rn
General would not listen to good advice.

I must repeat here what I have said before, that as far as my personal
knowledge of General Cronje goes, it is evident to me that his obstinacy
in maintaining his position must be ascribed to the fact that it was too
much to ask him--intrepid hero that he was--to abandon the laager. His
view was that he must stand or fall with it, nor did he consider the
certain consequences of his capture. He never realized that it would be
the cause of the death of many burghers, and of indescribable panic
throughout not only all the laagers on the veldt, but even those of
Colesberg, Stormberg and Ladysmith. If the famous Cronje were captured,
how could any ordinary burgher be expected to continue his resistance?

It may be that it was the will of God, who rules the destinies of all
nations, to fill thus to the brim the cup which we had to empty, but
this consideration does not excuse General Cronje's conduct. Had he but
taken my advice, and attempted a night attack, he might have avoided
capture altogether.

I have heard men say that as the General's horses had all been killed,
the attempt which I urged him to make must have failed--that at all
events he would have been pursued and overtaken by Lord Roberts' forces.
The answer to this is not far to seek. The English at that time did not
employ as scouts Kaffirs and Hottentots, who could lead them by night as
well as by day. Moreover, with the reinforcements I had received, I had
about sixteen hundred men under me, and they would have been very useful
in holding back the enemy, until Cronje had made his escape.

No words can describe my feelings when I saw that Cronje had
surrendered, and noticed the result which this had on the burghers.
Depression and discouragement were written on every face. The effects of
this blow, it is not too much to say, made themselves apparent to the
very end of the war.

[Footnote 22: "How is it with you?"]

[Footnote 23: Eleven or twelve days after, Commandant Spruit was again
with us. When he appeared, he seemed to us like one risen from the dead.
We all rejoiced, not only because he was a God-fearing man, but also
because he was of a lovable disposition. I heard from his own mouth how
he had escaped. He told me that the day after his capture, he was sent,
under a strong escort, from Lord Roberts' Headquarters to the railway
station at Modder River, and that he started from there, with a guard of
six m