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39 CHAPTER IV. HOW KIMBERLEY WAS PREPARED FOR SIEGE.* The isolated position of Kimberley, and the probability that in isolation and °f the event of war with the Boer Republics it would be attacked, '3^ had been a source of anxiety to the military authorities at Cape causes anxiety Town for several years. Major E. A. Altham, Royal Scots, jjafat E. A. was sent to Kimberlev in i8q6 by Lieut.-General Sir W. Aitham's J J J report on situ- Goodenough (then G.O.C. in South Africa), and in August of ationthen. " that year wrote : The Government of the South African Republic haveAngloBoerWar.coma strong feeling against the De Beers Mining Company, and against Mr. Cecil Rhodes, who owes his wealth to that company. The Free State, on the discovery of the diamond mines, claimed Kimberley as within its borders, and received comparatively but a small sum for the relinquishment of that claim. Kimberley is by far the most important place on the line of communications with Mafeking and, through Mafeking, to the north. Even if it should be thought impracticable to maintain that line of communication, the strategic value of Kimberley as a point from which it can be re-opened later in the campaign is very considerable ; but, in addition to these considera- tions, which may have a direct strategic bearing on the conduct of the campaign, there are others connected with Kimberley which would have an indirect but far-reaching effect. Except perhaps Cape Town, Kimberley is the richest prize which the enemy could capture, and lies at a tempting distance from his grasp. Its loss and any damage which might ensue to the mines * See maps Nos. 2S, 29. 4o THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA. would not only be a heavy blow to the Cape Colony, but would also be most injurious to Imperial prestige throughout South Africa, and, while disheartening the loyalists, would greatly influence the waverers to take active part against us." Kimberley The only troops in Kimberley at that time were two local local troops in 1896. Volunteer corps, the Diamond Fields Horse, with a strength of 367 men, including an artillery troop armed with four old 7-pr. M.L. guns, and the Kimberley Rifles, about 400 strong. In order to protect the town and the mines, it was essential to hold a circuit of ten miles. Major Altham proposed to increase the local Volunteer forces, to re-arm and form into a separate battery the artillery troops of the Diamond Fields Horse, and to furnish the white miners with rifles and train them to shoot " on the lines of a burgher force, or in rifle clubs." He suggested that a defence scheme, which had already been discussed at Kim- berley, should be submitted to General Goodenough. But out of the very small garrison of British troops then in South Africa General Goodenough had none available to garrison Kimberley, nor had he any control over the Volunteer corps in Cape Colony, which were administered by Colonial Staff officers acting under theAngloBoerWar.comdirect orders of the Colonial Government. He therefore at passed on Major Altham's report to Sir J. Gordon Sprigg, that time Prime Minister of the Colony, and to the members of a Commission which, at the request of the Cape Ministry, had been assembled by the Governor (Lord Rosmead) to enquire into the organisation and efficiency of the Colonial forces. With the exception of the suggestion that the white miners should be armed and trained, the recommendations of the report were approved by the Commissioners ; but, owing to political difficulties, no action was taken, and for similar reasons the preparation of a defence scheme by the local authorities in Kimberley was stopped. Lt.-G.l. But the clouds continued to gather in South Africa, and two Trotter suit in June, 1898 years later, in June, 1898, Sir W. Goodenough, at the request by Sir W. officer Lieut.-Colonel Goodenough of Sir Gordon Sprigg, sent another — J. K. to prepare Trotter, R.A.— to Kimberley with confidential instructions to scheme of defence. draw up a definite scheme of defence. HOW K1MBERLEY WAS PREPARED. 41 The town of Kimberley lies between its two principal diamond Description of t and mines, the " Kimberley " and the " De Beers." The original °^" ^gh r settlement, the smaller township of Beaconsfield, is a thousand hood, yards south-east of the present town. A mile and a half further to the south-east the little Boer village of Wesselton stands upon the lake known as Du Toit's Pan (see map No. 29). There are two other diamond mines, " Du Toit's Pan " and " Bultfon- tein," between Wesselton and Beaconsfield. The Premier mine projects into the plain a mile due east of Du Toit's Pan. North- east of Kimberley the monotony of the veld is broken by plan- tations of eucalyptus trees surrounding the village of Kenilworth, a suburb erected some years before by Mr. Rhodes for the use of the white employes of the mines. To the south-west of Kim- berley lies the main reservoir, which in normal times draws its supply of water by pipes from the Vaal at Riverton, nearly eighteen miles away (see map No. 28). The terrain encircling the two towns, Kimberley and Beaconsfield (both of which for the purposes of this narrative are included under the title of Kimberley), is on the whole favourable to defence. To the east- ward a plain, unbrokenAngloBoerWar.comsave by the heaps of debris from the mines, stretches to a dark range of low kopjes on the Free State side of the frontier line. To the north the ground slopes gradually towards the valley of the Vaal river, the fall being crossed, some six miles out, by the wooded ridge of Dronfield. To the west of the town, separated from it by a shallow valley, rises Carter's Ridge, a wave of ground from which, at a range of four thousand yards, artillery fire could be brought to bear on the town itself. Southward the country rises and falls in almost imperceptible undulations until the commanding position of Wimbledon is reached, some six miles distant. The heaps of debris much aided the defence. Built up by the accumulations of the tailings of the mines, they formed a series of large mounds some sixty to seventy feet high, skirting the town on the north, east and south. In front of these mounds a network of barbed wire fences effectually obstructed all approach except by the roads, while the electric searchlights, installed by the De Beers company to illuminate the fields of " blue " soil 42 THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA. which were exposed to disintegrate in the open air, were avail- able for military use. A few, however, of the debris heaps, such as those of the Premier mine to the south-east, and those of the Kamfer's Dam mines three miles to the north-west, were of doubtful advantage to the defence, as their occupation would cause undue extension, while, if not held, they would be dangerous. Mr. Schreiner Colonel Trotter's scheme for the defence of this area was having Sir succeeded sent by Sir W. Goodenough to the War Office , but as Gordon Sir Gordon Sprigg had ceased to be Premier, no local action was taken. Sprigg, no help from The Volunteers gradually dwindled in numbers till the Kim- Cape Town is berley Rifles were reduced to two companies and the Diamond forthcoming. Utter decay of Fields Horse almost ceased to exist. At an inspection of the local forces in field it still with the four 1899. battery early in 1899 was armed only obsolete 7-pr. R.M.L., there were no horses for the guns, and only twenty-two officers and men appeared on parade. The breakdown of the Bloemfontein Conference in June, 1899, awoke the citizens of Kimberley to a sense of their danger. The Prime Minister of the Colony was asked to supply protection, or, at least, arms to enable the town to defend itself. Both these petitionsAngloBoerWar.comwere rejected, the Civil Commissioner being instructed to reply that " there is no reason whatever for apprehending that Kimberley is, or in any contemplated event will be, in danger of attack, and Mr. Schreiner is of opinion that your fears are groundless and your anticipations without foundation." War Office The optimistic feeling of the Cape Ministry was not shared orders return to Kimberley by the Military Staff at the War Office, whose anxiety about of U.-C0I. the safety of Kimberley was increased by their knowledge that Trotter, July, 1899. part of the Boer plan of campaign was directed against the town, which was to be attacked as soon as war began. It was clear that out of the garrison of South Africa, which in August, 1899, was less than 10,000 men,* an adequate force of regular troops could not be allotted to so distant a post as Kimberley, and that the burden of its defence must fall principally upon its inhabitants. Orders were therefore telegraphed on 4th July to Sir W. Butler, in then command at the Cape, to send Lieut. -Colonel J. K. Trotter again to Kimberley to make confidential enquiries as to * Volume I., page 1. - HOW KIMBERLEY WAS PREPARED. 43 the organisation of the defences. Lieut. D. S. Maclnnes, R.E., Eagerness of was selected to assist him in his mission. The situation was a inhabitants to assist Trotter delicate one, as the General Officer Commanding the Imperial* is hampered troops still lacked authority over the local Volunteers, and the by Mr.

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