Note 9 — Chapter V

In order to fully appreciate the excitement of the De Wet chase, it is interesting to read the account, contributed by the editors of St. Paul’s School Magazine, of a British prisoner who perforce was with the hunted: “On the seventh day of our captivity we joined De Wet’s commandos as they were crossing the Vaal, going north to Lindique. As we arrived at the Vaal a battle was in progress with Lord Methuen’s force, which had come down from Potchefstroom. We were hurried across Schoeman’s Drift, and barely cleared the drift when British infantry appeared, lining the ridges commanding the drift, and we came under a heavy rifle fire. We joined up with De Wet’s waggons, who were trekking as fast as they could towards Wolve Nek. A very steep ridge of hills runs from Schoeman’s Drift in a north-easterly direction, parallel with the Vaal River. De Wet held a very strong position here. Lord Methuen’s force was on the west and north-west, and Lord Kitchener’s cavalry and mounted infantry column was on the southern bank of the Vaal. We remained here twenty-four hours, and could see the British columns closing in on De Wet’s laagers. It was here the Boer general did a smart thing. Seeing that his only plan was to break up his laagers, directly night came he moved his waggons out and spread them in a long line along the roads that led out of the hills in horse-shoe shape, commanding both western and eastern ridges. This gave him two alternate routes to escape by, and commanded the narrow neks where the three ridges of hills running in a north-east direction met at an apex. Theron’s force, with whom we still remained, were camped a mile south of the front bend of the horse-shoe laagers, and nearest to the British lines. At daybreak the following morning the Boers were caught napping; a tremendous commotion was observable, and our inquiry elicited the two words, ‘Khaki’s coming!’ And no mistake, for during the night the British had occupied a ridge on the west, flanking and commanding the western end of the horse-shoe, and with the first grey streaks of dawn bang came their shells into the waggons. The Boers scattered, abandoned eight waggons, took half their convoy by the main road to the north, and the balance, with their main column, the road to the north-east, Theron’s crowd and De Wet’s burghers covering their rear. I saw at a glance we were in an awkward fix, with two alternatives—either blown to pieces where we stood, or run the gauntlet of a direct flank fire. De Wet soon settled it, and ran the gauntlet. Away we went helter-skelter up the steep slopes of the hills, aiming for an almost impossible-looking pass, strewn with gigantic boulders and small stones. We had just reached the pass when three waggons toppled over and fell down the gorge, and every moment we expected the same fate. The pass selected was an inconceivable place for vehicles to get through, but the Boer has a happy knack of negotiating difficult country. Over through the nek we went bumping and thumping on the boulders, and directly we showed on the other side we were greeted with shell, as British artillery had gained a position covering our exit. Shell after shell came whizzing over our heads; one struck ten yards on the right of our cart, another shaved our left, a third whizzed close by my head, causing a deafening sensation in my ears, and a fourth plumped right down in front of our leading horses, killing both. A crash, and over went the cart, flinging us through the air in company with mailbags, Mausers, and cushions, landing amongst a pile of boulders. With great difficulty the Boers righted the cart, pulled the hood down, as being too conspicuous a mark, and putting in two horses we dashed off. Fortunately, when we toppled over the British stopped shelling, but directly we started, whiz! bang! came the shells, until we reached a dip in the road, which shielded us from view, and, dashing on, we caught up their main body, a mass of Cape carts and guns, yelling and shrieking drivers, flogging their oxen and urging them on, while the rattle of Mausers and boom of guns showed that a fierce rearguard action was in progress. Again we were doomed to disappointment. Shelled by our comrades, within an ace of being killed, we had the mortification of being dragged away from the scene of what might have been our deliverance. All through the broiling hot day we pushed on, never halting until 6 P.M., to enable the rearguard to close up. We were on the move again at 10 P.M. to midnight; then on at 2 A.M., climbing the Gatsrand, and halting at 7 in the morning. Again on the march at 8 to 10 A.M.; twenty hours’ continuous trekking out of the twenty-four, covering a distance of close upon 40 miles. Here we rested until 2 P.M., then inspanned, and crossed a high ridge of the Gatsrand near Wolvaardt. As we reached the top of this ridge we heard the boom of British artillery, showing that we were being closely followed up. This welcome sound to us caused the Boers to redouble their efforts, and we went scrambling, tumbling, and slipping down the slopes of the Gatsrand at breakneck speed, halting at 7 P.M. a few miles from the Potchefstroom-Krugersdorp railway. At 8 P.M. we crossed this railway near Welverdiend, the Boers blowing up the line in half-a-dozen places. Pushing on to 1 A.M., De Wet thought he had outdistanced his pursuers, and felt safe, especially as he was reinforced here by 1500 burghers and some guns. Our position now was near to Bosman’s Kop and Rietfontein, and we had covered about 95 miles from Schoeman’s Drift in 46 hours, fighting a rearguard action the whole time. I here learnt our objective was the fastness of the Magaliesberg mountains, to effect a junction with Delarey’s commandos. At 8 P.M., to De Wet’s consternation, artillery fire was heard close to his left rear flank, which turned out to be either Lord Kitchener’s, Smith-Dorrien’s, or Lord Methuen’s force shelling the Boer left rearguard, posted in some kopjes near Klerkskraal, while the British field battery of horse artillery were paying attention to his convoy. A shell burst on the waggon containing British prisoners, wounding three men. The Boer guard fled, and sixty out of eighty British soldiers made a rush in the confusion for the British lines. De Wet was so closely pressed here that he abandoned a gun and hastily left his position, trekking night and day to reach the bush veldt of the Magaliesberg, where he knew kopjes or ridges offered excellent positions to hold and detain the British from following him up too closely. We pushed on the following day, climbing the Magaliesberg, while a stiff rearguard action was being fought with Lord Kitchener’s combined forces, and, dropping into the Hox River valley, pushed on till we reached the Olifant’s Nek. De Wet was now comparatively safe, having the mountains behind and between him and the British force. A day or so after reaching Olifant’s Nek all the British prisoners taken at Klerksdorp, Potchefstroom, and ourselves were collected and placed in four ox waggons, with an escort of 100 burghers, and proceeded through Rustenburg, our ultimate destination being Nooitgedacht.”