The Columbus journal., 1899-09-06

Ao0 0OOhU - IBoU0Eo
1t is usual. I know. for military men
to sheer at the g~eneralship. or want Of
1t, which, as they allege. was response
bic for the Majuba disaster-these
critics are wise after the event, says
the African Review. It is forgotten
that the Beers met other officers than
Gen. Colley At Bronkhorst Spruit in .
number of fights about Pretoria. Pot
chestroom and other villages. and
that In no rs were our men and MIL
itary leaders able to stand up to the
enemy. At Durham, in Natal. in 184S,
We got the worst Of 1t. as We did at
Do0rnkop, where English officers of
the ordinary type commanded. The
only military success which English
oficers can claim in . good many en-
counters with the Beers is the battle
Of Boomplaats. fought in 1S4S between
artillery and nint-lock guns. 1t Is.
therefore. nonsense to take refuge be-
hind the lack Of g~eneralship Of our
leaders. II such factors rs courage
and leadership do not come into the
controversy, except to q very limited
extent, In what direction must We look
FOR the explanation of DUR defeats?
At Laing's Neck the action began by
our guns dropping . few shells into
the Boer lines, and, as admitted by
the Beers themselves. the small loss
they suffered from this ire-Gen. Jou-
bert was nearly hit by . splinter Of q
shell-induced them to think seriously
If abandoning the position. They
we're about to leave when the attack
by q small number of mounted infan-
try and by q few companies Of Col.
Deane's regiment was made. Only one
If our men reached the Boer lines, the
others being stopped . short distance
away; and. As they were unsupported.
these were driven back down the hill.
Result. 100 killed and wounded on the
British side. against twenty-four Beers
killed and wounded. At Ingog0.
fought a few days afterward, q force
Of about 300 men and two guns were
stopped on q small plateau and, after
an action lasting all day, four men.
with the two guns. were withdraw
during the night. leaving dead and
wounded on the ground. The Beers
also left the field at night. At this
eight the Beers crept up to within sixty
yards of our guns. They lost seven
teen killed and wounded, while our
loss was 142 killed and wounded. A
force of about 600 infantry set out for
the summit Of Majuba hill ON the
night of Feb. rs. 1881. There were
about $50 combatants. After leaving
some companies on the road, about 400
men reached the summit and were
disposed in various positions about the
rim Of the mountain. The FIRST shots
were fired about s O'Clock, and the
combat went on uninterruptedly for
hours. In the final stages the main
body Of the Beers crept to within forty
yards. and for q considerable time
fusilladed our troops at this distance.
Many of the men fell In the subse-
luent flight: but when the fighting
was over. at l o'clock. our casualties
we're 2S0 killed and wounded, while
the Beers lost one killed and four
wounded. At Bronkhorst We lost 120
men killed and wounded within ten
minutes. the Beers losing one. In the
jameson raid u losses were about
100 killed and wounded, the Beers
having five killed and wounded In the
actual fighting. 1t Il usually main
tanned that these Transvaal fights were
fought at a disadvantage and that our
men were in each case vastly out
numbered. II We accept the Boer &C.
counts, our forces were not outnum-
bered. At Majuba they say they had
about 400 mel. But even ASSUMING
that there were as many as 1000 Beers.
the result is still extremely unsatisfac-
tory.