But Olivier, With Fifteen Hundred Men And Several
Guns, Broke Away From The Captured Force And Escaped Through The
Hills.
Of this incident General Hunter, an honourable soldier,
remarks in his official report:
'I regard it as a dishonourable
breach of faith upon the part of General Olivier, for which I hold
him personally responsible. He admitted that he knew that General
Prinsloo had included him in the unconditional surrender.' It is
strange that, on Olivier's capture shortly afterwards, he was not
court-martialled for this breach of the rules of war, but that
good-natured giant, the Empire, is quick - too quick, perhaps - to
let byegones be byegones. On August 4th Harrismith surrendered to
Macdonald, and thus was secured the opening of the Van Reenen's
Pass and the end of the Natal system of railways. This was of the
very first importance, as the utmost difficulty had been found in
supplying so large a body of troops so far from the Cape base. In a
day the base was shifted to Durban, and the distance shortened by
two-thirds, while the army came to be on the railway instead of a
hundred miles from it. This great success assured Lord Roberts's
communications from serious attack, and was of the utmost
importance in enabling him to consolidate his position at Pretoria.
CHAPTER 28.
THE HALT AT PRETORIA.
Lord Roberts had now been six weeks in the capital, and British
troops had overrun the greater part of the south and west of the
Transvaal, but in spite of this there was continued Boer
resistance, which flared suddenly up in places which had been
nominally pacified and disarmed.
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