The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-24


army. He had had some experience IN
actual fighting In China and he had OK
hiblted extraordinary skin and courage
and resource ia the dlthcult task " organ
i7ing the transport in the Ashanti cam
paign. He certainly could not he called
novice in war But, unfortunately.
there was one thing of which ali his pre-
vious experience had taught him nothing.
and that was how 10 fight against good
shots armed with modern breechloadefs.
on January p, 1881, Coley moved upon
Laings Mex with about eleven hundred
men and six guns. The force of Beers op-
posed TO him is said by Alfred Aylward,
who appears TO have acted as their milf
tary secretary, to have numbered 1,iS,
under General Joubert and Smidt. The
Beers had no guns, and dreaded artillery
ire more than anything else accordingly,
they dug some dummy trenches in soft
| ground on a conspicuous part Of the Mex
and then judiclously disposed themselves
| fire at mile and a half and appear to
! have principally occupied themselves in
| Smelling the empty trenches, as, accord
ing to Alfred Aylward, no one was hurt
or even frightened by the cannonade. Il
may be noted that Alfred Aylward's
| figures are not contradictSd by Sir VIII
liam Butter in the Life of Sir George
| Colley'' which he has recently published;
and, indeed, with reference TO this par
/ ticular action, General Cooley himself de-
plores the ineffectiveness OF his artillery
practice in one of the letters printed by
| his biographer.
Second British Defeat.
Posting the naval brigade with the
rocket apparatus and some of the Goth
Rifles. in an inclosed ground where they
about half his force in resrye,
Of the 5Sth regiment, numbering
| four hundred and eighty bayonets, to-
gether with about hundred mounted
men. TO assault the left Of the Boer line.
| In broad daylight, the foot advanced In
| column of companies across the open
| ground and up the hill, against nearly
t.tFfr tiafp ataar Of
| in the world, who were under cover and
armed with good modern rifles. The
charge of the Dervish most at Omdurman
was not so gallant or 50 turtle, In few
minutes the handful of mounted men were
! scattered, and one-third OF the 5Sth lay
dead or wounded on that bloody, slope.
! The survivors drew Off reformed their
| shattered lines behind the Goth Rifles and
| retired in good order The Boer loss Is
said to have been two. II was magnifi.
cent, but it was not war. II proved, II
| any proof were needed, that for infantry
| In column 10 charge in broad daylight,
works thus strongly held by resolute men
who can handle breechloaders is to court
| ruin and disaster.
After Lalngs Mex the exultant Beers
| threatened Colley's communications. and
on February 5 he sailed out from his
| camp a Mount Prospect TO clear the road
in his rear. This time he took with him
| five companies of the Goth Rihesrwho, be-
| ing in reserve had not been cut up at
! Laing's Nek-and four guns together with
| thirty-eight mounted men. A few miles
| "A
two guns 10 guard the drifts of the Hooded
| Ingogo river, and a mile or two further
on he encountered strong party of Beers.
with q confidence begotten Of their easy
victory at Laing' Mex. the Beers did not
wait TO be attacked, but, without hesita-
ton. assumed the offensive. Colley took
STOOD on Ro4h hts hav8s now R aboat
three hundred men and two guns with
him. According to Alfred Awkward, the
Boer patrol numbering 1877 The Beers took
cover all round the Hill, and a prolonged
rife duel ensued between the two forces.
Avoiding the British tactics at Laing's
Mex the conditions Of which were ex-
actly reversed upon this occasion, the
Beers refrained from any attempt TO take
che hin by direct assault In a body, but as
Independent sharpshooters they kept up
an incessant rife fire until nightfall. In
accuracy Of shooting and in the skill with
wiSch they sheltered themselves they
proved to be superior to the defenders OF
the hill. They drew off at last with a loss
of y killed and "A wounded, but
the defenders had actually lost six times
as many. The sharpsnooting skirmishers
had put no less than half the force they
were attacking hors de combat. After
the withdrawal of the Beers Coile4
whose horses were nearly all killed with
great difficulty succeeded I'm saving the
guns, dotted all over as they were with
desperate night march he regained his
camp under cover of darkness with the
remnant of his forces. England had 20
learn by bitter experience that Valor with
out good shooting is but a waste of The
lives of her brayest sons. The spirit and
stanchness OF the British troops were adj
mirable and Colley's own letters warmly
acknowledge the fact. But as shots they
were completely outclassed.
Reinforcements now began TO arrive
Coleys force at the front which had suf-
fered so heavily In these two engage
ments. was strengthened by the arrival
Of the 92d Hlghlanders, fresh from their
victories In Afghanistan; and with them
he resumed the offensive. This time he
decided 20 avoid making direct attempt
on I.aing's Mex, and aimed a turning that
position by occupying the Majuba Noun
lain. which overhung the pass on the
southwest After Laing's Mex, Colley
had promised the survivors OF the 5Sth 20
give them another chance of trying con-
ciusions with their opponents; and to seize
MaJuba he took with him a force com
posed Of three companies OF the 92j, two
Of the 18th, and two of the Goth, supple
mented as before by a naval contingent
By a skillful and daring march, on the
night OF Feburary y, he occupied, with
appeared 10 him impregnable.
But unfortunately for Coliey. the po-
sition he had seized was not SO strong as
he had Imagined The Majuba Mountain
was what Western Americans would call
belted mesa; II was a hat-topped, or
rather a saucer topped, height with
belt of perpendicular cliff running round
IL a little below the summit broken only
here and there by few gullies, through
gained from the lower slopes. These low
er slopes were steep and the upper parts
of them were screened from view from the
summit by being below the belt OF Cliff
which looked so formidable TO the eye
Technically speaking, they were dead"
ground.
The Battle of MaJuba Hill.
In his fancied security. Colley omitted
to fortify his position. the very error
which two years before had led to the
disaster Of Isandula He allowed his
staff TO distribute most of his men around
the rim OF the saucer-shaped, basin. whe.e
they eontented themselves with piling up
As soon as daylight revealed TO the
force holding Laing's Mex that their flank
send their wagons to the rear; but they
determined also. before retreating, 10 NY
the effect Of a direct assault upon Ma1uba.
According 10 the account given by Cen
eral Sir William Butler, some OF the
HIghlanders showed themselves boldly on