Magisterial Reports Having Reference to the Occupation by the Enemy Of
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130 Mauser cartridges. It was not the shooting season, and, in ex- planation, the reason assigned was, generally, that the applicant de- sirt>d to shoot fish. These permits were, with rare exceptions, of course, refused. I am also informed that the gunsmiths had many applicants endeavouring to purchase Mauser cartridges without a permit, a point noticeal)ie to them from the fact that no Mauser ritles had heen sold in Kimberley through the ordinary trade channels. I have, etc., (Signed) W. MUNGEAN, Acting R.M. KENHARDT. Office of the Eesident Magistrate, Kenhardt, 1st June, 1900. No. 4/175, D. 1900. OCCUPATION OF KENHARDT AND DISTRICT BY FORCES OF HER MAJESTY'S ENEMIES AND REBELS. Sir,_With reference to your letter No. 3/188, dated the 16th instant, requesting me to submit a report on the circumstances of the occupation of Kenhardt by the forces of Her Majesty's enemies or by rebels, together with an account of the events immediately preceding, I have the honour accordingly to submit the following re- port, liased upon—information which I have collected from differeni; reliable angloboerwar.comsources: 1.—EVENTS PRECEDING OCCUPATION. I cannot speak from personal knowledge of events wdiich took place previous to the occupation of Kenhardt, as I only assumed duty at this station on the 1st April, the day Sir Charles Parsons re- occupied Kenhardt. I have, however, collected the best obtainable information concerning the occupation and the events relating thereto. The inhabitants of this towm, with the exceptions of a few Germans and Englishmen, are of Dutch descent, and their sym- pathies have throughout the war been with the Republicans. A few months before hostilities commenced a man named * * * , came to reside in Kenhardt. He is reported to have taken an active part in influencing many local people towards taking up the cause of the Republics, and which ended in their wil- * lingly joining the rebellion. , though known to be a poor man, is said to have spent money freely, and was suspected of being an agent for the Orange Free State. This suspicion is in a measure confirmed by the fact that he was the only man in Kenhardt who went out in a cart to meet Commandant Jooste and his followers on the morning of their arrival, and after the town and district was formally proclaimed to "be Free State territory, * was the first man to proceed to the local shops to commandeei;, in the capa- city of a Field Cornet of the Orange Free State. On the 13th January * was seen in possession of a document drawn up for signa- tures,_ and addressed to the Commandant of the Republican forces, then in Griqualand West, purporting to contain an invitation from the most influential men in the Kenhardt district to the Republican 131 forces to come to this town and proclaim it, as well as Prieska and Upington, Republican territory. * was heard to say that the document would be presented for signature at a meetin<]; of farmers to be held that Saturday night (13th January). I am aware that a meeting was held that night, but I have not been able to obtain any information as to whether such a document was read at the meet- ing or not. On that day (being the date preceding Nachtmaal), a large number of farmers were in the village, and applied to the Magistrate for ammunition, which, they solemnly declared, was to be used for shooting Springbok. From the 1st to the 13th January, 140 permits for the purchase of ammunition were issued, represent- * ing 6,520 rounds of cartridges. About the same time , then * * residing at , but now a leading rel)el, signed per- mits in favour of a number of people, for 1,500 rounds of ammuni- tion. The very day (the 13th January) these cartridges were being issued at Kenhardt, Prieska was occupied by the rebels. 2.—THE OCCUPATION. About eight o'clock on the night of the 27th February, a native * * brought intelligence to the effect that a number of armed Boers were marching on Kenhardt. The same night the Bas- tards (residents of Kenhardt) convened a meeting at which they re- solved to defend the town. A native constable, named McDeel- ing, led out 22 armed Bastards the same night to a sandhill 1-|- miles east of Kenhardt, and commanding the main road froiu Prieska at that point. Here they remained all night in ambush. The next morning at daybreakangloboerwar.com16 mounted and armed men were seen ap- proaching the place where the Bastards were. McDeeling chal- lenged them and demanded their surrender. The enemy rej^lied by firing several shots at the Bastards, who responded with a volley, causing the enemy to retreat in disorder, leaving eight hats and one (1) wounded horse on the field. The same morning at 7 o'clock * * * one of the invading force, named (formerly a ) approached the Bastards wdth a white flag. He was allowed to pass to Kenhardt, where he handed Mr. Garstin, the Resident Magis- trate, a note signed by Jacol)us P. Jooste, Commandant, requesting the immediate surrender of the town, and threatening to bombard * it if not surrendered. Mr. Garstin therevipon returned with to the enemy, and in passing the Bastards, informed them thai they must return home, as he had surrendered the town. The mvading force entered Kenhardt accompanied by Mr. Garstin. The force consisted of: 1, J. P. Jooste, Commandant; 2, — Jooste, .secretary; * * * * 3, — De Kock, clerk— 4, ; 5, ; 6, ; 7, ; * * * — Republican ; 11, ; 12, 8, ; 9, ; 10, Herman, * — Borrius, Republican ; 13, ; 14, — Olyn, Republican ; 15, * * ; 16, . The Commandant entered the Public Offices and demanded the Safe keys from the Civil Commissioner and his clerks, who sur- rendered them. Mr. Garstin and his clerks were then placed under arrest and guarded. The Republican flag was hoisted in front of the Residency, the Volkslied or National Anthem was sung, and a proclamation read by the Commandant, declaring, in the name of fT,^ p-,^„,vin-,f of ihr^ 'Qv^-ncfr, yrop State. Kenhardt and district to be Free State Territovv. This Vwis done in the prosoiic^ of a cro\\'d of towuhpeople who liad collected in ihe meantime. 132 3.—ARRESTS MADE. Shortly after the invasion, the following gentlemen were ar- rested:—!, F. C. Garstin, C.C. and R.M. ; 2, Chief Constable West; 3, C. A. Pentz, Asst. R:M. ; 4, I. J. Roos, R.M. clerk; 5, J. Arnold, gaoler; 6, G. Belk, Postmaster; 7, W. B. Hunter, engineer; 8, G. Jos- ling, storekeeper; 9, W. Josling, storekeeper; 10, J. Holmes, clerk; 11, — Newnham, clerk. Most of these, including Mr. Garstin, were first imprisoned in the Magistrate's Bathroom, and subsequently removea to the local gaol where they were kept until the 5th March, 1900, when they, with the exception of Mr. Garstin and West, were brought before Commandant Jooste and charged with having aided the Bastards, who fired on the invading force. All were acquitted and discharged. 4.—FIRST MEETING—TOWN GUARD ELECTED. In terms of a notice issued by Commandant Jooste a public meeting was held in the Court Room on the 28th February, at 3 p.m. This meeting is said to have been largely attended by farmers and town people ; Jooste presided and addressed the meeting. He opened his address by reminding those present that the meeting was only for burghers of the Free State, and requested those who wished to remain subjects of the Queen, to leave the room. About 20 men rose and left. The chairman called them back, and said he was misunderstood, and that they w^ere not compelled to leave. Some of the number returned. He then said he wished it to be clearly un- derstood that they were not rebels, but had come to offer protection to the inhabitantsangloboerwar.comof Kenhardt, the English having withdrawn their protection. That British subjects who wished to leave the town must do so within 8 days, under passport from him. He pointed out that it was necessary to have a town guard, and selected ten (10) of the inhabitants of Kenhardt for duty that night. Some of these protested, but were threatened and compelled to take up arms and go on guard duty . 5.—SECOND MEETING—ELECTION OF KRIJGSRAAD. On the 2nd March another meeting was held in the Court Room for the purpose of electing a Krijgsraad (War Committee). This meeting, like the first, was well attended by the Kenhardt people and farmers. Jooste and * * presided * They occupied the Magistrate's Bench. The following, all of whom reside in Kenhardt District and are influential men^ were elected members of the Krijgsraad, and acted in that capacity, viz., 1, * ; * * * * * 2, ; 3, ; ; was 4, 5, ; elected at the same time * * 6.—COMMANDEERING. About sixteen (16) men, most of whom were residents of the district of Kenhardt, were appointed by Commandant Jooste to the office of "Commandeer Veld Cornet."" These officers went from farm to farm to serve a notice, called a " Commandeer Brief," signed by them, on every European eligible for commando service, to re- 133 port himself at Kenliavdl, fully armed and ecfuippi'd, on the I3th March, 1900. The followinfj; "are some of the men who acted as "Commandeer Field Cornets," viz., 1, * -2, * -3, * * '; * '; ; 4, ; 5, ** ; 6, * * 7, 8, * * * ; * * * * * * 9, ; 10, ; 11, ; 12, * ; 13, * * • 14 ** • 15 * * On the 13th March al )out 200 1'nen assembled at'the Public Ollices, Kenhardt, in response to the Commandeer notices. Most of them came mounted and armed. They were addressed l)y a farmer * * named , , who came from * s])ecially for that purpose.