Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1900-01-02
HOW FRENCH FOUGHT
Won a Small Battle for the British
and Drove the Beers from
Position.
CORRESPONDENT RELEASED
The Beers We're Surprised By the British
and Had to Leave Their Laager, and
the Victors Lost Few Men in the
Encounter.

London, January 1.-The war Office
has received the following from Cape
Town under to-day's date: Colonel Pill
cher reports through the officer COM
manding at Orange river: II complete
ely defeated the hostile command a!
: is,irA .Ays,laager this Fay ifania~.- y
taking the laager and forty prisoners
besides the killed and wounded. Our
casualties were two privates killed and
Lieutenant Adie wounded. Am en-
camped at Dover farm, twenty miles
northwest Of Belmont, ten miles from
Sunnyside"
= London, January 2--The success of
General French's column Is officially
confirmed, the war office this afternoon
Issuing a dispatch from Cape Town,
dated January ]. as follows: French re-
ports at Q p. m. to-day from Coleskop
by heliograph as follows: Leaving at
Rensburg, holding the enemy In the
'front.', half of the first Suffolks and a
section of the Royal Horse Artillery,
STARTED thence ait in the afternoon OF
December 81, taking with me five
squadrons of cavalry, half Of the Sec
ond Berks and eighty mounted infan-
try carried In wagons, and ten guns.
haAted four hours at Maidor's farm,
bsifd at $3.50 in the morning occupied q
kopje overlooking and westward of
Colesberg. The enemy's outposts were
taken completely by surprise. At day
light We shelled the laager and enfilad-
ed the right Of the enemy's position.
The artillery fire in reply was hot from
a 15-pounder, using the royal labora-
tory ammunition and other guns. We
silenced the guns of the enemy's right
flank, demonstrating with cavalry and
guns north OF Colesberg, toward the
junction where a strong laager of the
enemy was holding hill and posi-
tion southeast of Colesberg as far as
the Junction. Our position cuts the line
of retreat via the rear and the bridge.
Some thousands Of Beers with two
guns are reported retiring toward Nor
valspont. All of Remington's scouts
Proceeded toward Achterland yesterday
morning. We had slight casualties
three killed and few wounded. De-
tails later"
Brief Independent messages from
Rensburg filed the evening of january
supplement General French's dis
patch but slightly. According to them
the British we're still shelling the Boer
position at s O'Clock Monday evening,
and expected to enter Colesburg to-day.
The British losses were three men
killed and seven wounded. No officers
were killed or wounded. The Beers are
supposed to have suffered heavily from
the accuracy Of the British artillery fire.
General French's statement that the
Beers were using a 15-pounder AMI
Woolwich ammunition evidently refers
to one of the British guns captured at
Stormberg. The Boer strength In the
engagement with General French was
estimated at from 5000 to 1000 men.
London, January 2.-George Lynch, a
newspaper correspondent captured out
side Of Ladysmith and imprisoned at
Pretoria, has been released, and ar
rived at Lourenzo Marques
Sir William Thomson has been ap-
pointed consulting surgeon to the Brit
ish forces in South Africa.
General White reported under date
Of December 81 a number OF cases Of
dysentery and fever increasing.