IN ORANGE RIVER COLONY, EAST. JUNE
General Rundle’s activities had never relaxed. In June he was vigilantly guarding the Senekal-Ficksburg region, posting strong forces at intervals along the road, and fixing his headquarters at Scheepers Nek. Here he was strengthened by the arrival of General Campbell’s Brigade (16th), while General Brabant’s Force moved along the line in order to keep a wary eye on the guerilla bands that were intent on ravage and destruction. In a day or two he returned to Hammonia, however, as swarms of the enemy were circling about sniping, forcing Boers who had retired to their farms to rejoin the rebels, destroying telegraph wires, attempting to cut off parties of troops and to press their way towards the south, and, in fact, making themselves generally offensive.
In consequence of Lord Roberts’s proclamation, Free Staters remaining in the field now became rebels. But Mr. Steyn issued a counterblast—warned burghers to take no notice of the proclamation at their peril, and declared the country was still an International Sovereign State, with a President and properly constituted Government. The unfortunate burghers, therefore, found themselves between two fires, and their sentiments must have resembled those of the man who, torn between rival fair ones, cried, “How happy could I be with either, were t’other dear charmer away!” Botha, it was said, desired to surrender, but from sense of loyalty to De Wet was prevented from so doing, both Dutchmen having agreed to hold out so long as one remained uncaptured. De Wet was reported to be still keeping together some 6000 men in the Orange River Colony, Botha with some 5000 more, broken into marauding bands, was guarding the east of the Transvaal, while Mr. Kruger and his allies between Machadodorp and Nelspruit resided in a railway carriage, awaiting the whistle that should warn them to steam off.
On the 19th General Rundle, accompanied by his staff, Colonel Maxwell and Captain George Farrar of General Brabant’s Division, made a careful examination of Ficksburg and its fortifications, and afterwards, during a reconnaissance, it was discovered that a hornet’s nest was concealed in a series of sinister kopjes near by. The desperadoes had guns, and without doubt intended to use them should the British be caught in the open, but they were playing a waiting game, at which pastime General Rundle decided to show himself equally proficient. Further investigations proved that the Boer lines between Ficksburg and Bethlehem were of great strength, and that the Dutchmen numbered some 5000. Besides these bands, other roving commandos flitted about mosquito-wise, seeking to draw British blood.
On the 20th Colonel Dalgety at Hibernia reported that he had been surrounded. He stated that some 200 Dutchmen were ensconced on Doorn Kop near his camp, and asked for help in order to effect their capture. Off went General Rundle, with Scots Guards, Cavalry and Artillery, marching nimbly, in the fond hope of making a “bag,” through the pitchy blackness of the night, and reaching the destination at dawn. When the troops arrived, however, it was found that Colonel Dalgety had retired, and the Boers in dispersed gangs were again a prowling danger to the vicinity. Meanwhile General Paget, who was holding Lindley, was attacked by De Wet, who brought five pieces to bear on him, but the guerilla chief was successfully repulsed by the 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry, assisted later on by a battery of the City Imperial Volunteers which gave a splendid account of itself.
General Rundle’s march was continued on the 23rd towards Senekal, whereupon the Dutch hordes, seizing their opportunity, pounced on the rear of the transport. Under cover of a fiercely-flaring veldt fire they poured a volley on the rear guard—the Scots Guards and Hampshire Yeomanry under Captain Seely—who instantly jumped to action, giving the oncoming Boers so keen a dose from rifles and a Maxim, that they bolted to their main position at Tafelberg. Sundry of their party, seeking safety at the farm of some supposed neutral, were luckily captured and their harbour of refuge razed to the ground. (It was impossible longer to shut our eyes to the fact that the farms had become half-way houses for rebels, and there was no other means of disposing of these death traps.) In this engagement many of the Boers bit the dust, for the British troops actively pursued the enemy in their flight, and succeeded in thinning their numbers without casualties on their own side.
The dogged determination of the Boers was to break through to the south, and it took all the ingenuity of Generals Rundle and Brabant to create a linked chain from Winburg to the Basutoland border, through which the slim ones could not squeeze. Owing to the nature of the country—in some places a replica of Switzerland, with snow-capped peaks, enormous gorges, and treacherous passes—it was difficult to assume the offensive, and Sir Leslie Rundle had to content himself with the task of keeping the Boers in check while help came from the north. General Clements, on the 24th, engaged a body of fierce ruffians near Winburg, where he had gone to gather guns and supplies prior to combining his force with those at Lindley, Heilbron, and Heidelberg. He succeeded in driving the rebels north of the Zand River without great loss, though Captain G. E. F. Fitzgerald, 2nd Bedfordshire Regiment, was severely wounded, and Second Lieutenant R. H. Lascelles, 8th Battery Royal Field Artillery, was slightly injured.
At Bloemfontein, at this time, there was deep regret at the loss of Captain Lord Kensington,[7] 2nd Life Guards, who had died of his wounds.
Meanwhile, near Ficksburg, on the 25th, General Boyes’ Brigade also encountered the Dutchmen. Two valuable officers were killed—Captain E. B. Grogan and Lieutenant G. L. D. Brancker, 1st South Staffordshire Regiment—and five men were wounded and missing.
A convoy returning with General Clements to Senekal from Winburg was also attacked some seven miles from Senekal. Hearing of the fray, Colonel Grenfell and his Colonials set out from Senekal, attacked the enemy’s left flank, and became so hotly engaged that General Brabant, with all the available troops, rushed to the succour of the party. Of the combined forces three men were killed and twenty-three wounded.
General Paget was also desperately engaged at Lindley on the 26th, when a convoy of stores moving towards that place was attacked by the marauding bands, but after a heavy rearguard action succeeded in getting to their destination in safety. Ten men were killed and four officers and fifty men wounded.
On the following day the Roodival Spruit post was attacked, but the detachment of the Shropshire Light Infantry and West Australian Mounted Infantry, who were there, briskly sent the enemy flying.
General Methuen, too, was not inactive. On the 28th the Boer laagers near Vach Kop and Spitz Kop were found to be hastily removing in the direction of Lindley, whereupon the General gave chase, pursued the enemy for twelve miles, and eventually wrested from them some 8000 sheep and 500 head of cattle they had appropriated during their freebooting excursions in the neighbourhood. Lieutenant G. C. W. G. Hall and Lieutenant L. Simpson, 2nd Yorkshire Light Infantry, and four men were wounded, but otherwise the operations were highly satisfactory, as the Boer larder, if not the Boer person, had been made to pay heavily at a time when both belligerents were none too fully fed! The enemy once hemmed in, and once devoid of supplies, it was hoped the end of the war would be reached.
On the 2nd of July General Clements joined hands with General Paget, and the combined force began their advance on Bethlehem, of which anon.