was a foreigner by birth, but he became a citizen of the Free State long before the war, and did sterling service to his country until he was captured with Cronje at Paardeberg.  Otto von Lossberg, a German-American who had seen service in the armies of Germany and the United States, arrived in the country in March, and was thereafter in charge of a small number of heavy guns, but the majority of them were manned by Boer officers.

None of the foreigners who served in the Boer army received any compensation.  They were supplied with horses and equipment, at a cost to the Boer Governments of about L35 for each volunteer, and they received better food than the burghers, but no wages were paid to them.  Before a foreign volunteer was allowed to join a commando, and before he received his equipment, he was obliged to take an oath of allegiance to the Republic.  Only a few men who declined to take the oath were allowed to join the army.  The oath of allegiance was an adaptation of the one which caused so much difficulty between Great Britain and the Transvaal before the war.  A translation of it reads—­

    “I hereby make an oath of solemn allegiance to the people of
        the South African Republic, and I declare my willingness
        to assist, with all my power, the burghers of this
        Republic in the war in which they are engaged.  I further
        promise to obey the orders of those placed in authority
        according to law, and that I will work for nothing but
        the prosperity, the welfare, and the independence of the
        land and people of this Republic, so truly help me, God
        Almighty.”

[Illustration:  BATTLEFIELD OF ELANDSLAAGTE]

No army lists were ever to be found at Pretoria or at the front, and it was as monumental a task to secure a fair estimate of the Boer force as it was to obtain an estimate of the number of the foreigners who assisted them.  The Boers had no men whom they could spare to detail to statistical work, and, in consequence, no correct figures can ever be obtained.  The numerical strength of the various organisations of foreigners could readily be obtained from their commanders, but many of the foreigners were in Boer commandos, and their strength is only problematical.  An estimate which was prepared by the British and American correspondents, who had good opportunities of forming as nearly a correct idea as any one, resulted in this list, which gives the numbers of those in the various organisations, as well as those in the commandos:—­

Nationality.         In Organisations.    In Commandos. 
French                     300     ...       100
Hollanders                 400     ...       250
Russian                    100     ...       125
Germans                    300     ...       250
Americans                  150     ...       150
Italians                   100     ...       100
Scandinavians              100     ...        50