At This
Period Of The War Between Twenty And Thirty Thousand Cape Colonists
Were Under Arms.
Many of these were untrained levies, but they
possessed the martial spirit of the race, and they set free more
seasoned troops for other duties.
It will be most convenient and least obscure to follow the
movements of the western force (Hertzog's), and afterwards to
consider those of the eastern (Kritzinger's). The opening of the
year saw the mobile column of Free Staters 150 miles over the
border, pushing swiftly south over the barren surface of the Karoo.
It is a country of scattered farms and scanty population; desolate
plains curving upwards until they rise into still more desolate
mountain ranges. Moving in a very loose formation over a wide
front, the Boers swept southwards. On or about January 4th they
took possession of the small town of Calvinia, which remained their
headquarters for more than a month. From this point their roving
bands made their way as far as the seacoast in the Clanwilliam
direction, for they expected at Lambert's Bay to meet with a vessel
with mercenaries and guns from Europe. They pushed their outposts
also as far as Sutherland and Beaufort West in the south. On
January 15th strange horsemen were seen hovering about the line at
Touws River, and the citizens of Cape Town learned with amazement
that the war had been carried to within a hundred miles of their
own doors.
Whilst the Boers were making this daring raid a force consisting of
several mobile columns was being organised by General Settle to
arrest and finally to repel the western invasion. The larger body
was under the command of Colonel De Lisle, an officer who brought
to the operations of war the same energy and thoroughness with
which he had made the polo team of an infantry regiment the
champions of the whole British Army. His troops consisted of the
6th Mounted Infantry, the New South Wales Mounted Infantry, the
Irish Yeomanry, a section of R battery R.H.A., and a pom-pom. With
this small but mobile and hardy force he threw himself in front of
Hertzog's line of advance. On January 13th he occupied Piquetburg,
eighty miles south of the Boer headquarters. On the 23rd he was at
Clanwilliam, fifty miles south-west of them. To his right were
three other small British columns under Bethune, Thorneycroft, and
Henniker, the latter resting upon the railway at Matjesfontein, and
the whole line extending over 120 miles - barring the southern path
to the invaders.
Though Hertzog at Calvinia and De Lisle at Clanwilliam were only
fifty miles apart, the intervening country is among the most broken
and mountainous in South Africa. Between the two points, and nearer
to De Lisle than to Hertzog, flows the Doorn River. The Boers
advancing from Calvinia came into touch with the British scouts at
this point, and drove them in upon January 21st. On the 28th De
Lisle, having been reinforced by Bethune's column, was able at last
to take the initiative. Bethune's force consisted mainly of
Colonials, and included Kitchener's Fighting Scouts, the Cape
Mounted Police, Cape Mounted Rifles, Brabant's Horse, and the
Diamond Field Horse. At the end of January the united forces of
Bethune and of De Lisle advanced upon Calvinia. The difficulties
lay rather in the impassable country than in the resistance of an
enemy who was determined to refuse battle. On February 6th, after a
fine march, De Lisle and his men took possession of Calvinia, which
had been abandoned by the Boers. It is painful to add that during
the month that they had held the town they appear to have behaved
with great harshness, especially to the kaffirs. The flogging and
shooting of a coloured man named Esan forms one more incident in
the dark story of the Boer and his relations to the native.
The British were now sweeping north on a very extended front.
Colenbrander had occupied Van Rhyns Dorp, to the east of Calvinia,
while Bethune's force was operating to the west of it. De Lisle
hardly halted at Calvinia, but pushed onwards to Williston,
covering seventy-two miles of broken country in forty-eight hours,
one of the most amazing performances of the war. Quick as he was,
the Boers were quicker still, and during his northward march he
does not appear to have actually come into contact with them. Their
line of retreat lay through Carnarvon, and upon February 22nd they
crossed the railway line to the north of De Aar, and joined upon
February 26th the new invading force under De Wet, who had now
crossed the Orange River. De Lisle, who had passed over five
hundred miles of barren country since he advanced from Piquetburg,
made for the railway at Victoria West, and was despatched from that
place on February 22nd to the scene of action in the north. From
all parts Boer and Briton were concentrating in their effort to aid
or to repel the inroad of the famous guerilla.
Before describing this attempt it would be well to trace the
progress of the eastern invasion (Kritzinger's), a movement which
may be treated rapidly, since it led to no particular military
result at that time, though it lasted long after Hertzog's force
had been finally dissipated. Several small columns, those of
Williams, Byng, Grenfell, and Lowe, all under the direction of
Haig, were organised to drive back these commandos; but so nimble
were the invaders, so vast the distances and so broken the country,
that it was seldom that the forces came into contact. The
operations were conducted over a portion of the Colony which is
strongly Dutch in sympathy, and the enemy, though they do not
appear to have obtained any large number of recruits, were able to
gather stores, horses, and information wherever they went.
When last mentioned Kritzinger's men had crossed the railway north
of Rosmead on December 30th, and held up a train containing some
Colonial troops.
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