The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-05
At Modder River.


"At Modder River he built his trenches
at the edge of steep river bed, which af-
forded him cover for the movement OF re-
| endorsements and the supplying of ammu-
milton, food, and water TO his forces. At
Magersfontein he built a three-fold series
of trenches, and made the centre of his po-
sition kopje whose foot was fringed by
vaal bushes, behind which he could move
his re-enforcements. carry oil his dead
and wounded, and distribute his food and
fresh supplies OF cartridges.
with the old-style single-shot rife the
change from behind the rocks of his hills
to the protection afforded by mere ridges
or hastily-built trenches would have made
him an easy prey to the bravest troops in
Europe, such as we, rightly or wrongly,
believe to be in Lord Methuen's following.
But with magazine rifles, artillery, and
such fearful terrifying weapons as the new
Vickers Nordenfeldt gun, he could make
a ridge or trench impregnable, as We have
seen.
"One of the most interesting and formid-
able of the new conditions of war which
We are experiencing is that We never
or next to never-see our foe. Can the
student OF war tor even the casual readerl
comprehend what ii means to go on for
week after week and month after month,
fighting an invisible enemy?
Personally, l saw a few score Beers
running away at Belmont. a smaller num-
Der escaping from the punishment We were
melting out 10 them at Graspar, and sew
eraI hundred showing themselves-With
uncommon impudence and courage-befcre
the beginning of the battle OF Moddor
River But l have no doubt there are men
in our army who haze never seen
Boer in battle. / know OF officers who have
only seen one or two in one battle and five
or six in another In engagement afte'
engagement our men have thrown them
selves upon the veldt, moved to do so b. g
hail of bullets around them, and then have
fired away for hours at time at the
noise or the flame of the enemy's fire
in trenches which they could not see.
An Invisible Enemy.
This is true to such an extent that at
Modder River there we're whole battalions
OF ours that did not know at the end of
the day whether the enemy was north Ut
south of the river; in fact, they believed.
during the entire battle. that the enem.
was on The farther side of the river. Tn
der such circumstances II We did not pick
up some wounded ana Jake some prisoners
as actual, ocular proof of the existence OF
a flesh and blood enemy, we might almost
expect the more Imaginative OF out sci
diers 10 believe that they had been fght-
ing a yapor or an essence.
They have seen the earth crack apart
and vomit fame and bullets; they have
heard the helIs chorus Of battle; they
have seen their comrades fall dead and
mangled by their sides, but they have nor
seen the men who produced the tumult
and the damage. This, then, is one OF the
new conditions OF war which has to be
taken into account.
With the introduction of smokeless
powder. a foe entrenched or hiding behind
rocks Is foe invisible. And 1t takes a
teufold stouter heart TO fight an unseen
enemy than TO combat with a substantial
line Of flesh and blood beings or a leap
ing. running targ~t Of brown smoke which
locates it. IL il does not reveal the party
OF the second part.
we do know that a European army,
fighting under European rules, is a clumsy
weapon against the Boer who opposes us
with weapons which render one man as
good as ten. and all ten invisible. We re-
member the old saying that an army
move, upon its belly and we make it
read the modern army must fight upon
its belly"