Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-21

LoNDoN, ocVs qua
describing the battle Mt Glencoe,
sums uI the casualties ns follows;
sour losses are probably 900 killed
and wounded and that of the Beers
thrice ns many"
Another correspondent says;
"A rough estimate places the Brit
ish loss as go killed and wounded
and that of the Beers at 500"
LONDON, Oct. 21-A GleEEoe correspond
ent teegraphing yesterday says
"a force of 900 Boers led by Command
ant General Joubert. has been beaten Sc
yerely by a force under General Symons and
the enemy at this moment are in full re-
treat
Nobody in the camp says General Symons
and staff were aware that the Beers were
going to attack this morning. 1t was
known, however, that the enemy were fur
ther south, and 1t seen that unusual
precautions were being taken to guard
against a surprise during the night.
''Just before dawn the Boer artillery
opened fire from the Glencoe hill. The range
was lily judged and the quality of ammuni
tion bad In the two hours and half firing
scarcely dozen shells burst in our lines.
Our gunners, on the contrary, put up an
excellent practice which began to tell.
"At 7:30 General Symons ordered a gen.
eral advance of the infantry brigade, which
he himself accompanied. The Dublin Fusil-
GERS were well in front with the Kings
Royal Rifles out on the front and the Leces-
tershire regiment on the left The men ad-
vanced smartly, taking advantage of every
bit Of cover-tactics in which they had been
exercised for weeks past
The advance was covered by a terrific
fire from our three batteries, and several
Boer guns were silenced before the Fusleers
began to climb the hill. BY the time the
Fusileers and the Royal Rifles got within
1000 yards of the crest, the Boer batteries
were, completely silenced, our batteries hav-
ing pounded them at $500 yards range with
crushing effect. The Boers meantime were
keeping up heavy rifle fire, which thinned
our ranks considerably
by o'clock the Fusieers and Royal Rifles
had swarmed over the hill and the Beers
were the run. Meantime the Eighteenth
Hussars and all the colonial mounted in
fantry and the Leicestershire regiment had
moved north and east, thus practically cut
ting off the Boer main line of retreat, and
the enemy, caught between two fires, lost
heavily. At this moment fighting is still
going on, but the defeat OF the enemy is
already complete and crushing and it looks
as though few would escape.
Our losses are probably 300 killed and
wounded. and that of the Beers thrice as
many"
Another Account.
GLENCOE, Oct. 20.-The battle this after
noon has been brilliant success. The
Beers got reverse which may possibly
for time at any rate check all aggressive
action. The British artillery practice in
the early part of the day decided the battle.
The seizure Of Dundee hills by the Beers
was a surprise, for, although the pickets had
been exchanging shots all night it was not
until she'll doomed over into the town that
their presence was discovered. Then the
shells came fast. The hill was pc sltively
alive with Beers, still the British artillery
got to work with magnificent energy and
precision, the batteries rom the camp took
up positions to the south of the town and
after a quarter of an hours magnificent
firing, silonced the guns on the hills
The correspondent could see shells drop
ping among the Beers pieces with remark
able accuracy and doing tremendous exc
cution, for the enemy were present in large
numbers.
BY this time the enemy held the whole OF
the hill behind Smiths farm and the Dun
dee Kopje right away TO the south in
which the British infantry and cavalry
moved at once, the fight raging particularly
hot at the valley outside the town.
Directly the Beers guns ceased firing
the infantry charged, The charge was
magnificent. The Kings Royal Rifles and
the Doublin Fusileers' charge of the posi-
tion was a magnificent sight. The Boei
fire was not as deadly as 1t might have been
ha OH
the storming party and any hesitation
would have lost the day. The enemy's guns
so far as the correspondent could see, were
all abandoned, for the Beers had no Tins
TO remove them. stream OF fugitive.
poured down the hillside into the valley
where the battle went on with no abatement
General Symons was wounded early in thC
action and the command went TO Major Yule
The Beers, as they fed, were followed by
the cavalry, mounted infantry and artil
lery. The direction of retreat was to th'
eastward.
Some say that four and some five guns
were captured. The Boer artillery fire wai
weak, Although the enemys position wa
carried shortly after noon, the firing con
tinued all afternoon.
The final rush was made with trium
phant yell and as the British troops charge,
TO close quarters the enemy turned ana hed
leaving all their impediments and guns be
hind them in their flight.
British Lose Heavily.
While this was going on, one battery o
artillery the Eighteenth Hussars. and tn
mounted infantry with a part of tn
Leicester regiment got on the enemys flanl
and as the Beers streamed wildly down tn
hills. making for the main road, they foun
their retreat had been cut of, but they raj
lied for awhile and there was severe frin
with considerable loss TO each side. Man
OF the enemy surrendered A rough esti
mate places the British loss at 250 killed o
wounded and the Beers at 500,
\ newspaper correspondent states tha
through his glasses during the fighting h
noticed how much the Beers seemed to b
nonplussed by the tactics Of the imperia