The Irish standard., 1901-02-02

Town to Pretoria, bridge destruction
and railroad wrecking is more effec-
tive military operation than ever it
WAS in the American civil war.
In haste upon him came Lord Hitch
ener from Pretoria and Lord Methuen
from Heilbron. But De Wet moved
off to the eastward, returned week
later, and on June ii narrowly es-
capped capturing Lord Kitchener him.
self at Ithenoster. On June p he re-
appeared ut Honing Spruit station,
midway between Kroonstad and
ltoodeval, ripped up the rails to the
north and the south of waiting train
and set to work with his guns on the
oUO former Pretoria prisoners who
guarded it. For seven hours the med
~ company OF tattered, alarmed pris-
oners fought off De Wet, and in the
evening relief came with the G. l. VS.
and yeonlanry. Four men killed and
nineteen wounded was the whole re-
suit OF that raid Of DE Wet.
His three weeks of raiding had,
however, Weakened the British to the
necessity OF stopping him, and great
preparations We're made for the cap
ture of De Wet. On July 2, General
Hunter had 10000 men under his COM
uland for the purpose. Slowly, pur-
posefully, the net was drawn round
De Wet, and on July u it began to
close in on the guerilla chief. -Four
days later De Wet dashed down Oh
the railroad at Honins spr'!';. r',,'
cured Il train and hundred Welsh
Fusiliers, wrggled his way through
the British lines, and with five gllls
and 1900 men got clear away to the
northwest. He was forced to aban-
don his wagons and Il few badly
horsed men to Broadwoods tender
mercies, but on July % was in COM
parative safety on the Vual river.
In the early part of August, Lord
anu 1LOlb ALClluSh btS,th
the third attempt to corral De Wet.
On Aug. De Wet dashed through De
Vets Drift, to tile north side of the
Va;l, With Kitchener and Mcthuen
swapping up his guns, his wagons and
his provisions at his heels. Every
available man Joined in the chase, and
extraordinary records We're made by
the infantry i'll pursuit. The Sllrop-
shircs covered forty three miles in thir-
ty-two hours and the G. L. VS., an
other infantry regiment, thirty miles
in seventeen hours, i'll the cndeavor to
head him Off On Aug. IL he crossed
the railway at Wclycrllicnd, on the
10Th he was ten miles west of Ventcrs-
llorp and on the 10th lie was we'll out
in the western Transyanl at Kustel-
burg
ON the 18th he passed through the
ring Of his rursuers ANA appeared on
Tie Crocodile river. Well to the north
of Pretoria. On the 18Th he tried to
cross. over to the eastward, north OF
Pretoria, but could not. On the 22d
h" had Tackled back to the Free State,
and his 10000 purSucrs were left de-
serted in the Transvaal, hundreds of
miles to the north of where the chase
commenced ten days before.
Then there came IL shadow over the
career of De Wet. He was reported
captured and dead, and Lord Roberts
OH Sept. 10 reported to the British war
office that there was no organized
force against him in the field. The
correspondents wrote graphic stories
about the close of the war and the
end of De Vets career But on Oct
5 he suddenly appeared ut Fredefort
with LOCO men, but we encountered Il
superior force of Australians and was
forced across the Vaal river. On Oct.
Ii he captured detachment of the
Cheshire regiment. .
For the rest of the month De Wet
made daily dcsccnts on the railway
line and the telegraph posts, rendering
communication between north and
south almost impossible. General
KNOX started off in determined pllr-
suit. and on Oct. 27 colncred his quar-
~. De Wet, us usual, broke through,
but not without paying toll to the tune
t,,.r> of In
cious guns. No sooner was he free
than he dashed down OH the railway
line ut Geneva, captured the Cape
mail and took ninety men prisoners.
For the next few weeks he ranged
UP and down the railway line, leaving
his mark nightly on broken culverts
and uprooted rails. On Nov. % De
Wet dashed Through the British lines
between Alexandria and Warning
hmm's Store, attacked strong British
post, was beaten off and headed for
his favorite hunting ground around De
Wetsdorp. On the Odd he attacked
the town, and after stiff fight cap
t,rlcd it, ;uong with two guns Of the
SiXtyeighth field battery and 450 men
of the ill-fated Gloucestcrs and Irish
Rifles.
This insult was more than Lord
Roberts could stand, and General
KNOX was sent In pursuit Of the free
boote. UP and down the northern
hNNE W tho 0,.N non ,Jvor th.. txyn