On the
16th December, or the _same day_ on which the Triumvirate had despatched
the proclamation to Pretoria containing their terms, and expressing in
the most solemn manner that they had no desire to shed blood, a large
Boer force was attacking Potchefstroom.
So much then for the sincerity of the professions of their desire to
avoid bloodshed.
The proclamation sent by Sir O. Lanyon in reply recited in its preamble
the various acts of which the rebels had been guilty, including that
of having "wickedly sought to incite the said loyal native inhabitants
throughout the province to take up arms against Her Majesty's
Government," announced that matters had now been put into the hands of
the officer commanding Her Majesty's troops, and promised pardon to all
who would disperse to their homes.
It was at Potchefstroom, which town had all along been the nursery of
the rebellion, that actual hostilities first broke out. Potchefstroom as
a town is much more Boer in its sympathies than Pretoria, which is,
or rather was, almost purely English.
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