No Quarter!

Freeman’s Journal, 15 January 1901, page 8, 2,024 words

A Lettter from the Front.

A British Officer’s Revelations

Order of Lord Kitchener Against Taking Prisoners

The Rules as to Despoiling Boer Farms

A Boer Farmer and “The Word of the English.”

The Result in Cape Colony

We are permitted to publish the following letter, written by a British officer now serving at the front, to a friend at home. The recipient of the letter is a well-known gentleman, who has given us proof of his bona-fides, and in whom we have implicit confidence. We publish the letter exactly as it was written by the British officer, omitting one or two passages which might afford a clue to the writer’s identity, the discovery of which would be plainly fatal to him in his profession: —

“I am so oppressed with the horror of approaching massacre that I cannot refrain from writing my opinions, so that if anything should happen to me, you, at least, may know that I took no part in the dreadful tragedy.

“But before going further, I must give you an idea of the state of affairs in South Africa early in December. The Boers in the Transvaal had been tolerably quiet for some time, but De Wet had been very active in the Free State. He had attacked Dewetsdorp, and, after a short siege, captured the place, taking, besides some guns, some 400 of our troops. He had at the same time held off a large force sent to relieve the garrison, so that you may suppose there was a  considerable army under his command. It is well to bear this in mind, as the authorities, in order to justify the burning and looting of houses and the hunting of women, have tried to persuade the world that the Boer opposition consists merely of small parties of banditti, preying on the country, against whom any measures are justifiable.

“After taking Dewetsdorp he moved south, and Lord Kitchener conceived the idea of hemming him in between the Caledon and Orange Rivers. For this purpose troops were pushed down by rail from all parts of the country, till every station was blocked with soldiers and traffic became impossible.

“A cordon was formed north and south, and it was confidently anticipated that this able and wily man was at last fairly cornered. He seems, however, to have taken matters coolly enough till the sudden heavy rains impeded his movements. Then, finding that he would have been obliged to impose long marches and severe hardships on his prisoners, he killed a number of sheep for their use and released them. Meanwhile Lord Kitchener fondly believed that his enemy was trapped, and could not escape.

“I have great hesitation in writing what follows, because it will seem incredible to most people. But I think it is necessary, because I am convinced that the man who conceived so diabolical idea will take care to guard himself from the consequences, and impute the blame to others when the deed is done. Soldiers and regimental officers will be made to bear the blame, and, therefore, I consider the honour of the army is at stake, and I prefer that the obloquy should fall on the real author rather than on those among whom I have served for so many years, whose friendship I claim, and whose honour is as dear to me as my own.

“Lord Kitchener having, as he thought, caged his enemy, sent secret instructions to the troops to take no prisoners; that is, if the Boers, surrounded on all sides, find themselves unable to resist, and hoist the white flag as a token of surrender, they are to be shot down to the last man.

“Now I have seen too much bloodshed to be easily shocked, and if this intention had been openly proclaimed when the opposing parties were in similar positions, and the fortunes and terrors of war were as likely to fall on one side as on the other, though I would certainly regret the return of the English people to the barbarism of our Anglo-Saxon ancestors, I would not have considered it a matter affecting the honour of the army; but that we should enter into a struggle proclaiming loudly our adhesion to the rules of civilised war, that we should beg for quarter ourselves with somewhat humiliating frequency, and accept the generous terms that have been invariably offered, till the time came at last when our enemies, gathered together at our feet, asked for the same mercy which had been so freely accorded by themselves — that we should then ruthlessly massacre those unfortunate men is an act not only so cruel, but so mean and cowardly, that now as I write I have difficulty in convincing myself that it could ever have been contemplated by an English officer. Certainly, I believed that a year ago there were not two men in the army who would not have indignantly repudiated such a deed, and if anyone had told me otherwise, I could scarcely have restrained myself from calling him a liar.

“Even now that the order has been given I do not believe that it will be fully carried out unless under the eye of Lord Kitchener or a few of his adherents. Some massacre will probably take place, because there are a few men who will do any deed to gain the favour of superiors. But I cannot bring myself to believe that the English and Irish soldiers will commit so dastardly a crime unless they have been previously worked upon and maddened by tales of supposed atrocities. Certainly many things have happened during the last few months which I did not anticipate; but surely the majority of men will shrink from such a crime.

“But all this time I feel that you imagine I am deceiving myself, and that you remain incredulous as to the possibility of such an order having been deliberately given. Yet you know that I am not the sort of person to make a mistake of that sort, that I do not readily jump at conclusions and make accusations without a solid foundation of facts, but I will be more definite.

“I received the order personally from a General of the highest rank holding one of the first positions in South Africa, and the order was repeated twice, so that there should be no mistake.

“Not only this, but I found that all the other Senior Officers were aware of the order. What their private opinions and intentions were I do not know, but I heard no word of condemnation.

“In face of such a fact as this, it seems to be almost a waste of time to dwell on the wholesale looting of houses and the destruction of property which has been not only permitted, but authorised and commanded. But the disastrous effect they have had on prolonging the war and rousing the sympathies of the Cape Dutch may perhaps enable you to understand the present unfortunate state of affairs.

“The orders are that all cattle and sheep are to be driven off, and all corn and provisions which cannot be removed are to be burned; pigs and fowls are the portion of the soldier, and sufficient for one meal is to be left in each house. This applies not only to those who have broken the oath, but to all the inhabitants, not only to those who are fighting against us, but to those who have been living peaceably on their farms and have received passes from Lord Roberts promising protection for themselves and their property. Only yesterday an old farmer came to report to me that his stock had been taken away by the cavalry, and produced his protection pass, issued by Lord Roberts in June. I happened to know that he had not been fighting since, but could only say, ‘Lord Kitchener is now in command, and the orders came from him.’ He replied ‘that he had laid down his arms and relied upon the good faith of the English Government. He ought to have known,’ he said, ‘that there was no such thing as honour amongst the English, and though he was an old man, he would fight to the last rather than allow his children to be subject to such a people,’

“One of the peculiarities of the Boers that has struck me as very strange is the intense feeling that they are fighting more for their children than themselves. That a man has no children is often admitted as a reason for not fighting, and accepted as sufficient by the leaders. I know many such cases. The result of this plundering destruction is almost immediate. However peaceful a district may have been, the passage of a body of our troops through it is invariably followed, as far as my experience goes, by a general rising of all the inhabitants.

“ Meanwhile De Wet has, by a few skillful movements, diverted our attention. His rearguard captured 120 of Brubant’s Horse at Dane’s Nek, and, as if to teach us a lesson in clemency, released from all. Then crossing the Caledon, near Wepner, he avoided  the fate that had been prepared for him. Much as I desire the end of the war, greatly as I long to go home, I cannot help a feeling of relief at his escape. How long he will be able to escape I cannot say. Sooner or later, I suppose, he must succumb to numbers and the net will be closed around him. I can only pray to God that I may be elsewhere.

“But if such a massacre were effected, what a horrible retaliation it would entail.

“During three weeks prior to the escape of De Wet, and ending 15th of December, the following captures were made by the Boers. At Dewetsdorp: — The Glucester Regiment, the Highland Light Infantry, and the Royal Artillery 400 prisoners; at Dane’s Nek, Brabant’s Horse, 120; at Reitfontein (General Clement’s) Northumberland Fusiliers, 600-1,120. That is over 1,100 prisoners, officers and men, in that short time, without counting many smaller affairs.

“What a cry of horror would have been raised in England if all those troops were massacred in retaliation for similar butcheries on our side! What a day of weeping there would be in Scotland, and Northumberland and Gloucestershire! But they have nearly all been released by the Boers, whom Lord Kitchener was at that moment plotting to exterminate.

“Turning from one disagreeable subject to another, it is now universally admitted that the policy of house-burning and women-hunting has had very disastrous results. Instead of intimidating it has exasperated the whole population; and worse, it has roused the Dutch population of Cape Colony into a fury of passion and hate.

“There is not a shadow of doubt that if they could see the least prospect of success they would rebel en masse. If they do rise they can put 50,000 men into the field, and we shall be compelled to fight our way back to the sea. Then, indeed, the war, instead of ending, will have only just begun. It is the general opinion as I write that the Dutch will rise, and the English Colonists with whom I speak take the most gloomy fiew of the situation. I think myself that much depends on chance. If the small commandoes who have now invaded the Colony gain any notable success during the next fortnight the result will be very serious; if, on the other hand, they suffer repulse, probably they will find very little active support.

“But whatever may be the result of the war, and whether a rising takes place in the Colony or not, one thing remains certain, we are creating a bitterness of feeling among the majority of the population by our methods of making war, which it will be exceedingly difficult to allay. It requires only some striking incident, such as the massacre that Lord Kitchener has planned, to create a feeling of hatred that will never rest till the Empire has been destroyed.”