General Plumer meanwhile worked considerable havoc among the scattered bands that hung south of the Wakkerstroom-Piet Retief blockhouses. After the 20th he was joined by Colonel Pulteney, and together they scoured the Randberg neighbourhood till the torrents should subside, and General Bruce-Hamilton, in his advance on Ermelo, could be assisted by them.
NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER
As before said, General French’s operations in Cape Colony were making substantial progress, and small commandos only continued to rove about the south-east and south-west fringe of the colony. These were harried and worried by the troops, but their presence was now described as a serious inconvenience rather than as a menace of vital consequence. They confined their annoyance to the Barkley East district and the country to the west and north of the Cape Town-De Aar line. In the former area Monro and Scobell continued their hunts after Myburg, Fouché, and Wessels, who now and then skirmished, but who, owing to their losses, preferred to give the British a wide berth. The astute and indefatigable Hunter-Weston spent his time in chasing a gang of Boers under Naude, who, after shifting and doubling, finally burrowed into the Karee Kloof hills north-west of Philipstown.
More columns under General Stephenson had the wearisome task of chasing dispersed gangs over a vast tract of country; and December found Colonel Crabbe at Lambert’s Bay, General Stephenson with Colonel Kavanagh at Clanwilliam, Colonel Capper at Piquetberg, Captain Wormald at Wagon Drift (north of Ceres), Major Lund south of Sutherland, and Colonel Doran between the last place and Matjesfontein. As a result of the month’s united operations of these forces, 29 of the enemy were killed, 21 wounded, and 45 captured. The rinderpest continued to work havoc, but the process of inoculation and the care taken to prevent the spread of the disease prevented the movements of the troops from being seriously impeded. As regards the troops, despite the heavy rains, the incessant marching, the harassing and ticklish nature of outpost work in exposed and isolated positions, the perpetual calls on their patience, their pluck, their sagacity, and their cheerfulness; despite the wet bivouacs and the monotonous food, and sometimes the scarcity of it, the dangers they ran and the meagre amount of publicity their heroism received—despite all these inconveniences, they remained true as steel and full of grim determination “to see the thing through,” or, as the Commander-in-Chief expressed it, “to relax no effort until the campaign had been brought to a successful issue.”
The Boers now, at the end of 1901, found themselves cooped by blockhouse lines into four definite areas: Botha’s attenuated force hovered on the borders of Swaziland and the Brugspruit-Waterval line. Delarey and Kemp hung around the difficult country between the Mafeking Railway line and the Magaliesberg range. Steyn and De Wet with some dauntless desperadoes did their worst in the north-east districts of Orange River Colony, and various bands of rebels and adventurers clung to the north-west regions of the Cape Colony. Elsewhere were only insignificant knots of worn-out and listless stragglers. There was a gratifying increase of voluntary surrenders, and during the month three of the most trusted leaders—Kruitzinger, Opperman, and Haasbroek—disappeared from the fighting scene.
TRANSVAAL (EAST)—DECEMBER
General Bruce-Hamilton, for the purpose of protecting the constabulary posts, was now operating in the country that had been so effectively cleared by General French in the beginning of the year. On the 9th of December he engaged in a brilliant converging movement over the old ground (see map, p. 20), with the result that 130 prisoners, 4000 cattle, and a large convoy fell into his hands. Briefly the tale is this: the General discovered that a large force of Boers had collected north of Bethel, and were moving south with a view to escaping round his left flank. Quickly, he summoned Colonels Wing and Williams (who were moving upon Kalabasfontein) to join him at Spioenkop, and by night the whole force made a secret march on the lair of the enemy at Trigaardtsfontein. The movement was magnificently carried out, and the laager was rushed by the troops at dawn. In the scrimmage seven Boers were killed, and many who escaped pursuit were mopped up by Colonel Allenby, who was moving from Middelkraal to Onverwacht. General Hamilton’s force after this successful action marched into Bethel, having covered sixty miles in the previous forty-eight hours.
His repose was short-lived. The Boers who had escaped from the pursuit of his force gathered now, under Viljoen, twenty-five miles north-east of Bethel. He determined to secure them. With the troops under Colonels Sir H. Rawlinson, Wing, and Williams, he started on the 12th on another exciting march. He neared his destination in darkness, and then in the dim dusk of the morn galloped upon the objective. It was a splendid achievement, and seventy Boers, including Field-Cornets Badenhorst and Swanepool, closed their military career. Sixteen were killed in the engagement, and one of the two 15-pounder guns taken from Benson’s force at Brakenlaagte was recovered. The other gun had been disabled by the enemy. The scattered remnants of this commando fled north, and were tackled by Colonels Mackenzie and Fortescue, who were operating in that direction. These officers captured more prisoners and stock.
On the 19th of December General Bruce-Hamilton left Ermelo, marching towards the east, while Colonel Mackenzie simultaneously moved from Carolina upon Lake Banagher (twenty-two miles north-east of Ermelo). Colonel Mackenzie on the night of the 19th made a forced march and attacked, at Schalk Meyer’s farm, Smits’ laager, and inflicted upon the enemy a loss of six killed. He took sixteen prisoners. He afterwards moved on Bothwell, and pursued for thirty miles a convoy which turned out to be Smits, and after a stiff engagement (on the 21st) secured 17 prisoners, 44 vehicles, and 2000 cattle. General Plumer and Colonel Pulteney co-operated in the vicinity of Spitzkop, and near there at dawn on the 23rd these officers engaged a gang of 500, and captured 6 prisoners.
On the same day General Bruce-Hamilton’s troops attacked Grobelaar’s laager at Maryvale (fifteen miles north of Amsterdam). Owing to the denseness of the morning mist the majority of the Boers got off scot free, and only four were killed and eleven captured, but 700 cattle and a number of waggons fell into British hands. The captures were mainly due to the leading of Lieutenants Rendall and Huddleston, who, in spite of every obstruction, dashed in among the enemy before they could gather themselves together for more than flight. General Hamilton returned to Ermelo, and on the 29th pushed again to Maryvale. Again he repeated his manœuvres, again he pounced on the Boers and thinned their numbers by twenty-two (taken prisoners), capturing also their waggons and cattle. This was on the 1st of January. On the following day, with the columns under Colonels Simpson and Scott, General Hamilton followed the spoor of the Pretoria commando up hill and down dale, over circuitous bridle-paths and into deep kloofs in the sides of the hills north-east of Amsterdam, hunting, and chasing, and burrowing. As reward of his dogged patience and perseverance forty-nine Boers were hemmed in and taken (among this number General Erasmus and Mr. Custer, late J.P. of Amsterdam). Colonel Wing, who was at the same time engaged in identical exploits, brought in twenty prisoners and five waggons.