The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-12-15
BATTLE OF STORMBERG.
RESULT DUE TO LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
OF THE COUNTRY.
THE Beers FEAR BRITISH STEEL
Order to Fix Bayonets and CHARGE
Causes Them to Stampede-Contfnued
Heavy Smelling of Mafekine-BriI-
i1ant oort1e from Ladysmith - OFF,
GERS Horses Special Targets for Boer
oh~arpshooters General G~atacre,s
Official Report of His Defeat.

London, December 13-4:45 a. M
with the exception of Sundays sortie
at Ladysmith, which the morning ma
pers are unanimous in regarding az q
brilliant piece Of work, there are no
further advices from the seat of war
A wal official dispatch renorts that
Mafeklng was safe up to December
4th, but that the Beers had been she'll
ing the town since November 9th with
increased effect. Rations had been
considerably reduced, meat by half a
pound n bread by a quarter of q
pound in view of a probable long
siege. Water, however, was still plen-
tiful..
The Beers fear the British bayonets.
This is illustrated in the full accounts
now arriving of previous sorties. 1t
seems that in Sir Archibald Hunters
sally from La1ysmith to capture the
Boer guns the British did not carry
bayonets. While they were storming
the hill the Beers, suddenly aroused
from sleep, rushed to the edge and
opened an indiscriminate fire upon
them; but just before the British Sc
cured a footing on the top of the hill
some one among them shouted: Fix
~bayonets and give them cold STEEL" At
this the Beers turned and fled into the
darkness.
Little mention is made in the war Of
flee dispatches of horses, but it is I'm
deTstOod that the losses in this respect
nave been exceedingly heavy. Among
the officers alone from 20 to 80 per
cent. of their mounts have been shot
under them, the Boer tactics being to
shoot first at an officers horse and
then at the rider when d~ismounted.
General Gatacre, in his disaster at
Stormberg, has been blamed for lack
of knowledge of the country, but ac-
cording to The Daily Telegraph, whe
the war began there were no official
maps available at Cape Town and,
therefore, it is probable that General
Gatacre is still without them.
London, December 13.-The war office
publishes the following dispatch from
General Butler:
dispatch from General White dat
ed December 18th, says
Last night Colonel Metcalfe and
500 of the Second rifle brigade SORTED
to capture a BOer howitzer on a hill.
They reached the crest without being
discovered, drove off the enemy and
then destroyed the hOWitzer with gun
cotton. When returning, Metcalfe
found his retirement barred by the
Beers, but he forced his way through,
using the bayonet freely. The Boer
losses were considerable. The British
losses were the following: Lieutenant
Ferguson and eleven men killed, three
officers and forty-one men wounded;
six men captured"
The war office has received the fol-
lowing from General Forester Walker:
"CapetoWn, Monday, December II.
"Gatacre reports as follows: The
idea to attack StOrmberg seemed to
promise certain success, but the dis
tance was underestimate by myself
and the local guides. A policeman
took us round some miles, and cOnSe-
quently we were marching from l p. m.
to 4 a. M, and were landed in an i'm
possible position. L do not consider
the error Intentional. The Beers com
menced firing from the top of an un-
scalable hill and wounded a good many
of our men while in the open plain.
The Second Northumberland tried to
turn out the enemy but failed. The
Second Irish fusiliers seized a kopje
near and held on, supported by the
mounted infantry and Cape police. The
under Jeffreys, could not have
been better handled, but l regret to
say that one gun was overturned IN a
deep nullah and another sank in quick
sand. Neither could be extricated in
the time available.
"'Seeing the situation, 1 sent a dis
patch rider to Molteno with the news.
L collected and withdrew our forces
from ridge to ridge for about nine
miles. The Boer guns were remarkably
we'll served. They carried accurately
1000 yards. l am holding Bushmans
Hook and Cyphergat. l am send1ng
the Irish Rifles and Northumberlands
to Sterksstroom, to recuperate. Inc
wounded proceed to Queenstown. Inc
missing Northumberland number 800
not Sc as previously reported.