The times., 1899-11-23
At Estcourt nnd Lndssmith.


itzburg and Ladysmith Heretofore they
have been mostly ON the mi
tiaure Of General Joubert. and it has not
been necessary 10 conceal them from the
public But now Sir c. +. CleTy and Gen
eral Hudy5rd have some hard strategic
nuts 10 crack. and there is likely TO be
good deal Of Teticence while they are max
ing their preparations. Both are stan col
lege men and ought TO be srategists
Whether they are and OF superior or
der. remains TO be seen.
As lar as appearances 60 Joubert has
diminished The ardor OF mis- siege OF La
dysmith. and marched south with The flow
er Of his troops to meet Clery and Hid
yard. There is no doubt that al least
temporarily. the Boer advance upon Est
court and Weston. affords White something
! like . breathing spell. 1t is only TO he
hoped that b. will not allow himself l9 be-
/ come overconfdent in consequence. Al
though il is probably true ass reported
that as many as ten thousand men have
/ been withdrawn from the investing force
and moved toward the Tugela River. il is
announced on equally good authority that
/ large endorsements have been arriving
10 take their place-hcw many we are
quite unable to estimate. II would be quite
J consistent with the excellent strategy
+ characteristic of the Transyaal generals
I operations so far. if his apparent partial
4 abandonment of the siege should turn out
+ TO be more OF less in the nature OF a ruse.
The Importance Of catching Sir George nap
ping and defeating him has not in any
I sense diminished because it is necessary
to clean up Estcourt if possible before
Clery can bring up the main body Of the
+ First division. But the general command
I ing in Ladysmith en- the whole mas given
good account Of himself and doubtless can
/ be trusted 10 be on the lookout for traps.
a most interesting military situation Is
unfolding along the line As remarked
+ yesterday, the psoximate objects OF the
Beers would appear to be rather obvious.
+ They seem. according TO our dispatches, 10
have been maneuvring for position from
which TO strike EstcouTt in the rear as
well as III front and at the same time to
meet any force approaching from below
I the sIooi River The bridge over that
+ stream is no doubt wrecked By this time,
as Estcourt is isolated and Joubert is in
control from that place to the river, or.
perhaps. as far south as Weston We are
I yet in ignorance as 10 his aggregate effect
i've in Natal Estimates vary so much
/ that it is useless 10 hazard an opinion on
the subject. il must be remembered that
4 IT is easy TO exaggerate the Boer numbers.
+ Practically all OF Jouberts forces are
mounted ard can be moved from place TO
place quickly enough to give an impres-
sion Of much greater numerical strength
Z than may really exist II is also true
( that ia such country. and under such
Z conditions as must obtain to a campaign
. lu northern Natal. The superior mobility
Of tie Beers. other things being equal.
should make Joubeyts columns more than
Z q match FOR rha same number Of British
troops largely composed OF foot soldiers.
one Of tae great difficulties attending any
aasmp. 10 make predictions is suggested
.u The foregoing
The opinion .a London military circles Is
ll 10 bs that Sir C. r. Clery. within a
very lsa Lays-say by tlg end OF the
EaeE-uL have available abour seventeen
ttouzsr rr5ap- 10 which -hould be added
four .houssn5 Hva hundred which were in
ne colon. before The first transport ar
rived II this view be correct il ought 10
b. possible to relieve E5,court and
10 execute diversion calculated 10
4 derause be plans Of the Boer general The
. prediction may be- therefore. hazarded that
Clery viii be heard from in turning
( movement 10 the east of the railway line.
Joubert acts as il he anticipated such a
/ countar-stroke II successful il would
threaten his line of communication with
/ Laing's Mex and perhaps throw British
force between Dundee and Ladysmith
Jcubert viii not take many chances Of that
( kind. and that something Of the sort is
among the possibilities, may serve to pre-
vent him from advancing much farther
south than the Mooi River since he would
be compelled 10 keep his force in q re!a-
lively compact condition 10 hold Ladysnith
in siege, and simultaneously repel the
British forces from below
II it be Sir Redyers Buffers policy to
play a waiting game in Natal. pending the
mobilization on the Orange River line in
Cape Colony. the indications are that the
British situation in the former field is fav-
orable White is alleged to have reported
that he has plenty Of ammunition and food
supplies, and if Clery has managed to
strengthen Estcourt properly, he should
soon be able to drive the Beers back be-
yond the Tugela. Ten days hence Methuen
and GatacTe between them ought to have
force sufficient to begin the advance into
the Free State. and to thus render a Boer
retreat from Ladysmith a matter of neces-
sity. Discounting this prospect, Joubert
may decide 10 force the hghtng and engage
the British at Estcourt. in the hope of de-
liveriug a blow which would not only de-
lay the advance toward Ladysmith. but en-
courage the Afrikanders in Cape Colony TO
open rebellion, and the waveriug native
tribes 10 an outbreak, and so demoralize
Buffers plans generally On this theory
there should be fighting at Estcourt by this
time and that may account for the paucity
OF news from the scene OF action today.
The story of Manila.
There is not another such important in
stituu0n in the Navy as the Bureau OF