The Times History of the War in South Africa, 1899-1902

( 533 ) CHAPTER XVI THE SIEGE OF KIMBEBLEY The reasons which, at the outbreak of the war, impelled the Boer motives Free Staters to select Kimberley as the main objective of Kk^JeSy^^ their operations have been discussed in a previous volume. The reputed fabulous wealth of the Diamond City, its actual military usefulness as a railway and supply base, the ancient grievance of its incorporation in British territory, and, last but not least, the hatred of Ehodes and the desire to wrest from his grasp the stronghold of his power and the financial mainspring of his nefarious plots against Afrikanderdom, were arguments against which no purely strategical plana for pushing into the heart of Cape Colony could have hoped to prevail.* Moreover, lying defenceless on the open veld, within a stone's throw of the Free State border, and linked to far distant Cape Town by nothing but the single track that for its last seventy miles from the Orange Eiver was all within easy reach of the commandos, Kimberley seemed too easy and tempting a prize to pass by before proceeding to more arduous tasks—tasks which, besides, would only be facilitated by the moral effect of this first successful stroke. The defenceless state of the city had from the first occa- Kimberley sionally disquieted the leading inhabitants. early as As gg^reiner 1896, indeed, Colonel David Harris, one of the Kimberley Goverument. members of the Cape Assembly, had induced his colleagues on the board of the De Beers Company to store, in case of emergencies, a battery of 6 Maxims, 750 Lee-Metford rifles, and 750,000 rounds of ammunition, bought in connection with the Raid, and, about the same time, furnished the Imperial authorities at Cape Town with a secretly executed military survey of the town and its environs. In 1898, at the request * See vol. i., p. 46 ; vol. ii., pp. 121-12G, 134, 135. 634 THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA of the Premier, Sir Gordon Sprigg, Colonel J. K. Trotter visited Kimberley and prepared a scheme for its defence. But it was not till the failure of the Bloemfontein Conference that any serious anxiety was felt. Several private meetings were held in Eamberley, and on June 12 the Mayor telegraphed to the Government at Cape Town urging the necessity of measures for defence being undertaken, and begging that, at any rate, a battery of 7-pounders for the re-arming of the Diamond Fields Artillery, and other arms and ammunition lying in store at King Williamstown, should be sent up at onoe. But the message, with its emphatic conclusion, " If you cannot or will not protect us, give us arms and we will protect ourselves," had no effect upon Mr. Schreiner, whose one anxiety was not to wound Boer susceptibilities. His " reply was characteristic : There is no reason whatever for apprehending that Kimberley is, or in any contemplated evenc will be, in danger of attack ; and Mr. Schreiner is of opinion that your fears are groundless and your anticipation without foundation." On August 24 a deputation of citizens waited on the Mayor urging the necessity of organising some sort of defence ; but the Mayor's communications with Cape Town only drew the temporising reply that the Govern- ment was " fully alive to the importance of the defence of Kimberley in case need should arrive." Direct negotiations with subordinates proved more effective, and the artillery was safely smuggled up to Kimberley in September before Mr. Schreiner could stop it. To the ordinary loyalist in Cape Colony this attitude of Mr. Schreiner's, especially when contrasted with his acquiescence in the passage of arms and ammunition to the Free State, seemed little short of treason- able. The only measure sanctioned by Mr. Schreiner at this period was the establishment of a series of small posts of the Cape Police along the border from Kimberley to Mafeking, and the placing of a few railway guards at the more important bridges south of Kimberley.* * See vol. i., p. 305; vol. ii., pp. 110, 111. Commissioner Eobinson of the Police veas appointed Commandant of all the Colonial forces in Griqualand West and Bechuanaland, and commanded in Kimberley till Buperseded by Colonel Kekewich. THE SIEGE OF EIMBERLEY 535 Kimberley met with more sympathy and better success Sept. 13. when it turned to the Governor. Sir A. Milner assured K"^o^\ch^°^* the Mayor that Kimberley would not be forgotten in any scheme of frontier defence carried out by the Imperial forces. As a matter of fact, Colonel Trotter, acting uj)on orders from the War Office, had revisited the city at the beginning of July, and had made a fuller report on its defences. Eeturning to Cape Town, he left behind him Major Scott-Turner, Eoyal Highlanders, with a mission to make secret preparations for local organisation. Two other special service officers. Captain O'Meara and Lieutenant Maclnnes, both of the Eoyal Engineers, arrived later, the former to devote himself to intelligence and surveying in the district, the latter to design suitable works for the defence. It was obvious from the outset that Kimberley would have to rely mainly upon its own citizens for its defence, at any rate during the initial stages of the war, and that all it could hope to get from the Imperial authorities was a good commanding officer, a nucleus of regulars, and, it was hoped, a fair supply of artillery and ammunition. The officer selected for the task of organising the defence, as well as of holding the general command over all the forces in Griqualand West and Bechuanaland, was Lieutenant- Colonel E. G. Kekewich of the Loyal North Lancashires. On September 13 Colonel Kekewich arrived in Kimberley on a confidential mission. His report convinced Sir A, Milner that it was impossible to run an unnecessary risk any longer. On the 18th he extorted from his argumenta- tive Prime Minister a reluctant acquiescence in the despatch to Kimberley and to Orange Eiver Bridge of the Loyal North Lancashires, with some artillery and other details, and, a few days later, in the construction of defences, which was begun on the 25th. On September 20 Kekewich was formally appointed to Eaising of his command, and was joined on the same day by half his battalion, by the 23rd Company W.D.E.A., with six beriey Light 7-pounders,* and a handful of Engineers. This was all the " nucleus " that could be spared even for so important a task. * Two of these did not reach Kimberley till October 12. 536 TBE WAS IN SOUTH AFRICA As for the local forces that were to supplement the regulars, the volunteer movement had languished sadly under the shadow of an unsympathetic administration, and the Kim- berley Eegiment, Diamond Fields Horse, and Diamond Fields Artillery mustered barely 800 men between them, and these in no exceptional state of efficiency. Besides these, there were the Police, the greater portion of whom Kekewich had already determined to concentrate upon Kimberley as soon as hostilities broke out. The force thus available was wholly inadequate for the defence, and recourse to the raising of fresh forces from among the citizens was necessary. On the 30th Sir A. Milner sanctioned the enrolment of the Kim- berley and Beacousfield Town Guards. A simple organisation had already been framed by Scott-Turner ; and though, for the first day or two, recruiting was .slow, owing to the inability of the ordinary civilian to realise that the handful of Imperial troops was not sufficient for the task of defending the town, yet by October 8 the force mustered 1,400 men on parade, and eventually rose to over 2,000. The command was assigned to Colonel Harris, who had shown conspicuous activity in the work of recruiting and organisation. Further recruiting brought the existing volunteer corps up to a total strength of over 800 ; these were formally called out on October 4 by Sir A. Milner. The raising of a second mounted corps was also sanctioned ; and on October 13 recruiting was opened for it under the name of the Kimberley Light Horse. Mr. Ehodes, who reached Kimberley that same day by one of the last trains that still got through, was made honorary colonel, and threw himself heart and soul into the work of helping Scott-Turner. Through Mr. Fynn, the manager of the De Beers farms, he bought sufficient horses to mount the corps up to a strength of 400, and also to provide remounts for the Diamond Fields Horse and trans- port for Colonel Chamier's guns.* In one way or another, * These and other expenses incurred by the De Beers Company for Mr. Rhodes were subsequently repaid by the Imperial authorities. But it was an undoubted advantage to the defence to have someone prepared to undertake large financial responsibility without waiting for authorization. Imperial officers, unaccustomed to spend a shilling vrithout special per- mission in peace, could not always, with the best intentions, instantly Colonel R. G. Kekewich, C. B.. Commandant of Kimberlev. Photo by Elliott & Fry. THE SIEGE OF KIMBERLEY 537 by the time the Boers closed in on Kimberley Kekewich found himself in command of some 800-900 mounted men, nearly 3,000 foot soldiers of every degree of training, from the old soldiers of his own regiment down to the rawest recruit in the Town Guard, 14 muzzle-loading 7-pounders, and 11 Maxims.* The real limit to the recruiting of defenders was not the Shortage of want of but of arms. considerable number of rifles men A artUiery*^ was purchased by telegram from merchants in Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Grahamstown, and reached Kimberley during the first week in October.

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