The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-30
ACROSS THE sUN-BEATEN VELDr
TO THE RELIEF OF BELEA-
GUERED KIMBERLEY
SWEPT BoER FORCES ASIDE
IntreDidIty of the Charge Too Much
for the Soldiers Under
CrOnje to With
stand.

berley, Gen. French's ride to Kimberley
escaped the minute attention of all except
I minute observers. 1t Is said that since
6OO cavalry charged and charged fruitless-
y at Balaklava no such fight has been
! chronicled in the annals of war. In this
case there were 10000 men marching over
the dusty plains. The correspondent of
the Daily Chronicle describes these things
| thus:
On Monday the march began A Skin
mish secured Dekiel's Drift on the Riet.
After halt Of a day the column moved
on. At Kip Drift the cavalry had a lit
| tie skirmish The movements made
through the enemy's country with a ra-
pldlty without parallel had left their mark
on the horses, and the transport was
hopelessly in the rear. Five days ra-
| lions were carried by each man, and
scanty indeed was the amount doled out,
day by day. Some of the horses used had
but recently been disembarked, and the
unexpected climate had impaired their
health apart from the unavoidable slack
ness caused by q long sea voyage
1T had not been possible to spare
them. Day after day the cavalry moved
at high pressure over the shadeless veldt,
during the hottest hours of the day. 1t
Is dlfhcult to convey to English readers
the burden that this alone entails The
absence of shade is not a relative mat
ter OFTEN for twenty miles continuously
there is not a bush that a child could
creep under for shadow, the very leaves
OF the trees that are found near water
ing places are Thin or deeply derrated
poplars, willows and Babel thorns, CIV
ing little or no shelter from the tremen-
dous beat of the midday SUM-
CRITICAL ADVANCE.
ION Thursday. the 18th. at 10 o'clock,
the critical advance was made, and the
Smelling and capture of two laagers a
few miles out Of Kip Drift. on the north
ern side of the river, cleared the way for
the junction of the force encamped on the
Modder, some five miles east of Border
Fence. This body was composed of Kitch-
ener's and Roberts horse, and two more
regiments Of mounted infantry Before
they entered the great plain of Alexan-
dersfontein the contingent from Modder
rlYer-the Scots GreyS, Household cavalry
and two lancers regiments-also Joined
the force, which now numbered some TO-
OOO men, seven batteries of horse artillery
and three field batteries.
Their entry into the plain was the signal
for the great event of the day The plain
is perhaps three miles in width and five
In length, converging slightly to the north
and frtnged with kopjes Wild ounces
and Babel thorns in scattered groups of
three and four are the only trees in this
Wide and level expanse, and the whole
force. headed by the lGncers' regiments
and the Scots Greys in advance, deployed
at intervals and Numbered across It The
kopJes on either side were held by Beers.
who poured bullets and shells into the adj
Vancing masses, almost hidden by the
curtain Of dust that rose from under the
h@ofs Of the horses. These kopjes were
quickly cleared Of their occupants by the
impetuous rush Of the mounted infantry.
FIRST TO FALL.
Lieut.. Sweet Escott, of the Sixteenth
| lancers, was the first officer to fall. shot
dead at fifty yards by Boer, who receiv-
ed lance through his throat almost be-
fore he could produce the invariabIe cry
FOR mercy. Kopje after k pie was clear cd,
ana the Beers were driven from them
| right and left as the column chased for
ward like some great pIoughshare, thrust
ing aside the enemy on either side, help
less before this tremendous charge, and
almost powerless to head It. A barbed
rinderpost fence, stretching across the
| plain, checked the advance for a moment,
and that enabled the Beers to Withdraw
their guns. 1t was no time for a flank
| movement to capture them.
AT Devillier's farm, a the northern
end Of the plain, the column halted and re-
formed in column, after watering The
horses. They had come ten miles, and
broken the ring around the besieged town.
The pace with which the advance had
been made had both minimized the casu-
alties and prevented the attempt to line
the kopJes on the plain. Cronje realized
that he was defeated, and acted with his
usual sagacity
CRONJE IN RETREAT.
''The cavalry column had barely gone
five miles beyond the plain before the OK
wagons of the Beers We're inspanned, and
the long lines of transports were trekking
back across the very line of the advance
he had been poweress to check Cronje
acted with promptitude and decision. By
the evening of this same day, not a man
of all the thousands of the investing force
beyond a few struggling bodies of men
out patrolling or foraging when Cronje
gave the order to retreat, was left on the
hills and ridges that had been their camp
ing ground so long.
Meanwhile the cavalry pushed on
From Devillier's farm the country re3em-
bles some great English park. studded
with single trees. and undulating under
the long grass through which the guns
piowed long tracks in the crumbling red
soil. Here the pace began to tell, and
horse after horse that had struggled on
fell dead from some wound unnoticed in
the heat of the fight The strain upon
had been extreme. and it Is impossible to
praise too highly the handling that
brought nearly all of them safely through
the melee
FIRST SIGHT OF KIMBERLEY.
''There was no time to pause and at
last, some miles further on. the first sight
of Kimberley burst on the column through
the fringe of trees.
1.-THE long weary weeks Of anxiety and
hardship, the disappointment Of Mayors
fontein. and the heart sickness Of deferred
hope were alike forgotten. Kimberley
was relieved, and the remainder of the
march might as well have been review,
as the immense column emerged from the
trees and moved down the long slope that
marks the rising ground on which Wes-
sells stands. The Beers to the north of
the town, at the intermediate station and
the Kamperdown, were firing their last
shots from their guns, ignorant OF their
failure or of the fact that the siege would
soon be stopped. The town put out IT'S
flags and decorations.
1.-THE panic that had been caused by thu
continuous bursting of huge shells over
every part of the besieged town vanished,
and from the 1,200-foot level of the dia-
mond mines thousands of women and
children emerged into the light Of day.
Co.o DIaads Not entity