Arriving at Rhenosterpoort, I found there Commandant F. Van Aard, with his
commando. He told me that after I had left the laager, the burghers had not
been troubled again by the English. He had gone on to Waterberg, and after
having stayed there for a short time, he had returned to the laager. He
still had some of his waggons with him, but in many cases the oxen had been
so exhausted that the waggons had to be left behind, the burghers returning
on horseback, or even on foot. He also told me that Vice-Commander-in-Chief
Steenekamp had, just before my arrival, crossed the line in the direction of
Heilbron, in which district there were then no English.
Generals Fourie and Froneman, with Hertzog, were also at Rhenosterpoort,
having left their commandos behind, in the district of Winburg.
They had much to tell me which I had heard already, but which I now obtained
at first hand. It appeared that the burghers who had been taken prisoner
with General Prinsloo had been sent to Ceylon, notwithstanding the promise
that had been given them that their property would be safe, and that they
would be allowed to return to their farms.
It
was now that I conceived the great plan of bringing under arms all the
burghers who had laid down their weapons, and taken the oath of neutrality,
and of sending them to operate in every part of the State. To this end I
went with these officers to the other side of the railway line, in order to
meet General Philip Botha in the country to the south-east of Heilbron, and
also, if possible, General Hattingh, who was in command of the Harrismith
and Vrede burghers.
We
succeeded in crossing the railway between Roodewal and Serfontein siding,
but not without fighting. Before we came to the railway line the English
opened a cross fire on us from the north-east, from the direction of
Roodewal; and almost directly afterwards another party fired on us from the
south. We succeeded, however, in getting through with the waggons which
Commandant Van Aard had with him, but we lost one man killed, and three
wounded.
On
the following day I gave Commandant Van Aard the order to go to his district
(Midden Valsch River) in order to give his burghers an opportunity of
getting their clothes washed, and of obtaining fresh horses, if any were to
be had. For although the enemy already had begun to burn down our houses,
and to carry away our horses, things had not as yet reached such a pitch
that the columns spared nothing that came in their way.
Commandant Van Aard started off on his errand, but alas! a few days
afterwards I heard that he—one of the most popular of all our officers—had
been killed in a fight near his own farm between Kroonstad and Lindley. He
was buried there, where he had fallen, on his own land.
And now began the great work which I had proposed to accomplish.
I
gave instructions to Vice-Commander-in-Chief Piet Fourie to take under his
charge the districts of Bloemfontein, Bethulie, Smithfield, Rouxville, and
Wepener, and to permit the burghers there, who had remained behind, to join
us again. He was not, however, to compel anybody to do so, because I was of
opinion that a coerced burgher would be of no real value to us, and would
besides be untrustworthy. The following officers were to serve under Fourie:
Andrias, Van Tonder and Kritzinger. The last-named had been appointed in the
place of Commandant Olivier, who had been taken prisoner at Winburg.[70]
I
had appointed Judge Hertzog as a second Vice-Commander-in-Chief, to carry
out the same work in the districts of Fauresmith, Philippolis and Jacobsdal.
He had under him Commandant Hendrik Pretorius (of Jacobsdal) and Commandant
Visser. The latter was the man who, when the burghers from Fauresmith, even
before the taking of Bloemfontein, had remained behind, broke through with
seventy or eighty troops. He had always behaved faithfully and valiantly
until, in an engagement at Jagersfontein, he gave up his life, a sacrifice
for the rights of his nation. His name will ever be held in honour by his
people.
These two Vice-Commanders-in-Chief had no easy task to perform. In fact, as
every one will admit, it was a giant's burden that I had laid upon their
shoulders. To lighten it a little I made the following arrangement: I sent
Captain Pretorius, with a small detachment, in advance of General Fourie, to
prepare the road for him, and Captain Scheepers to do the same for Judge
Hertzog. The first had to say: "Hold yourselves in readiness! Oom
Pieter![71] is coming." The other had to say: "Be prepared! The Rechter[72]
is at hand!"
All went well. General Fourie set to his task at once and did excellent
work. He had not been long in his division before he had collected seven
hundred and fifty men, and had had several skirmishes with the enemy. It was
on account of his acting so vigorously that the English again put garrisons
into some of the south-eastern townships, such as Dewetsdorp, Wepener, and
others.
With General Hertzog things went even better. He had soon twelve hundred men
under arms. General Fourie had not succeeded in getting together an equally
large force in his division, because many burghers from these districts had
been taken prisoner at the time of the surrender of Prinsloo. General
Hertzog also fought more than one battle at Jagersfontein and Fauresmith.
I
ought to add that after I had crossed the Magaliesberg I had sent
Veldtcornet C.C. Badenhorst, with twenty-seven men, on a similar errand to
the districts of Boshof and Hoopstad. I promoted him to the rank of
commandant, and he soon had a thousand troops under him, so that he was able
to engage the enemy on several occasions. He had not been long occupied in
this way, before I appointed him Vice-Commander-in-Chief. The reader who has
followed me throughout this narrative, may very naturally ask here how it
could be justifiable for nearly three thousand burghers thus to take up arms
again, and break their oath of neutrality? I will answer this question by
another—who first broke the terms of this oath?—the burghers or the English
military authorities? The military authorities without any doubt; what other
answer can one give?
Lord Roberts had issued a proclamation saying that, if the burghers took an
oath of neutrality, and remained quietly on their farms, he would give them
protection for their persons and property. But what happened? He himself
ordered them to report to the British military authorities, should any Boer
scout or commandos come to their farms, and threatened them with punishment
if they did not do so. Old people also who had never stirred one step from
their farms were fined hundreds of pounds when the railway or telegraph
lines in their neighbourhood were wrecked. Besides, instead of protection
being given to the burghers, their cattle were taken from them by the
military, at prices they would never have thought of accepting, and often by
force. Yes; and from widows, who had not even sons on commando, everything
was taken away. If then the English, on their part, had broken the contract,
were not the burghers perfectly justified in considering themselves no
longer bound by the conditions which the oath laid on them?
And then if one goes further into the matter, and remembers that the English
had been employing such people as the National Scouts, and had thus been
arming men who had taken the oath of neutrality, how can one think that the
Boer was still under the obligation of keeping his oath?
There is also the obligation which every one is under to his own Government;
for what Government could ever acknowledge an oath which their citizens had
no right to take?
No! taking everything into consideration, no right-minded burgher could have
acted otherwise than to take his weapons up again, not only in order to be
faithful to his duty as a citizen, but also in order not to be branded as a
coward, as a man who in the future could never again look any one in the
face.
I
arranged various matters at Doornspruit, in the district of Kroonstad, on
the 23rd of September, 1900, and then went from there in the direction of
Rietfontein, in order to meet the commando which I had ordered to be at
Heilbron on the 25th.
[70] Commandant Van Tender had been made prisoner at the same time, but he
eluded the vigilance of his captors, and running for his life under a shower
of their bullets, got away in safety.
[71] Uncle Peter.
[72] Judge.
