The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1900-12-21
DISASTER 10 BRITISH
KiTcHENERs FORCES SUFFER HEAVY
LOSSES.

One Hundred and Twenty of Bra
! bant's Horse Captured In One En-
gagement with Boers-Four Conn
pnnies OF Fusi1iers I'm Another.
Recent heavy losses BY the British in
ssouth Africa have renewed interest in
! Boer war.
4 Lord Kitchener is reported to have sent
| lfiesh and urgent request to the govern
lnent to send out every available mount
ell mans With General De Wet again
escaping through the British Gordon in
the neigh of Thabanchu, the seri
Gus atfails at Vryheid and Zastron and
the Afagaliesberg disaster confronting
the British people, they may well begin to
ask, as they do, why Lord Roberts is
allowed to come home.
| General Knox has had to abandon alb
ruptly the pursuit Of the elusive De Wet
and turn his attention to the burghers
who have crossed the Orange river in.
numbers now estimated to be 5000. Many
Of them have already reached Philips
town, 40 miles over the Cape border. The
siege of that town seems to be in pros
| pect.
The colonial office announces its deci-
sion to enlist 5000 men instead of the
1000 previously asked to be recruited
in Great Bsitain for General Baden
PowelPs colistabulary, which shows thnt
| recruiting in South Africa is less active
than had been anticipated
Dispatches from Loufenco Marques as
sert that all the Boer forces are plenti-
fully supplied with ammunition, but ter
ribly in want Of food and clothing.
The following dispatch has been re-
ceived BY the war Office from Lord
Kitchener, dated Pretoria, Dec. 10:
Five officers and BIG men, 1fagalies-
berg prisoners, have besn released.
"1he Beers surrounded and captured
100 Of Brabantss horse in defile in the
zastron district.
Colonel Bloomfield, moving on Vry-
held, defeated the Beers with heavy
loss driving them from Scheeper's mex
and capturing quantity of arms. The
Seheeper's mex movement occurred on
Dec. ID.
The Beers who attacked Vryheid on
Dec. 10 lost 100 killed and wounded be-
fore they retired. The fighting lasted
all day, the enemy drawing off at 1870 D
NJ. The British loss was 6 killed, 10
wounded and 30 missing. Our casual
ties include two officers who died from
their wounds"
Lord Kitchener, after announcing that
the released Magaliesberg prisoners had
arrived i'll Rustenberg, says that the
Boer force divided into two dc aehments.
one moving south and the other west
The MegaIiesberg AFFAIR.
The Magaliesberg affair is described as
follows in a dispatch to The Standard
from Rietfontein:
The scene of the engagement was
horseshoe shaped depression. The North
umberlands occupied the center. Genera 4
Clements camp was pitched 1000 yard
tower down at the eastern point of the
horseshoe, and Colonel Legge's camp wa;
about 500 yards distant.
General Delarey's 1000 men, against
whom General Clements had fought re
peated actions, were suddenly, unknown |
to General Clements, REINFORCED by 5000 |
men from Warm Baths under Command |
ant Bowers. At dayb1eak Colonel Legge's |
picket deserted what seemed fresh force
Of British troops so yards distant. Thc
strangers were challenged They replee |
with vollcy, revealing 400 Beers IN |
khaki The firing became heavy, and |
the noise aroused Colonel Legge's troops |
Who arrived just in time to save the out
posts<from capture.
4
iery was brought mp, and it compelled the
Beers to retire Colonel Legge, follow |
ing up the withdrawal, was shot dead by
Il bullet through the head.
General Clements and his staff soon |
arrived. The staff suffered severely, bui |
General Clements appeared to have a
charmed life.
while mounted men were driving the |
enemy back along slope covered thickly |
with Boer dead a deafening rifle fire sud- |
denly broke ON the plateau above. The !
signalers photographed that the Northun-
berlands were being attacked. General |
Clements, convinced that they would cas- |
lily hold their own disposed the remain |
der of his forces on the TANKS and rear I
of his two camps.
rAt 4:30 a. m. Telegraph from the
western peak announced that the Beers |
were about to overwhelm the fusilicrs |
General Clements was unable to send adj |
equate help, but dispatched yeomanry to |
climb the PERCEPTIONS hillside and create
a diversion. Before the yeomaniy could /
come into action She Beers had overlap |
ped the Northumberland and were in
possession of the entire horseshoe, firing I
down on the yeomanry entangled in the
bushes and powders.
1.-THE Northumberland made a mag
niicent defense as long rs their ammuni /
ton lasted According to the Boer ac
count, many even when resistance was
hopeless died fighting
General Clements, now left with 1eU
men, made superhuman efforts against
the bullets from the Beers pouring over
the peaks and managed to save his guns
and the camp equipment. He retired in
splendid order and at p. IN. started q
march to Bloemfontein, fighting rear
guard action all the way and arriving the |
next day at p. M
A dispatch from Krugersdorp, Trans
vaal, dated Sunday, says:
"a pitched battle is imminent between
the British under General Clements, who
has been re-enforced, and the Beers I'M
der General DELAY"
Morocco settles Claim.