Kootenai County Republican. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1899-1903, 1900-06-08
PRETORIA Was CAPTURED
GENERAL ROBERTS Is THrRr
He Had to Flght-ThO BooPs Cnn,>.
ed the Advance, bat We're slov,.
Driven Back-Envoys At Chic.-.
Opposition Was Encounterea.

Opposition Was Eneouater~s
London, june 6.-The war Office h,.
issued the following dispatch from Lo,a
Roberts:
Pretoria, June Give arc now !,
possession Of Pretoria. The official entrv
will be made Tuesday afternoon at .
o'clock"
London, June 6.-The war Office has IA.
sued the following ditpatch, received from
Lord Roberts:
Six Miles Spruit, June 6.-We started
at daybreak and marched about 10 miles
to Six Miles Spruit, both banks of which
we're occupied by the enemy. Henry,s
West Somerset, Dorset, Bedford and Sus.
sex companies of yeomanry quickly di. :
lodged them from the south bank and Dur.
sued them nearly mile, when they found Z
themselves under u heavy fire from guns 1
which the Beers had placed in 4 Well con.
cealed commanding position.
'Our heavy guns of the naval and +
heavy artillery, which had purposely been
in the front part Of the column, were,
however, rushed to the assistance Of the n
mounted infantry as fast as oxen and /
mules could travel over the great rolling
hills surrounding Pretoria. The guns
were supported by Stevenson's brigade ID
Pole Carew's division, and after a few
rounds drove the enemy from their posi-
tons. 2
1.-The Beers then attempted to turn ouro
left flank, in which they were again foiledl
by the mounted infantry and yeomanryA
supported by MaxwelPs brigade Of Tuckers
division. AS, however, they still kept
pressing our left rear, sent word I'll
Ian Hamilton, who was advancing three
miles to our left, to incline toward US and
fill up the gap between the two columna
This finally checked the enemy, who wertl
driven back toward Pretoria. l hoped We
would have been able to follow them up
but the days now are very short in Thu
part of the world, and, after nearly two
hours marching and fighting, we had
bivouac on the ground gained during the
day.
The guards brigade is quite near thu
southern-most fort by which Pretoria
defended and less than four miles FROM
the town.
French with the Third and Fourth cav Y,
airy brigades and Hutton's New SoutSl
Wales mounted rifles is north Of Pretorias
"Broadwood's brigade is betweesi
French's and Hamilton's columns, am
Gordon is watching the right flank Of ths
main force not far from the railroad bridC
at Irene Station, which WAS destroyed b
the enemy.
sour casualties, hope, are very few.
Had Expected More Fighting.
Those who had had q chance to rea
Roberts account of the resistance en-
countered yesterday were at the momen
commenting on the probability of fierS
fight before the city was occupied, an
were wondering at the Beers capabilitie
to make such determined stand whei
Pretoria was hemmed in on all sides. Tn ~
presence of General French north Of II,
Boer capital came as surprise and e1 ~
planned the commander-in- chiefs retrieve n
dispatch anent the position of the eneJ
getic cavalry leader. 1t was evident tina r.
Roberts delayed attacking until all hi w.
column was ready to cooperate, but eve
when Roberts wired last night that thi =
was accomplished there seemed a poss
bility OF some fighting, so when the neg =
dispatch was given out it came As q sui
prise
Judging from Roberts phraseology, til
occupation Of Pretoria was not accompa4&
led by any loss of life. RI
What has happened to the Boer force
which so mistakenly opposed the Britt
advance at Six Miles Spruit can only ~
surmised. But presumably they have g.
away for the present at any rate.
Botha IL still Warlike.
The latest dispatches from q represes5
alive of the Associated Press at Pretoni
dated June 3, quoted General Botha 81
saying:
so long as We can count on our thou
ands Of willing men, we must not dreal
of retreat or Of throwing away our
dependence" 3
General Botha, it is added, annulled "
regulations appointing a special COMM
tee to preserve order, substituting mil
lary control for that Of the committee. ~
General Lucas Meyer, addressing u 4
burghers on the square, urged them ~
Ill stand fast III
Thus, though their efforts were futin
! few faithful Boer generals worked d4vo7
perately to resist the overwhelming for!
II Roberts army. The war office has
formation that one OF the first things do
BY Roberts after the occupation Of p -
.oria was to direct General French to y
ease the British prisoners confined
Waterfall. -