The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-02-17
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY II, 1890.
CONFIRMATION or WHAT WE
SAID

The widely-know-n newspaper corre-
spondeht. Julian Ealph Is serving in
South Africa as the special correspondent
Of the London Daily Mail. In a recent
letter 10 that paper from Modder River
he says:
.-Eriush defeats att khe hands of the
Beers are due 10 the tact that the meth
DDS of modern warfare have been brought
10 pause by the demonstrated power
uf the new weapons. To-day the essen
tial qualities of the army twenty years
ago are no longer the supremc necessaries
OF success. The man behind the guns
stands more supreme than ever.
dig trench, line it with good shots,
supported by modern artillery, and no
enemy can advance in the face of them.
They may be outilanlled or starved, but
while their ammunition holds out none
can Dust Them, for they can ill the whole
plain over a radius of at least 1900 yards
with such Il whitening blast Of shraDnel
and rifle bullets that no troops can stand
in the open before it.
THE Socrs at Magersfontcin demon
strated the fact that, given a plain field
of grass modern magazine rifles. and
quick-iiring small cannon, the whole
German army itself could not dislodge
the $1,000 men OF the two Boer republics
in a frontal attack on those grass-edged
trenches. No 5G.Gl0 British could haze
beaten the 5000 Beers at Magersfontein
except at such sacrifice of life no
commander would require or could be
pardoned for occasioning.
For a frontal attack The old military
manuals declared that the attacking
force must be three times that Of the
defending force. To-day, with new wea-
pons. it is said that ten men must attack
one.
.'One OF the most formidable new con-
dftions of the war which we are eXDe-
liencing is that we never, or next Ia
never. see the foe. There are men in our
army who have never seen Boer in
battle. l know of officers who have
seen only one or two in one battle and
live six in another.
Our men at theif oTr trenches anon
the Veldt have fired hours at a time at
the noise or flame from the enemy's
trenches. but they could not see the
trenches. AT Modder river there were
whole battalions of ours that did not
know at the end of the day whether the
enemy was north or south of the river
"A European army, lighting under
European rules. is clumsy weapon
against the Boer. who opposes us with
weapons which render one man as good
as ten. and all ten invisible We remer1-
Der the old saying that an army moves
upon its stomach. We paraphrase it,
The modern army must fight ,pon Its
stomach. If the German army got in Il
trench that could not be turned, all the
world could advance and be slaughtered,
but not all the world could Dust the
Germans from that TRENCH
Here is the Testimony of an intelligent
witness upon the ground which absolutely
confirms the views upon this subject re-
Gently expressed by this paper IL is SIM
rly physical and natural impossibility
for the British TO fight The Beers in open
warfare in the field so long as they are
behind rocks or rifle pits on the Mills.
The Beers will kill every ;1nglishman
that approaches them in military ORDER
never mind how many they may be. For
that sort of war it is absolutely essential
that the English shall have bodies of
picked markslnen who can return tho
sort of fire from concealrlent that they
have 10 receive. This will make a bat
tie a matter of long duration. depending
upon the skill and endurance of the
marksmen rathar than upon strategicaI
and tactical moves Meantime. the large
bodies Will have 10 be ordered to operate
nent and Interfere with his supplies OF
food. which reduces war TO a game of
starve-out.
The English seem TO have learned this
lesson. and we need not expcc, much
more fighting in Africa of The old sort.
Lord Roberts Will probably direct all his
cf:o-,s toward planting bodies OF his
men in the cnemss territory at points
where. while protecting their own COM
municat!ons. they can threaten those Of
the Boers. and IN this sort Of game
his immense superiority in forces ought
to count heavily in his favor. The de-
fence OF ladysmith. Kimberley. and
Mafcking shows that 1t Is Just as .m-.
possible for the Beers to drive the British
from fortified positions as It is for the
British to drive the Beers from such
positions. Men cannot be attacked now
who have shelter and are armed with I
the modern rifles. AZ We remarked be-
1ors. nothing but the cowardice Of the I
nuanaarfs SAVED On army from dastTuo- 4