Chapter 22

THE HALT AT BLOEMFONTEIN

On March 13th Lord Roberts occupied the capital of the Orange Free
State. On May 1st, more than six weeks later, the advance was
resumed. This long delay was absolutely necessary in order to supply
the place of the ten thousand horses and mules which are said to have
been used up in the severe work of the preceding month. It was not
merely that a large number of the cavalry chargers had died or been
abandoned, but it was that of those which remained the majority were
in a state wbich made them useless for immediate service. How far this
might have been avoided is open to question, for it is notorious that
General French's reputation as a horsemaster does not stand so high as
his fame as a cavalry leader. But besides the horses there was urgent
need of every sort of supply, from boots to hospitals, and the only
way by which they could come was by two single-line railways which
unite into one single-line railway, with the alternative of passing
over a precarious pontoon bridge at Norval's Pont, or truck by truck
over the road bridge at Bethulie. To support an army of fifty
thousand men under these circumstances, eight hundred miles from a
base, is no light matter, and a premature advance which could not be
thrust home would be the greatest of misfortunes. The public at home
and the army in Africa became restless under the inaction, but it was
one more example of the absolute soundness of Lord Roberts's judgment
and the quiet resolution with which he adheres to it. He issued a
proclamation to the inhabitants of the Free State promising protection
to all who should bring in their arms and settle down upon their
farms. The most stringent orders were issued against looting or
personal violence, but nothing could exceed the gentleness and good
humour of the troops. Indeed there seemed more need for an order which
should protect them against the extortion of their conquered enemies.
It is strange to think that we are separated by only ninety years from
the savage soldiery of Badajoz and San Sebastian.

The streets of the little Dutch town formed during this interval a
curious object-lesson in the resources of the Empire. All the
scattered Anglo-Celtic races had sent their best blood to fight for
the common cause. Peace is the great solvent, as war is the powerful
unifier. For the British as for the German Empire much virtue had come
from the stress and strain of battle. To stand in the market square of
Bloemfontein and to see the warrior types around you was to be assured
of the future of the race. The middle-sized, square-set,
weather-tanned, straw-bearded British regulars crowded the footpaths.
There also one might see the hard-faced Canadians, the loose-limbed
dashing