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

by G. A. Henty

Had the men from the Free State possessed the hardihood of those from the Transvaal, it is morally certain that no passage of the river could have been effected; but the military system which, north of the Vaal was vigorous though irregular, and made every man a soldier, was but a shadow in the Orange Free State. At peace with their neighbours, fearing no attack, on good terms with the British Government, whose territory adjoined their own to the south and west, and for the most part to the east, save where Basutoland, wholly under British influence, touched them, it seemed there was no occasion to maintain a military organization. They had given themselves up to peaceful pursuits, and although a pastoral people, were immeasurably in advance of their neighbours north of the Vaal. The majority, too, wholly disapproved of the war into which the ambition of their president had forced them, and in such a mood might well be shaken by the terrible bombardment they had to face.

Considering the incessant fire to which, for some twelve hours, the British troops had been exposed, it is remarkable that our casualties should not have exceeded four hundred and fifty. Of these one hundred and twelve were contributed by the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, and sixty-nine by the Coldstreams.

But even to the troops lying helpless all day, the hours had not passed more slowly and painfully than to the cavalry in their enforced inactivity. They had dismounted to ease their horses, and the men and officers of Rimington's Guides stood in little groups ready to mount at a moment's notice.

"It is awful," one of the officers said; "it is simply awful! One would think that not a single man exposed to that storm of fire would be found alive at the end of the day. What maddens one is the thought that all this might have been spared us, if we had not blundered into it as if we had been going to a picnic. Why, if only a troop of us had been sent down yesterday afternoon, or early this morning, to reconnoitre, we should have been spared all this. We could have dismounted here and made our way down in very open order, on foot, say fifty yards apart, and pushed on till we got to the willows, and through them to the river bank; or, better still, we could have entered the willows to the right here and searched them thoroughly right round across the railway and as far as the village.

"As it turns out, of course, we should have lost three-quarters of our number; but those who got back would have told of the hidden rifle-pits, and the fact that the Boers were gathered there in great force. But somehow, it was taken for granted that there would not be any serious resistance. Even when the troops went forward, there were no scouts pushed out in front of the attacking line. We have just fallen into the trap they set for us. It was the same at Belmont and at Graspan. We only found out where the enemy were in force when they opened a blaze of fire at us.

"I was chatting with a private in the infantry, who, before he joined the army, was a volunteer in one of the London battalions, and he told me that when Lord Methuen was in command of the district there was no one more particular than he as to patrols being thrown out far ahead and the ground being thoroughly scouted. He was very popular, for though strict, he was always kind and considerate. As to his bravery there is no question, and the way in which he is exposing himself to-day, galloping about from point to point open to Boer fire, is splendid; but I fancy his staff will be thinned out before the end of the day."

"Those fellows must be well in hand," another said, "or they would never have held their fire when he rode up to within four hundred yards of them yesterday. They could have made a certainty of picking him and the two officers with him off at that distance, and if only half a dozen had fired it would have seemed that there might still only be a little party left behind.

"The beggars seem to have more idea of discipline than we gave them credit for. They must have been sitting as quiet as mice until they opened fire, for, watching the bushes closely with my glass, I did not see as much as a leaf stir."

And so they talked until they saw the rush of the men of the Ninth Brigade down to the river, and although they could not make out exactly what was doing, they concluded by the gradual disappearance of the troops and the roar of musketry that they must have succeeded in crossing the river. The relief was intense, and the men shouted and cheered and waved their hats in the greatest delight. The officers joined in a lively argument as to what was likely to take place. All agreed that it would be next to impossible to move troops over to support those who had crossed, for by their own feelings of exhaustion, brought on by hunger, thirst, heat, and excitement, they felt sure that the troops, who had gone through a far more severe ordeal, would need food, drink, and at least some hours' rest before they could again take up the stern work. At the same time, all saw that if the Boers hurled themselves on the little force on the other side of the river, assistance must be sent, whatever the state of the men might be.

"They have only to call for volunteers," one officer said, "and I doubt if a man would hold back. After what they have gone through, it would almost galvanize a dead man into life to know that there was a chance at last to meet face to face the men who had been making a target of them. But I expect the Boers must be nearly as done up as we are. They were in their places before daylight, and although I don't suppose our bullets have disposed of many of them, their nerves must be so shaken up by our artillery fire that I can't think there can be much fight left in them. We know that their fire on the left has been slackening for some time, and the fact that our fellows have been able to fight their way across is another proof of it. Besides, as we saw at the last two fights, they lose heart directly they see their retreat threatened, and they must know that they will be cut off altogether from the place they have fortified farther on, if we can but maintain our footing, for success on our left would put us between them and Kimberley."