As Lord Roberts’s army came nearer and nearer to the doomed capital, the excitement grew more intense and the air was filled with alarming rumors. General Botha came back to Pretoria and established his headquarters there in order to reconstruct his forces, which were badly scattered, and to provision them from the government stores. Extra calls for burghers to rally to the cause were issued every day and were responded to by hundreds. Pretoria was the turning point of the war, at which men were called on to decide for themselves whether they would continue the struggle to the bitter end, or leave on the last trains for Delagoa Bay and sail for Europe, or remain in the city and quietly allow the British to overtake them, thus being possibly overlooked among the hundreds of peaceable citizens.
Arms were issued from the arsenal to all those who wished to continue the fight or who wished to cast their lot for the first time with the army of the two states. There were arms and ammunition in abundance for hundreds more men than came to take them, for the supply had been laid in with the idea of eventually arming every man and boy in the Transvaal. Many of the burghers exchanged their well-battered rifles for new ones; all filled their ammunition belts, and took in other ways all they could besides.
Hundreds responded to the final call to arms. Many burghers collected their entire families and secured arms for them to assist in the struggle. It is not possible for any one who has not seen that army fighting in South Africa to realize how deadly is their earnestness. Some of the men are so old as to appear incapable of sitting in a saddle for a march of even a few miles, to say nothing of the marches they often make, covering several days. There are young men in the prime of life, strong and sturdy; there are boys in knee trousers, who do not look old enough to have sufficient strength to endure the hardships of war or to know how to do any real fighting. There are even women who have followed their husbands or brothers through it all, attending the wounded, and cooking when necessary, but often going into the fighting line and matching the men with a rifle.
The battle of Pretoria: Boers awaiting the British advance under artillery fire.
The battle of Pretoria: British naval guns shelling forts.
The Boer army entered the second year of the war a far more formidable force than the one that fought through the first year, and especially during the first months of the war. At that time the army was filled with men who had been commandeered and who were compelled to go into the field, but who were not obliged to fight, and often did not fight. There were also many adventurers from other nations, seeking a little fame, and perhaps fortune. But now there is not a man in the field who is not there to fight, and when they went out of Pretoria they knew they were burning their bridges behind them. It was for this reason that fathers took their young sons with them, and it was for the same reason that the women followed the men.
One day I was in General Botha’s headquarters, just before he was leaving Pretoria for good, when an old gray-haired burgher came in to see him. He waited some minutes, as the general was busy, but finally stepped up to his desk. He did not give the regulation military salute, but merely shook hands with General Botha and wished him health in the Dutch fashion.
“What can I do for you?” asked the Boer leader, still looking over some papers before him.