However independent and irresponsible the Boer officer may have been, he
was a man in irons compared with the Boer burgher. The burgher was bound
by no laws except such as he made for himself. There was a State law which
compelled him to join a commando and to accompany it to the front, or in
default of that law to pay a small fine. As soon as he was "on commando,"
as he called it, he became his own master and could laugh at Mr. Atkins
across the way who was obliged to be constantly attending to various camp
duties when not actively engaged. No general, no act of Volksraad could
compel him to do any duty if he felt uninclined to perform it, and there
was no power on earth which could compel him to move out of his tent if he
did not desire to go. In the majority of countries a man may volunteer to
join the army but when once he is a soldier he is compelled to fight, but
in the Boer country the man was compelled to join the army, but he was not
obliged to fight unless he volunteered to do so. There were hundreds of
men in the Natal laagers who never engaged in one battle and never fired a
shot in the first six months of the war. Again, there were hundreds of men
who took part in almost every one of the battles, whether their commando
was engaged or not, but they joined the fighting voluntarily and not
because they were compelled to do so.
When a Krijgsraad determined to make or resist an attack it was decided by
the officers at the meeting how many men were needed for the work.
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