Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-12-02
ENGLAND'S WATERlOOS
Tba Notable British Reverses During the
Past Sixty Years.
List Not n Long One-Many Little De-
fcnts Suffered in Lit
tie Wars.


T.r. the London Chronicle
Tn. disaster which occurred near Lady
smith when some 700 British and Irish
rraru~ were surrounded and captured by
the Beers. Is only an incident in war
va5rr must eventually end in our favor
StFI .t IS n serious reverse in Itself. since
il brings up the total number OF prisoners
NOV. In the hands Of the enemy to a number
which probably exceeds IW@-aoPut one
ninth Of the fr-ee with which We began
uur campaign in Natal Without pausins
in this place 10 consider the tactics which
led 10 $, unhappy a result at the very
m.ruert whom Sir George White was car
rving out a fairly successful operation few
miles away. it may he Of interest TO recall
some If the principal reverses of british
arms during the past three generations.
our first great disaster after the conclu-
sion of the NapCl-1uiC wars was the loss
Of 2utso men, including British infantry
and cavalry and a large contingent OF Sc
poys. in attempting 10 force the khyber
Pass i'm 1911. We had sent a double eNpe-
dition under BurueS. by way Of Quota and
the Boiau. and under Wade by way of the
khyber. In order to back an unpopular
claimant to the throne Of AfghanLstan
against DOst Mohammed. who was sup
posed to lean to the Russians. The Khan
Of kheiat had said To Burnes on his way
up, You have brought an army into the
country. but how do you propose To take it
back againT' That is the whole gist of
the matter; no one withstOOd our resOlute
advance. but the hill tribes. the noun
tainS. the Afghan winter. absolutely barred
retreat. OF the 20,sD who retired from
Cabul. one solitary doctor escaped TO tell
the fate of the remainder We have no
space to mOralize, but 1t may be observed
that in this case we began by backing a
worthless man for an inadequate reason:
We went up the country, slaughteriug all
our prisoners without quarter. and We at
tempted to retreat through q blocked
mountain pass in an exceptionally severe
winter
Our reverses in the Crimea were matters
If c0mmissariat and organization rather
than Of arms; but the cost of this useless
war both IN blood and money, was a dis
eSt=r in itself. We do not enter IL on our
black list. but no historian. and few Brit
tsh officers, Will make a point Of claiming
important victories in the Crimean war
This attack upon Russia was followed at a
snort interval by the Indian mutiny. where
Of Tn. earlier chapters record what may be
described as the most frightful disasters
os III" century. The revolt of the Sepoys
took the Indian authorities by surprise;
Tire country between lower Bengal and the
PuU5ab became In 1851 an almost unDroken
area OF massacre, and to this day an Eng
Eshman can scarcely hear tho names Of
Delhi. Lucknow and CaWnpore without
sAudder. The awfuluesS Of the THassacres
IS only paraileied by the awfuIHe~s Of our
revenge.
The second Afghan war began with orr
Invasion of the country OF Shere All in
ISIS As in 1899. We marched up country
without much trouble or loss took possess
SION or control OF the passes. and estab-
AShed our resident al CabuL The massacre
Of Sir Louis Cavaguari was followed by a
var Of varying fortunes, which brought
Sir Donald Stewart, Lord Roberts and other
generals into prominent notice. The bat
t.e Of MaiWand, fought on July H. 1880
was a terrible disaster. Burrowes lost over
l.'T' men, out of the total garrison Of 1000
az CaudahaT; and it was left 10 Lord
Roberts relieve b3r.
famous march
We have had our minor reverses during
the MY or sixty expeditions against the
NH TRIBES Within the past half-ceutIr hut
no other great disasters have befa!len us
IN india beyond those which have been
mentioned.
The Zulu war inflicted on us the great
disaster Of lsandlana, when 1900 of tie
blacks surrounded Colonel GIyn on his
march from Helpmakaar with TWO battaI-
l2l.S OF jhe 18th, battery and few Ievies
This calamity was almost an exterr1iua-
Hon and the news as it reached this conn
Try vas only relieved by the account of the
Splendid stand Of LieUtenants Chard and
Eromhrad with eighty men, who defended
the commissariat store at Rorke's Drift
against 1000 natives, and so prevented the
Natal
Our disasters in the TransvaaI war of
ISL arising out Of the annexation of 1871
nave been sufficiently recalled to mind in
the past few months The comparatively
-s''a--+i-4t1l4L QEltdI at BrONkerS SDrltt
might we'll have been succeeded by a calm
consideration OF the claims of the Beers
Who demanded the restoration Of their in
dependence But what we may call the
prestige party" We're for the moment in
the dScendancy In South Africa: Sir George
'ulley was dispatched with less than 1000
mon II whom he lost more than a quarter
al Laius's Mex on January Is The Cor
don IiiShlanders were hurried up in time
% share in a further defeat on the Ingogo
river. and COlley's fatal occupation of Ma
lun4 Hin led 10 the worst disaster Of all.
on February &c. The Highlanders two
companies Of the 18th two comma niles Of
the ts'th and sixty-four bluejackets reached
tH- ~;tuceT-like summit at , in the morn
ing soon after noon the edges of the
saucer We're lined with Beers who, IN prac-
Ltal security, shot down nearly half of our
mon with Colley at their head.
The occupation of Egypt brought with it
sundry disasters in the Soudan. Hicks
P0>ha lost an army of 1000 men. Osman
Iigua massacred the garrison Of Sinkat
and inflicted a heavy defeat on Baker
IaSha al Trinkitat In these cases the
rn3SS.tcred troops were Egyptians. under
British officers. In 1854 came the Nile eX-
petition for the relief Of Gordon in Khar-
toum- On January Il of the following year
We Won the battle Of Abu Klea- Herbert
Stewart fell IN another costly, but still
successful, battle at AbU kru and Sir
Charles Wilson, with his small fotilla
pushed up stream TO the neighborhood of
khartnum. only to find that Gordon's gall
liant stand had ended with the massacre
Of his garrison and his own death.
This list OF reverses within the last sixty
years cannot be regarded as a long one
or as particularly serious when we bear
IN mind the extent Of our empire and the
multiplicity Of our military operations. As
compared with our victories in the same
period. our defeats shrink into insiguifi-
canoe The natural depression which over
takes us on the morrow Of a reverse may
be % some extent relieved by this consid-
GRAFTON: for. after all. II is the same char
aCteristlc spirit Of the British army which
has at different moments risked disaster
and secured the final victory. And If it is
impossible TO abstain from criticiSing the
policy or the administration Of the politi-
cal authorities. when criticism is necessary,
there l. no EnElishman worthy OF the name
who docs not feel sense Of personal grief
a. the news OF disaster to our troops.