Wilson, With the Flag to Pretoria. Chapter XXVI. The Siege of Mafeking.

The Siege of Mafeking
From: H. W. Wilson, With the Flag to Pretoria: A History of the Boer War, 1899-1900, London, 1901. CHAPTER XXVI: Part Two.

Plumer's Repulse.
Meantime, Colonel Plumer was not inactive to the north. Leaving Gaberones, he had pushed south to Lobatsi in March, but, finding his force much too weak to attack the Boers with success, was compelled to fall back. At the end of the month he once more advanced, and on March 31 runners entered Mafeking with the important news that he was outside the town, and would attempt to fight his way through. All was excitement within and without. Within, the garrison stood to arms, and attacked the Boers in the direction of Game Tree Fort. Without, large bodies of the enemy with guns could be seen moving northwards. As men watched anxiously from Mafeking, they saw through their glasses figures on the hill crests, ten miles away to the north, and were aware that for the first time since the siege began a British force was watching the town. Then the roll of firing swelled up in that quarter, and the battle began. The afternoon ended, and men felt certain that Plumer had won, and would march in under cover of darkness. But the night passed, and with day came a sad awakening. A flag of truce from General Snyman entered the lines with a message that Plumer had been thoroughly beaten, and that the British dead strewed the field. The Boer general gave the garrison permission to recover and bury these dead.

BRIGADIER-GENERAL HERBERT S. O. PLUMER.
Was born at Torquay in 1857, educated at Eton, and joined the 65th Foot (now the 1st Battalion York and Lancaster Regiment) in 1876; Captain, 1882; Major, 1893; Brevet Lieut.-Colonel, 1897; Local Brigadier-General on the Staff, July, 1900; served in the Sudan Expedition of 1884, under Sir Gerald Graham, as Adjutant of his Regiment; served in the operations in South Africa under Sir F. Carrington in 1896, when he organised, raised, and commanded a Corps of Mounted Rifles (Brevet of Lieut -Colonel). He embodied his experiences in this campaign in "With an Irregular Corps in Matabeleland." D.A.A.G. at Jersey, 1890-3; D.A.A.G. at Aldershot, 1897-9. When the present war broke out he was put in command of the Rhodesian Irregular Forces to protect the border to the north of the Transvaal, fixing his camp first at Tuli, then at Gaberones.

Casualties.
Ambulance waggons went out on this melancholy errand, and returned. But the disaster was not so black as the Boers had painted it. Only three bodies were found on the scene of action, though the enemy had buried a few others. The three dead were tenderly borne into the town which they had come so far to save. They had been stripped of their belongings; there was no means of identification; and though all who had travelled and fought in Rhodesia were called in to name them, none knew them. Unknown, they were laid to rest by unknown friends. Two days later a despatch from Colonel Plumer, with a true account of the engagement, entered the town. It placed his loss at--Captain Crewe, mortally wounded; Lieutenant Milligan, the famous Yorkshire cricketer, and ten men killed; 29 officers and men, among them Plumer himself, wounded, and eight missing'' among whom was Captain McLaren, severely wounded, a prisoner with the Boers. On April 4, Lieutenant Smitheman, Plumer's intelligence officer, succeeded in getting into the town, and, after some days' stay, returned, having, it is to be presumed, concerted measures with Baden-Powell and informed him fully of the British plans.

Daily now the outlook became blacker. Men who knew the Boers and the difficulty of the country to the south questioned the possibility of relief. The food ration was steadily reduced. Horseflesh and black bread, of the consistency of papier mache, were the miserable diet of all, and the whites, in the pangs of hunger, took to eating locusts, food from which in ordinary times they , would recoil with disgust. Milk was scarce, and the women and children suffered sorely for want of it, while in the hospital drugs and medical stores were running low. Yet still the spirit of all was splendid. "They shall take a cemetery and not a town," was a typical message. Mafeking would uphold the honour of the Empire to the last, and, if it fell, abandoned and unrelieved, would at least fall with glory.

Messages to and from Lord Roberts.
On the 200th day of the siege, Colonel Baden-Powell sent out the following telegram to Lord Roberts: "After 200 days' siege I desire to bring to your Lordship's notice the exceptionally good spirit of loyalty that pervades all classes -of the garrison. The patience of everybody in Mafeking in making the best of things under the long strain of anxiety, hardships, and privation, is beyond all praise, and is a revelation to me. The men, half of whom are unaccustomed to the use of arms, have adapted themselves to their duties with the greatest zeal, readiness, and pluck, and the devotion of the women is remarkable. With such a spirit our organisation runs like clockwork, and I have every hope that it will pull us successfully through."

On April 18 Lord Roberts had sent a despatch promising relief by May 18. The next few weeks passed monotonously. Early in May, Lady Sarah Wilson telegraphed: "Breakfast consists of horse sausages; lunch, minced mule and curried locusts." Another inhabitant of the town sent out the message: "All well; hungry." From the Boer lines, Eloff, Mr. Kruger's grandson, and one of the best and most daring Boer officers, forwarded taunts, to which Colonel Baden-Powell, who was much more than his match in humour, replied with derisive irony. Rumours were current that the Boers, hearing of the advance of a relief force, would assault the town, and after events proved that such was indeed their intention. Eloff had been sent from Pretoria with express orders to achieve this object, for in the tottering state of the Boer fortunes it was felt by the Transvaal Government that a success must be won to infuse fresh spirit into the burghers. Mafeking appeared to offer an easy opportunity of achieving such a success.

Attack on the Kaffir Stad.
The night of May 11-12 was selected by Eloff for his enterprise. The earlier hours of the night were lighted by a brilliant moon, and everything was still as death, both in Mafeking and the Boer lines. Suddenly, without any preliminary notice, at 3.50 a.m., a terrific fire broke over the town from the Boer lines to the east. The alarm bell beat its heavy note; the bugles sounded to fall in; and from all quarters there was a scurry of hastily aroused bandoliered men to their posts. As yet the true direction of the attack could. not be determined. The edge of the moon was sinking below the horizon, and darkness, intense and profound, wrapped the interval between the British and Boer lines. Yet the quick foresight of Baden-Powell had already divined the enemy's intentions. The attack, he said, would be delivered against the Kaffir stad on the west of the town, and he made his preparations accordingly.

More than an hour passed. The first rays of the sun showed to the east, when to the west tongues of flame leaped to the sky, and in a moment it was seen that the Kaffir stad was ablaze. Immense volumes of smoke rolled towards the defenders, who were now hurrying to this quarter, and in a few minutes the stad was one roaring sheet of flame. Heavy firing broke out; there was a babel of cries and shouts; and in the glare and smoke figures could be seen moving to and fro. Here was the real attack; the firing to the east was only a feint to draw off the attention of the British garrison. The Boers, with seven hundred men, had stolen up the bed of the Molopo. The Baralongs, who were entrusted with the defence of their own town, had seen and allowed about three hundred men to pass. But then they had opened a terrific fire and driven back the other four hundred. The situation was at this moment that there were 300 Boers under Eloff within the Mafeking defences.

Colonel Hore Surrenders.
A little to the rear of the native town stood the British South Africa Police Fort, a low, one-storied stone building, held by Colonel Hore and 22 men. Round it were several outbuildings which gave shelter to an assailant and interfered with the fire of the defence, so that the position was not a strong one. Towards it Eloff now rushed at the head of his men. In the obscurity his burghers were taken for the British outposts in retreat, and the troopers in the fort were ordered to hold their fire. Not till the enemy were only sixty yards away and in possession of the outbuildings in front and flank was the mistake discovered. Then it was too late. Guided by a treacherous deserter from the Protectorate Regiment, Trooper Hays, the Boers closed in upon the work, and Eloff demanded its immediate and unconditional surrender, threatening that if this were refused, every man in it should be put to death. The triumphant cheering of the enemy could be heard on every side; Colonel Hore was cut off from all hope of support; withdrawal was impossible; to hold the fort was equally impossible under the fire which could be poured into it from such close quarters. Assuredly there was no want of courage on the part of Hore and his men of the Protectorate Regiment; they had proved that in the magnificent attack upon Game Tree Fort. At 5.25 he surrendered. But of his men there was one who would on no terms accept life from the Boers. Trooper Maltuschek, when the enemy called upon him to throw down his rifle, replied: " I'll see you damned first," and in an instant fell with five shots through him-a victim to that defiant spirit of valour which disdains death.

The Boer Advance Checked.
The Boers now manned the fort and shouted exultantly through the telephone to headquarters: "We are Boers. We have taken Mafeking." "Have you, indeed?" was the answer of the orderly, with the aside, " Please disconnect the wire." But Mafeking had not yet fallen-had not nearly fallen. Three hundred yards to the rear of the fort was a corrugated iron fence, enclosing the railway yard and the gaol. The prisoners in the gaol had already been set free and armed by the jailor, Heald, who, a minute or two later, was blown to pieces by a shell; they played an honourable part at this critical moment, fighting the enemy as zealously as any of the garrison. Behind the corrugated fence, and on either flank of the British South Africa Police Fort, the garrison was forming up. The Town Guard, Railway Division, and the Bechuanaland Rifles, took post at the fence; the Cape Police came in hot haste from the Brickfields; the British South Africa Police hurried up from Cannon Kopje; and when the confusion had abated, and what had happened had been clearly ascertained, opened a heavy fire on the fort. The Boers found that further advance was quite out of the question. They had already split up into two parties, the one in the fort and the other in the Kaffir stad. Communication between the two was difficult, as a stream of bullets swept the intervening space; retreat was yet more difficult, as the Baralongs had closed up in the rear. Snyman, who should have put in every available man to a general assault, hated Eloff, while the burghers had no appetite for a desperate advance in daylight against enemies of the calibre encountered at Game Tree Fort.

Eloff Trapped.
Thus Eloff was actually in a trap. The fire directed upon the fort prevented the Boers from showing themselves, and caused them considerable loss. Nor was the position of the British prisoners an enviable one. The deserter Hays stole Colonel Hore's watch, and wished to place the captives on the roof, or to make them stand in the verandah by way of checking the British fire. Finally, at Eloff's order, they were confined in an evil-smelling storehouse, where, in spite of the heavy patter of the bullets, they were tolerably safe. But they suffered much from want of water, as the -'tanks, early in the day, were perforated by the British bullets, and they were in constant fear of shells from the British guns. Eloff chatted with them from time to time, in the lulls of the fighting, expressing bitter anger against the cowards who had failed to support him. He could not have held out many minutes had it not been known to Colonel BadenPowell that he had prisoners with him, which led the British artillery to refrain from firing. Had it been otherwise, the 7-pounders and Hotchkiss would speedily have knocked the fort to bits.

As the morning went on, the Cape Police and Protectorate Regiment forced the Boers in the stad back from point to point, and at last drove them into a cattle enclosure, where they were shelled by one of the 7-pounders. A bayonet charge was made, and 25 prisoners were taken. The remnant of the Boers in this quarter was closely hemmed in, but they fought on till dusk, and tile British were too weak from want of food-most of the men had had nothing all day-and too weary with fighting to effect their capture. They were allowed to run the gauntlet of the British fire, which they did, escaping one by one. Several were killed or wounded; others . were dealt with by the Baralongs; those who finally got away were in no temper for further assaults. It still remained to deal with Eloff and his party. A Frenchman with the Boers got on the roof of the fort with a bottle of Burgundy and proceeded to drink to the toast, "Fashoda is avenged." The vengeance was not very satisfactory or long-lived, since he was speedily tumbled down by one of the British marksmen. As the fire grew hotter and hotter, bullets began to come through the walls, to perforate the windows, and to splinter the door. On all sides the party was hemmed in by a ring of fire. Night was falling and the only light was the flash of the rifles. The Boers were losing heart, and it was all that Eloff could do to persuade them to protract their resistance. They saw themselves abandoned by their friends and surrounded by their foes, without water, and with every prospect of ammunition speedily failing. A hundred or, more attempted to bolt, and probably Hays, the deserter, was among these, since he knew that there was a price of XXX50 upon his head. But when Eloff detected them slinking away he ordered his men to shoot them down. Bullets came at them from before and behind, and it is not likely that many of them escaped. Whether or no Hays was slain in this wholly appropriate manner, history does not relate. The Baralongs are thought to have accounted for a number, whose bodies were never found, and of whose fate the natives said nothing, wishing to keep the white men's rifles as their spoil.

Surrenders to Colonel Hore.
At about 8 p.m. Eloff saw that his plight was hopeless. He gave orders to cease firing, and then, calling upon Colonel Hore, promised to surrender if the Colonel would induce the rest of the British garrison to stop their persistent fusillade. For a moment the prisoners feared treachery, and, seeing their anxiety and hesitation, Eloff offered himself as a hostage. On this, Colonel Hore and his twenty-two comrades shouted to the British troops to cease fire, disarmed their late captors, and mounted guard upon them. As soon as the result was known, there came a burst of triumphant cheering, and, to relieve their long pent-up feelings, men, women, and children shouted "God Save the Queen." Mafeking had delivered itself from the enemy's hands, and had crowned its seven months' defence by inflicting a terrible blow upon the Boers.

With Eloff 67 men surrendered, making the toll of prisoners captured in that long day's fight 110. Of these 19 were wounded, and, in addition, ten dead Boers were found. The British casualties were only four killed and seven wounded. When the prisoners were marched through the town, they were treated with all the respect that brave men deserve. The natives, indeed, jeered at them, but the British preserved an honourable silence and saluted them as they passed. All night, "Rule Britannia," and "God Save the Queen," echoed round the lines, and men in their joy shook each other by the hand with the words "This is a great day for England."

ELOFF'S ATTACK ON MAFEKING: B.S.A. POLICE ESCORTING BOER PRISONERS TO THE LOCK-UP.
Some of Lord Edward Cecil's Cadet Corps boy orderlies, who played a prominent part in the siege, are seen on the right of the picture. They ranged from, nine years old to fifteen or sixteen, used donkeys and bicycles, and became quite expert in dodging shells.

Snyman's Inaction.
The attack was well and bravely made; splendidly repulsed. Had Eloff been properly supported, it is at least probable that he would have taken the town, though only at the cost of terrible sacrifice of life. The garrison, under such a leader as Baden-Powell, would have fought to the last; though the outer line of defence had been penetrated, the inner line yet remained, and could have been held by determined men. But General Snyman behaved badly, even treacherously, to his subordinate. He watched Eloff fighting for life without lending a helping hand, and by this extraordinary inaction at once ruined the Boer chances and covered himself with discredit. The best men with Eloff were not Boers, but French and German mercenaries, who expressed the utmost contempt for those whose cause they had espoused.

Relief at Hand.
The day after the assault the approach of the relief force from the south was known to all, and no one could do anything but speculate when the column would arrive. Great activity was observed in the Boer laagers, and commandos were seen moving to the west. On the 15th news came in that Plumer and Mahon had formed their junction, but that the Boers were prepared to offer determined opposition to their entry into the town. On the 16th, the flash of the guns and the roar of firing showed that they were hotly engaged. A sally to the west was made by the Protectorate 'Regiment and Bechuanaland Rifles, but evening came on before they could get into touch with the relief force, and they were ordered to retire. At 7 P.m. Major Karri Davis, with seven of the Light Horse, suddenly entered the Market Place. What followed has already been told. The town went wild with joy. But the exultation was even greater next day when the garrison and relief force paraded together, before their start out to harry General Snyman. " I did not think it was possible for human Joy to reach such a white-hot pitch," says Mr. Neilly, an eye-witness.

About 9 a.m. of the 17th the force moved out towards the chief Boer laager. The artillery, no longer the miserable short-range 7-pounders, but the Horse Artillery 12-pounders, Canadian quick firers, and " Pom-poms'' got to work to shell the hostile camp, with results that were astonishing. The Boers swarmed out like ants, and hurriedly retired. There was a wild stampede of horses and waggons over the veldt. A 5-pounder gun remained to cover the retreat, but its gunners waited too long, were charged by the British, and had to abandon their weapon. From the laager the relief force made the circuit of the enemy's lines and looted the abandoned camps, in which pots and kettles with soup still boiling served at once as seasonable refreshment to the British troops and as full evidence of the hurried nature of the Boer retreat.

Review of the Troops.
At midday the force returned to Mafeking, and passed in review before Colonel Baden-Powell. First marched the clinking and rattling Horse Artillery; then the various mounted bodies; then again the men of Barton's Brigade, who had, three months before, known such another day, when they cleared the way into Ladysmith; here, too, they were received with the wildest enthusiasm; last came Plumer's Rhodesians. "It was," says Mr. Neilly, "a sight that will ever be remembered by those who saw it-this going past-the wild joy, on the hunger-tricken faces of the recently beleagured ones, the tears that flowed unbidden from the eyes of dozens of those who spent the time in alternately cheering and choking down sobs. More than one woman and man too turned away from the crowd for a moment or two to wipe their eyes, or to go where nobody was to gather up composure. It was evident enough that the gallant 'B.-P.' himself was not unmoved. There were visible signs of the emotion that was within him as he sat on his horse and witnessed the wild outbursts of the people he had worked so well to protect. His eyes, too, were within an ace of overflowing."

Losses during the Siege.
Of the garrison, 273 were killed, wounded, or captured, in the siege-the killed numbering 69. The losses from disease were also considerable. In the hour of victory a solemn memorial service was held over the dead who had so valiantly given their lives; with bared heads the lines of soldiery stood around the graves of the heroes of Game Tree Fort, of Cannon Kopje, and countless other fights, and paid them the last honours. One by one the glorious roll of names was passed in review; three volleys were fired, and the "last post " sounded. Hearts were full, and the ceremony was not unduly protracted. But the cemetery of Mafeking, where sleep these dead, will, in years to come, be a place of pilgrimage for men of British blood.

Baden-Powell's Work and its Reward.
Thus ended the siege-the most memorable and heroic episode in the chequered story of the South African War. Assailed at first by 8,000 Boers, and then by 3,000 to 4,000, pounded by 1,498 94-pounder shells and 21,000 projectiles of smaller calibre, for seven months cut off from the world, Mafeking had held its own and kept the flag flying, with a force which at the relief did not muster a thousand rifles. For this, infinite credit is due to the soldiers who fought so finely under Colonel Baden-Powell, and to Baden-Powell himself. The insight of the British race has already recognised the greatness of his work, and it is needless to expatiate upon his achievements. He combined, with most resolute courage and determination, a reticence, a sagacity, an alertness, an insight into the enemy's plans, which are the marks of the great general. His tact and cheerfulness were not less conspicuous than his untiring energy. He had no troubles or disputes with the civil population, or with the mettlesome volunteers and irregulars whom he commanded. He was the very man for the work to be done, and without him it is doubtful if the work could or would have been done. Deservedly, he was promoted Major-General the moment news of the relief reached England.

The British nation had watched the later stages of the defence of Mafeking with singular emotion. This spectacle of a handful of men, hundreds of miles away from the outposts of our army, on the confines of the enemy's territory, holding its ground undismayed through good and evil report, confronting- starvation, and beating off the assaults of the foe, had touched all hearts. And so it was natural that when the good news of the relief came in, the Empire should explode with joy. The occasion was no ordinary one, and the very unanimity and fervour of the exultation were evidence to Britain's, enemies that the heart of our race was in the war.

THE BADEN-POWELL FAMILY
Back row, standing (left to right): Major B. F. S. Baden-Powell, 1st Battalion, Scots Guards; Miss Agnes D. S. Baden-Powell, the only sister; Mr. Frank Baden-Powell, Painter and Sculptor; Colonel R. S. S. Baden-Powell, 13th Hussars, the Hero of Mafeking. Front row, seated: The late Sir George Baden-Powell, M.P.; Mrs. Henrietta Grace Baden-Powell and one of her grand-children; Mr. Warrington Baden-Powell, Q.C., Admiralty Court.