As the 2,000 panic-stricken brave Britishers passed in review, General De Wet and his 300 patriots did not fail to make their mausers sing in unerring tones and give them a good send off. General Broadwood and two-thirds of his men escaped. He left behind 350 men killed and wounded, 480 prisoners, seven cannon and 117 wagons to the tender mercies of General De Wet. The total Boer loss was three killed and five wounded. The British Government and all London rejoiced over General Broadwood's escape. I must confess that he deserved a great deal of credit and merited the gratulations of his Queen, for some other British general might have fared worse.
In the first days of April, after his great success at Sanna's Post, General De Wet collected more men and went to Reddersberg where he knew there were some English troops. On his arrival he found the English, but they did not make much resistance. They abused the white flag, and by so doing, killed one of his veldcornets and killed six of his men. The English having hoisted their white flag and all firing having ceased, General De Wet and his men advanced to receive their arms, ammunition, etc. On arriving within close range the English suddenly began firing again although their white flag was still flying. General De Wet's men followed their example, and within five minutes several more white flags were flying, but so furious were the burghers at the English treachery that General De Wet was unable to restrain them till 100 English had been killed and wounded. Now the remaining 470 gladly and promptly laid down their arms. That one act of treachery caused the death of that brave and good veldtcornet, Du Plessis, and General De Wet failed to appreciate the cause of humanity when he did not shoot down every officer among his 470 prisoners.
PAYING AN INSTALMENT ON THE IRISH DEBT.
I will now return to the Irish boys whom I left at Smaldeel station, thirty miles north of Brandfort in the Free State. During the few days we spent here, every preparation was made for hot, lively work, for we knew that it was near the time when orders would come to advance and meet Lord Roberts and his great army of 90,000 men, with cannon in proportion. On the afternoon of May 1st, 1900, we received instructions to proceed to Brandfort and join with General de la Rey, so, having packed all tents, baggage, etc., in a freight car—which we scarcely ever expected to see again,—we started on our way, and never a happier or more delighted lot of boys went to a holiday picnic than those that went to face English bullets and shells.
It was a long, cold ride, and late in the afternoon of the following day we were camped in the bush on the bank of the little creek at Brandfort. Rumors were soon going the rounds that the British were near at hand, but it was so dark that we could not have seen them had they been only twenty feet away. So we decided to go to sleep and get up before daylight in the morning, that we might be ready to meet trouble.
In the early morning we learned that the English had slept in the bush on the same creek, a few miles below us, and as soon as the sun came up we saw them. There before us was Roberts with his 90,000 men, by far the largest army that any of us had ever seen, and, as far as we knew, there was to oppose him a mouthful of Irishmen at Brandfort. The Russian attache, Colonel Gourko, the French attache, Captain Demange, and the American attache, Captain Carl Reichmann, were there too. I think everyone of them came near being captured, for they were a plucky lot of fellows and were determined to see how the English would act in the face of a handful of Irishmen. I don't know how the spectacle struck the attaches, but the English reminded me of a lot of ants whose routine of action had been disturbed by some mischievous boy, for they seemed to be moving aimlessly in all directions. I really believe that Roberts and his 90,000 men were afraid that a few hundred Boers might lay an ambush for them at Brandfort. This idea is preposterous, but I tell you that Englishmen are terribly afraid of Boers, and when they see one, that one will appear as many as at least ten to them.
South of Brandfort about three miles, there is a line of kopjes running east and west. Several columns of cavalry were moving south of them and parallel to them. It was plain that they intended to attack that line of kopjes. There were no Boers in them at the time, but the English imagined they were full of them. Early in the morning the Heidelburg Commando, about 600 strong, joined with us at the tall hill by Brandfort. All then went at full speed to reach the kopjes before the English. We barely succeeded, for no sooner had we dismounted than the English began with both cannon and rifle to make it warm for us.
The new boys from Chicago and Massachusetts, although it was their first time under fire, were in great glee, and with the old men of the brigade began to fire. Although huge shells tore up the earth about them, and thousands of bullets were chipping stones and singing in the air, yet not one of them seemed to realize that he was in any danger whatever. They were all too intent on their own work to realize their danger. Between the Irish boys and the Heidelburg Commando there was a large and very high kopje, so that neither party could see the other. The Irish boys succeeded in driving the English right back and were much pleased with their work. About two p.m., a courier came near me and yelled out, "General Spruit says get your men away as quickly as possible." In loud tones I asked, "What is the trouble?" But he was in too much of a hurry to give answer, and he was soon far on his way across the flat in our rear. I called to the boys and told them to come quickly, as there was imminent danger somewhere. Irish-like, they wanted to argue the case, for they saw no danger and besides they were having a really good time. I quickly told them to come, as there was no time for argument. I knew General Spruit well, and when he says "get out quickly," I know it is time to get out. We raced down the kopje, mounted our horses and started across the flat towards Brandfort. Much to our surprise, we saw all the hills about Brandfort literally covered with English cavalry. I looked for the Heidelburg Commando and found that it must have retreated hours before, for not a man of it could be seen in any direction. We were certainly in a serious position, for our line of retreat was cut off by thousands of English, and there were thousands in front of us. To get out at all, we had to march across an open flat and pass within 2,500 yards of the English, for there was only one pass through the mountains in our rear. We crossed the flat and, having reached the base of the mountains, I called the men and told them that it looked like a hopeless case for us. There really was not the slightest show for us because all the English had to do was to ride down 1,000 or 1,500 yards, and we were completely hemmed in.