Omaha daily bee., 1899-09-10

the EnEllsni and In lSSV, after eNDauSting
every other means Of remonstrance against
the officials set over them by the English,
the Beers revolted. 1t Is true they had been
waiting while the English broke the power
OF their enemies, the zulus; but the condi-
lions under which they were forced to be-
come a part of the British empire were un-
endurable. The Beers opened proceedings
and acted with decision and dispatch. The
first English attempt at putting down the
revolt met with disaster at Laing's Mex.
reinforcement we're brought, but the
Beers, numbering in all from 10000 to IL, 900
men, surrounded every British force in
Africa.
On February %, 1881, was fought the bat
tie OF Majuba Hill, In which the Beers
actually stormed a height occupied by Brit
ish regulars and took IL. English soldlery,
men Of the Ninety fourth Foot, of the Fifty
eighth regiment, OF the Sixtieth Rifles, fed
like leaves before the whirlwind OF the
storm. Englishmen whose name and fame
had been made In India, China, the Cana
dian provlnces-wherever the flag OF the EN-
pire had advanced--stumbled over each
other in an agony Of fear, terror-stricken
by the assault OF the Dutchmen OF the South
African Republic.
The war lasted barely three months, be-
ginning in December and closing with
February. 1t was a succession Of disasters
for British arms. Early in December the
Ninety fourth regiment, forming part Of the
garrison OF the Transvaal, was ordered to
concentrate at Pretoria. Actual hostilities
had not begun, so the officers of the regi-
ment were not on their guard. The Beers
had, however, held a mass meeting and
proclaimed a republic. At Bronkerspruit
they laid a carefully prepared ambush.
When the head Of the British column arrived
AZ n nartaIn spnt n uae met nv a ROpr
patrol. A parley ensued. The colonel was
warned to turn back and he refused. Mo-
body seems to have noticed the ambushed
rihemen or to have observed the little heaps
of stone with which these skilled hunters
OF wild game, old hands at shooting over
the bare veldt, had thoughtfully marked
out beforehand at 100, $50 and 200 yards
their exact distance from their intended
targets. The Boer rifles cracked, and In
twenty minutes all the officers and half
the British troops we're shot down and the
rest were made prisoners; the loss on the
side of the farmers was almost NIL.
The disaster reused the country. Sir
George Pomeray Colfey, general In COM
mand in Natal, determined to cut his way
into the Transvaal and relieve beleaguered
British garrisons. With 100 men and six
guns he marched to Laing's Mex. Here
| the Beers, numbering 1,437 men, were en-
trenched. They had no artillery. Accord
ingly they dug dummy trenches which the
British shelled vigorously. Meanwhile the
Beers distributed themselves at convenient
places, and when the British advanced to-
ward the trenches they were met by a
deadly fire from two sides and one-third
Of them killed. The Boer loss was two.
The Last stand.
On the night OF February rs General
to-. t-r.n- zn,nrad min NrnnmpntR
marched and occupied the top of Majuba
mountain, 1000 feet high. from which he
expected to command the pass and turn
the Boer position. Majuba is a fiat-topped,
or rather a saucer-topped height with a
belt Of perpendicular cliff running round
1t a little below the summit, broken only
here and there by a few gullies, through
which access to the summit might be
gained from the lower slopes. These lower
slopes were steep, and the upper parts OF
them were screened from view from the
summit by being below the belt OF clin
which looked so formidable to the eye.
AS soon as daylight revealed to the Beers
holding Laing's Mex that their flank was
threatened they began to prepare to send
their wagons to the rear, but they de-
termtned also, before retreating, to try the
effect OF a direct assault upon Ma1uba. Fart
OF the Boer assailants took cover at once
with their usual skill, and opened a long
range fire on the summit OF Ma1uba. Ihis
fire did but little execution.
Nevertheless, the Beers were not throwing
away their powder for nothing. They sue
ceeded in their object Of compelling the de-
tenders OF the hill to keep closely under
shelter. and prevented them from observing
what happened on the slopes below the en-
circling girdle OF cliff. Protected thus by
the fire of their companions, small parties
Of Beers were creeping az stealthily as
deerstalkers over the wide spaces OF the
mountain side where the cliff wall above
screened them both from the sight and
from the fire Of the defenders.
At one part of the circumference OF Ma
tuba there Is a little outlying kopje, or
peak, which is really the key of the posi-
ton. With unerring instinct one OF the
Boer leaders made for this point. When he
arrived quite near it, with his party still
undiscovered, he detected a picket OF several
soldiers, who were standing in an exposed
position, unconscious of the near nelghDor-
hood OF their foes. The Boer leader ordered
a number OF his men to hold their rihes
at the present step back out OF cover,
and fire a rapid volley. The maneuver was
skillfulIy executed; the whole picket was
clean swept away, and in a few minutes
more the Beers had got the key to the
position in their hands. BY this success
they had turned the left OF the British
troops, who were holding the northern face
OF the rim, and took them in the flank. The
troops thus suddenly surprised fell back
from the rim, and Immediately other parties
of Beers rushed UP by another gap and
seized the abandoned positions. Once es-
tablished on the summit, the rapid and &C
curate Are OF the Beers swept away the de-
tenders. General Colley, endeavoring to
rally his broken lines. despairingly fronted
the hailstorm of bullets that moved down
his men, and fell with his face to the foe.
Nearly half the British force were killed,
wounded or made prisoners. The Beer
losses were six.
Soon after the battle Great Britain agreed
to a conference. which ultimately resulted
in the recognition of the independence OF the
Transvaal Republic, Great Britain retaining
only a veto power with respect to treaties
with foreign nations.