CHURCH SQUARE, PRETORIA.
Drawing by Donald E. M’Cracken.
CHAPTER XII
ORANGE RIVER COLONY—AUGUST
At this time, as we know, the troops of Generals Bruce-Hamilton and C. Knox were engaged in clearing operations to the south of the Riet River, but, in consequence of a recrudescence of activity in the south-eastern districts of the Orange Colony, the operations were somewhat curtailed, and attention was directed to the offending quarter. The activity showed itself firstly on the 12th of August, when some 250 Boers under Boshoff, fleeing from the trap that Elliot had prepared for them, burst through the line of blockhouses near Sanna’s Post. Secondly, another marauding gang of the same size, under Kruitzinger, in evading French’s hunters, east of Norval’s Pont, had penetrated the Springfontein-Bethulie line near Providence Siding, on their way to Boesmans Kop—an old and favourite haunt. Finally, a similar party under Smuts and Dreyer, on the 15th, had succeeded in squeezing past the line of police posts on the Modder, to the north of Petrusburg. These three movements suggested the possible concentration of the raiders in the now clear area between Wepener, Rouxville, and Smithfield, and consequently General Knox at once directed his attention to this quarter, in order to prevent any fresh junction of forces, and the entry of swelled commandos into Cape Colony. He therefore moved his troops from west to east of the railway, so as to interpose them between the enemy and the river line. Major Damant’s column was detached from General Bruce-Hamilton’s command, and the Royal Dragoons, under Lord Basing, were brought by rail from the Transvaal to Springfontein, while Colonel Western moved from Bloemfontein to Bethulie to join General Hart, who with Col. the Hon. H. D. Murray’s column, the Connaught Rangers, was guarding the river west and east of Aliwal North.
Nor was this all. Colonel Sir Henry Rawlinson was ordered to pursue Boshoff’s guerillas, who were scurrying through the Bloemfontein-Ladybrand line, but these nimble ones, bent rather on flight than fight, knowingly avoided contact with the pursuers. Kruitzinger, gathering the bedraggled remnants of commandos as he went, veered towards the Basuto border, hugged it gingerly, and stealthily crept towards the river, so that, on the morning of the 4th of September, he succeeded with 300 men, despite the vigilance of our troops, in effecting a crossing into Cape Colony at Kiba Drift. The Boers did not, however, escape Major Damant, who was hunting for them in the neighbourhood of Spitzkop. He scented them out at Oudam, to the west of Boesmanskop, and was off with 300 mounted men, 2 guns, and a pom-pom to attack them. The marauders were on the alert, and they, on the 14th, galloped off as fast as their mounts would carry them. For a good ten miles galloped hunters and hunted, till at last the quarry, dispersing, sought almost inaccessible refuge in the Marsfontein Hills. But 4 prisoners, 20 horses, 6 mules, 5 rifles, a heliograph, and the Commandant’s despatch-box fell into Major Damant’s hands. From the prisoners it was discovered that they formed part of Delarey’s gang, who were moving under Dreyer to reinforce Kruitzinger at the Cape. Meanwhile, Lord Basing was hunting around Boesmanskop, and Colonel Thorneycroft’s two columns, under Colonel Minchin and Major Copeman, were working their way (from Reddersburg and Smithfield respectively) towards Zandfontein, twelve miles east of Rouxville, where they met at the end of August. The enemy, ensconced in the kloofs, crannies, and kopjes between Zastron and the Orange River, succeeded in evading them, not a very marvellous feat considering their intimate acquaintanceship with the geographical features of this locality.
Colonel Pilcher’s two columns of General Knox’s force, under Colonel Taylor and Major Lean, now marched from the west into Bloemfontein and Edenburg, and from thence south to Bethulie, while Colonel Pilcher pushed up the valley of the Caledon towards Smithfield, thus freeing the troops of Colonel Thorneycroft and Lord Basing, who were able to scour further east. About this time, 25th of August, Colonel Sir Henry Rawlinson, marching south from Dewetsdorp, encountered a detached bunch of Smuts’ men scuttling east of Reddersburg. A brilliant chase to the north-east followed, the mounted troops under Major Gosset pursuing with such dash that 25 prisoners out of the party of 120 were secured, and 30 of their horses captured. In September, after the column had obtained supplies at Edenburg, further activities all along the Basuto border were engaged in, and, on the 8th the mischievous hordes were driven north from a position they had taken up in the vicinity of Elandsberg. But Smuts and his following, despite the close proximity of Colonel Thorneycroft, were successful in finding a loophole at Kiba Drift, and escaped into Cape Colony on the 4th. There he was quickly “spotted” by General Hart, who pursued him towards Ladygrey. Both General Hart and General French had now their hands full. Kruitzinger’s and Smuts’ men, who had effected a crossing, required to be dealt with, so, in order to reinforce General French, Colonel Pilcher moved from the Caledon Valley to Burghersdorp on the 7th of September.