Chapter 36

THE SPRING CAMPAIGN (SEPT.-DEC. 1901)

The history of the war during the African winter of 1901 has now been
sketched, and some account given of the course of events in the
Transvaal, the Orange River Colony, and the Cape Colony. The hope of
the British tbat they might stamp out resistance before the grass
should restore mobility to the larger bodies of Boers was destined to
be disappointed. By the middle of September the veldt had turned from
drab to green, and the great drama was fated to last for one more act,
however anxious all the British and the majority of the Boers might be
to ring down the curtain. Exasperating as this senseless prolongation
of a hopeless struggle might be, there was still some consolation in
the reflection that those who drank this bitter cup to the very lees
would be less likely to thirst for it again.

September 15th was the date which brought into force the British
Proclamation announcing the banishment of those Boer leaders who
continued in arms. It must be confessed that this step may appear
harsh and unchivalrous to the impartial observer, so long as those
leaders were guilty of no practices which are foreign to the laws of
civilised warfare. The imposition of personal penalties upon the
officers of an opposing army is a step for which it is difficult to
quote a precedent, nor is it wise to officially rule your enemy
outside the pale of ordinary warfare, since it is equally open to him
to take the same step against you. The only justification for such a
course would be its complete success, as this would suggest that the
Intelligence Department were aware that the leaders desired some
strong excuse for coming in -- such an excuse as the Proclamation
would afford. The result proved that nothing of the kind was needed,
and the whole proceeding must appear to be injudicious and
high-handed. In honourable war you conquer your adversary by superior
courage, strength, or wit, but you do not terrorise him by particular
penalties aimed at individuals. The burghers of the Transvaal and of
the late Orange Free State were legitimate belligerents, and to be
treated as such -- a statement which does not, of course, extend to
the Afrikander rebels who were their allies.

The tendency of the British had been to treat their antagonists as a
broken and disorganised banditti, but with the breaking of the spring
they were sharply reminded that the burghers were still capable of a
formidable and coherent effort. The very date which put them beyond
the pale as belligerents was that which they seem to have chosen in
order to prove what active and valiant soldiers they still remained. A
quick succession of encounters occurred at various parts of the seat
of war, the general