798 



SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 



Highlanders forming part of Gen. Colevile s 

 division, which had come up in the night, ad- 

 vanced on the right flank and rear while the 

 enveloping movement was carried out, the other 

 regiments swinging round in a long line to the 

 front. The assault of the Highland brigade was 

 stopped immediately, the men throwing them- 

 selves down on their faces. A large force which 

 included the Canadian regiment was led by Gen. 

 Smith-Dorrien in a charge against the laager, and 

 \\as met by shell fire and stopped effectually 1 by 

 rifle fire. A Vickers-Maxim and other guns 

 mounted on a kopje on the south bank prevented 

 a convergent attack. The high banks on both 

 sides of the river afforded excellent vantage 

 ground for the Boer riflemen, who kept ofl the 

 British infantry and mounted men on both sides. 

 Toward evening the British batteries began firing 

 from the rear, forcing the men in the river bed 

 to fall back to the sheltered ground near the 

 laager, which was shelled also with such destruc- 

 tive effect that the Boers removed their wagons, 

 animals, stores, and whole camp to the bed of 

 the river. Gen. French's cavalry division arrived 

 during the battle and, proceeding to the front, 

 confined the Boer detachments that were escap- 

 ing. On the next day Gen. Tucker's division ar- 

 rived, and the naval brigade a little later. Gen. 

 Cronje could use his small machine guns at first 

 with good effect, but his efforts to mount his 

 heavier guns were frustrated by the British artil- 

 lery fire. 



Lord Roberts superseded Lord Kitchener in the 

 command after the second day's battle. He was 

 anxious to avoid the heavy loss to be incurred 

 by following up the plan of an infantry attack, 

 and, having great superiority in artillery and a 

 line of investment inclosing' Gen. Cronje's posi- 

 tion, he decided after a reconnoissance in force 

 to bombard the Boers in the river bed, using his 

 large force of mobile troops to form an outside 

 line for the purpose of intercepting the small 

 bodies of Boers that were now pouring in from 

 Natal and other quarters to re-enforce Gen. 

 Cronje. Several of these bodies were driven off in 

 various directions on Feb. 20, and on one kopje 

 50 men who had come from Ladysmith surren- 

 dered on being shelled. The bombardment with 

 56 guns was kept up two days. Lyddite shells 

 exploded in all parts of the bed of the river, while 

 shrapnel searched every bush and donga. The 

 wagons and everything combustible were set on 

 fire and the animals were killed, but the people 

 found shelter under the banks of the river, except 

 those on the firing line, some of whom crept out 

 to take aim at the naval gunners, who were fir- 

 ing at a range of 1,000 yards. At the end of the 

 first day's battle, when his cordon was drawn 

 completely around Gen. Cronje's camp, Lord 

 Kitchener asked the Boer commander if he would 

 not surrender so as to avoid useless bloodshed. 

 Piet Cronje replied that he still had men and 

 ammunition, and saw no need of surrendering, 

 lie knew the need that Commandant-Gen. Jou- 

 bert had of time to concentrate his widely dis- 

 tributed forces and prepare his second line of de- 

 fense, and determined that he would hold the in- 

 vading army in check as long as it was possible 

 for him to prolong his resistance. Lord Kitchener 

 began the bombardment the next morning, and at 

 the close of the day Gen. Cronje requested an 

 armistice for twenty-four hours to enable him to 

 bury his dead. This was refused, and he sent 

 word that if the British general was so inhuman 

 he saw no other course than to surrender. Lord 

 Kitchener set out to meet him, and was met by 

 a messenger who said that Gen. Cronje had made 



no proposal to surrender; that he would fight till 

 he died. All the batteries then went into action, 

 concentrating their fire on a space not a mile 

 square. Gen. Roberts reconnoitered the position 

 when he took command, and continued the bom- 

 bardment. Commandant Botha brought a con- 

 siderable force to relieve Gen. Cronje, but Gen. 

 French's cavalry stopped him. Other re-enforce- 

 ments kept coming, which required the attention 

 of the mounted men and the infantry who occu- 

 pied the surrounding kopjes. On Feb. J2 

 and succeeding days the shelling was continued 

 intermittently while the British pushed their 

 trenches nearer and nearer. The hope that the 

 burghers who were known to be operating north 

 and east of the British positions would break 

 through the line and enable the besieged force to 

 escape was abandoned after the dispersion of 

 Botha's large command on Feb. 23. Howit/< i^ 

 had been brought up and observations from a 

 captive balloon enabled them to drop lyddite 

 shells wherever the Boers appeared in the bed 

 of the river, and the other guns and the infantry 

 to put a stop to any activity. The river bed and 

 banks were raked by field and machine guns at a 

 range of 1,000 yards, and the line of intrench- 

 ments was worked up to 600 yards. In the night 

 of Feb. 2(5 the Canadians and engineers dashed 

 forward and seized a place where they could in- 

 trench themselves only 80 yards from the !'... -\- 

 trenches. The Boers had expended all their am- 

 munition, and could offer no resistance to the 

 expected assault. The next morning Gen. Cronje 

 sent a letter stating that he surrendered uncon- 

 ditionally, and afterward, on the demand of <icii. 

 Rol>erts,*he presented himself at the British camp 

 and marched his men out of the laager after they 

 laid down their arms. Only 3,000 were left out of 

 H.(HK) with whom he tagan his retreat from Ma 

 gersfontein.most of the rest having separated from 

 the command during the rear guard fight. The 

 casualties had not been very heavy, but the con- 

 dition to which the men were reduced before -ur- 

 rendering, the lack of food and water. ;md the 

 effluvia from decaying corpses that they 1m d to 

 endure could not be supported longer. The men 

 were sent in charge of their own ollic.i- in the 

 prison ships in Simon's Bay, and Piet Cronje wa 

 deported to St. Helena. 



Gen. Roberts had an armv of about 50.000 men. 

 On March 2 he established his camp at (M'oniein. 

 A few miles southeast of that place Col. Rem- 

 ington's scouts came in touch with the I ',..!.. 

 The united commands of Botha, Prinsloo. and De 

 Wet formed a force of about 6.000 men. which 

 acted as a corps of observation, retiring as the 

 march of the British was resumed. When Lord 

 Roberts entered Bloemfontein President Steyn 

 and the officials had departed for Kroon-tad. 

 which was proclaimed the new seat of govern- 

 ment. Lord Kitchener went to Arundel. where 

 the Boers had lately been pressing the colonial 

 troops under Gen. Clements. A rebellion that had 

 broken out in Cape Colony was kept in check by 

 placing a large force in the rebellious district, 

 and the 3.000 rebels soon surrendered their arms 

 or returned to their homes. The Republicans 

 evacuated the positions they held in the northern 

 part of Cape Colony and made their way north- 

 ward, while of the colonists who had joined them 

 some went along with them, some quietly re- 

 sumed their peaceful occupations, and some sur- 

 rendered their arms. Many of the burghers of 

 the Free State in the districts occupied by the 

 British gave up their weapons. The large body of 

 Boers commanded by Olivier at Stormberg retired 

 to Rouxville, and marched thence to join Gen. 



