The advance began
on the morning of the 11th. On the morning of the 13th the British
were practically masters of Bloemfontein. The distance is forty
miles. No one can say that Lord Roberts cannot follow a victory up
as well as win it.
Some trenches had been dug and sangars erected to the north-west of
the town; but Lord Roberts, with his usual perverseness, took the
wrong turning and appeared upon the broad open plain to the south,
where resistance would have been absurd. Already Steyn and the
irreconcilables had fled from the town, and the General was met by
a deputation of the Mayor, the Landdrost, and Mr. Fraser to tender
the submission of the capital. Fraser, a sturdy clear-headed
Highlander, had been the one politician in the Free State who
combined a perfect loyalty to his adopted country with a just
appreciation of what a quarrel A l'outrance with the British Empire
would mean. Had Fraser's views prevailed, the Orange Free State
would still exist as a happy and independent State. As it is, he
may help her to happiness and prosperity as the prime minister of
the Orange River Colony.
It was at half-past one on Tuesday, March 13th, that General
Roberts and his troops entered Bloemfontein, amid the acclamations
of many of the inhabitants, who, either to propitiate the victor,
or as a sign of their real sympathies, had hoisted union jacks upon
their houses.
