Battle of Cape St. Vincent

“ A coveted country will always be the object of attacks by a stronger power, and the aggressor generally succeeds in securing from the weaker victim whatever he desires. Whether British soldiers will be obliged to fight the Boers alone in order to gratify the wishes of their Government, or whether the enemy will be almost the entire white and black population of South Africa, will not be definitely known until the British troop ships start for Cape Town and Durban. ”

“ A landing having been effected with little opposition, the army began its march for Cape Town on the 8th; and on reaching the summit of the Blue Mountains, a body of about 5,000 men, chiefly cavalry, with 23 pieces of artillery, commanded by General Jansseris, Governor of the colony, was seen in the plain, in an attitude to oppose its progress. On a charge by the British troops, the enemy fled with precipitancy, and with a loss of about 700 killed and wounded, while the assailants had only 15 slain, and 197 wounded and missing. ”

“ There are loyal people in the Cape, who, if they live to be as old as Methuselah, will never forget the opening of December. The streets of Cape Town were literally panting with enthusiasm, every hole and corner being alive with animated crowds to welcome the New Zealanders, Australians, and Canadians, gallant fellows, who, from sheer pride in being associated with the defence of the mother country, came trooping to do battle in her cause. ”

“ A more important victory than that of Sir John Jarvis (created in consequence Earl St. Vincent) was never gained at sea, from the evident superiority of skill and seamanship which it demonstrated in the British navy. The battle of St. Vincent disconcerted the plans of Truguet for the naval campaign; but later in the season a second attempt to reach Brest was made by a Dutch fleet of 15 sail of the line and 11 frigates, under the command of De Winter, a man of tried courage and experience. The British blockading fleet, under Admiral Duncan, consisted of 16 ships and 3 frigates ”

“ So excited were the troops by this victory over the enemy—more than two hundred savages being killed, and an immense number carried off wounded—that they galloped back to Fort Peddie with the news, and without refreshing themselves or their horses. Had the enemy been a few minutes earlier in leaving their bivouac, or had the troops been a few minutes later in reaching theirs, the parties would never have met. Only one man fell on our side, a Cape Corps soldier, who had often been reproved for his rashness. ”

“ There the railroad from Durban comes in, and, if its carrying capacity were adequate, which is doubtful, would enable the chief base of operations and main line of communications to be shifted to the nearer locality, retaining the Cape road only as secondary.
The advantage to the British of the line of invasion from Cape Town is that it crosses the mountains, which separate the coast district from the inland plateau, at such a distance from the enemy's frontier that it is impossible for the latter to offer serious resistance before the comparatively easy rolling country has been reached. ”

“ To protect the great depôt of military stores at De Aar and the railway from that point to the Cape a considerable force is needed, and to stem the tide of Boer invasion and Dutch disaffection, which has spread from the Orange River to Tarkastad and Dordrecht, from Colesberg to Barkly East, a further large force is badly wanted. But in the whole of Cape Colony south of the Orange River there appear to be only nine battalions, perhaps a couple of regiments of cavalry, and on the most favourable assumption five batteries. ”

“ See Artillery Cape Barfleur, 138 Cape Blanco, 134 Cape Bojador, 134 Cape Nun, 134 Cape of Good Hope, Vasco da Gama and, 22; doubled, 134; named, 136 Cape St. Vincent (Holy Promontory) , 125, 127, 217 Cape Verde Islands, 134 Captains, tyrannical, 249 Carausius, 78, 79 Carpenter, 146 Cartagena, 266 Carthaginian fleet, the, 62 Cartography. ”

“ It is with the forces that we can control at this moment that we must count, and it is with them that we must deal. It does not suffice to have parade-ground drills in Cape Town as a preliminary flourish; we should at least show ourselves as ready as the Boers be willing. This of course we cannot do, since, with a handful of exceptions, we have not a modern piece of artillery in the country. Moreover we do not quite know what armaments the Transvaal Government possess; it is with a pretty display of pretence that we conceal the nakedness of our borders and bolster up the situation. ”

“ On the west end of the landing site a hostile battery atop Cap de Fedala held out much longer. As if to mock American naval superiority, a number of French guns kept firing on the landing beaches between salvos from offshore. Each renewed request for naval fire support delayed the assault on the cape. For over five hours the frustrating duel continued. Only a ground assault could win a final decision against the hostile guns, but the troops needed more than rifle fire. ”

“ Let the Free Staters bring down two thousand good shots and resolute men to-morrow morning—it is only fifty miles, with two lines of railway—and what will happen to that little patch of white tents by the station? The loss of any one means the loss of land connection between Western and Eastern Provinces, a line open into the heart of the Cape Colony, and nothing to resist an invader short of the sea.
It is dangerous—and yet nobody cares. There is nothing to do but wait—for the Army Corps that has not yet left England. Even to-day—a day's ride from the frontier—the war seems hardly real. ”

“ The general distribution, therefore, of the Queen's troops in South Africa at the outbreak of war appears, with the exception of the division of the field force in Natal, to have been the best that could have been devised, having due regard to the advantage of the initiative possessed by the enemy, and to the supreme importance of preventing, or at any rate retarding, any rising of the disloyal in Cape Colony. ”

“ The Cape Colony has been of great assistance to us, because it compelled the enemy to withdraw about 50,000 troops from the Republics.
I feel for the poor families who are suffering so grievously, and also for our burghers in the camps. I think anxiously of their misery, but I have nothing to do with facts. The entire war is a matter of faith. I have to do with a fact only when I have to remove it.
I must still make this one remark, that if we surrender, as vanquished, we shall be able to depend on small mercy from England. We shall then in any case have dug the grave of our independence. ”

“ In short the refugees have got a number of Vineyard pilot-boats (about twenty) and man them, and run into our shores and take everything that floats.” Nevertheless, he engages to get two small vessels, if they will give him guns, and “scour the Sound.” On October 12 the head of “a refugee gang in the Sound” sent a flag of truce to ask an exchange of prisoners. And in this same month the General Court appropriated money for four cannon, four to nine-pounders—no formidable armament for the long coast-line of the Cape. ”

“ The place that a few days before had been resounding with artillery was now silent and (by comparison) deserted; buck waggons took the place of gun carriages, and the ambulance cart carried mails from home. One thought of Modder River as being surely at "the front," but here was the place, here were the troops, the guns, the hospitals, the sand-enveloped cemetery, and yet one seemed to be no nearer than before to actual war. As for news, there was less even than at Cape Town. ”

“ Some 20,000 British troops in all were available on the spot, but a complete army corps of 50,000 men, under Sir Redvers Buller, was mobilised in Britain and despatched at once. Divisional commanders were Lord Methuen, Sir William Gatacre, 456 and Sir Francis Clery. The opening engagement of the war took place on October 12th, when an armoured train, conveying cannon to Mafeking was attacked, and several men were captured. On November 1st, the Free State Boers, siding with their Transvaal brethren, invaded Cape Colony. ”

“ All the supplies, the provisions for the men, and much of the water for their consumption had to be brought from Cape Town. The care taken in the commissariat department, and especially in the water supply, in a country where the enemy had polluted the wells, accounted for the general good health of the invading army. That 30,000 men should have been able to fight in such a difficult country for five months at a cost of less than 2,000 casualties was an experience rare in military annals, and reflects lasting credit on General Botha who planned the entire invasion. ”

“ Vincent having been reached, Drinkwater witnessed the battle of St. Vincent. The news of the victory was brought to England by Drinkwater. Nelson was not mentioned in the published despatches; and considering his services to have been under-estimated, Drinkwater published anonymously a 'Narrative of the Battle of St. ”

“ The fight gradually moved along the eastern valley, in the centre of which was a convenient rock from which I was able to see all that was going on, and it formed a good centre for directing the attacks, as the enemy were in the rocks on every side of us. The Cape Boys, after making a long circle round through part of the stronghold, reassembled at this spot, and from it directed their further attacks on the different parts requiring them, and it became the most convenient position for the machine guns, as they were able to play in every direction in turn from this point. ”

“ In the month of September, 1894, the attitude of the ruler of Benin compelled us to destroy the armed towns on his frontier. Admiral Bedford, commanding the Cape of Good Hope Station, was entrusted with the chief command. The bulk of the forces were drawn from the ships on the Cape Station, but a detachment of the West India Regiment well and worthily upheld the fame of that corps. Our trophies included 106 guns of all calibres, a large number of small arms, 14 tons of gunpowder, and 8,300 dozens of gin! ”

“ In the western theatre, the safety of Kimberley and Mafeking mainly depended on the untried fighting qualities of recently enlisted colonial corps, volunteers, and hastily organised town-guards; detachments of regular troops dotted along the northern frontier of Cape Colony were without hope of support either from the coast or each other, and would be cut off and crushed in detail in the case of serious attack or of a rising in their rear. ”

“ At Ladysmith the state of affairs was becoming more and more complicated, and the invasion of the Free Staters into Cape Colony was now an accomplished fact. The enemy's tactics everywhere were acknowledged to be excellent, and where tactics failed tricks succeeded. The Boer dodges, though scarcely honourable, might be described by the Americans as "cute." For instance, an enterprising officer of the Transvaal artillery conceived the idea of utilising the flag of truce in a new and original fashion. ”

“ The sleet turned to rain, [247] and the wind, piercing through our wet clothes, was so intensely chilling, that the men who had, in fact, been lying in puddles all night, were nearly helpless. At eight o'clock a welcome reprieve arrived, a party of Cape Corps from the General's column, bringing us orders to return to our quarters, which we did right willingly, and after a cold dreary ride of eighteen miles, reached Post Retief. The only casualties during the three days' operations were one man killed and one mortally wounded. ”

“ The Boers will then feint with a small force upon the centre of our military occupation, while their entire army marches down upon Port Elizabeth, East London, or Cape Town, or proceeds by railway if they can secure the lines. They will hold open no lines of communication, because by that time Imperial arms will have been defeated, and it will only remain for President Kruger to dictate peace from Cape Town. ”

“ From Fourteen Streams to the Portuguese border on the north we have the Transvaal environed and practically hemmed in; from Fourteen Streams to Usuta they are also isolated, although they do not know it; the natives of Swazi and Gaza lands are ready to rise at the signal, and pour across the border; a fleet of warships protects Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Durban, so that the tactics of Mr Schreiner are so far defeated.
“We have hundreds of volunteers on their way from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. They are bringing arms and ammunition enough for all purposes. ”

“ As an object-lesson in British pluck, and the marvellous celerity with which peace-loving citizens may become glorious fighters, the defence as a whole stands without parallel. But from a political point of view the initial stoutness of the resistance was a coup which had far-reaching results.
There is no doubt that at the outset of the war a conspiracy was on foot between the Cape Dutch and the Federals, and that the capture of certain towns was to be taken as a signal for the joining of the allies to drive the British from South [Pg 94] Africa. ”

“ If, with all our vaunted wealth and skill, we cannot send reinforcements to the Cape without miscarriages, or victual our vessels without peril of pestilence, what is to become of us in the face of such hostilities as men now living can well remember, and may see again?"—Times, Jan. ”