| (Corporal). | (Private). |
The spirit with which the Town Guard proposition was taken up was altogether without precedent, a striking demonstration of the solidarity of sentiment in the city, and within a few days the number of those eager to come forward in defence of home and district had reached 4000. As an instance of the practical zeal of the community, it may be mentioned that the Civil Service Company of the Town Guards (under Captain Callcott Stevens, who had previously seen active service with the D.E.O.V.R. in the Basuto War) was raised in the course of an afternoon! There was little martial glory to be attained in spending dreary nights on picket work or in sentry-go, therefore the enthusiasm with which these civilians threw themselves into the drudgery of battle for duty’s sake was as amazing as it was honourable. Naturally the partisans of Dutch independence looked on with dumb consternation, and in the face of this ardent multitude their hopes gradually trickled away.
The force was given in charge of General Brabant, while Colonel Cooper, the Base Commandant, took control of the arrangements of the Town Guards, and put the enrolling in the hands of the Major of each municipality, thus relieving the pressure on the Drill Hall Staff. Recruiting went merrily, and soon the first drafts for the Western Province Mounted Rifles, commanded by Captain Chester-Master, were equipped and despatched to Piquetberg Road, where their mounts awaited them—and where Colonel Du Cane expressed his approval of the expedition with which the admirable corps had been despatched. These were followed by others without loss of time. The crack infantry regiment of the Colony, the Duke’s, under the auspices of Colonel Goold Adams, was permitted to form a second battalion; a Cyclist Corps was raised, which included a number of well-known cyclists—Messrs. Donald Menzies, T. Denham, G. Roberts, A. M. Carroll, W. E. Tyler—with Captain J. G. Rose in command, and Lieutenants Brunton and Walker as subalterns; and the Cape Medical Staff Corps was augmented, in order that a medical company should be attached to every regiment of 800 men. Additional recruits were secured for the C. G. Artillery and the C. T. Highlanders, forces which had already distinguished themselves in the field; a Jewish Corps was originated under the direction of Mr. L. Waldman, assisted by a recruiting committee: Messrs. Harry Solomon, H. Goodman, S. Bebro, and J. H. Goldreich; while a Caledonian, a Legal, and a Cricketers’ Corps were also started.
Mr. Abe Bailey showed practical appreciation of the Cricketers, by giving a donation of £100 to the troop for the purpose of transport equipment, and the first troop, commanded by Lieutenant Feltham (late Protectorate Regiment)—and among whom were the well-known players: M. Bisset (sergeant), T. W. Bell, E. Yates, G. Macfarlane, J. Rushton, D. Home, C. Bartlett, E. Warren, E. Gill, H. Wrensch, C. M. Neustetel, J. Graham, K. Hunter, F. R. Brooke, L. H. Fripp, W. Reid, H. Stidolph, S. Horwood, A. Baker, W. Marshant, J. Fehrsen, R. Solomon, I. Difford, H. Reid, and L. J. Tancred—was soon under way.
Arrangements for forming a second troop were in course of completion. The Volunteer Veterans’ Association, by means of their Vice-President, Major J. Scott, introduced themselves to the favourable consideration of Colonel Southey; and the Scotsmen—so many were already in the field—rallied bravely round Messrs. Parker, M’Leod, Bowie, Collie, and Ramage, the energetic committee in charge of the formation of the Caledonian Corps.
Colonel Warren (late Kitchener’s Horse) was now appointed to the command of a regiment to be styled Warren’s Mounted Infantry—and a grand reunion of veterans of Prince Alfred’s Own Cape Artillery took place in order that old gunners might form a company. When it is explained that at this time 6500 South African Irregulars had already been recruited, 2500 of whom had been contributed by Cape Town, the wonderful zeal of the community may be appreciated. Indeed, space does not admit of a detailed account of the further warlike preparations, but sufficient has been said to prove that this demonstration of loyalty was unparalleled in the history of the Cape.
All these exertions were due to the fact that De Wet and Botha had secretly arranged a combined system of attack which would keep our troops on tenterhooks while the Boers gathered together recruits, arms, and ammunition. Hertzog was to skirmish his way down the Colony, fan the smouldering disloyalty of Africanders, and gradually steer his course to the coast. De Wet, with more men, was to join him, and together they were to fight their way to a point of St. Helena’s Bay, where a vessel bearing a fresh consignment of arms and ammunition forwarded by sympathisers in Europe, or from their own party in Holland, would be awaiting them. While they were thus carrying out their movements, Botha was to assist them by creating a diversion, and invading Natal with all the commandos at his disposal. The most important and alarming scheme—the parent scheme as it were—was De Wet’s. That needed to be strangled in its birth, and to this end various complicated military movements were set on foot; firstly, to prevent Hertzog from advancing farther into British territory; secondly, to frustrate his efforts to gain recruits either by intimidation or inflated promises of success; thirdly, and chiefly, to arrest the rush to his assistance of De Wet and the concentration of the scattered commandos at any given point. So much for the arrangements to meet the parent scheme.
In regard to Botha’s tactics, Lord Kitchener’s plans for meeting them were of that complex nature which makes for simplicity. A crescent shaped rake of troops was to work eastwards towards the low country of Piet Retief, sweeping Botha’s hordes—they numbered from five to eight thousand still—before it till the Boer chief should find himself wedged against the Swaziland border, and confronted with four equally uninviting alternatives.
1st. He might elect to fly into the arms of the loyal Swazis (who cherish an old-time hatred for their hereditary oppressors); 2nd, into those of the Zulus (who may be said to be equally antagonistic to Boer ways); 3rd, he might trek north-east into regions redolent of fever, and more deadly than the most bullet-laden battlefield; or, 4th, he might surrender and come to really easy terms with conquerors who were ready and anxious to hold out to him the hand of fellowship. But to return to Scheme No. 1.