In July Major-General Fetherstonhaugh’s force (in four columns, under Brigadier-General Dixon and Colonels Sir H. Rawlinson, E. Williams, and Hickie) operated from the Magaliesberg to Zeerust (reached on the 10th), and from thence back to Klerksdorp. The early part of the march was highly eventful, particularly for Colonels Williams and Hickie, who were repeatedly assailed by the enemy from almost inaccessible hiding-places. They nevertheless assisted in producing excellent results, and Roberts’ and Kitchener’s Horse highly distinguished themselves. In the end 13 Boers were killed and wounded, 26 were taken prisoners, 47 voluntarily surrendered, and 13 burghers, who had been imprisoned by their own men, were released. Waggons and cattle in plenty were secured. Nearer Zeerust all seemed placid; farmsteads and agriculture showed little sign of a state of war. On the return movement (begun on the 12th) General Fetherstonhaugh marched his right centre column through Lichtenburg, his own three columns being on the right, and that of General Dixon on the left. Thus the enemy, fighting continually, was driven day by day before him towards the region shortly to be swept by General Elliot’s fan of troops. Large quantities of stores (unearthed from caves in the hills or discovered bricked up in the houses) were destroyed, 10 Boers were killed or wounded, and 22 prisoners taken. Klerksdorp was reached on the 21st of July after a particularly hard march, in which Colonel Hickie’s column especially suffered from the scarcity of water in the district. General Dixon ere this had returned to Krugersdorp. General Fetherstonhaugh, after a brief rest, set out on the 27th along the Taung-Vryburg line, where the enemy was reported to be active. On his right now moved Lord Methuen (from Lichtenburg), while Colonel Von Donop of Lord Methuen’s force swept from Kraaipan and Geysdorp on the west of the hills, and Colonel Scott with a small column co-operated from Vryburg. The area was soon denuded of foodstuffs, and 58 prisoners of war were taken. Six of the enemy were killed.
While these energetic movements were going forward General Gilbert Hamilton was scouring the Klerksdorp Ventersdorp district, and Colonel Allenby was searching some almost unassailable positions round the Magaliesberg. His columns nevertheless scored some successes. On the daybreak of the 9th of July they surprised some Boers who were laagered at Zeekoehoek, and though many of them made good their escape to the hills, their field-cornet and twelve comrades were seized. On the 11th the enemy was again discovered in an almost inaccessible position on the Magaliesberg, but what the mounted men failed to accomplish the artillery achieved, and soon the mountain heights were ablaze with the flames of the burning laager and two waggons of dynamite and ammunition which had been blown up.
Later, in conjunction with Colonel Kekewich (who at Krugersdorp had taken over command of General Dixon’s column), Colonel Allenby set about a further clearance of the Magaliesberg passes; but by the 7th of August the whole region had become too hot for the Boers’ liking, and they evacuated it, enabling the British to occupy Breedt’s Nek and establish a post on the summit. To thoroughly protect this favourite haunt of the Boers from their future visits two other columns were also engaged. Major-General Barton moved with a force from Pretoria to west of Commando Nek, clearing the country of supplies and establishing the network of posts to be occupied by the South African Constabulary, while Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Basing (with the Royal Dragoons, two guns and a pom-pom) covered the construction of the Frederikstad-Breedt Nek line of blockhouses, and kept up communication from thence to General Barton’s column.
TRANSVAAL, E.—LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR BINDON BLOOD
General Viljoen’s commando being still to the fore, north of the Delagoa line, the operations of July were mainly directed against him. General Blood, taking command of General Babington’s column, and followed by General W. Kitchener, moved on the 10th of July from Springs to Middelburg. Here, later, he was joined by Colonel Campbell, who had been engaged in conducting a reconnaissance north of the line from Elands River Station towards Wagen Drift. Though the utmost energy and activity prevailed on all sides, the results were disappointing. Owing to the vast expanse of country and the Boers’ intimate acquaintance with all its nooks and crannies, they were able to play the game of hide-and-seek with impunity, taking care never to be caught in the open, and to avoid every chance of a collision.
Colonel Benson in his operations, however, had better luck. Moving from Dullstroom on the 9th of July, with Colonel Park on his right, he soon managed to discover the whereabouts of Viljoen’s commando. Promptly the Dutchman was routed from his position at Middelkraal by the 2nd Scottish Horse, a glorious set of “irregulars,” many of them hailing from Australia, who were first and foremost in every “ticklish” exploit. Indeed there was no end of their pluck; and on this occasion a mere handful of them, under their smart leaders Major Murray and Captain Lindley, contrived to keep at bay the hostile herd till the arrival of supports. Having dispersed the guerillas, Colonel Benson dealt in an equally effective manner with Muller’s men on the west, a party of raiders who were now driven north from the neighbourhood of Witpoort. Reports presently said that Viljoen was still lingering somewhere in the west, consequently the 18th Mounted Infantry pushed off in pursuit, and succeeded in catching and capturing the tail of his convoy and some fifteen waggons. While the Colonel moved his main body—on the 11th—in the direction of Paardekloop, the 2nd Scottish Horse circled around towards the Tautesberg, unearthing and capturing prisoners and horses by the way and discovering vehicles hidden in the kloofs, which Viljoen had evidently deposited there for a “rainy day.” This notable leader was discovered on the 15th of July at Laatstedrift, on the right bank of the Olifant River, whither Colonel Benson had moved after the arrival of a convoy brought by General Spens from the railway to Brinkwater. An inspiriting feature of this discovery was the wonderful tenacity of Lieutenant Kelly of the Scottish Horse, who, though wounded in the stomach at the onset, had no sooner located the enemy than he crawled under heavy fire to inform the officer commanding! A smart engagement followed—an engagement creditable to both sides—and after some close fighting both the enemy’s flanks were turned, and they were sent scuttling across the river into the thick bush country on the west. In the course of these varied operations 20 Boers were captured and 17 killed or wounded; 110 horses, 64 waggons, and a large quantity of ammunition were secured. More prisoners had also been seized by General Spens in the course of his move with the convoy to Brinkwater and back to Middelburg, where he arrived on the 20th. Soon after this date he proceeded to take command of another column.
General Beatson meanwhile, on the night of the 7th of July, had done some highly effective work. His surprise visit to the laager of Commandant Trichard, which was located some twenty-five miles north of Middelburg, resulted in the breaking up of the marauding gang and the dispersal of them into the rugged country round Olifant River. The commandant himself merely escaped by “the skin of his teeth.” Further pursuit being useless, the General returned to Middelburg and assisted in the hunt for Viljoen, who was not to be caught, however, for he had warily doubled back to his friendly kopjes on the right bank of the Olifant. Returning to Bronkerspruit Station along the Wilge River General Beatson, while searching in all the adjacent kloofs, came on twenty-five waggons containing ammunition and clothing. As the duties of most clearing columns were very much alike, some quotations from an officer’s letter may serve to show the nature of the work and of the country to be cleared of Boers and supplies:—
“The usual proceeding is as follows: On the first day we occupy the high ridges on each side of one of the huge valleys, or kloofs, as they are called. This the Boers, with the exception of a few ‘snipers,’ who wound or kill one or two of our advanced scouts, do not attempt to oppose. Then begins the difficulty. From each side the ground slopes down very steeply—in many places it means recourse to hands and knees—for about a mile; then comes a sheer precipice about 100 feet deep, and at the bottom a valley about 100 to 500 yards broad, with a stream in the middle and very thickly wooded. On each side of the main valley the cliffs are broken by smaller kloofs running up them, and they contain any number of caves and huge boulders. On the whole, one of these valleys makes about as difficult a bit of country to clear as any you could imagine. The Boers lie hidden among the rocks and in caves, and ‘snipe’ from them heavily at any man attempting to climb down the precipitous sides. We generally spend a day or two in shelling and advancing as far as the edges of the precipices, and then on the night before we send our infantry down into the valley most of the Boers escape. They dispute every inch of the way until they see that the position is untenable for them. Then off they go.”
The writer of the letter mentioned a particular instance of this kind of work, in which the Boer women hung white flags all over their laager, and some Boers took advantage of the fact that the British gunners duly respected the flags to hide among the rocks round the laager, and to “snipe” the troops as they advanced. He continued:—
“We slept out at night; it was fearfully cold; we had no blankets, and only half rations. We were ordered on the next morning to get the guns down a long spur jutting out into the valley. This appeared to be impossible, as the ground was fearfully steep and stony, and there was no road. However, with the aid of 50 Highlanders and a lot of rope, we managed to get down after two hours’ hard work. The position was a beautiful one, being only 1700 yards from the place occupied by the Boers on the previous day. We would probably have had some casualties from rifle fire, being on exposed ground, but the Boers appeared to have left during the night. Our infantry entered the kloof from both sides, and spent two days in collecting cattle and in blowing up 50,000 rounds of Boer rifle ammunition. The Boer families were brought in, and made more comfortable than they had ever been before. The Boers all say that they do not mind deserting their wives, as they know that we look after them, and make them more comfortable at Middelburg than they were when living on the veldt.”