Sad was the fate of a gallant fellow, Lieutenant M. Gurdon Rebow, who, with nine men of the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards, while searching a farm, was attacked by the enemy at Cyferkuil, near Riet Siding, on the 17th. Some thirty or forty Dutchmen burst suddenly upon the small party, whose gallant stand against this overwhelming majority was one of the most striking episodes of desperate valour on record. A summons to surrender was refused, and it was not till Gurdon Rebow himself had been shot down and one of his men had been killed and two dangerously wounded that the remaining few Grenadiers, after a fight of three hours, were captured. The sergeant of the patrol lost his life in a gallant effort to swim the Carolus River in search of help.
As a proof of the herculean labours of the columns during this month, in spite of the prevalence of rinderpest among the cattle and the consequent reduction in the efficiency of the ox transport, the sum total of achievement may be quoted: 170 Boers killed, 114 wounded and prisoners, 1385 unwounded prisoners, 393 surrendered burghers, 11,000 horses (practically useless), 41,500 cattle, 798 rifles, 119,000 rounds small arm ammunition, and 770 waggons.
At Pretoria the month closed with the execution of Broeksma, formerly the Public Prosecutor of the Transvaal, whose trial, begun on the 12th of September, lasted three days. He was charged on the four counts of breaking the oath of neutrality, treachery, high treason, and inciting to break the oath of neutrality, and the evidence showed that the police found in his house treasonable pamphlets and documents, including copies of letters addressed to Mr. Steyn, Mr. Reitz, “Dr. Williamson,” and Mr. Kruger. Other letters were produced in court which purported to have come from Dr. Krause. On the concluding day of the trial the Crown Prosecutor stated that “Dr. Williamson” was in reality Dr. Leyds. Sundry other burghers and Netherlanders were tried for treachery and on other charges, while some were found guilty of high treason and murder and sentenced to death. This sentence in most cases was commuted to penal servitude for life, or reduced to terms of imprisonment.
FOOTNOTES:
[6] This corps (the 6th New Zealand Mounted Rifles) greatly distinguished itself in many ways. On one occasion (the 16th September) Lieutenant Tudor, with only twelve men, crossed the Caledon and kept in touch with 200 Boers for three days, afterwards holding a position for three hours against fifty Boers with exceptional gallantry. A young hero, Lieutenant Caskey (5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen), lost his life during the dashing exploit. Captains Findlay (The Buffs) and Knight with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles, also performed notable service in command of detached troops during this period.
[7] Colonel the Hon. Andrew David Murray was the brother of the present Earl of Mansfield, and was born in 1863. He entered the army in 1884 as second lieutenant in the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, became lieutenant in 1893, and brevet-major in 1898. He served in the Nile Expedition, 1884-85, with the Soudan Field Force, 1885-86, with the Nile Expedition, 1898, and was present at the battles of Atbara and Omdurman, for which he was mentioned in despatches. He was appointed commander of Lovat’s Scouts last year.
CHAPTER XIV
PROGRESS IN OCTOBER 1901
It may be remembered that on the 15th of October Colonel Colville pounced on a convoy that was moving after the Boers in their flight towards Swaziland. On that border he remained while General Plumer’s force (released, as we know, from the south-east of the Orange Colony owing to the state of quietude there) acted on the, by now, almost impassable blockhouse line between Wakkerstroom and Colonel Colville’s column. Meanwhile General Walter Kitchener’s troops, with those of Colonels Campbell, Garratt, and Stewart, moved like a big broom sweeping up the stragglers south of the line, till news came in that Botha, instead of taking the Swazi direction, had veered north and was with a small column hanging around Amsterdam. To catch the Boer general Colonels Rawlinson and Rimington pushed on from Standerton on the 19th of October. They reached Amersfoort on the 21st, and on the 25th, after a perilous night march over ground seamed with small posts of protecting Boers, he succeeded in surrounding the farm near Schimmelhoek, where the Boer chief was reported to be. Colonel Rimington’s men were ordered to make for the farm, avoiding the main laager and posts, while those of Colonel Rawlinson moved between Ermelo and the farm—but though the movement was admirably carried out and Colonel Rimington’s troops rushed the farm, the enemy had been forewarned and was on the alert. Botha had but a moment to bolt in, but that moment he used. Though he and all but four of his men got away in safety, his personal property and some papers, very enlightening to the British, fell into their hands. The main laager having retreated north towards Lake Chrissie, pursuit was abandoned, and Colonels Rawlinson and Rimington returned at the end of the month to Volksrust and Zandspruit respectively.