Some one called it the "hand-shaking army," and it was a most descriptive title.

Many of the burghers could not restrain from exercising their habit, and shook hands with British prisoners, much to the astonishment of the captured.
Another striking feature of life in the Boer laagers was the deep religious feeling which manifested itself in a thousand different ways.

It is an easy matter for an irreligious person to scoff at men who pass through a campaign with prayer and hymn-singing, and it is just as easy to laugh at the man who reads his Testament at intervals of shooting at the enemy.

The Boer was a religious man always, and when he went to war he placed as much faith in prayer and in his Testament as in his rifle.

He believed that his cause was just, and that the Lord would favour those fighting for a righteous cause in a righteous spirit.