New-York tribune., 1900-03-25
FROM CAMP AND FIELD.
.ToRTEs OF THE CORRESPONDENTS IN
SOUTH AFRICA.


,sl long letters by mail. Moreover. the main
,rnv under the Commander in Chief has
,uned such large proportions and moves in
,a,y divisions and over such a large stretch of
,erritorv that il is wenigh impossible for any
me correspondent TO give detailed accounts of
he movement as a whole. However, idea
n what took place around the Modder River
,an,p can be gained from a letter of H. F. Pre-
,ost-Battersby The Morning Post"
THE SWEEP AROUND CRoNJE
Under date of Jacobsdal. February 1s, he writes:
A -harmonium stands on the ''stoep," with a
nattles the top Broken furniture and the
:wssIheef nir ef the garden wall. red dag naps be
lore the house, and like bees about it, the staff
and of the doorways The owners of the
souse have ied, for this, last, is invasion and
We are in the enemy's country, after four months
lighting in our own
IF some 500 mounted infantry crossing the bridge
at orange River and striking eastward into the
sTfs 5iTisoa and General tucker with With the seventh
Rioof ana Enslin the next day and the sixth
Division, under General kelly-Kenny, followed
S6 pI@oe the Ret river the second and through
these, the three divisions passed, each day
way having TO clear the enemy from the rising
drift when they reached it; but, save poor Ma
jendie. shot through the body above the drift,
At Ramdam the transport train Of the Seventh
Division hed the great empty empty fiat bottomed pan
with some ne miles Of water II began TO move out
5ut until $50 the next morning That train cross
ng the dark vedt at sunset had a weird beauty of
FiiI and the gray, soft smoke of dust which
every football lifted. elqng about the miles of
wagons like a cocoon; Looking westward, where
the train rose over the roll of ground about the
came wcndrous smoke of gold filled with
strange creatures and monstrous shapes, black
faded TO rose and from rose TO silver. the
track sank into the dark shadow of the down,
IND and hipf0 Tnd tCnl oU2l
their own shape and size
WAR CRIES AT NIGHT.
Eastward the coil stretched gray and dismal
into The cold purples OF the veidt. A breath of
2f the mules and the horns of the oxen. the can
vas hoods Of the wagons the long shafts. of the
that an hours EFFORT to ride it Out we pulled
@ All mi night as mo1eG he Of on s ras
a saP1r gndeT the fH moon The smoke Of Its tor
could could be seen, &C But within it never ceased the
ne wheep Of the long whips, the squealing of the
mules the groaning wheels 1t was gone by
abandoned wagon, by fallen oxen, by a dead or
aying horse But at the Riet the worst task
Yards apart, are OF the hghtest and most yield
9eath it. Many Of the troops were on the f9rtber
Ede, and food had to be taken at once across to
lasted for close on to twenty hours. ef If there
es .e al f6r nr they will have to
the move At one time. it was impossible TO see
a miss that done by the other four.
General Knox's brigade pushed across Kip
the oxfords. who most exposed to it.
0Ss ro f5n Ty rive Two men wounasd & Once we were
pf his force could be seen cantering easily south
yard just out Of range Of our rife fire. A couple
n possession but our methods OF snes
are stil terribly defective, and after the mounted
went straight and, as it proved quite useless, for
H. The Gloucesters. who had to advance with
come within eight hundred yards. and then were
k 10 we seemed py to r9m 9n b Of MUS
nh. few rushes forward were pluckily made,
End were unable to move backward or forward
but lay the whole day in the blazing heat, spread
Of sand into their faces for close on eight hours
fonaness for life. is an experience man would
desire The guns at last got across the drift
their shrapneis must have been a welcome sight
70 he men who Were straining their eyes to
after hour, with death never more than a few
the front Of the kopje being searched from the
base TO the top but. as il seemed, without avail
bringing undiminshed splutter of lead On
me, me fUreF @ side the po-pom gun 1Y and Maxim
TO surround it till the mounted infantry
sdVaneed suppoTed by the S Fs sd Fed Baery n
Even then SO cunningly did the enemy the
tirely. on our side and we were compelled. as a
@ wild dust dust storm came with the dusk to fall back
their escape, with night, if they desired The
laager, however, and. dropping a shell into it,
forced the tired oxen TO advance out of fire.
IN THE MAGERsFoNTEIN TRENCHES
That many mistaken estimates made of
Boer strength and guile while Methuen's force
remained passive in front of it is clear from the
following accounts Of personal inspection of
Magersfontein written by THE Daily Telegraph"
correspondent after the Beers had evacuated the
slaughter place of the Highanders
We Looked in m vain & for the eght-fo9t wire
from the pens of hysterical and probably rather
frightened young soldiers after the Magersfon-
TEN mishap Instead of an ENHANCEMENT there
vas only simple wire boundary fence-not CON
6tnu9us' ~ but placed at intervals along the hne
=. uie tenches ana hung with strips of beef
oFylng into biltong. This comestible was probably
den o r @,1Sn II nd, JF men We looked Tor the
trench or rather a double row of simnle trenches
eeep 10 mid thigh, very narrow, and well protected
nE mead cover Of sand bags and slight breastwork
ne trace as simple the profile, and con
fined its complications to a slight wayiness Of
pan % and an occasional traverse to minimize the
l rnFcl OF shel nre The most noticeable fact with
regard 10 the trenches that the back of the
not TO interfere with the fire of the second line.
All along the trenches lay skins. coats cooking
.ndicson We had had that the retreat AZ had been
~ W 'hi's but an orderly one From the trenches it
Ind travelling ard disappearing carriages and
mhd. again were we greeted with the very sim
piest plans minimize the effect of shell fire a
I s--eh embrasure covering the gun and a sharp
ftoI,e OF ground behind It; and a deep recess cut
ln the solid rock. provided all protection necessary
20 ea bic Albrecht's Germans live through nearly
l"eiEe weeks Of lyddite and common shell. One
tuh had IL Is true, been demolished. as testified
~ ~ explosion three weeks ago, and corroborated
" Inc fragments of twisted iron and woodwork
,s ,.'tti5hg me emplacement; but the Others pro-
tsctec py ther simple sandbags and the trouble
sege perspective OF the ironstone kopjes had main
lalheQ ialrly regular and accurate fire for two
months OF OUT winter at Modder River
as We plodded back Modder in the baking