Three Years War | Page 3

roasting was done on a spit cut in the shape of a fork, the wood
being obtained from a branch of the nearest tree. A more ambitious fork
was manufactured from fencing wire, and had sometimes even as many
as four prongs. A skillful man would so arrange the meat on his spit as
to have alternate pieces of fat and of lean, and thus get what we used to
call a bout span.[3]
The burghers utilized the flour supplied to them in making cakes; these
they cooked in boiling fat, and called them stormjagers[4] or
maagbommen.[5]
Later on, the British, finding that by looting our cattle they could get
fresh meat for nothing, were no longer forced to be content with

bully-beef. They then, like ourselves, killed oxen and sheep; but, unlike
us, were very wasteful with it. Often, in the camping places they had
vacated, we found the remains of half-eaten oxen, sheep, pigs, and
poultry.
But I shall not go further into this matter. I leave it to other pens to
describe how the British looted our property, wantonly killed our cattle,
and devastated our farms. In the course of this narrative my intention is
to mention only those cases which I saw with my own eyes. The reader,
perusing them, may well pause in surprise and cry out, "Can such
things be possible?" To such a question I have only one answer--"They
actually occurred, and so my only course is to record them."
But enough of these digressions. Let me return to my proper
subject--the story of my own experiences and doings in the great
struggle which took place between Boer and Briton.
As I have already said, I had been commandeered, and, together with
the other burghers of the Heilbron commando, had just reached
Harrismith, on the road to the south-eastern frontier.
During our stay there the other commandos, in obedience to
Commando Law, joined us, and we proceeded to elect a
Commander-in-Chief. The Commandants present were Steenekamp, of
Heilbron; Anthonie Lombaard, of Vrede; C.J. De Villiers, of
Harrismith; Hans Nandé, of Bethlehem; Marthinus Prinsloo, of
Winburg; and C. Nel, of Kroonstad. The result of the voting was that
Prinsloo was chosen for the supreme command.
Then the burghers of Winburg selected Mr. Theunissen as their
Commandant. He fulfilled his duties admirably, until he was made a
prisoner of war. This happened when he was leading a courageous
attack at Paardeberg in order to relieve General Piet Cronje.
From Harrismith our commando advanced to within six miles of the
Natal-Free State frontier, and camped not far from Bezuidenhoutspas,
in the Drakensberg. This imposing range of mountains, which then
formed the dividing line between Boer and British territory, slopes

down gently into the Free State, but on the Natal side is very steep and
precipitous.
The day after we had elected our Commander-in-Chief I was sent by
Commandant Steenekamp, with a small detachment of burghers, to the
Natal frontier. I saw nothing of the English there, for they had
abandoned all their positions on the frontier shortly before the
beginning of the war. When I returned in the evening I found that the
burghers had chosen me, in my absence, as Vice-Commandant[6] under
Commandant Steenekamp.
It was at five o'clock on the afternoon of that day--the 11th of October,
1899--that the time, which the ultimatum allowed to England, expired.
The British had not complied with the terms which the South African
Republic demanded--the time for negotiations had passed, and war had
actually broken out.
On this very day martial law was proclaimed by the Governments of
the two Republics, and orders were given to occupy the passes on the
Drakensberg. Commander-in-Chief Prinsloo despatched Steenekamp
that night to Bezuidenhoutspas. Eastwards from there the following
commandos were to hold the passes:--Bothaspas was to be occupied by
the commando from Vrede; Van Reenen's Pass by the commandos
from Harrismith and Winburg; and Tintwaspas by the commando from
Kroonstad. Westwards, the burghers from Bethlehem were to guard
Oliviershoekpas.
Commandant Steenekamp was very ill that night, and was unable to set
out; he accordingly ordered me to take his place and to proceed forward
with six hundred burghers.
Although I had only to cover six miles, it cost me considerable thought
to arrange everything satisfactorily. This was due to the fact that real
discipline did not exist among the burghers. As the war proceeded,
however, a great improvement manifested itself in this matter, although
as long as the struggle lasted our discipline was always far from perfect.
I do not intend to imply that the burghers were unwilling or unruly; it
was only that they were quite unaccustomed to being under orders.

When I look back upon the campaign I realize how gigantic a task I
performed in regulating everything in accordance with my