Boer War Stuff

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Is it too far back to be of interest on this site?
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[Owen]

No go on post away.
I put some photos of a Boer War era Bible on here.

[dbf]

Thanks Owen,
but ... its pages and pages of stuff, all transcribed articles, includes Roberts, Kitchener, Roberts, etc etc 1899-1900. Not just a few things.
All criticisms very familiar even now though.

[Owen]

Maybe other members could show their interest or non-interest on this thread before you go to the trouble of posting them.

[Donnie]

I for one would love to see these items....post away in mho

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Reason for my interest

Robert Scott V.C. 1st Battalion Manchester Regiment.

From The Times:

SGT. ROBERT SCOTT, V.C.
Sergeant Robert Scott, who won a Victoria Cross in the South African War, died in hospital on Tuesday at Downpatrick, Co. Down. He was 86. Scott was born at Haslingden, Lancashire, in June, 1874, and joined The Manchester Regiment in 1895. He won his V.C. during the great attack on Ladysmith (he went through the whole siege without once being absent from duty) on January 6, 1900. While the attack on Caesar's Camp was in progress Scott - then a private - and Private Pitts (who also won a V.C.) occupied a sangar, on the left of which all the British had become casualties and their positions occupied by Boers, and held their post for 15 hours under extremely heavy fire. During this action Scott was wounded.


From A Victoria Cross anomaly? The Manchesters at Caesar’s Camp by David Humphry

In the action at Caesar’s Camp the Manchesters lost 33 men killed, one died of wounds and 40 officers and men wounded out of a British total of around 170 killed and 250 wounded for the combined actions of Caesar’s Camp and Wagon Hill. This was the largest number of casualties of any British unit.

Surrounded by the bodies of their 14 dead comrades Privates Pitts and Scott held out in their sangar without food for 15 hours. Some contemporary accounts also state that they have no water during this time but in a subsequent interview Pitts said that they had plenty - no doubt from the water bottles of their dead comrades. Both men fought on gallantly against seemingly impossible odds and Scott recorded that they expected to be killed or captured at any moment.

Both men were awarded the Victoria Cross (London Gazette, July 26, 1901). Their combined citation reads, “On January 6 1900 during an attack on Caesar‘s Camp, Natal, South Africa, 16 men of “D” Company were defending one of the slopes of the hill. The defenders were under heavy fire all day, the majority being killed and their positions occupied by the enemy. At last only Private Pitts and Private Scott remained. They held their post for 15 hours without food and water, all the time exchanging deadly fire with the enemy, until relief troops had retaken the lost ground and pushed the enemy off the hill.”

Private James Pitts died in Blackburn just short of his 78th birthday on Feb 18, 1955. His medals are in the Museum of the Manchesters in Ashton-under-Lyne. These are Victoria Cross, Queen’s South Africa Medal clasps Elandslaagte, Defence of Ladysmith and Belfast, King’s South Africa Medal clasps South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902, 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, 1937 Coronation Medal (GV) and Meritorious Service Medal. It is surprising that his group does not include the 1953 Coronation Medal as coronation medals are customarily awarded to living VC recipients. By 1953 Pitt’s second wife had died and he was in failing health so it is possible that he was awarded the medal but that it became separated from (or was never included with) the rest of his group.

Although a Lancashire man, Private Robert Scott died in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland on February 22, 1961 aged 86. His medals, also in the Museum of the Manchesters, are Victoria Cross, Queen’s South Africa Medal clasps, Elandslaagte, Defence of Ladysmith and Belfast, King’s South Africa clasps South Africa 1902 and 1902, 1939-45 War Medal, 1937 Coronation Medal, 1953 Coronation Medal, Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (GV) and Meritorious Service Medal (GV). The surprise here is that Scott earned a 1939-45 War Medal but no World War I medals. Despite being 62 on the outbreak of World War II he volunteered and was accepted for service in the Royal Air Force where he worked for some time in the security capacity.


From Devotion to Duty by James W Bancroft (Excerpt)

The Manchester Regiment

Five of the Manchester Regiment’s fourteen Victoria Cross recipients were never domiciled in the Manchester region, outside their duties at the Barracks. Two were:

JAMES PITTS and ROBERT SCOTT

During the siege of Ladysmith, on 6 January 1900, Boer commandos made an attack on an outpost at Caesar’s Camp. Privates Pitts and Scott, 1st Battalion, occupied a sangar, on the left of which all our men had been shot down and their positions occupied by Boers, and held their post for fifteen hours without food or water, all the time under and extremely heavy fire, keeping up their fire and a smart lookout, though the Boers occupied some sangars on their immediate left rear. Private Scott was wounded. The award was gazetted on 26 July 1901.

James Pitts was a Blackburn man, born on 26 February 1877. He returned to Blackburn after his military service, where he died on 18 February 1955. For further information about him see The Blackburn VC’s by R Walsh and H Kirby.

Robert Scott was born in Haslingden, Lancashire, on 4 June 1874, where he worked in a cotton mill from the age of ten until he enlisted in 1894. He recovered from his wound and was Orderly Room Sergeant at Ashton Barracks during the Great War. He left the service in 1923 and went to live in County Down, Ireland, where he joined the police force. He served with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and was employed with the civil service until his retirement. He died at Downpatrick, County Down, on 22 February 1961 and is buried in Kilkeel.

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Transcribed from New York Times articles:
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TO COMMAND FORCES IN NATAL.

Sir George White to Leave London Saturday - To Have 15,000 Men.

LONDON, September 12, 1899. - It is said that Sir George Stewart White, V.C., former Quartermaster General, has been selected
to command the British forces in Natal.

Sir George is to leave for Natal Saturday next. His division, it is expected, will number 15,000 men.

Published NY TIMES, September 13, 1899.
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FIRST ARRIVAL OF BRITISH TROOPS.
A Battalion Marches Through Cape Town and Proceeds to Natal.

LONDON, Sept. 15, 1899. - It is reported from Cape Town that the First Battalion of the Manchester Regiment arrived there to-day, disembarked, and marched through the streets. The soldiers were cheered.
After they had been reviewed by Lieut. Gen. Sir Frederick Walker, commander of the British troops in South Africa, the battalion re-embarked and proceeded to Natal.
These troops, forming the first instalment of the reinforcements, were sent from Gibraltar to Cape Town.
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TO-MORROW MAY SEE WAR IN AFRICA

Boers Arrange Campaign with Orange Free State.

BRITISH STILL PREPARE

Press Complains that No Progress Has Been Made.

An Outlander Writes if It Comes to a Fight, It Is Believed "the Boers Will Make a Massacre of It."

LONDON, October 3, 1899. - A special dispatch from Pretoria say that Gen. Jan Kock will command the Boer forces on the Natal border, Commandant Cronje on the south-western, and Gen. Schalk Burger on the eastern frontier, while Gen. Malan will be in command at Rustenburg. Altogether there will be nine Generals in command of columns.

A completed plan of campaign has been arranged with the Orange Free State.

Fighting is expected by Wednesday.

A rigorous censorship is maintained over all press telegrams.

President Krueger addressed the troops which started for the Natal border on Saturday, appealing to their patriotism and wishing them Godspeed.

The rumour that fighting had already commenced seems to have originated at the Woolwich Arsenal.

Matters are at a standstill, and practically no dispatches from South Africa have been received this morning.

The Morning Post again complains editorially that, although the Government put its hands to the plough in July, October has arrived without visible progress having been made; and the paper asks what it is waiting for, and expresses the opinion that "the expectant attitude maintained is hardly consonant with the high-sounding words that have been used."

It is understood that the Colonial Office received and important dispatch from Sir Alfred Milner, British High Commissioner for South Africa, yesterday, the contents of which, however, have not been made public.

The Daily Chronicle says it has reason to believe that the formation of a naval brigade is contemplated.

The Chronicle, which had lately been advocating the policy of sending an imperial Commissioner - suggesting for the post the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava - to meet President Krueger and try to arrange matters, to-day argues that the Ministers now see the mischief which Mr. Chamberlain has brought upon the country.

The paper goes on the comment upon the speech made by the Duke of Devonshire on Saturday last, which it characterizes as a remarkable appeal to the peace party, and asks why Lord Salisbury and the Duke of Devonshire did not interfere before. It then suggests that the Duke of Devonshire be sent as High Plenipotentiary to negotiate with President Krueger.

A letter from an Outlander received in Birmingham was published to-day. If it reflects the general feeling of the British residents in Johannesburg they must be in an awful funk. The writer says:

"If it comes to a fight, I believe the Boers will make a massacre of it, blow Johannesburg to bits, and shoot us on sight. In fact, I have been told so by one in office."

Reports from various arsenal and garrisons in Great Britain testify to the active continuance of military preparation. The reserves have received preliminary notice to be prepared and several regiments have been notified to hold themselves in readiness for active service.

No confirmation is obtainable from any source of the report contained in a dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph Company, that the Boers have captured Dundee.

Published NY TIMES 3rd October, 1899
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WAR SEEMS UNAVOIDABLE.

Consensus of Opinion in England that Great Britain Must Fight - A Minister's Opinion.

LONDON, October 11, 1899. - It cannot be doubted that Great Britain will flatly reject President Krueger's demands and that at 3:15 o'clock this afternoon, English time, and actual state of war will exist.

Friday's Cabinet Council will have to deal with the military situation, and Parliament will have little else to do than to sanction the necessary credits.

The Daily Chronicle this morning editorially says it is compelled to admit that the Boer ultimatum, unhappily worded as it is, makes war unavoidable.

Editorial articles in other papers generally express pity for President Krueger's precipitancy, which places the Transvaal technically in the wrong. The Standard says:

"The Transvaal's worst enemies could hardly have supposed that its arrogance would lead it to such extravagance. The note is written in a style which would be offensive if it came from a first-rate power, and is inconceivably ridiculous as emanating from a trumpery little State which exists only by Great Britain's forbearance."

The Daily Mail says: "The Boers have doffed the mask and declared war, which their deluded supporters in England considered so impossible. Doubtless, at first we may suffer, but we suffered before, and in the end the Boers and their supporters will receive the punishment which their insane attempt to perpetuate on an almost barbaric system their Government in the nineteenth century most thoroughly deserves."

The Daily News, admitting that, if determined on war, Krueger is justified in striking while he has a chance of some isolated successes, says: "The Boers' best friends will deplore that they have put themselves in the wrong."

The Daily Telegraph says: "President Krueger has slammed the door in the face of Great Britain with all the violence of infuriated folly. He appears to have celebrated his birthday in a manner which will bring his republic clattering down upon his head."

The first Minister to speak publicly regarding the ultimatum was Lord James of Hereford, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who, speaking at Aberdeen to-night, said:

"The Government has done everything in its power to preserve peace. Apparently, however, diplomacy is ended and the hopes of peace are virtually destroyed, and that not by the action of the Queen's Government, but by the Transvaal Government.

"President Krueger has sent an ultimatum. If we were to withdraw our troops at his bidding we should suffer the greatest humiliation, and the Government would deserve to be hunted from office as craven cowards."

Lord James said he had intended, before receiving the news of the ultimatum, to take a different view of the position, but now "nothing remains but to commend our cause to the God of battle and arms and to implore His blessing upon the engagement about to be entered upon."

Lord James, whose remarks were greeted with loud and prolonged cheers, concluded by expressing the hope that the war would be short and humanely conducted, and that when it was terminated counsels of moderation would prevail as to the way in which the enemy should be dealt with.

The ultimatum was received in Sir Alfred Milner's English translation at 7 o'clock Tuesday morning. Sir Alfred had already sent a copy to Sir George White, so no time was lost in taking the necessary steps. As the British troops continue landing in South Africa and advancing to the front, it is quite possible, according to the terms of the Boer ultimatum, that hostilities have already commenced, as Krueger has everything to gain by an instant advance. Until the arrival of the army corps, it is probable that the British will everywhere remain on the defensive.

Looking at the complicated nature of matters, it is almost useless to speculate at the present stage, but sharp fighting is likely to occur at Mafeking, where Col. Baden-Powell is holding his exposed position. As the Generals have decided not to attempt to hold the country north of Dundee, the Boers will doubtless occupy Laing's Nek and advance along the railway toward Glencoe and Dundee. These place, however, are considered safe against Boer attack.

The Times says editorially: "The news that the Transvaal has taken such and infatuated step will be received with profound regret by a majority of the British people. To the last we clung to the hope that bloodshed would be avoided, but that hope had been deliberately quenched by the wanton action of the Pretoria Government.

"In tone and substance alike the ultimatum is a document of studied, insolent defiance. It is the Transvaal, not we, who snap the last frail thread of negotiations. They have declared war upon the British Empire, and they must feel her arm and pay the penalty of their aggression."

The article concludes: "With Swinburne - in a vigorous and characteristic sonnet which he send us to-day - the sons of Cromwell and of Blake will cry, 'Strike, England, and strike home!'; it is in the old cause."

Published NY TIMES, October 11, 1899.
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Newcastle and Umvoti in Natal are both Boer centres and it had long been expected by the British Colonial Office that these places would be the objective points of the Transvaal and Orange Free State troops respectively. Along the line, west and east of Charlestown, is Sir George White with some 12,000 troops, while menacing the Transvaal from the southwest is Sir Redvers Buller, with from 30,000 to 35,000 men, whose line of advance is connected with two railroads. It has been reported that no attempt will be made by the British to force entrance into the Transvaal along the line from Newcastle to Volksrust, including Majuba Hill and Laing's Nek - the theatre of operations in 1881 - but that the attack will be made south of this line, along the route from Border Siding to Klerksdorp, below Potchefslroom, at which point it is the intention to seize the Pretoria-Klerksdorp Railway. At the same time a descent may be made from Tuli, which is in Rhodesia, on the right bank of the Limpopo. These are the two obvious lines of British attack, but there is another - from the east, with its base at Lorenzo Marques, the chief town of Delagoa, from which a line of railway runs directly to Pretoria, the Transvaal capital, a distance of 370 miles. The distance by rail of Pretoria from the other South African ports, which will form the British bases of supplies is as follows: Durban, 484 miles; East London, 665 miles; Port Elizabeth, 414 miles; and Cape Town, 1013 miles.

Thus it will be seen that three distinct columns supplied by five lines of railway may move on Pretoria. It is expected that eventually the Boers will be obliged to fall back on their capital, where they will make their last stand. The capital is surrounded by mountain ranges, and access is only to be obtained through the "poorts" or defiles. Each poort is guarded by a fort placed in a commanding position.

It is said that the line of advance from Border Siding to Klerksdorp has been adopted rather than the "Jamieson route" to Kruegersdorp, because while te latter is hilly and well defended in anticipation of just such and invasion, the former route passes through an entirely flat grass land practically free from such obstacles as rivers and hills.

In the last Transvaal war in 1881, even while the battle of Majuba Hill was being fought, British reinforcements were on the way to South Africa, and a most elaborate campaign was being prepared by the Colonial Office. It all came to nothing, however, when Mr. Gladstone caused an armistice to be declared. Military critics have declared that if ""Gladstone had not stopped the war" the Transvaal would have been completely subjugated within three months after the Majuba Hill affair.

The battle of Majuba Hill was not conducted on a very large scale. The engagement was precipitated by the British commander, who desired to whip the Boers and end the war before the arrival of the troops that had been sent to reinforce him. On the night of February 26, 1881, 600 British infantry set out for the summit of Majuba Hill. Four hundred men finally reached the summit, and were disposed in various positions about the rim of the mountain. The first shots were fired at 6 o'clock on the following morning, and the contest raged for several hours. In the final stages the main party of Boers crept up to within forty yards. The fighting ceased at 10 o'clock by the flight of the British, who left on the field, in killed and wounded, 280. The Boer loss was one killed and four wounded. The Boers have asserted that their force consisted of 400 riflemen; British reports place the number at 1,000.

Published NY TIMES, October 12, 1899.
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DURBAN Oct. 13, 1899. - The First and Second Battalions of the Manchester Regiment, under Lieut. Cols. Curran and Ridley, have arrived at Ladysmith.

Published NY TIMES, October 14, 1899.
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TRANSVAAL WAR BEGINS IN EARNEST

A Great Battle in Natal Reported.

FIGHTING EAST AND WEST

Burghers Are Said to be Attacking Mafeking.

BOERS DESTROY TRAIN

Poured In Artillery Fire for a Half Hour - Fifteen British Soldiers Reported Killed, Cannon on the Train Captured.

LONDON, October 14, 1899. - If to-day's reports are correct, fighting has now begun in earnest on both the Natal and the western frontier. The first vague reports have been received of what may prove to be an important engagement between the British forces under Gen. White and the Boer troops. The destruction of an armoured train en route to Mafeking with two cannon is confirmed by official dispatches. The war therefore may be said to be well on.

An Edinburgh paper, The Scotsman, this morning asserts that a battle has been fought between Gen. Sir George Stewart White, commanding the forces in Natal, and the Boers, who entered Natal by way of Van Reenan's Pass. Gen. White, The Scotsman says, is very sanguine of the success of the British movement.

The foregoing report is considered to be correct, as late last night the War Office had news of a British advance from Ladysmith, and was hourly expecting further intelligence.

A dispatch to The Daily Telegraph from its correspondent at Ladysmith, dated at noon on Friday, says~:

"A strong mobile column under Gen. Sir George Stewart White, accompanied by Gen. Sir Archibald Hunter, proceeded before daybreak this morning toward Acton Homes for the purpose of reconnoitring. Gen. White's object was to observe what was going on, and also to test the mobility and efficiency of his forces. All the men are well, and the weather is now fine."

According to the dispatches from Ladysmith to The Standard and The Daily Telegraph, dated Thursday, heavy storms have begun and forage is scarce on the veldt. Therefore nothing is expected to happen for a few days unless the Boers, who were reported to be advancing, should threaten the British line of defence drawn from Glencoe Junction to Ladysmith. In this case, according to the dispatches, no apprehension is felt as to the result. Gen. White has twelve guns and the Boers eleven.

The Ladysmith correspondent of The Daily News telegraphy his paper, under date of Thursday, that it is anticipated the enemy will attack simultaneously Dundee, Glencoe, and Ladysmith. The defending force, he says, includes the Natal Mounted Infantry and carabineers, all remarkably smart and workmanlike. The main Boer force of 11,000 men is at Sandspruit. The correspondent adds:

"Much discontent exists here owing to the presence of suspected Boer sympathizers. The troops are kept under arms, and the volunteers are ordered to sleep booted and spurred ready for instant call."

The Daily Mail's Cape Town correspondent, telegraphing Friday evening, says:

"I learn on good authority that the Boers are attacking Mafeking. They are reported to have already suffered several repulses. It is generally admitted that Vryburg cannot stand a strong Boer attack."

The Daily Mail's correspondent at Dundee, Natal, says:

"Reports are circulated here that the Boers have reached Newcastle, but no confirmation of either this or of the reports of fighting at Mafeking and Ladysmith are yet arriving."

The Ladysmith correspondent of The Times, telegraphing on Thursday, says:

"A subsequent reconnaissance shows that the invading force from the Free State numbers approximately 12,000 men."

The Times explains this dispatch as evidently referring to a previous telegram which has not yet reached them. In discussing the situation, The Times says;

"It is idle to ignore the fact that if the Boers make a determined advance on a large scale into Natal, as appears to be the case, a sustained condition of masterly inactivity might become hopelessly out of the question. We have no means of estimating exactly the number of troops at Ladysmith, Glencoe, and Dundee, and if we had it would not be expedient to discuss the point. But if 12,000 Free State troops are to be reckoned in addition to Commandant General Joubert's contingent, the situation is undoubtedly graver than it seemed yesterday, and further details will be awaited with anxiety.

"A point in favour of the defence is that the Free State and Transvaal Boers are not accustomed to working in unison and that any
attempt on their part to apply the principle of converging columns to an attack on Ladysmith would not be likely to meet with complete success.

"The armoured train incident is regrettable, but is scarcely disastrous, except that it tends to cut Mafeking off from touch with Plumber's force in Rhodesia."

The Kimberley correspondent of The Daily Telegraph says:

"A flying column is being organized for the protection of the railway between the Orange River and Kimberley. Trustworthy information shows that the Orange Free State has half it available force, viz., 10,000 men, scattered along the extensive western border between the Baal and Orange Rivers. The strategy displayed in their present disposition is crude."

Published, NY TIMES, October 14, 1899.
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THE WAR IN THE TRANSVAAL.

The British Prime Minister's Statements of His Government's Position.

From The London Times, October 18, 1899.

The Marquis of Salisbury, who was received with cheering, said: "The first half of the speech of the noble earl opposite (the Earl of Kimberley) filled me with despair, because I found that on every subject he exactly what I would have wished to say. It was quite a relief when he came to deal with modern diplomacy, because I felt that there at least there was something on which I might join issue with him. I need not reiterate the observation that the Boer Government have been pleased to dispense with any explanation on our part of the cause or justification of the war. They have done that which no provocation on our part could have justified. They have done that which the strongest nation has never in its strength done to any opponent whom it challenged. They
have issued a defiance so audacious that I can hardly depict it adequately without using stronger words than are suited to this assembly, and they have, by so doing, liberated us from the necessity of explaining to the people of England why we are at war. Whether if that defiance had not been issued we should now have been at war I cannot say. They were subjects of the gravest difference between us - subjects on which we were bound and pledged to arrive at an issue consistent with the duty which her Majesty owes to her subjects, consistent with the desire we have always entertained of supporting equal rights among all her subjects.

They were very grave questions indeed, but up to this time the modes we had suggested of settling them had not been successful. The spirit in which we had been met had not been encouraging. We had little hope that the future would reserve for us a better fate, but yet hope was not entirely abandoned. Now all question of possible peace, all question of justifying the attitude that we have assumed, or of pointing out to our countrymen the errors and the grave oppressions of which the Transvaal Government have been guilty - all these questions have been wiped away in this one great insult, which leaves to us no other course to pursue than that which we have to pursue. (Cheers.) It is not necessary for me to insist upon that which both we and the noble earl opposite agree. I will only say that it is one of the most satisfactory parts of our policy in these later days that when a question arises in which vital interests and the evident honour of this country are concerned there are no distinctions of a party, (cheers) and that no individual ambition, no opportunity of diminishing the influence of an adversary, will tempt English politicians on either side to make use of the difficulties of their country to promote their party ends. (Cheers.) We may congratulate ourselves, at all events, that, so far as this is concerned the present representatives of the Liberal Party are more than creditable representatives of Charles James Fox. (Hear, hear.) Now as to the modern diplomacy. In the principles other noble earl opposite lays down to everybody, of course, must agree. No negotiation is conducted under favourable terms, every negotiation runs a great chance of being wrecked, if the opinions on either side are exposed during its progress to the exaggerated influence of popular excitement.

We do not always get what we desire. We get what we have to take, and the constitutional conditions under which we live, enormous as is the strength which they give us in certain circumstances, greatly as they magnify the power of England in any real danger, undoubtedly furnish us with conditions which make the conduct of negotiations very much more difficult than formerly. But there are occasions on which you cannot observe absolute secrecy without sacrificing a great source of power. What is this controversy which we have had to adjust, or at least to deal with, in South Africa? It is a controversy, no doubt, between two races nearly balanced in power, one of which races is naturally devoted to this country, and the other is divided - many of them being by conviction, by observation, and by experience firm and devoted adherents and subjects of the Queen, many of them still having visions of some future return of Dutch supremacy. Well, when you interfere in such a conflict as that, when you have to struggle for Queen, you have to look around you and see what forces you have at your back. An English Minister is not an organ of despotic power, who has merely to give the word of command, and the policy which he selects will be unflinchingly carried out.

He has to look, almost at every moment, for the amount hat he can command of that popular support which is the breath of life to all political movements in this age; and the British Minister who has to consider the state of affairs at the Cape, and to sustain the cause of British supremacy, has to conciliate, to retain, to encourage, to push forward as much of that loyalty to her Majesty as he can command; and he cannot afford by secrecy, by neglecting the feelings of those to whom he has to look for support - he cannot afford to leave their attention uncalled, their feeling un-appealed to; he is bound to seek in their feelings, and by placing before them a full exposition of the case on behalf of which he invokes their aid, he is bout to give them such information as will place at his disposal and range behind him all the power, all the physical force of those who are devoted to his cause. If that is necessary, if he could not afford to allow British interests in the Cape by apathy or by ignorance to fall away from the Crown, how is it possible that he could proceed with the carefully secret methods of the older diplomacy? I am not doubting the merits of the older system, but if you have to appeal for popular support the older system will not do. (Hear, hear!) That seems to me to sum up the essence of the policy which has been undoubtedly pursued. We always have to consider the loyal population wherever we are dealing with a country in which the loyal population is separated from those that are not loyal. But the noble lord dwelt very much upon the virtue of silence. I entirely agree with him. I should have been very glad to have cultivated it, even on the present occasion. (Laughter.)

I do not doubt that the system, which I think Lord Granville used to pursue, of absolutely refusing to make any speeches while negotiations were going on, had, on the side of diplomacy, very considerable advantages; but, after all, you can only conduct a policy, or the measures to which diplomacy must give rise, with the help and approval of Parliament and the cordial support of the electors, and, again, to obtain their help you must inform their minds, you must lay before them the real facts of the case; and if you wrap yourself up in your own virtues, and will not appeal to the sentiments and the loyalty which are ready to your hands, the result is that, instead of support and enthusiasm, you get nothing but apathy and neglect. I do not understand that the Minister responsible for conducting great negotiations can afford either to ignore the feelings of British parties or to keep them in ignorance, and therefore deprive of the opportunity of assisting him those who are willing to sustain the policy of this country. Those two necessities are the drawbacks to the constitutional system, which is a splendid system with all drawbacks, and, until the noble lord can get rid of the heritage of 1688, of which these necessities are the necessary result, unless he goes back to a state of government which I am sure is very alien to his sympathies and desires, he will never escape the necessity of consulting, to a certain extent, the opinion of those on whose support he depends for carrying out any policy he has in hand. That is my view in respect of the question which the noble lord raised. I am bound to say that I think a great deal too much has been made of the supposed provocation contained in the language of the dispatch referred to by the noble lord. The may have been certain details in that dispatch which may have been misunderstood. I will not dwell upon that, as I have not got the dispatch before me, but my impression is that upon the whole of that class of argument the most exaggerated value has been place. The theory appears to be that President Krueger is an amiable, but very sensitive, old man (laughter) - sensitive to every word that may excite suspicion or may suggest any future political constitution for his country other than that which he desires, and, so far as these feelings are concerned, he sustains them and expresses them with a fervour and a restlessness more becoming a hysterical young lady than the President of a republic. I am always surprised by this view of President Krueger's character.

My impression is, or was, certainly that he was a sort of man who would say that hard words would break no bones, and, if he got the kind of policy he wanted, he would not be trouble by the English phraseology in which it was wrapped up. But I take an entirely different view, and I hope, not an uncharitable one. My belief is that the desire to get rid of that word "suzerainty," and the reality which it expresses, has been the dream of Mr. Krueger's life. Long before the treaty of 1881 was negotiated, it was his main desire. It was for that he set up the negotiations of 1884, and in order to get that hateful word out of his convention he made considerable territorial and other sacrifices. The noble Marquis (the Marquis of Ripon) will remember certain memoranda in connection with Mr. Krueger in which great prominence was given to that intense desire to get rid of that word "suzerainty," and now my belief as to the real secret of his policy during these last years has been that he has seen in the Uitlander population beneath him somebody whom he can oppress, somebody in whose sufferings we are interested; and he has used the oppression of the Uitlander population as a screen by which to obtain some concession on the subject of the suzerainty from us. I can point out phrases from recent negotiations which would amply sustain that idea. It may be that the word suzerainty has no meaning. That view, as suggested by the noble Earl to whom we owe the word, is deserving of consideration. (Laughter.)

But my impression is not that it does not mean absolutely nothing, but it means a number of things, of which you can take your choice. I entirely agree with the noble lord that it is a word wholly unnecessary for our present purpose. Situated as Great Britain is in South Africa toward the Transvaal and the Uitlander population, who are our subjects in the Transvaal, we have a paramount power and duty which has nothing whatever to do with any conventional suzerainty. (Hear, hear!") I do not think that is the opinion of Mr. Krueger. (Laughter.) He would do anything in order to get rid of it, and, though it may be perfectly true - I maintained that opinion at the time - that the word in itself has no distinct or sufficient meaning, it is still true that, having been put into the treaty, it has obtained an artificial value and meaning which prevents us from entirely abandoning it. We cannot drop it and restore things to the condition in which they were before the word suzerainty was adopted. If we were to drop it we should be intimating that the ideas which have come to be associated with it are ideas which we repudiate and abandon altogether. Of course that is a position we cannot adopt. I believe it is largely due to Mr. Krueger - I do not say it ot blame it - it is largely due to his peculiar character, and to the idea which he has pursued, that the moment has arrived for deciding whether the future of South Africa is to be a growing and increasing Dutch supremacy, or a safe, perfectly established supremacy of the English people. (Cheers.)

To the state of things established by the convention of 1881 or 1884, whatever it may have been, we can never return. (Cheers.) We can never consent, while we have the strength to resist it, to be put into the same position which we have held in South Africa
for the last seventeen or eighteen years. (Cheers.) With regard to the future, there must be no doubt that the sovereign power of England is paramount; there must be no doubt that the white races will be put upon an equality and that due precaution will be taken for the philanthropic and kindly and improving treatment of those countless indigenous races of whose destiny I fear, we have been too forgetful. (Hear, hear.) Those things must be insisted upon in the future. By what means they will be obtained I do not know; I hope they may be consistent with a very large autonomy on the part of that race which values its individual share in the Government so much as the Dutch people do. But with that question we have no concern at present. We have only to make it clear that the great objects which are essential to the power of England in Africa, to the good government of the country, and to the rights of all races are the objects which the British Government, with the full support of the nation without distinction of party, is now pursuing, and which they will thoroughly pursue and preserve to the end. (Loud cheers.)

Published, NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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LONDON, October 19, 1899. - A considerable engagement is expected in the vicinity of Ladysmith to-day. The combined advance of Boers and Free State troops in this direction has been executed with not inconsiderable skill and shows a clear appreciation of the British position. Gen. Sir George Stewart White has 12,000 men and 46 guns available, besides a considerable force of volunteers, to hold Ladysmith, and no anxiety is felt on his account, for the Natal country where the engagement is expected is fairly open, and, although the work of moving them will be difficult, the guns are likely to do good work.

The havoc the Boers are making with the railway and telegraph lines will seriously impede the movements of Gen. Sir Redvers Buller's army corps. There are conflicting reports as to whether the Boers have or have not occupied Helpmakaar. According to the best accounts the rumour that they have done so is untrue; but if the Boers have succeeded in this manoeuvre they are completely around the right of Gen. Sir George Stewart White's position and will be able either to attack him at an advantage or to move down into Natal behind him.

The Daily News points this out and seems to think that if the Boers work their way through Zulu territory or Basutoland, the natives ought to be permitted to exact respect for their own territory.
The country is not favourable for the Boer tactics, and it will be very difficult for them to avoid the exposure of their flanks to attack by a vigorous and mobile enemy already occupying useful positions; that is, supposing they really mean to fight and not merely to attempt to draw Gen. White further out with a view of surrounding him.

Gen. White has a large body of excellent cavalry which will be put to good use.

The Daily Telegraph's correspondent at Ladysmith says no newspaper representatives are allowed to proceed from there either to Bester's Station or Acton Homes, and adds that Gen. Joubert's forces are moving against Glencoe and Bester's Station on the Harrismith-Lynch line.

According to the same authority, some volunteers who had just come into Ladysmith from Bester's Station and Acton Homes before
the dispatch was sent, reported that 300 Boers tried ineffectually to cut off small parties of British troops, but the Natal men were too wary to be caught and retired firing. The enemy as usual hid themselves behind hills and rocks and in gullies, but were unable to advance. They used cannon against the British riflemen, who, nevertheless, maintained a stout resistance.

The firing was very heavy. The country about Acton Homes being more open, the British mounted volunteers there are retiring upon Dewdrop. Two thousand Boers were engaged at Acton Homes and rather fewer at Bester's Station. It is reported that the enemy there is hemmed in and suffering severely.

The Daily Telegraph commenting upon the foregoing dispatch from its correspondent, says it is difficult to understand the references to Glencoe and Bester's Station, except upon the theory that Commandant Gen. Joubert is dividing his forces.

The War Office yesterday issued the following statement:

"News has been received from Gen. Sir George Stewart White, the General commanding in Natal, that the anticipated movement of Boer forces across the Drakensberg, already reported from several quarters, was likely to be continued on October 17, in which case some of them might be expected to arrive at Boaan Bank that night and probably to come into contact with our cavalry between Ladysmith and the passes of the Drakensberg.

"On the north the Boer forces from Ingagane are advancing, accompanied by a few batteries of artillery.

"On the Buffalo River the Boers from Vryheid are moving toward Vant's and Rorke's Drifts.

"Our cavalry remain in observation and report movements in the Orange Free State. The Basutos are said to manifest an attitude hostile to the Boers, and they may neutralize a certain number of the Boer forces."

A dispatch from Ladysmith says that a letter was brought to the British pickets by Boer cyclists bearing a white flag, signed by the Newcastle Magistrate and sent by Commandant Gen. Joubert, stating that the Britishers who remain in Newcastle are all well.

Published NY TIMES, October 19, 1899.
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ADVANCE ON LADYSMITH.

Boers Cut In Between It and Dundee and Capture a Train at Elandslaagte - Situation Very Serous.

LONDON, October 20, 1899. - The Ladysmith correspondent of The Daily Telegraph, under date of October 19, says:

"The Boers captured a train which left Ladysmith at 12:30 near Elandslaagte. It contained several officers and a few men, besides civilians, all going to Glencoe or Dundee. The 10:30 up train, which contained one of your correspondents, got through. The enemy cut the wires, severing communication with Glencoe.

"The news was first received from the stationmaster at Elandslaagte, who wired: 'I see Boers near the line. What shall I do?' Ladysmith answered: 'Let the train run ahead full speed.' It did so, making for the north of Elandslaagte.

"The official said: 'The Boers are mustering and firing to stop the train. They have stopped it. What shall I do? Must I go?'

"'Yes, go,' was the reply. Thereupon the messages ceased, and since then the line has been blocked. Probably the stationmaster escaped."

The Ladysmith correspondent of The Times, under date of Wednesday evening, says:

"The situation on the eastern border is developing a more serious aspect. The Vryheid and Utrecht commandos, after looting on the Zululand border, are reported to be in the Umsinga District, threatening communication between here and Dundee. The situation at the front is reported to be growing more acute."

As no correspondents are allowed at the front, it is impossible to gain definite information, but it is known that Gen. Sir George Stewart White has been making some extensive movements of the troops in that neighbourhood, and developments are hourly expected.

It is rumoured that Commandant Gen. Joubert's northern column, with twelve guns, is now at Dannhauser.

Although the Boers have shown considerable activity in Natal, there is nothing to indicate that they are yet prepared for a serious combined attack, and the general belief here is that unless something unexpected happens Gen. Sir George Stewart White will maintain the defensive.

Some military critics think it not impossible that Gen. White may be about to withdraw his forces from Glencoe and concentrate them at Ladysmith, there to await developments.

The Daily Mail's correspondent at Glencoe Camp, telegraphing under date of October 17, says:

"The Boers opposite the camp are having their number strengthened, and the belief prevails that when strong enough they will seek to reach Dundee from the southeast.

"A clergyman living at Dannhauser, who has arrived at the camp, states that the saw a strong commando approaching Dannhauser
at 3 o'clock this afternoon."

The Boers, according to the latest information at hand do not appear to have been driven back. Perhaps, however, their movements are only part of a general plan to isolate both Ladysmith and Glencoe from the south.

The simultaneous Boer movements from Acton Homes, from the west and from Rorke's Drift and Helpmakaar, from the east, may indicated a projected attack upon the railway below Colenso. The movement from the east also suggests an attack upon the railway at Waschbank, between Ladysmith and Glencoe.

Published NY TIMES, October 20, 1899.
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BRITISH ARMY PLANS.

Gen. Buller Said to Have a Project of an Advance on Three Lines at One Time - Forbade an Attack.

Copyright, 1899, The Associated Press.

LONDON, October 21, 1899. - Glencoe and Ladysmith irresistibly rivet national attention, and when the average Britisher tires of lauding the pluck that won Friday's battle and still kee[s the flag flying over Mafeking, he reverts to the universal query, "What will White do next?" Sir Redvers Buller, last week's ideal, has almost passed out of the popular mind, although that General, despite the fact that he is in mid-ocean and unaware of what befell the Boers at Glencoe, appears to be the main factor in the situation. It is reported that his last act before leaving was to cable Sir George Stewart White, forbidding any British advance pending the arrival of the army corps.

It is understood in army circles that Gen. White believed himself quite strong enough to advance through Laing's Nek. Sir Redvers Buller's prohibition, if carried out, resolves all prognostication into the simple statement that upon the extent of Boer aggressiveness depends the number and nature of the engagements that are to mark the next month's fighting.

Probably the Boer movement will be curbed by the defeat at Glencoe, but it seems reasonable to believe, judging from the determination and fanaticism of the Boer forces, that they will sooner or later - anyway before Buller's corps takes the field - return to the fray with redoubled aggressiveness in a desperate attempt to break the backbone of Gen. White's force, having previously endeavoured to weaken it by feint and flank movements. Such a supposition regarding the Boer plans is based upon the belief that Commandant General Joubert's main objective is to break up or rout Gen. White's command before the British reinforcements arrive. But it is possible the wily BOer General has carefully concealed strategy which he intends to carry out in an unexpected direction, and that the attack upon Gen. White on Friday was merely intended to deceive the British as to the main objective. Reliable news from te Boer side is so impossible to predict with any degree of certainty what the next few weeks are likely to bring forth.

It is learned that the plans of Sir Redvers Buller, subject to finding on his arrival that the complexion of the campaign is not entirely changed, are to have four divisions, each a little army in itself and each capable of meeting the full strength of the Boers. As his forces will exceed 80,000 men, this is regarded as feasible. With three armies he intends to invade the Transvaal from different points, personally leading the principal force through the Free State, sending the other to hold Natal.

Expert military opinion is inclined to favour a single line of operations, unless the invader has a tremendous preponderance of strength. Although few are willing to criticise Gen. Buller's admitted military genius without knowledge of the information upon which he has based his estimate of the Boer forces, there is a growing feeling that the war will eventually resolve itself into a guerrilla campaign, and many references are made in this connection to the progress of the American forces in the Philippines. Several Englishmen who have lived among the Boers, but are now in London, assert that the Boers will never stick to their artillery, and there is a unanimous feeling among those who know the Transvaal and its inhabitants that the Boer artillery will cut a small figure only after the first month.

The explanation of this is twofold. In the first place most of the Boers are unaccustomed to fight according to the methods required in conjunction with heavy artillery; and, secondly, most of them are armed with the rifle only. Comparatively few have bayonets, revolvers, or swords, and it is a military impossibility for men to stand up against a cavalry charge unless they possess some arm in addition to the rifle. Hence, the only alternative when cold steel threatens is to desert the guns.

It is not believed that the Boers will suffer so much by the loss of artillery as might at first be thought. Unencumbered by guns, they regain that mobility, which, in the previous war, proved such a thorn in the side of our organized troops.

A splendid instance of the spontaneous co-operation of army and navy is given in the action of Capt. Lambton, commanding the British first-class protected cruiser Powerful, while on the way to the Cape. Calling at Mauritius, he found a line regiment that had been ordered to Duran, unable to leave for want of a transport. Without awaiting instructions, he embarked the whole regiment on board the Powerful and landed them at Cape Town, making an extra quick passage for their benefit.

Published NY TIMES, October 22, 1899.
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THE OFFICIAL REPORT.

LONDON, Oct. 22, 1899. - The War Office this afternoon published the following dispatch to the Secretary of State for War, the
Marquis of Landsdowne, from the General Commanding in Natal, Sir George Stewart White, regarding the engagement yesterday at Elandslaagte, between Glencoe and Ladysmith, when the British under Gen. French routed the Transvaal forces under Gen. Jan H. M. Kock, second in command in the Transvaal Army, who was himself wounded and captured and has since died:

"White, commander in Natal, to the Secretary of State for War. Filed Ladysmith, Oct. 22 1899, 10:30 A.M. In the action at Elandslaagte yesterday the troops engaged were the following: Cavalry - Fifth Lancers, a squadron of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, the Imperial Light Horse, and two squadrons of Natal Carbineers; Artillery - Twenty-first Field Battery, Forty-second Field Battery, and the Natal Field Battery; Infantry - The Devonshire Regiment, half a battalion of the Gordon Highlanders, and the Manchester Regiment. The whole force was under Gen. French, with Col. Ian Hamilton commanding the infantry.

GENERAL WHITE PRESENT

I was present in person from 3:30 P.M. to 6:40 P.M., but did not assume direction of the fight, which was left in the hands of Gen. French. Although desultory fighting took place earlier in the day, while reinforcements, sent out later, on ascertaining the enemy's strength, were arriving from Ladysmith, the real action did not begin until 3:30 P.M. At that hour the Boers held a position of very
exceptional strength, consisting of a rock hill about a mile and a half southeast of Elandslaagte Station.

"At 3:30 P.M. our guns took a position on a ridge 4,100 yards from the Boers, whose guns at once opened fire. This fire was generally well directed, but somewhat high. Contrary to previous experiences, their shells burst well.

"The Imperial Light Horse moved toward the left of the enemy's position, and two squadrons fo the Fifth Lancers toward the right. During the artillery duel mounted Boers pushed out from their left and engaged the Imperial Light Horse. In a few minutes the enemy's guns ceased firing and our artillery was turned on the mounted Boers who opposed the Imperial Light Horse, who at once fell back. After the artillery preparations our infantry advance to the attack, supported by our guns in the second position. The Devonshires held the enemy in front, while the Manchester Regiment and the Gordon Highlanders turned his left flank.

"The Boer guns, although often temporarily silenced, invariably opened fire again on the slightest opportunity, and were served with great courage.

CHARGE THROUGH THE BOERS.

"After severe firing our infantry carried the position. At 6:30 P.M. this was accomplished, the enemy standing his ground to the last with courage and tenacity. The Fifth Lancers and a squadron of the Fifth Dragoon Guards charged thrice through the retreating Boers in the dark, doing considerable execution.

"We captured the Boer camp, with tents, wagons, horses, and also two guns. The Boer losses were very considerable, including
a number of wounded and unwounded prisoners. Among the former are Gen. Jan Kock and Piet Joubert, nephew of Commandant General Joubert.

"One goods train, with supplies for Glencoe Camp, and nine English prisoners were recovered. Our loss, I regret to say, was heavy. It is roughly computed at 150 killed and wounded.

"The collection of the wounded over a large area in the dark and the arrangements for sending them in have thus far occupied our time and attention. A full list will go to you later.

"Our wounded and those of the enemy are now arriving by trains. Besides Boers, we have may Hollanders, Germans, and prisoners of mixed nationalities. The behaviour of our troops and of the colonial forces was admirable."
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BOERS REPORT THEIR LOSSES.

At Battle of Elandslaagte 100 Killed or Wounded, 200 Missing.

PRETORIA, October 22, 1899. - The Johannesburg Burghers Hollander Corps has had a heavy engagement at Elandslaagte. The battle lasted twelve hours against heavy odds. Two hundred are missing, and about 100 burghers are dead or wounded.

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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ELANDSLAAGTE RECAPTURED.
British Make Great Demonstration Against Railway Station North of Ladysmith Taken by Boers

LONDON, Oct. 22, 1899. - At 2 o'clock this (Sunday) morning the War Office posted the following from Gen. Sir Archibald Hunter.

"Ladysmith, Oct. 21 - 8:45 P.M. - Gen. White rode toward Elandslaagte at 2:30 P.M. The force under Gen. French left here at 4 A.M. by road and rail to Modders Bridge. By 2 P.M. it had been greatly strengthened to the following in total: Fifth Lancers, a squadron of the Fifth Dragoon Guards, two field batteries, the Natal Field Battery, the Devonshire Regiment, half the Manchester Regiment, half the Gordon Highlanders, the Imperial Light Horse, and two squadrons of the Natal Volunteers.

I remain here in defence of Ladysmith with the Gloucester Regiment, half of the Manchester, half the Gordon Highlanders, a
mountain battery, and 500 Natal volunteers."

"I learn by telephone from an armoured train a mile this side of Elandslaagte that at 5 P.M. the enemy's three guns were silenced and that our infantry were about to charge. The enemy's number this morning was estimated at 1,000 and another 1,000 is expected to arrive during the afternoon.

Gen. White's intention was to reopen the railway to Dundee and return here with his troops to-night.

"At 7:45 a report was received by telephone saying we had carried the enemy's position, capturing their camp, equipment, horses, and wagons. The cavalry are in pursuit.

"The operators on the instruments say we have some wounded, but have no details yet.

"I expect Gen. White will be late, so I'll wire for him."
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LONDON, Oct. 23 1899. - An amended list of the British casualties at the battle of Elandslaagte places the number of officers killed at 6 and wounded at 30, and the number of non-commissioned officer and men killed at 37 and wounded 175, the total number of casualties being 248. Ten men are missing.

The following is an official list of casualties among British officers:
...
FIRST MANCHESTER REGIMENT
Wounded - Col. Curran, Capt. Melville, Capt. Newdigging, Capt. Paton, Lieut. Banks.
...
FIRST MANCHESTER REGIMENT
Eleven non-commissioned officers and men killed and twenty-six wounded.
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BRITISH AND BOER PLANS.

The Former Express Admiration for the Bravery of the Latter.

LONDON, October 23, 1899. - The second British victory, that at Elandslaagte, in which the British losses, though heavy, were not out of proportion to its importance, may be regarded as having completely demoralized the well-laid but ineffectively executed, plans of the Boers. In the opinion of military critics, it will tend to bring the war to a speedy conclusion.

Gen. White, it is hoped, may have been able by this time to relieve Major Yule, at Glencoe, thus enabling him to deal with Commandant Gen. Joubert's column, as Gen. Symons and Gen. French have already gone with the others.

There is still to be guarded against a possible raid from the Drakensburg Range by Free State troops from Vryheid, through Zululand. The British plan will, therefore, to a great extent, be still to remain on the defensive, as Sir George White has an extended front, threatened at many points, to protect.

There is no longer, however, any apprehension of even the expected initial success of the Boers. The two victories already gained by the British must have completely disillusioned them of the idea they had gained through the Majuba affair, and, looking to the statements already circulated that President Krueger himself was opposed to sending the ultimatum, there is speculation in some quarters that the Boers may now sue for peace.

At least it is considered that all fears of a Dutch rising in the British Colonies may be set aside.

Much admiration is extorted by the bravery shown by the Boers. The Times says:

"They are honourable foes and well worth our mettle. Their sterling qualities ought to do much to facilitate the ultimate pacification of South Africa. That is now the real end of the war. We have to settle once for all the question of British supremacy and to banish forever the phantom of an Afrikander nation."

The Daily News, on the contrary, says:

"It is not at all likely that the two victories portend a speedy end of the war. The Boers will fight on; and our army of occupation must be hurried forward. The appalling loss of officers and men we have sustained shows clearly that we have stiff work before us. The Army Corps will have ample work to do."

Published NY TIMES, October 23, 1899.
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ANOTHER ROUT OF BOERS REPORTED

Cronje Said to Be a Prisoner at Mafeking.

GLENCOE IS IN DANGER

Fears that War Office is Withholding Reports.

RHODES ASKS FOR AID

Talk of Surrender by Transvaal Not Credited - More Details of the Battle of Elandslaagte - The British Charge.

LONDON, October 24, 1899. - The correspondent of The Daily Mail at Durban, Natal, says:

"An official of the Bonanza Mine, who has just arrive from Pretoria, declares that while there he heard that Col. Baden-Powell, the British commander at Mafeking, had captured Gen. Cronje and 30 other Boers and had killed 500.


The Daily Telegraph has received the following from Ladysmith, dated Sunday, 2:10 P.M.:

"The Boers, reported to be 9,000 strong and under the command of Commmandant Gen. Joubert and President Krueger in person, are to-day again attacking Glencoe.

"Gen. Yule, commanding our troops, has moved his camp back into a better defensive position."

The Daily News publishes the following dispatch from Ladysmith, dated Sunday night:

"A large force under Commandant General Joubert and Commandant Vegan, opened fire on Dundee yesterday. The firing was continued to-day. The result is not known here."

A dispatch from Ladysmith, Natal dated 4:15 Sunday afternoon, was received earlier. It was a literal repetition of Cape Town's Glencoe advices of yesterday.

The Parliamentary Secretary of the War Office, George Wyndham, made a statement in the House of Commons to-day, saying:

"Lord Wolseley sums up the position in Natal early this morning as follows:

"'In the battle of Elandslaagte, October 21, two guns were captured from the Boers, who lost heavily.

"'A large column of the enemy appeared advancing from the north and west on Gen. Yule, who, consequently, had fallen back from Dundee, and was concentrating at Glencoe Junction. In this operation we gather in the wounded and medical attendants left at Dundee.

"'Gen. White was in position at Ladysmith, and is being reinforced from Pietermaritzburg.

"'The enemy appears to be in large numerical superiority.'"

A.J. Balfour, the Government leader in the House of Commons and First Lord of the Treasury, said that the War Office had no news of any serious engagement at Glencoe since Friday.

THE SITUATION OF GLENCOE.

It appears certain that the brilliant victory at Elandslaagte as productive of no effect for the relief of Glencoe; and the very reticence and brevity of Lord Wolseley's communication are only too ominous. It seems to be worded to prepare the public for bad news; and it is only too likely that Gen. Yule has been compelled to abandon the wounded and the prisoners at Dundee because his force is too weak to hold the four and a half miles separating Dundee from Glencoe.

Probably Gen. Yule believes he can protect Dundee from an enemy advancing from the northwest by concentrating al his available strength at Glencoe, where there are now 3,500 men and three batteries. In the meantime efforts will be made to reopen the railway and to get reinforcements from Ladysmith.

It is expected that Commandant Erasmus has by this time joined Commandant General Joubert, and that their combined column amounts to some 10,000 or 11,000 men, while the Free State Boers, now threatening Ladysmith from the east, and a column reported to be coming through Zululand toward Meloth must also be reckoned with.

In short, Gen. Sir George Stewart White has been unable to follow up his successes, and is obliged to remain at Ladysmith, without being able to restore railway communication, which is probably broken at other points besides Elandslaagte.

Thus the enemy, although their original plan, which is supposed to have been Col. Schiel's failed, may fairly be credited with having isolated Gen. Yule's brigade and divided the British forces in Natal. Gen. Yule may find himself in a tight place, needing all his experience in Indian and Burmese fighting to extricate himself.

It is considered quite evident that the War Office reports have been withheld from the public, and if the situation as here sketched is confirmed, Boer divisions may be expected at other points.

THE PRICE OF SUZERAINTY.

Up to midnight the War Office was besieged with enquiries, the heavy lists of British losses causing much heartburning. "If this,"
said a workingman who was reading the list, "is the price of suzerainty, good God! we are paying in full."

It is regarded as not impossible that Gen. White may yet be compelled to concentrate all the Natal forces at Ladysmith and await
the arrival of the army corps.

The best opinions do not credit the reports that the Boers are suing for peace, or that they are likely to yield at present, through it is thought the Boers may possibly retreat to their line of defence in the mountain passes of Laing's Nek and Drakensberg. They have blocked the passes with great boulders and masses of rock blown up on either side, and, if they desire, they will be able to hold out there until the advance of Major General Sir Redvers Buller through the Orange Free State will compel them to leave the Natal side to meet the invasion from the South.

Published NY TIMES, October 24, 1899.
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BRITISH RETREAT BEFOR THE BOERS

Dundee and Glencoe Abandoned to Them.

YULE OFF FOR LADYSMITH

Makes a Wide Detour to the East to Reach That Place.

WHITE TO MEET HIM

Wounded in Hospital at Dundee Reported Abandoned.

Main Boer Forces May Effect a Junction To-day with Those from Van Reenan's Pass, and a Great Battle Is Expected.

A dispatch from Gen. White to the Secretary of State for War clears up the situation in Northern Natal. There is now no doubt that Gen. Yule has abandoned the Glencoe camp and is making all speed to Ladysmith, to connect with the forces directly under en. White.

This leaves the whole of Northern Natal, down to Ladysmith, in possession of the Boers, who appear to be carrying out their original plan of campaign, and are gradually converging upon Ladysmith, unchecked by their reverses in the battles of Friday and Saturday near Dundee and Elandslaagte.

The British victories at these places, obtained with a loss of nearly 400 men, are apparently fruitless, as the positions they won are abandoned.

There is a large force of burghers a few miles west of Ladysmith, between that town and Van Reeman's Pass.

Aside from some minor cavalry skirmishes this Boer force has not been disturbed by the British.

A smaller force is reported to be moving westward from the eastern border.

In the south, near Aliwal North, President Steyn appears to have assumed command in person.

The situation at Kimberley and Mafeking, in the west, is unchanged.

Published NY TIMES, October 25, 1899.
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LORD WOLSELEY'S REPORT

LONDON, October, 24, 1899. The Parliamentary Secretary of the War Office, George Wyndham in the House of Commons to-day announced that Field Marshal Lord Wolseley, the Commander in Chief of the forces, sums up the situation in Natal to-day as follows:

"Gen. Yule has fallen back to effect a junction with Sir George Steward White. He camped yesterday evening about sixteen miles south of Dundee, without seeing anything of the enemy during the march, and it has since been reported that 'All's well on the Waschbank River.'

"Gen. White fought a successful action with and Orange Free State force today, on the road between Ladysmith and Newcastle, and should join hands with Gen. Yule this evening.

"Gen. Yule reports that his wounded are doing well.

"The Boers wounded on our hands are treated just as our own, and I have every reason to believe the Boers will treat any of our wounded in their hands in a similarly humane manner."

Mr Wyndham added: "I may remind the House that the Transvaal is a party to the Geneva convention."

"Lord Wolseley further says: 'I have also received from Gen. Walker, at Cape Town, the following: "The last message from Kimberley - October 22, 2 P.M. - reports all well."'"

The afternoon newspapers here sharply criticise Lord Wolseley's summary of the Natal situation. They say it has a distinct resemblance to the statements of the Spanish Ministry when preparing their countrymen for news of the disaster at Santiago. This however, is probably an overstrained view. There is no denying, however, the great suspense and anxiety existing, which has been increased by the report in circulation, purporting to emanate from official quarters, to the effect that the Boers have
secured the services of 13,000 natives.

The vague and varied estimates of the Boer losses and the absence of anything official on the subject are also arousing misgivings as to whether the beaten enemy suffered proportionately to the disastrous losses of the victors.

One of the most disquieting stories comes from Ladysmith. It is to the effect that an Englishman, who arrived there from Dundee on Sunday evening, after escaping through the Boer lines on the previous night, reported that the enemy was then shelling the camp and town with heavy guns, while the shells of the British were unable to reach the enemy's batteries. Consequently, the man
is said to have added, the camp was shifted a mile or so, in order to be out of reach of the Boers, who were firing on the magazine in the town.

Published NY TIMES, October 25, 1899.
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THE RETREAT FROM DUNDEE.

Boers Occupy an Exceedingly Strong Position on Main Road to Ladysmith and the British Leave.

LONDON, October 25, 1899. - The following dispatch from Gen. Sir George Stewart White to the Marquis of Landsdowne, Secretary of State for War, received last evening at 11 o'clock, was posted at the War Office soon after midnight:

"Ladysmith, October 24, 9 P.M. - Information received yesterday showed that the Boers had established themselves in considerable numbers in an exceedingly strong position west of the main road leading from Ladysmith to Dundee.

"I also had information that the Dundee force, formerly commanded by Gen. Symons, and, since his wound, commanded by Gen. Yule, was falling back on Ladysmith by way of the Helpmakaar Road, Beith, and the valleys of the Waschbank and Sunday Rivers, and was expected to reach Sunday River Valley to-day.

"I therefore moved out with a strong force to cover the movement of Yule's column. The enemy was discovered about seven miles out of Ladysmith, in a position of exceptional natural strength, west of the road. When he saw that preparations were being made against him, he opened fire with one gun with great accuracy.

"Our artillery soon got into position, and the gun was silenced. Our troops were ordered to occupy a strong ridge, parallel to the enemy's position, but nearer the road.

"I confined my efforts to occupying him and hitting him hard enough to prevent his taking action against Yule's column. Numbers of the enemy fled to the west, and the firing had practically ceased at 2 o'clock."

The War Office dispatch seems to realise the worst fears. Gen. Yule has abandoned not only Dundee, but Glencoe also, and, so far as present news would indicate, he has neither joined Gen. White nor reached Ladysmith. Gen. White's "successful action," announced in Parliament by Mr. Wyndham, seems to resolve itself into a mere engaging of the attention of the Free State troops, while Gen. Yule is slipping southward.

When the War Office dispatch was issued just after midnight, the officials announced that nothing more would be communicated until Wednesday forenoon. Gen. Yule had a heavy march Monday over the Stratford Slopes and the Zurfontein Table, both over 5,000 feet high, and arrived after dusk at Beith, which is half way between Rorke's Drift and Waschbank. He had still a heavy march, and was hardly expected to join Gen. White at Ladysmith until to-day.

His movements were actuated by sound judgement, since he soon would have been surrounded and in a desperate position. The combined forces at Ladysmith, now amounting to some 12,000 men, will be amply sufficient to act on the defensive. A few more victories like Glencoe and Elandslaagte would leave the British troops without officers.

While the Boers have failed to take advantage of their strategic position, owing to the incompetence or haste of their leaders, the British have no cause for congratulation over the results of the Natal operations. They have suffered heavy losses in men, and their victories have practically gone for nothing, the whole of Northern Natal being now abandoned to the Boers.

It would have been better to have concentrated on Ladysmith in the first instance; but Gen. White and Gen. Symons had to yield to political exigencies and to the local reluctance to abandon an inch of territory more than was necessary.

It is not expected that the wounded left at Dundee will suffer inconveniences, except in being prisoners of war.

It is evident from the official dispatches that both Commandant General Joubert's column on the north and the Orange Free State troops on the west now occupy strong positions, and that nothing hinders the Boers from following up Gen. Yule's retirement and
getting around Ladysmith from the southeast. Until reinforcements arrive it seems that Gen. White is obliged to concentrate on Ladysmith.

It is believed that the Government has other dispatches that have not yet been published.

The Secretary of State for War left Mr. Choate's residence immediately at the end of a banquet to Gen. Harrison and proceeded to the War Office, where, even after midnight, there was considerable activity, many visitors calling to enquire for information, among them as sister of Gen. Sir Archibald Hunter.

The news of unrest in Basutoland causes much anxiety.

The correspondents who were taken prisoners in the train at Elandslaagte have since escaped. They report that they were well treated by the Boers, and that, in the collecting and assisting the wounded, Boers and British seem to have been mutually helpful.

Published NY TIMES, October 25, 1899.
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SECOND ELANDSLAAGTE FIGHT.

Boer Commander Reports Loss of Fourteen Men on Tuesday.

PRETORIA, October 25, 1899. - Gen. Joubert reports that Gen. Cronje, commanding the Free State and Winburg forces, had and engagement yesterday with the British at Elandslaagte. It started at 9 o'clock, and lasted seven hours.

Nine burghers were wounded and six were killed.

All the British retired to Ladysmith.

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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BOERS SHELL MAFEKING.

Cordon Around Kimberley Being Drawn Closer - Boers Occupy Windsorton Without Oppostion.

PRETORIA, October 25, 1899. - (Via Lorenzo Marques.) - The shelling of Mafeking was resumed at daybreak this morning.

Several houses in the town are in flames.

The bombardment by Gen. Cronje's commando began yesterday.

Ample time was given the women and children to leave the town.

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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BOER PRISONERS AT LADYSMITH.

LONDON, October 26, 1899. - The Daily Mail has the following from Pietermaritzburg, Natal, dated October 23:

"The proclamation of martial law throughout Natal has given great satisfaction. Among the Boer prisoners at Ladysmith are De Witt Hamer, member of the Raad for Barberton, and Dr. Van Leggele Public Prosecutor at Heidelberg. Among the killed was Mr. De Jong, Secretary of the Transvaal Education Department.

"It is now expected that Gen. Jan Kock, the Boer commander, will recover. Gen. White gave him the option of being taken to Pretoria or remaining at Ladysmith, and he chose the latter."

Published NY TIMES, October 26, 1899.
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REINFORCEMENTS AT LADYSMITH.

Boers Reported to be Massing Near Elandslaagte and Bester's Station.

LONDON, October 26, 1899. - It is announced to-day that strong reinforcements of infantry and artillery have arrived there from Pietermaritzburg.

It is also reported that the Boers were again massing near Elandslaagte, and that a Free State force, several thousand strong, was occupying Bester's Station.

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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BOER REPORT ON FIRST BATTLE

Ten Truckloads of British Prisoners, Including Nine Officers, Safely Delivered at Pretoria.

LONDON, October 26, 1899. - Several delayed dispatches from Pretoria arrived here this morning via Lorenzo Marques. Among them are the following:

PRETORIA, October 21, 1899. - Friday's fight at Dundee started at 5 in the morning and lasted until 2 in the afternoon. The burghers, under Gen. Meyer, took up a strong position, but were compelled to retire to their laager after capturing a Maxim. The fighting was resumed at 10 this morning in the neighbourhood of Glencoe and Dundee. Several Boer forces were engaged. The fighting was distinctly heard at Dannhauser.

PRETORIA, October 21, 1899. Newcastle is under martial law. The town is quiet. The farmers within a radius of three miles have been called upon to give an inventory of their stock in case it is required, and the citizens have been ordered to give up their arms. About three hundred complied. Guards are protecting property.

PRETORIA, October 22, 1899. The British prisoners captured Friday near Dundee were entrained at Dannhauser. They filled ten trucks. The officers travelled first-class, and a separate van was provided for two wounded officers. An enormous crowd assembled at the station here to witness their arrival, but there was no demonstration. When they alighted the prisoners were received with funeral silence upon the part of the crowd. The greatest order and decorum prevailed while they were traversing the streets.

The wounded were taken to the hospital, while the other officers and men were marched to the race course, escorted by mounted burghers, and were encamped on the spot where Jameson's troopers were confined. The officers, Lieut. Col. Moller, Major Greville, and Capt. Pollock of the Eighteenth Hussars, and Capt. Londsdale, Lieut. Le Meseurier, Lieut. Jarvice, Lieut. Sohre of the Dublin Fusiliers looked in good health. They are quartered in a building apart from the men. On giving their parole they will be allowed the freedom of the whole enclosure.

The men appear indifferent and spend most of their time smoking. They sleep in the grand stand.

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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GEN. YULE'S COLUMN SAFE.

It Reached Ladysmith at Noon Yesterday Unmolested - Wounded were Left at Dundee.

LONDON, October 26, 1899. - The War Office to-day received the following telegrams from Gen. White.

"LADYSMITH, October 25, 1899. - Brig. Gen. Yule's force has left Dundee with the view of concentration at Ladysmith. To avoid the risk of life which a long march would have entailed the wounded were left at Dundee, under medical supervision."

"LADYSMITH, October 26, 1899. - 12:40 P.M. - Gen. Yule's column has just marched in here after a very hard march during a night of exceptionally heavy rain. The men, though done up, are in good spirits and only want a rest. The enemy did not molest them."

A special dispatch from Glencoe Camp, dated October 23, says:

"After the victory on Friday, the British imagined they were free from further molestation for some days, but they soon found that
the earlier reports of a sweeping success were exaggerated. The reported capture of all the Boer guns was incorrect, the burghers succeeding in removing some of them before the British carried the hill, leaving only the riflemen behind to cover their retreat.

"On Saturday news was received of the approach of Gen. Joubert's main column, threatening Dundee. Gen. Yule quickly recognized the impossibility of defending both Dundee and Glencoe against such superiority of numbers, sent word to Ladysmith of his dangerous situation, and ordered the evacuation of Dundee. Most of the inhabitants went southward on Saturday.

"The British camp was also removed in anticipation of an attack on Dundee, which commenced with long-range firing by the big guns at daybreak Sunday. The Boers made excellent practice, and the shells from a forty-pounder occupying the Impati Mountains dropped in and around the town.

"In the meanwhile the British had reached Glencoe in safety. There orders reached Gen. Yule on Monday to fall back on Ladysmith. At the same time he was at Elandslaagte to assist his retirement. Glencoe Camp accordingly was quietly evacuated.

"The precarious position of the British was not known to the Boers."

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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MISSING HUSSARS APPEAR.

Thirty of the Men Sent to Intercept Retreat of Boers Arrive at Ladysmith - Three Men Are Missing.

LONDON, October 26, 1899. - The War Office last evening made public the following dispatch sent by Gen. White from Ladysmith at 3:50 that afternoon:

"The advance guard of the force sent out by me this morning to get in touch with and help Gen. Yule's column was within three miles of that column, which had temporarily halted at Sunday River about noon. I have occupied all the strong positions on the road to Ladysmith, and I have no further anxiety about them. I have received from Lieut. Kenrick, Signalling Officer of the Queen's Regiment, who has ridden in, and also from Col. Dartnell of the Natal police, who accompanied the column, the best account of the spirits and efficiency of the troops, who are very anxious to meet the enemy again."

The War Office also issued the following:

"There is nothing to add to Gen. White's description of to-day's engagement, as given in his dispatch. We learn from unofficial sources that the following officers, whose absence had not previously been notified to us, are prisoners in the enemy's hands:

"Eighteenth Hussars - Lieut. Col. Moller, Major Greville, and Capt. Pollock. Dublin Fusiliers - Capt. Lonsdale, Lieut. Le Meseurier, Lieut. Garvice, Lieut. Grimshaw, Lieut. Majendie, and Lieut. Shore.

"It is presumed that the whole squadron of the Eighteenth Hussars, under the command of the officers named, were taken prisoners."

A squadron of Hussars usually consists of three troops of twenty-eight men each, so about eighty officers and men of the Eighteenth Hussars are missing, according to the War Office account.

However, a dispatch to The Daily Telegraph from Ladysmith, dated Monday, says:

"Thirty of the Eighteenth Hussars, who were sent from Glencoe to intercept the retreat of the Boers from Elandslaagte, were cut off by the enemy. Under Serg. Baldrey they brilliantly fought their way across the Biggarsberg, the enemy pursuing and firing at them at a range of 300 yards along the passes.

"They arrived here at 10 o'clock this morning. Three of the troop are missing owing to the breakdown of their horses. The Boers
used a Maxim.

"A Lieutenant of the Hussars, with a party, was driven back to Glencoe. The Hussars were fired at as far down as Modder Spruit."

Published NY TIMES, October 26, 1899.
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THE BATTLE OF RIETFONTEIN.

Boers Were Driven from Ridge to Ridge by the British Troops and Finally Retreated.

LONDON, October 26, 1899. - Details of the fighting at Rietfontein are coming in slowly. A special dispatch from Ladysmith, dated October 24, filed after the fight, says:

"On discovery that the Boers were massed to the westward of the main road to Dundee an attempt was made by a train to recover
the body of Col. Scott-Chisholme, killed at Elandslaagte. The train was fired upon and obliged to retire and Gen. White moved out to attack the Boers, believed to be Free Staters, who should have joined the Transvaalers at Elandslaagte. Gen. White commanded personally.

"The Fifth Lancers were placed on either flank. They first came in touch with the Boers below Modderspruit, where 1,500 burghers occupied a strong ridge, whence they opened fire at 1,200 yards, hitting several of the British. In the meanwhile, the Hussars and Natal Carbineers advanced unscathed through an opening in the ridge under the fire of a Boer gun, while the Imperial Light Horse took part of the crest of the ridge, the Boers retiring.

"At about 9, however, a Boer gun stationed on the crest of Matawanaskop opened fire with great accuracy on the main force, which, in the meantime, had come up, but the shells failed to explode, and the British artillery silence the opposition. The whole British force then advanced, and the action became general.

BRITISH CROSS THE FIRE ZONE.

"A large body of Boers occupied strong positions at Matawanaskop and the precipitous ridges surrounding it. The British guns shelled the positions, and the infantry advanced under cover of the fire. The Gloucesters and Devons crossed a fearful fire zone beneath Tuitanyoni Hill, whence the Boers poured a withering fire with such effect that thirty of the attackers dropped within a distance of 200 yards. Seeing the peril of the Devons and Gloucesters, Gen. White dispatched the Carbineers and Liverpools to take the enemy in the rear.

"A fierce rifle and artillery duel was maintained for some time. The British Maxims rattled, but the Boers, under cover of the rocks, remained cool and replied with an incessant rifle fire. The British artillery swept the face of the hill, and at length the shells became so destructive that the Boers retreated to another ridge, whence they were dislodged by the Volunteers in the face of a galling fire. The Boers soon reformed and took up a position on another ridge, but the Volunteers dashed across the intervening plateau, again rushed the Boer position, and drove them back to the main force, occupying Matawanaskop. The British then shelled the latter until clusters of Boers were seen leaving and retreating westward, when the engagement closed."

THE OFFICIAL ACCOUNT.

The official report from Ladysmith, dated October 25, was issued by the War Office to-day. It is as follows:

"Yesterday Sir George White, having ascertained by a previous reconnaissance that the Free State forces had moved eastward from Bester's Station, and were attempting to gain the road from Ladysmith to the north, moved out in the direction of Elandslaagte, with the Fifth Lancers, Nineteenth Hussars, Imperial Light Horse, Natal Mounted Volunteers, two field batteries, one mountain battery, and a brigade of infantry.

"The enemy posted a battery two miles south of Modderspruit and opened with infantry fire at long range on the British advance guard, consisting of the Nineteenth Hussars. This was followed by artillery fire directed with considerable accuracy against the British guns.

"An action lasting six hours ensued at Rietfontein Farm, and the enemy were driven from the hills commanding the roads. Gen. White's object being accomplished, the column returned to Ladysmith.

"The enemy is believed to have suffered. Several Boers own officially that they lost over 100 killed at Elandslaagte. Three hundred prisoners, wounded and unwounded, are in the hands of the British, including several of high position. The Transvaal force defeated at Elandslaagte was teh Johannesburg Corps.

"In the action at Elandslaagte, October 21, the Johannesburg force, with a detachment of the German Corps, was completely broken up."

Other accounts dwell on the severity of the rifle fire at Rietfontein. They say that when the Boers finally retreated the Lancers cut them off from their horses and inflicted severe loss on them. The retreat, it is added, ended in a general rout.

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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BOER DEAD AND WOUNDED

Alleged That the Former Were Buried and Latter Carried Off at Once.

LONDON, October 26, 1899. - A belated dispatch sent from Glencoe camp on the night of the battle in that vicinity admits that
few Boer dead and wounded were found on the field and attempts to explain this by saying:

"Throughout the night the Boers, in accordance with their custom, buried their dead and carried off their wounded immediately after they fell, those left representing only the casualties during the last moments of the fighting. Even their disabled cannon had been removed, although broken pieces of them could be seen lying about."

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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JOUBERT INCREASING HIS FORCE.

LONDON, October 27, 1899. - The Daily Mail prints the following dispatch from Pietermaritzburg, Natal:

"One of the Dundee people just arrived er says that all day Saturday trains were arriving at Commandant General Joubert's headquarters at Dannhauser from the Transvaal border, bringing Boers, and that there must have been 10,000 in the hills around Dundee.

"The natives report that the Boers took sixteen wagons laden with their dead from the field of the first battle at Glencoe. Among the killed were several Natal Dutch.

"A sad feature of the engagement was that three Englishmen, who were impressed at Kruegersdorp, fought with the enemy, one of them being killed. The others greatly affected, said they were compelled to fight."

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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GEN. WHITE MAY ATTACK THE BOERS

Reported that Strong Reinforcements Are Being Sent Him.

MAFEKING WAS SHELLED TWICE

Ample Time Given the Women and Children to Leave.

Boers Occupy Windsorton, North of Kimberley - Gen. Yule's Column Arrives at Ladysmith Unmolested - Dundee Refugees in Sad Plight.

LONDON, October 27, 1899. - Gen. Sir George Stewart White, according to a dispatch from Cape Town to The Daily Mail, will attack the Orange Free State forces in Natal as soon as Gen. Yule's men have rested. Strong British reinforcements are being sent up from the Cape.

The official announcement of the joining of Gen. White and Gen. Yule has come a a great relief, and all the more so in view of the fact that later dispatches have shown that only the incapacity of the Intelligence Department of the Boers saved Gen. Yule's column from a greater disaster.

It seems that on Friday night Dundee was full of alarms. Heavy firing was heard at 1 o'clock, and again at 4. A severe thunderstorm soon after stopped the Boer cannonade.

Saturday passed in the same anxious manner, in momentary expectation of an attack. The British finally evacuated, taking all that
they could, but leaving plenty behind for the Boers to loot.

The appointments of the Boer hospital at Dundee are described as vey inadequate and primitive. The Boers themselves, in the absence of nursing staff, get only scant attention.

It is reported that Sir William Penn Symons died on Wednesday, not yesterday, and was buried at Dundee yesterday.

Gen. Yule's column had a very exhausting march, chiefly, it is believed, by night. The reason for a night march is not given, but it is probably a fear of Boer surprises. The heavy rains and mist hampered the march, but were perhaps the means of saving Gen. Yule from molestation. It took the column twenty-four hours to cover the last sixteen miles.

The only news this morning consists of more detailed accounts of the battles already reported. A correspondent who visited the hospital at Ladysmith, where the Boers wounded at Elandslaagte who were captured are being tended, reports that Gen. Jan Kock, who was badly wounded in the thigh and shoulder, said that the advance of the patrol under Commandant Pienar without guns was simply with the object of cutting the railway, and that this body was subsequently reinforced without Gen. Joubert's orders, Gen. Viljoen accompanying them. The latter was killed early in the fight.

According to another correspondent, the Boers say that Gen. Mock, during the battle, read his Bible and prayed for victory. His brother, two sons, and a nephew were all wounded and taken prisoners. Col. Schiel of the German Corps, and Commandant Pretorius were both severely wounded. Many prominent Boers are not yet accounted for.

Philip Kock says the Boers suffered most from "soldiers in little clothes, half men and half women," meaning the Gordon Highlanders, and in the charge of the Fifth Lancers. They say also that the quick-firing guns captured by the Devonshire Regiment are those that were taken from the Jameson raiders.

Col. Schiel assured a correspondent that nothing could stand against the accuracy of the British field guns, which repeatedly drove the Transvaal gunners from their embrasures. The British infantry frie was also, he said, a complete surprise to the Boers, who were confident of their ability to master any infantry attack.

One Elandslaagte correspondent expresses the belief that the British killed fewer Boers than might have been expected, considering the heavy fire of the British artillery.

The bullet of the Boer Mauser, it appears, makes a clean healthy wound where it passes out. No operations for extraction have been necessary at the Ladysmith hospital.

With regard to the western frontier, it is reported that President Steyn recently visited a force of 2,000 Boers encamped ten miles south of Kimberley.

The war is having its natural effect in Cape Colony. Everything is at famine prices, and horseflesh is at a tremendous premium.

A Dutch circular is being secretly circulated in the Burghersdorp district, appealing to the Dutch to stand shoulder to shoulder against "the tyrant who never keeps faith."

Published NY TIMES, October 27, 1899.
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CAPE TOWN SUSPECTS DR. HOFFMAN.

Fears that an Ambulance Party Will Give Information to Boers.

CAPE TOWN, October 27, 1899. - Great indignation has been caused by the announcement that Dr. Hoffman, a member of the Cape House of Assembly, with a party of assistants, is going to the Transvaal to do ambulance work. It is suspected that he will give information to the enemy.

Published NY TIMES, October 28, 1899.
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MAIL FOR TRANSVAAL REFUGEES.

British Government Will Try to Deliver It if Sent "Via England."

WASHINGTON, October 27, 1899. - The British Government has notified the United States that large numbers of people from the
South African Republic and the Orange Free State have flocked into Cape Colony and Natal for temporary residence during the war, and that every effort will be made to deliver their mails.

The British authorities suggest that if this country puts into the British mails letters and packages addressed to persons in the Transvaal or the Orange Republic, the Cape Colony office will try to deliver them to such as are found there or in Natal. It is assumed from this that the British have a list of refugees from the Boer country. Mail sought to be delivered by means must be endorsed by the senders "via England."

Published NY TIMES, October 28, 1899.
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FIGHTING NEAR KIMBERLEY.

Boer Party of 700 Routed by the British with a Loss of Three Killed and Twenty-one Wounded.

LONDON, October 27, 1899. - A special dispatch from Cape Town to-day gives details of the defeat of 700 Boers by the British north of Kimberley, in which the enemy was completely routed with heavy loss, the British loss being three men killed and twenty-one men, including two officers, wounded. The Boer losses are described as very heavy. The British force consisted of the local volunteers, who, with the Lancashires, completed the rout of the burghers after the artillery had driven them out of their entrenchments. Botha commanded the Beshof force. The fight lasted four hours.

The fight appears to have the result of a sortie with the view of breaking the cordon surrounding Kimberley. The British, apparently 500 strong, met 700 Boers and, according to the official and other accounts, routed them after severe fighting, in which the armoured trains appear to have done valuable service. The Boers were entrenched strongly seven miles northward, and the British brilliantly carried the enemy's position without serious loss. It is said that the Boers twice unfairly used a white flag.

Botha, who was among the killed, was a member of the Volksraad and a famous Dutch fighter. He distinguished himself as a marksman at Brenkhorst-Spruit, when the Ninety-fourth British Regiment was mowed down. He afterward defended a farmhouse against the British.

When he surrendered the farmhouse he was found with five wounds, bathed in blood.

Before the sortie Kimberley was apparently in high spirits, as a dispatch from there at that time, and that a wedding was celebrated there that day. The dispatch adds:

"Great enthusiasm has been aroused here by the news of the British successes in Natal. Several farmers in the neighbourhood of Kimberley have been noticed in the ranks of the Boers. A letter form Father Rorke said 800 Boers, with 100 wagons, were laagered at Taungs. All the whites have left except the women, who sought refuge in the convent. The Boer commandant has promised to protect them."

Published NY TIMES, October 28, 1899.
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988 BOER PRISONERS ARRIVE.

Reach Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday - Five Captains Among Them.

LONDON, October 27, 1899. - A special dispatch from Pietermaritzburg, Natal, dated October 24 says:

"Nine hundred and eighty-eight Boer prisoners arrived here this morning. They include Capts. De Witt, Hamer, Fighlus, Dorey, Vanlegger, and Dottner."

Published NY TIMES, October 28, 1899.
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BOERS WOULD NOT FIGHT

Strong Force Sent by Gen. White Failed to Draw Them.

BATTLE AT LADYSMITH NEAR

May Already Have Been Fought - Burghers Accused of Killing Several Non-Combatants

CAPE TOWN, Oct 28 1899 - Evening. - The Gordon Highlanders, the Devonshire Regiment, the Manchester, the Liverpools, the Dublin Fusiliers, the Liverpool Mounted Infantry, the Lancers, the Dragoons, the Seventeenth Hussars, the Natal Volunteers, the Tenth Mountain Battery, and the Fifteenth, Twenty-first, Forty-second, and Fifty-third Batteries proceeded to Lombard's Kop.

A squadron of the Hussars located the enemy, who opened fire with shells and rifles. Two horses were shot and a trooper was wounded. The enemy occupied a strong position at De Waal's Farm, and the mounted infantry tried, without success, to draw them out.

As nothing was to be gained by and afternoon attack, the column bivouacked, and at daylight the enemy retired to Rietfontein.

Published NY TIMES, Oct 29 1899
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JUNCTION OF BOER TROOPS REPORTED

Gen. Joubert's and Free State Forces Meet.

BRITISH SITUATION BAD

Gen. White May Have to Retire from Ladysmith.

17,000 BOERS THERE

Large Guns Have Been Mounted and Attack Is Expected.

British Observe the Boers Movements from a Small War Balloon
3,000 Feet Above the Ground - Civilians Ordered Away.

LONDON, Oct. 30, 1899. - According to the latest reports from Cape Town, Gen. Joubert has joined hands with the Free State forces, and there had been some outpost fighting. President Krueger has arrived at Glencoe.

The Standard voices the general anxiety regarding Sir George Stewart White's position by remarking the adaptability and able strategy of the Boers, for which they had hitherto not been given credit. It goes on to say:

"Their strategy is so well planned that it is impossible to doubt that it is the product of some officer trained in the best European school of war."

Then speculating upon the probable intention of the Boers and the possibility that they have been able to bring up reserve batteries from the Transvaal without the knowledge of the British spies, The Standard says:

"It is not impossible that we may hear of Sir George White retiring southward, where he could fight at greater advantage."

The Daily Mail publishes the following dispatch from Pietermaritzburg, dated Sunday:
"Patrols from Ladysmith report that there are four large Boer camps within a radius of ten miles, extending in a semicircle northeast of the town. Evidently the enemy is concentrating all his forces. Commandant General Joubert is in supreme command. One Boer laager has a Red Cross tent carefully posted in a conspicuous position.

"The British had several skirmishes with the enemy to-day. Railway communication with Ladysmith is still intact. At Colenso a couple of Basutos were detected putting boulders on the railway. They confessed that they had done this by order of the Transvaal authorities.

"A war balloon, very small and so light that two men can hold and haul it down easily with a wire strand, and which can ascend 3,000 feet, is now in use, and the full position of the Boer guns has been ascertained.

"The heavy and incessant rains have flooded Tugela River, which will prove an effectual barrier to any Boers proceeding southward. The remaining bridges are strongly guarded."

The position at Ladysmith, without being alarming, is sufficiently dangerous to excite anxiety. Evidently the Boers are trying to repeat their Dundee tactics. Roughly estimated, they have 17,000 men, as against 12,000 British.

Gen. Sir George Stewart White has the better artillery, but his is of lesser range. The delay in the Boer attack is reported to be due to the non-arrival of Commandant Gen. Joubert's column. This has given the British a much-needed respite after their recent exertions.

Everything, it is now considered, hinges upon Gen. White's resource and judgement. Nothing is known regarding the progress of defensive works for the protection of Ladysmith.

The censorship is more active than ever. According to The Daily Chronicle's correspondent, "the new regulations limit the number of words allowed for press messages to one-fourth the number allowable before."

Farmers in the neighbourhood of Ladysmith have left their farms and stock at the mercy of the Boers and are congregated in the town. The two guns the Boers have mounted are powerful weapons. They are the ones used in shelling Dundee, and it is a matter of considerable surprise how they managed to transport such heavy pieces.

Again it is reported that President Krueger accompanied Gen. Joubert to the front in a splendidly fitted travelling wagon.

The Standard's correspondent at Ladysmith, telegraphing Saturday, sends a statement that the Boers have captured 1,500 mules, a loss that must seriously inconvenience British transport.

The attempt of the Boers to cut the railway at Pieter's was frustrated by British cavalry.

The wife of Gen. Jan Kock has arrived at Ladysmith under a flag of truce to nurse her wounded husband. All the unwounded Boer prisoners have been sent to Durban to prevent any attempt at rescue.

The explanation of the alleged Boer massacre at Dundee appears to be that a portion of the Town Guard, although fairly warned by Gen. Yule before his retirement, continued to carry arms, and thirty of them were shot before the Boers discovered who they were.

Published NY TIMES, October 30, 1899.
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SEVERE FIGHTING NEAR LADYSMITH

British Attack Leads to a Stubborn Engagement.

THE BOERS GUNS ARE SILENCED

After a Four Hour Battle the British Forces Retire.

Latter's Losses Placed Between 90 and 100, While That of the Burghers is Estimated to be Much Heavier.

LADYSMITH, Oct 30 1899 - 6 P.M. - An advance was made by the British at dawn, with the object of shelling the Boers from the position where yesterday they had mounted a number of guns. On reaching the spot, however it was found that they had evacuated the position.

The British continued to advance, and the movement developed into a reconnaissance in force. The enemy were posted on a range of hills having a frontage of about sixteen miles.

The British force was disposed in the following order: On the right, three regiments of cavalry, four batteries of the Royal Field
Artillery, and five battalions of infantry; in the centre, three batteries of the Royal Field Artillery, two regiments of cavalry, and four infantry battalions, and on the left, the Royal Irish Fusiliers, the Gloucestershire Regiment, and the Tenth Mountain Battery.

This force had been detailed to guard the left flank at a late hour last night. Gen. White's plan of operations was that, as the
movement developed, the force constituting the British centre, which was disposed under cover of the kopje about three miles
from the town, should throw itself upon the enemy, while the left flank was being held by the Fusiliers and the Gloucestershires.
The scheme was well devised, but failed in execution owing to the fact that the Boer position which formed the objective was evacuated.

The British artillery quickly reduced the volume of the enemy's fire, but the attack delivered on the right flank was the principal one, and the column was compelled to change. The Boer attack had been silence for a time, and the infantry advanced, covered by cavalry.

BOERS MAKE COUNTER ATTACK

The Boers now began to develop a heavy counter attack, and, as they were in great numerical superiority, Gen. White gave orders for the infantry to be gradually withdrawn. The movement was carried out with great steadiness and deliberation, under cover of the artillery, which made excellent practice.

Some shells were thrown into the town from the enemy's forty-pounders at a range of over 6,000 yards, but no damage was done. The engagement lasted several hours and resulted, on the British side, in casualties estimated at from 90 to 100. The Boer losses must have largely exceed this total.

The attack was admirably delivered by Gen. White's right; and the Boers were fairly driven out of one of their strongholds near Lombard's Kop. It was not possible, however to push the success much further, as beyond that point lay a long broken ridge, affording every kind of natural cover. Of this the enemy took the fullest advantage.

British shells failed to dislodge the Boers. As the former's infantry moved forward in extended order, they came under a heavy and well-directed rifle fire, the effect of which was soon apparent. Gen. White, who was with the centre, seeing that the troops on the right were somewhat pressed, sent to their assistance the whole centre column, with the exception of the Devonshire regiment.

The battle had then lasted four hours, during which the artillery fire on both sides had been almost incessant. The naval brigade, which landed at Durban, had arrived on the scene toward the end of the fight, and immediately brought their heavy guns into play. Their practice was magnificent. At the fourth shot the enemy's forty-pounders had been knocked out of action.

The town is now, therefore, freed from apprehension of bombardment. Throughout the engagement the Boers held their ground with courage and tenacity, and, considering the intensity of the artillery fire, they must have suffered severely.

RAPID-FIRE GUNS IN ACTION

The correspondent of The Times telegraphed the following to his paper:

"The action seemed to be proceeding most satisfactorily, when, at 7:15 A.M., the enemy in large numbers, with field guns, Maxims, and 37- millimetre guns, began to develop a heavy attack on Col. Grimwood's infantry. The cavalry brigade had moved up on our right, holding the parallel ridge over against Col. Grimwood's position, and practically acting as infantry. In the meantime our batteries kept down the siege gun fire upon Ladysmith with shrapnel.

"At 9 o'clock there seemed to be a lull, as our reserves moved up; but suddenly the engagement reopened, as the enemy on our right brought further artillery to bear. Col. Grimwood, who, with the three advance battalions, had held the ridge for five hours, suddenly fell back across the open upon our guns. The Fifty-third Battery pluckily pushed forward to cover this withdrawal. Severe casualties occurred at this phase. The Fifty-third Battery held on against a cross fire of rifles and quick-firing guns until the infantry were clear. The teams of the two guns were damaged, and the battery eventually retired, made-up teams being sent to extricate the two guns. The cavalry, remaining unsupported, were forced to fall back also.

"Then began a general retirement on Ladysmith. The guns, which had been covering the Devonshire Regiment, stoutly covered the final withdrawal. The enemy did not press, but showed themselves on their positions in great numbers, on to find that the naval brigade from the British cruiser Powerful had arrived. Two quick-firing guns were at once placed in position, under cover of a redoubt, and in five rounds they silenced the enemy's forty-pounder.

"They troops were back in Ladysmith by 2 o'clock in the afternoon. The casualties caused by the enemy's artillery were not severe. The mountain battery on the left reported that it had suffered through a stampede of mules.

"Our artillery, cavalry, mounted infantry, and volunteer cavalry behaved splendidly in difficult circumstances. Dr Jameson and Sir John Willoughby arrived to-day and were spectators of the action."

RESULT IS INDECISIVE.

The Daily Telegraph special correspondent has cable his paper the following account
of the engagement:
"An indecisive reconnaissance occurred to-day. Gen. Sir George Stewart White advanced before daybreak (Monday) with all the available forces from Ladysmith, moving toward Tinto Inyoni. Two brigades were under Cols. Ian Hamilton and Howard, and another, with Gen. Sir Archibald Hunter, went toward Bulwan, while two regiments, guided by Major Adye, marched on our extreme left beyond to old camp."

"The Boers were found to be in great force at all points. Although we had seven batteries of artillery, their fire failed entirely to crush that of the enemy, until our infantry, the Fifth Lancers, pluckily rode across the enemy's front and feigned a retreat. This, however, failed to entice the enemy out, the Boers only replying with a shell fire.

"This flank attack so developed that Col. Hamilton had to reinforce our right with three batteries and the Gordon Highlanders, the Devonshire Regiment, and the Manchester Regiment at intervals. Our artillery then changed front, and a severe artillery duel the ensued, the guns generously supporting the reinforcing infantry, as they advanced.

"Two batteries remained in action against the twelve-pounder, and the quick firers of the naval contingent came into action. The
enemy had field pieces, machine guns, and a one-hundred-pounder,

"Gen. White in the afternoon withdrew his forces upon Ladysmith. The losses on the Boer side were considerable."

BOERS FIRE THE FIRST SHOT.

The war correspondent of The Standard, telegraphing as to to-day's engagement, says:

"During the opening stages of the fight I attached myself to the centre column. We marched out before dawn, and, after covering
three miles, halted under a kopje to await developments. In the attack on the right the first shot was fired at 5:20 A.M. It came from Lombard's Kop, a lofty eminence rising some five miles to the east of Ladysmith.

"Battery after battery went into action, and gradually the enemy's fire slackened. For nearly two hours not a shot of ours was returned save when 'Long Tom,' the name our soldiers had given to the Boer forty-pounder, hurled a shell, which we followed with anxious eyes, toward the town of Ladysmith. Presently the enemy's horsemen were seen streaming on a hill to our left. Sheltered by rising ground, they occupied a ridge on our left flank; and there, hidden by the scrub and trees, they could watch the turn of events in safety and await their chance. The Devonshires now advanced toward Kafie Kraal, under a hillock, and there they remained with orders not to fire a shot until they were called upon.

"Only when volleys were heard on their rear and flank did they show the least sign of restlessness. The sound of this firing, feeble though it seemed, satisfied them that the Gloucesters and Irish Fusiliers were at work, and that there was no truth in the story of a disaster to these battalions after the stamped of the mountain battery mules.

RIGHT WING HARD PRESSED.

"Sir George White, Sir Archibald Hunter, and the staff officers watched the development of the artillery attack, which gave the first promise of a realization of Gen. White's plans. Soon after 9 o'clock messengers began to arrive with news that the right column needed support. The first battalion of the Gordon Highlanders, then the Manchester Regiment, and then the Rifle Brigade, who had left the train for the battlefield, were sent to its assistance, until on the Devonshire Regiment, a squadron of mounted infantry, and the field hospital were left with the centre column.

"Perceiving that a change in the operations was in progress, I went with the Manchester regiment toward the right. Our artillery, under Lombard's Kop, was engaged in repelling the enemy's attempt to turn our flank. The Manchesters were sent forward to support the cavalry, while the Dublin Fusiliers, two battalions of the Sixtieth Rifles, the Liverpool regiment, and the Leicestershires were beginning to feel the effects of the enemy's searching rifle fire.

"The enemy rarely showed themselves, although along the ridges that lay beyond the range of our guns they, from time to time,
gave us an opportunity to judge of their numbers.

"At the height of the engagement the noise was almost deafening. Above the rattle of the musketry could be heard the thud of the Maxims and the banging of the quick-firing guns, which considerably added to the difficulties our men had to encounter. The purpose of the reconnaissance, however, had been gallantly achieved, and our infantry began to fall back.

"This movement was covered by cavalry. Some of the troops had to cross over open ground toward the centre, and while so doing they were raked with a heavy fire. The retirement was, however, effected without disorder or serious loss. Our batteries were got into position to secure the withdrawal of other arms from Mole station, but the fortunate destruction of the enemy's 'long Tom' rendered such services unnecessary."

[Donnie]

interesting reading there....thanks for posting

Donnie

[Owen]

Is Scott VC a relative?

[dbf]

Owen, in short yes, Robert Scott VC is a relative of my husband's.

One of those vague stories - handed to me by his mother's brother, no name, in fact no details at all. No-one really believed it. Took me a year to find him and check it out. Confirmed also by another relation in England.

R Scott VC's was the first military history I completed for family research. Many more since then, many more to go....

Diane