July ended with a triumphant flourish of trumpets in honour of the united labours of, first, General Sir Leslie Rundle, who may claim the east of the Orange Colony as his military perquisite, and finally General Sir Archibald Hunter. Prinsloo’s surrender was followed by that of 1200 more Free Staters, and the Commandants Roux and Fonternel. To General Bruce Hamilton came Commandants Deploy, Potgieter, and Joubert, and Lieutenant Alderson, a Danish officer of Staats Artillery, and with them 1200 rifles, 650 ponies, and an Armstrong gun.
The Free State army was therefore only represented by De Wet and his followers—some 1500—who were hovering in the neighbourhood of the Vaal, and Olivier, who, having refused to consider himself bound by Prinsloo’s actions, had taken up a position in the direction of Harrismith, where he was being tracked by General Rundle.
AFFAIRS IN AND AROUND PRETORIA—THE CAPTURE OF MIDDELBURG
Late in June, at the time of the armistice before-mentioned, there seemed to have been some hesitation on the part of Botha and Kruger whether they should unconditionally surrender, but they were incapable of decisive action while Steyn, who now had nothing to lose and everything to gain, kept the field. The position was best described by Mr. Spenser Wilkinson when he likened Kruger and Steyn to Hannibal and Hasdrubal: “the strongest proof that his cause was lost that could be given to Hannibal was Hasdrubal’s head sent into his camp.” Another important consideration influenced the President in his hesitation; he bargained, or wished to bargain, that he might remain in the country, a condition which of course could not be entertained.
Both Mrs. Kruger and Mrs. Botha exerted themselves to bring about the termination of the useless struggle. One went to her husband’s camp in hope to influence him, while the other wrote imploring her better half to come to terms. But their efforts were of no avail. According to some accounts, the President was in the hands of his generals, who, declaring he had played his cards and played them badly, arrogated to themselves the right to judge when hostilities should cease. He was, moreover, in bad odour even with his own burghers, and many of them were openly denouncing him for his conduct in feathering his own nest, and leaving his compatriots alone to face ruin and extricate themselves from the hurly-burly into which he had inveigled them. His foreign mercenaries, too, were furious. They had been calculating on magnificent rewards for their championship of the Boer cause, and now found it hard to digest the philosophic maxim, “Blessed are they who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed!”
On the 24th, 25th, and 26th of June, efforts were made to surround the enemy in the hills some fifteen miles to the east beyond Silverton. General French on the left, General Ian Hamilton on the right, and the Eleventh Division in the centre engaged in the enveloping movement; but, by the night of Tuesday the 26th, there was nothing to envelop—the Boers had vanished along the Delagoa Bay Railway. The operation caused a loss of about 150.
Stringent measures had now to be adopted to frustrate the wily efforts of the Boer generals to obtain news of the military movements of the British. The town was teeming with spies, who actively communicated to the foe the secret doings of the authorities, and diffused intelligence in relation to the intentions of the Boer forces, which was both alarming and paralysing to the inhabitants. It was reported that a combination existed between the Boer leader without the town and the burghers who had surrendered within it, to join forces and attack the place, and in consequence of these rumours extensive precautions were adopted, the number of guards around the capital were increased, and armoured trains patrolled the line daily. Nevertheless, in other ways the town was assuming a more business-like and settled aspect. Some of the Dutch women, knowing themselves safe in the hands of the British, continued to flaunt their national colours, while others flung insulting epithets at the officers, thus unintentionally and subtly complimenting them, as such demeanour demonstrated a firm conviction on the part of the ladies that those whom they insulted were too chivalrous to retaliate.
Revelations respecting the intrigues of the late Transvaal Government came gradually to hand, and documents found in Pretoria divulged some unpleasant secrets. First, that large bribes had been paid to sundry prominent foreigners who had visited the Transvaal during the war and promised intervention; second, that letters of dubious complexion had been sent by certain members of the British House of Commons to the Boers—letters which those who were apt to dub a spade a spade called traitorous, and others who talked of “implement of agriculture” styled unpatriotic!
The enemy, who had succeeded in capturing Lieutenant Rundle (6th Dragoon Guards) and some men of his patrol, continued to engage himself in mischief around the right flank, so much so that Lord Roberts decided that he must make a clean sweep towards the east of Bronker’s Spruit. It must be remembered that after the battle of Diamond Hill the Boers had moved off, only to widen, if to thin, their half-circle round the neighbourhood of Pretoria. Botha remained astride the Delagoa Railway line toward the east, threatening with his left, so far as he dared, the south-east of the town. Grobler gathered his force on the north, while beyond him, to north-west, went Delarey and his hovering hordes, bent on menacing the road to Rustenburg. It was impossible as yet to engage in very decisive operations owing to lack of remounts, but some action was necessary.
Accordingly, General Hutton’s Mounted Infantry was despatched to reinforce Colonel Mahon, who on the 6th of July was attacked at Rietfontein by some 3000 Boers with six guns and two Vickers-Maxims. Fighting fierce and sustained was continued for two days, when the desired object was achieved, and the Boers cleared from the immediate neighbourhood. The Imperial Light Horse, brilliant as ever, unhappily lost two officers—Captain Currie and Lieutenant Kirk—and thirteen men, their unusual loss being occasioned by the gallantry of B Squadron in pressing to the assistance of a wounded comrade in the teeth of a host of the enemy.