Blue Shirt and Khaki: A ComparisonArchibald, James F. J. (James Francis Jewell)
History
Blue Shirt and Khaki: A Comparison
Archibald, James F. J. (James Francis Jewell)
Great Britain. Army; Military art and science; South African War, 1899-1902; United States. Army
As soon as the flag was raised the march past was begun, and thousands
of the magnificent-looking troops passed in review before Lord Roberts.
The British soldiers made a fine show, although they were evidently
pretty well worn out; their horses, too, were in bad condition. The
Colonials and the Gordon Highlanders were the most attractive part of
the review and made the best showing. The naval guns were drawn by many
spans of oxen, and looked tremendously business-like. Under ordinary
conditions the spectacle would have been a sight to fill a spectator
with enthusiasm and admiration; but, somehow, the scene seemed more an
occasion of sadness, awakening admiration and pity for that little
band of men who had marched out into the night only a few hours before.
An American business man of Pretoria watched the regiments tramp past,
and then remarked, “Well, I think the best way for the Boers to win out
is to come back to-day and march in review before this army. They would
not need to fight any more, for this whole lot would die of shame.”
There was not a very large crowd to witness the occupation, considering
the number of people in the city, for very few of the Boer sympathizers
came out, and in most cases the women went into their houses, closing
the front doors and windows tightly, and many did not open their
houses until they were forced to come out to attend to their household
marketing. Along the verandas of the Grand Hotel and in the street in
front of the hotel a few ladies were to be seen, but except for these
the crowd was composed of men, mostly blacks. This conspicuous absence
of the women served to show the bitter feeling and intense hatred that
prevailed among the people.
The Union Bank, however, a British institution, swung out two large
Union Jacks in honor of the event.
While the review was passing, a corporal’s guard brought in two
Boer prisoners, who were marched into the square, awaiting whatever
disposition was to be made of them. One was a man about fifty, the
other a boy about nine years old, in short trousers; but the little
fellow had a rifle, and was held as a prisoner of war. As they stood
there I could not but wonder what those British soldiers thought of
such a sight.
While the review was going on, I stood near the Burgomaster of
Pretoria, a man whom I had met with General Botha and Secretary Reitz.
He was a man who had held the highest municipal office under the Boer
government, but now he was fawning upon a major of staff, telling him
that he had always hated the Dutch government and everything connected
with it. To gain favor in the eyes of his new masters, he blackguarded
all the men who had made him what he was. It did not seem possible that
this pitiful personage could be the same man who a few days before was
an official of the Boer government.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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