The covenant - James A. Michener [449]
'M' God!' one young officer cried. 'They're shooting the horses!' In rage he began firing at the retreating Boers, and although everyone knew that the invaders could not be reached, the entire cavalry contingent blazed away at them, firing and cursing as they watched their great steeds go down. When dawn came, both the Englishmen and the Boers realized that the remainder of this war was going to be excessively ugly.
'An inhuman act,' General Kitchener cried when he saw the dead horses. 'No civilized man would do such a thing.'
He had no right to be sensitive about what civilized men would do or not do; in the fiery battle that had led to the surrender of General Cronje and his four thousand Boers, a critical moment had come when the English line seemed to be wavering. It could be stabilized only by some drastic action which would command the attention and respect of all. Kitchener had seen the solution.
'Cavalry, charge up the center, and even if you do not reach the Boer laager, blaze away at them.'
'Sir,' the Scottish commander of the horsemen protested, 'that would be suicidal.'
Kitchener stiffened. He knew that by ordinary standards the order was insane, but this vast battle was not ordinary. 'I command you to charge the laager.'
The Scotsman saluted briskly. 'Very well, sir.' He realized that if he disobeyed, he would be court-martialed and perhaps shot, but he also knew that if he obeyed, two hundred of his best men would be slain. He solved the problem in a heroic way. Turning to the brigade, he said, 'Retire twenty paces and regroup.' To his four officers he said, 'Return to camp and fetch us more ammunition.' When all were safely behind him, he turned to face the distant enemy and started riding slowly toward the laager, as ordered.
On and on he came, far ahead of his men, riding on a tall white horse that stepped forward with stately caution. Suddenly he spurred his horse and ranged forward, closing upon the enemy guns, well hidden behind bulwarks, and it became apparent to both the English and the Boers what he was doing. He was obeying orders. He had been told to charge, and he was about to charge, but his obedience did not mean that he had to carry his men to their death. There was a hush, and then he whipped out his sword, tilting it at the proper angle, and as his handsome animal leaped forward he bellowed, 'Charge!'
Boers, watching him gallop into the muzzle of their guns, could not bring themselves to fire, but one burgher who had read Sir Walter Scott understood the traditions of chivalry and knew that from such a charge there would be no retreat, nor any place in English life after such insubordination. 'Fire!' this man shouted, but no one responded. 'Fire,' he cried again, 'we must help him,' but once more there was awed silence. But when the rider was almost to the guns, the burghers opened fire at him, and he fell dead.
For General Kitchener to order a Scottish officer and his men to certain death was warfare, and as a consequence of such discipline, he had been enabled to destroy General Cronje; but for Paulus de Groot to kill two hundred Argentine horses was, in Kitchener's words: 'A show of barbarism, an inhuman act of madness outside the rules of civilized warfare.'
From now on, the war would be marked by many inhuman acts, but it would depend upon which side was speaking as to where the inhumanity lay. The English attitude was well summarized by General Kitchener: 'Damnit all, stands to reason, what I mean. Why don't they dress in khaki, like a proper army, so you can see them, and get down off those damned ponies and fight like men? What's all this hitting a man and then running awayare they cowards, or what? The damned Wogs fought better than these fellows. The lot of them need a proper hiding.'
General Roberts, a more temperate man, objected to three things about the Boers: 'They don't obey their commanders, so it's impossible to make a truce with them. They lack discipline, so you never know what they're apt to do next. And I don't like to bring this up, but they are careless, very