The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-12-30
RE DeESi'T PROPOSE TO RESIGN
BECAUSE HE CARRIED OUT LORD
ROBERTS ORDERS AT
LESDLET
Beers THREATEN KIMBERLEY
Center of the Diamond District Is
Reported to Be Practically
Al State of
Siege.


ry Colvile, whose resignation has heen
demanded by the war office, but who re-
fused to resign, and came to England
from Gibraltar arriving at Plymouth to-
day to demand trial by court martial
to establish the responsibility for the
yeomanry disaster at Lindley last May,
has made a counterStrike at the war
office in q 5000 word statement, which
he has given to the press. He says he
came home to demand free inquiry, and
says he does not intend to be made a
scapegoat for the sake of the staff. He
AYERS that the Lindley disaster could
never have happened had he been tnfor-..-
ed of Lord Roberts intentions. The
primary cause of the surrender, he says,
was the insufficient information given
by the headquarters staff to Col. Spragge
and himself, and he declines to accept
the blame. He lays out the facts and
blames others. Col. Colville and his
mutual friends in and out of the army
are thus beginning a campaign against
the new secretary of state for war Mr..
William st. John Broderick, Lord Roberts
and Gen. Kitchener. 1t is said to be
fought out with some ferocity in parlia-
ment.
When he returned from South Africa,
Gen. COlville says he fully acquainted
the war office with the facts After
some time he was informed by Gen. Sir
Evelyn Wood, the adjutant general that
Lord Lansdowne, then secretary of state
for war had directed him to say that
Gen. Lord Wolseley, the cOmmander-in-
chief, approved Of Gen. COlVllle's reSum-
ing his Gibraltar command. He learned
unOfhCially that an army board of five
of the highest officers of the war office
had considered his statement and Lord
Roberts dispatches on the subject. His
reappointment was the result of the in
quiry.
To his intense surprise Adj Gen Wood,
on Dec. q, notified him that William st.
John BrodeTick, the newly appointed
secretary of state for war, held him re-
sponsble for the loss of the yeomanry
and ordered him to quit his command
Immediately and hand over his reslgna-
ton.
COLVILLE'S STORY.
Gen. ColvilIe, going into official details,
says he was ordered to concentrate his
division at Heilbron on May 20, and
names the various dispositions of the
other divisions, which extended across
the Orange Free State. He assumed that
Lord Roberts, intended to advance, sweep
ing all before him. His orders were alb
solute and had to be carried cut Hence
he could not go to the relief of the $50
yeomanry without riSklng the success
of the grand operation. Under any cir
cumstances, he says, he considered it his
duty to push on, even if he We're sure
1t would entail the loss of the yeomanry.
Besides, lie had only food enough for two
days. He pushed on and the yeomanry
surrendered. Lord Roberts broke Up
Gen. Colville's division and expressed his
diSsa tisfactlOn
ION my pointing out that I had obcyed
his orders to the letter." declares Gen
Colville, 'he said his orders were only
intended as a guide"
Gen, COlville alludes to some of the
mill
Lord Roberts as saying it was his duty
to sacrifice his force for the yeomanry. p,
1T will be remembered" Gen. Col
Vile says, that the corps d'elite num-
bered 500, and my force nearly eight
times that number"
Gen. ColviIe cites two examples Of
what ne considers Lord TIitchener's de
fective staff work"
KIMBERLEY BESIEGED.
CRADDOCK, Cape Colony, Friday.
Dec. 2S.--Kimberley is almost isolated by
Boer raiders. No mails have reached
there from Dec. 10 to Dec %. Provisions
are at famine prices. The .fiilitary took
charge of all the food stuffs Dec o.
The Leinsten regiment, commanded by
Maj. Barry, had a skirmiSh lasting four
hours with the Beers at Dreifontein Dec
II, suffering slight losses The Beers
at Getuk captured a convoy en- Christ
4lldS evening.
BOERS ACTIVE.
LONDON, Dec 29.-Gen. Kitchener.
tele9raphing from Pretoria under date
of Friday, Dec. IS, sends a summary of
the number of attacks made by the Beers
at various points. The only important
incident was an attack on a baggage
column near Greylingstad A company
With a pOmpom made sortie from Grey
hngstad and drove off the Beers Capts.
Radcliffe and Harvest were wounded
eight men were killed, twenty-seven
were wounded and twenty were reported
missing.
BLOEMFONTBIN, Friday, Dec 2S.-
The British have re-occupied Fincksburg.
which for some time had been in the
hands of the Beers.
LONDON. Dec. 29.-In view of the pro-
longation of the war, the London Daily
Telegraph has again dispatched Mr..
Bennett-Burleigh, its famous war CORE
spondent, to South Africa.
BOBS ON HIS WAY.
GIBRALTAR, Dec. 29-The steamer
Canada, with Gen. Lord Roberts on
board, which arrived here from South
Africa yesterday, sailed for home this
afternoon.