The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-02-24
Description of Cronjc's Defense At
ter Being Completely
Surrounded.
SHOWS METAL OF HIS MEN.
SIN Field BATTERIES and the Naval
Guns Within 1000 to 2.Wu
Yards Rangr. Vet He
Holds Out.

r"ara. r"ri ni.s.. otaua. Fl-r state.
! Ir'>.iyy. Fob. a' \ r.-it f.I after jh-
ter :fia hshri'-. which Ia-trI I'll IL, sun
day. :f"r" wa> suI.Iv,i cessation or IL.
49, both lido w"r" thoroughly tired nud
rltd TO rest. The work OF collecting Ia,
dead and wounded proceeded ard the men
slept Wh"r" they had fought the Who'll" day.
The scti"n was one ~ the Inov; f.arfuliy
contest d in the history Of the War. for tn"
i;"ers w"r" grin " fighting for their lives.
Will" tho British d.termiaedly harasSc1
th"m Tn" mounted infantry did good
work and Highland Brigade. fought stead
Nv ami s'"r3lv. The whole fore" behaved
w.r
sunday ev'LirE tte GORDON around the
Bo"r- "as completely ,l.yed On .vcry .sif!-
Il, perfect si-:.c,. \ few nners cam. iu.o
camp during IN" night AMI confessed they
were Si,k of fighting and that ,i-nc,I D!
tIuul" w,s b-i"s urged 80 ~urr. Cler.
All tn" animals aud The men suffered ter
iIni. from thirst. as - VS. impoSSihi"
transport water. \ heavy Thunderstorm l..
th- afternoon howr.or considerably rc-
li'v-L their suffering
Lord Kitchener wts Present with the
force
General MJcDuiaIi vas w0u.dcI in :he
foot but not severely.
General CrGrje's fore. occupies the river
bed
the T"treatiug enemy
pes-rters say That :. great number of tho
Po"rs lost ih'ir horses. Trek oxen are
daily sen wandering over the plain and
many cuma into our iinee.
THE SECOND DAY.
Paarlebsrs Drift. Orange Ere" State,
Tuesday. Feb. 81 Monday morning broke
finding the Eners In the same place. they
having during IN" night constructed in
trcnchm ''s round the laagcr, which was
stiil threatened by General Smith-Dorri"n.
The infantry rested after tie terribly
hard day. fightif= on Sur,.ly.
Tn. mounted infantry ana a battery Di
horse artillery started 10 observ" the
enemy who was holding a kopje Round
ing the southern SID. Of th. kopje they
received ieavy fusilaie and wer" obliged
To- move further out They Sustained no
casualty. another proof Of the bad Bo"r
marksma nsh!r. Pushing on. the de;ach-
nIert found that III. kopi" extended - con-
siderable distance west slopIng gradually
To the plain. They seized a good defensive
position, which was garrisOned They con-
uinu-d the movement and completely
turned the Beers. whose left was held
strongly bv a farmhouse. which was Vigo--
Cu-iy shclled The detachment returned 10
camp at nishtfali. leaving a garrison on |
the ridge.
Meantime. de-ultory bOmbardment Of |
the Bocr position WAS Kept up and good |
deal OF rife fire concentrated wher. the |
ESS-xes were attempting 10 rush up the |
river.
About midday the c.y ti,A; General French |
had arrived passed down the ranks. |
but his division operated out of sight of or |
force. when Lord Roberts arrived h. ad- !
dressed several regiments and Was -igOr-
1uSly Chesrcd. Eariy i'm the day. General |
rTonie asked for twentyfour hours ,
4 rmiati.e In order To- bury his dead. Lord |
h Kitchener refused and a little later came
another messenger with word To the effect |
hat II the British were inhumane enough !
10 refuse an armistice FOR the purpose %
lurying the dead. General 'roa;, saw no
th.r resource but to surrender.
Upon receipt OF this message. Lord KiJch-
.urr proceeded toward tn. f..cr laagor III /
order TO arrange the capitulation. hut he
SaS met iy messenger who announced
mat General GrOni" said that III. whO."
hlu; WAS a mistake. that general trouj-
lad not the slightest intention of sirr"n-
terinE bat would fight until he died Gen
raj Kitchener returned and ordered i
.on,ha ,dmcnt -; III. Bo"r position. Three
i,lI batteries anu Il h"wi'zer battery took
20, sitiCu directly In !-Ont OF tho iaaEcr ard
,egau u terribly accurate fire. the howitzers
lSi'.I ly,iGt. shells freely.
tn" Bocrs were seen retiring f-om the
reaches 10 th,. rivr- bed In order To seek
oyer. but no cover could protect them
ruin such accurate I-d deadly fire. The |
Iowitzers especially dropped iy'ia.itr shells
With marvellous precision into the very bed
II th. river and ths trenches w"r' soon
lll.d with terrible fumes and green smoke.
~: again tn. enemy held griIHly Oa.
Again. during the night. deS,r;'rs arrived
rhcy were terribly frightened and shaken
3- ;Hrir awful experience. TH,y reported |
lat they had water In abundance hUt were
'nlv able To draw s"aUty supplies rem
heir laaecr during the might