DR . JAMESON’

S RAIDERS

HE JOHAN N ES BU RG EFORME

RICHARD HARD ING DAVIS

FELLOW OF THE RO% AL GEOGRAPH ICAL SOC I ET% ; AU THO R OF

“THE P R INCESS AL IN E,

” “TH REE GR I NGO S m V EN E%U ELA

AN D CENTRAL AMERICA ,

” “THE RU LE RS OF THE

MED ITER RAN EA N , % “GALLAGHER,

”

PU BLISHED B% ROBERT HOWARD RU SSELLAT THE CORNER OF ROSE AND D UANE STREETS

IN THE C IT% OF NEW %ORK

A cknowledgment is due to the edi tor of the Review ofReviews , for the use of two of the por trai ts, and map of

Sou th Africa used in th i s pamph le t .

COP%RIGHT, I S97,

B % ROB ERT HOWARD RU SS E LL .

Dr . J am e so n’

s Raide rs

found guilty of infr inging the Fore ign Enl istment act and sent to Hol loway Pr i son, Mr.

John Hays Hammond, the American engineer, who wasa most active member of the Re form Committee in JOhannesburg a t the time of the raid, was staying in London at the Savoy Hote l . I happened to hear this, andremember ing tha t Mr . Hammond had been one Of thosewho invited Jameson to enter Johannesburg, and whohad then left him to fight his way there unsupported,sa id tha t if I had to choose I would ra ther be in Holloway with Jameson than in the Savoy with Hammond .

This remark was carr ied to Mr . Hammond by a mutua l fr iend, who a sked me to keep my Opinion in abeyance until I had heard Hammond’s s ide of the story .

The same mutua l fr iend then invited me to dine withHammond and himsel f, and for the first time I was toldthe story Of the Jameson ra id in such a manner a s convinced me tha t the cha rges Of cowa rdice la id aga inst theReform Committee were unmer ited . The story, a s told tome , i s full o f interest, putting many things in a new l ight,adjusting the blame more evenly,and ,in my mind a t lea st,removing the charge of la ck of fa ith under which themembers of the Reform Committee and the people o f JOhannesburg have been resting in s ilence . That they weresi lent fo r so long is because they did not wish anythingto appea r in pr int while Dr . Jameson wa s awa iting tr ia l ,which might depr ive him of the popula r sympathy heenjoyed dur ing that per iod , and which , they hoped ,might help to lessen the sever ity Of h is sentence . Tha tsentence has now been pa ssed , without much rega rd having been shown fo r the point o f view Of the popula ce ,and Dr . Jameson ha s pa id fo r h is adventure l ike a man .

986567

0N the day that Dr . Jameson and his Offi cers were

8 . D r . Jameson ’

s Ra ide rs

As the has ha d his turn

,it seems only r ight now tha t

he shOuld '

give pla ce in the publ ic eye to those who havesuffered a s wel l a s himsel f, and through his a ction, whosep lans he spoiled and whose purposes his conduct entire lymisrepresented to the world . For these other men of

the Reform Committee have la in , owing to him , in a farworse ja i l than Holloway, and some still lie there , somehave been sentenced to death , while others have beenfined fortunes , and , more than al l e l se bes ides, they havehad to bear the Odium Of having been be l ieved , both inthe United Sta tes and in England, to have shown thewhite feather in deserting a comrade, and of fa i l ing to

keep the promises of he lp they had held out to him .

On the other hand , it is not fa ir to put the Reformersin the l ight of turning on a man when he is down ,or mak

ing a scapegoat Of Dr . Jameson . Dr. Jameson could haveclea red them from all responsibil ity fo r his act before g oing to j ail , and he did not . H e could have said then tha the entered the Transvaal not only at h is own r i sk, butaga inst the ir expressed wishes and entrea ties , and ,

though they wrote to him before he was impri soned , andpointed out to him that they were lying under a heavyburden Of blame which he could remove i f he wished, hedid not answer the ir letters .My author ity fo r what I am now re la ting does not

come only from members of the Reform Committee , butfrom fr iends of Dr . Jameson a lso ; those who rode at hiss ide when he made his a rmed inva sion of the Transvaa land those who knew him in London and who vis it himnow tha t he i s in pri son . Dr . Jameson himse lf I haveonly met once, but I have had access to the greenbook Of the South African Republ ic, and to the bluebook of the Cape Colony ; I wa s present both at the pre

l iminary proceedings aga inst Dr. Jameson and his Oificers at the B ow Street Pol ice Court , and at the forma ltria l before the Lord Chief Justice ; I have seen the cipherdispa tches of the reformers the da ily papers published atJohannesburg a t the t ime Of the ra id , and I have beentold the story aga in and aga in from every point Of view,

D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs 9

and heard it told to others by the men who were theleaders in the revolution .

The Reform Committee o f Johannesburg was organized with the Obj ect of Obta ining certa in reforms forabuses which had grown s o serious tha t the position Ofthe Uitlanders in the Transvaa l had become unbearable .

There i s an objection which is instantly ra ised wheneverthe condition of the Uitlanders i s descr ibed a s I have j uststa ted it, and it is this :

“ I f the Uitlanders did not l ikethe laws of the Transvaa l why did they not leave it andgo e lsewhere ; the world is large enough fo r everybody%Why did

-

they instead plot to upset the Government Ofthe Boers who had sheltered them, and who only a skedto be left to breed the ir ca ttle and to fa rm the ir ranchesin peace%” The answer to this very fa ir question is tha tthe laws to which the Reform Committee obj ected didnot exist when the maj or ity of its members had enteredthe Transvaa l e ight years before .

At that time the revenue Of the country wa s ba re lya ble to support it, and immigrants were warmly welcomed . The law a s it then stood wa s tha t a Uitlandercould obta in ful l rights of c itizenship a fter a residenceo f five years , and with this understanding many Amer icans and Engl ishmen bought land in the Transvaa l ,built houses , and brought the ir families to l ive in them ,

invested the ir capita l in mines and ma chinery, and gradual ly severed the t ies that had bound them to the rest ofthe wor ld . But when the gold seekers grew into a ma

jority, the Boer , who stil l reta ined h is love fo r pa stora land agr i cultura l pursu its , pa ssed a new law, which decla red tha t the Uitlander could not Obta in the franchiseuntil he had first renounced his a l legiance to any othercountry , and then , a fter a lapse o f e ight o r fifteen yearsh e could , if it plea sed the Government, become a burgher,with a right to vote ; but tha t , i f i t d id not plea se the

Government he could never hope to become a citizen ofthe Transvaa l . In other words , the Uitlander wa s a skedto give up wha t r ights he had a s a citizen of the UnitedS tates o r of Great B r ita in on the chance tha t in fifteen

1 0 D r . Jameson’

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years he might become a citizen of the country, towardthe support of which he pa id e ighteen-twentieths of therevenue , in which his children

'

had been born , and inwhich he had made his home , but in the meanwhile hewould be a man without a country and with no Government to which he could turn fo r he lp o r to which hecould look to redress a wrong . This uncerta inty of obta ining the franchise was the chief gr ievance .

There were many other gr ievances,and they are so we l l

known tha t they a re descr ibed a s the admitted g rievance s . ” When the Uitlander first came to the Transva a l, the revenue of the country wa s it is now

and , a s I have sa id, the Uitlander findse ighteen-twentieths of tha t tota l revenue , and yet i t hasbeen pra ctica l ly impossible for him to obta in even an

educa tion fo r his children in the state schools which hismoney supported . The sa le o f monopol ies by the Government to different companies made his expenses exces s ive beyond rea son , and the mismanagement of thera ilroads led to de lay in the transportation of ma chineryand of per ishable goods , which robbed legitima te bus iness of any profit . Another evil a rose from the LiquorTrust

,which gave the complete control o f a ll the l iquor

sold on the Rand into the hands of one firm, whichmanufactured a poisonous qua l ity of whisky, and sold itwithout restr iction to the natives , upon whom the mine sdepended fo r labor , and who fo r ha l f the time were incapa cita ted from a ttending to the work which they werepa id to do . Land tha t had been sold to the Uitlandersfor mining purposes wa s not regarded by the Boer Government a s the ir pr iva te property . This be ing the ca se ,the Pol ish Jews

,who handled most of the l iquor sold on

the Rand,were able to pla ce the ir canteens where they

plea sed , at the very mouth of a sha ft if they wished to doso , with the result tha t the Kafir boys were cons tantlydr inking

, and in consequence a s constantly fa l l ing intoOpen sha fts , fighting among themselves , and suffer ingfrom the most ser ious a ccidents .Edga r P . Rathbone , la te Mining Inspector of the ea st

D r . Jame son’

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and centra l distr icts of the Witwa tersrand under the BoerGovernment

,sa id in a recent interview o f this gr ievance

Every Monday morning, when the nat ives have to goto work after the ir pay day, o ne % third o f the men a re

la id off drunk . I f they a re appa rently sober enough tobe able to trave l down the ma in ladderways and to gointo the cages , a s soon a s they g et under ground the different a tmosphere utter ly unfits them fo r work . The

white miner runs a r isk under the mining regula tions inha v ing a drunken Kafir at work in the mine , and he i sforced to send such a man to the surface aga in . In myown exper ience I have frequently had to order na t ive sout of the mines because they were quite unfit to beintrusted with dri l l ing o r any other work . % ou mustalso remember tha t it is impossible to examine , o r evento distinguish , every ca se of drunkenness among somehundreds o r thousands of Kafirs , and thus men who areat lea st pa rtia l ly under the influence of dr ink a re a l lowedto go about the ir work in the mine . I have no hes itation in saying that a la rge proportion of the many fearful a cc idents which happen on the Rand a re due , directlyo r indirectly, to thi s cause .

”

Another monopoly under the protection of the Government wa s the sa le o f dynamite , which ga ve one man

exclusive r ight to manufa cture tha t most essentia l partof a miner ’s suppl ies on the condition tha t he wouldmanufa cture i t in the Transva a l . H e did not manufac

ture it in the Transvaa l , but bought a low qua l ity of dynamite in Germany, changed the wrappers in his so % ca l ledmanufa ctory, and sold the stuff at any pr ice he plea sed .

It i s sa id tha t the a ccidenta l explosions which have o c

curred in the Rand a re la rge ly due to the low qua l ity of

th is dynamite , which wa s the only brand the miners werea l lowed to us e .

The Government’s method of protecting the Netherlands Ra i lroad is a l so interesting ; the coa l depos its runpara l le l with the gold mines , but a t a distance of someten to thirty miles . This coa l could be bought at themouth of the sha ft by any one fo r 75 . 6d . , but the Nether

1 2 Dr . Jameson’

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lands Ra i lroad cha rged from 3d . to 1 5 . a ton per milefor ca rrying it over the few miles intervening betweenthe gold fie lds and the gold mines . So tha t the coa l,which or igina l ly sold for de l ivered at themines , from 153 . to 305 . The average charge fo r fre ight

per mile in the United States is one-ha l f cent per mile,in England it is three-quarters of a cent , which throwsa lur id l ight on what the earnings must have been forthe Nether lands Ra i lroad when it charged from 6 to 24

cents per mile . There was so very l ittle profit in thisfor the gold mines tha t the different companies purcha sedstrips of land, and , giving ea ch other permission to use

the land a lready owned , they mapped out a ra i lroad overwhich they proposed to carry wha t coa l they needed.

When the Boers heard of this , they pa ssed a law for

bidding them to build this ra i lroad , and later, whenthe miners a ttempted to carry the coa l in ox-carts , withtra ction engines , they were forbidden to do that a l so .

Fre ight can be sent from the Cape in a lmost a direct l ineby an English ra i lroad which stops at the border of the

Transvaa l , the rest of the haul be ing made over the sys

tem of the Netherlands Company . This point of the

border i s only forty miles from Johannesburg . Or itcan be taken in a more roundabout way from a pointmuch further ea st . I f it comes from this direction , ittrave l s 300 miles instead of forty miles .In order to make the Uitlanders use the long haul , and

so br ing%

more money into the coffers of the Government ra i lroad, the Nether lands Company a l lowed the

fre ight to congest at the point forty miles from Johannesburg, and kept it there for three o r four weeks , and sub

jected it to such de lay and to such trea tment on the wayup as they hoped would fina l ly dr ive the Uitlanders intoabandoning the use of the more direct route from the

Cape . Sooner than do this the Uitlanders organized asystem o f ox-carts , and started to carry the ir fre ight overland in tha t slow and cumbersome fa shion . To preventthe ir doing this

, the Government closed the drifts,” as

the fords of the r ivers a re ca l led, and so prevented the ir

PAUL KRUGER

PRES IDENT OF TH E SO U TH AFR IC AN R E PU BL IC

D r . Jame son’

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cross ing . It required an ultimatum from Grea t B r ita into open them aga in .

These a re a few instances of the laws and customs of aGovernment which ha s been seeking sympa thy a s a freeand enl ightened republ ic , and which compares , and notunfavorably, with the free and enlightened republics ofCentra l Amer ica .

The spiri t of discontent caused by these gr ievancesgrew slowly, and showed itse l f when it first found ex

pression in the form of perfectly constitutiona l agita tions .In May, 1894, Uitlanders petitioned the V olksraad fo r the rights of the franchise , and it i s on recordin the minutes of that legislative body that this petitionwa s rece ived with j eers and laughter . That in itsel f wasnot soothing to the petit ioners , e specia l ly a s it came fromthe representatives of those o f the inhabitants who werein the minority, fo r even at tha t t ime the Uitlanders

g reatly outnumbered the or igina l settlers of the Transvaa l . Two months later another petition , s igned thistime by inhabitants, was rece ived by the V olksraad in the same manner , one of its members , indeed, going so fa r a s to r ise and say :

“ If you want the franchise , why don

’t you fight fo r it%

His invita tion was a ccepted later, when the inhab itantsof Johannesburg, finding there wa s no he lp to be ob

ta ined through the sa cred r ight of petition , organizedthe Reform Committee and prepared themselve s to takewha t they wanted by a revolution and the use of arms .I am not pretending here to defend the revolutionists ; Ionly wish to tel l wha t led up to the Jameson ra id , and toshow tha t, no matter what the Reform Committee havedone o r wished to do a s revolutionists

,they were a t least

not fa ithless to Jameson , who became one of the ir own

pa rty, and who was one o f the ir friends .No one denies that the ir purpose was to change thelaws of the country, o r tha t they smuggled a rms intoJohannesburg to a ccomplish that purpose , if it could not ‘

be a ccompl ished by any other means . But that theyintended to upset the republ ic , I do not be l ieve any more

1 4 D r . Jame son’

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than I be l ieve tha t they intended to turn the Transvaa linto a B r itish dependency, o r to ra is e the Br itish flag ,

a s it wa s repea tedly stated a t the time they had meant todo .

One difficulty in dea l ing with the history of this revolution l ies in the fa ct tha t, while the men in it had thesame end in V iew, they were working toward tha t endwith different motives . There were a grea t many men

in our War of the Rebe l l ion who fought for the dollarsthey rece ived fo r fighting, a s they to-day fight fo r p ens ions, and there were a grea t many contractors who mademoney out of the war , but no one would a rgue from tha ttha t a ll the other men in it he l d low motives , o r tha t thecause for which they fought wa s not a gre a t one . Therei s an e lement in the a ffa ir of the Transvaa l which can

only be described a s the unknown quantity, and tha te lement is , of course , Mr . Cecil Rhodes . That he wouldha ve been benefited by a reform in the laws of the Transvaa l i s we l l understood , but so would have every one

e l se who wa s interested in the mines there , and who wa shampered by the restr ictions , taxes and monopolies ,which added a burden of expense to e very ton of o re tha t

‘wa s taken out of the ground . Cecil Rhodes , a s one

of those large ly interested, wa s proportionate ly interestedin see ing labor made cheaper, transportat ion made ea s ier,and those men in office who were interested in the mines ,instead of the Boers

,who were not . As a ma tter of fa ct ,

Mr . Cec i l Rhodes’ interest in the Consol ida ted GoldFie lds wa s but one-fifteenth of its profits , so it wa s notmoney , but the deve lopment of his cher i shed plan fo ra combination of a ll of the South Afr i can Republics tha tmoved h im . Wha t he hoped from the revolution wecan imagine ; tha t he would have looked a t a change of

government in the Transvaa l a s another step towa rd theunifica tion of a ll the republics in South Afr ica i s mostprobable , and he knew tha t to such a un ion the Boerso f themselves would never consent . But tha t the wholerevolution was a plot to se ize the Transvaa l fo r the sakeof its gold mines and for the aggrandizement of Grea t

D r . Jame son’

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B rita in, and tha t the men of the Reform Committee whor isked the ir l i ves in the cause of revolution were the

puppets of Rhodes , moving a t his bidding, i s absurd .

There were other big men in the revolution bes idesCecil Rhodes , and it was perfectly we l l agreed amongthese men tha t no flag but tha t of the Transvaa l Republic wa s to be ra ised when the revolution began, and whate ver the Engl ishmen may ha ve wished, the Germans ,Afr ikanders and those of the Boers who were in sym

pa thv with the revolut ion , and the Ameri cans , which latter composed one-s ixth of the Reform Committee ,formed a ma j or ity which certa inly had no intention ofturning the country over to the %ueen , and , a s a ma tterof h istory

, the Transvaa l flag floa ted over the GoldFie lds building, which wa s the headqua rters of the

revolutionists,from the first to the la st . Persona l ly, I

am convinced , a fter having ta lked with the men whowere a t the head of th is revolution , tha t the greater pa rto f them a s honestly be l ieved tha t they were a cting forthe best good of the country in trying to overthrow the

Boer Government, a s did the revolutionists of 1 776 inour own country, o r a s do the ‘

rebel s in Cuba at the

present day .

S ix weeks before the Jameson ra id the Reform Committee had mapped out the ir plan of a ction . Thev had

spent in provisions,which they ex

pected would outla st a two months’ s iege ; they had a r

ranged tha t the wa ter supply of Johannesburg could notbe cut o ff from the outside , and they had ordered r iflesand Maxim guns and were smuggling them a cross theborder . This wa s the most difficult part o f the ir work ,fo r guns a re a s str ictly prohib ited to Uitlanders inJohannesburg a s a re publ ic meet ings

, and every one whoowned a r ifle wa s a marked man in consequence . It i swel l to remember th is , for it i s not as though Johannesburg in that respect resembled some of our own miningtowns , where weapons are sometime s a s plentifu l a s pickaxes and where a ca l l to a rms woul d mere ly mean thereading of the payrolls a t the sha fts of the different mines .

1 6 D r . Jameson’

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I t wa s while these guns for defense were s lowly com

ing in tha t Dr . Jameson , the administra tor of the Chartered Company’s affa irs , wa s told of the movement of therevolutionists , and a sked by them if he would, in ca sethey needed his a ssi stance , come a cross the border to theaid of his fe l low-countrymen , br inging with him hismounted pol ice and extra guns, which they wouldsend him to Ma feking . The gentlemen of the ReformCommittee were Dr . Jameson’s persona l fr iends , theyhad trekked with him all over the surrounding country,hunting, prospecting and explor ing, they knew he wa s aman ready fo r adventure , and tha t in the easy sp ir it ofthe unsettled country about them it would not be difficultfo r him to ga ther a round him a body of men ready tofollow wherever he led .

Jameson gave his consent readily, and agreed to theconditions under which he was to enter the Transvaal .These conditions were exceedingly important and ex

ceeding ly explicit ; he was to move only when the Reformers gave the s igna l for him to do so , and they, as thechie f movers in the p lot and the men having most atstake , were to be al lowed to j udge exa ctly when tha t t imehad come , or i f he should come at all ; tha t when he camehe must br ing men with him, and the extraguns on which they counted . This he promised to do ,

and a sked in return tha t they should wr ite him a letterinviting him to cross the border, which he could showlater as his justification fo r his a ction .

The s ituation a t this time wa s stretched geographica l lyin the form of a tr iangle , with three bases o f a ction , al lworking to the same end . The members of the ReformCommittee , who were preparing to demand certa in t e

forms and concessions , and ready, i f they failed to g etthem peaceably, to fight for them , were at Johannesburg ;Dr . Jameson , with his filibusters who were to ru sh in,but only when they were wanted and i f they were wanted,was at Pitsanti, in Matabele Land, and Ceci l Rhodes , theunknown quantity, wa s at the Cape, a iding and advisingthem a ll .

D r . Jam eson’

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The letter to Jameson was signed by five men , and

the date wa s purpose ly omitted , so tha t Jameson couldwrite it in later. These five men were Cha rles Leonard,a Br itish subj ect born in Cape Colony, educa ted at Cambr idge

, and a prominent lawyer o f Johannesburg, wherehe had a pra ctice which amounted to a year ;Co l . Francis Rhodes , a brother of Cecil Rhodes , and an

officer in the Engl ish army who ha s seen service inIndia and in the Soudan ; John Hays Hammond, who, asa mining expert , now commands a sa lary j ust twice a s

la rge a s that of the President of the United States ; Lione lPhil l ips

,the largest individua l property owner in the

Transvaa l , and George Farrar, an importing merchant .These men , who, with the exception of Leonard , whoescaped to England , were a fterward tried by the Government and sentenced to be hanged, were proper ly descr ibed by Jameson a s leading citizens o f Johannesburg,

”a s they would have been leading citizens in any

community in which they chanced to l ive .

The contents o f the ir letter to Jameson a re wel l known .

As a l iterary e ffort intended to plead a certa in cause , itdoes not strike one a s a very successful performance , a si t does not sound sincere ; it shows on its fa ce tha t it waswr itten fo r publ ica tion , and it ha s none o f the s impl icitywhich a s a factor in the conversation of the men whosigned it is the ir most convincing argument . It descr ibedthe cr itica l state of affa irs in Johannesburg, and a skedJameson , should a disturbance a r ise ,

” to come to the aidof tha t city, and expressed fea rs a s to the sa fety of the“una rmed men

, women and children of our ra ce who werethere , in the event of a confl ict . It was of this l ine tha tJameson made use when he told his men they were g oing to protect “women and children

,

”and which the

poet laureate embodied in his absurd verses when hewrote

There a re g ir l s i n the go ld reef c i tyAnd mothers and ch i ldren , too ,

And the y cry Hurry up , fo r p i ty . ’

S o wha t cou ld a bra ve man do

1 8 D r . Jameson’

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A s this letter wa s handed to Jameson by the s ignerssix weeks before he made his ra id, the idea of the gir l sof the gold reef c ity crying Hurry up , for pity%

” dur ingtha t length o f time and his not heeding them, has itshumorous s ide .

During the s ix weeks which intervened between thedel ivery of this letter and the ra id, the Reform Committee continued a ctive ly in its preparation fo r the defenseo f the city . Its plan wa s to declare itse l f on Jan . 6, 1896.

By tha t time it hoped to have rifles ,a sufficient number of Maxim guns , and cartr idges h iddenaway within the l imits of Johannesburg and in the sur

rounding mines ; it a lso counted, with reason , on havingcontrol of the forts which covered the city, and whichwere -at tha t time guarded by a few Boer soldiers , whocould have been dr iven out by a ssault . The committeere l ied confidently on the immediate services of at least

of the inhabitants of Johannesburg and on the

he lp ofmany who would join them when they saw that itwa s sa fe to do so . With these men ful ly armed, withthe town provis ioned for a two-months’ s iege , they fe ltthey would be in a position by Jan . 6 to send the ir ultima tum to the Government a t Pretoria . The conditions

fo i thi s ultimatum were to be tha t unless the Boers gavef

,

them the reforms fo r which they had petitioned withoutsuccess they would , at the end of three days , s et up a

a provisiona l Government and defend Johannesburgaga inst a ll comers .

. It wa s then , a t this point , when the minds of ha l f thepeople in the country would be wavering a s to whetherit wa s better to join the reformers o r to uphold the o ld

r%gime , tha t Dr . Jameson wa s to have come in with h is1 ,500 pol ice , l ike a flying wedge and bring the wavering ones , both Uitlanders and Boers , from ranches,fa rms and vil lages , and del iver this tr iumphant additionto his own we l l-organized force into the hands of the provisiona l Government at Johannesburg . Tha t i s wha twa s to have happened . What did happen was thisOn Dec . 25 one of the Reform Committee wa s sent

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

D r . Jameson’

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in grea t ha ste to the Cape to a rrange some fina l deta i l sand to hurry up the arms , which were slow in coming,a nd without which the revolution wa s a s formidable ina ppea rance , but a s absolute ly impotent in fact, as an

empty dynamite can . When a t the Cape this memberdiscovered a hitch in the ir plans , and so informed theReform Committee , and this caused Samue l Jamesona t Johannesburg to send the fol lowing te legram to hisbrother a t Ma feking

“ It i s absolute ly necessary to postpone flotationthrough unforeseen circumstances here a ltogether unex

p ected . % ou must no t move unti l you havereceived instructions to .

”

This wa s on Dec . 26, j ust three days before the ra id .

On Dec . 27 two telegrams were rece ived in Johannesburg by Jameson ’s brother to the fol lowing effect :

P ITSAN I , Dec . 27 .

j ameson to j ameson

Dr . Wolff wi l l unders tand tha t d is ta nt cutt i ng . Br i t ish Bechuana land pol i ce have a lready gone forwa rd . Guara n tee a l readyg i ven therefore let J . H . Hammond te legraph Instant l y a l l r ight .

And Dec . 27

j ameson to j amesonDr . Jameson says he cannot g i ve tens i on of refusa l for flotat i on for December a s Tran sva a l B og: Oppos i t i on .

These te legrams were the first intimation the ReformCommittee rece ived that Dr . Jameson had some idea of

taking the bit between his teeth , of dragging the re insout of the ir hands, and bolting . Such a contingency hadnot occurred to them . They knew he was perfectly wel la cqua inted with the ir he lpless condition ; they knew thathe had been stri ctly enjoined not to appear on the sceneuntil Hammond gave him the signa l . And at once , inthe greatest possible a larm at the possible fa i lure of the irlong-ma tured plans , they sent two messengers post ha steto warn him not to move from where he was . Ma j orHeany, an Amer ican, a gradua te of We st Point, and a

*N0'

r E .-This refers to the cutt ing of the te l egra ph wires to

Kimber l y .

20 D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

soldier who ha s seen service in the Portuguese and Kafir

wars, wa s dispa tched by Hammond on a specia l tra in,and Edwa rd Holden was sent to Ma feking on horseback .

50 we l l did Holden understand the necessity of rea chingJameson in time to head him o ff tha t he made the 1 50

miles between between Johannesburg and Ma feking inseventeen hours , changing his saddle to five differenthorses . H e a rr ived outside the Jameson headquartersat 4 o

’clock on Sa turday morning, the 28th of December, where he was met by his fr iend, Lieut . Grenfe l l of theGuards, who conducted him to Jameson, to whom he

de l ivered Hammond’s message . Heany and his specia ltra in a rr ived la ter on the 28th, and he handed Jamesonhis message . On the day previous the fol lowing te legram had arr ived from Hammond : Wire j ust re

ceived . Experts report decidedly adverse . I absolute lycondemn further deve lopments at present . ”

This wa s on Sa turday morning, so before Jamesonleft Pitsani , and long before he had crossed the borderof the Transvaa l , and long before he had been orderedback by a Commissioner of the Transvaa l Republ ic, and ,later, by the representa t ive of the High Commissioner forGrea t Br ita in, he had rece ived two specia l messages fromhis fr iends, te l l ing him he wa s not wanted, and a te legram from a man who was to give him the signa l to start,

to stay where he waIn spite o f this, on Sunday, 29, Dr. Jameson

sta rted on his r ide to Johannesburg against the wishes ofCecil Rhodes and aga inst the entreaties of the ReformCommittee , and instead of br inging with him the

men and the extra r ifles agreed upon, he camewith only 500 men and carr ied no extra arms .The story, up to this point, ha s had to dea l almost en

tirely with the reformers of Johannesburg and the irplans ; but we must leave them now and take up the ta leof Dr . Jameson and his r ide , and , if it i s to be told intellig ently, it should a l so re la te what was done by therepresentat ives of Great B r ita in at home and in SouthAfri ca , and by President Kruger to stop that r ide while

D r . Jameson’

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it wa s going forwa rd . The Reform Committee did not

cea se from acting at this time , but a s it wa s Dr . Jamesonwho dominated the ir actions , and a s it wa s he who set

Great B rita in, Germany and South Afr i ca by the ea rs ,and caused the cables to burn fo r five days from CapeTown to London and from Berl in to S an Francisco, i ti s proper tha t he should now take the centre of the stage,and tha t his story should be told with a ll the deta i l whichso important a foot note to history deserves . The detail sthemselves , scanty as they are , have been col lected withsome difficulty, and have been ver ified for me by thosewho rode at Jameson’s s ide .

On the afternoon of Sunday, Dec . 29, 1895, the men of

the Cha rtered Company ’s pol ice , in camp , at PitsaniPo tlugo , were col lected by trumpet ca l l on the paradeground and formed into a square . Dr . Jameson , theadministra tor o f the company, then read to them the

women and children letter, and informed them tha tthey were going into the Transvaal to the a id of the irfe l low countrvmen , and a ssured them tha t they wouldbe j o ined on the way,

not only by the Cape MountedR ifles, but tha t they would be met at Krugersdorp by

of the Uitlanders , who would e scort them intoJohannesburg . It wa s then about 7 o

’clock in the evening, and the force a t once started

, and a fter r iding a ll

night , a rr ived at Ma lman , on the other side of the border,at 6 o ’clock in the morning, where it wa s met by twotroops o f the Bechuana land Pol ice . This force , underCol . Ra le igh Grey, had left Ma feking at 10 o ’clock theevening before, and had crossed the border before midnight . The combined forces , a s they a ssembled at Ma l

mani , and a s they s et out together from that point werecomposed approximately a s follows :

F our troop s (A B C D%Ma tabe le Mounted Pol ice , 380 officersand men .

Two troops (G and K%Be chuana la nd Borde r Po l ice, 120 Officersand men .

Ca pe Boys and Kafirs who drove Ca pe ca rts a nd ambu la nces , 70 .

One 12%-pounder fie l d p iece ; two 7-pounder fie l d p ieces ; 8Ma x im guns ; Cape ca rts and ambul a nces .

22 D r . Jameson’

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Among the officers we reDr . Lea nder S ta rr Jameson , a dmin is tra tor of th e CharteredCompa ny’

s Te rr i tory .

Ma j or S ir John Chr i s topher Wi l loughby, mi l i ta ry comma nder.Co l . Ra l e igh Grey, i n command of the Bechua na la nd Po l i ce .

Colone l , th e H on . H enry Whi te .

Ma j or , th e Hon . Robert Whi te .

Ma j or, the Hon . C . J . Coventry .

Ma j or T. B . S tra cey .

H owa rd M . Grenfe l l , L ieutenan t F irs t L ife Gua rds .

Ca pta i n Ma ur i ce H eaney, la te U n i ted S ta te s Army , Roya l H orseArt i l l ery .

Ca pta i n H enry Ho lden .

Cha r le s H . V i l l iers , Cap ta i n , Roya l Hors e Gua rds .

I nsp e ctor W . H . Ba rry .

Capta i n C . L . D . Munroe .

K . Kinca i d Smi th , L ieutena n t Roya l Art i l lery .

A . V , Gos l i ng , Ca pta i n Ma lab e le Moun ted Po l i ce .

Wi l l iam Bod le , Chief I nspe ctor of Pol i ce .

Capta i n H arold Fo le y , S cott’

s Gua rds .

Lawson B . Dykes , I nspector of Pol i ce .

J . H . Kennedy, Ca p ta i n Ma tabe le Mounted Po l i ce .

E . C . F . Ga rrawa y, S urgeon-Ca pta i n Bechuana land Borde rPol ice .

Les son Hami l ton, S urgeon-Ca pta i n .

The personne l of this force wa s strange ly var ied, itsofficers he l d commissions in the most distinguished regiments of H er Ma j esty ’s serv ice , and were members of theoldest and most important familie s in England . Manyof them were closely re la ted to people of title, and someha d titles of the ir own , even among the troopers therewere “gentleman rankers ;

” sons of genera l s and of mem

bers of the House of Peers . With them in the ranks werecommon adventurers and filibusters ; men who, fo r rea

sons of the ir own, had sought a change of fortune in theunsettled country north of the Cape , and boys from the

counties of England, sons o f fie ld laborers and fa rmerswho had a lrea dy seen a l ittle help yourse l f ” fightingin the Kafir and Ma tabe le wa rs , and with them wereveterans of the B r itish Army, who had fought in rea lwars and who had a lready served under Jameson aga instLobengula in Ma shona land .

The column left Ma lmani with a scouting party r iding

D r . Jameson’

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we l l in advance , fol lowed by four troops protected infront and on the flanks by the Maxims , which were car

r ied in Cape ca rts % two-whee led wagons with hoodedtops . The prov is ions and ammunition in carts , and theambu lances came next , and a guard of the rema iningtwo troops brought up the rea r . I have read e ighteenpages of close ly pr inted instructions , deta i l ing the orderin which this column wa s to move , and setting forth theexa ct distance in feet at which the flanking pa rties wereto r ide from the ma in column when the advance was unimpeded , and how much closer they were to draw whenthe column wa s a tta cked , but what wa s planned on paperwa s not ca rr ied out on the veldt, and in spite of, o r, perhaps , on a ccount of, the abundance o f offi cers , the r idewas made from a military point o f view in a strange lyama teur i sh fa shion , which fi l l s e ven the civ i l ian mindwith wonder . Ha lts , fo r instance , were made at placeswhere there wa s no wa ter and where high hill s sur

rounded the force on every s ide , and afforded the enemyabsolute protection , and places where there wa s wa terand fodder la id out in readiness for the horses , in l ines,as it is in cava lry ba rracks , were pa ssed at a g a l

lop . In spite o f these blunders in commissar ia t and thechoice of ha lting pla ces , the speed o f the a dvancingcolumn was we l l susta ined , especia l ly when one remembers tha t the field pieces and slow-moving ammunitioncarts s et the pa ce . By adding up the hours and ha l fhours given the men to rest , and the t ime consumedby enforced pauses when the column wa s under fire , o r

when the way was lost and the guides were seekingthe road , it would appear tha t the column wa s on themove at lea st e ighteen hours out of the twenty-four,which would make its progress average a l ittle over twomiles an hour

, o r thirty-e ight miles a day . This showing , while it i s very good , would be much more creditable to the officers in command if the men and the irhorses had a rr ived at the end of the ir j ourney in goodcondition

,which they most certa inly did not .

The column made only a short ha lt at Ma lmani, and

24 Dr, Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

pushed on fo r a few hours until 8 o’clock, when therewas a ha l t of two hours and breakfa st, and a fter tha t ashort r ide to Otto rshoop , a l ittle town of corrugatedzinc houses of one street . The rattl ing of ma chine gunsand the tramping of hoo fs brought the nat ives to the irdoors and windows , but with the exception of a constable , who rode off to warn the Commandant ofMar ico,into whose distr ict they were now advancing, no one

showed any a larm o r interest a t the inva sion , but re

garded them with the same ca lm cur ios ity they wouldhave given to a performing bear o r an it inerant musician . It wa s while they were pa ssing through Ottorshoop that a young Englishman approa ched different o ificers in command: a sk ing numerous questions as to therea son of the ir presence in the Transvaa l , and concerning the ir future plans . H e ca l led himse l f Capta in ”

Thatcher , and sa id he had served in the Guides,

”who

ever they are, and volunteered for the expedition . Hisservices were accepted by C01. Willoughby, who usedhim a s a messenger . One of the younger officers towhom he had addressed some anxious questions toldh im to mind his own business, ca l led him a spy and ad

vised tying him up to a gun whee l until they rea chedJohannesburg . As it turned out this would have beenan excel lent precaution , a s the y outh ran away a s soona s the force surrendered , and made his escape to London,where he posed a s a hero , and by a ssuming to speak withauthority, did the expedition a s much harm with his s illyspeeches and bomba stic newspaper a rt icles as did the

Boers with the ir r ifles .At Otto rshoop the te legraph wires leading to %eerust

and from there on to Pra etoria were cut , thus shuttingo ff the Boers fo r a t ime from anv means o f communicat ion with the towns the column left in its wake . The

wires running south to Kimber ly and those to Johannesburg had a lready been cut severa l days before by B echuana land pol ice , who had crossed the border in pla inclothes fo r that purpose . From Ottershoop the columnmoved a long the southern slope o f the Witwatersrand on.

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D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

pres idents and pr ime ministers , and high commissionersand colonia l secretar ies , and in the wording of ea ch , noma tter from whom it came , you will find but one obj ect,sometimes hidden and underlying the expressed meaning and somet imes roundly and openly s et forth , and

tha t one obj ect is to show the wr iter ’s absolute repudiation of Dr . Jameson and of a ll his works .It wa s most essentia l tha t they should make this clea r .

v/ It wa s most important tha t the South Afr ican Republic,whose terr itory had been invaded, and a ll the rest of thewor ld, should know tha t the grea t Br itish Empire wa snot waging war upon that l ittle sta te

,and it wa s e ven

more important to severa l individua l s who were intima te ly a ssocia ted with Dr . Jameson in other ma tters ,tha t e very one should understand tha t in this p iece of

lawlessness he played his hand a lone,and without the ir

sympa thy o r knowledge . But a fter one has rea d cablegram a fter cablegram , and message a fter message , andfound nothing but shr ieks of terror lest some one shouldsuppose tha t the wr iter was in any way responsible forDr . Jameson ’s conduct

,the thing assumes an a lmost

ludicrous a spect, and ha s a touch of the pa thetic . Dr .

Jameson wa s certa inly an outlaw, and de served no moresympa thy than a common sa fe robber, but one does notexpect the safe robber ’s pa l s to be the one s to throw the

first stone . H e did an exceedingly outrageous thing,and the consequences o f his cr ime were far rea chingand many . A s the United States Amba ssador to Romesa id

,in reply to an English diploma t , who a sked him of

what Jameson wa s guilty, and on what grounds he couldbe tr ied : We l l , you might begin with murder .

” All'

thi s can truly be la id to his discredit, but there i s something to me va stly amusing in the s ight of these manygrea t d ignita r ies , pr ime ministers , high commissioners ,pres idents , dukes and Cabinet ministers standing hudd led together , ga ther ing the ir skirts a round them and

crying : “Plea se , I didn’t do it ; it wa sn

’t me , and pointing frantica l ly at this l ittle band of mounted men fight

ing the ir way a cross the pra ir ie . It reminds one of a

D r . Jame son’

s Ra ide rs 27

room fu l l of women standing on cha irs and shrieking at

a hunted , ha ra s sed and fr ightened mous e .

S ir Hercules Robinson , the High Commissioner of

South Afr ica , wa s the first to put himsel f on record . H e

repudia ted Dr . Jameson so quickly tha t h is repudia tionreached the gentleman before he wa s we l l on his way .

Then the grea t B ritish Empire , whose %ueen ha d madeJameson a Commander of the Bath , fi led its repudia tionwith resounding emphas is , and ca st h im o ff fore ver ;then the B r itish South Africa Company, Cha rtered , fo rwhich he had won Ma shona land , and who had made h imits administrator , repudia ted him and dismissed h im fromoflice . B ut a l l th is , e ven had Jameson known of it, wouldnot ha ve conv inced him grea tly at the time , fo r he wa s ingreat diffi culties , with retrea t cut off and the way blockedbefore him ,

but it would certa inly ha ve added to the b itternes s of hi s fa i lure had he known tha t the Pr ime Minister of the Cape Colony had fi led his repudiation , too .

When the conspira tors were stabbing at Ca esar in theSena te Chamber

,the blow tha t cut the deepest came

la st , and it came , a s we a ll remember, from his fr iend .

Jameson , as one of his message s shows , wa s prepa redto be ca l led a “pira te ; he knew that success wa s the onlything tha t could excuse his a ct, and tha t high officia l smust fo r the ir own protection turn aga inst h im , and yet

he wa s the only one conce rned who was in persona ldanger ; he wa s the on lv one who wa s taking his l ife inh is hands , and the figure he makes , r iding through thestorm o fWednesday night , with the darkness l i t only bythe fla shes o f the Boer ’s r ifles , and reading in the irl ight nothing but fa i lure and disgrace on the morrow , i sto me more attra ctive than the figure cut by these gentlemen seated comfortably a t the Cape and in London boa rdrooms denying him to reporters and wa shing the ir handsof the ir former fr iend . H e certa inly did upset the plansof Mr . Cecil Rhodes . and his conduct not unnatura l lytried tha t gentleman ’s pat ience , but nev erthe less it wa s .

not we l l of Mr . Rhode s to double on hi s tra cks and j oin'

in the hue and cry a fter his old fr iend , and to shout,

28 D r . Jameson’

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There he goes% Stop thief%” even louder than the rest .The exciting te legrams began tenta tive ly with a cau

tious ly worded one from the Colonia l Secretary, Mr .

Joseph Chamber la in , in London , to S ir Hercules Robinson , the High Commissioner of Grea t Brita in in SouthAfr ica , at the Cape . It was sent at o’clock on Dec .

29, 1895, the same evening on which Jameson started .

To S ir Hercules Robinson

(S tr i c t l y confident ia l .% I t ha s been s ugges ted, a l though I do notth i nk i t p robab le, tha t an endea vor might b e ma de to force ma t

ters a t Joha nnesburg t o a hea d by s ome one i n the s erv ice of the

compa ny a dva nc ing from Bechua na la nd Protectora te wi th po l i ce .

We re th is to be done, I shou ld ha ve to take act ion under a rt i c les22 a nd 28 of the cha rte r.

* Therefore , if neces sa ry, but not otherwise, remind Rhodes Of the se a rt i c les , and i n t ima te to h im tha ti n your op in ion h e wou ld not ha ve my s upport, a nd point out thecon s equences which would fol l ow. JOS EPH CHAMB ERLAIN .

To which the unsuspecting Hercules Robinson, who ,

although at the Cape , knows less about wha t i s goingforward there than does Chamberlain in London, makesthe following rea ssur ing reply, the humor of which l iesin the fa ct tha t it was rece ived on the evening ofDec . 30,

when Jameson had not only started, but was al readymany miles across the border .

To J V”. j oseph Chamber la inI lea rn on good a uthor i t y movemen t a t Johannesburg ha s co l

la p s ed ; i n terna l d iv i s i ons ha ve led to the comp lete co l lapse of the

moveme nt, a nd leaders of the N a t i ona l U ni on w i l l now p robab lymake th e be s t terms they can wi th Pres ident Kruger .

Throughout the whole disturbance S ir Hercules Robinson behaved in a manner quite a s absurd a s his name,which name the English Government a l lowed h im laterto change fo r a t itle , probably because it was such an

absurd name . It i s difficult to discover any other reasonfor e levating him to the peerage . S ir Ja cobus De Wet,

H er Ma j esty ’s agent at Pra etor ia , was another gentleman whose conduct toward the Reform Committee wasas o dd a s his name . If Grea t Brita in had many such repres entatives , her boundar ies would soon inclose a country a s large a s Switzer land .

The cha r ter of the S outh Afri ca n Company .

D r . am eson’

s Ra ide rs 29

Mr . Chamberla in , who seems ha ve been very correctlyinformed , wa s not entire ly rea ssured by Robinson ’s answer to his first cablegram, a s his second message shows .H e wiresTo S ir Hercu les

“Robinson :

You r te l egram rece i ved . A re you sure Jameson h a s not movedi n consequence of co l la p se S ee my cabl egram of ye s terda y .

JOS E PH CHAMB E RLAIN .

In reply to thi s S ir Hercules , who has at last awakened to wha t is going on about him

,sends the following

To M r . j oseph Chamber la inI nforma t i on rea ched me th is morn ing tha t Dr . Jameson was p repar i ng to s ta rt yes terda y even ing fo r Joha nnesburg with a force of

pol ice . I te legra phed a t once a s fo l lows to the res iden t Commis s i one r i n the Bechuana la nd Protectora te : ‘There is a rumorhere tha t Dr. Jam eson h a s en tered the Trans va a l wi th a n a rmedforce . Is th i s correct If i t is , s end a s pe cia l mes senger on a fa s thorse direct ing him to re turn a t once . A copy of th i s te legramshould b e s en t to the office rs wi th h im and they shou ld b e tol dtha t Her Ma jes ty ’

s Government repud ia tes th i s v io la t ion of the

terr i tory of a fr iend ly s ta te , and tha t they a re renderi ng thems e l vesl iab le to severe p ena l t ie s .

’

If I hea r from N ewton tha t thepol i ce have entered the Tra nsva a l , sha l l I i nform Pres iden t K rugertha t H er Ma j es ty ’

s Government repudia te s Jameson ’

s a ct i onAn hour a fter this was forwa rded to Chamber la in , ate legram wa s rece ived by Robinson from S ir Ja cobusDe Wet, the B r itish agent at Praetor ia , the capita l ofthe Dutch Republ ic .To S ir Hercul es Robinson

Thirt ie th Decembe r, very urgen t . Pres ident S outh Afr i can Repub l ican Repub l i c s ent for me a nd th e Gen era l (Gene ra l Joube rt%%then read to us te legram from Land ros t of %ee rus t tha t a numbe rof Br i t ish t r00ps ha ve entered Tran sva a l Republ i c from M afek ingand cu t the wi re , and a re now on the ma rch to Johann esbu rg . I a ssured Pres ident tha t I cou ld not be l ieve the force cons i s ted of

B r i t ish troop s . Th e Gene ra l then sa i d they may b e M a shonaland or Bechuana land pol i ce , but h e b e l ieve s th e i nforma t i ontha t a force had en tered the S ta te , and he sa i d he wou ld take immedia te s tep s to s top the i r progres s . H is Honor reques ted me to

a sk your Exce l lency whe the r th i s force is compos ed of Br i t ishtroops or po l i ce unde r your Exce l lency ’

s contro l , o r whe ther youha ve any i nforma t i on Of the movementThis la st telegram from Pra etor ia wa s followed a lmostimmediately by another ver ifying the firs t, and which is

30 D r . Jameson’

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gi ven here a s part of one tha t Robinson sends to Chamberla in :

To Mr . Chamber la in

F o l l owi ng furthe r m e s s age j us t re ce i ved from Br i t ish agen t,S outh Afr i ca n Re p ub l i c .Beg i n s Thirt ie th D ecembe r, mos t urgent . Comma nder genera l

h a s re ce i ved pos i t i ve i nfo rma t i on tha t about e ight hundred Ma shona l a nd troops a re c los e to Rus tenb e rg ,

we l l a rmed wi th S ix

Ma x ims a nd four othe r ca nnons , on march to Johanne sburg, fly ingthe Eng l ish flag . H is Honor de s i res me to say tha t a n a rmedforce of Br i t i sh subj ects ente r i ng Tra nsva a l Repub l i c by force , is

a s er i ous brea ch Of London convent i on , but h e is much surp r is edtha t H er Ma j es ty’

s governmen t shou ld a l l ow s uch s er i ous movem en ts to go unche cked , a nd he s t i l l hopes your Exce l l ency wi l ltake immedia te s tep s to s top th is force from p roceeding a ny

furthe r, a s H is Honor ca nnot a l l ow such encroa chment on h is

lega l r ights wi th impun i ty, and mos t ser i ous consequences wi l l fo llow,

for which his government ca nnot b e he l d respons ib le . Awa i ti ng immed ia te i ns truct i ons . Ends .

I ha ve i n s tructed Br i t i sh agent to s end at once a thorough lytrus tworthy mounted e xp res s wi th fo l lowi ng mes sa ge from me toD r . Jame son , t o mee t h im on th e roa dBeg i n s : H er Ma j es ty ’

s govermen t ent ire l y d i sapprove your cond uct i n i nvadi ng Transva a l w i th a rmed force , your a ct i on h a sbeen repudia ted . You a re ordered to re t ire a t once from coun try,a nd wi l l b e he l d pe rs ona l l y respons ib le for th e cons equences of

your una uthor ized a nd mos t improper proceed ing . Ends .

The te legrams began now to fly like tennis ba l l s a crossa net ; a ll pr iva te message s were refused by the cablecompany, and the l ines were kept entire ly free fo r Gove rnment bus iness . Mr . Chamber la in at the t ime made a

very favorable impress ion by giving a ll cablegrams sentand rece ived to the publ ic a t once , so showing tha t theGovernment was not responsible fo r Dr . Jameson’s a ct ions and wa s a cting openly aga inst him . Two hoursa fter this cable a rr ived at the Colonia l Office in London ,another followed it at o ’clock on the 3 1 5t, by whichtime Jameson had a ccompl ished nearly one-ha l f of h isj ourney without a s yet having heard anything of theseefforts tha t were be ing made to stop h im . This te legram embodies another from Newton , the resident di

D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

rector at Ma feking ,from which pla ce

, a s it wil l be re

membered , the B echuana land border pol ice had started

ToWr . Cbamber lam

I n conti nua t ion o fmy te l egram Of th i s morn ing , I have rece i vedth e fol lowing rep l y from N ewtonBeg i n s : Thi rt ie th December . Your Exce l lency ’

s of to da y . Iha ve e ve ry rea son to be l ieve tha t th e rumor to which You r E xce l lency refe rs is correct . Two t roops Of compa ny 's pol i ce leftM a fek i ng la s t n ight, i n a n ea s te r l y d i rect ion , wi th two M a x imsand two 7-p r gun s . I unde rs tand the fa ct ha s been offic ia l l yreported by the l oca l author i t ies he re to th e Ca pe gove rnment .I rece i ved Your Exce l lency 's te legram under rep ly i n twoport i ons , owi ng to an i n terrup t i on on the wi re , th e la tte r port i ona rr i v i ng a t and a t orde r l y S e rgeant White , B euch anal a nd po l ice , l eft here in p la i n c l othes , w i th the bes t hors ei n camp , to overtake th e force . I ha ve forwa rded a ce rt ified copyof You r Exce l lency ’

s te legram to Dr . Jame s on wi th a reques t tha th e wi l l immed ia te l y rep ly w i th Your Exce l lency' s i ns truct i ons . Ia l s o sent a copy to th e Officer comma nding th e force , reques t inghim to c i rcu la te i t among his Officers , for the i r i nforma t i on and

guida nce . I a lso s ent copy to th e officer s econd i n command and

to th e capta i n of the two troops from Ma fek i ng . I doubt whe therth e me s s enge r wi l l be ab le to overtake the force wi th i n a hundreda nd twenty mi l es from he re , a s i t probab ly h ad some forty m i less ta rt . As I unders ta nd , i t pa s sed through Ma lmani a t five A . M ,

th i s morn ing . Any further i nforma t i on w i l l b e immedia te l yfo rwa rded to Your Exce l lency . Ends .

To this Chamberla in repl ies :To S ir Hercu les Robinson :

(S ent P . M . 3 I st December, You shou ld rep resentt o Mr . Rhodes the true cha ra cte r of Dr . Jame s on’

s a ct i on i n breaki ng i n to a fore ign s ta te ,

whi ch is i n fr iend ly trea ty re l a t i on s wi thH e r Ma jes ty , i n t ime o f pea ce . I t is a n act of wa r, o r ra ther of

fi lib us te ring . If th e governm ent of the S outh Afr i can R epub l i ch ad been ove rth rown , o r h ad the re been ana rchy a t Joha nne sburg,the re might ha ve been some Shadow of e xcuse for th is unp re

ced ented a ct . If i t ca n b e p roved tha t the Br i t i sh S outh Afr i ca ncompany s e t Dr . Jam eson i n moti on , o r we re p r i vy to h is ma raudi ng a ct i on , Her Ma jes ty ’

s gove rnmen t would ha ve t o a t once fa cea dema nd tha t the cha rter Should b e revoked a nd the corpora t i ond i s sol ved .

As your firs t m es s enger may not succeed i n ove rta k i ng Dr.

James on , a nd i t is not impos s ib le tha t the la t te r may dis rega rdthe mes s age and even a s econd mes s age s ent by you to th e Br i t isha gen t a t Pra etor ia ,

cou l d you not , wi th Pre s iden t Kruge r’

s a ssent,

D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

send S ir J . DeWe t hims e lf to m ee t Dr . James on a nd order h im i na s t i l l more a uthor i ta t i ve ma nner to re turn

A day later , on Jan . 1 , S ir Hercules rece ived a secondcable from Mr . Chamberla in , in which it i s seen tha tnear ly everybody playing in the ca st ha s a fl ing at Jameson ,

repudia ting him first singly and then a ll together inchorus

To S ir Hercu les ‘

RobinsonG la d to hea r of Rhodes ’

repudia t i on of Jameson , who mus t b ema d . I s ee no ne ed fo r Rhodes to res ign . Te legra ph d i rect toed i tors of papers i n Joha nnesburg, Pra e tor ia , and B loemfonte i ntha t you, I ,

“

and Rhodes repud ia te Jameson ’

s a ct i on , a nd tha t youa re commanded by H er Ma jes ty to enjo i n a l l her subj ects i nS outh Afr i ca Repub l ic to abs ta i n from a i d ing, or countena nc ingJames on or his force .

H e r Ma j es ty ’

s government w i l l repudia te Jame son ’

s a ct i onpub l i c l y here . DeWet Shou ld , a s you orde red N ewton to do,commun ica te wi th ea ch of Jameson ’

s Officers di rect , te l l ing thosewho be l ong to th e regu la r or res erved forces , tha t they wi l l b eca shiered un le s s they Obey Her Ma j es ty' s order to d is arm and

ret i re .

This next cablegram ,sent the same day a s the la st from

Robinson to Chamberla in, gives the coup de g race to

Jameson , and makes a ll of South Afri ca repudiate him

ToWr . Chamberl a inRefe rr i ng to your te legram of 3 15t of De cember I ha ve

a ske d De Wet to mee t Jame son h imse lf if pos s ib le , and to orde rh im i n a n a uthor i ta t i ve manner to re t i re . I have read your mes

sa ge to Rhode s a nd urged him to make a pub l i c d i s a vowa l of a l lcomp l i c i ty wi th Jameson . I be l ieve h is co l leagues ha ve g i ven him%

the same advi ce . I ha ve a lso impres s ed on him the n ece s s i ty forh is co-opera t i on i n d irecti ng Jame son ’

s immedia te re turn . I ha ves een a copy of a le tte r to James on, da ted 20th De cember, fromM es srs . Leona rd , Fra nk Rhodes , Phi l l i ps, H ammond a nd Fa rra r,

a sk i ng him to com e to the i r a s s i s ta nce i n ca se of d is turba nce i nJohanne sburg . I unders ta nd tha t the se gent leme n now repudia teJame son ’

s a ct i on on th e ground tha t the c ircums tance s contemp la ted in their l e tte r ha d not a r is en when h e s ta rted . Jame son ’

s

a ct ion is condemned a l l throughout S outh Afr i ca . Not a vo ice isra i sed in h is support .

The la st l ine of this told wha t wa s absolute ly fa l se and

absurd . Jameson could have had the a id of men ,

could they ha ve rea ched him in time , and had there been

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D r . J ame son’

s Ra ide rs 33

arms and horses fo r that number . S O far from no voicebe ing ra i sed in his beha l f, a lmost e very city in SouthAfr ica , a fter his surrender , sent petitions to Praetor ia ,begging fo r his pardon and re lea se , and he and his Officers were cheered when thev left the Praetor ia ja i l a tevery ra i lroad station on the ir way to the coa st, and at

every seaport town from Delegoa B ay to Aden , and bythe troops sh ips in the Suez Cana l , when the soldiers onthe ir way to India swa rmed up the rigging to look downupon the Doctor on the deck of the “

V ictor ia . Not onlythe men

,but women a lso ra ised the ir voices in his beha l f,

and the miners ’ wives wa ited fo r him five miles out ofJohannesburg with bouquets of flowers , when theythought he wa s coming in . And in London ladies ofh igh degree sa t day a fter day in the courtroom at histr ia l , to lend him whatever influence there might be ingrea t names and in grea t beauty .

While a ll th is cabling was going on Dr . Jameson wa sr iding rapidly onwa rd , enj oying the pea ce o f that firstday and night on the ve ldt, which , a s he probably sus

pected , wa s only the prelude of the storm to come .

His force ha lted a t sunr ise of the second day ,Tuesday,

the 3 I st, a t a store where there were 300 horses wa itingfor them . The Boers had been told tha t a new stagel ine wa s be ing organized , and the presence of this unusua l number of horses at one point had been expla inedto them in tha t way . But the new mounts proved ofl ittle va lue , and no t more than ha l f a dozen a t the mostwere taken by the troopers in exchange for those withwhich they had started . There wa s another ha l t madeabout mid-day, but it wa s cut short by an a larm to theeffect that the Burghers were coming, which proved tobe fa l se .

While the men were resadd ling ,S erg t. White , who hadbeen sent after them from Mefek ing , a s descr ibed in thecablegram , rode into camp and de l ivered his letters tothe different officers to whom they were addressed . The

letters conta ined the telegrams sent by S ir Hercules Robinson to H er Ma j esty ’s agent a t Ma feking. White had

34. D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

been furnished with two pa sses , one wr itten in Engl ishand the other in German , but he had been stopped a t

Ma lmani by the Boers who read his letters , and then a l

lowed him to proceed . The pla ce at which he overtook Jameson was about ten miles beyond the Elandsr i ver, on the Johannesburg road . H e de l ivered his letters to C01. Grey, who distributed them . S ir John Willoughby rea d his letter , and put it in h is pocket, sayingin answer tha t the ma tter would be a ttended to, and thenga ve the order to saddle and mount, and continued ea stwa rd . ,

White rode ba ck aga in , having overtakenthe co lumn

‘

eighty miles from Ma feking, a lthough it hadleft tha t pla ce e ighteen hours before he did . H e madethe round tr ip o f the 160 miles with one horse in fifty

two hours .Dr . Jameson continued on without further interruption unti l 1 1 o ’clock tha t night, when about 300 Boersappea red in the distance r iding in circle s and showingdimly in the moonl ight . Both S ides cla imed tha t theother wa s the first to open fire , but that point in view of

a ll tha t followed la ter does not seem to be o f importance now ; This wa s the beginning of the a tta ck on

the column, and with but few interruptions the rema inder

of the r ide,which la sted thirty-two hours longer, was

made under an a lmost constant fusilade . The Boersdisappea red a t daybreak, and a t 6 o ’clock the force ha ltedfor rest and breakfa st . A little later itwa s met by Baur andLa ce , two messengers from S ir Jacobus De Wet, at

Praetor ia , who had been instructed by the high com

missioner to send some one out to meet Jameson, with acopy o f the proclama tion and with a message to himfrom the High Commiss ioner , order ing him to ret irefrom Transvaa l terr itory . A copy of th is proclama t ion isgi ven -

on the opposite page . It wa s publ ished over a ll

South Afr i ca .

In answer to this message Dr . Jameson wrote the following reply, with which Baur and La ce returned toPraetor ia . The message begins :

D E AR S IR I am i n rece i p t of the message you s en t from His

JOHN HAYS HAMMOND

D r . Jameson’

s Ra iders 35

THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE

GOVERNMENT GA%ETTE

E%TRAORD INAR% .

P U BL I SHED BY A U THOR IT Y .

Tuesday, Decembe r 3 1 , 1895PROCLAMAT ION by H is Ex ce l lency the R igh t H onourable

S ir Hercu les G eo rge R ober t R obi n son , Ba rone t, a mem

ber o f Her M ajes ty’s Mo s t Honou rable Pr i vy Counci l ,

Kn igh t G rand Cro ss Of the Mo s t D i s t i ngu i shed O rdero f Sa i n t M i chae l and Sa i n t Geo rge , Gove rno r and C om

mander-in-Ch ief o f H er M ajes ty’s Co lony o f the Cape

Of Good H ope in Sou th Afr i ca, and o f the T e rr i to r iesand D ependencies thereof, Governo r of the Te rr i toryOf B r i t i sh B echuanaland, and H er M ajes ty

’s H igh Com

mi ssioner, &c &c . ,&c .

Wh e r e a s i t has come to my knowledge tha t cer ta in Bri tish subje cts, sa i d to be under the leadersh ip o f Dr . Jameson ,have vi o la ted the te rr i tory o f the S ou th Afr i can Republ i c, and

have cu t te legraph w ires and done var i ous o ther i l lega l acts ;And whereas the S ou th Afr i can Republ i c is a friend ly

s ta te in am i ty w i th H er Majes ty’s Governmen t ;

And whereas i t is my des i re to respect the i ndependenceo f the sa i d s ta te ;N ow,

therefo re , I do hereby command the sa i d Dr . Jameson , and a ll person s accompany i ng h im ,

to immed ia te ly re t i refrom the Te rr i to ry o f the Sou th Afr i can Republ i c on pa i no f the pena l ties a t tached to the i r i l lega l pro ceedings .

And I do further he reby ca l l upon a ll B r i t i sh subjects i nthe Sou th A fr i can Republ i c to abs ta i n from g i v i ng the sa i dDr. Jame son any coun tenance o r as s i s tance i n his a rmed viola t i on o f the terr i to ry o f a fr i end ly s ta te .

GOD SAVE THE %UEEN .

G iven under my hand and sea l th i s 3 I s t day o f D ecember, 1 895.

(S igned% HERCULES ROBINSON ,

H igh Commi ss i o ner .

By Command of H is Ex ce l len cy the H igh Comm i ss i oner,

(S igned% GRAHAM BOW ER ,

Imper i a l Secre tary .

36 D r . Jame son’

s Ra ide rs

E xce l lency to me , th e H igh Commis s i oner , and b eg to rep ly, forH is E xce l lency ’

s i nforma t i on , tha t I Shou ld of cours e des ire toObey h is i ns truct i ons . As I ha ve a very la rge force of both men

a nd horses to feed, and ha vi ng fin i shed a l l my supp l ies i n therea r, mus t perforce p roceed to Krugersdorp , o r Joha nnesburg th ismorn ing for this purpose . At th e same t ime, I mus t a cknowl edge,I am anx i ous to fu lfi l l my promi se on the pe t i t i on of th e p r i nci pa lres i den ts on the Rand to come to th e a id of my fe l l owmen i nthe ir e xtremity . I ha ve mole s ted no one , and have exp la i ned toa l l D utchm en met tha t the above is my so le Object, and th at I

sha l l des ire a t once to re turn to the Protec tora te . I am , yoursfa i thfu l ly, (S igned% L . S . JAME SON .

The High Commissioner ’s orders, both to overtakeJameson and to head him off, had therefore been succe ssfully ca rr ied out, but the result des ired which depended on Jameson ’s obedience wa s , a s ha s been shown,most unsat isfa ctory .

At mid % day two more messengers , who had r iddenfrom Johannesburg on bicy cles

,met the column and

gave Jameson a letter which they had brought from Col .Frank Rhodes, of the Reform Committee at Johannesburg.

This letter, a copy of which I have seen , but the exactwording of which I cannot now remember, began bysaying tha t there must be some mistake , a s there hadbeen no ma ssa cre o r disturbance at Johannesburg of anysort. It added tha t some of the Reformers had gone toPraetor ia to make terms, and a sked how the Doctor wascoming a long, concluding with the l ine : I wil l havea dr ink with you when you g et in this evening .

”

To this Jameson repl ied in another note , in which hesa id tha t he wa s coming in a ll r ight, and needed no he lp ,but tha t if they could spa re 200 men he would be glad‘

i f he would send them out to meet him, a s they would

cheer up his troopers , who were t ired with the ir longr ide .

This letter never reached Rhodes until three monthslater , a s the messenger who carr ied it was stopped bythe Boers on his way ba ck to Johannesburg, and hismachine was thrown into the sha ft of one of the mines .H e escaped from the Boers , and three months after the

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38 D r . Jameson’

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continued on at the ir best speed, and made fo r the openpra ir ie , where the Boers would have been in as exposed aposition a s they were . Instead o f which they workeda round to the r ight of the town , and so complete ly lostthe ir way tha t they were three hours in getting ba ck toit aga in . It wa s then about 6 o ’clock in the evening, andthe ra in wa s pour ing heavily, the men were S ick forwant of Sleep and food , and the horses were jaded and a l

most useless . The troopers who be l ieved in Dr . Jameson ’s promise of he lp from Johannesburg were a ccording ly de l ighted to s ee a t tha t t ime a column ofmen to thenumber of 400 advancing rapidly toward them . Here

comes Frankie Rhodes , one of the officers cr ied , and

ga l loped forwa rd to rece ive him , and was met whenwithin 300 yards of the approa ching column by a vol leyo f bullets . The supposed re inforcements proved to beBoers , who ga l loped toward the invaders s o quicklytha t the men had only time to fa l l off the ir horses and fire

a volley before they were we l l upon them . The foremost rank only saved itse l f by lying flat in the gra ss andfir ing rapidly, while the Maxims were be ing run forward .

Col . Willoughby then formed his force into the shape of

a crescent, with the Maxims a t the two ends . In thisposition they fought fo r over an hour , when the Boershaving been forced ba ck the centre withdrew, the leftand r ight flanks cover ing its retrea t and drawing gradua l ly together to fi l l the g ap . The column then re

formed , and moved off in the da rkness , ca rrying five

wounded men on the gun ca rr iage s , and leaving threeofficers and S ix men una ccounted fo r .

There a re two roads by which the column could havegone on from there to Johannesburg, the longer one i sto the south , and crosse s the ve ldt, where one man i s a sconsp icuous a ma rk a s another , and where the Boerswould have been forced to fight in the open . The sec

ond i s the Shorter way, and leads by deserted mine s andthrough va l leys and by kopj es , which a re great masseso f stone a s high a s a sma l l hil l . This la tter road wa sthe one the Jameson officers , e ither through ignorance o r

D r . J ameson’

s Ra ide rs 39

by trusting to Boer guides , a s they a re sa id to ha ve done ,se lected to fol low on Wednesday night . It led them intoa virtua l death trap . No one can blame a genera l , i fwhile fighting in an unknown country, he s tumbles intoan ambus cade , but the Transvaa l should not ha ve beenan unknown country to the Jameson men . They hadbeen wa iting idly on the border for s ix weeks doingnothing , and there wa s no excuse from a military pointof view fo r the ir not having made themse lves acqua intedin that time with every inch of the road to Johannesburg,with every blade of fodder and every running stream and

na tura l ly fort ified position on the way . The city is only1 50 miles from Ma feking, and they Should have been ableto ha ve wa lked to it bl indfolded . Any one of these o i

ficers ,were he going to r ide a steeplecha se ,would take thetrouble to wa lk over the course at lea st once , and the

ignorance of a l l of those who conducted th is expeditionseems to me to be e ven a better rea son fo r taking awaythe ir commissions than the fa ct of the ir ha v ing infringeda Fore ign Enl istment act .The night wa s very cold , and the ra in stil l fel l hea v i ly ;

the men were wet to the skin , the ir stomachs were empty,the ir l imbs were stiff and sore and their eyes so gla zedfor want o f Sleep tha t they could ha rdly s ee the ir gunsights . The Boer bullets fe l l among them from everyside , and there wa s nothing at which they cou ld fire inreturn but the fla shes in the darkness . Toward midnight they lagged , and while ha l f the force tr ied to sleepthe rema ining ha l f continued fir ing , and many of thoseon gua rd took advantage of the da rkness to s tea l awaya nd desert the s inking ship while there wa s yet time fo rthem to save themse lves . One offi cer , who wa s sentout tha t night on patrol duty, told me tha t he had takenwith him a deta i l of s ix men ,

but that only two reurned .

H e sa id the other four may ha ve been shot , but hedoubted it .The ra iders broke camp a t 4 o

’clock on Thursdaymorning , and moved to the r ight up the Lang laa le road ,which leads into the Do rnk oop V a l ley . Two more men

40 D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

had been killed dur ing the night, and those who had

been wounded, with deserters , now brought the forcedown to the number of 300 men . The ra in had ceased,and when the sun rose it shone down br i l l iantly on the

wet gra ss out of a blue sk y . Those whose horses hadbeen shot were left behind and were made pr isoners bythe Boers , who hovered far in the rea r, and the ambulances had been abandoned at Krugersdorp .

The r ide. from this hour on became a rout . Men

threw away everything but the ir arms and ammunition,and the tra ck of the flying column was pla inly markedwith discarded saddle bags and blankets and canteens ,and the l ittle force which had been so magnificentlyequipped on paper now rode forward stripped of everything but weapons , its r iders bunched together and mak

ing a broad conspicuous mark on the rough highway .

It i s no discredit to the Boers that they refused to g ivefight in the open ; a s they were the cha l lenged parties, itwas only j ust tha t they should have the choice of pos ition

ey had not invited Dr . Jameson to ahad forced it upon them and they had a per

r ight to protect the ir homes from inva s ion in wha tever manner they found most effective . But it i s onlyfa ir to the invaders to point out tha t while they weremoving forward in regular order , as the na ture of the

road required them to do , and making a target 200 yardsin length, the ir adversar ies were hidden behind rocks andr idges, firing at a very long range , and when they weredr iven back ga l loping from one hiding place to anotherunder She lter of the hills .The column rea ched the Stair Mine at 7 o

’clock inthe morning and turned from it into the Doornk oop

va l ley, which wa s to be the va l ley of dea th to the Jameson expedition .

It was about e leven o ’clock when Dr. Jamesonmade his la st stand . His position wa s at the baseo f a huge kopje covered with boulders and stones ,which stretched out on e ither s ide of the advancingcolumn in the Shape of a huge horseshoe . At the r ight

D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs 4 1

end of th is horseshoe were two stone farmhouses , witha stone fence at the ba ck o f them and a pool of dirtywater . The Boers occupied these houses before the column rea ched them , but were dr iven back by the Maximsto the kopj e, where they hid themse lves , the Engl ishmen , in the ir turn , taking She lter behind the stone wa l land the nearest fart us e . The invaders were nowcaught in a tr iangle , and were under fire from threes ides .

’

Had they reached the same point in the ir r idethree hours sooner , it is a lmost certa in that they wouldhave gone sa fe ly into Johannesburg ; fo r a t the hourwhen they did reach it the Boer a rtil lery had not arrived,and the Burghers themselves were only just appea r ingover the hori zon l ine . One of the men sa id it lookeda s though they were spr inging from traps in the ground,and tha t where there had been a dozen l ittle specks onthe horizon there was a moment la ter 100 and then 200 ,

until wherever he looked he saw ga l loping figures , whichseemed to breed others a s they came . The invaders ,now reduced to 294 men , were stretched out over a distance of a qua rter of a mile .

Behind the fie ld pieces the Chartered Company’s men

stood in the ir greenish-gray tunics and bird’s-eye puggarces, and the Bechuana land police in brown karki andwhite pugga rees . The offi cers were in nondescript uniforms

,chiefly the undress tunics of the Gua rds . Jame

s on wore a long dri v ing coa t and a soft fe lt hat, and

took no pa rt in the a ttack, but wa tched it sea ted on hishorse , with a pa ir of fie ld gla sses , from a pla ce in therear o f the seven-pounders . Coventry, the only man

who car ied a sword , wa s , in consequence , mistaken bythe Boers fo r the commander of the column , and wa s

selected by them a s a specia l target .The Boers used two Krupp guns and two Maximsfrom behind the kopj e , and the Staa ts Artil lery , whichhad a rr ived from Pra etoria by Specia l tra in , opened upfrom the le ft , but did l ittle beyond tea r ing up the earthback of the stone wa l l . From where Jameson ’s men stoodthey cou ld s ee the derr icks of the Rand r i sing to the

42 D r . Jameson’

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le ft, and the road to Johannesburg turning to the northof the kopj e . Grey sent Lieut . Grenfe l l , a nephew of

Gen . S ir Franc i s Grenfe l l , of Soudan fame , and twomen to reconnoitre the road and discover if it were poss ible to force a pa ssage through it . One of the two

troopers wa s killed before they had gone a hundredya rds , and the bullets tore up the ground and spla shedon the stones a round the horses ’ hoofs . Grenfe l l cameba ck

,and reported that the way wa s impa ssable . Grey,

who had a ssumed command s ince Krugersdorp , whereWilloughby ha d been taken i ll , looked over his shoulderand saw the hor izon l ine broken with rows o f mountedBoers , who cut off his retreat .It is the only way,

”he sa id . We can ’t go ba ck,

we must go forwa rd .

”

I f three men can ’t g et through there, three hundredcan ,

Grenfe l l answered .

Grey ca l led 200 of the men together, and orderedMa j or Hon . C . J . Coventry , the oldest son of the Ear lo f Coventry, to charge the kopj e and dislodge the Boersby a s sault . It was the la st despera te effort o f the day,and it wa s made with a sweep and a da sh tha t wouldhave done credit to a noble cause . The men rode out inSkirmish l ine

,the trumpets sounded and , led by Coventry,

wa v ing the one sword , and Inspector W . H . Barry, theycha rged fo r 400 ya rds to with in 100 ya rds of the kopj e,and were met by a volley tha t knocked thirty men out of

the ir saddles . Ba rry wa s among these , and died a few

hours la ter .

But Coventry ra l l ied them aga in , and they chargedonce more , and were once more repulsed . A S they re

trea ted , Coventry let the l ine pa ss h im , and rode behindhis men , looking ba ck, and this time one o f the bulletsfound him and pa ssed through his th igh , coming out infront . H e fe l l from his horse , with his foot in the stirrup , but the horse which he had r idden often before fo rtuna tely stood stil l , and he pulled himse lf up and ba ckinto the saddle

, and then fe l l forwa rd on its neck and

ca l led to his men to he lp . They rode back and l ifted

D r . J ameson’

s Ra ide rs 43

h im o ff, and la id him on the ground . His l imbs werepa ra lyzed from the wa i st down .

The fir ing from the Jameson column had slackenednow

, and the Maxims , a s there wa s no wa ter to coolthe heated tubes , had jammed , and were silent . Gunnerswere sen t to br ing wa ter from the pool back of the fa rmhouse

,but it wa s raked by the fire from the Sta ats Ar

t il lery, and they could not rea ch it .There wa s a hot , brea thless pause , men were lying on

the ground stretched out in strange ly unfamil iar attitude s

,dy ing horses were screaming and kicking up the

ea rth , and the puffs of white smoke from the r ing ofrocks a round the invaders showed them tha t overr ifles were turned upon them . They saw nothing toshoot a t in return but these puffs of smoke . They werea s helpless a s men a t the bottom of a we l l , and i t s eemedonly a s imple ma tter of time when each one of themwould be e l imina ted from off the fa ce o f the ea rth , butthey stil l continued fir ing, some su lkily , fo r they thoughtthey had been betrayed ; some cra zily, fo r they weredrunk fo r the wan t of S leep , and others with despera tecourage . One trooper , who wa s wounded throughboth thighs and cou ld not r i se ,

dragged hims e l f forwa rdon his e lbows , and placing his bandoleer before him , shotlying on his stomach , a s cool ly a s though he were a t the

B isley range . Another trooper , a s though to shame the

Boers for seeking protection , stood up in advance of thel ine and continued firing and curs ing a t the hiddenenemy unti l two bullets pa ssed through his lungs .No one ha s told explicitly who it wa s tha t ra ised the

white flag , o r whether the order came from Jameson ,Grev o r \Villoughby . There were two flags ra isedone on the left and one which wa s placed over the s tonefa rmhouse to the r ight , and it is interesting , a s showing how difficult it i s to wr ite facts correctly , evenwhen only a yea r ha s pa ssed since they occurred , tha tthree different men cla im to have furnished the flag ofsurrender , one saying it wa s a torn shirt , another a pieceo f l int

, and another his pocket handkerchief .

44 D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

The flag wa s ra ised a t 9 o’clock, or a few minutes a fter,

and the fir ing, except on the extreme r ight of the l ine,instantly cea sed . Messengers were sent to stop tha t firing

, and a fter five minutes the Jameson force stood inabsolute s i lence ; but the Boers , doubtless through someerror, continued fir ing fo r over fifteen minutes . S ir

John Willoughby, who aga in a ssumed command a fterthe surrender, sent the Hon . Henry White and Lieut.Grenfe l l to the Boer commandant in cha rge o f the ar

t il lery with a note , a sking him why he fired upon a flag

o f truce , and requesting to cease doing so .

The note in which Willoughby sta ted the conditionsunder which the surrender wa s made, wa s a s follows :

“We surrender, providipg you guarantee a sa fe con

duct out of the country fo r every member of the force .

”

This note was given to Hans Klopper , one of the

burghers under Commandant Po tg ieter , of the Krugersdorp D i str ict, who had r idden forward from the Boerl ines a s soon a s the flag of truce had been ra ised . He

e ither stopped on his way back and showed this note toCommandant Cronje , commandant of the PotchefstroomD is tr ict, and the officer second in command of the Boera rmy under Gen . Joubert, o r he was given two notes,fo r it i s certa in that both Cronje and Potg ieter sent answers to a note of th is import .Potg ieter

’

s answer to Willoughby wa s to the effectthat he would ca l l a meeting of his brother commandersand consult them concerning the communication . ButCronje , without wa iting to consult with any one, dispatched the fol lowing answer

f obn Wil loughbyI a cknow ledge your note , a nd th i s s e rve s a s rep ly , tha t if yougua ra ntee the pa yment of e xp enses which you ha ve occas i onedth i s S outh Afr i ca n Repub l i c , and s urrender your flag , toge therwi th your we apons , I w i l l Spa re the l ife of you and yours . Pl ea ses end rep ly wi thi n th i rty m inutes . CRON JE .

This a cceptance by Cronje ofWilloughby’s conditionsShows the thrifty spir it of the Boers , but it is fa ir , andeven generous, for Cronj e

’s son had been dangerously

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D r . Jame son’

s Ra ide rs 45

wounded by one of the Jameson force dur ing the battlea t Krugersdorp on the night prev ious .Willoughby natura l ly agreed to these conditions

, and

fifteen minutes later sent a note in reply . H e kept nocopy of this note , but he say s it was to the followingeffect

I (or we%a ccept the terms on the gua ra ntee tha t the l i ves o f

a l l wi l l be spa red . I now awa i t your i ns truct ion s a s to how and

where we a re to lay down our a rms . At th e same t ime I wou ld

a sk you to remember tha t my men ha ve been w i thout food for thela s t twenty-four hours . W ILLOU GHB % .

The length of time which e lapsed between the rece iptand exchange of these notes i s expla ined by the fact tha tthose of the Boers nearest to th e Jameson force were

500 ya rds distant, and many were yards , o r overa mile away .

Wha t fol lows wa s a t one t ime a disputed point between Jameson ’s officers and the Boer commanders .Wha t the burghers say happened is this :After rece iving Willoughby’s answer , Cronje rode up

to where Jameson wa s standing by the stone farmhouse ,and expla ined tha t he meant by the la st clause in hisnote tha t he could only guarantee Jameson ’s l ife and

tha t of his men until he handed them over to Gen . Joubert . H e then a sked him if, with tha t understanding,he wa s ready to lay down his arms and to give up hisflag . Jameson repl ied that he had no flag ,

but Cronje ,be l ieving the inva s ion wa s part of a plot on the part ofthe Br itish Government to seize the Republ ic Transvaa l , a sked him to swear to tha t fa ct . To this Jamesonsa id

“I declare upon oath tha t I have no flag .

Commandant Ma lan , of the Rustenberg D istri ct, thenrode up to Cronje , who had a lready been j oined by Commandant Potg ieter and about thirty other burghers , anda sked : “What i s going on here% I a l so wish to know%And Cronje told him that he had guaranteed the sa fetyo f Jameson and his men until Praetoria was reached .

46 D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

To this Ma lan , a ccording to his own a ccount of thesurrender , sa id :

“We cannot make any terms here . We

have not the power to do so . Jameson must surrenderunconditiona l ly, and we can only gua rantee his l ife unti lhe is de l ivered over by us into the hands o f the commandant-genera l . Then he will ha ve to submit to thedecis ion of the commandant-genera l and the Government . ” To this Po tgieter answered : I agree withtha t . And Cronje sa id ,

“S o be it, brothers . The ir in

terpreter wa s told to transla te this to Jameson , whobowed and taking o ff h is hat stepped ba ckwa rd and sa id,I a ccept your terms , and ordered Willoughby to command the men to lay down the ir arms . The arms werethen la id down .

The Englishmen cla im tha t a t the t ime they la id downthe ir arms they ”did so on the conditions s et forth inCronj e’s note

,tha t they would be a l lowed to lea ve the

country unmolested if they pa id an indemnity, and tha tit wa s a fter they la id down the ir a rms tha t Ma lan rodeup and refused to l isten to this , declar ing tha t they mustbe taken pr isoners to Pra etor ia without any guaranteetha t the ir l ives would be spa red . The a ccount the Boersgive of wha t happened , howe ver , s eems to be the co r

rect version , the a ffidavits on th is point of S ix o r seven ofthe Burghers a ll agree sufficiently to be conv incing, anddisagree sufficiently to be even more convincing. Theyshow tha t each one of them is Speaking from his ownreco llection

'

o f the inc ident and not a fter consulta tionwith the others . The fa ct tha t Dr . Jameson bowed and

took off his hat to them ,is sta ted by each of the com

manders and in a way tha t shows it ga ve them a certa inS imple sa tisfa ction . The explana tion o f the difference a s

to the terms of surrender i s probably due to the fa ct tha ta lthough Cronje did wr ite such a note a s the one the

Engl ishmen agreed to , he exceeded his authority in doing s o and his brother commanders were j ustified in re

pudiating it . In any event, an order which arrived a ha l fhour later from Gen . Joubert settled the matter fina lly,and

would have overruled any agreement made by a subo rdina te .

D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs 47

It was sent in answer to a te legram to him from Commander Tr icha rdt, who had te legraphed tha t h is burghe rs were with in ya rds of the Jameson force , whichhad ra ised a white flag . Joubert ’s order wa s a s follows :

“They must lay down the ir a rms and surrender uncond itiona l lv . I f not, then the fir ing proceeds . Give themnot more than five minutes to decide whether they willsurrender o r not ; otherwise the fir ing proceeds . Shouldthey surrender , take everything in cha rge , br ing them toKrug ersville and the officers to Praetoria . D isarm themfirst .A s soon a s

”Wi l loughby gave the order to disa rm , the

men threw themse lves on the ground and some cr iedhyster ica l ly from disappointment and more probablyfrom overwrought nerves , and others Showed the ex

hausted state they were in by stretch ing out and fa l l inginto a deep sleep , a s though na ture re fused to l isten any

longer to such idle questions a s conditions of surrendero r terms of impr i sonment .The burghers mixed free ly with the invaders , and

Showed no signs of glor ification , but a cted sober ly and

with dignified generosity, feeding the ha l f-starved invaders with the ir own rations and giv ing them wa ter todr ink from the ir wa ter-bottles , saying tha t they weresorry they had had to shoot such young men .

This i s the story of the Jameson ra id , and it i s , a s Iful ly appreciate , a drv and matter-oi% fact story , with thedrama tic and picturesque S ide of the adventure omitted .

But it seemed best to leave descriptive writ ing to thosewho took part in the inva sion and who will some day tel lwha t they a ctua l ly saw, and to confine this a ccount meanwhile entire ly to those facts they have let drop . I havea ccordingly tr ied to tel l only wha t happened , and notwha t it would be very ea sy for us to guess must havehappened , under the conditions which we know existeddur ing tha t four days’ ga l lop . Dr . Jameson’s act wassuited to the buccaneer ing days of S ir Francis Drake .

H e tr ied to put ba ck the hand o f time some hundred andfi fty years , but he only succeeded in jarr ing the works

48 D r . Jame son’

s Ra ide rs

for a few seconds , and the hand swept him out of its wayand moved steadily on .

His fate and tha t of hi s ra iders i s common history.

They were taken a s pr isoners from the pla ce of the ir sur

render to Pra etor ia , where , a fter lying for some weeksin ja i l , they were pardoned by Pres ident Kruger and

turned over to the custody of the ir own government andShipped home in the ca re of English officia ls , chargedwith having infr inged the fore ign enlistment act. Onrea ch ing London the rank and file were set at l iberty,but the leaders of the expedition were tr ied on thischarge , and , convictions having been found aga inst seveno f them ,

they were sent to Holloway Pr i son to serve out

the fol lowing terms o f impr isonmentDr . Jameson , fi fteen months ; S ir John Willoughby,

ten months ; Maj or Hon . Robert White , seven months ;Colone l Ra le igh Grey, Col . Hon . Henry White, Maj orHon . Char les Coventry, five months ea ch .

President Kruger ’s magnanimity in pardoning the men

who had invaded his country wa s no less creditable tohi s hea rt than to h is head .

“Jameson dead,”he sa id to

a pa rty of Boers who demanded tha t the Engl ishmanshould be led out and Shot,

“i s worth nothing to any

one . With Jameson a l ive I can make any terms I plea se .

”

Throughout the whole disturbance in the Transvaa l ,Kruger Showed himse l f more than able to cope with thethree forces tha t contended together aga inst him .

%

H e

defea ted the Jameson ra iders in battle, he outplotted therevolutionists and he won a triumph of diploma cy overMr . Joseph Chamberla in himsel f . If the r ight to rule i sa divine r ight to-day , a s it was supposed to be long ago ,

it would seem tha t in the bestowa l of that r ight God i sno respecter of persons . For the two rulers

,who appear

to rule by tha t r ight to-day , and who have outmatchedthe Empress of Great Br ita in and India , and the Em

peror of Italy, both in diplomacy and in generosity, arean uncouth , unkempt farmer in South Afr ica and a halfnaked king in the j ungles ofAbyssinia .

The story now returns to Johannesburg and the

D r . Jameson’

s Ra iders 49

Reformers , and expla ins wha t they did during the raidand why they did not go out to meet Jameson .

The first intimation tha t the people o f Johannesburgrece ived tha t Jameson had sta rted was when they readof his having done so in the newspapers which came out

on Monday afternoon , twenty-four hours after He hadleft Ma feking . The Government, at Pretor ia ,

had , ofcourse, heard of i t at the same t ime, and a t once senta deputation down to Johannesburg, inviting the ReformCommittee to send a deputation to Pretor ia to meet thePresident and the Executive Council , and to considerwhat was to be done in the l ight of Dr . Jameson’s invas ion . The committee went to Pretor ia , and there LionelPhil l ips, a s its cha irman, offered himsel f and the rest o fthe deputation a s hostages for Jameson and his force , ifthe Boers would al low them a safe conduct out of theTransvaal . At that t ime, it must be remembered , nonews had been rece ived of any hostile demonstra tion having been made by Jameson , o r by the Boers aga inst h im .

The j o int deputations came to no decision , however,beyond agree ing to invite S ir Hercules Robinson tocome from the Cape and a ct a s mediator on the question of the gr ievances . The deputation from the ReformCommittee then returned to Johannesburg to reportwhat it had done . The position of the Reform Com

mittee was now, owing to the precip itate a ction of Dr .

Jameson in disobeying orders and in forcing them toshow the ir hand , a most difficult one . They had, a ll told,about rifles in the town, while the Boer Government had under arms and with in cal l burghers,each of whom was a fighting man . When Hammondasked Heyman , Dr . Jameson ’s mil ita ry representative inJohannesburg, how long he thought they could hold outshould they a ttempt to defend the town with the thousand r ifles in the ir possession , Heyman answered,

“Abouttwenty minutes . ”

This , then , was the position in which Dr . Jamesonhad placed his fr iends and fel low-revolutionists . Theywere without arms to make a stand, and owing to his act

50 D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

the fact tha t they had meant to do so was no longer asecret, their purpose was exposed, and, as would-berevolutionists, they were j ustly at the mercy of the BoerGovernment . On Tuesday night more r ifles weresmuggled hurriedly a cross the border, but in the conins ion which had continued from the moment it was knowntha t Jameson had precip ita ted the revolt, many of thesewere lost, and many more were distributed to the wrongpeople, and at least 500 fe l l into the hands of the Boersthemse lves . Those men who did no t know how to ~

handle a gun were armed with what rifles there were,and sent out into the streets to act as pol icemen, to protect the town from the Boers without, and from r iotingwithin, the Boer police having entire ly withdrawn fromJohannesburg.

Another c ircumstance, which at the same time addedgreatly to the difficulties of the Reform Committee, was

inhabitants of Johannesburg knew thatthey had invited Jameson to come to the ir assistance,and they were now wonder ing why no preparations werebe ing made to meet h im on his way, but the ReformCommittee knew, to its sorrow, tha t if i t took the gunsaway from its pol icemen and went to Jameson, it wouldtake every gun there was in the city out of it, leaving itabsolute ly unprotected from the Boers, who were gathering in large bodies at different points surrounding Johannesburg .

But the people of the c ity did not know th is, and theReform Committee could not te l l them how he lp less itwas without the Boers knowing it al so, and at that timea lmost their only safeguard against the Boers lay in thefact that the Transvaal Government be l ieved that therewere from to rifles h idden away in the townof Johannesburg .

It was stated at the time Of the ra id by many differentpeople that Jameson had been promised a force of

men to meet him at Krugersdorp . No such promisewas ever made to Jameson by the Reform Committee,and , even had it been made, Jameson knew when he left

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Dr . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

On the night previous to the surrender, when it wasproposed in Johannesburg to go out and meet him , the

Milita ry Committee,whch wa s composed of Col . Rhodes ,and Heyman , Frank White , and Jameson

’s brother, thela st three be ing Jameson ’s own representat ives in Johannesburg , the men who had been sent there by him tolook a fter his interests, refused for an instant to entertainthe idea tha t he needed he lp . Frank Wh ite had twobrothers , Col . , the Hon . Henry White and

“Bobbie”

White , serving under Jameson a s officers, and Rhodesand Heyman were the doctor ’s oldest friends , and

Jameson ’s own brother would natura l ly be supposed totake an interest in his wel fare . But al l of these men de

clared tha t sending a force to him meant leaving the

city open fo r instant occupation by the Boers , and theyins isted a l so tha t Jameson did not need help , even if ithad been in the ir power to send it to him . They sup

posed , then , tha t he had with him men, cannon, andthree Maxims , and they thought tha t there were not

more than 300 Boers between him and the city, and

Frank White expressed the general opinion when hesa id , The doctor i s coming in with two columns of 500men ea ch , and he can wa lk through Boers . ”

then , i s why the citizens of Johannesburg did notgo out to meet Dr . Jameson .

In the first pla ce , they had never intended to do so , nor

had they ever made any promise to do so . It wasJameson who wa s coming to help them ; and , in the

second pla ce , in spite Of the fact tha t they had not guaranteed h im any aid , even if they had thought that he neededit , they had no means of conveying it to him unless theychose at the same moment to hand the city over to the irmutua l enemy , the Boer . But wha t i s more importantto remember than a ll e l se besides i s tha t there was nosuspicion in the minds of any one in Johannesburg tha tJameson was in need of assistance at any time dur inghis r ide .

As one of Jameson’s offi cers expressed it to me intalking over the raid in London ,

“We thought,”he said,

D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs 53

tha t we could go through the Transvaal l ike a LordMayor’s show.

Many different reasons are given to expla in whyJameson sta rted when he did, aga inst orders , knowingthe helpless condition of Johannesburg, and with suchan inadequate force , but the rea son tha t probably is nearest the truth is suggested by a remark he made j ust before he rode out of Pitsani .

“Those men a re funking it, he sa id .

“I ’m going tostir them up .

” Tha t speech undoubtedly i s the rea l explana tion fo r his remarkable a ction . H e wanted to play

vthe pa rt they had a ssigned him, and he thought the otherswere a fra id to play the irs , and tha t the whole revolutionwould come to nothing . H e wanted the acclaim whichwould fol low his inva s ion of the Transvaa l , and he

thought tha t the chance of his doing so wa s S l ippingfrom him through the ha l f-heartedness of the men of

Johannesburg .

None of the men whose plans he wrecked assigns anymotive to him other than the love of a fight, the des ireto be in the centre ofwhatever i s going forward , and theincrea s ed reputa tion tha t would ha ve come to him . Theydescr ibe h im a s a man who ha s no care for money . Theysay he could have made himse l f rich in Ma shona land hadhe wished to do so , and tha t in the da i ly routine of l ifehe is uns e lfishnes s itse l f, but that in this ca se he fa i ledbecause he underva lued his fr iends ’ strength and overva lued his own . The men whom he considered were“funking it” were in much grea ter danger for monthsthan wa s Jameson dur ing the three days of his r ide .

The ir offer to go to ja i l as hostages for his sa fe conductout of the country he had entered aga inst the ir entreatiesrequ ired much more courage on the ir part , knowing as

they did tha t the Boers were onlv too anxious to g etthem there on any count , than it would have taken tohave da shed across the ve ldt, gun in hand , to a ttemptan Adelph i me lodrama rescue .

On the night Jameson was marched a pr i soner toPraetoria the Reform Committee was al l but lynched for

54 Dr . Jameson’

s Raiders

not having gone to his rescue, and even then it cou1dnot tel l the excited people tha t there were not overguns in the whole city of Johannesburg . It was not untilJameson ’s brother stepped out on the ba l cony of the

Gold Fields Building and a ssured the mob tha t he hadbeen acqua inted with al l that was going forward duringthe r ide, and tha t even had he known tha t h is brother

’sl ife was at stake , he was sa tisfied that it would have beenimpossible to have he lped him, tha t the people werequieted and dispersed . Three days later the ReformCommittee was placed in ja il , contrary to the promisemade by S ir Ja cobus De Wet, the agent of the Engl ishcommission , tha t if it agreed to armistice it would not bemolested . This promise he now denies having made .

The matter wil l be fina l ly cleared up when the Parl imentary committee meets this Spr ing.

In the meanwhile , the testimony of Capt . J . F . % ounghusband, a s to the conduct of the Reform Committeeafter it went to ja i l i s interesting a s coming from one

who was on the spot a s a Spectator only, and in no wayinterested in the revolution . In the London Times of

May 2 , he wr ites“And certa inly of cowardice the four leaders cannot

be a ccu sed, fo r I can Show tha t they did not fear to fa cedeath , even in the terr ible form to which they were s en

tenced two days ag o . On one of those cr itica l days a fterJameson had surrendered they were told that ~the Boerswere clamoring to have them se ized and Shot at once ,and it wa s suggested to them tha t they should quietlySl ipaway from the country while they stil l could . I wa s mysel f present ou the occa sion , and heard Co l . Rhodes andMr . George Farra r say at once tha t even if they were tobe shot they a t lea st intended l ike men to stay wherethey were . The others agreed with them , and , with oneo r two exceptions , the entire committee gave themse lvesup when the warrants were i ssued without any a ttemptto escape .

“May I therefore a sk the ir countrymen to remove thestigma of cowardice which has been cast upon them%

D r . Jameson’

s Ra iders 55

To face any lawful punishment they a re prepared . Theydid not fl inch to fa ce even death . But there in prisonin a fore ign land to have to bear the taunts of cowardicefrom their fe l low-countrymen they fee l i s the cruelest blowtha t could be infl icted upon them% crue l to them andcruel to the ir children after them . And now, when theseverest sentence tha t can by law be given has been pronounced aga inst them, wil l not Engl ishmen Show theirj ustice by repeal ing the sentence o f cowardice they soha stily passed upon Johannesburg and give the Re

formers . in the ir hour of trouble the sympathy theydeserve%”

There i s one story of the Reformers which re lates toMr . Hammond and which was told me by others of theReform Committee . Hammond was very il l during hisimprisonment, and in consequence permitted to go to theCape for his health under a heavy bail . H e was at tha ttime under sentence of fi fteen years’ impri sonment, andthe bai l was not so heavy a s the fine he has stil l to pay,

which amounts to H e did not give h is paroleto return to jail , and his fail ing to have done so wouldhave meant nothing more than the forfe iture of his ba i l ,the amount of which he could have very wel l affordedto have paid . And when he had once crossed the borderof the Transvaal every man he met was his friend . H e

could on rea ch ing the Cape have stepped upon the firstout-bound steamer, and Shaken the dust of the Transvaa l from him forever.

“Tha t i s the la st you will see of Ja ck Hammond , someone sa id to Kruger.

“I think not, the Pres ident an

swered , and even if Mr . Hammond would wish to es

cape, I know Mrs . Hammond , and she i s too fine awoman to let him think of it . ” Two days before his leavehad expired Hammond came back to Pra etor ia , andknocked at midnight at the door of the ja i l for admittance to what, for a ll he then knew,

meant fi fteen yearsof his l ife in pri son , and the ja ilers were 80 ama zed to seehis face through the wicket that when he threw his val ise,which he had careful ly packed with whisky and cigars

56 D r . Jameson’

s Ra ide rs

for his three fel low-pri soners, at one of them, the Boerp icked it up without examining it and carr ied it to thecel l which Hammond, Rhodes , Phill ips and Farrarshared in common . Hammond had gained his tempora ry l iberty because he was il l, and he would not takeadvantage of that act of kindness on the pa rt Of theBoers to fly the country, and so leave his fe l low-conspirators to suffer a punishment which , if it was deserved/by one, was deserved by a ll . I t was a case of con

science, and of moral as wel l a s physical courage .

When people accuse the Reform Committee of cow

a rdice and of be ing men who failed to keep the ir wordthey should put before them these two pictures% the one

of Jameson, surrounded by his 500 troopers , saying :“Those men at Johannesburg are funking it . I am go

ing stir them up,”and three days later rais ing the white

flag ; and the other o f the Amer ican , Hammond, whenstil l shaken with fever, he returned to serve out h is sentence , and stood alone a t midnight knocking for admittance at the gate of the Praetoria jail .