With Roberts to Pretoria: A Tale of The South African War

by G. A. Henty

CRONJE RIDES OUT TO SURRENDER.

The Canadians, however, now felt the benefit of the sacks of earth carried by the Engineers with them. These sacks were thrown down the instant the first shot was fired, and behind these the two companies of Canadians and the Engineers lay in comparative shelter. This protection was soon increased by the work of the men with shovels, and before day broke they were firmly established, and from their position were able to open a flanking fire upon the greater portion of the Boer trenches on that side. The other companies of the Canadians had similarly entrenched themselves a short distance farther back, and all felt that the end of the ten days' investment was close at hand. The Boers also saw that to continue the struggle would result in their entire destruction, and at six in the morning a white flag was raised and Cronje himself rode out. He was met by General Pretyman and conducted by him to the head-quarters camp, where he met Lord Roberts, who shook hands with him. Cronje then said that he had come in to surrender. The general replied that the surrender must be unconditional. Cronje felt that in the desperate position in which he was placed he could not stand out for any conditions, but merely asked that his wife, grandson, secretary, and adjutant should, with his servants, be allowed to accompany him. This was granted, and he and those with him were the same afternoon sent down with the other prisoners, about four thousand in number, under a strong escort to the railway, by which they were taken down to Cape Town.

Only a hundred and fifty wounded were found in the camp, and, taking the usual proportion of killed and wounded, only some thirty or forty could have fallen victims to the tremendous bombardment to which they had been exposed for ten days, including those who fell during the attack on the 18th. The aspect of the prisoners was miserable to the last degree as, pallid, unwashed, unkempt, and ragged, they staggered up from the holes in which they had been lying, worn out by the terrible strain, sickened by the horrible odours that speedily drove back the soldiers who entered the camp, and must have been well-nigh insupportable even to nostrils accustomed to insanitary surroundings. Some were sullen and downcast, but among the majority the predominant feeling was evidently one of satisfaction at the end of their sufferings, and the fact that, as far as they were concerned, the fighting was over.

The scene in the camp was indeed terrible. Carcasses of dead animals lay everywhere, the greater part, owing to the heat of the sun, being in a state of decomposition. Waggons overturned, and sometimes smashed to pieces by the explosion of our shells, showed the destruction modern artillery can effect against material of all kinds, though it is comparatively harmless against troops when not in solid formation.

If the Boer prisoners had expected—as would assuredly have been the case had they been the victors—that the vanquished would be received with exultation and triumphant jeers, they were agreeably surprised. They had been brought up in the belief that the British soldier was at once contemptible as a fighter and full of every evil quality. They had already learned that he could fight; now they learned that he was a generous enemy, and that his imagined hatred of the Boer had no existence whatever. The patient endurance with which the besieged had supported the tremendous fire to which they had been subjected, had filled the soldiers with admiration and pity for men forced by the iron will of their commander to maintain a resistance when there was no possibility of escape, and they crowded round the captives, offering them little kindnesses, helping the feeble, giving them tobacco and other little comforts from their own scanty stores, carrying the children, and assisting the women. There was no sign of exultation. They were justly proud of the success they had gained, but no show of this feeling was visible. As much honour was due to the British soldier for his bearing at the moment of victory as for the desperate courage and steadfast endurance he had displayed in trying to achieve it.

Yorke Harberton had been kept at work almost night and day from the time he reached Jacobsdal, carrying orders to the different columns and bringing back news of their position and progress. He would alternately ride his own horse and that which Mr. Chambers had given him, and when these required rest would use animals captured when Jacobsdal was taken. Although the excitement had kept him up, he was completely worn out when he arrived at head-quarters at Paardeberg. The other aides-de-camp were in a similar position, and Lord Roberts with his usual kindness told them that they must for a day or two consider themselves relieved from further duty, and that their work would be carried on by officers drawn from the cavalry. In spite of the thunder of the guns Yorke slept for nearly eighteen hours without waking, then, after a hearty meal, he rode round the line of investment, in order to ascertain the exact position of the various regiments and brigades, in case he should have to carry orders to them. But although after two days' rest he returned to duty, there was little for him to do, as the position remained unchanged until the final advance of Smith-Dorrien's men.

The joy of the troops at the capture of Cronje and his host—who had left Magersfontein six thousand strong, and of whom only one thousand who had slunk away to their farms retained their liberty—was heightened by the fact that his surrender occurred on Majuba Day. This feeling was especially strong among the Colonial troops, who had hitherto been obliged to put up with the triumphant celebrations of that event by the Boers. This feeling was still further heightened by the receipt of the news that a day later Buller's army had relieved Ladysmith.

Not until March 6th, a week after the surrender, was there any movement. This pause had been absolutely necessary to rest the horses of the cavalry, which had been half starved as well as terribly overworked. Accustomed to be fed at regular hours, these were unable to eke out the scanty rations served to them by cropping the dried-up and scanty grass on the veldt, and even at the end of the week were still scarcely fit for service. Thus no effort could be made to disperse the large force consisting of local levies, commandos from Colesberg and other places south of the Orange River, and those that had hurried up from Natal, now all commanded by De Wet.

But in the meantime reinforcements had arrived—the Guards from Klip Drift, the Australians and the Burmese Mounted Infantry, a detachment of horse from Ceylon, the Imperial Yeomanry, and the City Imperial Volunteers, who had distinguished themselves in the attack on Jacobsdal, and were for all purposes of such warfare the equals of any of the line regiments. Indeed, the South African troops, the contingents from our colonies, and the volunteer companies which came out attached to the various line regiments, shattered to atoms the long-cherished belief of military men that civilians would be of no real service in warfare. In point of bravery, readiness to submit to discipline, and of cheerful endurance of fatigue and hardship, they proved themselves equal to their comrades of the regular army, and showed that enemies of Britain must not, in making an estimate of her strength, omit from consideration the militia and volunteers, the mounted corps that would spring into existence, and the aid of her great colonies in case of need.

The position taken up by De Wet was a very strong one. In its centre was a farmhouse called Poplars Grove. On both flanks rose hills connected by scattered kopjes. Guns were placed on all the hills, and along the front ran trenches, rifle-pits, and barbed wire; and a direct attack would probably have proved at least as costly as Magersfontein. But Lord Roberts possessed what Lord Methuen had not—three brigades of mounted men and a strong force of horse-artillery. He had a number of guns greatly superior in weight of metal to those of the enemy, and an army of over thirty thousand men. But even with such a force he was not a man to throw away a single life unnecessarily, and therefore determined to turn the Boers' position. The cavalry were sent off before morning broke on March 7th to make a wide sweep, and come down upon the Boer line of retreat. Tucker's Division were to follow and support them. Kelly-Kenny was to push straight along the southern bank of the river, but he was not intended to attack until the cavalry and Tucker were in their appointed places. The Highland Brigade were on the north side of the river with the Naval Brigade, and these were to make a turning movement.