Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1900-01-02
BRITISH
SUCCESSES
General French Attacks a Large
Body OF Beers Near Coles
burg and CompeIs
Retreat.
VICTORY AT ORANGE. RIVER
Newspaper Correspondent Re-
Ieased-Slckness increasing
at Ladysmlth.

London, Jan. 2-The war office has
received the following from Cape
Town, under today's date: Colonel
Pitcher reports through the officer
commanding at Orange River: 81
completely defeated hostile COM
mand at Snnnyside Laager this day
January 1, taking the Laager and
forty prisoners. besides. killed and
wounled. Our casualties were two
privates killed. Lieutenant Adie
wounded. An encampmente at Dover
farm, twenty miles northwest of Bel
mont and ten miles from Sunnyside." F"
London, Jan. 2-The success of
General F.ench's column is confirmed
officially by the war Office this after
noon issuing a dispatch from Cape
Town, dated January, J., as follows:
French reports 2 p. M, today, from
Coleskop by heliograph, as follows:
Leaving at Rensburg, holding the
enemy in front half of first suffolks
and a second of the Royal Horse artil-
lery, started thence at five on the
afternoon Of December 81 taking with
me Eve squadrons of cavalry, half of
the Second Berks and eighty mounted
infantry, carried in wagons and on
guns. matted for four hours at
Maidor's farm and at $50 this morn
ing occupied a Kopje, overlooking and
westward of Colesberg. The enemys
outposts were taken completely by
surprise. At daylight we shelled the
Laager and enfiladed the right of
the enemy's position. The artillery
fire in reply was hot from a fifteen
nounder, using Royal laboratory am
munftion and other guns. We silenced
the guns of the enmy's right flank,
demonstrating with the cavalry and
guns north of Colesberg, towards the
Junction, where strong Lager of
rhe enemy wassifvfdfng hill and posi-.
tion southeast of Colesberg as far as
the junction. Our position cuts the
line of retreat via the road and bridge.
Some thousands of Beers with two
guns are reported retiring towards
Norvalsponr. All Remington's scouts
proceeded toward Achterland yester-
day morning. Slight casualties about
three killed, few wounded. Details
later"
Brief independent messages from
Renshurg, filed the evening of January
1, supplement General Frencns dis
patch but slightly. According to
them the British were still shelling
the Roer POSITION at five o'clock,
Monday evening and expected to en-
ter Colesberg today.
british losses were three men killed
and seven wounded. No officers kill
ed CT wounded. The Beers are sup
posed to have suffered heavily from
the accuracy of the British artillery
fire. General French's statement that
the Beers were using a fifteen pound
er and Woolwich ammunition evident
Iy refers to one of the British guns
captured al Stormberg. The Boer
strength In the engagement with
General French was estimated at s.
0Oo to. 1000 men.
London, Jan. 2-George Lynch, a
newspaper correspondent captured
outside of Ladysmith, and imprisoned
in Pretoria, has been released and
has arrived at Lorenzo MARQUES.
Sir William Thomson has been ap-
pointed consulting surgeon to the
British forces in South Africa.
General White reported under date
of December 31st. that the number
Of cases Of dysentery and fever were
increasing. "a .s-H
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