The Anaconda standard., 1899-11-01
BULLER BEHIND The GUN.
British General Will Have Free Hand
in South Africa


New York. Oct. 31.-A dispatch to the
Tribune from London says: There was
general feeling of uneasiness at every
London clubhouse last night when the
bulletin from the war office was posted.
Earlier in the day there had been rumors
that the Beers had advanced on Lady
smith and had begun fire of shells with
their 40-pounders. but that the British
artillery had silenced the Boer guns. 1t
was also reported that General Joubert
had ordered an advance in great num-
bers on the British left, and that battle
was In progress.
General Whites report, or so much of
it as the war Office chose to give out,
described an indecisive engagement pre-
ceded by a mysterious movement to clear
his left flank. with no details OF the re-
turn of the two battalions of the Royal
Irish fusiliers and the Gloucester regi-
ment. Experts shook their heads SOL
EMMY in commenting upon General
White s account of the stampede of the
battery mules and his doubtful express
sion of hope that the guns of the noun
tain battery would be recovered.
AS for the general engagement, it was
clear that General White had brought II
on and had not been attacked by General
Joubert, If he were in command. General
White had sent out two brigade divisions
of artillery and five battaions of infan-
eral French, to attack the position where
the enemy had planted their guns The
Beers were not where their guns had
been, but were further behind. massed in
great strength and prepared to fall back
upon their reserves. The British were
drawn for several miles, but finally r.
turned to camp after an indecisive en-
gagement of several hours. Not a single
line of the official dispatch could be made
to spell out a victory The disappearance
of the Irish fusiliers and the Gloucester
regiment with a mountain regiment was a
mystery which baffled the ingenuity Of
the optimists who attempted to explain
it.
There was a general feeling Of distrust
at midnight and fears were expressed al
every clubhouse that a serious reverse
was impending, especially as the Boer
guns were admitted to have longer range
than the British field artillery. Experts
in the many clubs frankly confessed that
the British soldiers, who have been ac-
customed to fight recklessly with savage
tribes. such as the Soudan Dervishes,
were at disadvantage in meeting cool.
wary foes like the Beers, who made a
practice of falling back upon their re-
serves and of Turing their assailants into
ambush 1t was generally conceded that
the Beers were hanging back and were
not seeking to make an attack before they
were fully prepared to give battle
The arrival of General Butler will prob
ably tend to hasten a decisive contest,
since he will be on the ground and Gen
eral White can receive orders from him
to take the offensive. The two generals
are close friends and have been init
mately associated in devising the general
plan OF the military operations. When
Sir Redvers Butler sailed from England
there was without doubt an understand
ing between them that the field force in
nfa1 oh IN, {ho 5ofo
far as possible until the arrival of the
army corps, and should not repeat Gem
eral Colley's fatal mistake of attacking
a superior force and attempting to rush
the Beers, as though they were Afridas
or Dervishes.
General Butler was reported by intl-
| mate friends as being apprehensive that
General Whites combative instinct as an
old Indian fighter would overpower him,
and that he would not have the patience
required for a purely defensive cam
paign. There was no ground for the re-
ports that there was any i'll feeling or
jealousy between the two generals, and
that General White would seek to end
the campaign by series of serious blows,
and leave nothing in reserve for General
Butler except leading a grand holiday
parade through the two capitals.
When General Butler is once at head
quarters at Ladysmth he becomes re-
and is not likely to allow him to remain
an idle spectator while the Beers are
massing their forces around Ladysmith
and seeking to break off communication
with the sea. General Whites forces are
not posted in the broad upland valley
where Ladysmith lies. but strongly in
trenched on the hills 400 or 500 feet above
it. There will be high ground in the am
phitheater of the hills where the Beers
can mass their forces and train their
| long-range guns, but General White has
| naturally selected the most defensible po-
| sition commanding the approaches of the
| town. The Beers have already been test
| ing the range, but are proceeding with
| deliberation and caution
Military writers in to-days papers. who
| are called upon to supply theories and
| surmses since the censorship shuts off
| any precise information, agree that Gen
| eral Joubert Is not likely to begin an
| assault until several bridges are de-
| stroyed and wires are cut between Lady
smith and the sea. General Whites line
| of communication with Durham is 1S9
| miles by railway and one can be men
aced from the Orange Free State passes
| or any portion of the Boer force operating
below Ladysmith. The Boer commanders
| have cut communication at half a dozen
| points on the Western border and Cen
eral Joubert is expected to follow similar
| tactics before attacking Ladysmith in
great force. General White evidently is
| not content to wait behind intrenchments
while communication with his base is
| threatened and General Jouberts army is
| gradually massng against him.
General Butler will have calls upon him
| for reinforcements from every quarter on
| his arrival at the Cape The military
| writers do not venture to forecast wheth-
er he will divert the earliest battalions
which are expected to land 10 days hence,
| to Natal or Kimberley. There IS d gen
| eral agreement between military men
| that he will carry out his original plan
| OF attacking the capital, since this will
| be the most practical method of weak
| ening and drawing off the Dutch forces
| from Ladysmith and Kimberley 1t will
| also enable General Whites army to CO.
operate finally in an advance upon Pre-
| toria.
England is SO eager for Americas s NOR
| al support that the announcement that
| Admiral Schley would take a strong
! squadron to the Cape IS Interpreted as a
sign of sympathy, and good feeling is also
| read between the lines of the utterances