De Wet Himself Was Reported To Have Made
His Escape By Driving Cattle Against The Wire Fences Which Enclosed
Him.
It seems, however, to have been nothing more romantic than a
wire-cutter which cleared his path, though cattle no doubt made
their way through the gap which he left.
With a loss of only three
of his immediate followers be Wet won his way out of the most
dangerous position which even his adventurous career had ever
known. Lord Kitchener had descended to Wolvehoek to be present at
the climax of the operations, but it was not fated that he was to
receive the submission of the most energetic of his opponents, and
he returned to Pretoria to weave a fresh mesh around him.
This was not hard to do, as the Boer General had simply escaped
from one pen into another, though a larger one. After a short rest
to restore the columns, the whole pack were full cry upon his heels
once more. An acute angle is formed by the Wilge River on one side
and the line of blockhouses between Harrismith and Van Reenen upon
the other. This was strongly manned by troops and five columns;
those of Rawlinson, Nixon, Byng, Rimington, and Keir herded the
broken commandos into the trap. From February 20th the troops swept
in an enormous skirmish line across the country, ascending hills,
exploring kloofs, searching river banks, and always keeping the
enemy in front of them. At last, when the pressure was severely
felt, there came the usual breakback, which took the form of a most
determined night attack upon the British line. This was delivered
shortly after midnight on February 23rd. It struck the British
cordon at the point of juncture between Byng's column and that of
Rimington. So huge were the distances which had to be covered, and
so attenuated was the force which covered them, that the historical
thin red line was a massive formation compared to its khaki
equivalent. The chain was frail and the links were not all
carefully joined, but each particular link was good metal, and the
Boer impact came upon one of the best. This was the 7th New Zealand
Contingent, who proved themselves to be worthy comrades to their
six gallant predecessors. Their patrols were broken by the rush of
wild, yelling, firing horsemen, but the troopers made a most
gallant resistance. Having pierced the line the Boers, who were led
in their fiery rush by Manie Botha, turned to their flank, and,
charging down the line of weak patrols, overwhelmed one after
another and threatened to roll up the whole line. They had cleared
a gap of half a mile, and it seemed as if the whole Boer force
would certainly escape through so long a gap in the defences. The
desperate defence of the New Zealanders gave time, however, for the
further patrols, which consisted of Cox's New South Wales Mounted
Infantry, to fall back almost at right angles so as to present a
fresh face to the attack. The pivot of the resistance was a maxim
gun, most gallantly handled by Captain Begbie and his men. The
fight at this point was almost muzzle to muzzle, fifty or sixty New
Zealanders and Australians with the British gunners holding off a
force of several hundred of the best fighting men of the Boer
forces. In this desperate duel many dropped on both sides. Begbie
died beside his gun, which fired eighty rounds before it jammed. It
was run back by its crew in order to save it from capture. But
reinforcements were coming up, and the Boer attack was beaten back.
A number of them had escaped, however, through the opening which
they had cleared, and it was conjectured that the wonderful De Wet
was among them. How fierce was the storm which had broken on the
New Zealanders may be shown by their roll of twenty killed and
forty wounded, while thirty dead Boers were picked up in front of
their picket line. Of eight New Zealand officers seven are reported
to have been hit, an even higher proportion than that which the
same gallant race endured at the battle of Rhenoster Kop more than
a year before.
It was feared at first that the greater part of the Boers might
have escaped upon this night of the 23rd, when Manie Botha's
storming party burst through the ranks of the New Zealanders. It
was soon discovered that this was not so, and the columns as they
closed in had evidence from the numerous horsemen who scampered
aimlessly over the hills in front of them that the main body of the
enemy was still in the toils. The advance was in tempestuous
weather and over rugged country, but the men were filled with
eagerness, and no precaution was neglected to keep the line intact.
This time their efforts were crowned with considerable success. A
second attempt was made by the corraled burghers to break out on
the night of February 26th, but it was easily repulsed by Nixon.
The task of the troopers as the cordon drew south was more and more
difficult, and there were places traversed upon the Natal border
where an alpen stock would have been a more useful adjunct than a
horse. At six o'clock on the morning of the 27th came the end. Two
Boers appeared in front of the advancing line of the Imperial Light
Horse and held up a flag. They proved to be Truter and De Jager,
ready to make terms for their commando. The only terms offered were
absolute surrender within the hour. The Boers had been swept into a
very confined space, which was closely hemmed in by troops, so that
any resistance must have ended in a tragedy. Fortunately there was
no reason for desperate councils in their case, since they did not
fight as Lotter had done, with the shadow of judgment hanging over
him. The burghers piled arms, and all was over.
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