Boer commando

“ It must not be supposed, however, that the death of an officer does not exercise a certain amount of demoralising influence. What I wish to impress is that the members of a commando can act independently (p. 519) of the officer and can exercise their own judgment.
As regards the fortitude of the Boers, I can best illustrate it by pointing to the fact that it frequently happened that having been repulsed with loss one day we attacked our conqueror with better success the next. We often assumed the aggressive when a favourable opportunity offered itself, and did not always wait to be shot at. ”

“ The Irish Brigade and Ermelo Commando were placed in the centre, on Pepworth Hill, as a guard to Long Tom, two French field guns and two pom-pom maxims. Christian De Wet with some Free Staters, and Erasmus with some Transvaalers, together with the Johannesburg police, were in and about Nickolson's Nek on the right, Lucas Meyer and Schalk Burger, and Captain Pretorius with his cannons on our left, occupied a long ridge and some small hills near the eastern part of Lombard's Kop. The total Boer forces did not exceed 8,000 men with ten cannon. ”

“ The Boer losses in the action can only be guessed at. Twenty-one dead were found on the field and buried; thirty wounded Boers were captured in the enemy's hospital, and a few unwounded men were also taken. Among the prisoners was Mr. Jeppe, a Transvaal millionaire, and Commandant Rissik. In all, the enemy's casualties probably exceeded our own, and may be placed at from 200 to 240. The Jacobsdal commando, 180 strong, alone lost forty-six men killed and wounded. Here, as before at Belmont, there was the same violation of the white flag, with, superadded, gross misuse of the red cross flag. ”

“ It was found that some of the Boer sympathizers were communicating with their friends on commando during the night, and, to prevent this, an order was issued that no one should pass the sentries posted around the town after sundown or before sunrise, without a pass from the military governor or from the field marshal himself. ”

“ It was not always the case that commandants and generals were obliged to go begging for volunteers, and there were innumerable times when every man of a commando did the work assigned to him without a murmur.
During the Natal campaign the force was so large, and the work seemed so comparatively easy that the majority of the burghers never went to the firing line, but when British successes in the Free State placed the Boers on the defensive it was not so easy to remain behind in the laagers and allow others more willing to engage in the fighting. ”

“ The majority of the Americans spent the first months of the war in Boer commandos, and made no effort to establish an organisation of their own, although they were of sufficient numerical strength. A score or more of them joined the Irish Brigade organised by Colonel J.E. Blake, a graduate of West Point Military Academy and a former officer in the American army, and accompanied the Brigade through the first seven months of the Natal campaign. ”

“ It is highly desirable that the Boer commandos should not be accompanied by many commissariat waggons laden with provision, tents and other things, as they tend to hinder them, and prevent their executing quick movements. ”

“ No army lists were ever to be found at Pretoria or at the front, and it was as monumental a task to secure a fair estimate of the Boer force as it was to obtain an estimate of the number of the foreigners who assisted them. The Boers had no men whom they could spare to detail to statistical work, and, in consequence, no correct figures can ever be obtained. The numerical strength of the various organisations of foreigners could readily be obtained from their commanders, but many of the foreigners were in Boer commandos, and their strength is only problematical. ”

“ There was no law, however, which prevented a man, of whatever youthfulness or age, to assist in the defence of his country, and in consequence the Boer commandos contained almost the entire male population between the ages of thirteen and eighty years. ”

“ At once the Boers replied. Two shells, beautifully aimed, fell right amongst the British guns, putting one ammunition waggon out of action. Our weapons were old and feeble 7-pounders, the Boer guns long-range quick-firing 14-pounders—the weapons lost in the shameful Raid, and now by strange retribution pointed against the brave men who had to pay for the deplorable mistakes of the past. Nothing but withdrawal could have saved the Natal Artillery. The guns fell back and the British force hastened out of range, while General French telegraphed instantly for reinforcements. ”

“ The nearer they drew the hotter became the enemy's fire, till it was wonderful to observers that any human being could live in it. And still the enemy was invisible, and the British troops had nothing to fire at. Men sobbed with rage at the fact that they were so helpless. The two field batteries, far too few for the work, could produce no impression whatever upon the dimly-seen Boer trenches, within which the enemy lay in almost perfect security, and the Boer guns left them alone, as if in derision, devoting all their energy to the advancing line of soldiery. ”

“ No matter how secure he may fancy himself from attack, no matter if there is not a foe within fifty miles of him, the Boer commander always pitches his laager in a place of safety between two parallel lines of hills, so that no attack can be made upon him, either front or rear, without giving him an immense advantage over the attacking force, even if the enemy is ten times as strong in numbers. ”

“ Suddenly, after a prolonged silence since the early morning, the Boer artillery began to fire shell and shrapnel at the British guns. Just behind these guns were placed the sad remnants of the Highlanders—a dispirited mass of men in close order. One or two projectiles came shrieking amongst them, whereupon, suddenly and as if at the word of command, the men of the brigade once more precipitately retired, turning their backs upon the enemy and pouring in complete disorder past Lord Methuen's flag. ”

“ To "turn" a position, it need scarcely be said, is to work round it. But positions held, as were these, by good and mobile troops cannot be successfully assailed, and certainly cannot be turned unless there is a considerable advantage of numbers on the assailants' side. In point of mobility General Buller's infantry could not compare with the Boers, who were, of course, to a man mounted, who slept in the open and needed no such elaborate transport system as is required in the British Army. While the British soldier was moving five miles the Boer could cover fifteen. ”

“ The fugitives retired along the deep river bed, and thus their flight escaped the notice of the British column, else the attack might have been pushed, when there is every reason to think a great victory would have been obtained and the enemy's artillery captured. But the most advanced companies of the Guards' Brigade had no ammunition left and none could be sent them; moreover, as it was impossible for a mounted man to show himself within 1,500 yards from the Boer trenches, no orders could be given. ”

“ In face of the Boer advance, the position of the garrison at Estcourt, which did not reach 3,000 men, became very serious. The place was commanded by heights from which the Boer long-range guns could bombard with effect, and from the numerical weakness of the British force and the want of water these heights could not be occupied by our men. There were no cavalry or mounted infantry beyond a couple of hundred men to meet and keep touch with the enemy. The only artillery available was composed of one or two naval 12-pounders and the Natal Government obsolete 9-pounder muzzle-loaders. ”

“ Their attack was, in consequence, little to be feared, so long as the defence was well covered from the incessant rifle fire which supported and accompanied it; for none but a few gallant individuals would ever venture to close upon a trench or sangar whose defenders yet remained alive behind it. Both in attack and defence, therefore, the Boer army lacked the last essentials to victory. ”

“ The artillery and mounted troops were in advance of the British line. The first glimpse of the enemy was gained about 6·30 a.m., when a body of 500 mounted Boers was made out away on the right. They rode rapidly towards the enemy's left, at once drawing the cavalry and mounted men in pursuit. Then a Boer gun on the British right opened fire. So far there had been no sign of life west of the junction of the Riet and the Modder, and it was thought that the village was not held by the enemy. ”

“ Over hilly and uneven ground the Boer has by far the best chance to attack, while in an eventual defence he has everything in his favour, and is practically not to be got at.
The British authorities have apparently too much trust in the result of their Artillery. It is plain that they cherish the idea that it will have a demoralising effect on the Boers, and therein they have fortunately been mistaken. They did not calculate that the effect could not be so great on scattered troops, and that the result cannot be equal to the expenditure and difficulties of transport. ”

“ No better kept line ever went forward to death or glory." As they began the ascent, advancing by brief rushes in very open order, the hill suddenly appeared to swarm with enemies; from the crest, from behind every boulder, poured a murderous fire. The naval officers of the brigade still carried swords and could be readily distinguished; they were the target of every Boer rifle. "In the breathing time between the rushes of the assailants," says Colonel Verner, "one conspicuous figure was to be seen standing erect, and marking the station taken up by the Naval Brigade. ”

“ The greatest difficulty with which the British had to contend was that there was no enemy to be seen, no clear target to fire at. The dancing blaze of the Boer Mausers was unaccompanied by smoke, and gave no object for the sights of rifle or field gun. The Boers themselves lay perdu in deep entrenchments, firing in almost complete security through loop-holes. Their most advanced position in the scrub near Colenso, not 300 yards from Colonel Long's guns, was hidden by the undergrowth. ”

“ And still the Boers were silent in their trenches and our artillery refrained from speaking out."
Puzzling as was the silence of the Boers, the silence of the British artillery was still more curious. The soldier in his attacks likes to hear the roar of his own guns; it gives him moral courage and a sense of support. He dislikes an enemy who awaits his onset in absolute silence and withholds fire till the last moment. Upon the kopjes no enemy could be discerned; the hills seemed so many huge lifeless stone-heaps, tenanted only by scorpions and lizards. ”

“ All through the 13th, Vaal Kop was resolutely held by a tiny British garrison of 100 men and two guns. The fighting was remarkable for the enormous extent of country covered by the forces engaged. The Boers fought on a front of fully fourteen miles; the British, with a yet smaller strength of men, extended over an even longer line. The mobility of the cavalry and Horse Artillery proved to be such that the Boers were filled with uneasiness. They summoned reinforcements, which were at once despatched from the Free State. ”

“ The other eleven weapons selected a position and promptly opened on the crest of the kopjes held by the Boers. On them they directed a most effective shell fire, but, unhappily, some of their projectiles fell short and dropped among the British infantry, as they were painfully trying to scale the precipice just below the Boer position, adding to the confusion. Such accidents are almost inevitable in war. The Boer shells in reply came fast and thick. The enemy's 40-pounder was infinitely more powerful and of far longer range than the British field pieces. ”

“ The Boers had not long been gone when our cavalry entered the town and demanded its surrender, but our horses were too much done up for the mounted troops to continue the pursuit. The Boer forces were so very mobile—as they naturally would be when moving about in their own country and acting always on the defensive—that to allow our mounted troops to get too far in front and away from the infantry would have been a tactical error. ”

“ For the moment the Horse Artillery were ordered to silence the Boer gun—a task which it achieved with the greatest expedition. Then the general boldly determined to try a new kind of strategy, which was nothing more nor less than to walk his men round the Boers, and leave them disconsolately holding their kopje against no one, and reflecting sadly upon the fact that at last the "rooineks" could move as fast as or faster than themselves. ”

“ The Australians showed great steadiness and courage. A small party under Captain Cameron dismounted and covered the retreat of the others with a rapid and accurate fire. "They shot like lightning, not volley after volley straight in front of them, as do regular soldiers," said a Boer afterwards, "but every man picked his man and shot to kill. We dared not face them." The Boers endeavoured to work round them and cut them off, but at the right moment the colonials made a dash, mounted their horses, and rode off under a hail of bullets, with only one man slightly wounded. ”

“ Meanwhile the enemy's artillery had been considerably re-inforced, and the British gun ammunition was beginning to run short. The capture of a large herd of cattle by the Boers, who neatly drew the animals away from the town by exploding shells behind them, entailed a reduced meat ration. In order to co-operate with the relieving force under Clery, who at the end of November was within signalling distance, White exercised a part of the garrison as a striking column, which, when the time came, he proposed to take out under his own command, and to clear the line of approach from the South. ”