Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1899-12-14
METHUEN DEFEATED
AT MODOER RIVER.
Attacks the Position Of the Beers
and Is Repulsed After a
Hard Fight.
HIS LOSSES ARE VERY HEAVY
No Details of the Casualties. hut He
1.cports That They Are Large
General Wauchopc
Killed.

London, Dec. 14.-The war Office has
received the following from General
Methuen, dated December 12:
"Onr artillery shelled a very strong
position held by theenemy on a long.
high kopje from o'clock until dusk
Sunday. The Highland brigade at
tackled at day Monday the south
end of the kopje. The attack was
properly timed, but failed. Guards
were ordered to protect the Highland.
ers' right and rear. Cavalry and
mounted infantry, with howitzer artil-
lery battery, attacked the enemy on
the left and the guards on the right,
supported by field artillery and Il how.
itzer artillery. They shelled the posi-
ton from daYbreak, and at t:15 sent
the Gordons to support the Highland
brigade.
Our troops held their own i'll front
of the enemy's entertainments until
dusk. their position extending, includ.-
ing the kopje, distance of six miles
toward Modder river. Today I am
holding my position and entrenching
myself. l had to face at least 10000
men. Our loss is great
Long Casualty list Expected.
General Methuen was expected to
follow up his artillery attack With a
general assault on the Boer position
Monday and his report shows that the
anxiety of the public regarding the re-
suit, occasioned by the ominous silence
of the war Office, was amply justified.
The engagement evidently was of con-
siderable magnitude and the list OF
killed and wounded will be proper.
tionate, without the compensation
which victory would have brought, /
indeed the affair does not turn out t,
be more serious defeat than Me
thuen admits. The Highlanders, it j:
believed, must have. stormed the Doe
position more than once, while the
fact that the guards were ordered t.
support the Highlanders' rear looks as
though the Beers may even have out
fanked their attackers.
One report says General Cronje at
tackled the British. The only compen-
sation the British have been able To
discover in the disheartening story is
General Methuen's statement that he
maintains his position close to the
Beers, arousing the hope that he will
retrieve the situation.
1t is apparent the bombardment OF
Saturday and Sunday did not shake
the Beers grip on their position, and
it seems certain they merely withdrew
their guns and riiiemen under cover
while Methuen INDUCED in the usual
artillery preliminaries Monday. and
that when the British guns were
obliged to cease firing, owing to the
danger of hitting advancing troops,
the Beers speedily reoccupied the
trenches and overwhelmed the High
landers with a terrible fire, probably
accompanying this by an attack on the
British right flank and rear.
Beers May Take Offensive.
Alarm is being expressed i'm many
quarters as to the situation of Me-
thuen, as the Westminster Gazette
says:
"lf England ever needed victory it
is now, and it is to Butler. a soldier
strong. cool headed and reticent, that
the country looks for this victory"
Other papers are abusing the gov
eminent for it's '.complacent optim-
ism and inability to grasp the
strength of the opposition it has to
overcome in South Africa.
Considerable significance attaches TIC
Methuen's statement that he is en-
trenching himself, indicating the fear
that the Beers may follow up their
advantage, adopt the offensive and at.
tack him. Indeed, the gravity of the
situation from the British point of
view can hardly be overestimated
Methuen's long lines of communion.
ton to DeAar are most vulnerable.
Should they be cut Methuen will him
self be in a very tight place, if only
from lack of supplies.
News of the British reverse had Il
bad effect on the stock exchange,
where there was general relapse
Katiirs and Rand mines dropped 2H
points and Debeers dropped "a.
The latest adyices from Gatacre
show no anxiety is felt for the safety
of his remaining troops. who have
been withdrawn to good positions
along the railroad south of Molteno.a
GENERAL WAUCHOPE FALLS.