The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1899-11-03
Beers. Capture Two British
Regiments at Ladysmith.
SURROUND THEM In HILLS.
Royal Irish Fusileers and Gloucester
shire Regiments Surrender.
LOSSES REACH NEARLY 1000.

GO0NbS h6AUd IN 6AhI4 G,UUU.
Sixty-One Officers In the Detachment Cap
tured by the Boers-News of the Disas-
ter Casts the Whole Country Into Gloom.
Worst Defeat for a Hundred Years.
LONDON, Nov. There was con-
tinuous stream of callers at the war Of
fee until a late hour, everybody anx-
iously inquiring regarding Mondays
casualties but the war Office declared
nothing had been received since Gen
eral Whites dispatch conveying the
information of the capitulation of the
Royal Irish Fusileers and the Gloucester
regiment This delay i'll getting fur
ther intelligence is attributed in part
to the breaking down of the east coast
cable, but it stands to reason that the
war office must be possessed of further
news which it is not thought advisable
to publish as yet. The disaster has
caused a feeling akin to CONSERVATION,
and in Worcestershire and. the north of
Ireland, where the regiments were re-
cruited, the blacklist gloom prevails,
families awaiting with beating hearts
the news. Many homes are already in
mourning i'll consequence of losses sus-
tanned by these regiments in previous
engagements.
Public anxiety was caused by spe-
cial dispatch from Ladysmith, pub
lished i'll the late editions to the effect
that before darkness last night the
Beers occupied the position held by
their heavy artillery which General
White had silenced by the naval brig
ade and had opened fire again.
The dispatch further says: "The
enemy are again closing in and the sit
nation is one of grave anxiety. Be-
! yond doubt the Boer retirement Mon
day was a ruse to draw General White
into the hilly country and away from
the British camp"
This last sentence is significant and
confirms the opinion of military experts
that General White is allowing himself
to be outgeneraled by Commandant
General Joubert.
No exact report of losses has yet been
made public, but the best estimate is
that 1850 to 1910 men have been cap
tured or killed. The officers with the
lost detachment numbered 81. White s
report shows 40 of these prisoners. The
inference drawn here is that the others
have been killed.
From the scanty advices received it
seems certain that the disaster was a
simple repetition Of the battle of Majuba
hill, though on a larger scale. The two
regiments were allowed to march into a
trap set for them by the Beers. 1t is
simply case Of the Boer spider and the
guileless British fly. In fact, the whole
engagement of Monday seems to have
been brought on by Commandant Gen
eral Joubert, who conceived giant
trap, out Of which, as the official dis
patch shows, Sir George only escaped
with difficulty. General White had the
idea of driving the Beers from the hill,
seven miles out, which General Joubert
made show Of fortifying on Sunday.
The Boer forces left force sufficient
to draw General White on, while, with
the remainder Of the Beers, he moved
stealthily around the British right, tc
deliver flank attack and to endeavor
to cut off General White from Lady.
smith. The British commander sue.
ceeded in beating off the attack, but
only with great difficulty. and during
the movement his troops suffered from
flanking fire.
Harsh things are said in military cir.
cles of the tactics which have made DOS
; sible the ambush of the Eighteenth
Hussars at Glencoe and now the loss Of
J two fine regiments.
u 1t is feared that Sir George White is
no match for the Beers, insofar as Gun
ming tactics are concerned, and it il
pointed out that it the British com
manders continue to lead their men
into obvious traps, further disasters
must be looked for.
About 5000 fresh troops will arrive
at Cape Town on Sunday next from
England and be available to reinforce
General White. Transports will arrive
there daily after Sunday, until by the
end of next week $4,000 troops will
have been landed in South Africa
These troops are intended for Genera
Buffers army, but they will undoubt
eddy be dispatched to Natal if the situa
ton there should become perilous. The
British army viii eventually reach the
huge total of 1864, of which $685.
) will be regulars and the other 10000
. miscellaneous, but excellent colonial
: troops.
Worst Defeat for a Hundred Years.
LONDON, Nov. An ominous cur
tain has again descended on affairs il
Natal. No dispatch except the officia
kilograms of Sir George Stewart White
has thus far been permitted to mention
the disaster and no telegram from Lady
smith has been received in London since