Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1899-11-04
HEAVY BLOW To BRITISH.

.
HEAVY BLOW To BRITISH.
How the Beers Captured Two Crack Reg
iments and q Mountain Battery.
The report from Holland, by way oi
Berlin, to the effect that General
Whites army was captured at Lady.
smith on Monday, although somewhat
exaggerated, had considerable founda-
ton in fact. The Irish Fusiliers, Glou.
cestershire regiment and the Tenth
Mountain battery, including some l.
500 men, or about one-sixth of the
British army at Ladysmith, fell into
the hands of the Beers with all their
arms, ammunition and mules.
The story is interesting and shows
that the Beers are not only good
marksmen but brave fearless soldiers,
and that their officers know thing or
two about military strategy. To Gen
eral Joubert belongs the credit of hav-
ing outwitted General White. AS al
ready related, afted the fighting at
Glencoe, Dundee and Elandslaagte,
the British retreated through showers
of rain over stiff muddy roads to Lady
smith, where after six days of heart
breaking work they arrived pretty well
exhausted. General Joubert made no
effort to strike the enemy on the re-
treat; but followed pretty close behind,
and soon after the British established
themselves in Ladysmitb, the Beers
appeared on a range of hills some five
miles distant, and began to plant their
artillery at advantageous points, so oc-
cupying themselves from Saturday un'
Til Monday morning.
General White had already gotten a
very good idea of the Boer positions,
which occupied frontage of about l6
miles, and he commenced Sunday
night the development of a plan by
which he hoped to put the enemy to
rout. All of his available forces were
sent forward at about midnight. AS
seen from balloon on Sunday after
noon, the Beers were very strong on
the right and centre and weaker on
the left. Therefore, General White
sent the Worcestershire regiment, the
Irish Fusiliers and Mountain battery
No. 10, against the left, three regi-
ments of cavalry, four batteries of ar
tillery and five battalions of infantry
against the right, while he proceeded
against the centre with three batteries
of artillery, two regiments of cavalry
aud four baltalons of infantry.
While the British forces were march
ing forward in the order named, two
40. Founders that had been planted by
the Beers in their centre opened up on
Ladysmith. The British artillery just
without Ladysmitb replied. The Brit.
ish battery was presently reinforced
by some long range naval guns that
had been brought up from the British
cruiser Powerful, anchored at Durham,
and after few shots from these the
Boer guus dropped into silence: 1t
was supposed that they had been
knocked out but later developments
showed that the Beers had only tenn
porarily Withdrawn them for the pur.
pose of creating that very impression.
When the central division of the
British under General White reached
the destination for which it had set out,
it found no enemy at all but heavy
firing on the right showed that the
Beers had concentrated against the
strongest division that had been sent
against them there. Couriers came
from General French, who had COM
mand of the right wing, for help, and
General White sent the Gordon High
landers, the Manchester regiment and
the Rifle brigade, and retaining under
his own command only the Devon
shire regiment, squadron of mounted
infantry and the field hospital corps.
The fighting was terrific for an hour or
two, and at length General White
deemed it advisable to withdraw.
Upon this the Boer artillery began
to make the situation extremely hot,
and the Boer infantry and cavalry clos
ing in behind, made the British hustle
back toward Ladysmith at a very live
ly rate. On open spaces, especially,
the British suffered heavily.
While the events related were TAX
ing place on the right, the correspor-
dents said that there could be heard
heavy firing on the left, where the
Gloucestershire regiment and Irish Flu
siliers were supposed to be engaged ;
but nothing definite came from these
two regiments until hospital orderly
from one of them entered Ladysmith
under flag of truce and announced
that he had been sent to ask assistance
in the work of burying the British
dead. In this manner, General White
learned that he had lost fully l,5OO
of as good soldiers as there were In
his army by capture.
About 8 o'clock the big guns that
had given so much trouble in the
morning, again began throwing shells
into Ladysmith, and the artillery duel
was opened again.