 |
|
|
|
| Adolf Schiel |
|
|
|
From "Twenty three years of storm and sunshine in South
Africa” by Colonel Adolf Schiel. Translated from the original German.
The best day of my life was at Elandslaagte! For the
first time an opportunity to do open and free battle with the English. Not,
as during earlier fights, the necessary but unsportsmanlike potting-of from
behind secure cover. Swift as the wind, on good horses, leading a troop of
brave boys past the English batteries, moving in dismounted order against
the Gordons to delay them and to cover the retreat of our comrades, even
that was sport. "Nevertheless, it was great!" were the last words of my
Adjutant, the Count Zeppelin, who fell at my side, and "Nevertheless, it was
great!" say even now in their imprisonment the brave boys who have now
recovered from their wounds.
We were nearly all shot down but we had achieved our
objective: We had delayed the Gordons and many on our side found time to
escape. And "Nevertheless, it was great!" will every Gordon and Imperial
Light Horse say who clambered over our little group as it lay shot down on
the ground.
Chapter 29 - Elandslaagte
The partial leading of horses during forced marches is
a practice I had applied during earlier campaigns and experience had taught
me that a troop can move by this means exceedingly fast. Remarkable
distances can be covered in a relatively short period of time if, after a
fast trot or gallop, the riders dismount and lead their horses at a brisk
pace. Through continued exercise at a reduced load, horses quickly revive
and are ready for a continued fast trot. Especially during night marches,
during which a troop in any case normally rides at a pace, does the leading
of horses not only eliminate chaffing but helps to keep the men awake and
they involuntarily lead their horses at a faster pace than would be found
with marching infantry. The distance covered by a troop, which during a
night march alternates in riding and leading its horses, is far greater than
that covered by a mounted troop riding at a pace. It stands to reason that
another prerequisite is a minimum of baggage and equipment. An appropriate
marching order can easily be introduced and men and horses quickly become
used to it. This method is obviously applicable only to the marching main
body. Advance patrols, vanguard, and flank guards always remain in the
saddle. I achieved by this means that during all my campaigns, my horses and
men were always the most fresh and fit for action.
Arrived at Elandslaagte, we found that Field Cornets
Potgieter and Pinnaar (sic) had stopped two goods trains. A third one,
loaded mostly with slaughter cattle, had escaped. Some officers had fired
their revolvers a passenger coach and had lightly wounded two of our men.
Potgieter had taken the station master and railway personnel prisoner to
stop them from sending telegrams.
Expecting the enemy to arrive at any moment from
Ladysmith, which was only 15 English miles away, to recapture their trains,
we took position on a small hill covered with large stones next to the road
to Ladysmith from which we could cover both the road and the railway line.
As darkness fell it started to rain in torrents. Lieutenant von Albedyll
mounted a number of pickets. From the captured trains we had brought
bundles of oats for our horses and also a case of whisky which, on account
of the cold rain, was welcomed by all.
Late that evening I went to the hotel which is close to
the railway station to visit the wounded; there I found Commandant Viljoen
who had just arrived with his detachment. The hotel was full to bursting
and everybody was in the best of spirits. One of the men sat in his wet
raincoat, at the piano, his carbine slung over his back, and played a
popular tune, lustily accompanied by the men gathered around him. The room
was so crowded that no one could move. The wounded were comfortable and well
looked after. I was fortunate enough to secure a cup of tea with a liberal
shot of rum which warmed me up well and I then returned to my outposts.
The following morning at the break of dawn the general
arrived with the rest of his detachment and the two guns. When we returned
from our outposts we found everything in chaos at the trains. Cases of the
best wines and delicacies, obviously intended for the English officers'
messes, had been opened and our men had all the food and drink they could
wish for. Already some of them had partaken too liberally. As there was a
colossal amount of spirituous liquor and I feared that at this rate I would
be unable to find even twenty sober men in half an hour's time, I
immediately ordered all cases containing liquor to be smashed. Many men had
spent all night in pouring rain with nothing to eat and even a small
quantity of liquor would have been sufficient to render them incapable.
At eleven o'clock I requested Captain Weiss to order
everyone without exception to saddle-up. I decided to take a patrol in the
direction of Ladysmith to discover any possible approach by the enemy in
good time.
Captain de Witt-Hamer from the Hollander Corps
continued to supervise the smashing of the liquor crates. It filled me with
regret to see all those nice things at the trains tramped on in mud and
rain, musical instruments, scores, regimental records, private luggage of
officers, goods - presumably intended for a trading shop in Dundee,
everything lay scattered in mud and mire.
After the Hollanders had destroyed all liquor they
commenced to break up the railway track south of Elandslaagte. The vanguard
of our patrol was provided by Count Zeppelin with one troop. After having
ridden for about an hour at a pace an orderly from Count Zeppelin brought
the message that a strong enemy force was approaching from Ladysmith. I had
expected this since early morning and my fear that a clash with the enemy at
the station under the chaotic conditions there would have been most
disadvantageous for us were well founded.
When I received the message from Count Zeppelin I had
no time left to send an orderly to the general. I instructed the Count's
despatch rider not to mention the enemy advance to any one. Some 800 yards
from us grazed a herd of hartebeest antelopes. This gave me a sudden idea.
If we shot at them the general would be alerted without disclosing to my men
what was in my mind. I ordered a troop to dismount and allowed each man to
fire one round. I knew then that the general had been alerted.
When we returned to the station we found a large number
of Indian coolies at the trains. They had come over from the near-by coal
mines where they worked and were carrying the loot from the trains in large
heaps to their huts. Many were lying around near the trains, dead-drunk.
They had cleared all the dregs from the broken bottles
and had licked up the puddles on the ground caused by the destroyed liquor.
I met the general at the station. To my great surprise he had not taken the
least precaution to take the trains further north away from the enemy and
told me he had no intention of doing so. If we had taken the trains to a
position where the railway line passes through the Biggarsberg we could
easily have defended them until such time as we could have taken them to
Newcastle. It would have been an easy matter temporarily to lift the track
on either side of such position to prevent an approach by the English
armoured trains. I made representations to the general in this direction
but he was not amenable. He pointed to an isolated hillock on the plain
about one mile from the station and indicated that that was where he would
take up his position and there await the enemy attack.
"Permit me, General," I said, "to draw your attention
to the fact that it is not our mission to provoke a battle; our task is
merely to destroy the railway track and to establish contact with the Free
State commandos. The enemy has 15,000 men at Ladysmith and a strong force
is already advancing towards us. We have altogether only 800 men and only
two guns. I very much doubt that we would comply with the instructions and
the plans of the Commandant-General if we offered the enemy an opportunity
to attack us with a superior force. The enemy will be well aware of our own
strength - the railway officials and the staff at the coal mine will have
seen to that."
"Never mind!" replied the general brusquely. "I am a
general myself - I take instructions from no one. This is not only where I
shall await the enemy, this is where I shall defeat him. This will not be
the first time that I have done that. You come with me to the hill and take
up your position!"
This order was brief and to the point! Without saying
a word I saluted and withdrew.
I requested Captain Weiss and Field Cornet Potgieter to
have the horses fed but to leave them saddled. The reported enemy force
could not arrive in less than an hour. Zeppelin had not yet returned; I knew
therefore that he kept it under observation. Whether the enemy was delayed
by the heavy rain, or whatever his reasons may have been, in short, he did
not arrive. Count Zeppelin, with his patrol, returned instead and brought
the message that the force had returned to Ladysmith. I requested
Lieutenant von Albedyll to accompany me to the hill without delay to inspect
the position which had already been occupied by the general and found my
fears fully justified. The mountain, or hill, which the general had
selected for a defensive position rose some 300 ft from the plain and stood
completely isolated. To the east a number of ridges stretched southwards
towards Ladysmith. They, were high enough to have given cover to the enemy
who could thus have outflanked the general's position without difficulty.
With our small numbers we were incapable of occupying these heights
effectively. Towards the south the terrain was undulating and open but
covered with ridges towards the north. The plain extended north-easterly
but the foothills of the Biggarsberg which were of considerable height
offered to the enemy an excellent opportunity to cut off our retreat to the
protective mountains and furthermore offered excellent artillery positions.
With a heavy heart I rode back to the railway station
and called all officers together. I knew the stubbornness of General Kock,
a dyed-in-the-wool Boer, who as a result of the Siege of Potchefstroom
(1881), where second to Cronje he held command over the Boer troops, had a
high opinion of himself, and made reckless through good fortune, did not
care two hoots for the simplest and most basic rules of military tactics. We
discussed the seriousness of the situation, the stupidity under such
circumstances, not only to accept battle but to provoke it, and I decided to
make a final effort to persuade the general to burn the cursed trains, to
break up the railway track in different places and to return to the cover of
the protective mountains. It was already too late to withdraw the trains.
All officers agreed with me that in our situation such an approach was the
only advisable one. I ordered Field Cornet Potgieter's brother to ride over
to the general and to request him urgently to burn the trains and to return
to the Biggarsberg. I would attend to the breaking up of the railway tracks.
"However, if the General decides to hold his position,
tell him that during the coming night I will bivouac and post pickets along
the Ladysmith road." Half an hour later Potgieter returned and reported:
"The General says he did not come to guard mountains, but to fight, and
directs you to place pickets on the road to Ladysmith at night as suggested
by you, but with the break of dawn you shall fall back on the position
already allocated to you." Field Cornet Potgieter was placed in charge of
the pickets and Captain Weiss, who had taken over command of the German
detachment, held everything in readiness for an immediate departure.
Although Count Zeppelin, who never lost his sense of
humour, as usual tried to keep the spirits up and romanced about our planned
joint venture to the German home country after the war, there was a feeling
of depression amongst the officers gathered around the camp fire. Every one
was aware of our critical situation and the serious mistake we were making.
Even though good discipline was an established practice in the Dutch and
German Corps and we were convinced that our men would do their duty we were
sadly aware of the disorder and complete lack of discipline amongst the
burgher commandos. We knew that, notwithstanding the personal bravery of
individuals, the final result of the battle was not a foregone conclusion,
but that in view of the strong superiority of the Ladysmith garrison the
chances of defeat were most likely. To what avail is the personal bravery of
men when their leaders cannot work together and allow themselves to be
dominated by petty jealousies, as was the case here, and when men are posted
to positions which cannot possibly be held against a superior force.
Towards three o'clock in the morning a message was
received from one of the outposts:
"A strong enemy detachment has taken up position some
100 yards in front of the outpost. One of our guards crept forward and
observed that the enemy is bringing artillery into position. He also
observed the presence of cavalry and infantry."
I instructed Field Cornet Potgieter to avoid firing on
the enemy unless he advanced further, he should, however, withdraw before
first light and fall back on us. Before first light we saddled-up and as
soon as Field Cornet Potgieter arrived with his pickets we were ready to
march off.
Even though the rain had stopped, the morning was misty
and visibility restricted. But suddenly the mist lifted and as we reached
the railway station we could discern not only the enemy positions as
reported by our sentries, but also the well-known puff of smoke of the first
enemy cannon-fire. At the railway trains there had already been lively
action. Numbers of coolies from the coal mine plundered and carried goods
away and numerous burghers had pitched up to salvage provisions and oats for
their horses.
WHOOMPH! The first, shell landed right among the
coolies who scattered screaming and shouting just as we rode by. Like ants
the burghers scuttled back towards the mountains. Some of the English guns
opened fire on the position of the general, from which our two guns
immediately retorted.
Here again the advantages of deeply ingrained
discipline could be observed. While the Germans, most of them trained
soldiers, with a joke and a smile, kept up an easy canter without a single
man trying to leave the spread-out formation, the Afrikaaners on the other
hand, rushed forward in a thick bunch which offered the enemy a much better
target than the scattered lines of the Germans.
The weather had cleared in the meantime. It became
immediately obvious to us that the English artillerymen were "amateur
soldiers", as our men called the English Volunteer Corps. We could continue
to ride at ease, especially when they aimed at us the chance of being hit
was slight. On this particular morning their shooting was miserable. The
Natal Volunteer Artillery will have to practice a great deal before it can
get anywhere near the regular English artillery.
Count Zeppelin, who shouted out with joy, rode at my
side. From time to time I looked towards the enemy guns which tried their
best to reach the tents of the general. All of a sudden, I observed, by the
cloud of smoke, that one gun had changed its direction and aimed straight
towards us.
"Zeppelin", I called out, "This is meant for us!" And
so it was. The first shell came - but much too high and it whistled over our
heads. I turned to look at the men. Some looked uneasy but most others
smiled and seemed happy. The second shot also passed high over our heads.
The third one, some fifty yards ahead, exploded amongst the rocks to our
left. The fourth shell, a badly fuzed shrapnel, became embedded in the mud
to our left and for some seconds we could see the smoke of the fuze; it
settled in the mud without exploding. Some of our own shells had achieved
direct hits on the enemy gun positions. A little later the English gun-fire
ceased. They limbered up and withdrew. As we reached the general's
position on the hill we could see the artillery moving back, followed by
the enemy infantry.
As a result of this General Kock was in excellent
spirits. He walked up to me with a friendly greeting and said "Do you see
now our position is not as bad as you tried to make it."
Commandant Lombard, a Boer, whom the Hollander Corps
had elected as their commandant, called out to me "De Engelsche vlugt al,
hulle voorpunt is al in Ladysmith!" (The English are already fleeing, their
van has already reached Ladysmith!) It was, however, abundantly clear that
the enemy had no intention of withdrawing but merely awaited
reinforcements. On the instructions of the general I occupied a koppie in
the centre of our position and full of expectation we awaited the advance of
the enemy.
At 12 o'clock the general came over to us and ordered
me to occupy a position west of Elandslaagte station at the furthermost
extremity of the Biggarsberg: the same position to which I had drawn his
attention and which I had recommended as the main defensive position. Field
Cornet Joubert, from Johannesburg, was to join me. Captain Weiss and Field
Cornet Potgieter each ordered fifty men to mount. Lt Badicke remained with
the rest of the men in the position previously occupied by us.
On the morning of the 21st a detachment of Free Staters,
a hundred men strong, from Commandant Truter, had linked up with us. They
were under the command of Field Cornet de Jager. They also accompanied me.
Field Cornet Joubert had already ridden ahead and had posted his men on high
ground. Field Cornet de Jager took up position next to him. I occupied,
with my men, a "klip koppie" some 800 yards further south-west.
We held the right flank of our position. Field Cornet
Pienaar, from Viljoen's commando, had occupied a ridge south-east from our
main position and thus occupied the left flank. His position was
approximately 1000 metres from the spot at which the railway track had been
destroyed and up to which the enemy could take his troop trains.
From our position we had a good view of the advance of
the enemy troops and if only we had had a gun, shell after shell would have
been poured into the enemy formations which were covered against our own
artillery by a slight rise in the terrain.
The enemy had brought up his artillery in the meantime
and opened an extremely well-aimed fire at our guns. From the way the
infantry advanced it became obvious that he intended a frontal assault. From
high ground on his right flank the field cornet Pienaar with its
sharpshooters opened a harassing fire.
Under artillery cover the English despatched a cavalry
detachment against them whereupon we could observe the hasty retreat of our
men and could follow them with the bare eye until they reached our main
position. They disappeared for a few minutes behind the koppie which was
occupied by Lieutenant Badicke and a portion of the Detective Corps. Not
long after we could see a group of mounted men reappear behind the koppie.
They rose towards the railway line and took their departure in a
north-westerly direction. Those bastards!
Seething with anger at this cowardly behaviour, I could
not refrain from saying to von Alberdyll, "If only we had a gun, instead of
firing at the British I would let those bastards have it!"
The artillery fire which the enemy now poured out of
eighteen guns became very heavy, and as it increased in intensity we could
see small groups of our men leaving the main position in twos, threes and
fives and taking their departure in a north-westerly direction.
We could distinctly observe the enemy artillery fire on
our main position. With excellent precision the shrapnel exploded right in
front of our guns and it is surprising that the enemy, notwithstanding his
excellent gunnery, achieved relatively small results with his artillery
fire. This must be ascribed to the excellent cover which the many large
stones and rocks offered our men.
At about 3.30 p.m. a detachment of enemy mounted
infantry moved up on the enemy left flank towards my own position. However,
we forced them to retreat. Thereupon the enemy brought some guns into action
against us. Their shells immediately found their target and exploded in our
midst. Here again it was only due to the excellent cover we had that we
sustained no losses.
At the same time an orderly arrived from the general
with the order that I should fall back immediately on the main position as
he could not hold it on his own. Field Cornets de Jager and Joubert had
complied with this order as soon as they had received it without
coordinating their movements with me. Before this message reached my
position, which was on the extreme right flank, they had already moved out
and had avoided a strong detachment of enemy cavalry which now moved into
the gap and threatened to cut us off.
When the troop of enemy cavalry on their left flank had
temporarily withdrawn, as described earlier on, we had noticed the heroic
deed of an enemy cavalry man. Judging by his head-gear he might have been
an Imperial Light Horse. One of their men had been shot from his horse and
lay wounded on the ground. Another one dismounted, helped his wounded
comrade into the saddle while still exposed to heavy rifle fire, and then
led the horse at a walking pace towards his own lines. It pleased me to hear
my own men immediately call to each other "Don't shoot at that man - let him
go!".
If we had attempted to engage the cavalry which tried
to cut us off we could not have carried out the order just received. I
feared that the cavalry would delay us long enough to enable them to obtain
artillery support; not only would we have been cut off but we would also
have been eliminated from the battle scene as my only avenue would have been
a withdrawal towards the mountains. In any case the strength of the enemy
detachment was far superior to our own.
We mounted and rode off in a north-westerly direction
and then veered off to the north to by-pass the cavalry in front and to
reach our main positions from the rear.
Naturally, I did not know the battle situation at that
stage. Judging by the General's order it must have been critical. I
imagined that our support was being anxiously awaited. We proceeded at a
sharp gallop, every minute was valuable. It, was a ride to save our
honour. Lt von Albedyll rode with ten of the best men both as scout and
fighting patrol on the right flank as we approached our main position in a
wide arc. A stream with steep banks crossed our way.
One of the scouts indicated to us a place where he had
crossed. It was half sandy, half swampy. I had to cross straight ahead and
turn sharply left on the other side to reach a spot at which we could scale
the opposite bank My horse turned too short and sank up to the saddle into
the swamp. Although I immediately jumped into the water the animal could
not extricate itself. In a flash some of my men had undone the reins from
their horses' halters; wherever they could find a grip strong hands helped
the animal out of its predicament.
Without any further mishap we all got through. On the
other side we allowed the horses a minute or two to regain their wind and
then went off again at a gallop.
The firing at the main position, which on account of
rising ground was still out of sight, had become more vehement, and the
rifle fire in particular had increased in intensity; we presumed therefore
that the enemy was advancing. On this ride I realised how easy it would
have been for the English to surround us completely. If they had done this
instead of launching a frontal attack they could have achieved victory due
to their artillery superiority without losing hardly a man.
Soon we reached the railway line which was fenced in on
both sides. We were now north-west to the rear of our own position, some
1500 metres from the hill of the main position, and had to cross an open
plain which was covered by the shells of the enemy's left flank battery.
While the railway fences were being cut to allow a passage through, our
horses could take a breather before starting on the final dash. I knew that
this had to take place at full gallop to pass the battery before it could
find time to range in on us.
As I did not know whether the General had noticed our
ride I ordered Captain Robertson to take three men and to ride post haste to
report to the General our return from his rear. He should also, at the same
time, use his men as scouts and to return any messages if necessary.
While the wire was being cut I quickly called the
officers together to give them their final detailed orders. I still had
some old cognac in my field flask; who knew if ever we would be able to
drink together again.
"Gentlemen," I said, "before we advance we must, as
good Germans, drink the health of our Most Gracious Kaiser!" I drank and
passed the flask to Captain Weiss. "His Majesty!" he said raising the
flask. Then came von Albedyll. He did the same.
As Zeppelin took a sip and exclaimed briskly "His
Majesty". Then he took a second sip, raised the flask and gave me a nod. I
knew what he meant to say.
"Gentlemen mount. Advance en passé!”, came the
command. At a pace we crossed the railway embankment. Than at a canter
until we came into view of the battery, and then as fast as our horses could
carry us across the open plain. Then the first shrapnel whistled overhead
and exploded, but too high. Ssst.... then came the second one and
exploded immediately above us. I turned in the saddle; thank God! no one
had been hit. With a crash the third one exploded. This one was
well-timed to hit; a number of men of the last troop were hit. Before the
fourth one came we were outside the line of fire behind high ground.
We were only 200 metres from the base of the steeply
sloping hill of our main position. Then came a rivulet across our path.
Like an arrow my mount flew across, equally well did Zeppelin negotiate the
ditch. The smile on his face betrayed his joy and horseman's elation. In
his Swabian dialect he called out: "Colonel", he said, "Nevertheless, it is
great!"
I turned in the saddle towards my squadron. Some 30
men had got across; other horses must have found the jump across the swampy
ditch too wide. Some of the men had sunk in, others tried to ride through
slowly and others sought firmer ground somewhat towards the left. All
horses which had jumped across reached the hill together with me. The enemy
shells exploded all around us. I was on the point of riding across a
depression to reach the positions we had occupied in the morning where
Lieutenant Badicke had stayed with the remainder of our men, when all of a
sudden we received heavy rifle fire from half left to our rear. Lieutenant
von Albedyll's horse was hit and collapsed under him and the same thing
happened to Captain Weiss and I noticed to my horror that we had been
overtaken by the enemy's right flank. I had not been in a position to
notice this during our headlong ride. Since the undulations in the ground
had concealed the enemy's right flank, I had not thought of the possibility
of being overtaken. Our General had not undertaken any change in his front,
although, from his position on the main hill, he could and should, have
noticed this move.
I pulled my horse around and called out to von
Albedyll's troop: "About turn, half right, gallop!" and as fast as the wind
we raced downhill again to face the enemy - against whose fire we were in
the meantime covered by a depression in the ground.
Down below at the foot of the hill in a depression lay
a small farm; I ordered the men to dismount and to advance in extended line.
I requested Captain Weiss to bring up all our men who were approaching at
short distance as everything depended on us reaching a rocky-ridge lying
between us and the enemy before they could do so. We only had to run forward
some 50 yards. Near the farm buildings were several Boers who had brought
in wounded men.
"Come forward Chaps!" I called out to them and a
certain Schenk from the Johannesburg Detective Corps, together with a dozen
men, joined us. Before the enemy could reach the ridge we had occupied it.
Count Zeppelin had fallen. A shell fragment had
inflicted a mortal head wound, also several other of my brave boys lay on
the ground. The enemy line of marksmen was only some 100 paces distant.
From their uniforms we noticed that they were Scots. From both sides a
murderous fire ensued. "If only we could get reinforcements, if only the
General had effected a partial change in his front to help us from his hill
above" was my fervent prayer.
A new disaster struck. A detachment of Imperial Light
Horse appeared on the extreme right flank of the enemy and covered with
heavy fire the shallow depression through which Weiss and von Albedyll had
to pass to reach us. Three times they pressed forward and three times they
were beaten back. We fired as fast as we could. To miss was almost
impossible because we could already recognise the faces of the Scots. I
beckoned again to Weiss but I suppose his losses had already been too
great. It wrenched my heart to think how my small force had been
decimated.
Next to me knelt a certain Ludwig von Borries; I
admired the calmness with which he fired. Every one of his shots found its
mark. He jumped up to advance a few paces, then he fell back right at my
feet with a bullet through his forehead. Field Cornet Potgieter knelt two
paces to my half right. He used a big rock for cover. I saw him lift his
rifle to take aim then suddenly his head jerked to the right and he too sank
to the ground. Left and right my poor boys lay on the ground but no help
was in sight.
In pressing forward I had called out to Captain Weiss
to send an orderly to the General to tell him that we had been overtaken and
to advise him that if he could make no further change in his front we would
endeavour to delay the enemy to cover the retreat.
My rifle became so hot that I could scarcely hold it.
All of a sudden I felt a jab below the heel of one foot as if someone had
prodded me with a red hot poker and I was convinced that I had been struck
by a bullet. My magazine was again empty; I took a fresh clip of cartridges
from my bandolier and fired another three shots towards the enemy who was
already so close that we could discern the whites of their eyes.
The air was thick with bullets. I intended taking a
pace forward, but felt all of a sudden as if I had been dispossessed of my
left leg; I fell and blacked out. I can remember, however, that during the
last moment before I lost consciousness, my son Adolf and my little daughter
passed through my mind. I don't know how long I remained unconscious. When
I regained my senses I just did not know where I was. I lifted myself on my
right elbow but felt such an overpowering pain in my left thigh that I fell
down again. The firing line of the enemy had already by-passed us,
ascending the hill from which, although much reduced, firing could still be
heard. I looked at my leg; my riding breeches were full of blood and the
pain, even at the slightest movement, was unbearable. At different points I
observed enemy troops collecting weapons and piling them up.
How dreadful was the sight that met my eyes. All
around me my brave lads were lying on the ground; only a few had made it.
Scottish soldiers and our own lay intermingled. To my left lay the dead
body of Herr von Borries, a pace in front of me Field Cornet Potgieter on
his back; his pale face with a black beard and his large wide-open eyes
presented a dreadful aspect. His eyes were turned towards me as if he was
on the point of speaking to me. Three paces behind me sat Potgieter's
youngest brother with a bullet through both shoulders. Close by, two paces
to my right, lay an Afrikaner. Groaning he turned towards me, saw me half
erect and said, "Is the Commandant not dead?"
Notwithstanding my pain I could not help but smile at
this naive question. The poor fellow had a bullet through the chest and a
shattered arm. A little further on lay Schmidt, a former Prussian Artillery
NCO, obviously dead.
A Light Horse, who was collecting rifles approached
me. "Great Scot!" he said, "That is Colonel Schiel!" He was an
acquaintance from Johannesburg. "Who won?" I asked, as we shook hands.
"We.... ", he said hesitatingly, "We won, but a large
number of your chaps got away!" Thank heavens for that, I thought to
myself.
I wanted to say something, but darkness again overcame
me and I fell over. The friendly Light Horse took his field flask and held
it to my lips. That worked wonders; his cognac sent the blood coursing
through my veins again, but I could feel the blood still running from my
wound. Another Light Horse turned up. "Have you any arms?" "Yes, two" I
said, "but only one leg"
"No", he said, "That's not what I mean." Now I
understood. I thought he had enquired as to whether I had been shot through
the arms. My rifle was gone, my revolver as well. When he saw that I still
had my binoculars he took them away. I must say I would rather have given
them to his friendlier comrade who later on came back, after it had started
to rain heavily, to give me his raincoat for protection and as a souvenir.
As darkness fell some other Light Horse came along to
carry me to the First Aid Post. I requested them, however, to attend rather
to those of my men who were more seriously wounded. I must admit that it
was not only compassion for the other wounded which prompted me to turn down
the friendly offer of help, but rather the hope that during the night Weiss
or von Albedyll would come with their men to look for me, perhaps also Dr.
Elsberger or my brother Max. I knew that the farm of old Kroghmann was in
the vicinity and perhaps I could spend a few days there to regain my
strength. I heard later that several men had gone out to look for me but
failed to find me in the dark.
My brother Max told me later that he had heard that I
had been killed. Some men had seen me fall down on my side and had reported
this fact to him. He spent the whole night walking around and towards
midnight had come upon a few Gordon Highlanders. He asked one of them if he
had seen me, giving him as detailed a description of me as he could. "He is
dead" said the Gordon, "I blew his brains out!" That was little consolation.
The rain began to fall more heavily; the night was
bitterly cold. Fortunately I still had a little cognac in my flask. I crept
up to poor Potgieter who could not lie still for the agony of his wound. The
poor fellow moaned pitifully; only a few paces away lay the corpse of his
brother. A few paces further on lay a Gordon, also with a bullet through
his leg. We shared the brandy. He still had some tobacco and some dry
matches, and so we smoked a pipe of peace together. The raincoat which the
friendly Light Horse had given me I passed on to Potgieter. Soon after the
Gordon was carried away. A few paces from me lay one of our lads. He must
have been close to death for his breath rattled, almost like a snoring man,
and continued until midnight when all of a sudden it stopped.
The English soldiers, particularly the Light Horse,
helped our wounded wherever they could, and when darkness fell many had
already been taken to the First Aid Post. I asked one of them to give
Potgieter a little water. They gave us all they had and a Sergeant, a
musician or piper, sat himself next to me and offered me his help. When he
saw that I had not yet been bandaged and that my riding breeches were soaked
in blood, he took his knife out of his pocket and without hesitation cut my
left trouser leg from top to bottom through breeches, underpants and riding
boots, to dress my wound. I was grateful for his well-meant assistance, but
wished, however, that he had not cut my clothes in this manner because, not
withstanding my severe pain, I had remained warm. Now, however, the cold
rain struck my naked leg and I began to shiver until my teeth chattered. The
Sergeant stayed with me for a long while and told me about his little
daughter who was, as he said, his one and only joy. I thought of my little
girls whom I had not seen for a whole year. When this good fellow saw how I
shivered from the cold he went away to fetch help to carry me away; his own
raincoat he had already given away long ago. Later on he visited me in
hospital in Ladysmith and told me that he had gone to fetch two Gordons but
was unable to find me again in the dark.
