Relaxed though it might seem, it did not suit Churchill. Louis de Souza was the Transvaal Secretary of State for War and chairman of the prison board of management. Churchill wrote him several letters, one of which included a note from Haldane certifying that “Unquestionably Mr Winston Churchill, Correspondent of the Morning Post, accompanied the armoured train on 15^th November as a non-combatant, unarmed and took no part in the defence of the train.” Churchill was not to know that de Souza was in possession of a letter from Commandant General Piet Joubert to State Secretary, Francis Reitz, saying that young Churchill “must not be released during the war.” Clearly these letters were somewhat disingenuous and intended to concentrate the minds of the Boer authorities on the arguments for his release and divert them from any thought that he might try to escape.