It Had Weighed Upon
Us, Until The Subject, Though Ever Present In Our Thoughts, Was Too
Painful For General Talk.
And now, in an instant, the shadow was
lifted.
The outburst of rejoicing was not a triumph over the
gallant Boers. But it was our own escape from humiliation, the
knowledge that the blood of our sons had not been shed in vain,
above all the conviction that the darkest hour had now passed and
that the light of peace was dimly breaking far away - that was why
London rang with joy bells that March morning, and why those bells
echoed back from every town and hamlet, in tropical sun and in
Arctic snow, over which the flag of Britain waved.
CHAPTER 18.
THE SIEGE AND RELIEF OF KIMBERLEY.
It has already been narrated how, upon the arrival of the army
corps from England, the greater part was drafted to Natal, while
some went to the western side, and started under Lord Methuen upon
the perilous enterprise of the relief of Kimberley. It has also
been shown how, after three expensive victories, Lord Methuen's
force met with a paralysing reverse, and was compelled to remain
inactive within twenty miles of the town which they had come to
succour. Before I describe how that succour did eventually arrive,
some attention must be paid to the incidents which had occurred
within the city.
'I am directed to assure you that there is no reason for
apprehending that Kimberley or any part of the colony either is, or
in any contemplated event will be, in danger of attack. Mr.
Schreiner is of opinion that your fears are groundless and your
anticipations in the matter entirely without foundation.' Such is
the official reply to the remonstrance of the inhabitants, when,
with the shadow of war dark upon them, they appealed for help. It
is fortunate, however, that a progressive British town has usually
the capacity for doing things for itself without the intervention
of officials. Kimberley was particularly lucky in being the centre
of the wealthy and alert De Beers Company, which had laid in
sufficient ammunition and supplies to prevent the town from being
helpless in the presence of the enemy. But the cannon were popguns,
firing a 7-pound shell for a short range, and the garrison
contained only seven hundred regulars, while the remainder were
mostly untrained miners and artisans. Among them, however, there
was a sprinkling of dangerous men from the northern wars, and all
were nerved by a knowledge that the ground which they defended was
essential to the Empire. Ladysmith was no more than any other
strategic position, but Kimberley was unique, the centre of the
richest tract of ground for its size in the whole world. Its loss
would have been a heavy blow to the British cause, and an enormous
encouragement to the Boers.
On October 12th, several hours after the expiration of Kruger's
ultimatum, Cecil Rhodes threw himself into Kimberley. This
remarkable man, who stood for the future of South Africa as clearly
as the Dopper Boer stood for its past, had, both in features and in
character, some traits which may, without extravagance, be called
Napoleonic. The restless energy, the fertility of resource, the
attention to detail, the wide sweep of mind, the power of terse
comment - all these recall the great emperor. So did the simplicity
of private life in the midst of excessive wealth. And so finally
did a want of scruple where an ambition was to be furthered, shown,
for example, in that enormous donation to the Irish party by which
he made a bid for their parliamentary support, and in the story of
the Jameson raid. A certain cynicism of mind and a grim humour
complete the parallel. But Rhodes was a Napoleon of peace. The
consolidation of South Africa under the freest and most progressive
form of government was the large object on which he had expended
his energies and his fortune but the development of the country in
every conceivable respect, from the building of a railway to the
importation of a pedigree bull, engaged his unremitting attention.
It was on October 15th that the fifty thousand inhabitants of
Kimberley first heard the voice of war. It rose and fell in a
succession of horrible screams and groans which travelled far over
the veld, and the outlying farmers marvelled at the dreadful
clamour from the sirens and the hooters of the great mines. Those
who have endured all - the rifle, the cannon, and the hunger - have
said that those wild whoops from the sirens were what had tried
their nerve the most.
The Boers in scattered bands of horsemen were thick around the
town, and had blocked the railroad. They raided cattle upon the
outskirts, but made no attempt to rush the defence. The garrison,
who, civilian and military, approached four thousand in number, lay
close in rifle pit and redoubt waiting for an attack which never
came. The perimeter to be defended was about eight miles, but the
heaps of tailings made admirable fortifications, and the town had
none of those inconvenient heights around it which had been such
bad neighbours to Ladysmith. Picturesque surroundings are not
favourable to defence.
On October 24th the garrison, finding that no attack was made,
determined upon a reconnaissance. The mounted force, upon which
most of the work and of the loss fell, consisted of the Diamond
Fields Horse, a small number of Cape Police, a company of Mounted
Infantry, and a body called the Kimberley Light Horse. With two
hundred and seventy volunteers from this force Major Scott-Turner,
a redoubtable fighter, felt his way to the north until he came in
touch with the Boers. The latter, who were much superior in
numbers, manoeuvred to cut him off, but the arrival of two
companies of the North Lancashire Regiment turned the scale in our
favour. We lost three killed and twenty-one wounded in the
skirmish. The Boer loss is unknown, but their commander Botha was
slain.
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