Having been taken prisoner and being an injured, high profile individual, de la Rey found himself in a predicament as to what to do with Methuen.
The Boers demanded that Methuen be executed, however de la Rey sent the wounded Methuen to a British hospital in his own carriage.
de la Rey was court-martialled for freeing such a valuable prisoner, but after convincing the court that Methuen would take no further part in the war, he was let off – hearsay / unconfirmed / not in de la Rey’s biography.
However de la Rey was challenged by his fellow Boers as the British had executed Boer Kommandants – Gideon Scheepers and Johannes Lotter.
In Johannes Meintjes biography on de la Rey (DELAREY – Lion of the West) he writes: “De la Rey then sent Methuen and his own doctor with his distinguished captive to Gestopfontein in order that his leg could be put into proper splints. They were conveyed on Methuen’s own spring wagon (which de la Rey was to keep as a souvenir) and then brought back to the laager.
The next day Tom Leask, a member of de la Rey’s staff, took Methuen for medical treatment to Klerksdorp and returned on his own with the spring wagon which he gave to de la Rey”.
SO … the big question is … What would have happened had de la Rey decided to keep Methuen prisoner? Would Methuen have become a bargaining tool? After all this was March 1902 and the Peace Treaty was just a few months away.
