The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-12-23
BRITISH DEFEATS IN THIS CEN
TURY.

= This Article Was Written Before Dis
3 asters at Stormberg, Magersfonteil
and Tulega River.
The disaster which occurred nea
Ladysmith on Monday when some 200
British and Irish troops We're surround
ed and captured by the Beers, is only
an incident in war which must eventu
ally end in our favor. Still it is a serl
GUS reverse in itself, since it brings III
. the total number of prisoners now il
, the hands OF the enemy to a number
which probably exceeds 2,OoO-about
one-ninth Of the force with which We
began our campaign In Natal. Without
pausing In this place to consider the tao.
tics which led to SO unhappy result
at the very moment when Sir George
White was carrying out fairly success
full operation a.few miles away, it may
be of interest to recall some Of the
principal reverses of British arms dur
ing the past three generations.
Our first great disaster after the con-
clusion of the Napoleonic wars was the
loss of 10000 men, including British in
fantry and cavalry and large contin-
gent of Sepoys, in attempting to force
the Khyber Pass in 1S41. We had sent
a double expedition, under Burnes by
way Of Quetta and the Balon, and UNI
der Wade by way of the Khyber, in or
der to back an unpopular complaint to
the throne Of Afghanistan against Dost
Mahomed, who was supposed to lean on
the Russians. The khan of Khelat had
said to Burnes on his way up, You
| have brO1ght n army into ba country
but how do you propose to take it back
again?" That is the whole gst Of the
matter; no one withstood our resolute
advance, but the hill-tribes, the noun
tains, the Afghan winter, absolutely
barred retreat. OF the 10000 who retir-
ed from Cabul, one solitary doctor
| escaped to tell the fate Of the remain
der. We have no space to moralize,
but it may be observed that in this case
We began by hacking a worthless man
for an inadequate reason; we went UP
the country slaughtering all our prison
ers without quarter, and we attempted
retreat through q blocked mountain
pass in an exceptionally severe winter.
Our reverses in the Crimea We're mat
tiers of commssariat and organization
rather than of arms; but the cost Of
this useless war, both In blood and in
money, was q disaster In itself We did
not enter 1t on our black list, but no
historian, and few British officers, will
make point of claiming important VIC
tories In the Crimean war This attack
upon Russia was followed at a short |
interval by the Indian mutiny, whereof |
the earlier chapters record what may |
be described as the most frlghtful dis |
asters of the century. The revolt Of the |
Sepoys took the Indian authorities by |
surprise; the country between lower |
Bengal and the Punjab became in 1857 |
an almost unbroken area of massacre, |
and to this day an Englishman can
scarcely hear the names of Delhi, Luck
now and Cawnpore without shudder
The awfulness Of the massacres is only
paralelled by the awfulness of our re-
yenge.
\ The second Afghan war began with
Dur invasion of the country of Shere
All in 1878 AS in 1889, we marched up
country with not much trouble of the
passes, and established our resident at
Cabul. The massacre Of Sir Louis
Cavagnari was followed by war OF
varying fortunes which brought Sir
Donald Stewart, Lord Roberts and other
generals into prominent notice The
battle of Maiwand fought on July II,
1880, was terrible disaster. Burrowes
lost over 1900 men out Of the total gar
rison Of 5000 at Kandahar, and it was
left to Lord Roberts to relieve the iso-
lated town by his famous march.
We had our minor reverses during
The so or so expeditions against the hill
tribes within the past half-century, but
no other great disasters have befallen
us in India beyond those which have
been mentioned.
The Zulu war inflicted on us the great
disaster of Isandlana, when $4,000 of
The blacks surrounded Colonel Glyn on
MIS- march from Helpmakaar, with two
oattallone Of the 24th, battery, and
l few levies. This calamity was almost
IN determination; and the news as it
cached this country was only relieved
)y the account of the splendid stand of
Chard and Bromhead, with
% men, who defended the commissariat
store at Rorke's Drift against 1000 ma =,
ives, and so prevented the victorious :
mpi Of the Zulus from entering Natal ,,
Our disasters in the Transvaal war of /, ,
SSl, arising out of the annexat ton of :.
SIT, have been sufficiently recalled to i,
mind in the past few months. The
insignificant defeat at
3ronkers Spruit might well have been :
ucceeded by calm consideration of !
he claims of the Beers, who demanded .
he restoration of their independence. :
But what we may call the prestige !,
arty" We're for the moment in the :
scendency in South Africa; Sir George
'olley was dispatched with ICES than !
thousand men, of whom he lost more
han a quarter at Laings Mex on ;,
2S, The Gordon Highlanders =
'ere hurried up in time to share in a r
urther defeat on the Ingogo river; and q
olley's fatal occupation OF Majuba :
i'll led to the worst disaster of all, on | =
'ebruary 26. The Highlanders, two ),
of the 5Sth, two companies
the Goth, and Ga buejackets reached :
he ''saucer-like summit" at In the
forming. Soon after noon the edges r
the saucer were lined by Beers, who,
practical security, shot down nearly !
alf of our men, with Cooley at their
cad.
The OccupatiNn of Egynt brn,lpht