A Guide to the Richard Harding Davis Letters Concerning South Africa and the Boer War
A Collection in
The Clifton Waller Barrett Library
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession number 6109-y
![[logo]](http://ead.lib.virginia.edu/vivaead/logos/uva-sc.jpg)
Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryUniversity of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4110
USA
Phone: (434) 243-1776
Fax: (434) 924-4968
Reference Request Form: https://small.lib.virginia.edu/reference-request/
URL: http://small.library.virginia.edu/
© 2011 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.
Processed by: Special Collections Staff
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Use Restrictions
See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.
Preferred Citation
Richard Harding Davis Collection, Clifton Waller Barrett Library, Accession #6109-y, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
These letters were given to the University of Virginia Special Collections Library by E. Anthony Newton, on July 7, 2009.
Biographical/Historical Information
Davis was born on April 18, 1864, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Lemuel Clarke Davis, a newspaper editor, and prominent novelist, Rebecca Harding Davis. He made his reputation as a newspaper reporter in May to June 1889, by reporting on the devastation of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, following the disaster of the flood. Davis became a managing editor of Harper's Weekly , and was one of the world's leading war correspondents at the time of the Second Boer War in South Africa. As an American, he had the unique opportunity to see the war first-hand from both the British and Boer sides. Davis also worked as a reporter for the New York Herald, The Times , and Scribner's Magazine . He was married twice, first to Cecil Clark Lewis, an artist, in Marion, Massachusetts, on May 4, 1899, and then to Bessie McCoy, a Vaudeville star. He and Bessie had a daughter, Hope. Davis died of a heart attack at home on April 11, 1916 at fifty-one years of age. Several books were consulted for information concerning Davis and his trip to South Africa, including The Richard Harding David Years by Gerald Langford, The Reporter Who Would Be King by Arthur Lubow and With Both Armies by Richard Harding Davis.
Scope and Content
This collection contains Richard Harding Davis Letters concerning South Africa and the Boer War. Letters and documents by Richard Harding Davis and his wife Cecil describe their voyages to and from South Africa, the cities of Cape Town and Pretoria, and his coverage of the Boer War from both the British and the Boer sides. There are references to General Buller, Winston Churchill, Lady Randolph Churchill, Christiaan de Wet, Rudyard Kipling, Paul Kruger, Sir Alfred Milner, Lord Frederick Roberts, Allen Sangree, President M. T. Steyn, and Sir George Stuart White. Of great interest are letters describing the relief of Ladysmith, March 3-4, 1900, and the fall of Pretoria, May 18, 1900. A photograph of Cecil in a rickshaw in Durban is included as is a magazine of their return ship the R. P. D. König of the Deutsche Ost-Afrika-Linie.
Arrangement
These letters were formerly mounted into a scrapbook and numbered consecutively with a penciled notation at the top of the letter. The letters have been removed from the scrapbook for preservation purposes. The collection is now arranged by the date of the letter, or if undated, by the contents of the letter, and not the original order as arranged in the scrapbook, presumably that of the date of receipt.
Item number 10 is actually two separate letters on two consecutive days, so it has been foldered separately. Several numbers, 25, 28, 30, and 32, are missing and those items are presumed lost or mis-numbered by the recipient or the creator of the scrapbook. There are also two items numbered 33. When it can be determined, the entire name of the correspondent is used in the listing, even if the letter has only the first name or a nickname. This is indicated by the use of brackets.
Contents List
Box-folder 1:1
[1900 January 10?] Cecil [Clark Davis] to
Dear Mrs. [Rebecca Harding] Davis, note on
U.S.M.S. St. Louis stationery, saying goodbye to the Davis
family, including Mr. Davis and Nora Davis, as they are sailing to
London to secure authorization for Richard to cover the Boer War with
the British forces in the Transvaal,
1 page on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:2
[1900 January] 10-13 Richard Harding Davis
("Dick") to Dear Mother [Rebecca Harding Davis], written on
U.S.M.S. St. Louis stationery, states he and
his wife, Cecil, have the most comfortable staterooms, they have met
many people who claim to have met them before, everyone is very
interested in their trip, and travel was very smooth until
Saturday,
4 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:3
[1900 January 13] [Richard Harding Davis] to
[Rebecca Harding Davis?], written on U.S.M.S. St.
Louis stationery, Saturday, sea continues to be stormy,
tells a story about a man at his table who put up a freight trolley line
over the Chilkoot Pass to the Klondike district in the Yukon Territory,
Canada, and used it to ferry sixty frozen bodies over it in buckets at
one time; their ship is halfway across to Great Britain; they also had
tea with the Cass Canfield couple and talked politics at dinnertime. The
Klondike man claims he is a great leader in the Democratic party and
predicts they will toss out Bryan at the Convention at the last minute
and nominate Dewey or Olney with Wheeler as vice president. He assures
them that this is the strategy of Whitney and Josiah Quincy.
4 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:4
[1900 January 20?] [Richard Harding Davis]
to Dear Nora [Davis], Bath Hotel, arrived on Wednesday at two in the
morning at the hotel and the porter brought them food and drink as they
sat in front of the fire; could not leave on Saturday because the War
Office refused him credentials; if they still refuse to issue them,
Davis plans on going without them, using instead letters of introduction
from [Herbert?] Asquith and others, to [Frederick] Roberts, Lord
[Alfred?] Milner, and [Herbert] Kitchener. They missed traveling down
[to the Transvaal] with [Rudyard] Kipling but on next Saturday plan to
go with [Henry Somers] Somerset, who cannot get a job as a
correspondent. Cecil has letters from Mrs. Asquith to Lady Edward Cecil
and Lady Charles Benedict, both of whom are at Mafeking.
4 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:5
[1900 January 22?] Richard [Harding Davis]
to Dear Nora [Davis], on Bath Hotel, Piccadilly, stationery, tries to
relate all the exciting things that have happened since they have
arrived in [London?] because their situation seems to change by the
hour, trying to decide whether to go with the British or the Boers, to
stay in London or return home, to work for The
Herald or The Mail; The
British refused to give Davis a correspondent pass and he had decided to
go with the Boers, when [George W.] Steevens died and Lord Alfred
Harmsworth asked him if he could break with The
Herald and take Steevens place. He offered to write for both
papers, which [James Gordon] Bennett, Jr. finally agreed to. Richard and
Cecil also have had dinner with Mrs. [Herbert?] Asquith; at another
dinner, Cecil sat next to [Alfred] Beit, who gave them letters to "all
the millionaire Hebrews at the Cape, wives and all. He is the man who
subscribed $250,000 for the volunteers and who is described as the man
who paid for the Jameson Raid. He paid [John Hays] Hammond's fine which
was in itself $175,000."
7 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:6
[1900 January 23?] Cecil [Clark Davis] to
Mrs. [Rebecca Harding] Davis, Tuesday, writes "We are leading such a
busy life these days & meeting so
many new & exciting people that my brain reels - At last
things are
fixed about the credentials. Dick is to take the place of
Steevens & write for The Daily Mail ."
Taking over Steevens credentials were arranged with the help of Sir
Evelyn Wood. Cecil also mentions the help given them by Alfred Beit who
furnished letters of introduction and arranged rooms for them in South
Africa through his partners. Davis's play was well received by Cyril
Maude who wanted to show it to Wyndham. Richard's sciatica has also
improved. Cecil mentioned needing a maid to go to South Africa and the
rumors about the food shortages there.
3 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:7
[1900 January 27?] [Richard Harding Davis]
to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis] on Steamship
S.S. Scot stationery, Davis is on board and
leaving port, has bribed the company agent to get Cecil and himself
better staterooms, with Cecil's large enough to give teas and dances,
also rescuing their maid with a room of her own and saving himself a
considerable amount of money by dealing with the agent instead of the
company. Many friends came to see them off and they are accompanied by
[Henry Somers] Somerset and Butler Duncan of New York. He asks his
mother to tell Louise Clark what he has written and give his love to
Nora and Dad.
4 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:8
[1900] January 31 [Richard Harding Davis] to
Nora [Davis], on Steamship S.S. Scot
stationery, reports that the trip has been rough so far, making them
glad to see land, even if it is only a slice of Portugal; Davis plans to
try to go with Kitchener, the main column, and will not try to pick up
the ends of the other campaigns; feels that since Kitchener cannot start
for several weeks, he will have plenty of time to settle Cecil in Cape
Town, South Africa, with friends and her maid, "I think her chance of
getting to the front is extremely small - extremely so - what we both
want is a quick campaign lots of things to write about and a quick
return - with The Mail and
The Herald I now have a great chance and an
immense audience, and nothing is read in England except war letters."
Both Richard and Cecil were very happy at the Bath [Hotel] in London,
and Cecil now loves the city as much as he does. Notes that they did not
receive any of his mother's letters while in London.
7 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:9
[1900] January 31 Cecil [Clark Davis] to
Mrs. [Rebecca Harding] Davis, on Steamship S.S.
Scot stationery, off Madeira, complains that "Dick tells you
everything & leaves me nothing; which is perhaps as well as he is
certainly a good describer"; mentions the rough seas, the possibility of
a casino and roulette table night to relieve the monotony on board,
hearing much of Transvaal matters, especially inside stories from
[Alfred] Beit; she writes "am in the painful state of being half
convinced that the English have rights
- However I think I can escape all troubles by turning Kaffir & Red
American Indians & [Filipino] & from this high moral stand no
one can move me"; she also notes that she is supposed to "sustain the
wounded" when she arrives in Cape Town.
3 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:10
[1900] February 4 "Dick" Richard [Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], describes in great
detail the adventures they had on the trip by Portuguese rowboat to
Madeira taken by himself, Cecil, and Somers, in very rough and high
seas, his success at the roulette table the brief while they were in the
casino, the order of champagne for everyone out of his winnings, leaving
him seventy-five dollars to the good, his meal of fried eggs, and the
negotiation for payment on the return trip.
5 pages on 3 leaves
Box-folder 1:11
1900 February 9 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis] on Steamship
S.S. Scot stationery, describes their
participation in the "sports" contests on board ship through Cecil's
maid, Hubert, who won the threading a needle contest; the reassurance by
people who have lived in Cape Town for awhile that they have
introductory letters to the most important people there, including
almost every multimillionaire out of Kimberly, [Lord Alfred] Milner, and
the ladies nursing the wounded, so Richard has no uneasiness about
leaving Cecil in their care while he hopes to make his way to the front
with either Roberts or Kitchener. He believes the war an immense
opportunity, "as all the officers say, it is like taking a degree in war
there will not be such a chance again, and there has never been one like
it - I mean the use of modern weapons has been developed in the campaign
for the first time."
4 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:12
1900 February [10] "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis] on Steamship
S.S. Scot stationery, describes the very
English manner of awarding the prizes for the sports contest held
yesterday involving a great deal of pomp and circumstance. Their maid,
Hubert, gave her prize money to the two youngest cabin boys.
4 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:13
[1900] February 14 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on Mount Nelson Hotel,
Cape Town, stationery, writes that they are settled in a very smart
hotel with many gardens and facing the mountains "owing to the crowding
Somerset has to room with me - Cecil has a very good room by herself";
[H.J.] Whigham has quarreled with [Paul Sanford Baron] Methuen and lost
his press pass to the front; and Richard mentions Rudyard Kipling,
"Kipling is at the hotel and walks around with his arm around his wife's
waist - He is very friendly, she is a middle class cat."
3 pages on 3 leaves
Box-folder 1:14
1900 February 17 Telegram from [Richard
Harding Davis] notifying his [family ?] that Cecil was settled and that
he was going to Chieveley with General Sir Redvers Buller
Box-folder 1:15
[1900] February 18-19 "Dick" [Richard
Harding Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on board
Scot , Richard left [Cape Town] yesterday and
hopes to reach Buller before Ladysmith is relieved and possibly join
Roberts with Buller later; plans to do a lot of cabling for the
Mail every day; describes Cape Town as a
"dusty wind-ridden western town with a mountain back of it which one man
said was a badly painted back drop"; Cecil is settled in a hotel
situated at the base of the mountain with a sitting room and a big
bedroom; they have met [Sir Alfred] Milner, who volunteered to write an
unsolicited and flattering personal letter of introduction to the
Governor of Natal for Richard; describes his discussion with Milner
about his doubts of the loyalty of the Cape Towners to the Queen; Cecil
has become friends with the Waldrons and Mrs. Anderson, but dislikes the
Kiplings, "She hates the Kiplings as everyone does, a more offensive
little bounder it is difficult to imagine - He goes around in khaki 800
miles from the front and contradicts every general on every military
question - He ought either to go the front or go home"; Richard has
boarded ship [ S.S. Scot ] and parted from
Cecil, describes their preparations for his voyage to join Buller and
his arrangements to cable his stories to the
Mail , and plans to post this letter at Port
Elizabeth,
8 pages on 4 leaves
Box-folder 1:16
[1900] February 19 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on Bunton's Grand
Hotel, Port Elizabeth, stationery, Richard is currently on shore at Port
Elizabeth, describes the local scene with rickshaws drawn by Kaffir
boys, the town looking like a western mining town, strange looking ducks
that turned out to be baby ostriches, and the vast distances of Africa
where it will still take him ten days to reach Buller's
location,
2 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:17
[1900] February 20 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on Deal's Central
Hotel stationery, East London, South Africa, writes that the
Scot is stopping at every port as if it were
a ferry boat; has met an American who got a commission in Brabant's
Horse and who had the hotel proprietor bring out two books to sign
marked "Autographs of Celebrities of the Boer War" for Davis to
autograph; and notes that many of the correspondents are now abandoning
Buller for Roberts,
2 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:18
[1900] February 20 Cecil [Clark Davis] to
Mrs. [Rebecca Harding] Davis, mistaken dated "1899" by Cecil, on Mount
Nelson Hotel, Cape Town, stationery, writes that Richard left yesterday
on the Scot to go to Durban and then on
to Pietermaritzsburg for his horses and cart to join Buller at the
Tugela [River], a journey of a week by sea and then three to four more
days by land; seems like the war is much further away than when she was
in England with less news about it; she is not impressed with Cape Town
which she thinks is something between a frontier town and Cairo and
Algiers; Somerset and Whigham sit at her table at the hotel and she sees
the Kiplings in the dining room to her dismay,
6 pages on 3 leaves
Box-folder 1:19
[1900] February 23 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on Imperial Hotel,
Maritzburg, Natal, stationery, writes that he reached Durban yesterday
and describes it as picturesque with many different nationalities; plans
to overtake Buller before he reaches Ladysmith; and describes the native
peoples he has seen, 3 pages on 2 leaves, with a broadside dated
February 21, 1900, Supplement to the Cape
Times "Good News From Buller" enclosed,
3 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:20
[1900] March 1 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Kid" [Charles Belmont Davis], mistakenly dated 1899,
sends notification of his arrival in Ladysmith with postmarked envelope
[dated March 1, 1900] as proof, "This is just a line to say I got in
here with the first after a gallop of twelve miles. Keep this for me and
the envelope, with my love and best wishes - Dick"
1 page
Box-folder 1:21
[1900] March 1 Cecil [Clark Davis] to Mrs.
[Rebecca Harding] Davis, Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town, stationery, has
received a telegram from Richard at Colenso and has also heard that Piet
Cronje has surrendered [at Paardeberg?]; she has made some drawings but
found far fewer subjects than expected, an entire Kaffir family watched
as she drew the grandmother in her room; Kipling has returned from
Kimberley; and she expects to meet Cecil Rhodes soon,
3 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:22
[1900 March 2?] "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], boasts that on his
second day "I beat all these men who have been here three months in
getting my news on the wire. For I am a news man now and have to collect
horrid facts and lists of casualties and to find out whether it was the
Dublins or the Durbans that did it and what it was they did." The
geography of the area around the Tugela River is confusing; Richard
claims that he is as comfortable in his tent as can be, which he
describes as well as his three ponies; and he speaks of heavy losses,
"it is sheer straight waste of life through dogged
stupidity"
4 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:23
[1900] March 3-4 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], Ladysmith, March 3,
Davis describes the relief of Ladysmith by Sir Redvers Buller's
soldiers, who form quite a contrast with the poor conditions of health
of the garrison, "They are yellow with fever, their teeth protruding and
the skin drawn tight over their skeletons - the incoming army had had
fourteen days hard fighting at the end of three months campaigning and
were robust and tanned ragged and caked with mud. As they came in they
cheered and the garrison tried to cheer back but it was like a whisper -
Winston Churchill and I stood in front of General [Sir George] White and
cried for an hour." Davis also mentions the heavy losses among the men
trying to break the siege, the scarcity of food, his ration of four
biscuits, an ounce of coffee and of tea, along with something called
mealies.
5 pages on 3 leaves
Ladysmith, March 4, has received the first letter from her since they left home, complains about how the British have fought the war, "It is a beastly dull war - the whole thing is so 'class', and full of 'form' and tradition and worrying over 'putties' and etiquette and rank - It is the most wonderful organization I ever imagined but it is like a beautiful locomotive without an engineer - the Boers out play them in intelligence every day - the whole army is officered by one class and that the dull one - It is like the House of Peers - You would not believe the mistakes they make, the awful way in which they sacrifice the lives of officers and men." Both portions,
Box-folder 1:24
[1900] March 5 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], Outside Ladysmith,
Davis complains about the filth, smell, and dirt of the town and his
hotel and the attitude of the familiarity of the "colonials"; tells a
story of several very hungry troopers who came into the dining room to
purchase some tea who were refused rudely; he followed them out and
begged them to take tea with him on his verandah and served them the
scarce commodities of sugar, marmalade, whiskey, and cigars that he had
purchased; also saved a small puppy which he fed on beef tablets and
named Ladysmith; describes his beautiful tent with tape window panes,
ventilators, pockets inside, doors, two tables, two chairs, a bath tub,
two lanterns, folding bed, and a cape cart; and tells a sad story about
the men of Ladysmith driving away well-trained cavalry horses because
they could not be fed.
6 pages on 3 leaves
Box-folder 1:25
[1900] March 15 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on Royal Hotel, Durban,
Natal, stationery, returning to Cape Town, Davis plans to go to Roberts
if there is fighting or return to London if there is not; takes issue
with the British fighting against women "even if they are good shots";
has not seen enough to make a book out of his trip and both he and Cecil
have been bored with all the talk about the war; traveled to the
hospital ship The Maine and asked Lady
Randolph [Spencer Churchill] to give him a lift down to Cape Town and
plans on writing an article for her Anglo-Saxon
Review on the "Passing of the War
Correspondent."
7 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:26
1900 March 24 Telegram from L. Clarke Davis
to Mrs. L. Clarke Davis, received a message from Richard Harding Davis,
"seen enough war returning next week east coast very
leisurely"
1 page
Box-folder 1:27
[1900] March 25 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to [the Clark and Davis families?], Cape Town, writes explaining
his decision to return home, both Roberts and Buller planned on no
campaigning for about three weeks and he had already sold his outfit at
a loss; since the English irritated him he could not write about their
work with any pleasure, "My sporting blood refused to boil at the
spectacle of such a monster empire getting the worst of it from an
untrained band of farmers - I found I admired the farmers - so we
decided to chuck it and go to London." Davis had seen two battles and
the relief of Ladysmith, having gotten the "pick of the fighting and the
best 'story' according to every officer and correspondent; they intend
on returning home via the east coast [of Africa?] so Cecil can enjoy
some of the "real Africa not the shoddy 'colonial', shopkeeper's
paradise" as in Cape Town; Richard and Cecil Davis plan on stopping off
at Zanzibar, Port Said, Cairo, Constantinople, and then on to Paris by
way of the Orient Express, perhaps writing a book about the entire
experience with photographs and Cecil's drawings; he encloses a printed
itinerary that they will follow when they board the
Konig , at Durban, leaving April 7
th ; and explains why he thinks Cecil's maid,
Hubert, is a priceless treasure.
5 pages on 3 leaves
Box-folder 1:28
[1900] March 31 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], off East Africa, his
joy at turning towards home together with Cecil and his appreciation of
her letters and enclosures about events at home,
2 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:29
[1900] April 4 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to [Rebecca Harding Davis?], East London, South Africa, on
R.M.S. Moor stationery, sent a request to
Secretary of State John M. Hay to get them into Pretoria, who said he
would be glad to see them there; they arrive at Durban tomorrow where
they will stay a day and two nights, and then go on board the
Konig for Delagoa Bay [off the coast of
Mozambique]; while in Pretoria, Davis hopes "to write a book from both
sides giving my ideas of the English in the field and the Boer at home.
With the exception of Churchill who 'had to' I shall be the only
correspondent who has been permitted to go on both sides."
10 pages on 3 leaves
Box-folder 1:30
[1900] April 5 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on Royal Hotel, Durban,
Natal, stationery, enjoyed a rickshaw ride with Cecil and took a
photograph of her and her "attendants"; Commandant objected to their
going to Pretoria and was inclined to refuse them passes to leave Durban
for Delagoa Bay but after Davis wired many of his friends in South
Africa they were eventually vouched for by the High Commissioner; and
Davis includes details of their shopping in Durban; 5 pages on 2 leaves,
and black and white photograph of Cecil Davis in rickshaw
Box-folder 1:31
[1900 April 22?] "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], Grand Hotel, Pretoria,
S.A.R., stationery, writes that he and Cecil are settling down in
Pretoria and are going to keep house in the home of a refugee, moving in
today; the Chicago contingent [Irish-Americans who came out as an
ambulance corps] are going down to President Kruger's to bid him
farewell; Richard hopes to have some fine stories soon, see the
President, and get a cart to drive down to [Kroonstad?] and see the Boer
army in the field,
2 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:32
[1900] April 23 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on Pretoria Club
stationery, Pretoria, describes the house, that belonged to an English
refugee, given to him and Cecil to use for two pounds a month, which
includes two horses, a carriage and driver; describes Cecil's cooking
experiences; and the purchase by the Irish brigade of a plain gold
bracelet for Cecil with the engraving "From the Irish American Ambulance
Corps to Mrs. R.H. Davis" and the motto of Chicago "I will,"
4 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:33
[1900] April 25 Cecil [Clark Davis] to Nora
[Davis], Pretoria, writes about their settling in as householders,
lacking only a cook to be complete; their current plans are to stay in
Pretoria until June 5
th and then sail in
easy stages to Zanzibar, Mozambique, etc. to Naples and then go by rail
until they reach Aix, reaching America in August; they both plan to go
to the front in a day or two; they see much of [General "Koos"] De la
Rey and Coolidge; and Richard is busy reporting on all the interesting
things that are happening,
3 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:34
[1900] May 4 [Richard Harding Davis] to
"Dear Families," plans on going to the front with Cecil tonight, had
planned on accompanying the Boer artillery to Brandfort, but it was just
taken by the British,
2 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:35
[1900] May 8 "Dick" [Richard Harding Davis]
to [Davis and Clark families ?], Grand Hotel, Ventersberg, describes
their adventures in the Free State from the time they left Pretoria on
May 4
th to attempt to go to Brandsfort,
then Winburg, and finally Smaaldel, all of which were taken by the
British before they could reach the area; yesterday they rode out with
[Otto von Lossberg] and camped at a Boer farm, just behind the Boer
trenches on the Sand River, with the British six miles away; Cecil
created a sensation among the Boers since all the women had fled; they
met President [Marthinus] Steyn, who gave Cecil a flower from his coat
and talked with her for some time; they decided to spend the night at
[Jones's Hotel], Ventersberg and Cecil woke him to say the British were
at the railway station, two hour's ride away but they have not arrived
yet; and they are now free to travel wherever they want through the loan
of [Otto von Lossberg]'s cart with two seats and five mules,
2 pages on 1 l.
Box-folder 1:36
[1900] May 18 Richard [Harding Davis] to
"Dear Dad [Lemuel Clark Davis] and others of the Clark and Davis
families," Pretoria, work on his Ledger
and Scribner stories has prevented his
writing a long letter before now; begins an account of Cecil and his
adventures with the Boers from May 4
th
until the present; writes about Captain [Otto von Lossberg], "a German
baron who married in New Orleans and became an American citizen and who
is now in command of Lossberg's Artillery in the Free State"; describes
in greater detail their meeting with President Steyn and the letter he
gave them to Dr. Reid, who ran an ambulance base on [Piet] Cronje's
farm, instructing him to give Cecil something to sleep on; they returned
to Ventersberg that night only to overhear an alarm about the closeness
of the British given to the landlady, "a grand low comedy character from
Brooklyn … sitting up in bed in curl papers, and with a Webley
revolver"; having decided to go back to sleep, they were able to use
Lossberg's cape cart and five mules to pack their things and head to the
Sand River, spending the night at Cronje's farm where Dr. Reid gave
Cecil his field mattress; they then used Lossberg's cart to pursue their
next objective - to reach the railroad bridge over the Sand River; they
found themselves between the Boer and British lines and stopped for
lunch; about three o'clock they were captured by three Boers, "I was
riding behind the cart and threw up my hands 'that quick,' but Cecil
could not hear me yelling at her to stop on account of the noise of the
cart - I knew if I rode after her they would shoot at me, and that if
she did not stop, as they were shouting at her to do, they would shoot
her. Under these trying circumstances I sat still - It caused quite a
coolness on Cecil's part."; they were finally released by the three
Boers and next met General Christiaan De Wet (1854–1922), who
directed them to a farmhouse about five miles off where they could
safely see the fighting the next day, although they decided to camp out
on the veldt near a stream; they were awakened by the sound of
bombardment and hurriedly tried to get out of the danger area, Cecil
showing much self-possession and calm and even urging the Boers to make
a stand; when the British were within five hundred yards of the Boer
artillery and [Louis?] Botha's men made a break for it, Richard finally
convinced Cecil to get on her pony and race for Ventersberg; when they
arrived there, they found everyone harnessing up [their carts and
wagons] and abandoning everything; Cecil determined to loot the cook
from Jones Hotel to work for them in Pretoria; while helping her pack
her things and anything else useful, the message came that the British
were only fifteen minutes away, so Richard loaded the cook, Cecil,
supplies, a dog and a kitten, in the cart, mounted his horse and left
hurriedly for Kroonstad racing for thirty miles in five hours without
one stop; at Kroonstad, President Steyn ordered a special car for
Richard and Cecil and sent them off at once; they plan to return as soon
as Davis reaches the Vaal where there must be a stand; the cook proves
to be a treasure and Cecil is busy doing portraits in oil,
11 pages on 6 leaves
Box-folder 1:37
[1900] June 8 "Dick" [Richard Harding Davis]
to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on board the
S.S. Kanzler , having decided to leave
Pretoria when the British neared the capital, to avoid living under
British martial law subject to the censor and not having anything they
could do; writes about the Boers, "I know no class of men I admire as
much or who today preserve the best and oldest ideas of charity,
fairness, and goodwill to men"; The Sun
correspondent, Allen Sangree joined them at Delagoa and was robbed of
his notes on the Irish Brigade and other papers the night he arrived,
apparently by British agents willing to return them for a consideration;
describes how he and Sangree tried to get his papers back from the
British consul in the port [of Lourenço Marques?]; many wives and
children of the men of Pretoria and Johannesburg also on board the
ship,
6 pages on 3 leaves
Box-folder 1:38
[1900] June 12 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], on board the
S.S. Kanzler , admits to a sincere longing to
see family and home; describes the people and land of [Beira],
Mozambique where he also mentions the presence of slaves; has run out of
film and cannot get any more; Cecil is drawing and Richard writing for
Scribners,
4 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:39
[1900] June 21 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], have made their last
stop at Tanga, north of Zanzibar and just south of Mombasa, where they
have seen jungle; Cecil was carried about on a sedan chair by four
Somali boys; declares that this area is what people think of as the real
Africa; and shared a story of a lion attack on a man in a [stopped?]
railway car,
2 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:40
[1900] June 25 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to Nora [Davis], off the coast of Suakin, [Sudan], currently in
the Red Sea and will arrive at Suez tomorrow; ship is very crowded with
women and children and it is very hot; describes the practices of the
second class passengers; and Richard shares his favorable impression of
Zanzibar and mentions slavery again; 3 pages on 2 leaves, with a picture
of their ship Konig
Box-folder 1:41
[1900] June 29 "Dick" [Richard Harding
Davis] to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], off the coast of Crete,
enjoying his return to civilization, although he mentions some of the
interesting friends they have made during this trip to South Africa,
"the Boer farmers, Dutch station masters who gave us a corner under the
telegraph table in which to sleep, with Nelson who kept the Transvaal
Steam Laundry, Colonel Lynch of the steerage who comes to the dividing
line to beg French books from Cecil" and interesting experiences in the
Transvaal; they were unable to cable home before Naples, due to the
presence of the plague at Aden, Suez, and Port Said; and shares how ill
Cecil had been recently,
3 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:42
1900 July 3 Telegram [from Richard and Cecil
Davis] to L. Clark Davis, Napoli, message reads "Both well"
Box-folder 1:43
[1900] July 6 Richard [Harding Davis] to
"Dear Family," Aix [Aix-en-Provence?], rejoiced at arriving after being
on board ship for a month; everyone was so welcoming and kind; and
Richard mentions his need to buy appropriate clothing for
Europe,
2 pages on 2 leaves
Box-folder 1:44
[1900] July 7 "Dick" [Richard Harding Davis]
to "Dear Mother" [Rebecca Harding Davis], both are settling in and
getting rest and exercise; so far July is the coldest month they have
had on their trip; will spend about a week in Paris; and is looking
forward to home and real ragtime music,
2 pages on 1 leaf
Box-folder 1:45
1900 July 10 Telegram from C. Anderson to L.
Clark Davis, message reads "sailing St.
Louis fourteenth home - sick to see you all at Marion - both
well."