Arizona republican., 1899-11-22
BOERS AS FIGHTERS.
Estimated as an Extremely Formid-
able Antagonist.

It is usual. l know, for military men
to sneer at the generalship, or want Of
it, which, as they allege, was respon-
sible for the Majuba disaster-thcse
critics are wise after the event. It is
forgotten that the Beers met other Of
ficers than General CoIey at Bronx
horst Spruit in a number Of fights
about Pretoria, Potchestroom and
other villages, and that in no case were
our men and military leaders able to
stand up to the enemy. At Durham, in
Natal, in 1S4S, We got the wrost of IT,
and we did at Doornkop, where Eng
lish officers OF the ordinary type COM
manded. The only military success
which English officers can claim in a
good many encounters with the Beers
is the battle of BoOmplaats, fought in
1913 between artillery and fiintlock
guns 1t is. therefore, nonsense to take
refuge behind the lack of generalship
for our leaders. If such factors as
courage and leadership do not come
into the controversy. EXCEPT to a very
limited extent, in what direction must
we look for the explanation of our de-
fsats?
AT Laing's Mex the action began by
our lines, and. as admitted by the
Beers themselves. the small loss they
suffered from this fre-General Jou
bert was nearly hit by splinter OF 4
shell-induced them 10 think seriously
of abandoning the position. They
We're about to leave when the attack by
a small number of mounted infantry
and by a few companies OF Colonel
Deane's regiment was made. Only one
of our men reached the BOer lines. the
others being stopped a short distance
away: and, as they We're unsupported,
these We're driven back down the hill
Result: 100 killed and wounded on the
british side, against twenty-four Beers
killed and wounded. At 1ngOgo. fought
Il few days afterward, force of about
800 men and two guns We're stopped on
a small plateau, and, after an action
lasting nearly all day. our men. With
the two guns, We're withdrawn during
the fight, leaving dead and wounded
on the ground. The Beers also left the
field at night. At this fight the Beers
crept up to within sixty yards of our
guns. They lost seventeen killed and
wounded, While our loss was 142 killed
and wounded.
a force of about 600 infantry set out
for the summit of Majuba Hill on the
night of February 26, 1881 There We're
about 500 combatants. After leaving
some companies on the road, about 400
men reached the summit. and were
disposed in various positions about the
rim of the mountain. The first shots
were fired about O'Clock. and the COM
bat went on uninteriuptedly for hours.
IN the final stages the main body of
the Beers crept to within forty yards.
and for considerable time fusiladed
our troops at this distance. Many of
the men fell in the subsequent fight:
but when the fighting was over at l
o'clock our casualties were $50 killed
and wounded, while the Beers lost one
killed and four wounded. At Bronx
horst we lost 12O killed and wounded
within ten minutes, the Boers losing
one. In the jameson raid our losses
were about 100 killed and wounded. the
Beers having FIVE killed and wounded
in the actual fighting.
1t is usually maintained that these
Transvaal fights We're fought at dis
advantage. and that our men were in
each case vastly Outnumbered. IF we
accept the Boer accounts, our forces
were not outnumbered. At Majuba
they say they had about 400 men. But
even assuming that there were LOCO
Beers. the result is still extremely I'M
factury.-African Review.