The Van Buren press., 1899-11-11
RENT THE VEIL OF GLOOM
Reiterated Reports of British succe...-
IN Sortees Made From
Ladysmith

I-ohhChs wv bs night vel.
come dispatch from the front has rem
the veil of gloom enyeloping Lady.
smith, showing the British garrisoo
not merely standing on the logged dp.
fensige, but executing a series of bril-.
liant sorties. Accounts from different
sources agree that the laconie official
description of Thursdays engagement
as IAN effective shelling of the Roe.
laager," was unduly modest. 1t an.
pears that Gen. Sir George Stewart
White sent a strong force of cavalry
and infantry to attack the Beers M
TGtham's farm, about ten miles Ia
northwest, near Bester's, and apparent
ly achieved a surprise, the Beers beinD
caught on the open veldt and cut to
pieces, and their camp charged. En-
couraged by this success Gen. White
decided to risk an even more important
engagement ON the following dav.
which was again justified by success
Iadysmith had been isolated and n
Boer force had intercepted the RAILWAY
between Ladysmith and Colenso. This
force ON Friday had descended upon
Colenso and. as shown by the dis
patches from Estcourt. had compelled
a hurried abandonment of Colenso and
a retirement of the British to Estcourt
Gen. White had ascertained that the
Beers were attacking Colenso, but he
was not aware of the British retire.
ment. He had determined, therefore
to attack the Beers in the rear, thus
hoping to achieve the double object of
drawing off an attack upon the veal,
garrison of Colensoand, possibly, of re-
opening communication southwark
The Beers had advanced southwark
until they had occupied the hills north
of Tugela river and dominating Colen-
so, on the other side of the stream. The
hills slope to a plain that reaches the
| banks of the Tugela.
Gen. Whites division caught the
| Beers in the rear, and after the hills
had been shelled, the British infantry
! stcrmed the position. Meanwhile the
British cavalry swept round the hills
and as the retreating enemy descended
into the plains with British bayonets
| behind them. and the river in front
of them they were charged by the cav
airy and seem to have perished almost
to a man. The British then returned
to Ladysmith without coming into
touch with the Colenso garrison, which
had retired to Esteourt.
Estcourt, Natal. Nov. st is now
pc ssible to furnish details of Fridays
fighting around Ladysmith. The Boer
artillery was accurate and well Sus-
tanned. but ineffective. The British
cavalry was constantly out, the invest
ment not being close enough to pre-
vent this. Cavalry and artillery under
Col. Brocklehurst about noon drove the
enemy from all their positions with
great slaughter. This attack was di-
rected against a reported move of the
enemy toward Maritzburg. The artil-
lery shelled three of the enemy's guns
into silence. The British casualties
were slight.
The Beers are now shelling the town.
Their artillery is well handled, but is
doing little damage. The Beers profit
ed by a flag of truce on Thursday to
send n Transyaal artillery officer, dis
guised ms an ambulance driver, with
the wounded to observe the results Of
the Boer artillery fire.
Sundays dispatch from Estcourt
showed that nu armored 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
engaged in successful endeavors to
wipe out the Nicholsons Mex disaster.
the situation inside Ladysmith, as
shown by an official dispatch from the
general at Estcourt, was most satisfac-
tory, encouraging IA hope that Sir
George White may yet completely re-
trieve his shaken reputation and that
his force may emerge triumphant from
the ordeal through which it is now
passing.