New-York tribune., 1899-06-18
BRITON AND BOER.
HOW IMPERIAL TROOPS WERE OUTGEN-
ERALLED AND OUTFOUGHT BY
DUTCH FARMERS.
u. Il. Townshend in Chambers's Journal.

Of those on whose shoulders fell the burden Of
upholding it there. We had found the country
in a bankrupt condition, and had restored its
finances we had found it threatened by the for
midabc Zulu monarch, with his army Of fifty
thousand fighting saVages. thoroughly drilled
and in state of high military efhcency. After
a desperate struggle, In which we suffered some
very severe losses including the battle Of Isan-
dua. where our camp was taken and the whole
of its defenders slaughtered, the British arms
finally achieved complete but hard-wOn tri
umph. We had broken the power Of Cetewayo.
and dispersed his regiments -: "celbate, man
destroying gladiatOrs." to use the phrase in
which Sir Bartle Frere once described his justly
dreaded mps. Subsequently. in the Transvaal
itself. we had overthrown SecOcoeni. a powerful
native chief who had successfully defed the
Eocr Government: while enterprsing British
traders had supplied an abundance Of excellent
sporting rifles to the people Of the country. who
earned not little money by shooting down the
game with them. In brief we had removed
10y one every obstacle to a revolt on the part of
the emigrant farmers who made up the bulk Of
the population Of the Transvaa outside the
towns
The revolt followed as might have been ex-
pected. 1t broke out in the month of December,
1850. during the warm summer Of the Southern
Hemisphere. and it came to an end with the
peace that was concluded after the disastrous
battle of Majuba Mountain February 26,
1881. The tale Of misfortune begins with the
affair Of Bronkerspruit in December The 9th
Regiment forming part of the British garrison
of the Transvaal. had been ordered to COncen-
trate at Pretoria, and was on the march thther.
NO dttudI nSntlnS naO as yet taken place, but
the Beers had held a mass meeting. proclaimed
a republic. and announced that they were going
to begin. At Bronkerspruit they laid carefully
prepared ambush along the road by which the
9ith were advancing. and awaited their victims.
THE BRONKERSPRUIT AMBUSH
The British colonel had been warned to look
out for traps. but as far as can now be known.
he had no idea that these sharpshoOting farm
ers were really in earnest and he failed to profit
by the warning. The oath were strung out for
mi Tla fh. h4K l..
and many Of the soldiers had put their rifles in
the wagons; in short. the march was conducted
as If in time Of profound peace. At a certain
spot the long column halted by "A BOer
patrol There was a brief colloquy between the
colonel and the Beers: they ordered him to go
back. and he refused. Nobody seems to have
noticed the ambushed riflemen 10 have OBJ
served the little heaps OF stones with which
these skilled hunters Of wild game. old hands at
shooting over the bare veldt. had thoughtfuy
hundred and fifty and two hundred yards their
exact distance from their intended targets
The Boer rifles cracked. and in twenty minutes
all the officers and half the British troops were
shot down. and the rest were made prisoners:
the loss on the side Of the farmers almost
nil As a Western American crudely observed.
it was a case Of a lot Of first class frontiersmcn
taking in crowd Of tenderfeet out OF the wet
IT was a terribly severe lesson that in the face
Of a possible enemy soldier must never be off
his guard
After the Bronkersnruit disaster the whole
country up. All the British garrisons in the
Transvaal were beeaguered by the Beers. and
one garrison POtchcf. troom. known both
by them and by Sir George POmeroy Colcy. the
general in command in Natal. TO be short Of
provisions. Colley gallantly determined to cut
his way in. if possible, and relieve il. He knew
well enough that ere long army from over
seas must be sent to retrieve the honor Of the
British arms. but he was also aware that ii
must inevitably arrive too late 20 save Potchcf-
stroom. The Beers had occupied Laings Mex,
the pass leading into the Transvaal from Natal;
and with the small British force he had at his
command he hoped to be able to disodge them
and clear the road. General COlley was cOnsid-
cred to be one Of the very best officers in the
British Army. He had had some experience in
actual fighting in China. and he had exhibited
extraordinary skill and courage and resource
In the difficult task of organizing the transport
In the Ashanti campaign. He certainly could
not be called a novice in But unfortu- /
nately. there was one thing OF which all his pre- |
ViOus experience had taught him nothing. and /
that was how To fight against good shots armed /.
with modern echOaders
On January 2l 1881. Colley move upon
Laings Mex with about eleven hundred men /
and six guns. The force Of Beers opposed to /
him is said by Alfred Aylward. who appears TO |
have acted as their military secretary, 70 have !
numbered 1431 under Generals Joubcrt and /
Smidt The Beers had guns, and dreaded .
artillery fire more than anything else, accord /
ingly. they dug some dummy trenches in soft .
ground conspicuous part Of the Mex and /
then iudiciOusly disposed themselves in safety |
elsewhere. COlley's guns opened fire at mile
and half. and appear To have principally occu-
pied themselves in shelling the empty trenches,
as. according to Alfred Aylward. was
hurt even frightened BY the cannOnade. 1t |
may be noted that Alfred Aylward's figures are
not contradicted by Sir william Butler in the
Life of Sir George COlley" which ne has re-
GENTLY published: and. indeed with reference to
this particular action. General Colley himself de-
Dores the ineffectveness Of his artillery practice
n one Of the letters printed by his biographer.
SECOND BRITISH DEFEAT
Posting the naval brigade. with the rocket ap-
DaratuS and some of the 6Oth Rifles in an in