General Wauchope

by F.S.A. Scot. William Baird

CHAPTER X

OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES IN SOUTH AFRICA—COMMAND OF THE HIGHLAND BRIGADE—DEPARTURE FOR SOUTH AFRICA—THE SITUATION—BATTLE OF MAGERSFONTEIN—DEATH—FUNERAL—AFTER THE BATTLE.

Another and a more stirring field of action was in store for General Wauchope. In several of his election speeches reference, as we have shown, was made to the question then beginning to agitate the public mind, as to our relationship with the Transvaal Republic. It was not thought, however, that the difficulty was of such a nature as could not easily be overcome by diplomatic arrangement. True, the correspondence between Mr. Chamberlain, the Colonial Secretary, and the Transvaal Government had been protracted, and had practically failed in securing any concession in favour of foreign residents in the Transvaal; but few realised how near we were to the verge of a war which has proved one of the greatest and most calamitous of the century.

South Africa

It will be in the recollection of our readers that when in 1881 the Boers invaded Natal and gained the victories of Laing's Nek and Majuba Hill, Sir Evelyn Wood had ranged his forces for an extended attack upon them and was ready for action; and notwithstanding that Sir Frederick, now Lord Roberts, had reached South Africa with 10,000 additional men, the Government of Mr. Gladstone abandoned their position and hurriedly patched up a peace with Mr. Kruger. All accounts agree that the treaty or 'surrender' after Majuba was regarded by both whites and blacks all over South Africa as an absolute capitulation. It had at all events a most disastrous effect upon British influence there. From that date arose in the Boer mind that most fatal ingredient of racial animosity, contempt. As Kruger afterwards said, 'he had once reckoned with the British army,' and he felt he could safely do so again. The one idea apparently fixed in his mind and growing every day was to get rid of his subordination to the Queen, with a view, as the Transvaal grew in military efficiency, to subvert her power in South Africa altogether, and set up a Dutch Republic.

Owing partly to the poverty of the country until the great influx of British and foreign colonists, generally called 'Uitlanders,' and the development of the gold and diamond mines after 1884-5, the politics of the Transvaal created little or no attention in England till about 1895, when Boer raids into Bechuanaland and elsewhere obliged the British authorities on the spot to protect our Colonial interests against their further advances. But then came the Jameson Raid at the very end of that year, which, though universally condemned both by the British Government and people as an infraction of international law, was yet the outcome of deep-rooted discontent in the Transvaal by the English and other settlers there. The 'Raid' was the turning-point in recent Transvaal history. In the first place, it attracted the attention of the whole civilised world, and placed the Transvaal, the Uitlanders, and the relationship of Great Britain both to the one and to the other in the full glare of day. From the date of the raid the difficulties of the position were more and more accentuated, and the designs of President Kruger for entire independence were hastened to a consummation. By the Boer government the course of justice was perverted, and the Chief-Justice was made subordinate to the will of the Executive. Owing to insecurity to life and property, mine owners could scarcely get a supply of labourers. Kruger and his Hollanders ran the country for their own benefit. They taxed and plundered the Uitlanders, while neglecting such matters as roads, bridges, railways, sanitary and educational schemes, but took care to arm the Boers while they fattened on monopolies, and kept the Uitlanders from any share in the government. In short, the Transvaal was a Republic in nothing but the name. It was really a corrupt oligarchy, in which a privileged minority made laws to suit themselves, and put the whole burden of taxation on the shoulders of a majority who were deprived of the franchise.

Uitlander grievances

With a largely increased revenue, President Kruger found he could now indulge his hostility to this country and his long-cherished hopes of independence by providing for a possible struggle. As Lord Selborne said, 'the money was used to turn the whole of the Boer population into soldiers; it was used to stock the whole country with millions of cartridges, to buy battery after battery of guns, to buy rifles enough to arm every Boer four or five times over, to build things previously unknown in South Africa, namely, great fortresses in the middle of the country, at Pretoria and at Johannesburg—such fortresses as were not to be seen in England except to guard the public dockyards, and such as could only be seen on the frontier between France and Germany.' The course of the war has abundantly shown that these enormous preparations had been made in view of other than mere native aggression; that, in fact, nothing less than the entire subversion of British authority over our South African Colonies was to be aimed at.

So intolerable had the oligarchy at Pretoria made the position of the Uitlanders, that these at length petitioned the Queen for some redress of their grievances. This document, signed by 40,000 persons, 21,000 of whom were British subjects in the Transvaal, was handed to the British Agent in Pretoria for transmission to the High Commissioner, and was forwarded by Mr. Conyngham Greene in the ordinary official course to the Government.

The petition showed that for many years discontent had existed among the Uitlanders, who are mostly British subjects. The Uitlanders possessed most of the wealth and intelligence in the country, and they had no voice in its government. In spite of the promises of the Transvaal Government and the petitions addressed to the President, there had been no practical reforms. The discontent culminated in the insurrection of 1895. The people then placed themselves in the hands of the High Commissioner, and President Kruger promised reforms. Since then their position had been worse. Legislation had been unfriendly. The petition cited as examples the Aliens' Immigration Act, withdrawn at the instance of the British Government; the Press Law, giving the President arbitrary powers; the Aliens' Expulsion Law, permitting the expulsion of British subjects at the will of the President without appeal to the High Court, while burghers cannot be expelled, this being contrary to the Convention. The municipality granted to Johannesburg was worthless. It was entirely subject to the Government. Half of the councillors are necessarily burghers, though the burghers and Uitlanders number 1000 and 23,000 respectively. The Government rejected the report of the Industrial Commission, which was composed of its own officials. The High Court had been reduced to a condition of subservience, the revenues of the country had been diverted for the purpose of building forts at Pretoria and Johannesburg in order to terrorise British subjects; the police were exclusively burghers, ignorant and prejudiced, and were a danger to the community; jurors were necessarily burghers, and justice was impossible in cases where a racial issue might be involved.

Petition of the Uitlanders

The petition went on to state that indignation was finally aroused by the murder of Edgar and the favouritism displayed by the Public Prosecutor. A petition to the Queen, presented by 4000 British subjects, was rejected in consequence of informalities. For taking a leading part in getting up the petition, Messrs. Dodd and Webb were arrested under the Public Meetings Act, and were only released on giving bail of £1000, five times the amount required for the murderer of Edgar. A meeting within a closed place, permitted by law and sanctioned expressly by the Government, was called by the South African League on January 14. This was broken up by an armed and organised band of burghers and police in plain clothes led by Government officials. The police refused to interfere. The behaviour of the British subjects was orderly. They did not retaliate, preferring to lay their grievances before Her Majesty. No arrests were made either of the officials responsible or of the rioters.

The condition of the British subjects, the petition concluded, was intolerable. They were prevented by the direct action of the Government from ventilating their grievances; 'wherefore the petitioners pray Her Majesty to extend her protection to them, to cause an inquiry to be held into their grievances, to secure the reform of abuses, and to obtain substantial guarantees from the Transvaal Government and a recognition of the petitioners' rights.' This important petition was accompanied by affidavits substantiating the various allegations made in it.

To have refused a petition like this under the circumstances which had arisen, would have been tantamount to resigning the position of paramount power. Negotiations and conferences ensued, in the vain hope of adjusting racial differences, under Boer domination. They came to nothing, and only proved that the Pretoria Government were merely waiting their time to strike a blow which they hoped would for ever terminate British authority in South Africa. The opportunity, they thought, had at length come, and on Monday the 9th October an ultimatum of the most insolent nature was presented to the British Government, demanding not only the immediate withdrawal of our troops on the borders of the Republic, but that all reinforcements which had arrived since 1st June should be removed from South Africa. Not only so, but that any of Her Majesty's troops now on the high seas should not be landed in any part of our colonies! To these requirements an immediate answer in the affirmative was demanded 'not later than 5 o'clock on Wednesday'! No more ridiculous message has been received by the British Government for over one hundred years. Her Majesty's Government declined to discuss the conditions of the ultimatum, but expressed regret that the Transvaal Government should contemplate so extreme and so serious a step as war. The invasion of Natal by the Boers followed at once, and the Orange Free State, though in no way involved in the matter in dispute, gratuitously sided with the Pretoria Government, and an invasion of Cape Colony was made later on chiefly by the Free Staters. With great boldness and, it must be said, with much military skill, the Boer forces seized the passes, attacked the small garrisons on the frontiers, and after several successes and defeats they finally settled down to besiege Ladysmith in Natal, and Kimberley and Mafeking in Cape Colony—sieges which will be long memorable in the history of British South Africa.

The war had only proceeded for about a week when General Wauchope received a commission to command the Third or Highland Brigade, forming part of the western column under General Lord Methuen for the relief of Kimberley and Mafeking. This position was undoubtedly the highest honour he had achieved, and its acquisition afforded him the utmost satisfaction. He was residing at Niddrie at the time, and as soon as it became known that he was ordered to the front, there was a general desire among the miners and villagers that he should have a suitable 'send-off,' and some arrangements had actually been made for the occasion. But time was short, and besides, the General, always a modest man, shrank from publicity where he would be the central figure, and he would not consent to it.

Embarkation for the Cape

This, however, did not prevent him saying farewell to his old friends. Amid all the bustle of preparation he found time to call at the cottages of not a few in the grounds and in the village, to shake hands with their inmates before he left; not, it is said, without forebodings that it was for the last time. To a friend in Edinburgh who, in saying 'good-bye,' expressed the hope that he would soon be back again with fresh laurels, he replied with a shake of the head, 'I don't half like the job we have got; we have a very hard nut to crack with these Boers.' On Sunday, the 8th October, the General and Mrs. Wauchope attended as usual the service in New Craighall Parish Church. It forms a part of the parish of Liberton, and the church was erected chiefly for the large mining portion of the population at the east end of the parish, in which the General took so much interest. He liked the simple, natural, artless form of the Presbyterian service, and as his minister has since remarked, 'We know how reverently and heartily he worshipped, and the pleasure he had in hearing and in joining in the singing of the old psalms and paraphrases, without any accompaniment.' It was his last quiet Sabbath in Scotland. With a view to avoid fuss he slipped away that evening by rail for London, without some of his nearest friends knowing he was off, to see to the embarkation of his brigade.

The Highland Brigade was made up of the Seaforth Highlanders, the Second Battalion Royal Highlanders (or Black Watch), and the Gordon Highlanders—three crack Scotch regiments, which any man might have been proud to command. The two first embarked for South Africa at Tilbury Fort on the 21st and 22nd October in the transports Mongolian and Orient respectively, the total equipment in the latter being about 1200 officers and men, including staff of a cavalry brigade, medical corps, etc. These were followed a fortnight later by the Gordons under Colonel Downman from Edinburgh, among the citizens of which city officers and men had earned an honoured name.

General Wauchope joined the transport Aurania at Southampton on 23rd October, and some of his letters written on the eve of embarkation are touching illustrations of kindly interest in others, and specially in those dependent on him. To his old friend and colonel in the first Soudan Expedition, Colonel Bayly, he writes:—

'MY DEAR OLD COLONEL,—Many thanks for your kind and affectionate letter. I wish you were going out in charge of the brigade. I shall sadly miss your wise counsels. Well, I will do my best; and this I know, whether I succeed or fail, you will stick up for me.—Yours ever, A. G. WAUCHOPE.'

To Mr. Martin, the manager of the Niddrie Collieries, he wrote as follows:—

'SOUTHAMPTON, 23rd October 1899.

'I am just about to embark. Please go and see Mrs. Wauchope when she gets back. She will act for me at all times in my spirit. I hope you understand about the send-off. I hate fuss. Give my love to all my numerous friends in the works. I hope "Klondyke" [one of the new workings] will prosper and flourish. I hope the war will soon be over. Symons is a terrible loss. He was one of our best. [General Symons fell at the battle of Glencoe in Natal, 20th October.] The British officer and soldier is showing to the world that they are not behind their fathers in the days of the Peninsula and Waterloo. I hope all may continue so to do, and then make it up with the Boers, who really must be reasonable. We have no grudge against them, beyond that we cannot allow a Dutchman to be worth three Scotsmen.—Ever yours, A. G. WAUCHOPE.'

To his head gardener, Mr. Alexander, also dated from Southampton on 23rd October, he writes:—'Dear Alexander, we are just off.... Please convey to all our men and women my thanks for their faithful service to me, and that I will hope to see them soon again.—Yours very truly, A. G. WAUCHOPE.'

That amid all the bustle of preparing to embark he should still have time for loving thoughts of Niddrie and 'the old folks at home,' and should at the last moment take the trouble to write such kindly words, speaks eloquently of the affection in his breast for all that he had left behind in Scotland.

Enthusiastic reception

The Aurania took out with her the 1st Battalion of Highland Light Infantry, and Wauchope was accompanied by Captain Rennie of the Black Watch, as his aide-de-camp. The Black Watch in another vessel reached Table Bay two or three days after the General's arrival, and were at once entrained for De-Aar by half-battalions, so that until he joined them a week or two afterwards, the General had had no opportunity of coming in touch with his old regiment since his appointment to the division. Major Duff, who was with the Black Watch at De-Aar, speaks of their meeting as a remarkable one. 'I went up,' he says, 'in command of the leading half-battalion, and when the men first saw the General, their reception of him was a most truly enthusiastic one. They cheered him over and over again, and it reminded one of their send-off to him at York, as they had not seen him since then.'

While the British Government were thus hurrying forward troops to the seat of war with all despatch, weeks of course elapsed before they could be in a position to meet the invaders.

The Boers in strong force, and evidently well prepared, had actively assumed the aggressive, and in consequence of the unexpected declaration of war by Presidents Kruger and Steyn, the northern part of Cape Colony bordering upon the Orange Free State was for a time practically defenceless. Taking advantage of this fact, the Boers had advanced boldly across the frontier, attacking many of our towns and villages, and formally annexing them to the Free State. The arrival of British troops at the Cape in November to some extent arrested this invasion, and as troops were poured into the Colony in quick succession, Generals French, Gatacre, and Methuen found themselves ultimately in a position to assume the offensive, their communications and supplies being kept up by the three lines of railway from Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and East London respectively. The Highland Brigade, originally destined for Natal, was stopped at Cape Town and at once sent on to reinforce Lord Methuen in command of the western division. With his advanced base at De-Aar, at the junction of the Port Elizabeth and Cape Town railways, and striking north with what troops he had, Methuen engaged and defeated a party of Boers near Belmont on the 10th November. Nine days after, he had concentrated his troops on the Orange River, driving the enemy before him, and on the 23rd November he attacked and completely routed the enemy in the decisive battle of Belmont.

After several skirmishes the battle of Modder River was fought, in which the British encountered a Boer force of 11,000 men. It lasted the whole of Tuesday the 28th November, and was keenly contested; but in spite of the bravery and superior position of the enemy, they were compelled to withdraw, and Methuen formed his advanced camp on the north side of the river. After the Modder River fight he rested his force until the 10th December, waiting for the battalions of Wauchope's Highland Brigade, for the great naval gun, and the howitzer battery, and for the sorely needed cavalry. The valiant Ninth Brigade, composed of Yorkshire Light Infantry, 5th Northumberlands, Loyal North Lancashires, Northamptonshires, 9th Lancers, and Mounted Infantry, which had done such gallant work in the previous battles, was now to be scattered, and in some measure supplanted by the Argylls, Seaforths, Gordons, Black Watch, and Highland Light Infantry of the fresher brigade.

Having secured his position on the Modder River, Lord Methuen found the way to Kimberley still barred by the Boer army under General Cronje. The enemy were strongly intrenched among the rocks and precipices of the hilly region, some four miles from the river, between the railway on the west and the highroad to Kimberley on the east, and commanded the position with their artillery.

The Diamond City

Lord Methuen resolved upon making a frontal attack in full force on this stronghold, so as to drive the Boers out and clear the road to the Diamond City, now suffering acutely the miseries of a siege.

Before making the attack, he resolved to shell the Boer position with all his artillery and the great naval gun which had been dragged up to a ridge overlooking the kopje occupied by the enemy, at ranges varying between six thousand and eight thousand yards. The bombardment while it lasted was a severe one. An eye-witness of the scene says: 'The shells tore through the air with precisely the noise of an express train rushing at highest speed, and when they burst they seemed to envelop an acre of ground in heavy brown smoke, which lifted and floated over the kopje as if it were a mass of pulverised earth. The noise of each discharge was like the bark of a monster bulldog, and the bursting of each shell sounded like the cough of a giant.' It is believed that the lyddite shells fell among the Boers several times during the afternoon, but it is doubtful if the damage done was sufficient to cause them to shift their position. The naval gun remained on the ridge all night, and defined the extreme left of the next day's battle-ground. This ground extended from the railway where the gun stood, across the veldt to the river and along its northern bank for two miles, or about four miles from the railway to near the Kimberley road. It was covered—ridges and level veldt alike—with bushes, or shapely little trees from four to seven feet high, of round, full form, and pretty dense foliage. In such a veldt as this the Boers had two miles of trenches in front of their strongly fortified heights, well packed with riflemen. And not only so; but to make the approach more difficult, lines of barbed-wire fencing were run across the veldt parallel with the trenches.

To attack such a strong position required the very best troops of the British army, if the assault were to be a success, and Wauchope's Highland Brigade was selected for the work. Lord Methuen conceived it to be his duty to take it at all hazards, seeing that his orders were to relieve Kimberley, and the longer he remained inactive on the Modder River, the probability was the enemy would become stronger in front. As soon therefore as the last of his reinforcements arrived from De-Aar, he resolved to attack the Magersfontein kopje. For this purpose, as we have said, the heights were bombarded from 4.50 P.M. to 6.40 P.M. on the 10th December, in the expectation that—judging from the moral effect produced by his guns in the three previous actions, and the anticipated effect of lyddite, to be used for the first time—there would not only be great destruction of life in the trenches, but a considerable demoralising effect on the enemy's nerves. Whether this was so is doubtful. A longer bombardment, as the result proved, would in all probability have led to a more successful issue of the enterprise, and with less loss to our arms.

On the eve of battle

General Wauchope having received his orders, all were in readiness for the attack, which it was resolved should be made in the darkness of the early morning.

Fireside romancers have pictured Wauchope on the evening before the battle as full of despondency and prepossessed with a sense of imminent disaster. Needless to say, these are purely imaginary fancies. He was not the man either to shirk danger or dread a deadly engagement.

What afterwards happened is best described in the words of Lord Methuen's despatch. 'The night march,' he says, 'was ordered for 12.30 A.M., the bearings and distance having been ascertained at great personal risk by Major Benson, Royal Artillery, my Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General. The distance is two and a half miles, and daybreak was due at 3.25 A.M. About half an hour after the Highland Brigade marched off it came on to pour, a heavy thunderstorm accompanying the rain. The downpour lasted until daybreak. The brigade was led with perfect accuracy to the point of assault by Major Benson. The advance was slow, even for a night march. Major Benson, with a compass in each hand, having frequently to halt on account of the lightning and rifles affecting the compasses. I may remark that two rifles went off by accident before the march commenced, and it is pretty clear that flashes from a lantern gave the enemy timely notice of the march.

'Before moving off, Major-General Wauchope explained all he intended to do, and the particular part each battalion of his brigade was to play in the scheme. The brigade was to march in mass of quarter columns, the four battalions keeping touch and, if necessary, ropes were to be used for the left guides; these ropes were taken, but I believe used by only two battalions. What happened was as follows:—Not finding any signs of the enemy on the right flank just before daybreak, which took place at 4 A.M., as the brigade was approaching the foot of the kopje, Major-General Wauchope gave the order for the Black Watch to extend, but to direct its advance on the spur in front, the Seaforth Highlanders to prolong to the left, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders to prolong to the right, the Highland Light Infantry in reserve. Five minutes earlier (the kopje looming in the distance) Major Benson had asked Major-General Wauchope if he did not consider it to be time to deploy. Lieut.-Colonel Hughes-Hallett states that the extension could have taken place two hundred yards sooner, but the leading battalion got thrown into confusion in the dark by a very thick bit of bush about twenty or thirty yards long. The Seaforth Highlanders went round this bush to the right, and had just got into its original position behind the Black Watch when the order to extend was given by Major-General Wauchope to the Black Watch. The Seaforth Highlanders and two companies of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders were also moving out, and were in the act of extending, when suddenly a heavy fire was poured in by the enemy, most of the bullets going over the men.

Magersfontein

'Lieut.-Colonel Hughes-Hallett at once ordered the Seaforths to fix bayonets and charge the position. The officers commanding the other battalions acted in a similar manner. At this moment some one gave the word "Retire." Part of the Black Watch then rushed back through the ranks of the Seaforths. Lieut.-Colonel Hallett ordered his men to halt and lie down, and not to retire. It was now becoming quite light, and some of the Black Watch were a little in front, to the left of the Seaforths. The artillery, advancing to the support of the attack, had opened fire from the time it was light enough to see. No orders having been received by the Seaforths, the commanding officer advanced the leading units to try and reach the trenches, which were about four hundred yards off; but the officers and half the men fell before a very heavy fire, which opened as soon as the men moved. About ten minutes later the Seaforths tried another rush, with the same result. Colonel Hughes-Hallett then considered it best to remain where he was till orders came.

'Meanwhile the 9th Lancers, the 12th Lancers, G Battery Royal Horse Artillery, and Mounted Infantry were working on the right flank. At twelve midnight on the 10th the 12th Lancers and Guards marched from camp, the former to join the Cavalry Brigade, the latter to protect the rear and right of the Highland Brigade. Considering the night, it does Major-General Sir Henry Colville immense credit that he carried out his orders to the letter, as did Major-General Babington. A heavy fire was maintained the whole morning. The Guards Brigade held a front of about one and three quarter miles. The Yorkshire Light Infantry protected my right flank with five companies, three companies being left at a drift. Captain Jones, Royal Engineers, and Lieutenant Grubb were with the Balloon Section, and gave me valuable information during the day. I learnt from this source, at about twelve noon, that the enemy were receiving large reinforcements from Abutsdam and from Spytfontein. The enemy held their own on this part of the field, for the under-feature was strongly entrenched, concealed by small bushes, and on slight undulations. At twelve noon I ordered the battalion of Gordons, which was with the Supply Column, to support the Highland Brigade. The trenches, even after the bombardment by lyddite and shrapnel since daybreak, were too strongly held to be cleared. The Gordons advanced in separate half-battalions, and though the attack could not be carried home, the battalion did splendid work throughout the day.

'At 1 P.M. the Seaforth Highlanders found themselves exposed to a heavy crossfire, the enemy trying to get round to the right. The commanding officer brought his left forward. An order to "Retire" was given, and it was at this time that the greater part of the casualties occurred. The retirement continued for five hundred yards, and the Highlanders remained there till dusk. Lieut-Colonel Downman, commanding the Gordons, gave the order to retire, because he found his position untenable, so soon as the Seaforth Highlanders made the turning movement to the right. This was an unfortunate retirement, for Lieut.-Colonel Hughes-Hallett had received instructions from me to remain in position until dusk, and the enemy were at this time quitting the trenches by tens and twenties. I have made use of Lieut.-Colonel Hughes-Hallett's report (the acting Brigadier) for the description of the part the Highland Brigade took in this action.

'Major-General Wauchope told me, when I asked him the question, on the evening of the 10th, that he quite understood his orders, and made no further remark. He died at the head of the brigade, in which his name will always remain honoured and respected. His high military reputation and attainments disarm all criticism. Every soldier in my division deplores the loss of a fine soldier and a true comrade. The attack failed; the inclement weather was against success; the men in the Highland Brigade were ready enough to rally, but the paucity of officers and non-commissioned officers rendered this no easy matter. I attach no blame to this splendid brigade. From noon until dark I held my own opposite to the enemy's intrenchments. G Battery Royal Horse Artillery fired hard till dark, expending nearly two hundred rounds per gun. Nothing could exceed the conduct of the troops from the time of the failure of the attack at daybreak. There was not the slightest confusion, though the fight was carried on under as hard conditions as one can imagine, for the men had been on the move from midnight, and were suffering terribly from thirst. At 7.15 P.M. fighting ceased, the Highland Brigade formed up under cover, the Guards Brigade held my front, the Yorkshire Light Infantry secured my right flank, the cavalry and guns were drawn in behind the cavalry.'

An ill-fated enterprise

Many descriptions have been published of the ill-fated enterprise, differing in some respects from the despatch of the commander; and much controversy has been raised as to an alleged difference of opinion between Generals Methuen and Wauchope regarding the method of the attack on the Boer position, and as to who was responsible for its disastrous failure. Into that controversy it is not our purpose to enter, seeing so much of it is founded on mere conjecture, coloured by the imagination or the prejudice of some of the writers. Whether blunder, or miscalculation, or mere misadventure, no voice has been ever raised to cast the shadow of blame on the officer who gallantly led his brigade through that long dark night into what proved an impossible position, a position which the best troops in the world could not have hoped to take. Every precaution was made that forethought could suggest. Untoward circumstances, and not want of courage, ruined all.

Fall of the General

That the fall of the General largely contributed to the loss of the battle, seems all too plain. He fell after being twice hit with rifle bullets through his helmet, and even while lying on the ground, when struck in the body, he appears, from the evidence of some of his men who passed him as they still pressed on to his orders, to be able to raise himself on his hands and knees, and taking a long farewell of his comrades, he cried, 'Good-bye, men; fight for yourselves. It is man to man now.' Other words are said to have been uttered, and were freely circulated afterwards about the camp, and found their way into letters written to friends at home; but in the din and confusion of such a moment it is difficult to see how these—many of them contradictory—can be accepted as his utterances. One witness describes the scene as 'an awful sight. The bullets,' he says, 'were like a shower of hail, and the shells were bursting all around us. God knows how I got clear, for I was in the thick of it. I felt the heat of a shell on my face. I never was so near being killed in my life. There were bullets hitting all around me, and whistling over my head. I have been in a few battles, but nothing like this.... We would have beat them had our General not been killed. He was shot in three places.'

That General Wauchope fought and fell as a man and as a soldier, carrying out his orders loyally to the end, has never been called in question. He died where he would have wished to die, at the head of his gallant Highlanders, with his face to the foe.

All that fateful day the battle was carried on. Our wounded and dead lay as they fell, under a blazing sun, close to the Boer lines. Over their heads the shots of friends and foes passed, without ceasing. 'Many a gallant deed was done by comrades helping comrades; men who were shot through the body lay without water, enduring all the agony of thirst caused by their wounds and the blistering heat. To them crawled Scots with shattered limbs, sharing the last drop of water in their bottles, and taking farewell messages to many a cottage home in far-off Scotland.' But still the battle raged. Wounded and dead must wait alike the ultimate fate of the day. Lying on the veldt the British still held their ground, firing when they could, but drawing a hotter fire upon themselves from the trenches. For fourteen hours they thus lay—from three o'clock in the morning till six at night. It was cruel work, with all the odds against the attackers, fighting against a foe they could neither see nor reach. Once the Guards made a brilliant dash at the trenches, and like a torrent their resistless valour bore down all before them, and for a brief few moments they got within striking distance of the enemy; and well did they avenge the slaughter of the Scots. With bayonets fixed and a ringing cheer the Guardsmen, we are told by a graphic writer, 'tossed the Boers out of their trenches as men in English harvest-fields toss the hay.' Then they retired under the deadly fire from the heights above, falling thick as hail upon them.

Not till the evening did the conflict cease. Then there was an armistice, and our ambulance bearers went out to bring in their fallen comrades. The Rev. J. Robertson, chaplain of the brigade, mentions in a letter: 'I was with Wauchope when he fell. I think he wished me to keep near him, but I got knocked down, and in the dark and wild confusion I was borne away, and did not see him in life again, though I spared no effort to find him, in the hope that he might be only wounded.' This statement is confirmed by the Anglican chaplain with Lord Methuen, who, after describing the battle of Magersfontein, thus refers to the Highland Brigade: 'Being chiefly Highlanders, they were in Robertson's charge. He, good-hearted fellow, was risking his life in the trenches and under fire to find General Wauchope's body. Why he was not killed in his fearless efforts I cannot tell.' The General's body was found next morning from twenty to thirty yards off the Boer trenches, 'riddled with bullets,' and was carried reverently back into camp, amidst the unmistakable grief of every soldier.

'Lochaber no more'

The exigencies of war brook no delay, and so the funeral was arranged for the day following. Three hundred yards to the rear of the township of Modder River, just as the sun was sinking in a blaze of African splendour, on the evening of Tuesday the 13th December, a long shallow grave lay exposed in the breast of the veldt. To the westward the broad river fringed with trees ran unconsciously along; to the eastward the heights still held by the enemy scowled menacingly; north and south stretched the long swelling plain. A few paces to the north of the grave, fifty dead Highlanders lay, dressed as they had fallen. They had followed their chief to the field, and they were to follow him to the grave. It was an impressive sight, and as one who saw it has said: 'The plaids dear to every Highland clan were represented there, and, as I looked, out of the distance came the sound of the pipes. It was the General coming to join his men. There, right under the eyes of the enemy, moved with slow and solemn tread all that remained of the Highland Brigade. In front of them walked the chaplain, with bared head, dressed in his robes of office; then came the pipers with their pipes, sixteen in all, wailing out "Lochaber no More"; and behind them, with arms reversed, moved the Highlanders, in all the regalia of their regiments; and in the midst, the dead General, borne by four of his comrades.' Many a cheek was wet with tears, and many a heart throbbed with emotion as the last kind offices were performed. Right up to the grave they marched, then broke away into companies until the General was laid in the shallow grave, with a Scottish square of armed men around him. The simple Presbyterian service of the Scottish Church was led by Mr. Robertson, the chaplain, amid profound silence. No shots were fired. Only the silent farewell salute of his sorrowing men as they marched campwards in the gathering darkness, and the black pall of an African night was drawn sadly over the scene.

THE GRAVE ON THE BATTLEFIELD.
From a Photograph by H. C. Shelley of "The King."

There, among his men, Wauchope's body might have been left to rest on the open veldt, and the spot would doubtless ever afterwards have been consecrated in the heart of every patriot Briton, lonely and wild though it be. But the kindly sympathy of a brother Scot found for him a last resting-place four hundred miles farther south in Cape Colony, at Matjesfontein. On receipt of the news of Wauchope's death, the Honourable J. D. Logan, a member of the Cape Legislative Council, who owns an extensive estate there, on which there is a small enclosed private burying-ground, promptly asked permission to bring the body for reinterment there. Permission having been granted by General Lord Methuen, Mr. Logan proceeded to Modder River, and returned with the body in a zinc-lined coffin on the 18th December. The remains of the gallant General were buried next morning with full military honours, in presence of a considerable number of people. Those present included Captain Rennie, A.-D.-C. to the General, Mr. Logan and his family, Major Stuart, and Colonel Schrembrucker. The escort consisted of eleven officers and 195 non-commissioned officers and men of various detachments, including some of the Highland Brigade, and a fife band with pipers. The coffin was borne on a gun-carriage, which was covered with many beautiful wreaths, one bearing the inscription, 'With the Logans' deepest sympathy. In memory of one of Scotland's brave ones.' And on another was inscribed, 'A token of admiration and respect for one of Scotland's heroes, from his fellow-countrymen at Matjesfontein.' The favourite charger of the General followed the coffin, and the service, conducted by the Revs. Messrs. Robertson and Price, army chaplains, was of a deeply impressive character. Thus passed from sight, at the age of fifty-four, the man whose career it has been our privilege to sketch.

After the battle

Few episodes in the Transvaal war—and there have been many striking ones—have made such an impression on the public at large, or on those immediately concerned, as the fall of the leader of the Highland Brigade on that disastrous 10th of December 1899.

The one man best qualified to speak of its effects upon the soldiers at the front, has in touching letters referred to the sadness that overspread the camp, and the deep religious feelings which were awakened. The Rev. J. Robertson says: 'Of the seven who formed our original mess—General Wauchope's brigade staff—only Colonel Ewart and myself remain. He is an old campaigning friend, so also is General Macdonald, who has now joined us. I am glad I knew the Brigadier before. It makes all the difference, messing and living together. I am not to refer to General Wauchope. Mere acquaintances mourn his loss, how much more one who was honoured with his friendship and confidence? As for the Highland Brigade—there is but one heart, and it's sore, sore. A strange fatality befell all my best-known friends. Whenever I let myself think of them, there's a painful tug at my heart's strings. God knows what lies before. To give some idea of how hearts have been touched, on the last Sunday of the year I had communion. I thought it better to take it then than on the first Sunday, when the year would be a week old and the good start perhaps lost. I did not make intimation the Sunday before, as I did not think I would be able to get communion wine in time. I just stated at the ordinary parade service that I purposed having it after the benediction was pronounced. I invited any and every one to come forward, even though they had not partaken it before, saying that in the circumstances I took it upon me to dispense with the usual preparatory forms of procedure. To my great surprise, but to my heart's joy, knowing how backward young men are—Highlanders especially—in coming to the Lord's Table, over 250 stepped out, and many more would have come had it not been for the fact that they had to go at once on picket duty. In fact, they had strained a point to attend parade service, coming all ready to go on outpost, heavily accoutred. With a full heart, I thanked God and took courage.' In another letter the chaplain says: 'We were a sad, a very sad brigade, for though we tried to hide it, we took our losses to heart sorely; for "men of steel are men who feel." But out of evil came good. The depth of latent religious feeling that was evoked in officers and men was a revelation to me, and were it not that confessions, and acknowledgments, and vows are too sacred for repetition, I could tell a tale that would gladden your hearts—not that I put too much stress on what's said or done at such an impressionable, solemnising time, but after-proof of sincerity has not been wanting.'

The receipt of the news of the General's death in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and indeed throughout the world, was accompanied with every expression of grief. It was felt that the empire had lost one of its noblest and best, that a hero had gone down to his rest ere his full life's work was done. Alike from soldier and civilian, from political opponent and political friend, came the common lament; while the fluent pens of journalists were in some cases constrained to acknowledge that it was all but impossible to write with calmness of the sad event.

The national feeling was roused as it seldom has been before, and from one correspondent we have the following remarkable testimony. 'I believe,' he says, 'that General Wauchope's tragic death did more than anything else to bring the nation as a nation to call upon God. No doubt before his death there was much prayer throughout the nation both in private and in almost all the churches; but there was no national acknowledgment of God—no day set apart by authority for this purpose. General Wauchope's death awoke the national conscience, and there was a public recognition of God by the nation. It is a matter of history that when this took place the tide of battle, which for so long had been against us, then began to turn in our favour. Andrew Gilbert Wauchope did not die in vain.'

Sympathy of the Queen

Her Majesty the Queen felt the loss she and the country had sustained, and, with her usual womanly consideration, sent a message through her Lord Chamberlain, the Earl of Hopetoun, desiring him to express her deep sympathy with Mrs. Wauchope of Niddrie, and with Lady Ventry, the General's sister. In this message, it is understood the Queen paid a warm tribute to the General's fearless qualities as a soldier, and to his magnificent services to the nation; while she sympathetically referred to the fact, that in every campaign in which he had taken a part previously, with the exception of the Soudan war of 1898, he had had the misfortune to be wounded.

Seldom has so general and so spontaneous an expression of public feeling been given in this country. In Scotland especially was this so, as might naturally be expected. In Edinburgh, where both the Black Watch and the Gordon Highlanders had recently been stationed, the death of Colonel Downman of the Gordons, and many others with him in the same engagement, gave a sharper edge to the calamity. Lieutenant F. G. Tail, also well known in Edinburgh, and popular all over the country as a champion golfer, was wounded on this occasion. After his recovery he went again to the front and was killed on 7th February at Koodoosberg Drift. From Mr. Low's record of his life it is interesting to quote what he says as to the Black Watch at Magersfontein, inasmuch as it differs somewhat from the despatch of Lord Methuen already quoted, and expresses the opinion of one who was on the spot. 'The papers say the Highland Brigade retired and re-formed. The Black Watch never did; and, furthermore, we held our ground all day.' As to his commanding officer he says, 'General Wauchope is in no way responsible for the fearful loss of life amongst the Highland Brigade: he got his orders, and had to carry them out, and he was killed in front of his brigade.'