Pretoria: November 20, 1899.
Now I perceive that I was foolish to choose in advance a definite title
for these letters and to think that it could continue to be appropriate for
any length of time. In the strong stream of war the swimmer is swirled
helplessly about hither and thither by the waves, and he can by no means
tell where he will come to land, or, indeed, that he may not be overwhelmed
in the flood. A week ago I described to you a reconnoitring expedition in
the Estcourt armoured train, and I pointed out the many defects in the
construction and the great dangers in the employment of that forlorn
military machine. So patent were these to all who concerned themselves in
the matter that the train was nicknamed in the camp 'Wilson's death trap.'
On Tuesday, the 14th, the mounted infantry patrols reported that the
Boers in small parties were approaching Estcourt from the directions of
Weenen and Colenso, and Colonel Long made a reconnaissance in force to
ascertain what strength lay behind the advanced scouts. The reconnaissance,
which was marked only by an exchange of shots between the patrols, revealed
little, but it was generally believed that a considerable portion of the
army investing Ladysmith was moving, or was about to move, southwards to
attack Estcourt, and endeavour to strike Pietermaritzburg. The movement that
we had awaited for ten days impended. Accordingly certain military
preparations, which I need not now specify, were made to guard against all
contingencies, and at daylight on Wednesday morning another spray of patrols
was flung out towards the north and north-west, and the Estcourt armoured
train was ordered to reconnoitre towards Chieveley. The train was composed
as follows: an ordinary truck, in which was a 7-pounder muzzle-loading gun,
served by four sailors from the 'Tartar;' an armoured car fitted with
loopholes and held by three sections of a company of the Dublin Fusiliers;
the engine and tender, two more armoured cars containing the fourth section
of the Fusilier company, one company of the Durban Light Infantry
(volunteers), and a small civilian breakdown gang; lastly, another ordinary
truck with the tools and materials for repairing the road; in all five
wagons, the locomotive, one small gun, and 120 men. Captain Haldane, D.S.O.,
whom I had formerly known on Sir William Lockhart's staff in the Tirah
Expedition, and who was lately recovered from his wound at Elandslaagte,
commanded.
We started at half-past five and, observing all the usual precautions,
reached Frere Station in about an hour. Here a small patrol of the Natal
police reported that there were no enemy within the next few miles, and that
all seemed quiet in the neighbourhood. It was the silence before the storm.
Captain Haldane decided to push on cautiously as far as Chieveley, near
which place an extensive view of the country could be obtained. Not a sign
of the Boers could be seen. The rolling grassy country looked as peaceful
and deserted as on former occasions, and we little thought that behind the
green undulations scarcely three miles away the leading commandos of a
powerful force were riding swiftly forward on their invading path.
All was clear as far as Chieveley, but as the train reached the station I
saw about a hundred Boer horsemen cantering southwards about a mile from the
railway. Beyond Chieveley a long hill was lined with a row of black spots,
showing that our further advance would be disputed. The telegraphist who
accompanied the train wired back to Estcourt reporting our safe arrival, and
that parties of Boers were to be seen at no great distance, and Colonel Long
replied by ordering the train to return to Frere and remain there in
observation during the day, watching its safe retreat at nightfall. We
proceeded to obey, and were about a mile and three-quarters from Frere when
on rounding a corner we saw that a hill which commanded the line at a
distance of 600 yards was occupied by the enemy. So after all there would be
a fight, for we could not pass this point without coming under fire. The
four sailors loaded their gun—an antiquated toy—the soldiers charged their
magazines, and the train, which was now in the reverse of the order in which
it had started moved, slowly towards the hill.
The moment approached: but no one was much concerned, for the cars were
proof against rifle fire, and this ridge could at the worst be occupied only
by some daring patrol of perhaps a score of men. 'Besides,' we said to
ourselves, 'they little think we have a gun on board. That will be a nice
surprise.'
The Boers held their fire until the train reached that part of the track
nearest to their position. Standing on a box in the rear armoured truck I
had an excellent view-through my glasses. The long brown rattling serpent
with the rifles bristling from its spotted sides crawled closer to the rocky
hillock on which the scattered black figures of the enemy showed clearly.
Suddenly three wheeled things appeared on the crest, and within a second a
bright flash of light—like a heliograph, but much yellower—opened and shut
ten or twelve times. Then two much larger flashes; no smoke nor yet any
sound, and a bustle and stir among the little figures. So much for the hill.
Immediately over the rear truck of the train a huge white ball of smoke
sprang into being and tore out into a cone like a comet. Then came, the
explosions of the near guns and the nearer shell. The iron sides of the
truck tanged with a patter of bullets. There was a crash from the front of
the train and half a dozen sharp reports. The Boers had opened fire on us at
600 yards with two large field guns, a Maxim firing small shells in a
stream, and from riflemen lying on the ridge. I got down from my box into
the cover of the armoured sides of the car without forming any clear
thought. Equally involuntarily, it seems that the driver put on full steam,
as the enemy had intended. The train leapt forward, ran the gauntlet of the
guns, which now filled the air with explosions, swung round the curve of the
hill, ran down a steep gradient, and dashed into a huge stone which awaited
it on the line at a convenient spot.
To those who were in the rear truck there was only a tremendous shock, a
tremendous crash, and a sudden full stop. What happened to the trucks in
front of the engine is more interesting. The first, which contained the
materials and tools of the breakdown gang and the guard who was watching the
line, was flung into the air and fell bottom upwards on the embankment. (I
do not know what befell the guard, but it seems probable that he was
killed.) The next, an armoured car crowded with the Durban Light Infantry,
was carried on twenty yards and thrown over on its side, scattering its
occupants in a shower on the ground. The third wedged itself across the
track, half on and half off the rails. The rest of the train kept to the
metals.
We were not long left in the comparative peace and safety of a railway
accident. The Boer guns, swiftly changing their position, re-opened from a
distance of 1,300 yards before anyone had got out of the stage of
exclamations. The tapping rifle fire spread along the hillside, until it
encircled the wreckage on three sides, and a third field gun came into
action from some high ground on the opposite side of the line.
To all of this our own poor little gun endeavoured to reply, and the
sailors, though exposed in an open truck, succeeded in letting off three
rounds before the barrel was struck by a shell, and the trunnions, being
smashed, fell altogether out of the carriage.
The armoured truck gave some protection from the bullets, but since any
direct shell must pierce it like paper and kill everyone, it seemed almost
safer outside, and, wishing to see the extent and nature of the damage, I
clambered over the iron shield, and, dropping to the ground, ran along the
line to the front of the train. As I passed the engine another shrapnel
shell burst immediately, as it seemed, overhead, hurling its contents with a
rasping rush through the air. The driver at once sprang out of the cab and
ran to the shelter of the overturned trucks. His face was cut open by a
splinter, and he complained in bitter futile indignation. He was a civilian.
What did they think he was paid for? To be killed by bombshells? Not he. He
would not stay another minute. It looked as if his excitement and misery—he
was dazed by the blow on his head—would prevent him from working the engine
further, and as only he understood the machinery all chances of escape
seemed to be cut off. Yet when I told this man that if he continued to stay
at his post he would be mentioned for distinguished gallantry in action, he
pulled himself together, wiped the blood off his face, climbed back into the
cab of his engine, and thereafter during the one-sided combat did his duty
bravely and faithfully—so strong is the desire for honour and repute in the
human breast.
I reached the overturned portion of the train uninjured. The volunteers
who, though severely shaken, were mostly unhurt, were lying down under such
cover as the damaged cars and the gutters of the railway line afforded. It
was a very grievous sight to see these citizen soldiers, most of whom were
the fathers of families, in such a perilous position. They bore themselves
well, though greatly troubled, and their major, whose name I have not
learned, directed their fire on the enemy; but since these, lying behind the
crests of the surrounding hills, were almost invisible I did not expect that
it would be very effective.
Having seen this much, I ran along the train to the rear armoured truck
and told Captain Haldane that in my opinion the line might be cleared. We
then agreed that he with musketry should keep the enemy's artillery from
destroying us, and that I should try to throw the wreckage off the line, so
that the engine and the two cars which still remained on the rails might
escape.
I am convinced that this arrangement gave us the best possible chance of
safety, though at the time it was made the position appeared quite hopeless.
Accordingly Haldane and his Fusiliers began to fire through their
loopholes at the Boer artillery, and, as the enemy afterwards admitted,
actually disturbed their aim considerably. During the time that these men
were firing from the truck four shells passed through the armour, but
luckily not one exploded until it had passed out on the further side. Many
shells also struck and burst on the outside of their shields, and these
knocked all the soldiers on their backs with the concussion. Nevertheless a
well-directed fire was maintained without cessation.
The task of clearing the line would not, perhaps, in ordinary
circumstances have been a very difficult one. But the breakdown gang and
their tools were scattered to the winds, and several had fled along the
track or across the fields. Moreover, the enemy's artillery fire was
pitiless, continuous, and distracting. The affair had, however, to be
carried through.
The first thing to be done was to detach the truck half off the rails
from the one completely so. To do this the engine had to be moved to slacken
the strain on the twisted couplings. When these had been released, the next
step was to drag the partly derailed truck backwards along the line until it
was clear of the other wreckage, and then to throw it bodily off the rails.
This may seem very simple, but the dead weight of the iron truck half on the
sleepers was enormous, and the engine wheels skidded vainly several times
before any hauling power was obtained. At last the truck was drawn
sufficiently far back, and I called for volunteers to overturn it from the
side while the engine pushed it from the end. It was very evident that these
men would be exposed to considerable danger. Twenty were called for, and
there was an immediate response. But only nine, including the major of
volunteers and four or five of the Dublin Fusiliers, actually stepped out
into the open. The attempt was nevertheless successful. The truck heeled
further over under their pushing, and, the engine giving a shove at the
right moment, it fell off the line and the track was clear. Safety and
success appeared in sight together, but disappointment overtook them.
The engine was about six inches wider than the tender, and the corner of
its footplate would not pass the corner of the newly overturned truck. It
did not seem safe to push very hard, lest the engine should itself be
derailed. So time after time the engine moved back a yard or two and shoved
forward at the obstruction, and each time moved it a little. But soon it was
evident that complications had set in. The newly derailed truck became
jammed with that originally off the line, and the more the engine pushed the
greater became the block. Volunteers were again called on to assist, but
though seven men, two of whom, I think, were wounded, did their best, the
attempt was a failure.
Perseverance, however, is a virtue. If the trucks only jammed the tighter
for the forward pushing they might be loosened by pulling backwards. Now,
however, a new difficulty arose. The coupling chains of the engine would not
reach by five or six inches those of the overturned truck. Search was made
for a spare link. By a solitary gleam of good luck one was found. The engine
hauled at the wreckage, and before the chains parted pulled it about a yard
backwards. Now, certainly, the line was clear at last. But again the corner
of the footplate jammed with the corner of the truck, and again we came to a
jarring halt.
I have had, in the last four years, the advantage, if it be an advantage,
of many strange and varied experiences, from which the student of realities
might draw profit and instruction. But nothing was so thrilling as this: to
wait and struggle among these clanging, rending iron boxes, with the
repeated explosions of the shells and the artillery, the noise of the
projectiles striking the cars, the hiss as they passed in the air, the
grunting and puffing of the engine—poor, tortured thing, hammered by at
least a dozen shells, any one of which, by penetrating the boiler, might
have made an end of all—the expectation of destruction as a matter of
course, the realization of powerlessness, and the alternations of hope and
despair—all this for seventy minutes by the clock with only four inches of
twisted iron work to make the difference between danger, captivity, and
shame on the one hand—safety, freedom, and triumph on the other.
Nothing remained but to continue pounding at the obstructing corner in
the hopes that the iron work would gradually be twisted and torn, and thus
give free passage. As we pounded so did the enemy. I adjured the driver to
be patient and to push gently, for it did not seem right to imperil the
slender chance of escape by running the risk of throwing the engine off the
line. But after a dozen pushes had been given with apparently little result
a shell struck the front of the engine, setting fire to the woodwork, and he
thereupon turned on more steam, and with considerable momentum we struck the
obstacle once more. There was a grinding crash; the engine staggered,
checked, shore forward again, until with a clanging, tearing sound it broke
past the point of interception, and nothing but the smooth line lay between
us and home.
Brilliant success now seemed won, for I thought that the rear and gun
trucks were following the locomotive, and that all might squeeze into them,
and so make an honourable escape. But the longed-for cup was dashed aside.
Looking backward, I saw that the couplings had parted or had been severed by
a shell, and that the trucks still lay on the wrong side of the obstruction,
separated by it from the engine. No one dared to risk imprisoning the engine
again by making it go back for the trucks, so an attempt was made to drag
the trucks up to the engine. Owing chiefly to the fire of the enemy this
failed completely, and Captain Haldane determined to be content with saving
the locomotive. He accordingly permitted the driver to retire along the line
slowly, so that the infantry might get as much shelter from the ironwork of
the engine as possible, and the further idea was to get into some houses
near the station, about 800 yards away, and there hold out while the engine
went for assistance.
As many wounded as possible were piled on to the engine, standing in the
cab, lying on the tender, or clinging to the cowcatcher. And all this time
the shells fell into the wet earth throwing up white clouds, burst with
terrifying detonations overhead, or actually struck the engine and the iron
wreckage. Besides the three field-guns, which proved to be 15-pounders, the
shell-firing Maxim continued its work, and its little shells, discharged
with an ugly thud, thud, thud, exploded with startling bangs on all sides.
One I remember struck the footplate of the engine scarcely a yard from my
face, lit up into a bright yellow flash, and left me wondering why I was
still alive. Another hit the coals in the tender, hurling a black shower
into the air. A third—this also I saw—struck the arm of a private in the
Dublin Fusiliers. The whole arm was smashed to a horrid pulp—bones, muscle,
blood, and uniform all mixed together. At the bottom hung the hand, unhurt,
but swelled instantly to three times its ordinary size. The engine was soon
crowded and began to steam homewards—a mournful, sorely battered
locomotive—with the woodwork of the firebox in flames and the water spouting
from its pierced tanks. The infantrymen straggled along beside it at the
double.
Seeing the engine escaping the Boers increased their fire, and the
troops, hitherto somewhat protected by the iron trucks, began to suffer. The
major of volunteers fell, shot through the thigh. Here and there men dropped
on the ground, several screamed—this is very rare in war—and cried for help.
About a quarter of the force was very soon killed or wounded. The shells
which pursued the retreating soldiers scattered them all along the track.
Order and control vanished. The engine, increasing its pace, drew out from
the thin crowd of fugitives and was soon in safety. The infantry continued
to run down the line in the direction of the houses, and, in spite of their
disorder, I honestly consider that they were capable of making a further
resistance when some shelter should be reached. But at this moment one of
those miserable incidents—much too frequent in this war—occurred.
A private soldier who was wounded, in direct disobedience of the positive
orders that no surrender was to be made, took it on himself to wave a
pocket-handkerchief. The Boers immediately ceased firing, and with equal
daring and humanity a dozen horsemen galloped from the hills into the
scattered fugitives, scarcely any of whom had seen the white flag, and
several of whom were still firing, and called loudly on them to surrender.
Most of the soldiers, uncertain what to do, then halted, gave up their arms,
and became prisoners of war. Those further away from the horsemen continued
to run and were shot or hunted down in twos and threes, and some made good
their escape.
For my part I found myself on the engine when the obstruction was at last
passed and remained there jammed in the cab next to the man with the
shattered arm. In this way I travelled some 500 yards, and passed through
the fugitives, noticing particularly a young officer, Lieutenant Frankland,
who with a happy, confident smile on his face was endeavouring to rally his
men. When I approached the houses where we had resolved to make a stand, I
jumped on to the line, in order to collect the men as they arrived, and
hence the address from which this letter is written, for scarcely had the
locomotive left me than I found myself alone in a shallow cutting and none
of our soldiers, who had all surrendered on the way, to be seen. Then
suddenly there appeared on the line at the end of the cutting two men not in
uniform. 'Platelayers,' I said to myself, and then, with a surge of
realisation, 'Boers.' My mind retains a momentary impression of these tall
figures, full of animated movement, clad in dark flapping clothes, with
slouch, storm-driven hats poising on their rifles hardly a hundred yards
away. I turned and ran between the rails of the track, and the only thought
I achieved was this, 'Boer marksmanship.' Two bullets passed, both within a
foot, one on either side. I flung myself against the banks of the cutting.
But they gave no cover. Another glance at the figures; one was now kneeling
to aim. Again I darted forward. Movement seemed the only chance. Again two
soft kisses sucked in the air, but nothing struck me. This could not endure.
I must get out of the cutting—that damnable corridor. I scrambled up the
bank. The earth sprang up beside me, and something touched my hand, but
outside the cutting was a tiny depression. I crouched in this, struggling to
get my wind. On the other side of the railway a horseman galloped up,
shouting to me and waving his hand. He was scarcely forty yards off. With a
rifle I could have killed him easily. I knew nothing of white flags, and the
bullets had made me savage. I reached down for my Mauser pistol. 'This one
at least,' I said, and indeed it was a certainty; but alas! I had left the
weapon in the cab of the engine in order to be free to work at the wreckage.
What then? There was a wire fence between me and the horseman. Should I
continue to fly? The idea of another shot at such a short range decided me.
Death stood before me, grim sullen Death without his light-hearted
companion, Chance. So I held up my hand, and like Mr. Jorrocks's foxes,
cried 'Capivy.' Then I was herded with the other prisoners in a miserable
group, and about the same time I noticed that my hand was bleeding, and it
began to pour with rain.
Two days before I had written to an officer in high command at home,
whose friendship I have the honour to enjoy: 'There has been a great deal
too much surrendering in this war, and I hope people who do so will not be
encouraged.' Fate had intervened, yet though her tone was full of irony she
seemed to say, as I think Ruskin once said, 'It matters very little whether
your judgments of people are true or untrue, and very much whether they are
kind or unkind,' and repeating that I will make an end.
