The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-12-26

Of the Boer as much as anything have
read Of his prowess IA the pest.
There was . force Of seven hundred
Beers mounted on the customary weld
ponies, each man with a remount. a
canvas target was raised mile dis
tant. and, at the word, the whole COM
rnando Numbered down upon It, riding
loose-reined. guiding with their knees.
Some three hundred yards from the
mark the men threw Themselves to the
ground, and. in squads Of twenty, fred
a hasty volley, re.mounted, and rode
back TO reform column. The manoeu-
vre was executed as smartly as any
thing have seen done by specially
trained troops at Bisley or at Alder
shot. AS they gulloped away, only q
few tattered ribbons remained hutter-
ing in the breeze. The target was no
more.
In that single evolution lies the whole
secret of Boer tactlcs-rapid advances.
accurate volleys at short range, speedy
retreats. The retreat is as important
as the advance. and therein lies one
explanation OF the employment Of the
johannesburg contingent at Eland-
siaagte. They were the only troops
who could be trusted to remain beside
canon in position on hill.
In all the engagements since Eland-
sIaagte the cannon have been with
drawn as soon as the British advance
became definitely apparent. The Beers,
freed from the anchorage Of their ar
tIllery. have pursued their old tactics
of rapid retreats from the point OF
most vir1ient attack with compensat-
ing attacks ON flank. In Cartoons case
-the strategy. aided by the old native
trick of stampeding The enemy's horses.
proved successful.
To the Boer a position has no i'm
portance save as place to fight from,
One kopje top is the same as another
kopjc top, and, II the enemy bsset one
overmuch, 1t is wise to remove to an
other with cannon this manoeuvre is
Impossible. Men must stand by the
guns or lose them. The typical Beer
will lose them; and question IL any Of
the old commanders will consent to
give hnttle hampered by stationary or
cumbersome artillery.
The strength of the Beers. then, lies
In the bacR-country commanders who
win engage. maybe in. considerable
numbers. but who will invariably avoid
heavy assault by rapid retreats, fol-
lowed by re.formatlons on the flank Of
the opposing force. The weakness Hes
in the inability to cooperate with ar
tlllery-not that their commanders do
not understand It's value. but that the
burghers resent It's immobillty,
The most serious weakness Of the
Boer army is the scarcity Of Its gum
ncrs. Already there has been a terri
BILE death-rate among the artellerIsts,
and 1t must be remembered that each
vacancy is a permanent vacancy. Jou-
bert can bring up commando after COM
mando to take the place of the killed
among INe IUOuuteu luA8ubtSS guS HS
has no recruits wherewlth to man his
depleted guns. Their efficiency is de-
pendent upon the lives Of the men who
have been trained to work them. 1t is
for that reason that the naval contin-
gent has become, of moment, worth u
whole division of reinrorcements to
General White. The average Boer
would as soon stand before the muzzle
OF loaded cannon as take charge Of it
at the breach. It was with the great
est difficulty the native-born members
of the Stats Artillerle were induced
to practice with their guns at Pretor,
ia. At no time have they been fond Of
their mighty and mysterious arms, In
the artillery lies the chief weakness Of
the Beers.
The strength of the Beers. On the
other hand, lies in the presence at
their head of all the old leaders save
Nicolaas smIt, dead in 1896, and ]. H.
NJ. Koch, killed at Elandslaagte. The
Boer brain is still intact.
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