Wednesday, 6th June.—All on the move, as the armistice which General Buller was trying to arrange with Chris Botha is up, the latter replying: "Our heavy guns and Mausers are our own and will be moved at our convenience; the armistice is over." We hear that Lord Roberts is in Pretoria and that Kruger has fled; but how unsatisfactory that this does not end the war. In fact, marching to Pretoria was the feature and romance of the war, and now must commence anxious and weary guerilla tactics which may last a long time. About dark in came orders to the Naval guns to move on and occupy Van Wyk to-night: and off we went through large grass fires and along awful roads, getting to the foot of the hill at about 1 a.m. with no worse mishap than the upset of one of my guns twice on huge rocks hidden in the long grass.
Captain Jones ordered me to go on up the hill during the night, leaving the 4.7 guns at the bottom; so we commenced a weary climb up Van Wyk (6,000 feet) on a pitch-dark night lighted only by the lurid gleams of grass fires which the enemy had set going on the slopes of the mountain. With thirty-two oxen on each gun it was only just possible to ascend the lower slopes, and thus we made very slow progress. But as Colonel Sim R.E. kindly showed me a sort of track up, on we toiled for six hours, my men not having had a scrap of food or a rest since starting while the night was deadly cold and dark. In the gray dawn, just as we were attempting the last slope which was almost precipitous, the wheels of one of the guns gave out and there we had to leave it till daylight, pressing on with the sound one and getting it up to the top exactly at daylight (7th June) in accordance with our orders, taking the gun and limber up separately, with all my oxen and 100 men pulling. We found the position was held by the 10th Brigade, and very heavy sniping going on down the N.W. slopes—a regular crackle of musketry.
I soon got my gun along the crest into an emplacement prepared by the Royal Engineers, and opened fire at once at 7,000 yards at a Boer camp on the slopes of an opposite kop; but finding the camp practically deserted we did not waste much fire on it. My men were now half dead with fatigue and cold, so we all got a short rest in a freezing wind.
Sir Redvers Buller, quite blue with cold, rode up about 9 a.m. with his Colonial guide, and carefully surveyed the position through my long telescope. Prince Christian also came up later to talk over the Boer position and seemed in great spirits. After a good look round we could not see many signs of the enemy in front, and he was just going off to report this, but at that moment the spurs of the berg opposite to us became alive with them at 6,000 or 7,000 yards off; they came in a long line out of a dip and donga and advanced in skirmishing order with ambulances in rear and a wagon with what looked like a gun on it. I opened fire at once and put my first two shells at 6,000 yards right into some groups of horsemen; we saw them tumbling about, so after about a dozen shots from my gun off they went like greased lightning, seeming to sink into the earth and evidently quite taken aback to find we had a gun in such a position. In a few minutes not a sign of them was left, and the Commander-in-Chief riding up appeared much pleased and congratulated us on our straight shooting; he seemed very satisfied that we had got the guns up Van Wyk at all, and rode off leaving us quite rewarded with his appreciation, besides that of General Hildyard and his Staff who were with him.
Up to about noon we had nothing but long range sniping going on, but to make all sure the 4.7 guns were sent up the hill by an easier and more circuitous road than we had come, and took up position in emplacements close to us. We on our part were busy all day completing our ammunition up to 100 rounds a gun from the wagons which we had been obliged to leave in the night half-way down the hill. Horribly cold! I slept in the open under a limber.
Friday, 8th June.—An attack on Botha's Pass arranged for 10 a.m. The 10th Brigade and Naval guns are to hold Van Wyk and cover the advance, with a range of 8,000 yards from the pass itself, and about three miles of valley and road between to search with our fire; the 11th Brigade is to attack in the centre, advancing along the valley to the foot of the pass; the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division to attack on the right, in echelon, and clear the slopes and spurs of the berg on our right flank; we ourselves to form the left of the line.
Our first objective was a conical high kop, called Spitz Kop, about 3,000 yards on our right and this was occupied without resistance by the South African Light Horse; our guns searched all the valleys and dongas up to the pass with a furious fire for some two hours assisted by May's batteries below us. We could hear General Clery pounding Laing's Nek with the two 4.7 guns on Prospect Hill and four 5" guns on our right, although Majuba and Pougwana were shut out by Mount Inkwelo from our actual view; and we knew that General Lyttelton had been detached to operate to the N.E. of Wakkerstroom. The attack developed about noon and we saw below us our Infantry and field batteries spread out in the plain like ants while we still pointed our guns ahead of them on to the top of the berg and pass. Up to the foot of the berg our men met with no resistance, but at last a furious fire of rifles and Pom-poms broke out on our right centre from Boers concealed in dongas and trenches on the spurs. Our gallant 11th Brigade, with the pressure eased by our fire and by the advance of the 2nd Brigade, took the hills and pass in grand style, and with small loss comparatively to ourselves. About 4 p.m. the enemy, driven up to the sky-line, lit large grass fires and cleverly slipped off towards the N.E. under cover of the smoke. We saw and fusilladed the Pom-poms through this smoke at 10,000 yards with the 4.7's, and at 5 p.m. we had the whole ground in our possession. Our troops in the valley were pushed on all night, and we ourselves also received orders to descend Van Wyk and press on. A shocking night; very wet and bitterly cold, with a heavy Scotch mist settled over us. Down Van Wyk we came, although delayed by our escort of Dublin Fusiliers losing their way all night in the fog, but the Dorsets helped us instead. We had a tough job coming down the steep hill in the mist but I had some fifty men on each of my guns to drag back and steady them, and we eventually got down to the lower ground without accident, but very much worn out and only just before daylight.
Saturday, 9th June.—At 6 a.m. moved on for Botha's Pass Road at full speed, and skirting a crest of hills overlooking a deliciously cool river, we soon came to the valley where our attack was advanced, and eventually got up the pass at dusk, at the tail end of a huge column all racing to get up first. If the Boers had properly entrenched the place it would have been impregnable. We bivouacked in Orange River Colony at the top of the pass, all in good spirits at our success and at being in a new country.
Sunday, 10th June.—Off at daybreak through delightful hard roads and veldt as compared with mountainous Natal; we can now realize Lord Roberts' fine forced marches on seeing the difference between these and the Natal roads. Our bullocks slipped along at the rate of three miles an hour, and passing farms flying white flags and flat veldt country we bivouacked for the night on Gansvlei Spruit, finding the boundary here of the Transvaal (a bend of the Klip River) quite close to us.