The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-11-08

4 .
Drive the Beers Back to Their
Camps-Treacherous Actions of
Dom PnuPs Fighters Repeatedly
DiscOvered-Use Flag of Truce
neutrality-suspicious. Found Intact.
ESTCOURT, Natal Nov delayed IN
! transmission).-It is now possible to fur
nish official details Of Fridays fighting
around Ladysmith. The Boer artillery
| fire was accurate and well sustained,
| but ineffective. The British cavalry was
constantly out, the Investment not being
close enough to prevent this. Cavalry and
| artillery, under Col. Brocklehurst, about
noon drove the enemy from all their po-
| sitions with great slaughter This at
tack was directed against q reported
move Of the enemy toward Maritzburg.
The artillery sheIIed three of the enemy's
guns into silence. The British casualties
were slight.
The Beers are now Smelling the town
Their artillery is we'll handled, but is do
ing little damage.
The Beers profited by a flag Of truce on
Thursday to send in a Transvaal artillery
officer, disguised as an ambulance driver,
with the wounded, to observe the action
Of the Boer artillery fire.
An armored train went over the Tugela
bridge yesterday, found Colenso intact
and also found the road and railway
bridge strong. An Orange Free State force
was sighted six miles from CoIenso, on
| the Ladysmith side. It was supposed to
have been engaged with the British
Beers Suffered heavily. It Is rumored that
the Natal Dutch took part in the en-
| gagement, siding with the invading
| Beers.
LONDON LESS GLOOMY.
LONDON, Nov. 7.-Tonight's welcome
dispatches from the front have rent the
veil Of gloom enveloping Ladysrnith.
| showing the British garrison not merely
| standing on the logged defensive, but ex-
| ecuttng a series of brilliant sorties Ac-
| counts from different sources agree that
| the taconic official description of Thurs
| days engagement as IAN effective she'll
| ing Of the Beer lager was unduly
modest. 1t appears that Gen. Sir Stewart
| White sent q strong force of cavalry and
| Infantry to attack the Beers at Latham's
farm, about ten miles TO the northwest,
! near Besters, and apparently achieved a
surprise, the Beers being caught on the
| open veldt and cut to pieces, and their
camp captured. Encouraged by this sue
| cess, Gen. White decided to risk an even
moro important engagement on the fol-
| lowing day, which was again justified by
| success. I4adysnith had been isolated
and a Boar force had intercepted the
railway between Ladysmith and Colenso.
This force Friday had descended upon
| Colenso and, as shown by the dispatches
| from Estcourt, had compelled a hurried
| abandonment of CoIenso and retirement
| Of the British to Estcourt. Gen White
| had ascertained that the Beers were at
| lacking Colenso, but he was not aware
| of the British retirement. He had de-
| cided, therefore, to attack the Beers in
the rear, thus seeking to achieve the
| double action of drawing off an attack
| On the garrison at Colenso, and probably
| reopen1ng communication southwark
The Beers had advanced southwark
until they had occupied the hills north of
Tugela river, and dominated Colenso on
the rear side of the stream The hills
| slope TO a plain that reaches the banks of
| the Tugela- Gen. Whites force caught
the Beers in the rear, and after the hills
| had been shelled the British infantry
| stormed the position. Meanwhile the
British cavalry swept around the base,
and as the retreating enemy swept round
| the plains with the storming forco be-
| IltIlQ tIlSiu anu Inc river before them, the
| cavalry charged and the Beers persisted
almost to a man. The British returned to
l4adysmith without coming into touch
| with the ColenSo garrison, which had re-
| tired TO Estcourt.
Sundays dispatch from Estcourt, how
ever, showed that All amored train had
been sent back to Colenso to repair the
| line, and the next news may possibly be
| of the restoration of the communication
| with Ladysmith
While the British troops were thus en-
! gagged in successful endeavors to wipe
| out the Nicholson's Mex disaster, the sit
uation inside of Ladysmith, as shown by
| an official dispatch from the general at
| Estcourt, was most satisfactory, encour-
aging a hope that Sir George White may
yet completely retrieve his shaken repu-
tation, and that his force may emerge
triumphant from the ordeal through
which it is now passing.
GEN. BULLER's REPORT.
The following is the text Of dispatch
from Gen. Butler, from Cape Town, dat
ed Nov. 7. 1855 p. M:
The following dispatch has been re-
ce1ved from the general commanding at
Estcourt, dated Nov 6:
Since Friday there has been a cessa-
ton of hOstilitfes. A note was sent that
| day to Gen. JOubert by Gen White, at
the request of the mayor, asking permits
sion for the non-combatants, sick and
wounded to go south. Gen. Joubert re-
fused the request, and agreed to allow
them to go to a special camp four miles
from Ladysmith. The townspeople re-
fused to accept this offer. The sick and
wounded and a few of the inhabitants
were moved yesterday A few shots were
exchanged yesterday at the outposts
Fridays bombardment was heavy Shells
| fell in the hospital, and one burst in
hotel during luncheon. No one was in
| jured. The only casualty in the town
| from the shells thus far IS Kafir kill
! ed.
There was a smart action Friday to-
| wards Dewdrop. The troops under
| Gen. Brocklehurst drove the Beers back