Tugela River and On November 23d three hundred Boers were repulsed in an attack on one hundred and forty British at the Tugela River, a British serMafeking geant being wounded. The situation at Mafeking was becoming Battle of Battle of serious, the Boers bombarding the town daily and continually drawing their lines closer. Sir Alfred Milner issued a proclamation to the people of Cape Colony, commending the Dutch inhibitants of the colony for their loyalty to Queen Victoria and to the British flag in this emergency. On November 22d and 23d was fought the important battle of Belmont, in which seven thousand British troops under General Lord Methuen gained a great victory over five thousand Boers. The Boers shelled the British advance body on the 22d, and the British artillery shelled the Boer position on a hill, which was captured with two cannon, the Boers losing thirty men killed and wounded. At dawn the next day the British attacked the Boers in their strongly-intrenched position and stormed and carried three ridges in succession. The Boer loss in killed and wounded was heavy, and the victorious British took forty prisoners and many horses, cows and sheep. The British loss was about two hundred. Among the British wounded were General Fetherstonhaugh and Lieutenant-Colonel Crabbe, of the Grenadier Guards. The Grenadier Guards and the Northumberland Regiment showed great heroism. Great valor was displayed on both sides, but the Boers could not stand the British bayonet charge. The British took possession of the Boer laager and destroyed the Boer stores and ammunition. The Boers hoisted a white flag over their second position, whereupon Lieutenant Willoughby, of the Coldstream Guards, stood up and was shot down immediately. The Boers did this treacherous act the second and third time. This treacherous use of flags of truce aroused great indignation among the British, and General Lord Methuen protested to the Boer commander against it and against the use of dum-dum bullets. Great rejoicing was caused in England by General Lord Methuen's victory over the Boers at Belmont and the defeat and death of the Khalifa in battle with the Anglo-Egyptian army under General Lord Kitchener, near Godid, in the Egyptian Soudan, on November 25th. Proceeding northward General Lord Methuen again defeated the Graspan. Boers at Graspan on November 25th, when he drove twenty-five hundred Boers with six cannon and two machine guns from their position after some hours' hard fighting. As the Boers retreated the Ninth Lancers sought to intercept them, but failed. The British losses were very severe, especially those of the Naval Brigade. Commander Ethelston, of the warship Powerful; Major Plumbe and Captain Senior, of the marines, were killed. Altogether the Naval Brigade had four officers and ten seamen and marines killed and two officers, thirventy-six marines wounded. Modder River. teen petty officers and seamen and On November 28th General Lor Methuen won a third victory after Battle of severe fighting with the Boers at he Modder River, the Boer forces having concentrated there to arre his advance for the relief of Kimberley. The Boers numbered eig it thousand and were strongly intrenched, with two large cannon and four Krupp cannon. The struggle was desperate and was described by Methuen as "the bloodiest battle of the century." After a battle of ten hours the Boers were driven from their intrenchments, and General Pole-Carew succeeded in getting a small party across the Modder River. The British loss was eighty-four killed, three hundred and eighty-eight wounded and six missing. The Boer loss was said to be one hundred and fifty killed and many more wounded, while seventy were made prisoners. The Scots Guards lost many men and a Maxim gun. After many hours' fighting, the Sutherland Highlanders and part of the Ninth Brigade crossed the river at dusk and occupied a strong position on the opposite bank, while the British artillery shelled the Boer intrenchments. The Boers vigorously replied to the British bombardment; but early the next morning the Scots Guards crossed the river as the Boers had evacuated their position. The Boers numbered eleven thousand men and were commanded by General Cronje in person. Lord Methuen remained at the Modder River to rebuild the bridge which had been destroyed by the Boers, and he was reinforced by Highlanders and cavalry. Boer Repulses at Kimberley, Estcourt and Drift. On November 25th the Kimberley garrison made a successful sortie against the besieging Boers. The Boers retired from Estcourt about this time, and the railway was reopened. On November 23d there was a skirmish south of Estcourt between the British force under General Hildyard and the Boer commandos, the British losing eleven men killed, Tugela sixty-seven wounded, eight prisoners and one missing. On the same day fighting occurred at Tugela Drift, where more than two hundred Boers were repulsed by one hundred and forty Natal troops, the Boers losing heavily. The Boers were now driven north of the Mooi River. The sieges of Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking were being pressed with vigor by the Boers. Gatacre's General Gatacre, advancing from the south, had occupied Bushman- General shoek on November 27th with a battalion of infantry and some mounted infantry, his main body being at Putter's Kraal. The Boers had retired in the direction of Molteno. The Boers' commando at Barkly East was said to include at least two hundred colonial rebels. In Bechuanaland, on November 13th, Kuruman was attacked by fifty Boers, who were driven off, with a loss of thirty killed and twentyeight wounded, after six days' and nights' fighting, the British loss Boer Repulse at Kuruman. Defense of Defense smith. being one killed and one wounded. On November 19th the Boers suddenly disappeared. On November 28th a Boer laager west of Kimberley was captured. Major Scott Turner, another officer and twenty-one non-commissioned officers and men were killed. The Boers were bombarding Mafeking in a desultory manner, and on November 22d they were repulsed in an assault upon the outside trenches of the town. By November 27th the Boer investing force had ceased to attempt any serious operations against the town. Colonel Baden-Powell was ably conducting the defense of Mafeking. The British relieving force under General Sir Redvers Henry Bulof Lady- ler was pushing steadily towards Ladysmith. The Boers were concentrating to oppose him at Grobler's Kloof, near Colenso. The Tugela railway bridge at Colenso had been destroyed, but not the road bridge. A corps of colonial scouts to check Boer raiding was formed at Durban. General Clery arrived at Frere on December 1st and assumed the command there. The Boers were still vigorously bombarding Ladysmith, but without much effect. On December 8th the British made a successful sortie from Ladysmith, stormed a hill at Lombardskop, silenced several Boer cannon and captured a Maxim gun. Three Great British Reverses. General We are now entering on a period of British reverses lasting over two months, beginning on December 10, 1899. The British suffered three severe defeats in different quarters in South Africa in one week in December, 1899, their three relieving columns having successively encountered serious reverses-the defeat of General Sir William Forbes Gatacre at Stormberg Junction on December 10th; the defeat of General Lord Methuen at Magersfontein on December 11th, and the defeat of General Sir Redvers Henry Buller at Colenso on December 15th. Early on Sunday morning, December 10, 1899, the smallest of the three Gatacre's British relieving forces, under General Gatacre, advancing to invade the Storm- Orange Free State, in an attempt to surprise the Boers near Stormberg berg Junction, in the north of Cape Colony, by a night attack, was amJunction. bushed, defeated and utterly routed, retreating in disorder to Molteno, whence it had made a long, wearisome forced march on Saturday night for the purpose of attack. The British loss was over six hundred and fifty in killed, wounded and missing. The scene of this British defeat in Cape Colony was about two hundred miles south-east of Kimberley and about two hundred and fifty miles south-west of Ladysmith. Defeat at Lord Methuen's Defeat at Magersfontein. The next day, Monday, December 11, 1899, the next in size of the British relieving columns, that under General Lord Methuen, numbering about twelve thousand men, and designed for the relief of Kimberley, the seat of the great De Beers diamond mines, and where Cecil Rhodes was penned up by the besieging Boers, met with a serious reverse at Magersfontein, near the scene of Lord Methuen's victory on the Modder River on November 28th. After the battle of November 28th Lord Methuen's force remained on the battlefield, recuperating from the terrible loss in that action. This army left its camp on Sunday evening, marching in a north-easterly direction to attack the most easterly portion of the Boer position, held by General Cronje. Before daybreak on Monday morning, December 11th, at Magersfontein, two hundred yards from what the British supposed was the Boer position, and while still marching in close order, a heavy fire from both flanks was poured upon the British van, consisting of the Highland Brigade. The British had marched into another bloody Boer ambush and were forced to fall back with a loss of nine hundred and sixtythree men; General Wauchope, commander of the Highland Brigade, being killed. The battle had lasted the whole day; and the next day, Tuesday, December 12th, General Lord Methuen withdrew to his former camp on the Modder River. Finally, on Friday, December 15, 1899, the largest British relieving force, that under General Sir Redvers Henry Buller, the British commander-in-chief in South Africa, numbering twenty-three thousand men, advancing to the relief of Ladysmith, was severely repulsed in an attempt to force a passage over the Tugela River, at Colenso, being driven back with the loss of eleven hundred and sixty-seven men after desperate fighting. In his retreat from his position General Buller was obliged to abandon eleven heavy cannon. Thus the effort for the relief of Ladysmith failed, and General Buller was obliged to remain inactive until he had recuperated his great losses. This third great British reverse within a week was the climax of this series of disasters. The three great British reverses just mentioned greatly elated and encouraged the Boers and caused great gloom in London; but the spirit of the British nation did not sink under these disasters, and the patriotic war feeling of the English people manifested itself in this crisis. Nowhere was there visible any disposition to relinquish the struggle, but instead there was a determination to make every sacrifice to uphold the dignity and prestige of the British Empire and to bring the war to a successful conclusion. General Buller's Defeat at British Resolu tion and Patriot ism. Lords Roberts and The British Ministry decided upon heroic measures to recover lost prestige in South Africa and to stamp out every vestige of rebellion Wolseley, among the Dutch population of Cape Colony. The three greatest British generals of the time were Lords Wolseley, Roberts and Kitchener, all of them being Irishmen. Lord Wolseley was the British commander-in-chief. Lord Roberts had been the British commander-in Kitch ener. British tions. chief in India for a score of years. Lord Kitchener had acquired fame in the last few years by overthrowing the Khalifa and restoring peace to the Egyptian Soudan, which had been convulsed for a score of years by the wars caused by the Mahdi, the Khalifa and their followers. It was now determined to send Lords Roberts and Kitchener to South Prepara- Africa, Roberts to be commander-in-chief, and Kitchener to be his chief of staff. Just after his appointment Lord Roberts received the sad news that his only son had died of wounds received in the battle of Colenso. There already were eighty thousand British troops in South Africa, and fifty thousand more were to be sent from England, India, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other British colonies. These fifty thousand new troops and twenty thousand then on the way to South Africa would give Field-Marshal Lord Roberts one hundred and fifty thousand men. There was the greatest patriotic enthusiasm throughout Great Britain and her colonies, and volunteers came forward by thousands. Imperial The British government had now completed all preparations for mobilizing an Eighth Division, and many more of the Yeomanry and and Vol- Volunteers throughout Great Britain offered their services than could manry unteers. Lords Roberts and Kitch be accepted. Local funds for the equipment of the Imperial Yeomanry were raised, and by the close of the year 1899 over seventyeight thousand pounds had been subscribed for the equipment and transport of the City of London Imperial Volunteer Corps. Colonel Mackinnon, Assistant Adjutant-General for the Home District, was assigned to command the regiment. The response from the Metropolitan Volunteer Corps to the invitation from the City Corporation to join the regiment was so enthusiastic that the strength of the regiment was raised to fourteen hundred men. The government of British India offered to increase its contingent in South Africa by a regiment of cavalry and two batteries of artillery. This offer was accepted, and the Sixteenth Lancers were ordered to start for the seat of war. An additional requisition for two thousand horses for the mounted infantry was complied with. The new Australian contingent consisted of over eleven hundred men in addition to the New South Wales Battery and field hospital. All the Australian colonies started a patriotic fund, and gifts of horses and stores were offered freely in support of the imperial cause. Lord Roberts left London on December 23d for the seat of war in South Africa, amid scenes of great public enthusiasm. The Prince of Wales, the Duke of Connaught, the Duke of Cambridge, Lord ener Sail Wolseley and Mr. Balfour were among those who came to Waterloo Station to take a personal farewell of the new British commander-inchief in South Africa. The vessel in which he sailed, the Dunottar for Cape Town. |