Pretorian Guard

“ In order to maintain his authority and overawe turbulent neighbours he was compelled to pay a large standing force, of which he stood in as much dread as the Cæsars did of their Pretorian Guard. In the days of independence the regulars mustered 10,000 men, armed with matchlocks, and there were about 40,000 men on an irregular footing, of whom perhaps a third carried serviceable weapons.722 At the present time the army is little more than a plaything, for the “Great White Tsar” has garrisons at the principal strategic points, and Bokhārā under his ægis is secure from foreign aggression. ”

“ General Emmet, as prisoner in the Rest Camp, also sent a warning, saying that General Botha had instructed him to tell Mrs. van Warmelo that her name was known on commando.
As time went on, Pretoria was being shut in more completely every day. Blockhouses rose on every side; on the hills which lie around the town [145] searchlights played from commanding positions over many miles of country, making darkest night as clear as noonday; barbed-wire fences enclosed the entire capital, and outposts were on guard night and day—with no avail! ”

“ On the Sunday I spent there I worshipped with the Gordons who had survived the siege of Ladysmith; the day following as I returned to Pretoria, the train I travelled by was thrice ineffectually sniped; but soon after the turn of these same Gordons came to escort a train on that same line when nearly every man among them was killed or wounded, including their officer, and a sergeant with whom during that visit I had bowed in private prayer; but the driver, stoker and guard were deliberately led aside and shot after capture in cold blood. ”

“ South Africa is no place for them. Let them try the South American Republics; with their venal habits, they will be thoroughly at home.
A more heterogeneous garrison has seldom been collected. A mounted corps (the Protectorate Regiment) , two detachments of mounted Cape Police, the B.S.A.P., also mounted, the Bechuanaland Rifles, the Railway D.W., and the Town Guard, all employed in trenches, and the horses only used for orderly work. The Town Guard is composed of every white man or householder, Indian or otherwise, capable of bearing arms, unless enrolled under the Red Cross. ”

“ However, the prisoners were all safely brought into Pretoria, without any attempt at rescue. The men were encamped on the racecourse about a quarter-of-a-mile out of town, under guard, while the officers were kept in safer quarters in what is locally known as The Government Hotel, and there they were kept until the authorities had decided what should be done with them, and until they were ultimately sent by rail to the Natal border and handed over to the Imperial Authorities. ”

“ PRISONERS OF WAR
Pretoria: November 24, 1899.
The position of a prisoner of war is painful and humiliating. A man tries his best to kill another, and finding that he cannot succeed asks his enemy for mercy. The laws of war demand that this should be accorded, but it is impossible not to feel a sense of humbling obligation to the captor from whose hand we take our lives. All military pride, all independence of spirit must be put aside. These may be carried to the grave, but not into captivity. We must prepare ourselves to submit, to obey, to endure. ”

“ The Boers were so out-manœuvred that their mausers and machine-guns availed them little. They fought scarcely any but rear-guard actions, and their retreat was so rapid as to be almost a rout. Within about a month of leaving Bloemfontein the Guards' Brigade was in Pretoria; which, considering all they had to carry, and the constant repairing of the railway line required from day to day, would be considered good marching even if there had been no pom-poms planted to oppose progress. ”

“ Although, as I have frequently stated, there were no legitimate grounds of complaint against the treatment of British regular officers while prisoners of war, the days I passed at Pretoria were the most monotonous and among the most miserable of my life. Early in the sultry mornings, for the heat at this season of the year was great, the soldier servants—prisoners like ourselves—would bring us a cup of coffee, and sitting up in bed we began to smoke the cigarettes and cigars of another idle, aimless day. ”

“ Some of these had their minds disabused with good grace, and went to the field as common burghers; others sulked for several weeks, but finally joined a commando, and a few returned to their homes without having heard the report of a gun. For those who chose to remain behind and enjoy the peacefulness of Pretoria, there was always enough of novelty and excitement among the foreigners to compensate partly for missing the events in the field.
The army contractors make their presence felt in all countries which are engaged in war, and Pretoria was filled with them. ”

“ Just about this time a corps had been raised in Pretoria, composed, for the most part, of gentlemen, and known as the Pretoria Horse; for the purpose of proceeding to the Zulu border, where cavalry, especially cavalry acquainted with the country, was earnestly needed. In the emergency of the times officials were allowed to join this corps, a permission of which I availed myself, and was elected one of the lieutenants. [*] The corps was not, after all, allowed to go to Zululand on account of the threatening aspect adopted by the Boers, against whom it was retained for service. ”

“ But the occupation of Pretoria was not to see the termination of the war. May 17th had seen Mafeking relieved by Colonels Mahon and Plumer, and cordial was the welcome extended to these officers by its harassed garrison and by its brave defender Colonel Baden-Powell. For six months and six days the gallant defenders had held out. On February 26th Ladysmith had been relieved, after a siege of nearly four months, General Buller making a formal entry on the 2nd March; but much yet remained to be done elsewhere, and a species of guerilla warfare ensued. ”

“ In order to demonstrate the extent to which the military preparation has been carried, it is only necessary to give an account of the defences of Pretoria and Johannesburg, the two principal cities of the country. Pretoria, being the capital, and naturally the chief point of attack by the enemy, has been prepared to resist the onslaught of any number of men, and is in a condition to withstand a siege of three years. The city lies in the centre of a square, at each corner of which is a lofty hill surmounted by a strong fort, which commands the valleys and the surrounding country. ”

“ Pretoria merchants receive their first small consignments of food stuffs since the arrival of the British troops some four months before. Clothing, boots, indeed goods of any other type than food, they had still not the faintest hope of getting up from the coast for many a week to come. War is always hard alike on public stores and private cupboards; but seldom have the supplies of any town, not actually undergoing a siege, been more nearly exhausted than were those of Pretoria at the time now referred to. ”

“ Only daring and fearless men would rush that fort and try to scale that twelve-foot wall. Our guns were now trained and turned loose on the forts just above the Pretoria boys. The English with five or six guns made a quick response, and for hours shells were flying back and forth with such rapidity that we were strongly reminded of our experience on Pepworth Hill. The Pretoria boys were in no danger, as long as we were firing, for the English had to keep themselves well protected. There was a Pretoria District Commando, about 700 strong, not more than 1,000 yards to our left. ”

“ I earnestly trust that in justice to gallant officers and soldiers, who have languished these weary months in Pretoria, there will be a strict inquiry into the circumstances under which they became prisoners of war. I have no doubt we shall be told that it is a foolish thing to wash dirty linen in public ”

“ Another ridiculous anomaly, which will hardly be believed, is that in the Artillery, the drivers, who never walk, carry two pairs of ankle boots, one on their feet and one on their saddles; but, in the Infantry, who never ride, only one pair of boots is allowed, those on their feet!
The advance on Pretoria had been so rapidly executed that the railway was occupied, day and night, in bringing up food for the troops, and had absolutely no room for stores, clothing, boots, or even, for some time, for the mails. ”

“ The way they take cover is simply wonderful. All the prisoners were marched off at once and sent by rail to Pretoria. It was a terribly hot day, and no shade or water except what the Boers gave us. They were very good about water, giving us all they had, and fetching more from the bottom of the hill, one and a half mile away."
An officer of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, writing from Staatsmodel Schule, Pretoria, said:—
"We were all taken prisoners, together with the Gloucester Regiment and a Battery of Mounted Artillery, which accounts for us being in Pretoria so soon. ”

“ The discipline and general moral conduct of His Majesty's troops in Pretoria is, under the circumstances, better than I ever expected it would or could be. There have certainly been cases of immoral conduct, but in no single instance, so far as I know, has force been used. They only go where they are invited and where they are welcome.
(Signed) H. S. Bosman.
When such is the testimony of our adversaries, we need not hesitate to accept the similar tribute paid by Sir Redvers Buller to his army of abstainers in Natal:—"I am filled with admiration for the British soldiers," said he ”

“ The country in the direct line between Johannesburg and Pretoria consists of a series of rolling downs which are admirably adapted for cavalry work, but the detour which French had to make carried him into the wild and broken district which lies to the north of the Little Crocodile River. Here he was fiercely attacked on ground where his troops could not deploy, but with extreme coolness and judgment beat off the enemy. To cover thirty-two miles in a day and fight a way out of an ambuscade in the evening is an ordeal for any leader and for any troops. ”

“ These men had been concealed by other friends, and when the scare was over they escaped from Pretoria to the commandos. They had nearly been forgotten when news reached the capital of their capture by the enemy, five of them in all, and of their imprisonment in jail.
While their life hung in the balance a time of nervous dread, not to be forgotten, was passed through, for they would either be shot as spies or they could save themselves by betraying their friends. ”

“ With the men so sober, with a field-marshal so God-fearing, (p. 140) the constant outrages ascribed to them by slander-loving Englishmen at home, become a moral impossibility; and to that fact, after we had been long in possession of Pretoria, the principal minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Transvaal bore ready witness in the following letter sent by him to the Military Governor of Pretoria:—
Not a single instance of criminal assault or rape by non-commissioned officers or men of the British army on Boer women has come to my knowledge. ”

“ Then they loosed the men and bade them form in rank. The soldiers came out of the dark vans, in which they had been confined, with some eagerness, and began at once to chirp and joke, which seemed to me most ill-timed good humour. We waited altogether for about twenty minutes. Now for the first time since my capture I hated the enemy. The simple, valiant burghers at the front, fighting bravely as they had been told 'for their farms,' claimed respect, if not sympathy. But here in Pretoria all was petty and contemptible. ”

“ Finally, after Herculean labours, such sick as remained alive were carried off to Pretoria. All, on this memorable day, behaved like heroes, but prominent among them was Sergeant Rawdon, who worked a Maxim which was supporting the D and F Companies of the Lincolns. While the others retired he stuck to his gun under a concentrated fire from the enemy. As ill-luck would have it his gun jammed, but the gallant fellow, undefeatable, dissected the weapon, recoupled the parts, and resumed firing till the Maxim, pocked with bullet marks, could be removed by volunteers of the D Company! ”

“ The private soldiers who like these, their officers, had become prisoners of war, were for greater security removed from their racecourse camp to a huge prison-pen at the Waterfall, some ten or twelve miles up the Pietersburg line. They numbered in all about three thousand eight hundred, and for a while fared badly at their captors' hands. But ultimately a small committee was formed in Pretoria and £5000 subscribed, to be spent in mitigating their lot and ministering in many ways to their comfort. ”

“ The Boers may intend making another attack upon Pretoria, and if they could arrange that at the same time there should be a rising there, and perhaps houses fired in different places so as to distract the attention of the garrison, it would certainly have a greater chance of success. ”

“ I often wished afterwards, however, that the British military authorities had shown as much consideration for our property.
We had to have food in any case, and as the official hesitated to supply us we helped ourselves from the Government Stores, and proceeded to the capital. The roads to Pretoria were crowded with men, guns, and vehicles of every description, and despondency and despair were plainly visible on every human face. [Back to Table of Contents]
(p. 145) CHAPTER XV. OCCUPATION OF PRETORIA.
The enemy naturally profited by our confusion to pursue us more closely than before. ”

“ Say their critics what they may, soldiers who compose such songs, and pen such testimonies, and conduct such (p. 152) services among themselves, seem scarcely the sort to "let hell loose in South Africa!"
A big supper party.
Of the prisoners of war thus long detained in durance vile nearly a thousand were decoyed into a special train the night before the Guards' Brigade reached Pretoria. These deluded captives in their simplicity supposed they were being taken into the town to be there set at liberty ”