The evening times., 1899-10-31
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 81, 1899.
The British Disaster.

The unsatisfactory reports from Lady
smith. given out by the war office in Lon
don yesterday, partially prepared the pub
lie for bad news 10 follow. and it
has come. Two regiments of infantry and
battery of mountain artillery have been
captured by the Beers, and the British de-
fence is materially weakened. Just how
many men are involved in the loss, We can
not yet say. 1t is reported from London
that 1t is not far from two thousand. That
figure probably is excessive. but not greatly
SO. The Royal Irish Fusiliers and the
Gloucesters are likely to have numbered
between seven and eight hundred each,
and the battery, say, eighty: The total is
apt to be in the neighborhood Of sixteen
hundred.
The disaster is stinging one. 1t re-
duces Sir George Whites effective to not
more than 1900 troops, and it disc.oses
the fact that the lines he is obliged to
maintain to cover his position are too ex-
tended for defence by the force he can
command. In the light of this calamity
We are able to see desperate future for
the garrison. 1t illuminates the story of
yesterdays battle in spite of the clouds
with which the meagre and misleading Of
fetal information has covered it.
1t seems now plain that on Sunday
night Whites left flank toward Tintwa
was threatened with attack. To meet the
expected movement the British despatched
the Royal Irish and Gloucester regiments
with artillery in the direction of Lom-
bards Kop, northeast of Ladysmith, the OBJ
ject being to take the enemy in flank in
case they should advance in the morning.
Meantime another force was ready to move
out 10 meet them in front at dayb-eak.
When the morning came the Beers opened
with two heavy guns from the heights on
the right and the expected movement de-
yeloped on the left; but the fanking de-
tachment was not heard from. In the
night it had been suddenly attacked, sur
rounded, and compelled to surrender.
The movement on the left may or may
not have been intended as serious; proba-
bly, not. as it is most likely to be Joubert's
policy to crush Whites right in order to
cut him off from his base, and from his line
of retreat toward the coast. At all events
the heaviest fighting of the day was from
the right to the centre. A determined
British advance was made toward Lom-
bards Kop, the left of the British right
wing apparently being developed in that
direction, and no doubt with the hope of
coming in touch with the missing brigade.
A Boer position was carried, but a fierce
counter-attack forced the British to retire.
After a battle of four hours, and the loss
of about one hundred in killed and wound
ed. White withdrew to his cantonments.
1t may be said without much chance of
going astray, that the events of yesterday
place Sir George White in a position from
which extrication could only be predicated
on the theory of speedy reinforcement,
which is impracticable, or retreat which
may become equally SO in a day or two, If
the opportunity has not already vanished.
The ominous admission is contained in our
meagre news, that Joubert has been able
to bring up some siege guns, it being re-
ported that a number of heavy pieces or
dered in Europe have been delivered at
Pretoria lately. The British general is
pot supplied with correspondingly heavy
srtillery. If the Beers are in situation
20 emplace even few of these destroyers,
and shell Ladysmith from distance
which the guns of the defence cannot
reach. it is sufficiently plain that Sir
George White must move out and attempt
to capture them, evacuate his position, or
surrender.
Joubert's plan of siege probably will be
found to consist in these tactics: He will
worry the garrison with bombardment
from a safe distance, massing his troops
in different positions to support his guns.
Every time White moves out to the at
tack, and in whatever direction, he will be
met by superior force, and his advance
toward any point will be the signal for
furious attacks On his exposed fanks. In |
this way the British will be continuously |
kept engaged and gradually weakened, and |
all the time Lucas Meyer, on the east, |
and the Free Staters, on the west-south- |
west. viii be working around to Whites |
rear at Colenso, to cut the railway.
Now, il it be true that Joubert has the |
large number of troops with which some |
credit him, namely, thirty thou
sand men; and, if it be also true. as re-
ported. that he has powerful siege train |
to support his operations, the inevitable |
deduction is that Sir George Whites /
scheme of holding out for three weeks
until re-enforcements come. or diversion
across the border serves to raise the siege,
d predestined failure. and that he will
- compelled to retreat or capitulate. This