Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1900-01-13
ARE ALMOST WIPED
OUT BY THE BOERS
Another Disastrous Dash From
Mafeking by Small Force
of British.
AWAIT NEWS FROM GEN. BULLER
Everything Indicates That n Is Y
Battle Is Imminent In Vicinity
of Indy Town
Fighting.

| London, Jan. s.--A Mafeking dis
patch dated December 26 says:
There was sortie today with n
view OF capturing the Boer earth
works, but it was unsuccessful. The
works were crowded with Beers await
ing an assault and they hailed bullets
and forced the British TO retire, kill
ing and wounding "A number"
A later dispatch says the British
storming party numbered so, OF which
81 were killed and 80 wounded.
London, Jan. s--The Times publish
es the following dispatch from Mafe-
| king, dated December 90:
AT dawn today Colonel BadenPow.
! ell organized an unsuccessful attack
upon a strong position of the enemy
ut Gametrce, two miles from Mafe-
king, from which the Beers have been
| maintaining a desultory shell AND rife
fire for several weeks. The railway
has recently been constructed be-
tween the town and Gametree, where
the Beers had destroyed il, the final
repairs being made in preparation for
the sorte.
During the night the armored
train, with maxim and hotchkiss
guns, under Captain Williams and
troops, took up positions for attack
from two sides. Captain Lord Charles
Bcntinck and a squadron were in re-
serve upon the left, while the extreme
left wing was occupied by artillery
Major Panzera, and galloping
maxim Of the Cape police, me whole
being under Colonel llorc.
EmplacementS were thrown up
during the night, the orders being 10
attack at dawn, and the artillery fire
TO desist upon prolonged footing from
I the armored train. At daybreak the
guns opened fire and rapidly drew the
reply Of the enemy, our shells burst
ing within effective range. Captain
Vernon gave the signal to cease firing
and to advance, his squadron leading.
off
"As our men engaged the position
: with their rifle fire, il was soon found
! that the strength of the fort was
greater than we had supposed. The
euemy concentrated such an exceed
: ingly hot fire that the advance of Cap
tain Vernon was almost impossible,
| but by remarkable heroism and gal
|
Lieutenant Patton and Scout Cook,
who guided the squadron, and few
men, actually reached the sandbags Of
the forts within 800 yards of the area
! Of the fort.
"But nothing living could exist
there, since the ground was swept by
mauser and martini bullets. The men
who charged through the zone Of fire
A II c,II I,ni,.
officers TO capture the fort twenty men
lost their lives. Captain Sandford was
the first to fall, and Captain Vernon,
already twice wounded, and Lieuten-
| Patton were killed at the foot Of the
fort. These two officers, climbing
ditch which surrounded the fort,
| thrust their rcvolvcrs through the en-
| emy's loopholes only to be shot them
selves the next moment. Gamctrec is
surrounded with scrub which con
tanned many sharpshootcrs, and their
accuracy Of fire still further confused
the men who had followed Captain
Vernon and who saw him and his
brother officers killed. Being without
commanders they were driven off at
one point, but they endeavored to
scale the fort at others. They found
the position Of the Beers, however, al
most imprcgnable.
when we retired under cover OF
the armored train so many men had
been wounded that Il suspension OF
hostilities was had.
"'rhe vcldt around the Boer position
was mt once dotted with flags of mercy
and il was seen that our wounded were
scattered within but short radius of
the fort. We had almost completely
surrounded il, and, had it not been so
extraordinarily protected, we should
have been in possession.
IL went with an ambulance TO Game
tree. The fort itself is circular, with
n wide interior and q narrow frontage,
between six and seven feet high,
pierced with triple tiers of loopholes
and surrounded by ditch.
81 was permitted to assist in dress
ing the wounds, n majority of which
appeared to have been caused hy eN-
plosive bullets, the poiut of entry be-
ing small, but the area of injury COW
ering n wide region. While the wound
ed were being attended to numbers OF
Bocrs left their entertainments and
gathered around. At the close Of
dressing ! spoke to some of the tat
tered, dirty, but physically fine men.
Many of them were understood, and
oil wore boards. They referred me to
the field cornet. who denied the use OF
explosive bullets. On being shown the
horrible wounds he admitted that AT
one time explosive bullets had been
served out, but he said he was GER
tain they had all been previously ex-
pended, and that none could have
been used on this occasion. lie then
produced bandoler filled with dunn
dunn bullets, and | pointed out that
as far as Mafeking was concerned
these had been recalled.
Later on | called the attention OF
the field cornet to four of his own
men who were rifiing dead bodies. lie
expressed his regret to British oili-
Ger that. despite his instructions to
respect the dead, the younger Beers
were unruly and beyond his control,
and he accused the British soldiers Of
stripping General Kock and leaving
him naked and wounded on the field,
thus indirectly causing his death"
The correspondent then describes a
scene of angry recrimination between
the field cornet and the Beers regard
ing the existence of orders about rob-
bing the dead, some Beers asserting
that they only took arms, despite the
arrival at that very moment of the
GREAT BEET SUGAR FACTORY.