The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-12-12
GATACRE'S REPUTATION
Lies Buried in the Graveyard Of
South Africa

South AFRICA
New York, Dec. IA dispatch to the
Tribune from London says:
When the army corps first went out
to Africa Gen. Gatacre was generally
regarded in military circles as the
strongest of the three division com
manders. Gen. AIethuen was called the
ideal guardsman and tactician Of the
parade ground. Gen. CIery was known
as the schoolmaster in strategy, owing
to his connection with the staff college
and with manuals on military science,
and also as the best dressed officer in
the army and the most popular club
man and epicure. Gen. Gatacre had the
reputation of being a seasoned soldier
who had seen more military service
than either of his colleagues, and had
done brilliant work in Chitral and in
Egypt before Omdurman. Both Cat
acre and AIethuen were known as mill
tary martinets who expected the men
under them to work hard, whereas Clery
was a less rigorous d1c1pl1nar1an ana
more cOnsiderate in his treatment of
his soldiers. Gen. Clery has not yet had
a chance to show how good a strategist
he is, but Cen Methuen has so far
proved to be a poor tactician although
a strong fighter, and the enemy has not
been able to entrap any portion of his
force. Gen. Gatacre has shot his bolt,
and the best that his admirers can say
is that South Africa has always been
the graveyard of military regulations.
If Gen. GataCTe RECEIVERS his prestige
it Will be because sympathy is excited
by premature attacks like that made
by Lord Durham yesterday, who in the
safe retirement of a fat stock sale
luncheon described Gatacre as a man
unfit to command troops IN South Al
RIGA. Lord Durham OVer-ShOt the mark
in declaring that the war office was re
spOnsible for the disasters at Storm
berg in appointing Gen Gatacre to the
command of a division when the Opin-
ions of officers who had served under
him We're known.
A more practical line of criticism
would be to cenSure the war office for
not sending out larger force OF cav
airy and artillery in good time and not
in arming Gen. Gatacre with adequate
facilities for scouting and gun practice,
without forcing him to depend upon
treacherouS spies as guides and then
finding himself Outclassed in guns.
General YOunghusband and other
military experts who were willing to
discuss the question publicly, yesterday
cOntented themselves with laying stress
upon the necessity of having cavalry
for scouting and with explaining Cat
acres motive of surprising an intrench-
ed position when he did not consider
himself strong enough to force it by
frontal attack as a sound one. Later
details of the retreat from Stormberg
do not prove easier reading for Eng
lishmen than Gatacre's first bulletin
which was curtailed by the war office
and rendered unintelligible. What hurts
the Englishmen's pride is the humiliat
ing fact that battaliOns famous for
fighting as the Fifth and the Royal
Irish Rifles are. with historic records
of splendid service in peninsula cam
paign, in the Lucknow and in recent
campaigns down to Omdurman. have
been entrapped and forced to surren-
der, Notwithstanding the warnings
from the NichOlsOn'S Mex and the Ma
juba Hill battles. The temperature fell
Yesterday in every London club and
there was an air of pensive melancholy
pervading the whole body of the civil
service. The war office bestirred itself
with preparations for expediting rein
fOrcementS and announced that the
first battaliOns of the sixth division
would sail on Saturday. There will be
more strength in the Bow, even if one
general after another goes wrong and
shows incapacity for adapting himself
to Dutch tactics.
The Dutch warriors for their part,
display remarkable fiexibitity. While
continuing to fghtin their own way, they
have learned that the British open bat
ties with artillery fire, in order to clear
ground for a front attack, and they
adapt themselves to these tactics. by
susDending gun fire and holding back
rifle volleys until they can be most de
structive. They have also found out
that the British commanders attempt
to surprise their positions by forced
marches at night and they get their
foes in we'll placed ambuscades.