Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-04
THE LESSONS
TAUGHT BY WAR
REPORTS OF SOUTH AFRICAN
MILITARY OPERATIONS WILL
BE PUBLISHED.
IMPORTANCE OF LONG
RANGE RAPID FIRE GUNS
Value Of Effective Scouting-Deadli-
ness of Maxim Fire-Lyddite
Results.

New York, June A special to the
portant are the lessons taught by the
BOer war that Secretary Root has
given instructions that the reports of the
army officers who have been sharply
watching the South African military OPP
erations be published in pamphlet form
for the benefit Of the service Tactical
reports from officers who participated
in the campaign against Santiago and the
operations in the Philippines, will also be
CALLED to the attention of officers of the
army.
Officers of the army who have been fol-
lowing the war say that while the les
sons taught cannot be regarded as espec-
tally new, the OPERATIONS have substan-
tiated these important conclusions:
The avoidance of frontal attacks upon
an enemy's position, especially in close
, order formation.
The necessity of having the latest small
arms and artillery.
The undesrability of risking artillery
as General Butler did at Colenso
The value of effective scouting.
The presence of ample cavalry and ar
tiMery.
Brigadier General A. w. Greeley, chief
signal officer, made this statement re-
garding conclusions he had drawn as a
result of the war:
The South African war will do more to
preserve peace during the next twenty
years than The Hague conference or
anything of that character The tremen-
dous efficiency of modern arms, of pre-
cision, using smokeless powder, on
ground specially suited for defense, has
been made apparent by this war that
every military student has learned the
almost impossibility of capturing any
6iff1H1I1t al hy-o fvrp pt,
attack.
Although the individual Boer is man
of great bravery resourcefulness and
possessing soldierly qualities generally,
| yet it u to be remarked that the Trans
| vaal army has not captured a single po-
sition during the entire war. On the 9th l.
err hand, the British army has found it
almost impossible to capture any position
but has won it's way by outflanking the
Boer positions and rendering retreat i'm
| perative."
The British empire now has 255. 900 SOL
diers in South Africa, and, according to
Captain Reighman, the Transvaal force
, has not at any time averaged more than
25, 900.
AS, showing the insignificance in num-
bers of the Boer troops and the failure
of the British to properly scout Captain
, Reichman, in one of his reports, stated
that he was With a mere handful of
Transvaalers occupying a position when
a strong detachment of the British ad-
! vanced against it. The Beers opened
fire, and the British, after weakly re-
turning ). it, awaited further reinforce
ments, evidently being deceived as to the
strength of their enemy.
A report received at the war depart
ment dated in April, shows that the
British then had a total of 55,O46 horses
and 164 machine guns, and ASS guns of all
caliber. When Buffers troops We're ad-
vancing to the rescue of Ladysmith, the
Beers, supplied with one FOUNDER Max
+, inns, greatly demoralized the British.
When General Buffers force obtained
! Maxims and opened fire on the Beers.
the whole Boer line, which had been
silent except for a few sniping shots,
opened fire. showing, according to de-
partment officials, that, like the British,
they were demoralized by the fire of
guns discharging several hundred pro-
jectiles a minute.
The Beers, in anticipation Of the war,
were supplied with the latest Mausers, of
German manufacture, and the latest
krupp and Creusot artillery. The latter
is mostly made up of siege guns, which,
however. are capable of being promptly
transported and placed in position at
point which it is desired to defend. These
guns have range of 5000 yards, while
General Whites forces had weapons,
with the exception of the guns of the
naval brigade with a range of only 1000
yards.
Thevalue of this additional range was
especially demonstrated, and one of the
results of the war is the practical re-
armament of the British batteries. The
opera tons. according to army officers,
emphasized above everything the i'm
poG. .tance Of rapid fire long range field
artillery.
The full effect of lyddite has not been
shown, for the reason that the fuses were
! defective. The Beers had no high ex-
1 r,la