TOPIC:

An interesting Boer War subject is the role of the so-called Agterryer (Dutch: Achter Rijder, he who rides behind). Agterryers were natives who voluntarily or involuntary accompanied the Boers onto the battlefield in supportive roles such as cart drivers, horse grooms, cattle drivers, cooks etcetera. More often than not, the Agterryer (and his family) lived and worked on the same farm as the Boer he accompanied. This interwoven relationship was the reason why the Agterryer was on the whole loyal and dependable and as a group allowed the Republicans to partly offset the British Empire’s numerical superiority during the war.

As war progressed, the role of the Agterryer evolved, as many became employed in more active roles such as dispatch riders, spies and guides. A few occasions are known where Agterryers actively participated in battles. To the great vexation of the Boers, the British had less qualms about arming natives and deploying them as active combatants e.g. in the defense of besieged towns, as scouts or blockhouse guards, dispatch riders etc. Because neither side in the conflict recognized the natives in service by the enemy as regular troops, the fate of such men when caught (especially spies and dispatch riders) was often a summary execution followed by burial in an unmarked grave.

The number of Agterryers who accompanied the Boers into the war is significant and estimated between 12.000 and 15.000. Some Agterryers stayed in the field for the entire duration of the war. The number of natives in the service of the British was even larger and probably exceeded the total number of Boers in the field during the war.

The role of the natives in the war remained largely ignored post Vereeniging Peace Treaty. Some information about them can nonetheless be gleaned from books written by Boer personalities. For example, Grobler writes about Willem Gullet, Deneys Reitz about Charley and C.A. Cronje about Kleinbooi Sabalana. One Agterryer, Jan Ruiter, became quite famous for courageously saving President Steyn from being captured when the Boer camp was overrun at Reitz in 1901.

To my knowledge none of the Agterryers left a written record of his war experiences. Correspondence to and from Agterryers in the field during the war is also extremely rare, not only because few letters were written (illiteracy rates were high) to begin with, but also because the propensity to retain such correspondence was probably low. Whatever was left after the war often suffered the same fate as other documents of the period that were kept in less than optimal (humidity) storage conditions.

Nonetheless a few letters survived. At the dispersal of Kenneth Griffiths’ Boer War collection in 2006, a small batch of letters surfaced that were written or received by one Elias Matsobane. (Matsobanie). Matsobane lived near Pretoria on the farm “Edendal” (possibly Edendale 458*, just north-east of Eerste Fabrieken) The batch also included some envelopes that had contained letters Matsobane received from his wife, and these were posted in Pretoria and addressed to him care of Commando D.J.E. Erasmus ( General D.J.E. Erasmus, “Daan Kommandant” or “Generaal Maroela”) and VC M.G Pretorius. (Probably Thijs Pretorius of Spionkop fame of the Pretoria Commando and mentioned in Die Helde Album page 89)



The letter shown below was written by Elias to his wife on the 18th of March 1900 at Hattingspruit (near Glencoe and Dundee). It is in Afrikaans and difficult to read. Elias asks about the well-being of his children and various other individuals, wants to know whether the corn has been reaped and conveys that he is still well. He ends the letter with “look after yourself and be ensured that I will be back one day” and signs off with “from my hand and my heart”, Elias Matsobane.




*The farm Edendale 458 is also the place where Corporal O.D. King of the 1st Victorian Contingent was killed on July 16, 1900

Cpl O.D.King

EFV, a very interesting topic.
I have this book:
Ghostriders of the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902): The Role and Contribution of Agterryers Lubaschagne, P. ISBN 10: 1868880656 / ISBN 13: 9781868880652
Published by Unisa Press, Pretoria, 1999
Though it's unobtainable now (just see the prices on Abebooks...) I'd be happy to lend it to a fourmmer who wanted to read it.
Rob

Of all the photographs taken of Boers on commando during the war relatively few feature Agterryers. The reason therefor may perhaps not be that obvious. I have heard tales of certain black people being camera shy as they hold the superstition that every photograph takes a part of the soul away.

Below two photographs featuring Agterryers by van Nes and van Hoepen respectively.

The War Museum of the Boer Republics in Bloemfontein has quite a lot on agterryers, seee for example:
monument-sa.co.za/die-agterryer-bloemfon...die-boererepublieke/

Two more examples.

The well-known photograph of General Joubert and Staff, and one of a group of Boers, taken at the Intermediate Pumping Station, Kimberley.






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