiend Station, and providing an excellent door through the rocky, serrated peaks of the Gatsrand into the broad plain which lay between them and the Vaal. Our camp was situated just on the north side of the pass, in a picturesque place, with easy access to the railway, and from a tactical point of view an excellent position.

Next day a convoy with nearly ten thousand cattle, sheep, &c., was dispatched to Wolverdiend, without seeing any signs of the enemy.

The night of the 25th-26th could scarcely have been worse; heavy rain, howling wind, and vivid and frequent lightning with its sonorous accompaniment, put sleep out of the question; indeed, at one period it became necessary to get up and hold on to the tents to prevent them being blown away. With the advent of dawn the forces of nature gave us a rest, our friends the enemy immediately filling their place. They opened fire from some kopjes to the east of the camp, and endeavoured to round up some of our cattle. The South Wales Borderers undertook to dislodge them, and speedily did so, the 'Cow-gun' joining in at long range as soon as the Boers evacuated their positions. Having disposed of man for the time being, Nature again rolled up in dense masses of magnificent clouds to theattack. The storm which followed was also one to be remembered; the lightning could be seen striking the ground in the close vicinity of the camp, and though no one was hit, we heard that two men of the regiment at Kaalfontein were not so fortunate, one poor fellow being killed and the other severely wounded. 'C' company, 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was on piquet through both these night and day storms, and had, as may be imagined, an unenviable experience.

On the 27th, General Hart rode down to Wolverdiend to see Sir John French. While he was away, word arrived that a party of Roberts' Horse who were out scouting had been held up. Colonel Wilson—the senior officer in camp—detailed 100 Carabineers to go to their assistance, but they found the opposition still too great, so two companies of the regiment were sent out to reinforce them, while the guns opened fire from the summits of the hills. In the middle of the operations a thunderstorm joined in to swell the general din, under cover of which the Boers crept in round three sides of the force. There was never any question of their succeeding in cutting it off, but the boldness of their tactics was characteristic of the phase the war had now begun to assume. There was a good deal of rifle-fire on both sides, and the 28th Battery R.F.A., under its new commander, who had replaced our esteemed friend, Major Stokes, D.S.O., promoted to R.H.A., fired nearly one hundred rounds. What casualties the enemy suffered was not ascertained, but on our side there was only one, a man in Roberts' Horse being badly hit. Those of us who were not engaged sat among the rocks on the tops of the hills, whence a fine panoramic view of the skirmish was obtainable by the aid of telescopes and binoculars.

The 28th and 29th passed uneventfully, Captain Romer occupying the time in again demonstrating his architectural capabilities in the erection of a fort near the pass.

Boy Fitzpatrick waiting at Lunch.

On the 30th a reconnaissance in force was made along the Gatsrand in a westerly direction, the left half-battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers acting as the infantry of the force. Moving along the summits of the hills in four lines of widely extended companies, they marched to within sight of Frederickstadt before they returned. Imagine exaggerated Pyramids of Cheops; imagine each block of stone carved by stress of weather into a thousand needle-points and ankle-twisting crevices; plant a dense growth of mimosa and other thorny scrub in every cranny and interstice. Take a dozen such pyramids, and do your morning constitutional over them, after the scrappiest of breakfasts at 5 a.m., and you will find twelve or fourteen miles quite as much as you care about. But the march was not devoid of interest, though we met with no Boers. Small buck, hares, and partridges were there in sufficient number to afford a good day's sport under other circumstances, while a profusion of various kinds of flowers afforded satisfaction to the eye, in strong contrast to the bare and barkless trunksof trees riven by the frequent storms that devastate these hills. In one place a most gruesome sight was met with. Under a small tree beside a tiny stream stood a three-legged cooking-pot, and round it lay three skeletons, with a scattering of shrapnel bullets to silently tell the story of the tragedy. Beside one body lay a Rifleman's haversack, an eloquent if speechless travesty on the fortunes of war, for undoubtedly they were the remains of Boers, over whose head a chance shrapnel must have burst months before.

A similar reconnaissance, but in the opposite direction, was made next day, resulting in one man being wounded. Convoys were also passing to and fro, and on the 2nd, Captain Fetherstonhaugh took over the duties of provost-marshal, temporarily, from Captain Thompson, of the Somersetshire Light Infantry, who had hurt his knee. Rumours of an early move also began to circulate, with the Losberg, the grim and solitary hill rising out of the plain to the south of the Gatsrand, as our probable destination. For some time past the Boers had used it as a sort of headquarters and rallying-place for their frequent raiding parties. Columns were now converging on it from all points of the compass, but as they could be plainly seen from its summit, the high hopes entertained in some quarters of rounding up a large number of the enemy were not shared by everybody.

Yet the start at 9 p.m. on the 3rd was sufficiently impressive. The officers were assembled, and had their several duties clearly pointed out to them, one peak of the hill being assigned to the South Wales Borderers and the other to the Dublin Fusiliers. To 'A' company of the latter regiment, under Major English, was given the honour of leading the attack, which was to be made at dawn next morning. Silently and with all due precautions the column slowly wound its way down the pass, like some gigantic boa-constrictor, and out on to the plain below. Whenever a farmwas reached it was entered, and steps taken to prevent lights being shown or signals flashed: three Boers, booted and spurred, being taken in one. It was a perfect night for marching, all Nature hushed in deep repose save the loud-mouthed bull-frog; the moon set an hour before dawn, reminding one of Whyte-Melville's line:

'The darkest hour of all the night is that which brings the day.'

But dark as it was our objective could be seen ominously looming up—a lamp-black mass against the velvet softness of starlit sky. The movement had been admirably timed, and as day broke the two regiments advanced to the attack, the South Wales Borderers on the right, the Dublins on the left, while the artillery opened fire against the hillside between the two summits. But that was all. Not a shot was fired in return. Not a Boer was even seen. Nothing. Except, indeed, large quantities of most delicious and most acceptable oranges, after eating which the tired troops lay in the rain, which commenced to pour down, and slept peacefully till the transport came up.

Before we started next morning, a huge herd of blesbok suddenly appeared on the scene, wildly galloping about in every direction, being continually brought up by the barbed wire fences of the farms. A good many were shot, but it was cruel to kill them, or try to, with hard bullets, and many and many a beast must have got away badly wounded, whilst the indiscriminate manner in which the sportsmen fired in all directions was a source of danger, not only to themselves and the buck, but to the camp as well. One fine old fellow, with a good head, charged right through the camp, altogether eluding one regiment, in spite of every variety of missile, from cooking-pots to helmets, to finally fall a victim in another regiment's lines to a tent-pole. After which interlude the force marched to Modderfontein.

Next day a helio from Bank directed the column to make its way to that station, a party of the South Wales Borderers being left behind to watch the pass at Modderfontein, where they were to have a rough experience later on. The remainder of the force moved to Bank on the 7th, and marched again the same night for Krugersdorp, making a total distance of thirty-three miles in the twenty-four hours, a good wind-up to the three weeks' trek. An enormous number of cattle and sheep were brought in, but it was the end of the Pochefstroom column, which was now finally broken up into a number of small posts.

'The Latest Shave.'Captain G. S. Higginson (mounted) and Major Bird.

The regiment camped once more on the same site it had last occupied.[Back to Contents]

CHAPTER VI.BURIED TREASURE—THE EASTERN TRANSVAAL—THE KRUGERSDORP DEFENCES.

'They are wet with the showers of the mountains, and embrace the rock for want of a shelter.'—Job, xxiv. 8.

By this time we had begun to regard Krugersdorp as our base, and to look upon our returns to it as more or less getting home. But on this occasion there was to be no rest of any length. From the plum-bloom blue of the far Magaliesberg, General Clements' heliograph was twinkling and blinking for the remainder of his force and more mounted men. In addition to this Colonel Hicks took out a column. These and other deductions left Krugersdorp with a garrison of 300 men to man a perimeter of some ten or twelve miles, or, roughly speaking, just over fifty yards for each rifle. 'C' company, under Captain Pomeroy, W.I.R. (attached), and Lieutenant Molony, occupied Fort Craig; 'D' company, under Captain Clarke, R.M.L.I. (attached), and Lieutenant Marsh, held Fort Kilmarnock; and 'G' company, under its Captain and Lieutenant Smith, took over Fort Harlech. Major Rutherford took over this fort next day, as the captain of 'G' company had been appointed commander of the town guards and piquets and interior defences. Colonel Hicks had been ordered to Johannesburg to see General French, who informed him that he was to take command of a mixed force[19]and march to the Losberg, there to dig up a large sum of gold, reputed to amount to nearly 100,000l.; after which he was to proceed south to the Vaal, and hold the drifts between Vereeniging and Rensburg.

Starting at midnight on the 10th-11th, the column marched till 6 a.m., covering fifteen or sixteen miles. The men then had breakfasts; and, after resting till mid-day, when they had dinners, started again for Orange Grove, the pass in the Gatsrand with which we were by this time so familiar. It was occupied by Boers, estimated at about one hundred in number, who offered considerable resistance, but who were finally shelled out of it, without loss on our side, though charged by a squadron of Carabineers with great dash. Having done about twenty-six miles, the camp was pitched at 6 p.m., outposts being, of course, thrown out on the adjacent hills.

Reveille sounded at 4.30 a.m., and by 5.30 the small column was on the way again. Their destination was plain enough this time, and very grim and formidable it looked in the broad light of day, considering the very small force which was about to attack it. Moreover, on this occasion it held something besides oranges. Advancing from the north in the direction of the spot from which we had advanced to the attack a few days before, Colonel Hicks made a demonstration as though about to attack the eastern peak, then, suddenly opening a heavy shell fire on the nek between the two, he launched his real attack against the other summit. Although the hill was held by a considerable number of the enemy, estimated at 500, these tactics proved eminently successful, for when they discovered the direction of the main attack shrapnel was bursting all over the nek along which they would have had to gallop to meet it, and they gave up the idea and evacuated the position, which fell into Colonel Hicks' hand with a loss of one man, who had the misfortune to be hit in no less than five places. A guide had been sent with the column who knew where the gold was, and a party was told off to dig it up and bring it in. The guide may or may not have known where the goldwas, but he certainly did not know where it wasthen, and the search proved entirelyabortive. He was a murderer under sentence of death, and was to save his life by showing the gold and ten buried guns.

The force started at 5 a.m. next morning for Lindeque Drift. There was a certain amount of sniping all the way, principally at the cavalry, who were riding wide on either flank, collecting cattle and burning straw and hay, in addition to guarding the flanks. Lindeque was reached at 5.30 p.m., a camp of our people being in view on the far bank of the river, with whom communication was opened by signal. The drift was very deep, but an orderly managed to get across with a letter. Orders also arrived from General French giving Colonel Hicks thirty miles of river to watch, which seemed a good deal, considering the paucity of the numbers at his disposal.

At 6.30 a.m. a helio message was received calling the column at once back to Krugersdorp, and a start was made for the return journey at 8 a.m. The Boers endeavoured all day to cut off the rearguard, but met with no success, the gunners shelling them whenever they got close enough to be unpleasant.

Kilmarnock.From a sketch by Col. H. Tempest Hicks, C.B.

The 15th proved to be almost a repetition of the day before, the enemy hanging persistently on the flanks and rear of the little column, but showing no signs of any desire to make their closer acquaintance. Indeed, that morning Colonel Hicks had prepared a small surprise for them which fully realised his anticipations. Whenever columns were moving about it was the invariable custom of the enemy to at once occupy the vacated camping-ground in search of any odds-and-ends that might have been left about, but more especially ammunition, which used to drop out of our men's pouches in surprising quantities, in spite of the most stringent orders on the subject. On this occasion the Colonel left a small party in ambush when he moved off, with the result that when half-a-dozen Boers began rummaging about in the camp they were suddenly invited to hold their hands up, arequest which they had of necessity to comply with, one of them being a Field-Cornet and a man of some local importance. A halt was made in sight of Randfontein, on the slopes of which a column, under Colonel the Hon. Ulick Roche, could be seen proceeding in the direction of Krugersdorp. Next day was Dingaan's Day, and rumour stated that the Boers under De la Rey, flushed with their victory over Clements, were going to attack Krugersdorp.

The column marched the remaining fifteen miles by 2.30 p.m. next day without seeing any sign of the enemy. During the six days they had been away they had marched 102 miles, skirmished with the enemy nearly every day, taken a strong position by a fine example of tactics, captured a good many prisoners, and brought in a large quantity of cattle, sheep, &c.: a very fine six days' work.

Since May 30th the headquarters of the battalion had marched well over 1200 miles. On three occasions it had exceeded thirty miles in twenty-four hours—the record, of course, being the thirty-eight miles in sixteen hours from Klerkskraal to Pochefstroom in September. But the most wonderful part of its work was the strange immunity it experienced from any of the determined attacks which were so constantly being made on other columns. Whether it was good or bad luck, good or bad scouting, whatever it was, the fact remained that with the exception of the almost daily scrapping and sniping, which constant use had made to appear as part of the day's work, no action of any importance came our way in spite of the countless marches and counter-marches we made to bring one on. With the solitary exception of the afternoon at Frederickstadt, when the Boers dropped a few shells into our camp, and the two following days, when General Liebenburg paid a similar attention to the detachment left behind on the hill, we had not been under shell-fire.

In the meantime, the disaster to General Clements atNooitgedacht had drawn all eyes to the state of Krugersdorp, which with its small garrison seemed to offer a tempting bait to De la Rey, and column after column arrived to assist in repelling the assault which was threatened for Dingaan's Day. Before the reinforcements arrived the General had taken every sort of precaution; amongst others, arresting most of the principal inhabitants of the town, and holding them as hostages. The festival, however, passed without incident, and the tide of men and horses, guns and waggons, which had reached a record height in the history of the town, soon began to ebb once more, and then everything settled down to the quiet, peaceful state of affairs which almost always characterised Krugersdorp. The band played in the market square, and concerts were arranged in the town hall, while the General set a fine example to his troops for their guidance in his treatment of those of our late enemies who had observed their oaths of neutrality, as a large number of them most religiously did. Ever foremost in aggressive tactics in the field until the enemy was overcome, the General adopted a policy of conciliation at other times which undoubtedly had far-reaching effects as regarded the conduct of the inhabitants of Krugersdorp.

On December 19th, 400 men of the regiment, under Major Bird, started off to join the force under General French which was going to sweep the Eastern Transvaal, very much on the same lines that the various columns had been sweeping the Western Transvaal. Their special duty was to act as a baggage-guard to the various mounted corps, a duty which they shared with a battalion of Guards. Their lives for the next two or three months were very much the same as they had been for the previous two or three months, though they covered an even greater number of miles, and, owing to the rains and thunderstorms of the South African summer, experienced an even harder time. It is the custom to speak in terms of high praise of the climate of South Africa, butif the British Army had been consulted on the subject after some of these treks, it is doubtful if their vocabulary would have been large enough to enable them to thoroughly ventilate their opinions. The fact is that the spring, summer, and autumn are ruined by the desperate storms which are of such common occurrence at those times of year. There are, it is true, four winter months of glorious weather: fine, frosty, starlit nights, and clear days of brilliant sunshine when the heat is never unpleasant. But of these four months, two are completely ruined by the high winds which sweep the broad veld, and which, in the vicinity of the mines, fill the air with minute particles of gritty dust from the waste-heaps, penetrating eyes and nostrils, throats and lungs.

The first portion of the trek was, however, spent in the country that General Hart had been operating in. The following account of some of their hardships and privations is given by Lieutenant and Quartermaster Burke:—

With General Knox's Brigade in the sweeping movement by General French on the eastern side of the Transvaal. Detail of a few orders as showing the hardships the troops suffered through bad weather and scarcity of food.

Brigade Orders. 'Witcomb, 8.2.01. Owing to the late arrival of the convoy, the force will go on2/3biscuits.'

This all the time we were marching daily and fighting.

16.2.01. Our force reached Piet Retief.

Brigade Orders. '20.2.01. The following will be the scale of rations until further orders:—2 ozs. rice, 4 ozs. jam, ½ lb. mealie meal, 1-½ lb. meat. No coffee, tea, biscuits, vegetables, or salt.'

Orders received from General French:—'Convoy under General Burn-Murdoch is terribly delayed by swollen rivers and bad roads. The Pongola is fifty yards and the Intombi 300 yards wide. You must use your utmost resources to economise food, and so meet this unfortunate state of affairs,which will assuredly last till the weather improves. No forage for horses and mules. Send parties for food to search out as far as ten miles. Kaffirs to receive 1l.in gold for a bag of mealies, or a heifer for five bags.'

21, 22, 23.2.01. 1 oz. jam, ½ lb. mealie meal, 1-½ lb. meat, nothing else.

24, 25. Same.

26. No jam, ½ lb. mealie meal, 1-½ lb. meat, nothing else. I paid a shopkeeper at Piet Retief 2s.6d.for a quarter-handful of salt.

Brigade Orders. 27.2.01. By General French: 'O.C. units will take steps to let the troops know how highly their spirits and bearing under the privations they are suffering from bad weather and short rations are appreciated by the Lieutenant-General Commanding.'

27.2.01. Burnt mealie cobs issued for coffee.

Telegram from Lord Kitchener to General French, Piet Retief, 28.2.01:—'Explain to the troops under your command my admiration of the excellent work they have performed, and the difficulties they have overcome.'

8.3.01. Full rations, first issue since 14.2.01.

To show that the troops, besides suffering from frightful bad weather (constant rain for a month), had to work hard, the following results are shown.

General Orders. The following results of our operations since 27.1.01, is published for officers and men:—

Boers, killed, wounded, and captured, 393; surrendered, 353. Total accounted for, 746.

Cannontaken, excluding a maxim, 4.

Rifles, 606.Ammunition, 161,630.

Horses and mules, 6504.Trek oxen, 362.

Other cattle, 20,986.Sheep, 158,130.

Waggons and carts, 1604.

Mealies and oat hay, over 4,000,000 lbs.

H. Burke, Lt.

Colonel Hicks now set every one to work improving the various posts round Krugersdorp, setting a fine example to all by the interest he took in the work, and showing his thoroughness by the attention he devoted to even the most trivial details. He also took infinite pains to make Christmas as pleasant as he could for every one. The regiment was, of course, very much split up in the various forts and fortified houses, but headquarters still remained till the end of the year in our old camping-ground.

On the very last day of the year an escort of forty men returning to Krugersdorp had a near shave of being cut off; they lost four men captured, and would assuredly have lost more but for the prompt action of Major English, who went out from Kilmarnock with twenty men to help them in.

So ended 1900. It had been a hard year for every one, but one and all had done their best, and no sign of failing spirits was visible anywhere. It was difficult to see anything like an end to the campaign, however, for the process of attrition, which now seemed the sole solution, was necessarily a slow one, and considerably interfered with by the various 'regrettable incidents' that occurred from time to time in the huge theatre of the war. These not only assisted our indomitable foes with extra supplies of clothing, arms, ammunition, &c., but also had the effect of keeping up theirmorale.

On January 4th, 1901, the 400 men under Major Bird passed through on their way to Elandsfontein, but nobody knew about the move in time to go up to the station and see them.

Large bodies of the enemy were now known to be in the neighbourhood, and a spy came in saying that it was an open secret among the Boers that Krugersdorp was De la Rey's objective as soon as a favourable opportunity should present itself. In spite of this it was difficult to make the danger of going beyond the outposts appreciated, and thisresulted in the death of one of our men, Private Hyland, servant to one of the clergymen. It was supposed that the poor fellow had gone out in a cape-cart with the object of getting some flowers for the church; his body was found on the 8th simply riddled with bullets, as was also that of the Cape-boy who had driven him.

On the 10th, Major Pilson, Royal Dublin Fusiliers, one of the first officers selected to proceed to South Africa on special service before the war, arrived—not, unfortunately, to join the regiment, but the South African Constabulary.

On the 11th the enemy blew up the railway just beyond Roodeport, the first station out of Krugersdorp on the way to Pochefstroom. Lieutenant Marsh and twenty men of the regiment were sent out as escort to guard the Engineers who repaired it.

The storms continued to be very severe. Kilmarnock House was struck by lightning, and the sentry on guard at the Court House in the town sent spinning, fortunately only receiving a severe shaking.

On the 23rd the sad news of the death of Her Majesty Queen Victoria was made known to the troops, by whom it was received in deep and impressive silence.

A salute was fired by the Artillery on the 24th with plugged shell, to celebrate the Accession of King Edward VII.

At the end of the month General Hart left us. The regiment had been continuously under his command since the formation of the Irish Brigade; officers and men alike had learned to entertain a deep respect and admiration for their General, than whom no braver man ever went into action. He on his part loved the regiment, and fully appreciated theesprit de corpswhich permeated it, from the Colonel to the last-joined recruit. His farewell letter to Colonel Hicks, another on the subject of our camping arrangements, and his farewell order to his brigade, may all be found in theAppendix, and afford proof of hisregard for his troops and the spirit which he breathed into them.

Colonel Groves took over command of Krugersdorp and its defences, and gave Colonel Hicks a free hand: he also rode round the inner defences with the commander of the town-guards and piquets, and arranged for their being made stronger also.

In spite of the presence of a good many of our columns, the enemy was very active all over the Magaliesberg and the Gatsrand at this time. It will be remembered that on the return from the Klip River trek, a party of the South Wales Borderers had been left to watch the Modderfontein Pass.

This small force was now surrounded and being fiercely attacked, and offering as determined a resistance. A force was hastily organized to proceed to their relief, under command of Colonel the Hon. U. Roche, of the South Wales Borderers. With half or more of the battalion away under Major Bird, we could only supply 180 men, under command of Captain Shewan, for this column.

They marched that night, and the following morning found all the hills for ten miles held by the enemy, Colonel Roche wiring in that the Boers were in too great force for his column to proceed. Indeed, the column had to fight hard enough to maintain its position and to save itself from being surrounded. General Conyngham, hastily gathering together another 500 men and a battery, marched off to reinforce Colonel Roche, but before they could get to the unfortunate post at Modderfontein, it had fallen to superior numbers. The Boers, who were under the command of General Smuts, sent in a flag of truce, giving notice of the capture of the post, stating that there were many British wounded, and suggesting that an ambulance and doctors should be sent out to them. This incident was very hard lines on a most gallant regiment, and in no way reflects adversely on them for one instant. They defended their position splendidly as long asdefence was possible, and suffered greatly from want of water as well as from the enemy's fire. Colonel Roche reported that Captain Shewan and his men had done very well, and had held a hill on the left of his position, until he recalled them.

Colonel Hicks never for a moment remitted his exertions in the fortifying of the various posts and houses in the section of the command for which he was responsible, with the result that he very soon had them in a most efficient state. Ammunition, food, and water, in sufficient quantities to withstand a regular siege, were stored in each post, while the wire entanglements would have effectually precluded any attempt on the part of the enemy to rush them. Indeed, no precautions were omitted, and one began to enjoy one's sleep considerably more than had been the case for some months past.

On the 7th, the headquarters of the regiment at last moved into Kilmarnock, a house which had belonged to a Mr. Burger, a brother of Mr. Schalk Burger, the acting President. Here they remained until the regiment left for Aden in January 1902.[Back to Contents]

The Hairdresser's Shop.

CHAPTER VII.THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS.

'In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning!'—Deut.xxviii. 67.

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