The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-12-17
NAN OF THE HOUR.
Gen. D.w.,. IN. Bs.s Leader. a born
Soldier.


New York. December 10 --Lisut. Win
ston Spencer Churchill. now In this coun-
try. on occurring tonr, has made the
allowing statement regarding Gen.
Dewet Of the Boer army:
"No ADLER general, no drawer man, no
more distinguished soldier has appeared
on the Boer side In the Transvaal war
than Christian Dewst. He has distin-
guished himself since taking command
Of the guerilla forces, and Is admired for
his pluck as much by his enemy, l
guess. &c by his own men.
HE startsd as an ordinary burgher and
his success shows how talent has come
to the front in this war He has
proved himself worthy succe ssor OF
Joubert, and Ia a. much esteemed, be-
lieve. BY his own men as that brave
soldier was In the field.
Men like DeWet who command are OF
great value in settling a controversy OF
this character. Personally i never met
DeWet, but / have heard the British
officers speak OF him most dattingiy.
think the only grudge they had again Sc
MN was htn 9ct III boAhthS SAE 49, "~~~~
mails for the English army. That made
the men quite angry, for they had not
heard from home In long while. Stiil,
1t was one OF tins privileges Of war.
"Dewet IL q man without education
30 far as book learning goes He was
an ordinary farmer and q born fighter,
like 30 many Of the Beers. He also was
- .1z,. fvxII tad
since he has been called upon to lead.
He Is cool under all circumstances, like
his countrymsn, who shoot as calmly In
an atmosphere alive with flying bullets
and bursting shells as sportsman does
in pursuing his game.
"DeWet probably has an army OF sew
eral thousand men, which be has handled
to the bes. advantage. With him 1t is
not question of how many men he
has In the field but of the size Of the
neld. Hit and get away are his tactics.
such warfare might go on indefinite-
ly."
Richard Harding Davis, who was
war correspondent in South Africa,
makes this following statement regard
ing the ability OF Gen. Dewet:
Amy one who has followed the career
Of Gen. DeWet must see one OF the most
remarkable generals since Stonewail
jackson and Phil Sheridan. He has all
the strategem OF Won Moltke and the
local knowledge of Davy Crockett.
"Dewet knows his fighting ground,
but the English have been there fighting
now more than IL months. They ought
to know something of ths tarritory. Put
100000 men in Connecticut or New
Hampshire, and by the end OF a year you
think they would know something of
the surrounding country, would you not
And especially SO II half the army had
lived in the state all their lives.
II mention this only to show that by
this time the English cannot longer
claim the prolongation of the war is
due TO their ignorance OF the fighting
ground rather than the gen sralship of
Dswet and the courage OF his mei. /
think 1t was very unfortunate for the
Beers that Dewet and Botha were not
in command at the beginning Of the con-
fiict, instead of Joubert ana Cornje.
"Joubert was too lenient and Cronjs
too stubborn. DsWet was sent three
times to Cronje to tell him that unless
he moved he would be surrounded and
captured. He refused. and, as events
proved, he did fall into the British
hands -