Harry Harbord "Breaker" Morant (born Edwin Henry Murrant, 9 December 1864 – 27 February 1902) was an English horseman, bush balladist, military officer and war criminal who was convicted and executed for murdering nine prisoners-of-war (POWs) and three captured civilians in three separate incidents during the Second Boer War.
Morant travelled to the Australian colonies in 1883 and for more than fifteen years he worked in a variety of occupations in Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, during which time he developed a reputation as a horseman and bush balladist. In 1899 he enlisted in the second contingent of the South Australian Mounted Rifles to be sent by the government of that colony to serve as part of the British Empire forces fighting in South Africa during the Second Boer War. Morant embarked as a corporal and ended his term of service as a sergeant, having spent much of his time as a despatch rider. He then returned to England for six months while he unsuccessfully sought to clear some debts.
Returning to South Africa, Morant received a commission as a lieutenant with an irregular regiment – the Bushveldt Carbineers. He was arrested and court-martialled for committing murder on active service – one of the first such prosecutions in British military history. According to military prosecutors, Morant retaliated for the death in combat of his squadron commander – a close friend – with a series of revenge killings against both Boer POWs and many civilian residents of the Northern Transvaal. Morant's defence attorney, Major James Francis Thomas, asserted that his clients should be acquitted, claiming that they were acting in accordance with superior orders not to take prisoners. Despite this, Thomas was unable to establish that an order to that effect had been issued.
Morant was accused of the summary execution of Floris Visser, a wounded POW, and the slaying of four Afrikaners and four Dutch schoolteachers who had surrendered at the Elim Hospital, five of whom were members of the Soutpansberg Commando. Morant was found guilty and sentenced to death. Morant and Lieutenant Peter Handcock were then court-martialled for the murder of the Reverend Carl August Daniel Heese, a South African-born Minister of the Berlin Missionary Society. Heese had spiritually counselled the Dutch and Afrikaner victims at Elim Hospital and had been shot to death the same afternoon. Morant and Handcock were acquitted of the Heese murder, but their sentences for murdering Visser, the eight victims at Elim Hospital, and three others were implemented by a firing squad from the Cameron Highlanders on 27 February 1902.
Morant and Handcock have become folk heroes in modern Australia, representing a turning point for Australians' self-determination and independence from British rule. Their court-martial and death have been the subject of books, a stage play and an award-winning Australian New Wave film by director Bruce Beresford. Upon its release during 1980, Beresford's film both brought Morant's life story to a worldwide audience and "hoisted the images of the accused officers to the level of Australian icons and martyrs". Despite the seriousness of the evidence and charges against them, some modern Australians regard Morant and Handcock as scapegoats or even as victims of judicial murder. They continue to attempt, with some public support, to obtain a posthumous pardon or even a new trial.
According to South African historian Charles Leach, "In the opinion of many South Africans, particularly descendants of victims as well as other involved persons in the far Northern Transvaal, justice was only partially achieved by the trial and the resultant sentences. The feeling still prevails that not all the guilty parties were dealt with – the notorious Captain Taylor being the most obvious one of all."
Early life in England
Edwin Henry Murrant was born at Bridgwater, Somerset, England, on 9 December 1864. According to his Queensland marriage record, he was the son of Edwin Murrant and Catherine Murrant (née O'Reilly). Edwin and Catherine were master and matron of the Union Workhouse at Bridgwater. Morant's father died in August 1864, four months before Edwin Henry was born. Despite her reduced circumstances following her husband's death, after four applications and help from her contacts Catherine was able send her son to the local Royal Masonic Institution for Boys. He received prizes for French, German, classics, dictation and elocution, but also constantly misbehaved and influenced other boys to join him in his misdemeanours. Catherine continued as matron of the workhouse until her retirement in early 1882, having completed 21 year service. She died in July 1899.
Australia (1883–1899)
Morant (still using the name Edwin Murrant) arrived in Queensland aboard the SS Waroonga when it docked in Townsville on 5 June 1883. At the time, there was no difference in legal status, in either country, between people born in the UK and British subjects born overseas – a category that included a vast majority of people born in the Australian colonies. This did not change until the Australian nationality law of 1948. Morant did not regard himself as Australian. His former defence counsel, Major James Francis Thomas, later "reacted strongly" whenever his former client was described as such. In a letter to The Sydney Morning Herald on 16 June 1923, Thomas wrote, "Morant was not an Australian, he was an Englishman, who came to this country for 'colonial experience'."
Soon after arriving in north Queensland, Murrant joined a travelling circus/rodeo which was making its way to the mining town of Charters Towers – about 136 km (85 mi) south west of Townsville – and upon arrival he made an immediate impression on the locals with his drinking, jokes, ballads, horse riding and pursuit of women. He was employed as a stockman at Fanning Downs Station on the Burdekin River – about 20 km (12 mi) east of Charters Towers – where he met the governess, Daisy May O'Dwyer. A brief courtship resulted in marriage at Charters Towers on 13 March 1884 – the marriage registration gives his name as Edwin Henry Murrant – but this was short-lived, as he failed to pay the officiating minister his fee of five pounds and his new wife threw him out. Murrant had promised the minister that the necessary funds would be arriving soon from his aristocratic family in England, but the money never came.
Four weeks after their marriage, Murrant was charged with stealing a saddle and thirty-two pigs. When arrested, he began denying writing false cheques until he realised he was being arrested for stealing instead. He then used two cheques – which were soon dishonoured – to buy two horses. He went to the town of Winton – about 465 km (289 mi) further to the south west, but was acquitted of the stealing charges. His wife, who later became Daisy Bates – a noted anthropologist – never divorced him or revealed her early connection to Murrant/Morant.
After this, Murrant assumed the name Harry Harbord Morant, but was also known to use the surname alias Harbord to avoid creditors. He often claimed to have been born in 1865 in Devon, and to be the son of Admiral Sir George Digby Morant of the Royal Navy, a claim repeated as fact in a book published soon after his execution. Admiral Morant released a statement in 1902 that the executed man was not his son and was not in any way related to him. The author Nick Bleszynski uses circumstantial evidence to theorise that Admiral Morant could have been Edwin Murrant's biological father, predominantly citing geographic proximity and questions about the funding of Murrant's education. Other recent books such as the 2020 biography of Morant by Peter FitzSimons dismiss as fictitious Morant's claims that he was the son of Admiral Morant. Morant also claimed to have studied at the Royal Naval College, but none of his names appear in naval records.
During the next fifteen years, Morant travelled around southern Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia, being employed variously as a horse-breaker, drover, rouseabout, rough rider, horse trader, bush newspaperman, bookkeeper and storeman. He gained a reputation for his horsemanship, including as a steeplechaser and polo player, and also as drinker and womaniser. A contemporary described him thus:A shortish man, large features, small eyes (too close together), clean shaven, his skin red with alcohol, a horsey look about his dress, the manners and speech of a gentleman, of surprising physical courage (particularly on horseback), quite destitute of moral courage or moral principle; fond of exercise in the way of sport, he would never willingly exert himself to earn an honest shilling if he could borrow it off no matter whom; a confirmed dipsomaniac.
Morant shamelessly drew upon the generosity of others – often claiming to have been robbed – and routinely failed to pay back loans or pay bills he owed, moving on before the debts caught up with him. In 1889, while in Blackall in central western Queensland, Morant was arrested, charged and convicted of obtaining money under false pretences from a man in Muttaburra – for selling the same horse to two different men – and was sentenced to three months hard labour in Rockhampton jail. The warrant for his arrest described him as 173 centimetres (5 ft 8 in) tall, stout build, with brown hair and moustache, slight stammer in speech and "boasts of aristocratic friends in England".
Along with his propensity to avoid repaying loans and paying debts, Morant also had a reputation for animal cruelty and for goading Aboriginal stockmen into bare-knuckle fistfights. Morant would encourage an Aboriginal stockman to fight a few rounds with him by initially hiding his true boxing skills, then reveal them by beating him severely. He developed skills as a bush balladist, and from 1891 many of his ballads or poems were published in The Bulletin, using the sobriquets "The Breaker", "The B", "B", Harry Morant, HM, and "Apollo Beledere". Through this work, which helped fund his drinking, he made the acquaintance of the famous Australian bush poets Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson, and Will Ogilvie. The bond between Morant and Ogilvie was quite strong, and Ogilvie wrote several pieces about Morant both before and after his death.
One of the most well-known demonstrations of Morant's horsemanship occurred in 1897 at the Hawkesbury Show, north west of Sydney in New South Wales. A rough rider had brought a notoriously wild brumby called "Dargin's Grey" to the show, an eight-year-old but very muscular horse known to throw all who attempted to ride it. For over a minute, Morant rode the violently bucking horse into submission, popularising his nickname "The Breaker". In 1898, while still working in the Hawkesbury region, Morant associated with the Sydney hunt club set, through which he first made the acquaintance of a prominent Sydney solicitor, Robert Lenehan, the Mahdist War and Burma veteran Lieutenant Colonel Henry Parke Airey, and Thomas – who later became Morant's defence lawyer when he was court martialed in South Africa. Thomas had travelled from his home in Tenterfield to participate in a hunt. On 5 November 1898 one of Morant's other acquaintances was convicted by the Penrith Police Court for being drunk and disorderly at Springwood in the nearby Blue Mountains. A summons had been issued for Morant to appear on the same charge, but it had not been served because he had fled to Gunnedah in north eastern New South Wales.
Around this time, Morant's personal circumstances were increasingly straitened, and this continued until early 1900 as he reached his mid-30s. Pursued by many creditors, he was no longer young, his clothes were shabby, he looked careworn, and his alcohol-affected facial features were less attractive to women. He had to flee Melbourne in Victoria after only a month, and travelled to Adelaide in South Australia where he also quickly wore out his welcome. He retreated to a cattle station outside Renmark on the Murray River 250 km (160 mi) north east of Adelaide, where he obtained free food and accommodation by convincing a local member of the Morant clan that he was a relative. Having few prospects if he remained in Australia, Morant soon gathered a few members of the local rifle club and rode back to Adelaide to enlist for service in the Second Boer War.
To South Africa
On 13 January 1900, Morant enlisted – under the name Henry Horland Morrant – with the second contingent of the South Australian Mounted Rifles (SAMR) in Adelaide, for service in the Second Boer War. According to a report in The Advertiser – a daily newspaper – Morant, like the other volunteers, read and signed a declaration that he would faithfully serve until 17 October 1900, be subject to the Queen's rules and regulations and the rules and articles of war. Along with the rest of the contingent, Morant visited the summer residence of South Australia's governor, Hallam, Lord Tennyson – the son of Alfred, Lord Tennyson – at Marble Hill and regaled the governor and his wife with stories. After completing his training, he was appointed as a corporal and the contingent embarked for the Transvaal on 26 January 1900.
The contingent disembarked at Cape Town on 27 February 1900, and were at first sent to Prieska in the Cape Colony to join a force under the command of Major General Baron Kitchener. It was then sent back to De Aar on the railway line between Cape Town and Kimberley from where it was moved up to Bloemfontein where it joined other Australian troops as part of the main advance to Pretoria under Field Marshal Baron Roberts. Lieutenant General John French commanded the Cavalry Division, which was struggling with the quantity and quality of the horses it had been supplied, many of which came from Argentina and Hungary. The British had not anticipated the tactics the Boer commandos would use, and were ill-prepared for the war of mobility forced upon them. French became aware of Morant's knowledge and skill with horses, and arranged for him to be transferred to his remount section, where he broke in newly arrived horses, and by non-regulation methods obtained better horses for the staff, often under the cover of darkness. French also utilised Morant as a despatch rider for his staff.
After the capture of Pretoria, South Australian Colonel Joseph Gordon recommended Morant as a despatch rider to Bennet Burleigh, the war correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph, and Morant took up this position in late June 1900. He was employed directly by the newspaper, and his final pay from the British Army was on 31 July 1900. Morant's physical bravery and horse riding skills ensured he performed well in his new role as a despatch rider for Burleigh, riding hard with the war correspondent's reports to the nearest telegraph station. Burleigh and Morant followed closely behind Lord Roberts' advance from Pretoria to the border with Portuguese East Africa, and Burleigh was present with Roberts in Durban when the latter had declared that the war was practically over.
Visit to England
By late September 1900, with Burleigh accepting Roberts' contention that the war was almost over, Morant decided to travel to England with the war correspondent when he returned home. To keep his options open for a return to South Africa, he attempted to secure a place with the police force being established by Major General Robert Baden-Powell – the South African Constabulary – to safeguard law and order in the occupied Boer republics. For help with this task Morant looked to useful bureaucrats in the administration. One of these was Lieutenant Percy Hunt, a regular British Army officer formerly of the 13th Hussars who, like Morant, was a lover of both horses and polo.
The two quickly struck up a friendship. At the time, Hunt was a marriage registrar in the administration, and had served with the scouts of Lieutenant General John French's cavalry division earlier in the war, but had seen little action. Hunt, an aristocratic officer with excellent social connections – who was nearly ten years Morant's junior – gave Morant some contacts of his to get in touch with when he arrived in London. The Second Contingent of the SAMR returned to South Australia in October, and the commanding officer wrote a farewell letter of recommendation for Morant noting his satisfaction with Morant's "soldierly behaviour and continual alertness" while part of the contingent.
Morant and Burleigh arrived in Cape Town in late October and stayed at the palatial Mount Nelson Hotel where they wined and dined for several days awaiting the departure of their ship to England. Morant claimed that he did not have the funds immediately available to pay his extensive hotel bill, but that it should be forwarded to Admiral Morant in Devon and would be promptly paid. The manager agreed. Morant and Burleigh departed Cape Town aboard the Dunvegan Castle, arriving in London in late November.
As soon as he arrived in London, Morant visited the Agent-General for South Australia – the former premier, Sir John Cockburn, and told him that he had been commissioned in the South African Constabulary as a lieutenant. He then forwarded an account of the meeting to journalist friends in Adelaide, and the Adelaide Observer duly printed it a month later. In it, Morant made three false claims: that he was the son of a Colonel Morant of Renmark; that he had been commissioned as a lieutenant in the South African Constabulary; and that he was on six month's leave of absence before taking up his appointment back in South Africa.
A letter dated 23 January 1901 was sent to Admiral Morant by the Mount Nelson Hotel stating that Harry Morant had stayed there during November 1900, while claiming to be the Admiral's son. Harry Morant had further claimed to be a war correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and had "left without discharging his liability" of sixteen pounds and thirteen shillings. The letter concluded, "We shall esteem it a favour if you will let us know the course we had better adopt. We are averse to taking the matter to court till we had heard from you." This letter arrived at Brockenhurst Park, the home of a branch of the Morant clan, but Admiral Morant did not live there. The letter was received in early February 1901 by Flora Morant, whose late husband was a cousin of the admiral. She consulted with her solicitor and replied with a formal note advising the hotel that the admiral did not know the man referred to in their letter, and would not be held liable for his debts.
In early February, Morant participated in the funeral procession of Queen Victoria wearing the uniform of a lieutenant in the South African Constabulary. He was noticed by an Australian journalist who spoke to him and wrote in a South Australian newspaper published in March that "Lieutenant Morant, of B. P. P. [Baden-Powell's Police], who went out with the Second Contingent as [a] corporal, is now in England, and is visiting friends in Devonshire." In reality, Morant was not at this time a member of the British Army or the South African Constabulary, and held no rank.
Whatever his aims, Morant did not have a very successful visit to England. He mostly stayed with his unmarried sister Annie, who resented his long absence with little communication, and beyond a few trips to London to mix with a few people who knew his exploits, his visit only served to remind him of his unimpressive personal circumstances. According to FitzSimons, he had no future in England and could not return to Australia due to his debts and criminal past. Despite the fact that he did not have a commission in the South African Constabulary, he returned to South Africa in March 1901 hoping that other opportunities might present themselves.
With the Bushveldt Carbineers
After their defeats in open battle during 1899–1900, the bittereinders – the Boers who were willing to fight the British to the "bitter end" – began a guerrilla campaign against British forces. In response, Baron Kitchener – now a substantive lieutenant general, local general and overall British commander in South Africa – implemented and expanded several counterinsurgency policies, which included destroying Boer farmsteads which could support the bittereinders and interning Afrikaner non-combatants into concentration camps. Family members of known bittereinders had their rations in the camps halved. As they were no longer able to receive food and supplies from Boer civilians, the commandos began a practice of derailing trains in order to take and use food and supplies that were intended for British forces.
In response to the depredations of the commandos in the northern Transvaal, some loyalist businessmen in the Zoutpansberg district approached Kitchener and received approval for the raising of an irregular British mounted infantry regiment to consist of loyalist Boers from the district. In mid-February 1901, the provost marshal in Pretoria was tasked with establishing the regiment, initially titled the Bushveldt Mounted Rifles, but quickly renamed the Bushveldt Carbineers (BVC), The numbers of such men who came forward fell far short of the five hundred needed to form the unit, the loyalty of some of those who did was dubious, and the newly appointed commanding officer, the Australian Major Robert Lenehan, received authority to recruit time-served Australians and other colonials still in South Africa. By late March the BVC was ready for action – although only 320-strong – and was included in Brigadier General Herbert Plumer's column as it drove north along the railway line towards Pietersburg – 180 miles (290 km) north of Pretoria – on 26 March. On 1 April Plumer's force entered Nylstroom, about 135 miles (217 km) north of Pretoria.
On arrival in South Africa inquiring about opportunities, Morant was referred to Lenehan, and while Lenehan later stated that his impression of Morant in Australia would not have induced him to offer him a commission as an officer, he felt that previous Morant's service in South Africa had made him more suitable. Lenehan was also swayed by Morant's false claim that he had previously been granted a commission in the South African Constabulary. On 1 April 1901 Lenehan granted Morant a commission as a lieutenant in the BVC and sent him to join the regiment on its advance north.
Between 1 and 8 April, Plumer's column, including the BVC, pushed north and occupied Pietersburg. On the advance to Pietersburg, the BVC was tasked with responding to Boer mining of the railway line near Potgietersrus, and developed a practice of placing Boer prisoners in the second and subsequent trucks ahead of a locomotive, with an empty truck leading. When the empty lead truck was blown up by a mine and one of the trucks carrying the prisoners was damaged, the prisoners became more forthcoming about mining of the tracks further along the line. Once Pietersburg was secured, Colonel Francis Hall of the Royal Artillery was appointed as area commandant based in Pietersburg, in overall command of the BVC and two infantry units: the 2nd Battalion, the Gordon Highlanders (2GH); and the 2nd Battalion, the Wiltshire Regiment (2WR). Lenehan also established the BVC headquarters in Pietersburg. As district commissioner responsible for the civil administration, and also intelligence chief for the district, Kitchener appointed Captain Alfred Taylor. Taylor was known as Bulala (Killer) by the local African people due to his well-established reputation for ruthless brutality.
The BVC area of operations was the Zoutpansberg district – nearly one third of the Transvaal – was bounded by the Limpopo River to the north and the Waterberg range and Olifants River to the south. On 4 May, Morant led the 22-strong No. 1 Troop of B Squadron of the BVC from Pietersburg to establish themselves at a base occupied by two companies of 2WR at Strydpoort Pass near Potgietersrus, south west of Pietersburg. Morant's second-in-command was Sergeant Frank Eland, a settler from the district who Morant considered an excellent non-commissioned officer and with whom he quickly established a warm friendship. In the early morning the day after arriving at Strydpoort, Morant took a patrol out, following receipt of intelligence, and captured five Boers without casualties.
The troop mounted daily patrols and often escorted officers travelling between their base and Pietersburg. No. 2 Troop was established at the nearby Chuniespoort Pass. On 16 May Morant paraded his troop and read a message from Kitchener praising the BVC for its good work. A concentration camp was established near Pietersburg on 11 May, and within a month it held 2,000 Boers, and sometimes as many as 4,000. During its brief existence, 88 women prisoners, 523 children and 46 men held in the camp died. On 22 May the BVC were ordered to move their camp some 1.6–2.4 km (1–1.5 mi) out from the pass, and Eland directed the establishment of the defences while Morant took nine BVC men to escort a party of Boers to the concentration camp, returning three days later.
On 1 June, Morant and Eland unsuccessfully sought permission from the major in charge of the 2WR troops at Strydpoort to conduct a 110 km (70 mi) patrol. Morant travelled several times between the new camp near Strydpoort and Pietersburg in the first half of June. In mid-June, Morant's friend Hunt, whose service as a marriage registrar with the civil administration had come to an end, used his contacts at the Pretoria Club to secure himself a position as a captain with the BVC, although he did not reach Pietersberg until early July. At the end of June, both troops of B Squadron concentrated at Pietersburg to prepare to move further north, and they were replaced by 40 men from C Squadron reinforced with a few troopers from B Squadron who remained.
On 4 July, a platoon of 2GH led by Lieutenant Alexander Best were guarding a train which was blown up near Potgietersrus then attacked by a force of Boers numbering around 150. Holding out for as long as they could, ten of the Gordons, including Best, were killed, and eleven wounded. Eland recorded in a letter to his wife that Morant was very upset by the news of Best's death, as Best had been a friend of Morant. Morant led a fruitless patrol that evening, and Eland wrote that "if we had come up with that party of Boers that night we would not have taken any prisoners". Hunt was also a friend of Best. The following evening, Morant was member of a night patrol led by the adjutant of the BVC, Lieutenant Edwards, which was accused of overzealousness in searching a house that had been placed under the protection of the British Army to the extent that Edwards was briefly placed under arrest upon his return to Pietersberg. When the patrol returned to camp, Morant was not his usual talkative self. He claimed to Eland that Best and his men had been shot in cold blood by the Boers.
A Squadron at Sweetwaters Farm
In early June, Taylor had been accompanied by 60 men of A Squadron of the BVC commanded by Captain James Robertson to establish a base at Sweetwaters Farm about 130 km (80 mi) north of Pietersberg in the Spelonken region. One of the officers accompanying A Squadron was Veterinary Lieutenant Peter Handcock. A Boer commando led by Christiaan Frederik Beyers withdrew from the area when it learned of the approach of the BVC, but soon after the BVC established camp, the retired Boer leader Tom Kelly gathered his followers and re-established his own commando, as he was unable to accept British occupation of his territory. Another Boer leader, Ben Viljoen, was also active in the area, and the area of operations was far more active than the relatively quiescent area then being patrolled by B Squadron.
Taylor recruited a team of intelligence operatives drawn from local Boers, and the task of A Squadron was to assist Taylor by following up on intelligence he gathered about Boer movements. Robertson was unsuited to his command, permissive with the men and not respected by them. He distrusted his men to the extent that he kept a loaded pistol at hand at all times. Soon after arriving at Sweetwaters Farm, Taylor was accompanying a BVC patrol when he questioned an African local about the whereabouts of the Boers. When the man failed to provide any information, Taylor shot him in the head at close range.
On 2 July, Taylor received intelligence that a group of six Boers in two covered wagons were approaching Sweetwaters Farm to surrender. After conferring with Taylor and Handcock, Robertson ordered the squadron sergeant major, Kenneth Morrison, to send out a patrol to meet the Boers and shoot them rather than take them prisoner. When questioned by Morrison, Robertson couched the orders as coming from Taylor as the district commander. In fact, Taylor had no military authority to issue such orders, and Robertson was in command. When Morrison passed these orders on to Sergeant Dudley Oldham as coming from Taylor, Oldham initially refused to carry them out, but reluctantly did so when pressed.
Upon approaching the Boers, who were also herding one hundred head of oxen, Oldham's advanced patrol of seven men fired a few shots, but no fire was returned and white flags were waved to signify surrender. The Boers, who included 12-year-old Petrus Geyser and a sick old man, were disarmed and then shot by the side of the road, and in the case of the old man, while he lay in a wagon. The Boers offered no resistance at all. Taylor, Robertson and Handcock arrived at the scene some time afterwards to inspect the bodies, and their burial by local Africans was arranged. Taylor visited the nearby African kraal from which the three grave diggers had been drawn, and when he did not get the answers he wanted from them about what they would say about the shooting of the six Boers, they fled the kraal. Taylor sent a BVC patrol to find and shoot them, which they did. The oxen captured by the patrol were soon sent, with Morrison's connivance, to Taylor's farm in southern Rhodesia, a mere 48 km (30 mi) away.
One of the BVC troopers who had been a member of Oldham's patrol that shot the six surrendering Boers was Barend van Buuren, himself a Boer. Disturbed by what had happened, that evening he approached relatives of the dead Boers who were being held in at the camp, and pointed out the members of the patrol who had shot them. Several BVC members witnessed this interaction, and Handcock confronted him. The following morning van Buuren spoke to a member of the BVC about his disquiet. That day, Taylor and Robertson ordered Handcock to take out a patrol, to include van Buuren, and during the patrol, kill van Buuren when the opportunity arose, on the basis that he could not be relied upon to keep quiet about the killing of the six Boers. Once in thick bush, Handcock spread the patrol out to the extent that they could not always see the next man on their left or right, and rode up to van Buuren and shot him three times with his revolver. Upon returning to camp, Handcock submitted a report on van Buuren's death which Robertson considered unacceptable. He rewrote the report and forwarded it to Lenehan. In usual circumstances a patrol would have been sent out to retrieve van Buuren's body so it could be buried, but this was not done. Several BVC members did not believe that Boers were involved in van Buuren's death, and concluded that Handcock had murdered him. If Handcock heard anyone dissent from his version of the events surrounding van Buuren's death, he threatened to shoot them.
In early July, a report from an intelligence agent operating in the northern Transvaal was received by Hall in Pietersberg alleging "poor discipline, unconfirmed murders, drunkenness, and general lawlessness in the Spelonken". The report also alleged that Robertson had sexually assaulted a Boer woman. In response, on 11 July – the afternoon of Best's funeral – Hall sent Hunt, Morant and Lieutenant Charles Hannam, along with about 60 BVC troops of B Squadron, to relieve Robertson and A Squadron, who were to proceed to Pietersberg immediately. Hunt was to assume command of a new base, which was to be established around a portable steel fort about 1.6 km (1 mi) from Sweetwaters Farm, soon dubbed "Fort Edward" after the new king, Edward VII. Hunt's command arrived at Sweetwaters Farm on 13 July, and Robertson and most of A Squadron set off for Pietersberg the following day. Only six troopers and a couple of officers from Robertson's command remain with Hunt; one of the retained officers was Handcock, based on Taylor's recommendation. Eland wrote to his wife that the members of A Squadron had not been glad to see B Squadron, and there were several ugly rumours about the actions of several A squadron members, to the extent that a court martial for murder might be held. Before Hunt left Pietersburg he delivered two polo ponies to Kitchener's residence in Pretoria. While there he claimed to have had a discussion with Colonel Hubert Hamilton, Kitchener's military secretary, who told him that the Zoutpansberg district was to be cleared of Boers and that no prisoners were to be taken. Once in command of B Squadron, Hunt relayed these instructions to his officers on several occasions, but they continued to bring in prisoners until after his death despite his protestations.
Robertson was given a choice between court martial and resigning his commission. Robertson submitted his resignation and quit the military.
B Squadron at Fort Edward
While Fort Edward was being established – including the construction of barbed wire entanglements, picket barricades and entrenchments – patrolling commenced. A fifteen-man patrol under Hannam departed with four days' rations on 16 July aiming to deal with restive African people near the Letaba River. On 18 July, a parade and festivities were held to "christen" the fort, and there were several visitors, including the Reverend Fritz Reuter of the Berlin Missionary Society and his family, who ran the nearby Mendingen Mission. Reuter was on good terms with the BVC, probably due to his familiarity with the Eland family. While he was there, Reuter told Hunt that Viljoen's commando had established camp in the Duivelskloof (Devil's Gully) near the mission, from which they were harassing locals who did not support their cause. This included Eland mother at the family farm at "Ravenshill". When Reuter and his family returned to the mission, Hunt sent an escort party to protect them and to confirm the location of Viljeon's commando. The day after the parade, a twenty-man patrol under Lieutenant Picton left the fort to meet a supply convoy coming from Pietersberg. Upon meeting the convoy, several jars of rum were stolen and two members were arrested. By the time the convoy and accompanying patrol reached Fort Edward, a whole case of rum had been stolen and more arrests were made, including Morrison, who had remained behind as squadron sergeant major of B Squadron when A Squadron departed for Pietersberg. Morrison fled Fort Edward on 24 July, and an eight-man patrol under a Sergeant Gray was sent after him. They caught up with him where the stolen rum had been secreted, and joined him in drinking the rum, after which they rode on to Pietersberg. On arrival at Pietersberg, Lenehan interrogated Morrison and Gray, and after consulting with Hall, he discharged all nine from the BVC, and Morrison and Gray were ordered to leave Pietersberg. However, heavy drinking remained common at Fort Edward under Hunt's command.
On 27 July, Hunt and Handcock left Fort Edward in a cart, escorted by Eland and another sergeant. They left just after midday with half an hour's notice and headed for the Ellerton gold mine, about 89 km (55 mi) from Fort Edward. Hunt expected to meet someone at Fonseca's store – about 56 km (35 mi) from Fort Edward – so stayed overnight, but the contact did not appear. They continued on until they encountered the camp of the caretaker of the Ellerton mine, George Anderson, who had recently returned to the district after being expelled by the Boers. He told them of Lobedu people who were causing problems and would not provide any information about Boer movements. He also told them that there was a 300-strong Boer commando on the other side of the Groot Letaba River, and that Viljoen was active in the area. It was decided that Eland would conduct an unarmed liaison mission to the Lobedu people, wearing civilian clothes, as they knew him as a local farmer and were friendly towards him. He would also be able to visit his farm, "Ravenshill" which was in the area, and visit his mother. He received a briefing from one of Taylor's intelligence agents, and rode his personal horse which had no military brands. Eland was successful, visited his farm and saw his mother, and also obtained much useful information about Boer movements and some assistance from the Lobedu. On his return to the Ellerton mine camp on 26 July, he was met by a patrol led by Lieutenant Hannam, which escorted him back to Fort Edward, arriving on the morning of 30 July with three Boer prisoners they had collected near Mendingen Mission. When they arrived at Fort Edward, there were few BVC members at the fort, as Morant was out with a patrol to the west and Picton was likewise scouting to the east. Hunt praised Eland's work and reported the information he had collected to Taylor who forwarded it to Pietersburg.
When Morant's patrol, comprising mixed elements of B Squadron as most of his own troop was otherwise employed, returned to Fort Edward on the morning of 31 July, they brought with them 18 captured Boers, along with their women and children, 15 wagons, 30 rifles and 500 head of cattle. When he reported to Hunt, the squadron commander chastised Morant for bringing them in, and said that if he brought in any more he could feed them with his own rations. Woolmore asserts that Hunt was concerned about depleting his strength with guarding and escort duties, and the impost prisoners made on the limited food available. A day or two later, a BVC scouting patrol located eighteen Boers with twice that number of horses camped about 64 km (40 mi) away from Fort Edward, and a large patrol was sent out to engage them.
On 1 August a B Squadron patrol commanded by Picton captured two Boers on horseback about 9.7 km (6 mi) from the fort. The same patrol then set an ambush and subsequently captured seven wagons, two Cape carts, fourteen Boers, about seventeen rifles with ammunition, and about fifty women and children, along with some cattle. Picton's patrol then rode after a party of Boers led by a local farmer named Klopper. After stopping at the kraal of a local African chief, they obtained detailed intelligence about the party and caught them completely by surprise, capturing a further thirteen Boers along with many women and children. By this point Picton's patrol was 121 km (75 mi) from Fort Edward, and on 5 August they began a three-day trek back, slowed down by the wagons and cattle.
In the meantime, on 3 August, Lieutenant George Witton led twenty BVC reinforcements – including a replacement for Morrison, Sergeant Major Ernest Hammett – from Pietersburg to Fort Edward, and they were met a few miles from the fort by Lieutenant Hannam who guided them in. Upon arrival, Witton first met Morant and Handcock. Picton's patrol was still on its way back in, and Hunt had just left with seventeen men. During this first month at Fort Edward, Morant and Handcock were cruel to a captured monkey – tying it up and shooting at it – but Morant was also kind to Boer children held at Fort Edward prior to their departure for the Pietersburg concentration camp.
Attack at Duivelskloof and the death of Hunt
The detachment sent protect Reuter and his family on their return journey had then conducted a reconnaissance patrol to locate Viljoen's commando. At dawn on 30 July, BVC Trooper James Christie – a New Zealand farmer in his civilian life – had sent a messenger back to Fort Edward that a Boer laager had been located, with about twenty men with several wagons and carts and livestock to pull them. Information indicated that the laager was being used as a depot for supplies being transferred to a much larger laager in the nearby Modjadji mountains, where Viljoen was camped with between 80 and 100 of his men. It was in response to this information that Hunt had assembled fifteen BVC troops, and set out on the evening of 3 August. Hunt left Morant in command at Fort Edward, and took Eland with him, despite protests from Morant. The initial plan was to ride the 64 km (40 mi) due south to Buffelsberg where they would meet Christie, then attack the nearby laager under cover of dark. The force stopped at the Schiel farm, where Hunt arranged for Tony Schiel, one of Taylor's intelligence scouts, to accompany them. Shortly after leaving the Schiel farm, some African tribesmen informed Hunt's patrol that Viljoen was currently staying at the farmhouse of Wilem Viljoen in the Duivelskloof with a few men. Hunt immediately decided to ride to that location and attack, prioritising killing or capturing Viljoen over attacking the laager Christie's patrol had located. In order to strengthen his force, Hunt directed Eland to assemble a force of African tribesmen to assist. Given that Reuter's mission was only about 9.7 km (6 mi) from Viljoen's farm, the enhanced force then marched and rode through the night to the mission, arriving around 9 pm on 5 August. Upon arrival at Reuter's, the missionary was taken aback by Hunt's plan to attach the farmhouse, warning Hunt at length about the dangers of attacking the farmhouse, situated as it was in a rocky gully with only two ways in or out. Reuter also told Hunt that not only did Viljoen have fifteen men with him, but there were another forty men at the Botha farm a mere 6.4 km (4 mi) away, who would ride to cut them off as soon as they attacked the Viljoen farm. Hunt thanked Reuter for his assistance and advice, and the force left the mission about 11:30 pm. As they left, Hunt spoke to each of the four sergeants in his patrol, Eland, Gray, Oldham and Robinson, and told them that if he was shot, that they were to get out of the gully containing the Viljoen farmhouse before daylight.
In the very early hours of the following morning, Hunt's force dismounted about 1.6 km (1 mi) away from the Viljoen farmhouse and approached on foot. The building consisted of the living quarters in the centre with stables on either end. Hunt planned to approach the farmhouse, call out to the Boers inside that they were surrounded, and then if they did not do so, he would fire a shot, and Trooper Silke would send the fifty tribesmen forward to rush the farmhouse. In preparation, he sent Silke and his group along the road until they were about 46 m (50 yd) behind the farmhouse to await the signal. Another group of tribesmen accompany Schiel to a hill to the rear of the building. With Eland sticking close at his request, Hunt then brought the rest of the force within 200 yd (180 m), and approached the farmhouse himself, accompanied by Eland. Barend Viljoen and his men were aware of the approach of Hunt's force, having had scouts watching them for most of the previous day. The Boers were positioned in protected positions around the house and ordered to hold their fire until Viljoen opened fire. Unaware of these preparations, Hunt called on Viljoen to surrender, and firing broke out immediately. Most of the BVC troops immediately took cover, but Hunt ran forward, firing as he went, closely followed by Eland. In the ensuing firefight, Barend Viljoen, his brother Johannes, and another Boer were mortally wounded, and Hunt was about twenty paces from the door of the farmhouse when he was shot in the chest. Eland was also hit, shot through the hips and lower stomach. Silke attempted to send the tribesmen forward to attack, but they retreated instead.
According to the memoirs of Hendrik Adriaan Jacobs, the Viljoen Commando knew that an attack was coming. The members of the Commando, however, were "feverish" from the effects of malaria and fatalistically waited for the arrival of the Bushveldt Carbineers. Jacobs later recalled how he saw Hunt's party through a window and began shooting. Possibly mistaking Jacobs's first shot for the signal, the BVC and the Lobedu also began shooting and general pandemonium ensued. In an exchange of fire, Captain Hunt was shot through the chest. Sergeant Frank Eland was killed attempting to go to Hunt's aid, as was at least one Lobedu warrior. On the Boer side, Barend Viljoen, his brother J.J. Viljoen, and G. Hartzenberg were killed. The dead of both sides were left behind by their retreating comrades.
When the surviving members of the patrol returned to Medingen Mission Station, Rev. Reuter asked them about their officers and "was told a confusing and contradictory story of what had happened". Decades later, Rev. Reuter's daughter recalled in a televised interview, "My father roused on them, asking how they could leave their Captain like that."
The body of Captain Hunt was later found stripped, with his neck broken, his face stomped on with a hobnailed boot, and with his legs slashed with a knife.
According to Leach, however, Captain Hunt's broken neck would be consistent with a fall down the concrete steps after being wounded. The mutilations found on his body were also found on the bodies of the three dead Boers. Both sides blamed the other for the disfigurement of the dead. Hendrik Jacobs, however, believed that Lobedu witch-doctors were to blame. According to historian Charles Leach, accounts by French anthropologist Henri Junod reveal that the traditional practice of the Lobedu people was to disembowel dead and dying warriors on the battlefield to set their spirits free.