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

by G. A. Henty

Had the plan been carried out as intended, the whole of the Boer force would probably have been annihilated and captured, and the war might have come to an abrupt end, for both Kruger and Steyn were with De Wet, and with the capture of the two originators of the war, all further resistance might have ceased at once. But for once in his brilliant career French failed. Thus, instead of sweeping quite clear of the Boer line, he ran against the extreme left of their position. Daylight broke before the cavalry were perceived, and the instant the Boer leaders saw that they were in danger of being outflanked, and their retreat cut off, they abandoned the position they had so laboriously fortified and retired hastily. But there was still ample time for the cavalry to have overtaken the guns and waggons, even if they could not have caught the flying horsemen. They allowed themselves, however, to be held in check by a handful of skirmishers, some fifty in number, who first held a farmhouse, and when, driven from this, kept up a stinging fire from a low kopje, until, knowing that the guns and waggons were out of reach, and that the two presidents must have escaped, they retired.

Thus, for an hour this great body of cavalry and mounted men suffered themselves to be detained on their all-important journey by half a company of infantry. Such was not the method by which French had relieved Kimberley. Then he had disregarded the rifle and artillery fire of a vastly larger body of men, and had galloped straight on. His mission was to the full as important now, and yet he allowed himself to be detained for a precious hour, by which time the finest opportunity of the whole war was lost. General Roberts remarked when he heard of the utter failure of his plans, "In war you cannot expect everything to come out right. General French can afford to lose one leaf from his laurel wreath." Tucker's infantry had never fired a shot, and De Wet's little band had inflicted some fifty casualties among our cavalry.

Had a portion of the mounted infantry been sent forward on foot against them as soon as they opened fire, the matter would have been over in five minutes, and the loss would probably have been much smaller. The Boers, unmolested in their retreat, speedily rallied and took up a fresh position at Driefontein; and on the 9th, Lord Roberts again advanced. As before, De Wet had chosen his position well. It was some seven miles in length. The northern flank was protected by the river, the southern by a steep hill extending back for a long distance. The general's plan was the same as in the previous fight, namely, to outflank the enemy and cut off their retreat. For this purpose Tucker's Division, with a portion of the cavalry, were to make a wide circuit. The river prevented any flanking movement being attempted on that side.

General French was in command. The left wing was composed of Kelly-Kenny's Division, the 1st Cavalry Brigade, and a regiment of Mounted Infantry. He was to keep in touch with the centre, and not to push his attack home until Tucker had worked round to the rear of the position. But movements in the dark are always uncertain, and French, in endeavouring to keep touch with the centre, moved his men more and more to the right, unknowing in the darkness that he was already ahead of that body. Thus, when he approached the Boer position, he was absolutely between it and the main body. Morning was breaking now, and Kelly-Kenny learned from a Boer farmer, who had doubtless been ordered by De Wet to give false information, that the hill in front had been abandoned. Therefore, he advanced until a storm of fire showed that he had been deceived.

The Welsh, who were the leading regiment, were staggered by the rain of bullets, and the Buffs passed them. So heavy was the fire to which they were exposed that every officer was hit, and, throwing themselves down, the men joined the Welsh in returning the fire of their unseen assailants. The men of the Essex regiment, who were next in order, pushed on, supported by the Yorkshires, and these with a cheer surged over the crest and fell upon its defenders, who were the Johannesburg Police, considered the best corps in the Boer army. It was composed of men of every nationality. They had been the terror and scourge of the town where they were supposed to keep order, and were, for the most part, unmitigated ruffians. They possessed, however, that fighting instinct that was absent among the Boers, a readiness to stand an attack, and they here suffered heavily for it.

The Essex men were among them with the bayonet, and drove them like chaff before the wind, leaving a hundred dead behind them. The moment the position was carried, the Boers quitted their whole line of defences and fled hastily. In point of the number of casualties the action was an insignificant one. Kelly-Kenny's Brigade had lost four hundred in killed and wounded, but they alone had been engaged. The turning movement had failed altogether, from some miscalculation in distance. The attack had begun long before Tucker and the cavalry had reached their appointed place, and, as before, the Boers were able to draw off their waggons and guns. Nevertheless, the consequences were of immense importance. The road to Bloemfontein was again open, and the Boers had learned that, however strong their position, they could not hope to oppose the British advance. From this time until the army marched into Pretoria they never again attempted to make an enduring stand, but abandoned one after the other, without an attempt to defend them, the positions they had prepared, or rather had forced the Kaffirs to prepare for them with immense labour.

There was no delay after this success; the army swept forward, and on the 12th they were within striking distance of Bloemfontein. The cavalry pushed forward to the railway south of the town and cut it, while Major Hunter-Weston, with a handful of Mounted Infantry, started to cut the lines to the north of the town. The feat was a bold and difficult one. The night was extremely dark, but they succeeded in finding the railway and in blowing up a culvert, and returning in safety after having fought their way through a Boer force they encountered. This action was of immense service, as it prevented the escape of twenty-eight railway-engines, two hundred and fifty trucks, and a thousand tons of coal, which were all standing in readiness to start as soon as the British were seen advancing against the town. It is not too much to say, that had these trains escaped, Lord Roberts would have found it next to impossible to supply his army with provisions.

As the troops marched through Bloemfontein to the spot selected for their encampment, a mile or two outside the town, they were received with enthusiasm by the British portion of the population. Union-jacks waved from the windows, caps were thrown up, and women sobbed in their joy at their release from the long strain of nearly six months of Boer insolence and oppression. The general was met by a deputation headed by the mayor, the landdrost, and Mr. Fraser—the last-named being a Scotchman who had long been settled there, and had adopted the nationality of the Orange Free State. He had won the esteem of the Dutch population as well as that of the British, and had been run against Steyn for the presidentship. Had he succeeded, the Free State would never have thrown in its lot with the Transvaal, and would have been spared enormous sacrifices and financial ruin. He was thoroughly loyal to the country of his birth, and was appointed by Lord Roberts chief magistrate of Bloemfontein, while General Pretyman was named as its governor.