Evening star., 1900-02-05
Detailed Accounts Of Fights at Storm
berg, Magersfontein and Colenso.
LETTERS FROM CORRESPONDENTS
British Were Badly Beaten at All
d. {C.-
Three Places.
GEN. BULLER'S sELF-CONTROL

these reanstle impressions may be gained
Of what defeat really means. 81 have seen
in my life." writes the correspondent of the
Times. lone or two ticklish fights, but at
Stormberg.' for the first time; I was en-
abled to realize what actual defeat means.
1t was. indeed, case of Vac victis. The
hopeless exhaustion Of the unhappy soldiers
was terrible to see."
His description of Gen. Gatacres reverse
at this point is, in part. as follows:
"The infantry had been at work or in the
train in open trucks or marching since 4
am. on Saturday The actual march occu-
pied seven hours, and it is therefore little
to be wondered at that the men were
wholly incapable, Of making a supreme ef-
fort when at last they were surprised by
receiving fire at short range while march
ing in fours i'll fancied security.
Attempt to storm the Trenches.
ION receiving the enemy's fire the COM
panies at hand rushed at once against the
kopjes from which it proceeded, and, ad-
vancing from boulder to boulder, swiftly
commenced to ascend. Indeed, 1t is the fact
that considerable number actually reached
within few yards of a lower line of
'scances.' which could not, however. be
reached without ladders. But at this iunc-
ture our own artillery, failing in the yet
uncertain light to observe the ascent of the
infantry, opened fire upon the enemy and
several shells falling short dealt destruc-
tion among the assalants of the position
partial retirement instantly ensued, and,
having been brought to a standstill, the at
tack gradually melted away until con-
vinced that the case was hopeless, the gen.
eral ordered the retire to be sounded.
Had the order been promptly obeyed the
troops might not improbably have been
Withdrawn without very serious loss and a
fresh attempt might even yet have been
successfully prosecuted. But it was not to
ms Utarl ta
they were anxious to go on, while not
few were so utterly exhausted that they
simply preferred to stay where they We're
at all hazard. than to undertake the ordeal
of rapid retirement ever the open ground
at the foot Of the hills. Eventually over
500 unwounded men were taken prisoners.
Steadily, as If on parade. the retirement
was executed by those who responded to
the order, the soldiers moving back at
steady pace, without the, least hurry or con-
fusion, and halting constantly to fire.
Causes of the Failure.
$50 far as 1 can understand the matter,
the causes to which this most lamentable
failure must be attributed are as follows:
Il. The map Of the ground was utterly
misleading and worse than useless.
/ ''2. So far as am aware no one among
the responsible authorities had taken any
compass bearings, and consequently no one
knew where he was being taken in the
dark. ..-e ). sssf ,.5i.s,....
't3. The Berkshirs regiment, by whom the
redoubts. now occupied by the Beers at
were left at oueehsteoS1n rs MI instead @ 81 being
employed to recaptureN the works which
they had so unwiAingiy evacuated about a
month previously. d.
"a. Over 500 men, afterward made prison.
ers. had fallen into trap from which they
failed to extricate themselves. Consequently
when the rest of the force had been rallied
q Defensive hp
general had forces sufficient to warrant a
fresh attempt upon some selected point of
attack.
"5. In any case, the men, who had been
by this time on the move for over twenty
four hours the stretch, who had just
completed seven hours marching through
the night, and who had been actually under
arms for upward of sixteen hours, were SO
dead beat that the severe hill fighting was
quite beyond their powers. During the ac-
tua1 retirement from the hills attacked-or,
! rather. under which We were ourselves at
tackled In anticipation-men were falling
asleep In the open ground. under fire, after
or before using their rifles No sooner did
they halt to fire than they fell forward
awoke several such men by kicking them
soundly and thus insisted upon their con-
tinuing their retreat to place Of safety.
Guns in Tight Place, Too.
"6 The guns were at first in the same
trap as the infantry and were compelled to
retreat some distance over very difficult
ground before they could come into action
Gpon-even then poor position-with most
inferior command During this movement
gun was lost in consequence of being
stuck fast, and the struggling horses were
shot down by the enemy"
Describing the retreat from Stormberg to
Molteno another special correspondent at
Sterkstroom writes:
Then we had the humiliating experience
OF being chased hpr oil tay,
miles to Molteno. retreating fast as we
could in small groups, sometimes crouching
against the right side of the road-the Boer
being on our left fiank-sometimes making
our way into the cornfields or along the
1nterminable veldt,- or, now and again,
falling prone on the ground as shell came
Missing overhead, waiting with breathless
suspense until we heard its dull thud as it
struck the ground; then, with an exclama-
ton OF thankfulness, as we found the un-
canny thing did not burst, up and off again,
ravenously hungry and utterly fatigued
as We were, harassed and hurried by the
Beers, who accompanied US, for a distance
artillery At last, when. the majority of
our force which had left the night before
so full of promise and SO brimful of eager
ness, had struggled into Molteno, about II
o'clock, and when we all generally found
our feet again We formed up and got into
line at roll call.
Many Missinx at Roll Call.
when name after name was called; when
silence-dead silence Twas the only answer;
when 366 men of the sturdy Northumber-
lands were missing, .andrwhen some 294 Of
our gallant Irish comrades failed to give
response, then the grim reality OF the dis
aster came home to ~-us. and we silently
thanked God thar aas were safe and
thought very sadly-of the comrades. dead,
wounded and missi4go left behind in the
ssr'hls sd ist trap at dssarmbg from which we
Bennett -BurleighI in the Daily Telegraph,
adds more interesting details to his dram
attic account of thei battie Of Coienso:
fighter, an indomi{ able man of more than
bulldog pertinacity fOnee launched into a
fight, it Is gall andswormwood to him to let
go. l have seen him often in battle and
recognized his many adpirable qualities as
soldier and leader. How great, then. his
courage must discourage which subjugat-
ed his own temperamentA-when, seeing last
Friday lat Colensp) that things had
shaped themselves, the contest must drive
from bad to worse. he, with bold resolution
decided to stop the action. Men were being
sacrificed. more would fall. and the Boer
position could not be taken before night
fall"
Dealing once more with Col. Longs dar-
Ing but unfortunate artillery movements at
P,,ri oh