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Military History – South Africa – Europe – England 19th Century
.Article – Online Historic Information | Military
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Provisions
While the British army had a well-developed supply system to provision their troops, the
arrangements of the Boer governments proved unequal to the scale of the demand of extensive
warfare early in the conflict and, of course, collapsed entirely once the guerrilla war started.
The burgher reporting to join his commando had to bring with him eight days’ rations, after
which his government was responsible for feeding him. The usual rations a burgher brought were
meat, either in the form of sausages or biltong, that is, dried meat, and Boer biscuits, small loaves
made of flour and using fermented raisins in the place of yeast. When these were gone flour, coffee,
salt and sugar were issued as was meat on the hoof. After butchering, the meat was distributed by a
Vleeschkorporal, who handed it out with his back to the line of recipients, to avoid charges of
favouritism, and the burghers cooked it themselves.
The faults in the management of the distribution of food led to a flood of complaints, but once the
Boer seats of government had been taken by the British, the commandos had to fend for themselves.
Bread became a rarity and mealies, or maize porridge, food previously considered suitable only for
black Africans, was the norm. Provisions were obtained from the isolated farms until the British
destroyed them. Crops were sown and harvested in areas away from British lines and the produce of
farmers and black Africans acquired either in exchange for promissory notes to be redeemed in due
course or for no payment at all. The lack of salt was seriously felt and coffee was soon replaced with
a powder made of burnt barley. One benefit of mobility was that the Boers usually had a satisfactory
supply of fruit. Sheep, cattle and goats, as well as other provisions, were much sought-after booty in
actions against the British. The increasing grip of the British on food supplies was a significant factor
in the eventual surrender of the Boers.
Reference:
De Wet, Three Years War (London, Archibald Constable, 1902); Pretorius, Fransjohan, Life on
Commando during the Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902 (Cape Town, Human & Rousseau, 1999).
Public Hanging
The British naturally treated Boer citizens of the Cape and Natal colonies as rebels and traitors if
they joined the Boer commandos, and the crime of high treason was punishable by death. Some
sentences were carried out in public. The ardently pro-British book After Pretoriareports one such
execution as follows: “As the Dutch . . . did not hesitate to allege that the British did not dare to
execute the criminals whom they sentenced to death, but merely spirited them away into banishment . .
. it became important to show the disloyal that we actually had the courage and the determination to
carry out the sentences”. Accordingly, Johannes Petrus Coetzee, who was sentenced to death on 24
June 1901 at Dordrecht and whose
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