Not a day passed without a set-to taking place between one or more of the commandos and the English. If the latter did not come out, the Boers would go in, and, hi many instances, some very hot skirmishes resulted. Such sports lasted usually about half an hour, when the English, almost invariably turned tail and ran back into their places of safety.
All burghers not directly engaged in these skirmishes, would secure good seats among the rocks and light their pipes and enjoy themselves watching these shooting matches, as much as they would Barnum's circus. One day about fifty of the Irish boys were induced to go on a visit to a big fort, right at the town, and they went ; but just how they got out of the circle of fire within which they found themselves is a mystery to them and to me to this day, but all came back safe and sound, bringing with them a few good horses and mules, and reported one captain and three Tommies killed. They went without my knowledge, and certainly I would never have given my consent, for it was an idiotic act on their part. The boys themselves, however, were not to blame. They were induced to believe that the Boers were going too, and that they would be strongly re-enforced by them. The Boers had no idea of going, for they had too much sense, and had the boys known this, they would never have gone ; so they told me on their return. I was still in the hospital, and that is the reason I knew nothing about it. They complained to me that "they" were making fools of them and wanted me to return to camp and stop that kind of business. Nothing could possibly be gained by the venture, and the chances were a hundred to one that much loss of life would result. When the Boers saw them actually at the town they thought the Irish had gone crazy or had deserted to the English. For several days afterwards, some of the boys would slip around the ravines, get near the town, jump some horses and mules, and, at full speed, under cannon and maxim fire, return to camp. The English always kept some coolies on guard over their horses and mules, but just one shot was enough to put each coolie to flight. The English finally put up a trap to catch the boys and some of them came nearly falling into it. They concealed a hand maxim and two men in a pit near the horses, and with a small, but strong rope, tied each horse to a stake. The coolie had orders, of course, to run as soon as the Irish boys came in sight. It was supposed that the boys would make a rush to start the horses off pn a run, and, 011 finding the horses tied, would stop to loosen them. But the boys discovered the ropes, surmised that a trap was laid, and made a hasty retreat, though not before this concealed maxim and two men popped up above the ground and began to pepper them. Sergeant Major O'Reilly was particularly smart at this business, and he took no less than thirty horses and mules. He is Africander born, but an Irishman to the backbone, and has all the pluck and daring of his race. They were not permitted to go again after horses, because it was thought too risky.
The English were constantly trying to break through the Free Stater's line on the west side, for, having broken through them, they could cross the Tugela River near Spion Kop, go around the Boers at Colenso, and proceed to Maritzburg, so here it was that most of the heavy fighting took place during the siege. Yet with all their cannon and men, they could never break through that weak little line. The Free State men were bold, and would often rush through the English lines and bring out thousands of cattle, horses and mules. Almost every night there was an alarm, and, with two or three exceptions, it proved to be always a false one, but all had to turn out just the same, because it would not do to take any chances. The result was that everybody, at night, would roll up in his blanket with boots and clothes on, that he might be ready in an instant to use his rifle. These alarms would generally occur between one and two o'clock in the morning, and when we heard the rifles popping away in many directions, out we would run, take our fighting positions and there sit and watch till daylight. I never rolled out of blanket but twice without feeling that the alarm was false, and on the first occasion I told the boys that we were in for a red hot fight. It was on this occasion that about 200 of the Lydenburg Commando were posted on guard to our left and front, that is, just in front of General Joubert's headquarters. It was about two o'clock in the morning when we were aroused by a rifle fire so terrific that one could easily have believed that all the forces about Ladysmith were engaged in a hot fight. Those Lydenburgers were so close that we felt we were actually in the fighting line, yet were not engaged. You may be sure that we did not lose a second in getting into our positions. As the fighting continued, we could easily see the sparks of fire from the rifles, yet we could not see any English, nor could we discover any return fire. In this state of doubt and anxiety we sat and watched for half an hour, when the firing ceased. It ceased because the Lydenburgers, feeling that they could not hold their position any longer, retreated and took up another post at General Joubert's headquarters. For a circuit of three miles all the commandos were in a terrible state of excitement because they believed that the English had made a strong attack on Joubert's headquarters. All the men felt that the English would have to clean up the Irish boys before the General's camp would be taken, but they didn't know but that the Irish boys had been finished. General Joubert was not in the least excited, but was very angry at the Lydenburgers for leaving their position, for he knew there were no English on the ground, otherwise they would have followed up. He sent a couple of good men to investigate. They found that a poor old mule had escaped from Ladysmith and had come out our way in search of something to eat and that poor old mule was quietly eating his grass as if nothing had happened, although at least 10,000 shots had been fired close to his ears. The Lydenburghers were then ordered back to their post and all was serene once more.
Now I shall tell about another alarm when I was sure we had a fight on hand. It was about two or three o'clock in the morning when hot firing was heard right by our camp, not to the left and front as before, but to our left and rear this time. I felt terribly frightened and hustled the men out as they were never hustled before. I felt sure that the English were actually firing into General Joubert's headquarters. The firing did not last more than three minutes ; then all was quiet again. One of the Irish boys went out to investigate. He moved carefully, and after awaiting about twenty minutes, returned and reported, "Oh it is those damned Lydenburgers again." Some Lydenburgers were guarding an English Kaffir spy that some of the Boer boys had captured, and, the night being dark, the Kaffir made a break for liberty. Not only the guard, but all the Lydenburgers, 1,000 strong, jumped out and began to fire, on the supposition that there must be some English somewhere in front.
That Lydenburg Commando could stir up more false alarms than all the other commandos around Ladysmith put together, yet during the whole war, I don't believe they were ever in a fight. David Schoeman was commandant and Piet Swartz was the chief veldtcornet, and wherever you found them, you might be sure you would find no English, and that you could lie down to sleep without any fear of being disturbed, except by a false alarm.
Every morning when it was sufficiently light to see moving objects in and about Ladysmith, all the Long Toms and howitzers would open up and drive every one into the hole provided for safety. After that, silence would reign until about ten a. m., when an artillery duel of ten or fifteen minutes' duration would be fought, just to vary the monotony. Then all would be quiet again until about four p.m. when some English cavalry would come out to see if there were any gates open in the Free Stater's line. A lively skirmish would ensue, the English would fly back to their holes, and the day's work was done. As the English were kept in their holes all day, of course they had to get out and do their necessary work at night. The Boers thought they would hamper them somewhat in their work, so at sundown, they would load and aim all their cannon and at the hour of midnight would all fire at once. This caused the English so much annoyance that they in turn tried the same game on us, but never did us any harm. I have now given the usual program both for the day and night during the siege of Ladysmith, and while I could write page after page describing incident after incident that occurred during the long siege, yet I do not care to do it, because it would mean more work for me and prove tiresome to the reader.
In a nut-shell, the Boers had a delightful time, lived in luxury, had their sports, smoked their pipes, drank their coffee, entertained visiting friends and when there was a fight they were always ready for it.
