It Is Even Probable That The Boers May Have Committed
These Deeds In The Vicinity Of Houses The Destruction Of Which They
Would Least Regret.
Thus, on humanitarian grounds there were strong
arguments against this policy of destruction being pushed too far,
and the political reasons were even stronger, since a homeless man
is necessarily the last man to settle down, and a burned-out family
the last to become contented British citizens.
On the other hand,
the impatience of the army towards what they regarded as the abuses
of lenity was very great, and they argued that the war would be
endless if the women in the farm were allowed always to supply the
sniper on the kopje. The irregular and brigand-like fashion in
which the struggle was carried out had exasperated the soldiers,
and though there were few cases of individual outrage or
unauthorised destruction, the general orders were applied with some
harshness, and repressive measures were taken which warfare may
justify but which civilisation must deplore.
After the dispersal of the main army at Komatipoort there remained
a considerable number of men in arms, some of them irreconcilable
burghers, some of them foreign adventurers, and some of them Cape
rebels, to whom British arms were less terrible than British law.
These men, who were still well armed and well mounted, spread
themselves over the country, and acted with such energy that they
gave the impression of a large force. They made their way into the
settled districts, and brought fresh hope and fresh disaster to
many who had imagined that the war had passed for ever away from
them.
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