The Staff Work of the Anglo-Boer War, 1899-1901 ;

CHAPTER XX

ONE of the results of the present war has been educational in character. It has induced thousands of people to study the map of the continent of Africa, and they are by this time thoroughly familiar with the names and geographical position of places which, insignificant in themselves, have been the scenes of great battles that will henceforth be regarded as important historical events in the chronicles of the British army. Since the First Division, under Lord Methuen's command, was stationed at Boshof it has become a well-known name in English homes, and much has been said and written since April 5, 1900, when the Count de Villebois-Mareuil, who was killed in action in its vicinity, was buried there, and a head- stone was raised to his memory. This is a copy of the official notification of his death sent

by the burghers to the President :

A MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT STEIN, KROONSTAD. Expedie k 9. MONSIEUR LE PRESIDENT, La tres triste nouvelle de la mort heroique de notre chef le General de Villebois nous a profondement eprouves. Notre but maintenant est de venger nos malheureux camarades. Les chefs des groupes Autrichiens, Allemands, et Frangais, reunis en conseil de guerre ont decide de soumettre a votre haute approbation le projet suivant. LIFE AT BOSHOF 227

1. La legion Europeene subsite sous le commandement des chefs de groupe agissant de concert. 2. Un chef sera nomme par election apres une ou deux batailles ayant permis a tous de juger de ses capacites militaires. 3. Chacun de groupes continuera a recevoir les Etrangers par group de nationalites. Le chiffre present a Brandfort est d'environ 100 hommes approuvant ce projet. D'apres les probabilites il sera de 200 d'ici quatre a cinq jours. " Agissant tous dans un but commun Yenger des camarades" nous osons esperer de tous un vaillant concours. Au nom de tous Etchegoyen.

The Count de Villebois-Mareuil's grave is in that portion of the cemetery which is devoted to British officers and the last men ; indeed, resting-places of two officers who were killed in action on the same day are on either side of the French general. Boshof is the chief town of a district of the same name about the size of Wales, second only in importance in what is now officially described as the Orange Kiver Colony. As towns

go in South Africa it is not at all a bad little place. The houses are very scattered and only one storey high, many being very dilapidated in appearance, and looking still more dwarfed by the broad streets, which are laid out at right angles. There are great capabilities for a fine city, but unless a mine or some other source of wealth is discovered

Boshof is hardly likely to realise the dream of the designer, who had certainly very grandiose ideas of proportion, and profound faith in its future greatness. He scarcely contem- plated, however, that it would ever be a military outpost in the occupation of the British, or that from the district an ultimatum to the defenders and residents of Kimberley would ever be despatched demanding their surrender with all troops and fortifications. I will give to my readers the text in the original and, for those who are unacquaintedwith the language, a translation. 228 THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

OLIPHANTSFONTEIN, District BOSHOF, O.V.S. Main Laager, Western Division Burgher Forces, November 4, 1899.

To their Honours, the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, and the Magistrates of Kimberley. GENTLEMEN, " " Whereas the Republics of the Orange Free State and the " " South African Republic have been forced into hostilities by the

action of her Britannic Majesty's Government ; Whereas it is necessary that I shall possess the town of Kim-

berley ; Therefore I demand that your Honours shall immediately upon receipt of this communication surrender to me unconditionally, as officer the town of with all its Commanding-in-chief , Kimberley troops and fortifications. In case you shall decide not to accede to my demand, I do hereby request your Honours to remove all women and children from Kimberley, so that they may be out of danger, and for this purpose I give you from twelve o'clock noon, Saturday, November 4, 1899, till 6 A.M., Monday, November 6, 1899. At the same time I wish to inform you that during this time I shall be prepared to receive all Afrikander families who may desire to leave Kimberley, and also to grant freedom and safety to all women and children of other nations who may leave the town. Should you, however, fire upon my troops before the expiration of the stipulated time, I shall hold myself justified in employing all my available forces in my defence. C. J. WESSELS, Head Commandant, Western Division Burgher Forces, O.V.S. W. BlLSE, Adjutant to Head-Commdt.

The cemetery at Boshof has done more to bring into notice this military outpost than anything else. It is not the neat graves of our own brave soldiers, but one mound of earth in BOER DEMAND FOR THE SURRENDER OF KIMBERLEY LIFE AT BOSHOF 229 the midst of them, not nearly so tidy as the rest, with a plain white marble slab, that has produced conflicting opinions as to what is right and necessary for a brave general in command to do for a fallen warrior who has been leading the enemy and fighting as a foreigner. It is a very unpretending monument to mark the spot where lies buried a French count, who died fighting for fighting's sake. If the decrees of fate had been favourable to his wishes, he would have been directing his energies and expending his skill to forward the success of the British arms rather than in opposition to them, but as this could not be, he offered both to the Transvaal, and accepted in exchange a liberal remuneration, despite the fact that his own private income stood at the figure of 15,000 a year. To leave Boshof without visiting the kopjes where the Foreign contingent, made up of French, Germans, Poles, an d odd men of other nationalities, under the command of the Count de Villebois, had been defeated and captured, was not to be thought of, so I invited the Hon. Florence Colborne, who was sister in charge of the sick and wounded in the court- house of Boshof and in another building near it, to accompany me on this expedition, as she had not had the slightest change from her wards since she arrived two months before, nor since for both at indeed February ; Modder Kiver and Kimberley her energies and health were heavily taxed in nursing the sick. The commandant, ever courteous, and anxious to place facilities in the way of all who desire his aid, borrowed a Cape cart and told off an officer of the Imperial Yeomanry and a private who had been in the engagement to escort us to the scenes of the fight known as Zwartskopjefontein, Tweifontein, and Driefontein, but some- how, in starting a little ahead of us, they rode in another direction, and their services and knowledge were consequently lost as far as we were concerned. 230 THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

Our coloured driver had assured the colonel that he knew the way, but we soon found that this statement was not quite correct. We drove about for miles in a circle, not far from the kopjes we wished to see, and were at last rewarded on arriving at a farmhouse called Kreepan, which afforded us at the same time an opportunity of sampling the renowned hospitality of the Dutch. Though the occupants could not speak a word of English, they offered us milk to drink and fodder for the horses. The farmer and his wife volunteered to accompany us to a kopje near which some fighting had taken place, and in going to it across the veld we pick up some trophies in the shape of cartridge cases and bullets. Not being able to understand the information that the good Dutchman and his wife were endeavouring to convey to us, much of the interest of the geographical position was lost, though we fully realised by the dead horses which we could see from the top of the kopje that sad scenes had recently been enacted in the neighbour- hood. The enemy had apparently been driven from that position to the next kopje, where the great fight of the rear- guard took place, which resulted in many of them being killed and wounded and the others utterly demoralised. On that occasion forty men were taken prisoners, and later our soldiers went out to collect the enemy's dead, who had been left lying on the veld, and reverently buried them in one big grave in the Dutch part of the cemetery. When the 20,000 prisoners are brought back there will be a rude awakening for some of the Dutch women. No mark of identification was found on any of the bodies left the on the field and unless had been by enemy ; they personally known to their comrades and the addresses of their homes known they could not have informed their families that they had been killed in battle near Boshof. Many of the women have been in utter ignorance as to LIFE AT BOSHOF 231 the whereabouts of their men since the beginning of the war and believe they are in their own commando or are prisoners. On our return to the farmhouse we found delicious hot coffee waiting for us, prepared by the children, of whom there were four. Both the farmer and his wife pressed us to stay the night, and were genuinely disappointed at our being unable to do so, but Miss Colborne could not leave her patients for so long a time, and I had arranged to return to Kimberley the following day. A drive over the veld in the dark, in a cold wind, with holes, stones, and dead horses frequently on the track, is not devoid of excitement, especially when the cart has no lamps ! To reach Boshof from Kimberley a drive of thirty miles must be undertaken, as there is no railway. With good horses and a spring cart it is agreeable enough, as the air is very invigorating, and not cold as long as the sun shines.

The distance can be covered in four, five, or six hours with no outspan, or a very short one. The kopjes and trenches occupied by the Boers when they besieged Kimberley for three months and a day provide plenty of food for reflection, especially after having listened to the stories of the siege and the hairbreadth escapes from shot and shell which are related by those unfortunate people who were kept in their houses or in the mines in a constant state of terror. The " " need for/ the military dictum of no lights after dark was very apparent when the electric lights of Kimberley were seen from the Boer positions, making excellent marks for artillery fire. Boshof being under martial law, a military pass was required to enter the town, and it fell to the lot of only a favoured few to drive there in a Cape cart at the Govern- ment's expense. If the military authorities decree that the journey is to be made in an ox waggon, then, with a team of sixteen animals, it takes three days to cover the distance. At 232 THE ANGLO-BOER WAR the end of that time one has learnt from actual experience what trekking means, the exact significance of inspanning and outspanning and other ox-waggon terms of expression, which I hear is quite the latest thing in slang in England. When I went from Kimberley to Boshof I had neither a Cape cart nor an ox-waggon, but a Scotch cart drawn by six mules. The officers with whom I was to travel were on In- telligence business, and were afterwards going on to Paarde- berg. They were of opinion that I should be going out of

Kimberley in too much style if I drove through the town in that vehicle, especially as it was decorated to its fullest capacity with spades and pickaxes and such-like ordnance stores for troops on distant outposts. So, in order to escape from the gaze of the curious, we drove in a less conspicuous conveyance to the Remount Camp, which is well outside the town. I there realised what a Scotch cart was. We had hardly arranged ourselves in various graceful attitudes and got under weigh when we met some fashionable friends from Kimberley, returning from an afternoon drive, and, having satisfied themselves by a steady stare whom we all were, seated in a cart in which the poorest Dutchman would not be seen, proceeded to weave a story that would do credit to the most gossiping country town in the British Isles. Indeed, the inhabitants of the

Diamond city are in no way behind their friends in the old country in this particular. Trekking across the country and sleeping out on the open veld are all very well as war experiences, but such South African novelties are rather trying to a constitution not hardened to the life. The nights are cold, and are sure to leave an unpleasant reminder, even though a good fire is kept burning the whole night, and there is an unlimited supply of hot coffee, frizzled sausages, and some one to make things comfortable and replace the rugs which slip off during LIFE AT BOSHOF 233 the night, when the hard ground suggests to the sleepy senses a change of position. In spite of all these advantages, which do not fall to the lot of the ordinary Tommy Atkins in war, I must confess to a preference for a spring bed in a comfortable apartment, and for the easy motion of the G springs of a landau to the inevitable jolting of a Scotch cart on a road that has been cut up by the transport of an army of 10,000 men. My advice to all who do not know what a Scotch cart is do not travel in one for thirty miles without a preliminary investi- gation, and protest against a band of music composed of pioneer instruments such as spades and pickaxes. On entering the town of Boshof, as in all Dutch towns, the first thing to attract the attention is the church. When viewed at some little distance, judging from its architectual style, and its prominent position in the centre of a huge square, it might be taken for a Roman Catholic cathedral, such as are found in out-of-the-way places on the Continent of Europe cities that have been left behind in the march of centuries.

But as the traveller approaches his opinion modifies. As compared with all the other buildings in the town of Boshof, the Dutch church is an imposing structure, though in reality it is nothing more than a very decent dissenting chapel. When I saw it for the first time cows and calves were grazing within the rails, which, to my British notions, seemed very irreverent. The grounds surrounding a sacred edifice ought not to be turned into a meadow. Since then the church has been used to confine the prisoners of war who had surrendered and were again found in arms. There are many incongruities connected with the Dutch churches in South Africa that come daily under observation, but the one that struck me most in this particular place was the disregard of the third commandment, especially by the women and children. 234 THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

Englishmen, as a rule, are very careful how they indulge in emphatic Anglo-Saxon language before their womenfolk, and consequently it comes at first as a great shock to hear Dutch ladies and small children curse them as they pass in the street. In comparison the men bear no ill-will, or conceal it admirably if they do. They maintain a friendly and respectful demeanour towards the colonel-commandant, who, by his kindness and firmness gained their confidence and implanted a wholesome fear as to the folly of starting on a course of double dealing. The colonel gives all rebels who are in his district to understand that if they surrender their arms and return to their farms they will find in him a good and true friend, but if they attempt to run on crooked paths he will destroy their property and punish them to the fullest extent. He speaks earnestly to them, and they believe in him. It is certainly disappointing to find that after so many months large districts are again disturbed, and the work of pacification has in reality advanced so little due chiefly to the irreconcilable attitude of the women and the pressure they bring to bear on their male relatives. An instance of their desire to continue the conflict was forcibly brought to my mind : A man returned to his farm during the hours of darkness, and when his wife came to see who was knocking " at the door, he said Open it, darling, I am back from commando. It is no use fighting any more, as there is nothing to be gained by it, and much to lose." When his wife heard " this she refused to let him in, and said, My husband must go and fight." So, finding his wife would not relent, there was nothing for him to do but to go back to his commando, which he did the same night without even having entered his home.

Lord Methuen left Boshof with the First Division (consisting of the 9th and 20th Brigades, under Major-Generals LIFE AT BOSHOF 235

Douglas and A. Paget) on May 14. His movements since then have been followed with interest at home. When Lord Methuen left Boshof Colonel A. H. Courtenay, 4th

Battalion Scottish Kifles, took over the command. The importance of the place from a military point of view may be realised from the fact that a large mixed force of artillery, yeomanry, and infantry was left to protect it, consisting of half the 4th Battalion Scottish Kifles, half the 3rd Battalion South Wales Borderers (under Colonel Healy), and detachments of the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, 1st Loyal North Lancashire, 2nd Northamptonshire, 1st Koyal Munster Fusi- liers, 1st King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, and 3rd South Staffordshire regiment, half the 38th Battery of Koyal Field Artillery, half a Battery of Diamond Fields Artillery, and the 58th Company and details of the Imperial all these detachments the different Yeomanry ; representing units of the First Division. The remainder of the 4th Scot- tish Kifles are with their Brigade (20th), and the remainder of the South Wales Borderers formed at this time the garrison at Hoopstad, about sixty miles from Boshof. The first week or ten days of Colonel Courtenay's command was a decidedly anxious time, as it was well known that small bodies of the enemy were working round, and it was reported that when the division left it was their intention to unite and endeavour to carry the place. Every precaution was taken to guard against attack, and a few days after the division left a large body of Boers was reported about seven miles out, advancing towards the town. The alarm was sounded and all the troops were at their posts in the smartest manner, ready to repulse the attack, but much to their regret the enemy disappeared behind a kopje, and held a council of war. On the following day 150 of the enemy came in to surrender their arms. All the men who have surrendered declare that they are 236 THE ANGLO-BOER WAR thoroughly sick of the war, and the weapons, ammunition, and horses they bring to the commandant are all serviceable and of the best pattern. A visit to the Intelligence Office, where the guns, ammunition, bandoliers, &c., are in the cus- tody of Captain Boss, who is also district commissioner, would satisfy the most sceptic as to the genuineness of those who have surrendered them, but they have all been furnished with fresh ones since then.

During the military occupation of Boshof the sickness among the troops was very severe; chiefly enteric and dysentery cases. There have been as many as 600 men in hospital at one time, and during the hot weather there were very many deaths each day. Though the severity of the epidemic subsided when the winter set in, there were 150 to be dealt with, and nearly every building in the town floated the Bed Cross. When I was there the court-house, the schools, the little English church, and several private houses were used as hospitals or convalescent homes. As usual, the sisters and doctors on the spot were deserving of all praise for their skill and devotion to the sick and dying the unfortunate victims of this war. Many of those stationed at Boshof have never seen a shot fired, which is a great trial to both officers and men who love their profession. They know that credit and honourable mention go chiefly to their comrades in the fighting line, whose places they would gladly fill, but the long lines of communications must be protected. Though the doctors and nursing sisters have exerted themselves to the utmost in the care of the sick, their efforts have not been as successful as they might have been had the Administrative Department been more energetic in forward- ing medical stores and other necessaries. The fact that Boshof is thirty miles from Kimberley, and off the railway line, materially adds to the difficulties of transport, but LIFE AT BOSHOF 237 hardly excuses running out of such medical comforts as brandy and quinine. The officers and men, doctors and sisters, all complain that parcels that have been sent to them from friends in England never come to hand. The non-receipt of the good things, the despatch of which they are informed of by letter, is greatly but thanks to the and deplored ; public spirit indefatigable energy of Mr. Hamilton Gatliff, the War Office agent for the distribution of soldiers' letters and parcels, most of them arrived safely in the end, at even such ungetatable places as Boshof. Only those who have knowledge of commercial under- takings can form any conception of the tons of goods of all descriptions, and in packages of all sizes, that await despatch at Shed No. 4, South Arm Dock, Cape Town. When I was last there Major Cockburn, of the Queen's Bays, was spending his sick leave from the West Coast coping with this gigantic task, and at Kimberley I found Mr. Hamilton Gatliff carrying on his good work with a method and zeal worthy of all commendation, and certainly the result has been eminently successful. The task he undertook was a great one for a man to undertake at his own expense, and has been most helpful. The labour it involved was onerous and full of difficulties. Ever the same the one of the ; transport being chief obstacle. Obviously, to get tons of parcels to their destinations for a couple of hundred thousand men scattered over thousands of miles and on the move constantly required trucks ; and the rolling stock of the railways was insufficient for purely military purposes. Thus it occurs that for weeks and months 600 tons of parcels, cases, and bales presents from the British public to the officers and soldiers were lying in Bloemfontein without protection from the weather because the military authorities could not] grant a single truck 238 THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

not even half a truck to convey Mr. GatlifFs goods north, where the regiments for which the gifts were intended were scattered. Much of the contents of the parcels has been looted.

I have heard some hard things said about the railway staff officers, but Lord Kitchener is chief of the staff, and he rightly claims precedence of everything for his own purposes. The presents Mr. Hamilton Gatliff was so anxious to have conveyed to the persons to whom they were addressed were not luxuries, but necessaries. Still, it is the business of the staff to care for all the troops rather than for a favoured few, and so trucks were not available, except to transport those stores entrusted to the Ordnance Department and to the Army Service Corps. For months this state of things existed and was very hard, but was unavoidable, and Mr. Gatliff was reasonable enough to see the true state of affairs. Now everything sent to the troops at the front is promptly delivered.