Through Shot and Flame Part 18

Besides, I had no time for _reading_. But I had experienced enough to know now, after having had so many months of the war, where to seek the greatest minds.

I saw that the man who dips his pen in ink is greater than he who stains his sword with blood. The man who, out of sight and unaffected by the world's turmoil, gives his life to the thoughts which are born in travail, and which, whatever men may say, do rule the world--that man is greater than he who, in the great world outside, is made a hero of by a senseless rabble, because he leads a hundred thousand men. This man leads an army; that man leads the world.

When I was at Witzieshoek, the English pa.s.sed through Harrismith to Bethlehem, as they were in the habit of doing almost every week. This time they had an extract from a proclamation by Lord Kitchener, which they left behind in their camps, on the b.u.t.tresses of the bridge over Elands River, and elsewhere. It was not long before the full text of the proclamation[11] appeared, and this was not only sent to the Governments, but officers came out with _flags of truce_ to the different commandos.

[Footnote 11: This Proclamation runs as follows:--

PROCLAMATION.

By His Excellency, Baron Kitchener of Khartoum, G.C.B., K.C.M.G., General Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in South Africa, High Commissioner for South Africa, Administrator of the Transvaal, etc. etc. etc.

_Whereas_ the late Orange Free State and South African Republics have been annexed to His Majesty's dominions:

_And whereas_ His Majesty's forces have for a considerable time been in full possession of both territories aforesaid, together with their public offices and all the machinery of administration, as well as of all the princ.i.p.al towns, and of the railways:

_And whereas_ the great majority of the burghers of the two late Republics, to the number of 35,000, not counting those who have been killed in the war, are now prisoners of war, or have submitted to His Majesty's Government, and are now living quietly in villages or camps under the protection of His Majesty's forces:

_And whereas_ the burghers of the late Republics who are now under arms against His Majesty's forces are not only few in number, but have lost almost all their guns and munitions of war, and are without proper military organisation, and therefore unable to carry on regular warfare, or to offer any organised opposition to His Majesty's forces in any portion of the country:

_And whereas_ the burghers who are now still under arms, although unable to carry on regular warfare, continue to make attacks on small and isolated posts, and bodies of His Majesty's forces, to rob and destroy property and to damage railway and telegraph lines, as well in the Orange River Colony as in the Transvaal, and other portions of His Majesty's South African dominions:

_And whereas_ the country is thereby kept in a state of unrest, and the carrying on of agriculture and commerce is prevented:

_And whereas_ His Majesty's Government has resolved to put an end to a condition which causes the useless shedding of blood, and needless destruction of property to continue, and is causing the ruin of the large majority of the population, who are desirous of living in peace, and to earn a livelihood for themselves and their families:

_And whereas_ it is right to take steps against those who still resist, and especially against those persons who, having authority, are responsible for the continuance of the existing condition of affairs, and who are urging their fellow-burghers to persist in their hopeless resistance to His Majesty's Government:

_Therefore it is_ that I, Horatio Herbert, Baron of Khartoum, K.C.B., K.C.M.G, General Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in South Africa, High Commissioner of South Africa, by _order of His Majesty's Government_, proclaim and make known as follows:--

All Commandants, Field-Cornets, and Leaders of armed bands, being burghers of the late Republics, who still continue to resist His Majesty's forces in the Orange River Colony and Transvaal, or any other portion of His Majesty's South African Possessions, and all members of the Governments of the late Orange River Colony and the South African Republic shall, unless they surrender before the 15th of September next, be for ever banished from South Africa; the cost of support of families of burghers still in the field who shall not have surrendered before the 15th of September shall be claimable against such burghers, and shall be a charge upon their properties movable as well as immovable.

_G.o.d save the King!_

Given under my hand at Pretoria this 7th day of August 1901.

KITCHENER, General, High Commissioner of South Africa.]

This proclamation made known that the officers and members of the Government would be banished from South Africa if they did not surrender before the 15th of September 1901; and that the cost of support of the families of all burghers who were still under arms on that date would be claimable against such burghers, and would be a charge upon their properties, movable as well as immovable. The English had therefore again issued a proclamation. And how was this received by our burghers?

Many people declared that this proclamation was a sign of weakness; others spoke of it with the utmost contempt; the majority ignored it, and everyone looked forward to the 15th September, to see if it would actually be the case, as everyone expected that this proclamation would have no effect.

Meanwhile there was, as very frequently was the case, a great deal of talk about peace. Peace would, it was said, come on the 20th of September. But the 20th of September came and went, and there was no peace. After that I never again heard that a day and date had been fixed on which there would come an end to the war.

From Witzieshoek I went to look for the President, but with the poor horses that I had I could not reach the place where he was. Meanwhile I held services wherever I could, both on week-days and Sundays, and where opportunity offered I noted down my experiences on commando. In this work I had to cope with peculiar difficulties. Sometimes I wrote at a table, whilst at other times a window-sill served me as writing-desk; but the greatest portion of my book was written on the seat of my cart, whilst I sat crouched on the bottom. I did not always have good ink, and the first pages of my notes are written in various shades; I had even to use "Nastagal" ink, made by our women. This ink was to me a new example of how inventive the Africanders are. Speaking of this gives me the opportunity of saying something about the many ways in which our people managed to lighten their burden of misery.

Our boots wore out, and men were appointed to tan hides and make boots; even women occupied themselves in this kind of work. The war had not been going for fifteen months when there was a great scarcity of soap.

Then our mothers and sisters boiled a very serviceable article with the help of the ashes of mealie-cobs and of various weeds. The English destroyed the mills everywhere; but mills were mounted on waggons and carried off when the English approached. One such mill ground more than fifty bags of corn in twenty-four hours. Our corn was done before we had been fighting a year; but peas, mealies, kaffir-corn, rye, acorns, and dried peaches were used as subst.i.tutes. Through dire necessity a fine old handicraft of our great grandmothers was revived: the spinning of wool, which was still plentiful in spite of the devastation of the enemy. Our mothers and wives and daughters span wool beautifully, considering the nature of their spinning machines. Spinning-wheels were fabricated in various ways from old sewing-machines, fruit-peelers, and so forth. I have seen socks knitted of yarn spun by these primitive machines, as fine and certainly stronger than those that can be bought in shops. Our salt was at last quite exhausted, and this was a cause of great anxiety, especially in districts such as Harrismith, where there were no salt-pans; but here again our distress was relieved, for wells were dug in the pans, where no one would have thought of digging before, and salt water was found. "Everything," it was often remarked, "was scarce; but nothing completely lacking."

We toiled or plodded along, suffering in silence, where there was no help for it, but we generally managed to find a way out of the difficulty. No suffering was too severe, no sacrifice too great but was gladly undergone or made for the realisation of the great ideal we were striving for.

What particularly struck me during this period was the boundless wealth of the Orange Free State. Where all the cattle came from after the immense devastation by the enemy was beyond my comprehension. We never were in want of grain, notwithstanding the tens of thousands of tons of wheat and maize destroyed or rendered unfit for consumption by the British. And when on a few farms in the grain districts and elsewhere there was still some wheat over, the fields were again waving, and at the harvest time they stood yellow for reaping. The problem of clothing was also solved. I saw several overcoats made from sheepskins, which answered well. Some burghers wore complete suits made of leather. When one's clothes wore out they were mended with patches of leather, and then the garments were called "armoured" coats or pairs of trousers.

Besides this, money was taken to Basutoland, and great quant.i.ties of clothing were bought and secretly brought to the Free State. This was constantly done notwithstanding the strict vigilance of the enemy.

And then there was the "shaking out" of soldiers; that is, when a soldier was captured his clothes were taken from him and worn by such burghers as needed them.

Who will condemn this action?

The enemy had not only cut off all our means of import, so that we were completely isolated, but had done their utmost to burn our clothes wherever they could. Whenever, then, a soldier fell into our hands, the English supplied us with a suit of clothes.

They provided us in the same way with ammunition. Since the commencement of 1901 the scarcity of ammunition had caused us much anxiety. Many who were loyal began to ask with misgivings whether this would not ultimately force us to surrender. But our enemy supplied us. In the later stages of the war we had scarcely any ammunition at all, except what we got from England. We were completely dependent on Great Britain, who took care that we should never be wholly in need. As President Steyn wrote to the Transvaal Government: "After every fight we had enough ammunition to commence another with." Towards the end of the war one seldom saw burghers armed with Mausers. The enemy were fought with their own rifles and their own ammunition. Has this often happened in the history of the world? Sunday, 15th of September, was the day fixed by Lord Kitchener on which the officers and men were given a last opportunity to lay down their arms without detriment to themselves. The day came, and who had surrendered? I only heard of two cases in the districts of Vrede and Harrismith. Besides these, General Brand reported that about twenty men from his districts had gone to the enemy. I also heard of one or two cases in other parts of our country. The proclamation thus was of little effect. There had been a time when the Boers fell like ripe grain before the scythe of British proclamations.

That time was pa.s.sed, and the big words and threats of Lord Kitchener were now of no effect.

This must be attributed partly to the fact that Lord Roberts had not acted in good faith in relation to what he had promised in his proclamations; but the chief cause of the firmness of the burghers now was owing, as General de Wet used to say, to the men having been "sifted": the chaff was gone, the wheat had remained. The winds of destruction and the rain-torrents of devastation had finished their work of attrition on the mountain of Africanderdom. The soft loose soil had been washed away, only the bed-rock remained.

And what shall I say of those--our own flesh and blood--who went over to the enemy?

Renegades!--What can I say?

That most of them gave up their arms to the enemy in moments of despondency I can understand, for I, too, know what dejection is; but that there were others who drew sword for the English and against us is hard to understand.

But the traitor, G.o.d will punish. It must not, however, be forgotten that it is not unprecedented in an unformed nation for the faint-hearted to desert to the enemy. Such a nation still lacks the powerful _esprit de corps_ which is born of the traditions of the past. There were thousands of deserters, traitors, and renegades amongst the Americans during their great struggle.

But the fierce flame of this war has welded us together. The war with England towers in our past as something mighty and heroic. The future must always be influenced by it, and our children, looking back, will realise how close the ties are between themselves and their fathers, and thereby they will be drawn together into one united people.

CHAPTER XXI

HOW THE PRESIDENT Pa.s.sED HIS TIME

On Sunday, 29th September 1901, I held services in the house of Mr.

Gerrit Aveling at Wagenmakers Vlei, after having, during the past week, addressed the burghers in different parts of the district of Vrede. It was my intention now to visit my own congregation, and I had already written to Commandant Meyer to arrange for the holding of services for his men. But this could not take place. The English had already marched out of Harrismith, and on Monday we heard that they had arrived in the neighbourhood of Sandhurst, the farm of Mr. Herma.n.u.s Wessels. The people living in the vicinity of where I was immediately took to flight, and I temporarily joined the company of Mr. Jan Adendorf.

On Tuesday the English came as far as the farm of Mr. Adendorf, Christina, and from there a small number of them went to Natal, while the rest were sent about seizing cattle everywhere and otherwise conducting themselves after their wont. They did not, however, burn down houses now, but where they found property that the owners had carried out of their houses and hidden, they consigned this to the flames.

My son was now taken prisoner by the English, along with a.s.sistant Field-Cornet Gert van Deventer, and the Burgher Thys Uys. He had remained behind to fight. One evening it appeared that the English were retiring from Ottershoek to Brakfontein, and Field-Cornet van Deventer thought it was safe enough to sleep in a house. He with the two others therefore went to the homestead of Mrs. Swart. But there was a Kaffir there who saw them, and when it got dark he went and informed the English. The consequence was that at daylight the following morning these three, together with the two little sons of Mrs. Swart, were taken prisoners. The news was brought me when I was not far from Woodside. It may be imagined that after my son and I had been chums for so long I felt very lonely. But I was more anxious about him than about myself, because I knew that he would be uneasy about me. It was some consolation, however, that he had been captured and not killed.

Meanwhile I had almost without noticing got into a women's laager.

During the flight the company in which one finds oneself keeps increasing in numbers--_vires acquirit eundo_. And now I thought that it was not advisable to remain in a women's laager; for I did not wish to expose myself to the chance of being captured again in the same manner as on the 6th of June at Graspan. Therefore, on the day after the news reached me of my son's capture, I took leave of the good friends with whom I had spent some days, and went to General Wessels. I arrived there the following day, having spent the night at the farm of Mr. Kootje Muller.

Others of the English had meanwhile come from Standerton and reached Woodside; and before I was well aware of it I was again one of a number of fugitives. Separating myself from them, when I learnt that the English had retired from Woodside, I soon found myself, now for the third time, again in a laager of women. This laager was a Harrismith one, under Ex-Commandant Truter and Mr. James Howell. I now thought that I should be able to accompany this laager to the district of Harrismith, and thus realise my wish to visit my own congregation. But in this I was again disappointed, for on Tuesday, the 15th of October, we nearly drove into the English, who were at Newmarket. I therefore left them, and for the present gave up the idea of visiting the Harrismith people. An incorrect report, stating that the English were advancing from Frankfort up the Wilge River, prevented my crossing that river, as I had intended to do, and I remained the fellow-fugitive of Mr. Piet de Jager for a week. From his farm I then went to his brother's, Michal de Jager, and when I had been there two days I heard from the President. He wrote me a letter wherein he informed me where I should find him. I started immediately, and on the 24th of October I arrived in his laager, and resolved, at his friendly request, to remain with him.

Life was now again the old commando life that I had not known since January. We knew of no roof but that which spreads over all the earth.

On the gra.s.s we spent our time, sitting by our carts or saddles, or lying down where we happened to be. We ate, drank, and slept under the open sky. It did sometimes happen that the housewives invited their President to their tables, and that such invitations were not declined; but he never went to sleep in a house unless rainy weather forced him to do so. And even this was not done whenever the enemy was in the vicinity.

Commandant van Niekerk constantly received reports from his outposts, which were placed at a certain distance from the laager. They always kept him informed as to the movements of the enemy, and he made the little laager s.h.i.+ft every evening according to circ.u.mstances. We very seldom slept at the same place on two consecutive nights, and thus, in spite of ourselves, had to undergo the penalty of wandering. To be always ready for what might happen, the horses were brought from the veld every morning at two o'clock and held until the patrols brought a report later in the morning that all was safe.

The President's horse stood ready saddled from that hour. The President never took off his boots at night, and was therefore ready every moment to mount his horse. I always took off my boots at night, unless the enemy was very near. But I was more circ.u.mspect with regard to the safety of my MS. I never let it off my person. I made a little bag of old linen, placed my MS. in it, and wore it under my waistcoat, whenever the English were approaching. If anything should happen there would be a chance, provided the enemy did not "shake me out," that my book would not be lost for the second time as at Graspan.