A West Pointer with the Boers /

by John Y. Fillmore Blake

By the 15th of October General Botha had all his forces in the Eastern Transvaal along the railway line from Pretoria to Dalmanutha and on the Natal line from Heidleburg to Laing's Nek. General de la Rey was close to Johannesburg and Pretoria on the west. General Byers, a most excellent man and soldier, was north of Pretoria, and General De Wet was general traffic-manager for the railway line through the Free State. In fact, we were stronger and in better condition than we had ever been before, because we were concentrated. Of course, at one time during the war the Boer force was 35,000 strong, but it was too scattered and too much used for siege work to be of practical use.

During our six weeks' absence the English had busied themselves in building all sorts of forts along the railway lines. On a high commanding mountain a few miles north of Machadadorp they built eight forts at Helvetia and armed them with cannon, one being a 4.7 naval gun, bearing in large letters the name "Lady Roberts." English commands were moving about freely, believing that the Boer men were so scattered and demoralized that they would not dare to make a stand and fight. They were soon to be sorely disappointed for that able and most successful fighting general, Ben Viljoen, had gone to Rhinoster Kop, about fifteen miles north of Balmoral Station, to find out what the English were doing near Pretoria. Soon General Paget with 3,000 men, advanced, and attacked General Ben Viljoen and his 600 brave fighters of the Johannesburg Commando. Captain McCallum, Sergeant Joe Wade, Joe Kennedy, Mike Hannifin, Mike Halley, John McGlew and Jerry O'Leary, of the Irish Brigade were there too. General Viljoen took positions near the Kop, and on the 29th of November General Paget boldly attacked. For hours his cannon roared, and thundered, and tore up the earth and rocks generally, but the Johannesburg boys were there and they were there to stay.

Having fired enough shells to have killed each man at least five times, then General Paget advanced his lines and the rifles came into play. Time and again these lines were driven back, and the last time they advanced to within fifty yards of the Irish boys. Didn't they keep the air filled with steel and didn't they do good work? Well, I guess they did. The English were driven back once more all along the line and did not try again. General Viljoen's men had used up almost all their ammunition and could not have repelled another advance. At night he retired a few miles back, in the hope of meeting his ammunition wagons, which were already due to arrive. General Paget was satisfied. He had had enough and made no further attempt to molest General Viljoen and the Johannesburg boys. A board over one pit accounts for seventeen officers. The other pits bear no mark, so it is not yet known how many men were killed. However, the slaughter was so terrible, and General Paget so terribly thrashed, that he was relieved and sent home. Had he simply made a feint on General Viljoen's right flank the latter would have been forced to retreat without fighting, but it never occurred to General Paget for he was so sure that his frontal attack would be successful. General Viljoen lost three men killed and two wounded, and taught the English that the demoralized Boers were still able to defeat the disciplined English army.

Dr. Nethling GENERAL BEN VILJOEN Docks Young.
And some of his Commandants and Veldtcornets.

It was about this time that Lord Kitchener's proclamations and orders for the burning and destruction of Boer farms was given. The English visited, and destroyed in the end every farm, both in the Transvaal and in the Free State. All fences, crops, agricultural implements and soforth were destroyed. Even the towns of Dulstroom, Carolina, Ermelo, Bethel, Piet Retief, and many others were razed to the ground. Churches were torn down and the corner stones robbed of old church papers. Some of these papers were afterwards advertised for sale at fabulous prices. It was not until November, 1901, that this burning and destruction of property was completed, and the whole country left as a desert waste. On searching a farm house the officer in command would give the family ten minutes to get out what they could, but would at once spread the oil around and then apply the torch. All fowls, pigs, sheep and cows would either be shot down or driven off, and then without a mouthful of food, without shelter or clothing, the women and children would be left to starve to death on the veldt.

I do not believe that in the history of the world, one could find more acts of barbarity and brutality committed by any people in any land than by the English in the two little republics of the Transvaal and the Free State.

There were about fifteen of us near Dulstroom watching the movements of the English in November, 1901. A column of about 500 strong rode up to a farm house occupied by a widow and eleven girls, her daughters. Soon we saw the girls pushing the organ out of the door and the smoke began to fill the windows and roof. Of course, one of the girls brought out the family bible too, for that is one of the most precious things in the household to them. The organ was pushed about forty yards away and placed by a stone cattle kraal. The mother sat down and began to play and her girls collected about her. The house was now enveloped in flames, the soldiers were killing fowl, etc., while the officers were cracking jokes at the poor mother and her children. Of course, we thought that the old lady and her children were singing a hymn or psalm, because these are nearest to the Boer heart. The English, having completed their pleasant duty, rode off in search of other farms. We then went to the scene of destruction, because we knew that immediate help was necessary, as the sun would soon go down. On meeting them we asked the old lady how she could play and sing hymns while her home behind her back was burning and all her possessions were being destroyed? She replied, "We were not singing hymns or psalms, but our 'Boer War Song.'"

Here you have a fair sample of the Boer women. They are ready and willing to suffer from lack of food, to suffer from lack of clothing and bedding, to endure the cold of winter and the heat and fearful rainstorms of summer without any shelter over their heads, and, yes, they are ready and willing to face death itself, if the men will only stand and fight for the liberty of the people and the land. Yes, they are noble women, brave and patriotic women, the very women whom the English strove so hard to exterminate and whom they did murder by thousands in those prison camps.

So long as the Boer woman lives so long will there be a race of liberty-loving people in South Africa, so long will there be great Boer generals and fighting patriots daily born, and sure it is that such fighting blood will assert its independence. No one is more certain of this than Roberts, Kitchener, Joe Chamberlain, Alfred Milner and the thousands of other women-fighters in England.