TOPIC:

Two brothers from the Carolina Commando who fought together at Spioenkop and suffered the highest casualty rate of any regiment or Commando. They fought under their brother-in-law Veldkornet AJ Viljoen who was wounded at both Ladysmith and Spioenkop and who all remained on Commando for the duration of the War.


 
Father Abraham Scheurkogel (1821 to 1884)

Their father Abraham was born in North Brabant, Netherlands, on the 1st Dec 1823 and arrived in South Africa in 1853; he married Maria Zijbella Coetzee on the 16th March 1857 in Natal.

Abraham was a qualified teacher having previously taught in Java and was appointed the teacher for Potchefstroom on the 6th July 1857.


He was appointed to fill an important gap in the education of the Potchefstroom youth who had not received any formal education for the past three years.

With all the free time on their hands the youth naturally entertained themselves sometimes causing such annoyance that it resulted in legislative intervention.

The last teacher, Hendrik van der Linden, had closed the school and left Potchefstroom in 1854 due to an unresolved conflict with the church authorities.

Abraham was allowed to use the church building for teaching purposes, and he was granted the use of a house to live in. However, the peace was not to last. The new teacher was strict on discipline and apparently fond of using a cane to enforce it among his pupils. A few months later, none other than the State Attorney, J Visage (being a former magistrate himself), complained that Abraham had mistreated his daughter.

Abraham had crossed swords with a very powerful and influential man; Visage had been a boy with the original Voortrekkers and had fought at the battle of Blood River.

In correspondence dated 12 November 1857 she was not named and merely referred to as Visage's little girl (dochtertjie). Visage had three daughters, all born between 1841 and 1845, meaning they would have been between the ages of sixteen and twelve in 1857. It remains unclear which one of the daughters was beaten by Abraham.

By beating her in class Abraham's was immediately dismissed; he appealed to the Executive Council but to no avail.

Abraham had to appear before the Executive Council on the 16th Nov 1857 but his appeal had no effect as he was dismissed the very same day.

Despite been dismissed from his teaching position the family remained in Potchefstroom for the following 5 years.

On the 28th January 1858, two months after he was dismissed, Abraham and Maria welcomed their first child Arie Abraham Scheurkogel; he was baptised in Potchefstroom in July 1858 in the very church that he had taught at.

In 1862 they welcomed their second child; a daughter named Adriana Maria Margaretha Scheurkogel, later in life she would go on to marry Veldkornet Andries Jacobus Viljoen of the Carolina Commando who would not only lead the Scheurkogel brothers into battle but would also be wounded at both Ladysmith & Spioenkop but more on that later.

They left Potchefstroom and resurfaced in Marthinus Wessels Stroom (Wakkerstroom) where their 3rd chid (2nd daughter) was born in December 1863.

In 1865 he was appointed as a teacher; however, his disciplinary practices once again seemed unpopular resulting in him retiring from teaching and take up farming.

The family continued their travels and had 2 more daughters before Ockert Jakobus Scheurkogel was born on the 7th October 1869.

Thus the two Scheurkogel brothers, Arie and Ocker, represented the two eldest sons of the family and were separated by 11 years.

Rietfontein Farm

At some point between 1870 and 1880 the Scheurkogel family continued their travels and settled on the farm Rietfontein located about 5km to the east of modern day Machadodorp in the North West Province, modern day Mpumalanga. At the time the farm was in the Lyndenburg district.







The Scheurkogel family finally found their place in the world as their journey came to an end when they settled at Rietfontein Farm.

During this time the family prospered and built-up a successful farming business. The next event in their lives would be the 1st Anglo Boer War of 1881.

Arie, born in 1858, would have been legible for the 1st Anglo Boer War in 1880/81 and potentially took part in the Siege of Lyndenburg. At the time the strength of the Lyndenburg commando was estimated to be 200 men.

1st Anglo Boer War - Siege of Lyndenburg / Leydenburg (6 Jan’ 81 to 31 March ‘81)

The town of Lyndenburg is located approximately 80kms north of the Rietfontein Farm.

Lydenburg was founded in 1849 by a group of Voortrekkers under the leadership of Andries Potgieter when they abandoned their previous settlement Ohrigstad (to the north) due to a malaria epidemic.

The town became the capital of the Lydenburg Republic ('De Republiek Lydenburg in Zuid Afrika') in 1856 and later in 1857 joined the Republic of Utrecht but in 1860 both these republics joined the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR).

Lydenburg became important because it was on the wagon route to the port of Delagoa Bay (now Maputo Bay) which was not under British control and the first wagons arrived in Lydenburg from Delagoa Bay in 1874.

The 1st Anglo Boer War began in December 1880 when the 94th Regiment of Foot was ordered from Lyndenburg to Pretoria and were defeated at Bronkhorstspruit on the 20th December 1880. A small detachment of approximately 50 men remained behind under the command of Lieutenant Long.

Given the distance the 94th Regiment travelled it’s not anticipated that Arie was involved in that engagement.

Following the departure of the 94th under Colonel Anstruther for Pretoria, on Sunday the 5th December 1880, as rumours of the rising of the Boers was prevalent, application was made to Lieutenant Long, commanding the detachment left in the fort, to join the Townspeople in a system of self-defence.

Lieutenant Long refused the request much to the surprise and dissatisfaction of the residents.

He then proceeded to re-enforce the fort, known as Fort Mary, consisting of eight thatched huts connected by stone walls. Fort Mary provided cover for British forces and would allow Long to successfully fight off the Boers for three months

The following telegram was then sent to Natal via Delagoa Bay:

“Troops refuse to protect the town. Numbers hardly sufficient to protect themselves.
Town decided to remain quiet."

On December 13th a letter was written to Sir Owen Lanyon as follows:

“The fifty men left here are here, it is understood, simply for the protection of Government stores, not for the defence of the town. Were they here for the latter purpose, such a number is totally inadequate for any satisfactory protection."

It was calculated that there were 220 women and children in the town and only thirty-four men who could be relied upon.

With no laager, no water supply, no chance of saving the property, estimated at over £100,000, the siege, all knew, must continue for three or four months; and therefore the townspeople being left entirely without protection, abandoned by the Government, were quite right in remaining neutral.

They owe their safety from molestation, and the absence of looting stores or private property, to the Commandant of the Boers, Piet Steyn.

The Boers were in possession of the town and besieged the fort, but Lieutenant Long held his own well. The inhabitants had no occasion to complain of the conduct of the Boers in this district, except for the stopping of communication.

Early in March Mr. A. Aylward arrived in Leydenberg, and under a flag of truce he interviewed Lieutenant Long, 94th Regiment, Dr. Falvay, and the Rev. Father Walsh ; he wanted Lieutenant Long to surrender, stating that it was madness in him showing further resistance, as there were no troops in the country to help him.

Lieutenant Long replied that he would not surrender, he meant to fight and retain the fort as long as he had a man left him. Aylward invited Father Walsh to remain outside ; he replied that the Boers must come and fetch him, he was not a coward, and would not quit the troops while there remained one alive. Messrs. Long and Walsh returned to the fort under escort of Boers, when, an hour after,
both parties saluted each other with a shower of bullets.

On the 4th of March the Boers managed to set fire to one of the buildings in the fort, it being a thatched roof; the troops put it out in twenty minutes, under a heavy fire from the Boers. They intended to try it on again next morning, the 5th, but Lieutenant Long had stripped the roof of thatch during the night, and the men shouted for them to come on.

They cut off the water from the fort, but Lieutenant Long had sunk and struck water; they were obliged to let it run again, as the townspeople were suffering from want of it.

Mrs. Long was the only lady in the fort, but she proved most useful in attending on the sick and wounded. Warrant Officer Parsons, of the Commissariat, distinguished himself on two separate occasions, by going out of the fort and throwing hand grenades into the enemy's positions, which created a great diversion.

On the 30th of March the news of the peace reached them, and the Boers at once went to their homes. The soldiers, however, were rather riotous, their first act being to pull down the Republican flag and destroy it; but a new flag was made at the expense of the officer commanding and put up again by the soldiers.

There was no Government, no law, and no order for some time afterwards. Several of the soldiers were arrested, brought to Pretoria, and tried, receiving various severe sentences, which were, however, mitigated in every case by General Wood, on account of their previous bravery in defending the fort.

Lieutenant Long was so disgusted with the whole proceeding that he resigned his commission, but not before receiving due credit, as is shown in the following General Order, published in Pretoria on the arrival there of his small but gallant detachment:

" The Colonel Commanding, having received detailed accounts of the fort at Leydenberg, wishes to congratulate Lieutenant Long and his gallant little garrison of the 94th Foot, for the heroic and gallant defence made for so long a period against a determined and able foe, many times their own number, and under circumstances of great privation and difficulty. The courage, great endurance, and intelligent co-operation shown throughout by all has been remarkable, while the ready resources and conspicuous ability displayed by Lieutenant Long in the conduct of his communications with the enemy entitle him to the highest praise. Isolated in position, 108 miles from Pretoria, surrounded and attacked on all sides, the little garrison have well upheld the honour of England and the gallant 94th, and afforded to the Service a brilliant example of what British soldiers can achieve when well commanded."

The casualties during the siege were: killed three; wounded nineteen, between the 6th of January and 31st of March, 1881.


To be continued....