I have the honour to be,
Your obedient servant,
KITCHENER,
Commander-in-Chief in South Africa.
District Lydenburg,
6th November, 1901.
To His Excellency Lord Kitchener,
Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's Forces in South Africa.
Your Excellency,—
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Excellency's letter of the 26th October, containing a denial of certain acts committed by armed kaffirs in the neighbourhood of Wit River and Ohrigstad.
With respect to the first incident, i.e., that at Wit River, I can only say that it appeared to us not only strange, but even improbable that a band of armed kaffirs could attack simultaneously, and in evident harmony with His Majesty's troops, and that neither party should have any cognisance of the other's presence.
If it were the first occasion that His Majesty's troops had acted in conjunction and with the assistance of kaffirs to make raids on the burghers, then His Excellency's explanation would be feasible.
But, alas, our bitter experience in this War is otherwise. I shall, therefore, be causing your Excellency no surprise if I contend that your Excellency's explanation is untenable. As to what occurred at Ohrigstad, I adhere to what I said, and to my letter of the 8th of October, and I regret to observe that Colonel Parke misled your Excellency by giving you an inaccurate account of the true facts.
To assist Colonel Parke's memory I may state that the same night he left Lydenburg on his way to Kruger's Post, the Boer, Harber, with his band of traitors, proceeded through Klipkloof and across Joubertshoogte, accompanied by 100 armed kaffirs, and passed Field-Cornet Zwart's farm at Uitkomst, where the plundering of Boer families and homesteads was commenced. This was done at the explicit instructions and in the presence of the said Harber.
The same afternoon Harber was met by the forces under Colonel Parke, at Rustplaats, whence they conjointly withdrew to Kruger's Post Nek.