The Van Buren press., 1899-12-23
THE BATTLE N TUGELA.
The First Real Account of the Bat
tie Fought by Gen, Butler
at Tugela River.
WAS TRYING TO RELIEVE LADYsAITH
The British Advanced with Grea
GaIIantry. But Were Met Witt
such "a MurderOus and Concens
trnted Fire that They Were Com
PEELED 10 Withdraw.

New York, Dec. PA dispatch tt
the Herald from London gives the fol
lowing account of the battle of Tu
pela. sent to the London Daily Tele
graph by its war correspondent:
The action which was fought to-day
between the British forces and the
Beers was a very severely contested af
fair. Losses on both sides were heavy
Gen. Butler Under Fire.
Gen. Butler, who commanded. wa.
repeatedly under deadly fire. Sur
eon-Maio ior Hughes, of his staff, wa,
killed while Lieut.. Hon. f. II. S. Rob
.erts was wounded (since died). OtheI
officers had narrow escapes, THEN
horses being shot under them.
The object of Gen. Buffers advanc.
was to force the passage of the Tuge
Ia. carry the Bocr intrenchments, ano
open up road to Ladysmith across
the ridges.
Gen. Harts Brigade.
Gen. Hart's brigade, comprising the
first battalion of the Conaught rang.
gers. the first battalion of the RoyaI
Inniskilling fusiliers, the first bat
TALON of the border regiment, and the
first battalion of the Royal Dublin fu.
siliers. was ent to ford what is known
as Bride drift, situated west of Doorn.
kop spruit.
Gen. HiIdyard's Brigade.
Gen. Hildyard's brigade, consisting
CT the second battalion of the Devon.
shire regiment, the second battalion
of the Queens Royal West Surrey reg
iment, the second battalion of the
West Yorkshire regiment, and the sec.
ond battaions of the East Surrey reg.
iment, was directed to proceed to Co.
tense and cross the river near the iron
bridge.
Gen. LyttIeton's Brigade.
Gen. Lyttleton's brigade. which was
composed of the second battalion of
Cameronians, the third battalion OF
the Kings Royal rife corps; the first
battalion of the Durham light infan
try. and the first battalion of the Ri.
file brigade, was ordered to support
might arise, while Gen. Barton's Union
fusliers brigade, consisting of The
second battalion of the Royal fusilicrs,
the first battalion of the Royal Welsh
fusliers the second battalion of the
Royal Scots fusiliers and the second
battalion of the Royal Irish fusiliefs,
proceeded to the east of the railway
toward Mount Dangwane, to project
the British flank and threaten that Of
the enemy.
The Artillery.
Our cavalry's field guns were sta
toned on either wing. The naval
guns werea posted in a central posi-
tion on the west side of the railway,
while Col. Long, with his artillery.
went to the east side of the railway
on the right of the infantry. Gen.
Hildyard sent ahead the Queens Royal
West Surveys on the right and the
Deyons on the left of his front. while
Gen. Hart pushed on the Inniskillings,
Connaught rangers and Dublin fusil-
iers. Our front extended for dis
tanee of about six miles.
The Beers Line.
The Beers had evidently fully eN-
tended their line. Their extreme
mobility almost gives them a front in
all
The guns were booming around
Aadysmith when ours broke the
silence around Colenso by Smelling the
foothills north of the Tugela river ard
Fort Wiley, which stands upon ridge
near the bridge. With skill and labor
the Beers had built walls and forts
and had dug successive trenches on
The road, commanding every line of
approach from Estcourt to Colenso.
The country is bare and generally
uhdulating, similar, indeed, to onr
downs. Our troops, therefore had to
advance to the Tugela without any
cover
The Battle Ground.
The battle commenced before SIX
o'clock in the morning, but the Botrs
made no reply to the heavy cannonade
which our blue jackets directed upon
them. Few of the enemy were visible.
They lay hidden behind their hil!
works, but on our infantry and bat
teries and cavalry nearing Colenso
sharp musketry fire was opened on
them by the Beers from the houses on
INT river bank. behind which many cf
the enemy had been concealed for
hours
Boer Batteries Opened.
1t was twenty minutes after SIX
when the Boer batteries opened fire ut
our field artillery, cavalry and infan-
Try on the east of the railway. Their
cannon included Creosut 50-pounder,
krupps and a Hotchkiss. the latter
machine gun, which while being dis
Charged gives forth villainous ana
an unnerNing rattata, sort OF vel
luminous postman's knock. The enc
my's shells were soon splashing in all
directions, but our indomitable IN
fsntry, in the face of the fusilade,
which really was one continuous
roar of shot and shell, fought gall
iantly on and gained Colenso.
Col. Longs Fatal Move.
Col. Long rushed in the batteries 20
order TO get close range, when suu-
denly the Beers sprang up and opened
destructive fire with tiausers at
fange of only 600 yards.
runners and horses were raplulN
shot down. With the utmost plueA