Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-06-08
PLANS OF A STRATEGIST
How Colonel de VilleboiS Mareuil
Arranged a Battle.
FAMOUS OFFICERS LAST ORDERS.


Killed.
In the early days of the war in South
Africa English officers were amazed at
the clever tactics of the Boer army and
forced to admire the intelligent fight
ing skill displayed by the rude farmers
as individuals. 1t seemed as If all OF
them had a complete and accurate
knowledge of the plans of their COM
manderS.
That this was probably true is prov
ed by the following captured orders for
the attack on Boshof issued by that
able commander, Colonel de Villebois
Mareuil, who is credited with conceiv-
ing and conducting most Of the Boer
coups up to the time of his death. 1t
will be noticed that no detail, however
trivial, even to the assignment of posi-
ton for teamsters, Is overlooked. In
addition 1t is shown that Colonel de
Mareuil divided his command into
groups of six men each and talked
over the plans of the attack with the
chosen leader of each group, so that
every man in the force had full and
complete understanding of the plan of
battle. Unfortunately for Colonel de
Mareuil something happened to tlrwart
his plans, and instead of capturing Bo-
shot on the night of April he was
himself surprised with detachment of
so men near that place the next morn
ing and fell MORALLY wounded by
shrapnel in the fight. The complete
orders, as published in the London
nj Ta1 nh, fnIl
General de Villebois de Mareuil,
commandant of the European legion, to
Commandant Saeremburg, Field Cor
net Coleman, Lieutenant de Breda.
"Orders for the movements on April 4:
Tonight the detachment of the raid
will attack Boshof and follow its route
under the favor of a surprise and the
prevailing darkness. For this purpose
the following dispositions will be OBJ
served: The column will set off at 4
o'clock in the afternoon with the de-
tachment of Beers under Field Cornet
Daniel in such manner as just to
reach BOshof by night. At a certain
point the detachment will divide and
will reach their respective places of
assembly to the east and west of the
town. BoshOf is situated in plain
and is f1anked by certain kopjes, of
which the Importance and distance
from the town are reported as follows:
To the north two naked kopjes, weakly
guarded and n good distance from the
town. Between them passes the Hoop
stadt- Boshof road. To the east, on the
road to Kimberley, which it commands,
one kopje, which is not guarded by the
enemy. Upon this the Beers will take
up their position. Finally TO the south
east of the>town and exactly opposite
to it there is n kopje. where the English
have an outpost of 80 men. On the
summit of this is formed n small para
pet of stones about half the height of
man. This will form part of the at
tack reserved for the detachment of
the raid.
1.-THE Hoopstadt and Kimberley roads
cross in the interior of the town.
1.-The plan of attack will be carried
out under the following conditions: At
II o'clock in the evening the Beers I'M
der Field Cornet Daniel will be in po-
sition on the kopje c, and the telegraph
wire on the Kimberley road will be cut
by them. At the same time the raiding
party will assemble behind the kopje
town. The horses and the Scotch cart
will there await the final operations, as
well as the native servants if there are
any. One man will be left behind with
each team of six horses. COmmandant
Saeremburg aud Lieutenant de Breda
will before the departure choose these
men. the Importance of whose mission
will be readily understood, since upon
,af,. ri will hn fn+
Of the expedition in the event of re-
treat. The group left behind will be
under the orders of Nicollet. The men
will remain standing at the head of the
horses, which will be saddled and bril-
died. the cart boys at the head of the
mules, all ready harnessed.
AT 11:30 the attacking party will
march in three echelons 20 meters
apart, the center in the van. The cen
ter echelon, under the special direction
OF the general, will be formed by the
French platoon. The right echelon,
commanded by Commandant Saerem-
burg, will consist of one-half of the
Dutch and the left. under Lieutenant
Book. of the other half. Furthermore.
the men who have been in the habit of
messing together in groups will APP
point a leader, from whom they will on
no account separate nor get out of
touch. When these groups do not exist
or exceed ten In number, the leaders of
the party will break them up and form
parties of six or eight and appoint
head Of the group. The general viii
see these heads of groups 1T 3 o'clock
in his camp to give them Instructions
further than can be detailed here.
in the approaching march the COM
mandants will give their orders in n
low voice, and the men viii be ranged
in line so that they can see the heads
OF groups and lie down instantly. II IS
of importance also to watch the inves-
legations Of the searchIight If the Eng
fish have one at Boshof. which has not
yet been ascertained. The moment the
b., $3.50 $500