Two Years on Trek: Being Some Account of the Royal Sussex Regiment in South Africa
TekstThe convoy was constantly sniped; but a trap laid by the Boers near Leeuwfontein failed, the widely extended flank guards getting in their rear without being conscious of the fact. The want of a pom-pom was very much felt, as the guns could not leave the convoy.
Smithfield was reached on the 30th, and some cycles found there formed the nucleus of a cyclist section, subsequently elaborated under Lieut. Crawley-Boevey. From Smithfield a four days' trek brought the convoy to Bethulie, after destroying by the way a Boer supply depôt, with ovens for the baking of bread, at Gryskop. Near the same place D company (under Capt. Montrésor) found itself in a warm corner at a farm to which it had been sent foraging, and lost four horses killed and three wounded. The guns, however, galloped up, and the Boers retired under a heavy fire.
Smithfield was reached on the return journey on the 7th of April, and Edenburg on the 10th. At the latter place, prisoners, refugees and stock were handed in.13
While trekking, the Mounted Infantry furnished the advanced and rear screens, and the flank guards, the latter keeping well out. The order of march of the remainder was as follows: —
Advanced Guard: —
Section R.F.A.
1 Coy. Infantry in wagons (when available).
Main Body: —
1 Coy. Infantry in Cape Carts.
Baggage Column, R.A. leading.
Supply wagons (mule).
Ox wagons.
Refugee wagons and ambulances.
Rear Guard: —
Section R.F.A.
1 Coy. Infantry in wagons (when available).
The company of Infantry at the head of the main body was used as a species of mounted (or rather carted) infantry; on the convoy being threatened, the Cape carts were turned in the required direction, and galloped across the veldt, disgorging their occupants at points of vantage. All the mounted men were thus freed for more important duties further afield. Each Cape cart contained one or two boxes of ammunition, and thus acted as ammunition reserve for any other troops who came up.
In April, General Lyttleton gave up command of the Southern District of the Orange River Colony, and on doing so published the following order: —
The Officer Commanding1st Royal Sussex Regt.
Lieut. General Lyttleton desires me, before he leaves this command, to convey to you his appreciation of the very efficient manner in which the men of your Battalion, under Major du Moulin, have carried out the arduous duties of escort to convoys, on which they have been frequently employed.
They have been admirably trained and handled by that Officer, who has singular qualifications for that sort of work, and O.C.'s of columns in the field have reported in high terms on them.
General Lyttleton hopes that his good opinion may be conveyed to all ranks, in Battalion Orders, or in whatever way the Commanding Officer thinks best.
A. J. M. MacAndrew, Capt.for C.S.O.Genl. Lyttleton's Force.
Edenburg,
April 12, 1901
A convoy of 120 wagons was again taken out to Dewetsdorp on the 11th of April, 250 I.Y. and 50 South African Light Horse (all freshly raised) being added to the escort. Dewetsdorp was cleared of inhabitants, and also all the farms along the route; and a vast body of refugees was brought in on the return to Edenburg, many having been handed over by the columns.14 There was a good deal of sniping during the trek, in which one man15 was severely wounded. A bicyclist of the advanced guard had been captured, with his machine, on the first day out. The man was of course set free: the bicycle was recovered months afterwards in a farm some distance away.
The force then set out for Smithfield with a convoy, reaching that place on the 24th of April, after having had a brush with a party of Boers near Rietput the day before. The town was cleared, and all the ovens and cooking utensils found in the houses were destroyed. On the morning of the 26th, when the convoy moved on, the Boers attempted to hold Commissie Bridge over the Caledon River. A sharp engagement followed, during which 2nd Lieut. Thorne collected men from among the wagons, dashed across the bridge, and seized a kopje on the further side, thereby gaining a mention in column orders. The Boers were driven off, but followed the convoy almost to Rouxville, which was reached on the 27th of April; and from this date to the 20th of May the force under Major du Moulin was occupied in escorting a convoy between Aliwal and Rouxville, bringing out stores from the latter place, and returning with refugees and stock taken over from the columns working the district.
On the 20th of May orders were received from General Bruce Hamilton that the column was to clear the country north of Smithfield as a fighting column. The task of watching the trek ox plod slowly and gloomily through the dust was over, to the great delight of all ranks, and, with a roving commission, the column set out in a northerly direction. In addition to men of the Royal Sussex (5 companies M.I. and an Infantry escort), Major du Moulin had under him at this time a company of the Connaught Rangers M.I. and a section of the 43rd Battery, R.F.A.
On the 22nd a retreating Boer convoy was sighted – probably belonging to Brand's Commando, then at Rietput. On the 24th the baggage of the column was well sniped by some sixty Boers at Kopjeskraal, on the way to Vaalbank. What followed was characteristic of Major du Moulin's methods. The cooks and other duty men, together with the wagon escort in Cape carts, were immediately set to charge round the flank of the hill at a gallop, Cape carts and all. This was too much for the nerves of the Boers, who streamed away. The guns came into action, without, however, any luck, the retreating Boers having separated in all directions.
The work of clearing farms continued, two companies of M.I. being sent out daily on each flank for the purpose. In many cases the farms were found empty, with every sign that the occupants had just hurriedly left. Sometimes a room had been bricked up, in which a supply of grain or the family treasures were stored.
On the 3rd of June the line was again reached at Jagersfontein Road, in cold and snow. A trek northwards along the line brought the column to Edenburg, where a new batch of mounted men from the Regiment joined. The 30th and 31st Imperial Yeomanry were also attached, and the much-desired pom-pom (under Capt. A. A. Montgomery, R.A.) was obtained. Two guns of the 39th Field Battery were with the column.
This batch of Yeomanry consisted of men utterly raw and untrained. They knew nothing about the work, so that it was necessary to assign each Yeoman to a Sussex man for instruction. As the pay of the latter was only one shilling a day, while the Yeoman was receiving five shillings, the position was rather absurd. On the first day out a spare wagon was filled with stuff that the Yeomen had left in camp – saddles, blankets, ammunition, etc. While on trek they were constantly losing horses and rifles. A system of heavy fines, proportionate to their pay, was instituted for these offences. In one case it was strongly suspected that a horse had been shot and left, saddle and all, by its rider when out on flank guard – presumably because he had no turn for mounted work, and disliked his animal.
No doubt some of these men developed into useful soldiers. Under the circumstances, however, the process was an annoying and even dangerous one for their instructors.
On the 6th of June the column set out to the West of the line. Capt. Gilbert raided the farm of Lokshoek on the night of the 6th, and Capt. Montrésor that of Kranzhoek on the 7th, capturing 13 and 11 prisoners respectively. At Lokshoek was a laager of women and children, with Cape carts and wagons. During the following days this process was repeated elsewhere, with the result that on the return of the column to Edenburg on the 15th, 53 prisoners were handed in, besides many refugees and a large amount of stock.16
In Army Orders of the 4th of June, Major du Moulin was granted the local rank of Lieut. – Colonel. He was subsequently awarded a brevet Lieut. – Colonelcy.
At Edenburg, Lieuts. Crawley-Boevey and Bond, and 2nd Lieut. Paget joined the column – the latter with 50 mounted men, who had been raised at Norval's Pont, and employed round Edenburg.
On the 18th, the column set out to the East of the line, and worked once more in the now familiar country south of Dewetsdorp. Parties were constantly sent out to surround farms at night on the chance of finding Boers. The enemy had, however, realised by this time the danger of sleeping under a roof.
The 25th of June provided a long day's work. The column was fired at in the morning at Koetzee's Post, some 300 Boers being among the hills west of that place. The troops turned into the hill, successfully forcing the difficult nek to Klip Huis. Fourteen Cape carts and two wagons containing women and children were captured, but the commando was in flight, and the mounted troops chased them as far as Helvetia, 12 miles off, getting back to camp at Klip Huis after eleven hours in the saddle without food. A signal lamp stuck up in camp helped the tired companies to find their way in.
On the 28th of June some Boers successfully trapped a small flanking party at Mooifontein. The column had gone by Hex River, a pass some miles to the south; the baggage and escort were to cross the ridge by a road running close to Mooifontein farm. While the baggage was crossing the nek, a message was received by the Yeomanry Officer commanding the left flanking party that a Boer woman at the farm wished to be brought in to a refugee camp, and had asked for a wagon to take her and her boxes, which were ready packed. The Officer accordingly rode up to the farm, after passing the message on, and waited there with seven men of the Yeomanry and G company till a wagon should be sent back. It seems that the men paid more attention to catching chickens than to keeping a look-out. At any rate, as soon as the baggage was out of sight over the nek, some Boers, who were in hiding behind the farm, opened fire at the party point blank, killing three in the first volley and wounding two.17 The bugler only escaped, and missing his way, arrived at the camp of the column late at night. A party sent back of course found the farm unoccupied.
On the 29th of June a special company was organised under Capt. Montrésor to perform scouting duties, raids, and surprise visits to farms by day and night. The men were to receive a daily ration of rum, with an extra issue to those engaged in night work; while they were to be exempt from piquets and guards. One hundred men were easily obtained, and the "Raiders" came into existence.
On the 5th of July Lieut. Woodruffe was left with 14 men in ambush at Weltevreden, the camp of the night before, to wait for Boers, who were expected to visit the camp when the column had left, in the hope of picking up food or ammunition. Three Boers came along, one to the farm where the men were hidden. He would not surrender when challenged, but turned and galloped away, and so was shot.
Thirty Boers now opened fire upon the farm, and four of the horses of Woodruffe's party broke loose, delaying his retirement. His difficulties were further increased by one of the Yeomen with him, who became panic-stricken, and refused to mount. The Boers surrounded the small kopje upon which Woodruffe took up a position (not, however, before a boy had been sent back with a note to the column), and, working among the rocks, gradually closed in upon him. He was slightly wounded in the head, and one of his men (Weston) was hit. Things were looking rather black, when Lieut. Howes, I.Y., with 25 men of the rear guard, came back to his support, and the Boers retired with two killed.
On the 5th of July Dewetsdorp was raided in conjunction with Col. Rochfort, but the Boers were not there. They sent a letter by a released prisoner, saying they were sorry not to be at home.
Moving down to the Caledon River, the column arrived at Deep Dene on the 7th of July. There was no drift over the river at this point, and Col. du Moulin determined to make one. The banks, which were very steep, were dynamited, and horses and oxen were put to trample down and harden the loose deep sand of the river bed.
Great care had to be taken to avoid the quick-sands. Five small donkeys got involved in these, and sank lower and lower, in spite of all attempts to haul them out by ropes. They made the most pitiable noise in their terror, and ultimately had to be despatched, when little but their heads remained visible.
After enormous efforts, all the mule wagons were got across by 8 p.m., but the drift was found impassable for ox wagons; these, accordingly, moved on the following day up to Jammersberg Bridge, being shelled by another column on the way, and joined the mule wagons again at Wepener.
On the 10th of July, Col. Rochfort and Col. du Moulin, reconnoitring over Jammersberg Bridge with the Raiders (under Capt. Montrésor) and the pom-pom (under Capt. Montgomery), found seventy Boers holding the kopjes on the further side. Attacking at once, the hills were stormed on foot, and the Boers were turned out of their position and pursued for some miles. One prisoner was taken, and four saddled horses. Serjt. Nightingale was killed during the action, when very pluckily leading his section over the bridge.
The column was shortly ordered into Edenburg, and thence down the line to Springfontein, in order to operate on the west of the line. Orders had by this time been given that every man of the Regiment who was willing should be mounted, and join Col. du Moulin; and accordingly Major Church with the mounted men of H company, and Capt. Beale with those of the second Volunteer company, were waiting for the column at Springfontein. Major Church and the Volunteers had been trekking with Williams' and Byng's columns respectively.
CHAPTER XXIV
TWO DISTRICTS
A derelict town – The district – Entertainments – British "commandos" – Hertzog's Adjutant – Back to Springfontein – Vlakfontein – The scene of a disaster – Caledon River – Edenburg – Stranded traction engines – Ventershoek – "Commandos" again
Col. du Moulin moved out of Springfontein on the 21st of July to take over the district which had been assigned to him, and which lay west of the line, and north of the Orange River, round about the town of Philippolis. He had under him about 600 men of the Sussex, nearly all mounted, and a section of the 7th Battery (Capt. Geoghegan and Lieut. Chamier), besides the pom-pom.
Philippolis, which for the next two months was used as the headquarters and rendezvous of the column, lies at the head of a valley some 15 miles west of the railway. The usual stone Church looks down the usual main street of one-storied tin-roofed buildings. Two other parallel streets and a few cross roads make up the town. It is surrounded by bare veldt; a eucalyptus or two and a couple of rows of cypress down the main street are the only trees to be seen for miles round.
At this time there were still a few inhabitants remaining, although most of the houses were quite empty. At first, here as elsewhere, the town had been left undisturbed under authorities appointed by the British; but, when the local commandos again took up arms, authorities and townspeople had alike to be brought in to the line; and now the last of them was to be removed, Lord Kitchener's order being not to leave a living thing. For if inhabitants were left, food must be left too; and what was food for the inhabitants was food also for the local commandos – or the fragments of them that lurked in the hills round. Besides this, information, more valuable even than food, would be spread as to the movements of columns. The supreme object at this juncture was to make life impossible for the Boers under arms.
It was a strange sight, this derelict town. Doors were open, and it was possible to turn out of the silent street into a house, where the very music lay as it had been left upon the piano in the sitting room: to sit down at the piano and try a few bars, momentarily expecting the owner to appear and protest against such intrusion. Yet the only representative of the owner would be perhaps the watch dog lying in the yard where it had been necessary to shoot him, when the house was searched (very likely with success) for ammunition. The town was placed out of bounds for the troops of the column.
The Boers of the neighbourhood were not in very high feather. Except for bodies of men passing through from the surrounding districts, they consisted only of small parties of a dozen or less, living precariously upon the much-cleared country. They had established a certain number of depôts to which they could come for grain, but beyond these there was very little food to be found; and nearly all the farms were empty.
Colonel du Moulin's task, therefore, consisted of netting as many stray Boers as possible, and destroying all stock, grain, cooking utensils, and anything else that would help to support life, besides being prepared to meet any commando that should attempt to cross the district.
For these purposes he divided the column into three sub-columns or "commandos" of about 150 men each, under Major Church. Capt. Gilbert, and Capt. Montrésor. Two of these were always in the field, while one was usually resting in Philippolis. In order to enliven the time of the resting "commando," he detailed a few men with a bent in that direction as permanent entertainers, and these used to give nightly performances in the Town Hall, with the help of one of the many pianos in which the town abounded. Songs, dramatic sketches, and clog-dances used to form items of the programme.
During the first week (which was cold and snowy) a number of farms were cleared. Twenty-five sacks of wheat were found by the Colonel, bricked up at the farm Poortje. The dam there was destroyed, as was done in other cases. On August the 4th the ox convoy bringing supplies from Springfontein joined the three "commandos" at Brandkraal. Lieut. Bidder and 2nd Lieut. Cole from the 3rd Battalion of the Regiment arrived with it.
For the next month the "commandos" worked up and down the district with comparatively little incident, picking up a few prisoners here and there, and sending in refugees. Captain (now Brevet-Major) Gilbert searched the kloofs along the Orange River: there were several families living there, who supplied food to the fighting Boers, and these were transported to the line. In one place the Major was just leaving a valley that he had searched in vain, when the strange behaviour of a horse directed his attention to a large bush. Investigation followed, and from the recesses of the bush emerged an entire family of three generations.
By surprise visits at night to likely places, Major Gilbert also captured a number of armed Boers – on the 11th of August in particular two raids resulted in the taking of thirteen prisoners.
On the 16th Major Church's "commando" chased a party of twenty Boers, who had come to unearth a store of boots they had buried near Tafelkop. A signalling piquet on Tafelkop disturbed them as Major Church was coming up, and the Boers got away through Otterspoort, after being turned out of the farm there by the pom-pom.
On the 17th of August, information was received that 200 Boers under Kritzinger were at Buonapartfontein, on the east of the line, working north with horses very done up. Orders were sent round at once to the three "commandos" to hurl themselves across the line, and they accordingly met at Driekuil Siding early on the 18th. Kritzinger had, however, already moved north, pursued by Gorringe's column – the information being twenty-four hours late.
On the 25th of August Major Gilbert's "commando" captured Cronje, Adjutant and Chief of Scouts to Hertzog, the local Commandant. The actual capture was effected by Liliveld, a Colonial Scout attached to the column, who did some brilliant work.
That same evening, Major Gilbert, who had been talking to Cronje, told him to follow him across the camp, wishing for some reason to shift his quarters. The Major carried his hand in his pocket. The Boer, who looked very white and anxious, suddenly said "Well, when are you going to do it." He thought he was being taken out to be shot, and that the Major had his hand on his revolver. It appeared that the Commandants had persuaded their men that the Proclamations as to surrender, published at this time, were only decoys, and that any man surrendering would be shot. Cronje said that many would come in if they knew they would be well treated. "We shall have a score to settle with the Commandants when the War is over," he added.
He was one of the men chased by Major Church a few days before. "They had had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours," he said, "and had bolted another 25 miles." He was offered good pay to act as guide to the column, but to his credit he refused.
On the 30th of August, Captain Montrésor and Lieut. Morphett, with thirteen men, surrounded the Jansfontein Hills in the dusk, and crept up just before dawn, by starlight. They captured four Boers with rifles on the top without a shot being fired. Captain Montrésor's "commando" returned to Philippolis on the 5th of September with twelve prisoners.
On the 31st of August, two Boers with rifles came in to surrender to Major Church at Osfontein. They had been living for a fortnight in a cave near, that contained the household treasures of Ospoort farm – clothes, dried fruit, a violin, pillows and a coffee machine. There was also a little ammunition, the remains, perhaps, of a larger supply.
Later in the day Boers were reported on a neighbouring hill, which was accordingly surrounded, Major Church taking one party, Captain Montgomery and Lieut. Harden another. Eight men were captured and seventeen rifles. They had no idea a British force was near, the camp being very well hidden. They had orders from Herzog not to stay long in the district, as there was no food. One of them was a Secret Agent of the British.
Two days afterwards, Major Church came upon and destroyed another Boer supply depôt consisting of two large tin-lined boxes hidden among bushes, and containing eight sacks of wheat and stores of all kind. Round about were rough beds of heather and branches, and fire holes for cooking.
On the 17th of September orders were received for the whole column to march in to Springfontein, and entrain for the North. Rain had been falling heavily for a week, and the roads were almost impassable. The oxen were weak with overwork, lung disease and inoculation; dead oxen lay every few yards of the way. Relief wagons were sent to meet the convoy, the end of which struggled painfully in to Springfontein at nine o'clock on the night of the 19th. This convoy, which had been working backwards and forwards between Philippolis and the line with supplies for the column, was left at Springfontein when the column moved North. Lieut. De La Pryme, A.S.C., who had admirably managed the supply arrangements, accompanied the column.
On the 19th September news arrived of the disaster at Vlakfontein, not far from Thabanchu, in which two guns of U battery, and their escort of newly-raised Mounted Infantry, were taken. General Bruce Hamilton's troops were accordingly despatched into the district round the scene of action. The Sussex column entrained during the 20th, and the work of hauling and shoving recalcitrant mules and horses into trucks went on all that night by the light of flares. There was a sharp frost at dawn; the helmets of men who had slept upon the ground were white, and the ditch by the railway was covered with ice. The sixth and last train reached Bloemfontein on the evening of the 21st; the column marched for Vlakfontein itself, after being inspected by General Tucker, and on the 23rd camped close to the scene of the fight.
The Boers and their prisoners had of course gone, but there were many traces of what had occurred.
In a kloof in a long low kopje lay two dead gunhorses. The ground all round was trampled down, probably by the horses of the escort, which had perhaps been put there under cover when the action began. The guns had come into action on the slope of the ridge against a kopje to the north, as the marks made by the spades shewed. Boers had apparently crept up from the direction of Slangfontein farm (which lay to the south), and had taken the position in rear.
On the top of the ridge were a number of bayonets, some artillery harness, haversacks, canteens, bandages stained with blood and other traces of the fight. Little heaps of cartridge cases behind stones here and there shewed where men had made a stand. The graves of four soldiers were found – so shallow that it was necessary to dig them afresh. The gun tracks led away from the ridge towards Slangfontein farm.
It was found afterwards that the officer in charge of the guns had indeed made a fine stand. The escort, consisting of untried Mounted Infantry, had not supported him. Attacked in front and rear, he fought the guns till the last moment, and then died beside them. His gunners, and a few of the escort who held out, were shot down almost to a man. The officer was Lieut. Otter Barry, R.A., whose brother is now (December, 1906) Adjutant of the 2nd Battn. of the Royal Sussex Regiment.
At this farm, a newly-made grave in the family burial ground aroused the suspicions of Major Gilbert. It was opened in spite of the protests of the inhabitants, and was found to contain nearly fifty rifles. Some more rifles and gun harness were in the dam. The people of the farm were removed, as well as a wounded Boer who was there. Most of the farms in the district were occupied at the time.
The tracks of the guns were followed for the next two days, without however catching up the enemy. The Boers put their prisoners over the Basuto border and dispersed; the column halted at Jammersberg Bridge on the Caledon River. Its strength at this time was 800 Europeans, 220 natives (drivers, etc.), 830 horses and 540 mules.
The District was swept by various columns (those of Lowrie Cole, Hamilton, Plumer and Williams) during the following week, without any great result. Col. du Moulin's column arrived at Edenburg on the 6th of October, and left the next day for the new district which had been assigned to it, in the familiar ground south of Dewetsdorp and east of Reddersburg. Before settling down to work, an expedition was made to the North to protect a convoy of coal on its way from Bloemfontein to some traction engines, which were stranded on the veldt for lack of fuel. The escort to the convoy consisted of the mounted men of the Third Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment under Capt. the Hon. J. S. R. Tufton.
Ackerman's commando was met on the evening of the 9th, but did not wait. A terrific rain storm that night covered his retreat.
One of the guns lost at Vlakfontein had already been recovered, and the second, with harness, was found on the 12th at Weltevreden. Reddersburg was reached next day, and building materials were collected in the town, with a view to establishing a fortified camp and depôt at a convenient centre.
During the expedition north, much stock had been collected, and the inhabitants of farms brought in. At one of the farms, a mad woman who objected to clothing was kept in the stable, and presented a difficult problem to the officer sent to clear it. The people of the house refused to assist in any way; some Kaffir women, however, dressed the poor wretch, who proved, indeed, on the return journey, the only cheerful member of the party.
Colonel du Moulin decided to make his headquarters at Ventershoek, a farm 11 miles S.E. of Reddersburg, surrounded on three sides by high ridges. On each of these a permanent piquet was established, for which a stone fort was constructed. Roads were made to these forts, and the two guns were sent up.
Two ranges of hills met at Ventershoek, one from the north-east and the other from the north; and the Camp lay between them at their point of junction. The piquets thus commanded the flat country to the south and west, the ridges dropping abruptly down into wide plains.
The column was again divided into "commandos," Major Gilbert and Captain Montrésor being assigned 200 men each, and a pom-pom and maxim respectively. On the 17th of October these "commandos" moved out – Major Gilbert to Hardewater, Captain Montrésor to Mooifontein. At Hardewater, a lofty hill (the end of the N. E. range) gave a magnificent view over the surrounding country; and here Major Gilbert remained. The Boers were said to be massing in the East of the Colony, and moving towards the line; and a sharp look-out was kept from the top of Hardewater Hill, on which the helio had some busy days. No one was seen, however, except men of other columns, who answered the enquiring flash.
Before leaving Hardewater, it was discovered that every drop of water used in camp came first over the body of a sheep that had fallen into a cutting some months before. No one appeared to be any the worse!
In a farm near, a notice, of which the following is a translation, had been left for the column: —
11th October, 1901.
"Droogfontein.
"May it herewith be notified to every British Officer and to all men that the true Africanders, who are still under arms, are determined to sacrifice themselves for the freedom of their Country, and with God's help they will defend themselves till the last man is killed or captured.
"N. C. P. in the name of true Africanders."