The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-06
BRITISH ARE DEFEATED
WITH TERRIBLE LOSS
Col. Baden Powell Makes An Unfortunate Attack
Upon BOer Fort Near MafekiIg.
MSjudged the Enemy Strength and Was RepuSed, Leav
ing Field StreWn With Dead and Wounded.

London, Jan. 6.-The Times publishes
the following dispatch from Mafeking.
dated Dec. &c: AT dawn today Colonel
Baden-Powell organized an unsucce5s-
full attack upon a strong position Of
the enemy at Gamehee, two miles from
Mafekng, from which the Beers have
been maintaining a desultory, but an
noying, shell and rifle fire for several
weeks. The railway mas recently been
reconstructed between the town and
Gametree, where the Beers had de-
Stroyed it, the final repairs being made
/ in preparation for the s0rtie
During the night the armCred train,
with Maxim and HOtCaktss guns, under
! Captain Williams and troops. took up
positions for attack from two sides.
Captain Lord Charles Bentinck and q
squadron were in reserve on the left
while the extreme left wing was OCcu-
pied by artillery under Major Panzera
and a galloping Maxim, Of the Cape pO-
lice the whole being under Colonel
Hore.
'Emplacemepts were thrown up dur
ing the night, the orders being TO at
tack at dawn. and the artillery fire to
desist upon prolonged footing from the
armored train. At daybreak the guns
opened fire and rapidly drew the reply
from the enemy. our shells bursting
within effective range. Captain Vernon
gave the signal to cease firing, and 70
advance, his squadron leading off.
Boer Strength Too Great.
AS our men engaged the position
with the rife fire, It was soon found
hoo J, eel a.
greater than we had supposed. The
enemy concentrated such an exceed
ingly hot fire that the advance OF
Captain Vernon was almost impOssi-
bic, but with remarkable heTOism and
gallantry, Captains Sanford and Yer
non. Lieutenant Patton and Scout
Cooke, who guided the squadrOns, and
a few men actually reached the sand
bags of the fort, within 300 yards Of
the area of the fort.
But nothing could live there, since
the ground was swept by Mauser and
Martini bullets The men who charged
through this zone Of IRE suffered ter
ribly, and in following their officers
to capture the fort twenty men lost
their lives. Captain Sanford was the
first to fall, and Captain Vernon, al
ready twice wounded, and Lieutenant
Patton were killed at the foot OF the
fort These two officers, climbing a
/ ditch which surrounded the fort,
thrust their revOlveTs through the en-
emy's loopholes only to be shot them
selves the next moment.
Deadly Boer Fire.
''Gametree is surrounded with scrub
/ brush. which contained many sharp
! shooters, and their accuracy of fire
ekf11 f,-v-tIov- couifrtcad tho mon W6o mad
/ followed Captain Vernon and who saw
/ him and his brother officers killed. Be
i ing without the commanders, they
were driven off at one point, but they
| endeavored to scale the fort al others
/ They found the position of the Beers,
/ however, almost impregrable.
! When we retired, under cover Of the
! armored train, so many men had been
wounded that a suspension or h0SJli-
/ tiles occurred under the auspices OF
/ the Red Cross. The veldt around the
! BOer. position was at once dotted with
| flags of mercy, and it was seen that
our wounded were scattered within but
/ A short radius of the fort We nae
/ almost completely surrounded it; ana.
had if not been 60 extraordinarily well
/ protected, we should have been IN pos
! session.
| L went with an ambulance to Game
tree. The fort itself is circular, with a
wide interior and a narrow frontage
| between six and seven feet hl6h
pierced with triple tiers Of loopnoles
! and surrounded by a ditch
Beers Used Explosive Bullets.
81 was permitted to assist in dressing
/ the wounds, a majority of which APP
! peared to have been caused by exol0-
siye bullets, the point of entry being
( small. but the area of injury covering
a wide region. While the wounded were
being attended numbers of Beers lefl
! their entertainments and gathered
round US.
AT the conclusion of the dressing
smoke to several tattered ard dirty but
! physically fine men. Many of them
] were under sized ard all wore boards
7 They referred me to the field cornet
( who denied the use of explOsiv bullets
/ On being shown the horrible wounds
he admitted that at one time explosive
buIlegs had been served out, but he