The Relief of Mafeking
From: H. W. Wilson, With the Flag to Pretoria: A History of the Boer
War, 1899-1900, London, 1901. CHAPTER XXV.
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Top row (left to right): Major Karri Davis (Imperial Light Horse), Major Baden-Powell (Intelligence Department), Captain Robinson, R.A., Major Weil (Transport), Captain Peakman (Kimberley Corps), Prince Alexander of Teck, A.D,C., Captain Cobb, A.S.C. Second row: Captain Donaldson (Imperial Light Horse), Captain Maxwell (Kimberley Corps), Colonel King (commanding Kimberley Corps), Colonel Mahon, Colonel Edwards (Imperial Light Horse), Captain Bell-Smyth (Brigade- Major), Captain Barnes Adjutant, Imperial Light Horse). Bottom row: Captain Ker (commanding Infantry detachment), Sir John Willoughby (D.A.A.G.B.), Colonel F. Rhodes, D.S.O. (Chief of Intelligence Department), Captain Smyth (Galloper), Captain Du Plat Taylor (R.H.A.). Photo by Taylor, Mafeking. |
The Relief Force and its commander--Rapid advance of the Column--Halt at Vryburg--The younger Cronje across the line of advance--Colonel Rhodes' ingenious message--Skirmish with the enemy--Junction with Colonel Plumer's force--Artillery fight--Cronje outwitted-The relief effected.
The Relief Force and its
Commander.
As Lord Roberts' army moved out of Bloemfontein on that great march to
Pretoria, which it will be our business to record in a succeeding chapter,
a small column in the western field of war struck north from Kimberley
upon an even more arduous and incalculably more dangerous enterprise the
relief of Mafeking. Colonel Mahon, an officer of Egyptian renown, was in
command, and with him rode a force of picked men. There were 900 selected
troopers of the Imperial Light Horse-the salt and flower of South
Africa-and of the Kimberley Mounted Force, 100 infantry from the Scotch,
Welsh, Irish, and Royal (English) Fusiliers of Barton's brigade; four guns
of M Battery of Horse Artillery; two "Pom-poms"; three Maxims;
and last, but not least, 55 wagons laden with forage and supplies for the
long journey of 230 miles over the arid veldt. Though attempts had been
made to maintain complete secrecy as to the composition and movements of
the column, the Boers were, as usual, perfectly informed on every vital
point, and the younger Cronje, with a force 1,500 strong, was directed to
arrest its march. Since Colonel Mahon could not dispose of more than 1,200
men, the odds were distinctly against him, and it was only by his rapidity
of progress and his dexterous tactics that he succeeded in his perilous
mission. To support him,. General Hunter with the Tenth Division attacked
the enemy on the Vaal, near Windsorton, as the march began.
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Colonel
Plumer's Attempt to Relieve Mafeking. |
Rapid Advance of the Column.
On May 4 the column crossed the Vaal and left Barkly West, marching
through difficult country, bush-covered and abounding in kopjes, towards
the far-off village in the north. Great caution was observed, for though
the district had already been swept by a mounted column cooperating with
General Hunter's division on the Vaal, the Boers might well have returned.
The first march was only nine miles long, but on the 5th the column
advanced with great speed, covering no less than thirty-one miles. All day
the boom of Hunter's guns could be heard; his shells in that clear air
could be seen bursting on the kopjes to the right, and his balloon was
marked hovering at great height over the battle. But the Boers put in no
appearance, though the scouts reported that they were present in force at
some distance. Presumably, Hunter's attack was for the time occupying all
their attention. At nightfall, the most stringent precautions were
enforced; no lights or fires were allowed after 8 p.m., and even pipes and
cigarettes were not to be lighted in the dark. For all the men knew the
Boers might be all round the column, sheltered by the bush and rocks, and
any hour might see the beginning of a fierce attack. At 2 a.m. of the 6th
the force silently up-saddled and moved on through pitchy darkness, the
men benumbed by the icy cold of the night air. Even as the march began a
shot rang out, and for an instant it was taken for the signal of the
enemy's presence; fortunately, however, it was found to have been fired by
some careless soldier while charging his magazine.
On the 6th again the march was unmolested and uneventful, save for the capture of several Boer wagons on their way westward from Fourteen Streams. They were moving peacefully and happily through country which the burghers had occupied now for seven months without their occupation being disputed by any British force, and their owners had seemingly not been informed of the advance of Colonel Mahon; so they fell an easy prey. The noise of Hunter's guns in action now grew fainter in the right rear, and on the 7th the column was close to Taungs. All the morning its attention was centred upon a dense line of dust, which could be made out moving north-westward; this was the pillar of cloud denoting Cronje's rapid advance to cut off the column from Mafeking. Boers, too, were reported to the south and east; the column was in the midst of the enemy. But here no precautions were neglected. Colonel Mahon was a man who took no unnecessary risks, and exacted the utmost activity from his patrols. "Any little neglect in the matter of patrolling and choosing bivouac positions," writes Mr. Filson Young, a correspondent with the column, "might mean complete disaster to the column, and the frustration of its end. These little things have often been neglected in this campaign; and whenever there has been a convoy captured, it has been because someone has taken for granted that someone else was holding a drift or pass. So we move warily through a placid country that may become at any moment full of menace; travelling may at any moment be exchanged for fighting, and the roadway for the battlefield; even the green slopes that front us may hide the greatest danger, and the river bed, with its grasses and lapping waters, become a pit of death."
On this day a patrol entered Taungs, cut the telegraph wire, destroyed the instruments, and examined the messages; among these an order from Mr. Kruger was found directing a general retreat to Christiana. On the 8th the column hurried through Pudimoe, where several rebel farms were looted and burned, to Brussels Station, only fifteen miles from Vryburg. At Pudimoe the Boers had intended to take up a position astride of Colonel Mahon's route, but the celerity of the British movements prevented the accomplishment of this purpose.
Halt at Vryburg.
Next day the British rode into Vryburg, and found that a Boer outpost
there had taken to flight. The few English in the town hurried out to
greet the newcomers, who seemed to them to have started suddenly from the
earth; the long nightmare of Boer invasion had ended at last. But Colonel
Mahon could make no protracted stay; as night of the 10th fell, the
troopers with buoyant hearts and the wagons were again faring forward,
after the unusual experience of a twenty-four hours' halt. Already the
losses in horses and mules had been serious, owing to the forced marching
and the exiguity of the supply of forage; nearly 100 had been left behind
on the way. The night's journey was a weary one, as the guides mistook the
whereabouts of water, and it was not till 2 a.m. that the force
bivouacked, waterless and disconsolate. Even then only three hours' rest
was conceded; but in the morning the anxiously-looked-for water was
reached, and a long halt was called. Again, on the night of the 11th a
long march was accomplished, and on May 12 the column stood a little to
the west of Kraaipan, where, in the affair of the armoured train, the
first blood had been shed in the war. Since then what sufferings and what
sacrifices for two peoples!
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| Brigadier-General Bryan Thomas Mahon, D.S.O. |
| Belongs
to a County Galway family. He joined the 21st Hussars in 1883, and
later on the 8th Hussars; Captain, 1888; in 1896 he was transferred to
the Egyptian Army; Major, 1897; Brevet Lieut.-Colonel, 1898; Brevet
Colonel, 1900; Lieut.-Colonel (12th Lancers), 1900 served with the
Dongola Expeditionary Force under Sir H. Kitchener in 1896 as Staff
Officer, and received the D.S.O.; distinguished himself in the Atbara
and Omdurman battles, and especially in the final destruction of the
Khalifa. When war broke out he was on the borders of Abyssinia, but on
receiving a telegram from Lord Kitchener, at once hastened south. He
has been appointed to the local rank of Brigadier-General on the
Staff, South Africa, his promotion dating from May 4, 1900. Photo by Elliott & Fry. |
The Younger Cronje across the
Line of Advance.
That day the scouts reported Boers in consider able force to be east,
and during the night the enemy pushed forward to a hill on the Metsima
Spruit, which bore the familiar name of Koodoesrand, hoping thus to bar
the way. But Mahon was by no means eager for a fight. He heard that the
enemy were throwing up entrenchments with their usual lightning speed, and
decided that it would be best to leave them alone. Accordingly, he turned
westward, and marched in that direction nine miles before resuming his
northward course. Maneuver was met by counter-maneuver. The Boer scouts
stealthily watched him, crawling through the thick bush in which a
stranger without his bearings is as helpless as a ship without compass on
the trackless ocean, and, on the information which they gave, Cronje
marched swiftly north, and a second time placed himself on the British
line of advance. Already runners had come in to the British camp from the
north. One, from the brave and steadfast Colonel Plumer, announced that
that officer would effect his junction with Mahon north-west of Mafeking;
the other, from Colonel Baden - Powell, asked for information as to the
numbers, guns, and supplies of the column.
Colonel Rhodes' Ingenious
Message.
Such information was not lightly to be entrusted to any messenger;
there was no cipher of which Baden-Powell had the key; but in these
straits, Colonel Rhodes, the intelligence officer with the column,
succeeded in inventing a most ingenious reply, unintelligible to the
Boers, but clear as daylight to the British. It is thus given by Mr.
Filson Young: "Our numbers are the Naval and Military multiplied by
ten; our guns, the number of sons in the Ward family; our supplies, the
officer commanding the 9th Lancers." The key to the message was that
there were 940 men, 94, Piccadilly being the number of the Naval and
Military Club; that the guns were six, that being the number of sons in
the house of Dudley; and that the supplies were little.
Skirmish with the Enemy.
All the morning of the 13th the advance continued through the bush
veldt, "which consists," says Mr. Young, "of long, rank
grass, with thorn bushes at small intervals, and hardwood trees at greater
distances-the whole something like an English paddock or park of young
trees." The going was so heavy that the wagons straggled, and this in
spite of the fact that Boers were from time to time seen on the right
flank, and in spite of heavy clouds of dust which were made out, slowly
converging on the British route. About 3.30 p.m the "pip-pop "
of the Mauser was heard to the south-east, while the column was in the
bush; the convoy was at once ordered to close in, and M Battery was called
upon to open fire on the nearest dust cloud. The range, however, was too
great, and the guns had to wait. Then from the south-east the roar of a
heavy rifle fusillade ran with the swiftness of a forest fire along the
front. Bullets came in showers; Mr. Hands, the cheerful and capable
correspondent of the Daily Mail, was severely wounded, and in a few
minutes a dozen men were prostrate. Yet there was nothing whatever to be
seen. Of the Boers' presence there was no sign or token except the
whistling bullets and the crackling musketry.
The convoy closed up with the troopers around it. There were some narrow escapes, and many casualties. Major Baden-Powell, brother of the famous Colonel, had his watch smashed to pieces, but himself escaped without a scratch. Mahon showed imperturbable coolness with the bullets flicking up the dust at his feet; at an order from him the four horse guns and the two "Pom-Poms " changed position and opened in the direction from which seemed to come the fiercest fire. As if by magic the situation changed. A few fierce blows from the "Pom-Poms," a dozen rounds from the guns, and the Boer fire ceased as suddenly as it had begun. The enemy had had enough, and the fight was over. Yet the casualties in that half hour's skirmish were serious. Six men lay dead, twenty-four were wounded, and one was missing. The force bivouacked where it had fought, though Cronje had the effrontery to pretend that it had only escaped because it took to precipitate flight. He marched north once more, drawing in reinforcements from Snyman's commandos in front of Mafeking, and yet again took post athwart its line of advance.
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Some of the Men Who Were Besieging Mafeking. |
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The photograph, taken in the early days of the siege, shows General Cronje (afterwards captured at Paardeberg). whip in hand, standing by the breech of the 94-pounder "Long Tom" nicknamed "Creechy" (abbreviation of Marguerite), or "Creaky," which had frequent duels with the little Nordenfeldt. On his right--pipe in mouth, is Commandant Snyman--the man who deliberately fired on the women and the sick--and on his left is Captain Van der Merwe. In the foreground are some of the shells, the fragments of which, when fired into Mafeking were eagerly sought as mementos of the siege. |
Junction with Colonel Plumer's
Force.
On his part, Mahon rode swiftly north-westward all the 14th and early
15th, and as day of the 15th broke, struck the first outposts of Colonel
Plumer's force at the Kaffir kraal known as Jan Masibi's. As the column
from the south appeared on one side, that from the north marched in amid
clouds of dust from the other. There were the 350 stalwart soldiers of the
Rhodesian Regiment, who for seven weary months had been incessantly
skirmishing with the Boers, and attempting to relieve Mafeking; there were
200 Queenslanders of enormous stature; there were six quick-firing guns of
the C Canadian Battery, manned by the hardy militiamen of the far West,
fresh from a journey which is without parallel in the annals of war. In
the short space of a month they had travelled by sea from Capetown to
Beira, by rail from Beira to Marandellas, by road from Marandellas to
Buluwayo, and by rail again from Buluwayo to Ootsi, whence they had
marched, covering 70 miles or more in two days, to Jan Masibi's,
completing 3,100 miles of journeying by steamer, rail, and road, from
Capetown. Their guns were an invaluable reinforcement to Mahon, who could
now dispose of 1,500 men and 15 pieces of artillery, two of which,
however, were muzzle-loading 7-pounders of little value. No shadow of
gloom marred the meeting. Though both forces were eating their last
rations, and retreat was out of the question, the men were absolutely
determined to force their way into Mafeking or perish. It was neck or
nothing.
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Artillery in Mafeking Waiting to Co-operate with the Relief Column |
The Artillery Fight.
On the 16th the combined force struck south-westward down the Molopo,
on the last stage of its great march. And now the far-away village, with
whose story the whole world was ringing, came into sight. Over the veldt
could be seen the sheen of tin roofs and some white specks of houses. At
mid-day a halt was called, seven miles from the beleaguered town, on the
northern bank of the Molopo, while the mules were watered. The position
occupied by the British was not favourable; all around the ground rose
considerably, and here, as elsewhere, it was covered with bushes. The
artillery took post on a gently swelling eminence to the north; the convoy
halted in a saucer-like depression; the Imperial Light Horse watched the
left flank, and Colonel Plumer the right; the Kimberley Mounted Corps
guarded the rear. Soon after 1.30 several shots put the British on the
alert. As yet no thing could be seen of the enemy, and it was not certain
where they were Gradually 'their fire swelled and developed on the right
front, and the British artillery took position-horse guns on the left,
Canadian guns and "Pom-Poms" on the right, ready to open. As
they waited, the Boers got to work with three 15-pounders, a 7-pounder,
and a "Pom-Pom." Their shells dropped everywhere, but did
infinitesimal damage. With a prodigious banging the British pieces
replied, and a hot artillery duel, the roar of which dominated the
incessant crackle of the rifle fusillade, was immediately in progress. The
enemy were now showing in considerable strength in front and on both
flanks.
The British artillery preponderance, however, was overpowering. M Battery speedily cleared its front and forced back the Boers; the Canadian quick-firers, rained shells upon a donga in which the enemy were seen to be hiding, and with some trouble induced them to depart. The last stand was made by them at Israel's Farm, upon the British right front; here they checked Colonel Plumer, but when the guns of M Battery and of the Canadian Battery, as well as the "Pom-Poms," concentrated upon the farm, the fight came abruptly to, an end. It had lasted five long hours with little incident; it was an incessant "sniping" upon a prodigious scale, in which the casualties were by no means heavy. In all, sixty men on the British side were killed or wounded; the Boers suffered far more severely, as was only to be expected in view of the strength of the British artillery. Among the trophies of the victory was a wagon with 2,000 shells for the Boer "Pom-Pom."
The rapidity and energy of the British attack stood Mahon in good stead. Spades and picks were found in numbers just to the rear of the line which the Boers had held, whence it was plain that they had intended to entrench themselves. Behind earthworks, such as they were capable of constructing, with the advantage of superior numbers, their defeat would have been no easy task, especially when it is remembered that the British had not sufficient supplies or provisions to permit of any elaborate maneuvering. Even now the tenacious Cronje did not feel thoroughly beaten.
Cronje Outwitted.
There is good evidence to show that he intended calling up more men
from Snyman's commandos before Mafeking, and offering further resistance
before Mahon reached the besieged town. But he was outwitted by a
stratagem of the British leader.
Mahon had already exchanged heliograph signals with Baden-Powell. He had announced that his force would halt where it had fought, and would march into Mafeking at 4.30 a.m. of the 17th.
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Meeting
of Baden-Powell and Mahon |
The Relief Effected.
Meantime he sent Major Karri Davis with eight of the Light Horse to
reconnoitre the road. They sped straight into the besieged town without
let or hindrance, and sent him back word to the effect that the way was
open. The defenders of Mafeking had watched with sickening anxiety the
clouds of dust and flashes of guns on the horizon, all the afternoon and
evening of the 16th, and as this handful of men rode into the town they
had the first clear evidence, of a British victory. A crowd swiftly
gathered; there was tumult and cheering and singing of "God Save the
Queen," and after that again three cheers for Baden-Powell, the
steadfast, the wily, the invincible.
Nor was the rest of the column long in following in their footsteps, At 11 p.m. Colonel Mahon happened to wake-men thought there was design in this seeming accident-and gave orders for the wagons to inspan. The night was bright with a full moon, and the last stage of the march was accomplished without incident. In absolute silence the train of men and wagons passed through the Boer patrols, who were so careless and unobservant that next day they could not believe that Mahon had stolen through their lines and entered the town till they had ocular demonstration of the fact. At 4 a.m. of the 17th the first of the Mafeking outposts was encountered by the relief force, and amidst general exultation pipes were lighted and conversation opened in tones louder than a whisper. A few minutes later Colonel Baden-Powell rode up. There were no dramatic acts or words. Mahon said, simply "Glad to meet you. How are you? " And Baden-Powell replied: "Good. How are you? It's a long time since we met." Thus in true Anglo-Saxon fashion two of the heroes of the war exchanged greeting. As day broke the relief force halted and breakfasted in Mafeking.
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The
First Train into Mafeking. |
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| The
Relief of Mafeking: The Procession through the Market Square. Colonel Baden-Powell and his staff were on horseback between Dixon's Hotel and the adjoining house, which had been the Colonel's headquarters. |
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For the splendid success of this enterprise Colonel Mahon deserves the highest credit. His leadership was perfect throughout. In ten days of actual marching he covered 223 miles of arid country, though perpetually threatened by a superior enemy. He met that enemy twice in action, and oil each occasion discomfited them. So certain were the Boers that he must fall in reaching Mafeking that some of their number who were prisoners in the town told Baden-Powell that he had not a chance of success. They counted upon capturing him and his whole force. The intense anxiety which Lord Roberts and General Hunter, both admirable judges, are known to have felt for him is, perhaps, the best measure of the difficulty of his task. There was no more brilliant feat of arms in the whole campaign than this meteoric rush through the desert. But while giving all due credit to Mahon for his achievements, Colonel Plumer's energy and decision in moving so swiftly to reinforce the southern column should not be overlooked, nor the patience and caution which he displayed in the weary months when his tiny force was the only bulwark between the Boers and helpless Rhodesia, the only hope in the eyes of beleaguered Mafeking. Molten has said that it is the highest achievement of the General's art to unite two forces in the face of the enemy And before Mafeking this was accomplished with faultless precision under Lord Roberts' guiding hand by his two gallant subordinates,. Mahon and Plumer.
The result of the expedition was awaited with breathless interest all over the civilized world; its. Success was a disappointment to those of our enemies who were already clamoring for intervention.
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| Colonel
(now Major-General) Baden-Powell
in the uniform of the 13th Hussars Photo by Lafayette |
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Mafeking Day at
Piccadilly Circus
The announcement of the relief of Mafeking was made somewhat
unconventionally by an excited footman at the Mansion House at 9:35 p.m.
of May 18th. In an instant the news was all over the crowded space in
front of the building, and as if by magic scores of Union Jacks made
their appearance, whilst the crowd sang "God Save the Queen"
and cheered for Baden-Powell, Roberts and all the generals they could
think of. The scenes in the West End were equally exciting; not
even on Ladysmith-day had the sombre metropolis witnessed such
rejoicing.
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Mafeking Day at Piccadilly Circus |
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H. W. Wilson, With the Flag to Pretoria: A History of the Boer War, 1899-1900, London, 1901. Colonel Mahon's Line of March from Barkly West to Mafeking. | |
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H. W. Wilson, With the Flag to Pretoria: A History of the Boer War, 1899-1900, London, 1901. Chapter XXVI: "The Siege of Mafeking." Part One. |
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Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell (Robert Baden-Powell), Lessons from the Varsity of Life, 1933. Chapter VII: "The South African War." | |
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"This small place, which sprang in the course of a few weeks from obscurity to fame ..." opens Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's retelling of The Siege of Mafeking. Author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Conan Doyle provides an excellent contemporary account of the siege in his history, The Great Boer War: A Two-Years' Record, 1899-1901. | |
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It was at the Siege and Defense of Mafeking during the South African (Anglo-Boer) War that Baden-Powell made his name and first gained public recognition. 1999 marks the beginning of the Centennial of the War. Developed as part of that observance, Perspectives on the South African War provides a collection of links to original and contemporary sources on the South African War. | |
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The Baden-Powell Home Page. Links regarding the life and services of Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell, Defender of Mafeking, Founder of the World Scouting Movement. | |
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