Blundering of Prinsloo—De la Rey joins him to bar Methuen's advance to Kimberley—Methuen's attack—Prinsloo's inexcusable withdrawal gives British nominal victory De la Rey's report of battle—Prinsloo's report—British shoot surrendered Boers under false charge of misuse of white flag.
Prinsloo, with 1,500 men, moved south from Jacobsdal to join Van der Merwe near Belmont on the 20th of November. De la Rey was to follow with 800 Transvaalers, who were detached from the forces in front of Kimberley to reenforce Prinsloo's column, but, owing to the blundering of Prinsloo on the one hand, and the rapid advance of Methuen from the Orange River, De la Rey had no part in arranging the plan of operations for the fight which came off on the 23rd.
The Free State generals knew in advance what were the plans of Lord Methuen, and the extent of his men and guns; facts relating to all these matters having been duly published in the Jingo papers at Cape Town for everybody's information. It was, unfortunately, valuable information all but disregarded, as no better provision had been made with which to meet 10,000 British veterans than what has been related. Wessels, who was in chief command of the whole forces operating before and south of Kimberley, had no more men at his disposal than he deemed sufficient to watch Cecil Rhodes and his protectors, and the commando which went south with Prinsloo to meet Methuen was absurdly weak in guns and men for the task. De la Rey was subsequently allowed to join Prinsloo, and the two columns, with a united force of some 2,500 men and four guns, comprised the strength of the Boer army which was to bar Methuen's advance until Cronje should arrive with additional burghers from the north.
On Wednesday, November 22, the Free State general received information from his scouts that the British were to attack him on the following morning. His positions were spread along a series of small kopjes, to the right and left of the Kimberley line, extending over an area of several miles, and offering cover for his men. Lord Methuen, in his lengthy report of this engagement, dignifies these veldt ridges with the name of "mountain." These kopjes were almost all detached, and were, with their small bodies of defending burghers, tempting incitations to frontal attacks on the part of the officers who were to carry out Lord Methuen's elaborately arranged plan of attack. Prinsloo held the center of his positions behind the village to the right, with the Fauresmith commando, one Krupp, and one Maxim-Nordenfelt. De la Rey and his Transvaalers were further behind, on a hill between Belmont and Bamdam, with a single Krupp. Commandant Lubbe, with the Jacobsdal men, was west of De la Rey with a Maxim-Nordenfelt. Van der Merwe, who fought the skirmish with Methuen's patrol on the 10th, occupied Kaffir Kopje, on the extreme west of the line, with the Middenvelder and Groot River burghers. The entire Boer artillery consisted of two seven-pound Krupp guns and two Maxim-Nordenfelts.
The British began the battle shortly after daylight with a furious cannonade of all the Boer positions. They had twelve or fifteen guns, some of them throwing lyddite shells. With the support of these batteries, Methuen attempted to storm the center and right of the Boer positions simultaneously, and to turn the left by a body of Lancers and mounted infantry, which was to swing round on Prinsloo's rear, and capture his camp and baggage. His forces included the Grenadier, Coldstream, and Scots Guards, Northumberland, Yorkshire, and Lancashire Eegiments, and a brigade of marines and seamen gunners, with Lancer and other mounted troops. The battle lasted from four in the morning until two in the afternoon, with the advantage decidedly on the side of the Boers until their general in a moment of weakness gave up the fight and retired from the field. Prinsloo's extraordinary action has been described in harsher words by warmer friends, who blame him exclusively for the loss of the battle. The Fauresmith burghers had fought splendidly during the day, having several times shot back bodies of British who attempted to take their kopje, while all the other Boer positions had been held by an equal courage and tenacity. The enemy had suffered terribly in officers and in men, when, influenced by a fear that he was exposing his small force to too great loss in an unequal contest, and unaware of the actual condition of the combat in other parts of the field, and of De la Rey's and Lubbe's successful fighting, Prinsloo ordered a retreat of his center, and thus gave the victory to Methuen. Commandant Lubbe and General De la Rey succeeded in holding back those of the enemy who pursued Prinsloo, and De la Rey's men then easily shot their way through the Lancers who had attempted to get north of the kopje which the Transvaal burghers had successfully held all the morning. The Boer forces fell back with their guns and equipments, in perfect order, towards Graspan and Ramdam, and Methuen was left in possession of the field. He made no attempt at a pursuit. He was satisfied with the name of a victory which he had not really won.
The highly rhetorical report of the battle written by the English general was an anticipation, in style and sentiment, of that other report which in a few days' time was to startle the military world by its extravagance of expression and comparison. In this report of the Belmont fight he says: "I have accounted for 83 killed, and have 23 wounded in my hospital, and as their wounded were carried away I may assume their losses were heavier than mine." It is not clear to which army Lord Methuen refers in this ambiguous sentence. He was in possession of the field of battle, and had, presumably, both British and Boer killed under the care of his ambulance; yet there are no particulars given in the report from which I quote of the number of his own casualties. The Natal "Mercury" of the 25th of November published a Reuter's despatch from Belmont, giving the total British losses in Thursday's fight at 227, which number included 58 killed, 151 wounded, and 18 missing.
General De la Rey's official report of the same battle was as follows:
" The enemy attacked us this morning from two sides, and we succeeded in keeping them back until 2 o'clock in the afternoon, when large masses of infantry had reached a point near my commando in the same hill where I was situated, and which was occupied by men under Commandant Lubbe.
" The burghers defended themselves at this point with great determination, but ten of our men were killed and a few severely wounded. Those who were slightly wounded succeeded in escaping.
" We were completely surrounded. The English troops then spread out for a distance of two and a half hours' journey, and we were compelled to retire.
" At the point where we had to pass on our way out the Lancers were stationed, and we were compelled to drive them away. Many of our horses are killed and wounded. Commandant Lubbe is slightly wounded, but not before the enemy had suffered very heavily from his men.
" The overwhelming force of the enemy was too great for our small force, and after a brave stand, which lasted till the afternoon, we were compelled to take up other positions, and we are now at the (east) side of the railway.
" General Cronje is hastening to our help. Cannot give the actual numbers of the killed and wounded on our side, but the loss is not great.
" The enemy had six cannon, while we had only one."
This report deals only with the operations of the Boer left, which was composed of 800 Transvaalers under De la Rey, and some 250 Free Staters under Commandant Lubbe, and the reference by De la Rey to the number of guns on both sides relates only to his own burghers, and to the English troops who were opposed to himself and Lubbe in their part of the field.
General Prinsloo sent his own report of the battle to Bloemfontein. It is a singular document, and shows the helpless incapacity of the officer, through whose timidity and want of judgment a battle virtually won was turned over to the enemy as a relinquished victory. Poor old Jacobus actually believed that his English opponent was none other than General Buller, while he had heard that the Boer general who was actually fighting all day at the left of his own lines was " in the vicinity of " the battle-field during the engagement!
" November 23rd.—This morning there was a terrible fight to our disadvantage, as we had to leave the field.
" According to a report by Dr. Voortman, who went over the field of battle, we lost about 12 killed and 40 wounded, but the names, are not known yet.
" The engagement lasted from daybreak to about midday, and, by reason of the large number of big guns of the enemy, it was impossible for our center to retain its position.
" The loss of the enemy must be enormous. Some of the Indian troops were shot down at six yards by our burghers. Their cannon were all shot back, and the draft cattle of other cannons were killed. The number of the enemy is very difficult to estimate, but it was an overwhelming force. Our burghers were compelled to retreat in the direction of Ramdam. Fighting General De la Rey is in the vicinity. According to trustworthy information, General Bedvers Buller is personally in command. Commandant Serfontein is a prisoner of war, as he would not leave his wounded son. Ten of our wounded are in good care with the enemy. The burghers have in no wise lost courage."
De la Rey's losses would not be more than those mentioned in Prinsloo's report, and, as there were some 20 burghers taken prisoner in the retreat of the center, the total Boer casualties at Belmont would thus number about 22 killed, 80 wounded, and 20 missing.
The effect on the minds of the burghers of Prinsloo's unfortunate action at this battle was demoralizing, and no such stand as that at Enslin would have been made again so soon after Belmont were it not for the knowledge that Cronje was hastening to their aid, and that De la Rey was with them. Prinsloo, who was a thoroughly honest, patriotic, and well-meaning man, recognized his own unfitness for the post of Vecht General, and asked President Steyn to relieve him of his command; a request which was not, unfortunately, acceded to until after the battle of Modder River.
Lord Methuen's unsoldierly imputations upon the conduct of his foes at Belmont were only worthy of that eminent man and general. The facts upon which he based his charge of firing under cover of the white flag were these: Near the end of the battle, and as the Boer forces were retreating, but firing as they retired, a small body of about fifteen Boers, who had been isolated on a detached kopje, were surrounded by troops, and were being fired upon from all sides. Betreat was hopeless, and one of the party held up a white flag. This man, according to the Boer version of the story, was in the rear of his comrades, on a higher ground, and acted on his own initiative, seeing the hopelessness of the position. The English ceased firing, but the Boers lower down on the ridge who had not seen the flag, nor knew of its being hoisted, continued the fight. Some of the enemy were hit, and the British, in retaliation, shot every member of the small band, riddling their bodies with bullets. It was on this incident that Lord Methuen grounded a foul charge, and leveled it against all the men who had fought against him at Belmont. It was a charge made with the object of rendering it a cover for the massacre of the fifteen burghers, and was thoroughly English in meaning and motive.