Crawford avalanche., 1899-10-05
THE COUNTRY OF THR BOBRS
AN EvENTFuL HISTORY LESS THAN
SIXTY YEARS IN LENGTH.
Founded In 1910. the South African Re
public Was Seized by England In
1877 and Won Freedom In War
Where the British Lost
Every Battle.


The South African Republic, as the
state Of which President Kruger is at
present the head is officially known,
was founded In 1910 by body of
Beers from Natal on its annexation by
the British Government. They were
| part Of those who had trekked out of
Cape Colony in 1885 to escape from
under the British aag and found a
free state Of their own on the eastern
slopes of the Drakensberg Noun
tains.
fhe independence of the Transvaal
was recognized by the British Gov
ernment in 1852. During the quarter
of a century that followed the Beers
were engaged in organizing the coun-
try and consolidating their power
over the natives, with whom they were
frequently in conflict In n war with
the Zulus In 1877 over n question of
boundary they met with a partial de-
feat, which the British Government
took advantage of, and sent Sir The
ophilus Shepstone into the country
with instructions to proclaim 1t Eng
lish territory, In order, as was stated,
to avert general rising Of the na-
tives. Then followed the Zulu war,
with the British disaster cf Isandula
and the victory Of Uiundi, brought on
by the British claiming from Cete-
wayO the same boundary Tor which
he and the Beers had been fighting.
The. protests of the Beers against
the usurpation of the British Govern
ment were of no avail, and on De-
cember 16, 1880, at Heidelberg, the
flag of the republic was once more
hoisted, and steps were taken to ex-
pei the British troops in occupation
of the country. This was an act Of
war, and the British military author
tiles began at once to prepare for
emergencies. The first fighting took
place at Bronkerspruit between a
British infantry regiment, the Ninety
fourth, which was on n march to Pre-
toria, and the Beers. At point on
their route they We're met by a Boer
patrol, the commander of which
warned the British officer in command
of the regiment that his orders were
to stop him at n certain spot in the
road, which he indicated. The Brit
ish officer naturally refused to take
any notice of this threat, and contin-
ued his march, escorted by body of
mounted Beers. who kept line par
allel with the British troops at about
500 yards distance. When the British
column arrived ut the point that had
been indicated by the BOer command
er the Beers opened fire, and in less
than half an hour nearly all the Brit
ish officers and nearly nalf the men
were killed or wounded and the rest
made prisoners. Immediately the re-
suit Of the first engagement was
known the Beers all over the Trans
vaal rose, and by their patrols cut off
and isolated all the British garrisons
from communication with each other
and the rest Of the world. Being
short Of ammunition, the Beers were
unable to act vigorously on the often
sive and confined themselves to dis
putting the British advances from Ma
tai by Laing's Mex.
through to the relief of the beleaguered
garrisons was made by Sir George
Colley, who enjoyed a high reputa-
ton as a skilled and experienced Off
Ger. Moving up from Natal with LOO
men and six guns, he arrived at
Laing's Mex on January 81, 1881.
Here he was met by body of Beers,
stated at 1,430 men, without artillery.
The action opened with a lombard
ment of the Boer intrenchments at
distance of a mile and half, so great
was the respect inspired by the Boer
sharpshooters. Meanwhile, disposing
of his force In three formations,
about one-half in reserve and the ma
val brigade with the rocket tubes and
a portion Of the Sixtieth Rifles in sup
port, General Colley launched five
companies of the Fifty-eighth Regi-
ment with about a hundred cavalry to
the assault of the Boer position, ig-
norant of the full strength of the
force holding it. In a few minutes the
cavalry were scattered and one-third
of the infantry lay dead or wounded
on the slope. The survivors retired in
disorder and reformed behind the
Sixtieth Rifles when the British force
was drawn off undisturbed by the
Beers In this affair the Beers loss
was two men.
The Beers then followed up this
victory by attacking General Colley's
communications. which forced him
once more to take the offensive. On
February he marched from his camp
near the frontier with five companies
Of the Sixtieth Rifles, a small force
Of cavalry, and four guns to clear the
road in his rear. A few miles from
the camp he left a half company and
two guns to guard the drifts of the
Inzago River, then in flood, and about
mile and a half further on encoun-
tered Boer patrol stated at 167 men.
The Beers at once assumed the Of
fensive. General Colley, with 800
men and two guns, taking up his po-
sition on a flat-topped hill. The
Beers took cover all around the hill,
keeping up a deadly fire on the de-
tenders until nightfall, when they
drew off without making an attempt
to assault the British position. They
had twelve men killed and fourteen
wounded, while on the British side
onp-haIf thair mon vere mt hOrs do