Book excerpt: On the afternoon of Monday 4 June 1900, the young State Attorney of the South African Republic bade a sad farewell to his wife and child whom he was never to see again and left Pretoria to join the Boer commandos. He had braved shot and shell to put the government's sole source of finance for the continuing war - less than half a million pounds sterling in gold and coins - on a special train to President Kruger in the Eastern Transvaal. The next day, Lord Robert's army entered the capital. Jan Smuts came to play an important role in the South African war of 1899-1902. His memoirs are recorded here, and they present an account of the critical events from the fall of Pretoria to the reorganization of the commandos in December that year.