French was now on the west of the town, Henry had cut the railway
on the east, and Roberts was coming up from the south. His infantry
had covered 130 miles in seven days, but the thought that every
step brought them nearer to Pretoria was as exhilarating as their
fifes and drums. On May 30th the victorious troops camped outside
the city while Botha retired with his army, abandoning without a
battle the treasure-house of his country. Inside the town were
chaos and confusion. The richest mines in the world lay for a day
or more at the mercy of a lawless rabble drawn from all nations.
The Boer officials were themselves divided in opinion, Krause
standing for law and order while Judge Koch advocated violence. A
spark would have set the town blazing, and the worst was feared
when a crowd of mercenaries assembled in front of the Robinson mine
with threats of violence. By the firmness and tact of Mr. Tucker,
the manager, and by the strong attitude of Commissioner Krause, the
situation was saved and the danger passed. Upon May 31st, without
violence to life or destruction to property, that great town which
British hands have done so much to build found itself at last under
the British flag. May it wave there so long as it covers just laws,
honest officials, and clean-handed administrators - so long and no
longer!
And now the last stage of the great journey had been reached. Two
days were spent at Johannesburg while supplies were brought up, and
then a move was made upon Pretoria thirty miles to the north. Here
was the Boer capital, the seat of government, the home of Kruger,
the centre of all that was anti-British, crouching amid its hills,
with costly forts guarding every face of it. Surely at last the
place had been found where that great battle should be fought which
should decide for all time whether it was with the Briton or with
the Dutchman that the future of South Africa lay.
On the last day of May two hundred Lancers under the command of
Major Hunter Weston, with Charles of the Sappers and Burnham the
scout, a man who has played the part of a hero throughout the
campaign, struck off from the main army and endeavoured to descend
upon the Pretoria to Delagoa railway line with the intention of
blowing up a bridge and cutting the Boer line of retreat. It was a
most dashing attempt; but the small party had the misfortune to
come into contact with a strong Boer commando, who headed them off.
After a skirmish they were compelled to make their way back with a
loss of five killed and fourteen wounded.
The cavalry under French had waited for the issue of this
enterprise at a point nine miles north of Johannesburg. On June 2nd
it began its advance with orders to make a wide sweep round to the
westward, and so skirt the capital, cutting the Pietersburg railway
to the north of it. The country in the direct line between
Johannesburg and Pretoria consists of a series of rolling downs
which are admirably adapted for cavalry work, but the detour which
French had to make carried him into the wild and broken district
which lies to the north of the Little Crocodile River. Here he was
fiercely attacked on ground where his troops could not deploy, but
with extreme coolness and judgment beat off the enemy. To cover
thirty-two miles in a day and fight a way out of an ambuscade in
the evening is an ordeal for any leader and for any troops. Two
killed and seven wounded were our trivial losses in a situation
which might have been a serious one. The Boers appear to have been
the escort of a strong convoy which had passed along the road some
miles in front. Next morning both convoy and opposition had
disappeared. The cavalry rode on amid a country of orange groves,
the troopers standing up in their stirrups to pluck the golden
fruit. There was no further fighting, and on June 4th French had
established himself upon the north of the town, where he learned
that all resistance had ceased.
Whilst the cavalry had performed this enveloping movement the main
army had moved swiftly upon its objective, leaving one brigade
behind to secure Johannesburg. Ian Hamilton advanced upon the left,
while Lord Roberts's column kept the line of the railway, Colonel
Henry's mounted infantry scouting in front. As the army topped the
low curves of the veld they saw in front of them two well-marked
hills, each crowned by a low squat building. They were the famous
southern forts of Pretoria. Between the hills was a narrow neck,
and beyond the Boer capital.
For a time it appeared that the entry was to be an absolutely
bloodless one, but the booming of cannon and the crash of Mauser
fire soon showed that the enemy was in force upon the ridge. Botha
had left a strong rearguard to hold off the British while his own
stores and valuables were being withdrawn from the town. The
silence of the forts showed that the guns had been removed and that
no prolonged resistance was intended; but in the meanwhile fringes
of determined riflemen, supported by cannon, held the approaches,
and must be driven off before an entry could be effected. Each
fresh corps as it came up reinforced the firing line. Henry's
mounted infantrymen supported by the horse-guns of J battery and
the guns of Tucker's division began the action.
