TOPIC:

1899 - Day 3 of the retreat to Ladysmith. Assault on Mafeking repulsed.
1900 - De Wet retires from Frederikstad. Boers attack Jacobsdal.
1901 - Lord Milner visits Natal. Narrow escape of Botha at Schimmelhoek.

Colonel Kekewich's Diary from Kimberley:

Sent out cart to scene of yesterday’s fighting, in the hopes of bringing in the bodies of 2 men killed but I am sorry to say they could not be found.

Reconnaissance in the direction of Barkly West under command of Lt Col Scott Turner. Force proceeded about 10 miles – no enemy was seen but is was ascertained that about 4 miles of Telegraph poles had been broken.

Force engaged: 300 mounted men, 2 guns, 2 Maxims.

Hard rain for 3 hours during the night.

Major Churcher's diary entry about the retreat from Dundee:

After a most miserable night we fell in at 4 a.m., and marched about 7 miles to Sundays River, getting in about 10-30 a.m. Rested and bathed and fed ourselves, and I got Father Matthews to take a photo of us at lunch. At 1-30 we fell in again, and marched another four miles. They say we passed the scene of yesterday's fight, and that they were burying dead Boers all over the place, but I did not see any; the rumour goes however, that it was chiefly an artillery and cavalry business, that the Boers were utterly routed, and that the cavalry had a high old time of it pursuing them.

We were in our camping ground by 3-45, and as it was a nice piece of high ground covered with grass, we hoped to have a real good night's rest; but, alas! our hopes were short lived, as an orderly arrived from Sir George White at Ladysmith, telling us to march to Modder Spruit, where we would find some troops to meet us. We fell in at 6 p.m., and had hardly started, before down came the rain in torrents. We were the main body of the rear guard and so just in rear of the baggage, the result being that the road, soon becoming well nigh impassable for waggons, became blocked, and before we had gone a mile from camp we were stopped and kept three hours standing in the mud and pouring rain, the men not having either blankets or overcoats. The whole night long it rained, and the whole night we crawled along, perhaps doing on an average about half-a-mile an hour. It was pitch dark, and altogether it was the most poisonously miserable night that any man could or will ever experience.


Picture taken by Major Churcher at 09:00 on 25th October

1899 - From the diary of Trooper A J Crosby, Natal Carbineers

Feeling none the worse for yesterday’s encounter, we saddled up at 8.30 and marched out to the right of Dundee Rd. (Helpmakaar Road) meeting the Glencoe Column 14 miles out after a miserable journey moving about the stones etc. in the rain and pitch dark. The Column came up about 6 o’clock and halted till midnight. From 8 - 12 the rain came down in torrents. We were so done up that we laid down in the mud and water and many slept soundly. We now understood that it would be noon tomorrow before reaching camp. The Column had a worse experience as it had been on the march since Friday night with quarter rations. The artillery horses had not even their harness off.

Source: Diary of the siege of Mafeking by Edward Ross

Wednesday, 25 October 1899

The enemy opened their bombardment this morning soon after daylight, with their large siege 94-pounder, two 12-pounders and 4 seven-pounders. They then attacked in force (about 2 500 all round us) but took great care not to come in too close; they ’were therefore very easily beaten off "without any casualties on our side”. Some Boers must have been wounded because we can see them hunting around with their stretchers.

We hear all sorts of rumours today through the natives that the Boers have sustained a series of reverses both at Natal and Kimberley. We only hope it is true.

Our General Staff Officer, Lord Edward Cecil, received a message today from the south by a native runner asking if it was true that Mafeking had surrendered; they say they received news in Kimberley that the town was flattened and the only survivors of a terrible massacre were about one hundred women and children, and they also say the natives state that when Cronje entered the mined town he wept bitterly at the state of things. This is some more of our enemy’s "gas”. Considerable damage has been done to the town buildings in today’s shelling, three shells bursting in the Dutch church and knocked it about very considerably; one in Lippmann’s store knocked about the soft goods a good deal. One shrapnel shell burst over Whitefey Walker’s roof and riddled it like a sieve. The enemy continued shelling us all day long until dusk, we endeavouring to reply here and there with our little pop guns and seven-pounders.

Lord Cecil has officially told the Boers that if they continue to perpetrate atrocities he will shoot every prisoner that comes into his hands, even at the expense of his reputation.

We have received news from the north that Colonel Plumer and a strong force of Rhodesians is on the way down from the north to endeavour to assist us. The military authorities have a "look-out” man watching the big gun, and immediately he sees the enemy’s gunners approach her he gives the alarm by ringing a bell, and immediately everybody disappears down to their respective bomb-proof dugouts. It is amusing to see everybody scurry away down the holes like rabbits. We are told that if we happen to be in the open when a shell is heard, to throw ourselves flat on the ground. Lots of people have been caught napping, but now after sundry scares they have got quite used to it, and would rival a good many home actors48 in their stage falls.