The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-01-27

work with his guns on the three hundred
former Pretoria prisoners who guarded it.
For seven hours the medley company Of
tattered, i'll armed prisoners fought of
De Wet, and in the evening relief came
with the c. L VS. and Yeomanry Four
men killed and nineteen wounded was the
whole result Of that raid of De Wet
His three weeks of raiding had. howev-
er, wakened the British TO the necessity
of stopping him, and great preparations
were made for the capture Of De Wet
On July ? General Hunter had ten thous-
and men under his command for the pur-
pose. Slowly, purposefully, the net was
drawn round De Wet and on July Z il
began to close in on the guerilla chief
Four days later De Wet dashed down on
the railroad at Honing Spruit. captured A
train and o hundred Welsh Fusiliers.
wriggled his way through the British
lines and with five guns and fifteen hun
dred men got clear away TO the north
west He was forced TO abandon his
wagons and a few badly horsed men 10
! Broadwood's tender mercies. but on July
% was in comparative safety on the Yaal
river.
In the early part Of August Lord KItch-
| ener and Lord Methuen began the third
attempt to corral De Wet. On August
I De Wet dashed through De Vets Drift
/ 10 the north side Of the Wall with Kitch-
/ ener and NIethuen swapping up his guns.
/ his wagons and his provisions at his
heels Every available man joined in the
chase and extraordinary records were
made by the infantry in pursuit The
Shropshires covered forty-three miles in
thirty-two hours and the c. I. VS. anoth-
er infantry regiment. thirty miles in sew
enteten hours, in the endeavor to head
him of. On August Il he crossed the
railway at Welverdend. on the 18th he
was ten miles east Of Ventersdorp and
on the 18th he was well out in the west
ern Transvaal. at Rustenburg.
On the 18th he passed through the ring
of his pursuers and appeared on the
Crocodile river. well TO the north of Pre-
toria- On the 18th he tried to cross over
to the eastward north of Pretoria. but
could not On the Pod he had tackled back
to the Free State and his ten thousand
pursuers were left deserted in the Trans
vaal, hundreds of miles to the north OF
where the chase commenced ten days be
fore.
On September De Vets presence was
reported in the .neighborhood Of Johan-
neshurg. but the heavy masses Of troops
quartered there and his own ignorance of.
the district sent him rapidly south again.
On September Is he ventured too near
Fighting Mac" at Vet river and had to
leave thirty-one wagons and IS 900 rounds
Of rife ammunition as a trophy with the
hero OF Omdurman. Four days later
Lord Roberts announced the dissolution
Of the BOer forces and reported to the
war Office that there no longer was an
organized force in the field against him
It seemed as though De Wet had sue
cumbed to the exhaustion of his follow
ers For some weeks nothing was heard
Of him, and war correspondents cabled
home fanciful reports of his death.
On October > the guerilla chief suddenly
appeared at Vredefort with force os
loo men and his favorite battery Of five
guns The Australian leader Of irregu-
lars, De Lisle was. however. ready for
him and De Wet was driven once moro
north Of the vaal into the sister Repub-
lie -Four days later he was swapping at
the heels of a British force, picking up
its strayed horses. cattle and pickets. all
the way from Lindley to Kroonstad. On
October Il he captured a detachment Of
Cheshires.
For the rest of the month De Wet
made daily descents on the railway line
and the telegraph posts. rendering com
municaton between north and south al
most impossible. General Knox started
off in determined pursuit. and on October
q eornered his quarry. De Wet as usual
broke through, but not without paying
toll Of his precious guns No sooner was
he free than he dashed down on the rail-
way line at Geneva captured the Cape
mail and took ninety prisoners.
For the next few weeks he ranged up
and down the railway line. leaving his
mark nightly on broken culverts and up
rooted rails. On November % De Wet
dashed through the British lines between
Alexandria and Warringham's Store. at
tackled a strong British post, was beaten
off and headed for his favorite hunting
ground around De Wetsdorp. On the 23d
he attacked the town and after a stiff
fight captured st. along with two guns Of
the Sixty-eighth Field battery and four
hundred and fifty men of the fl-fated
Gloucesters and Irish Rifles
This insult was more than Lord Rob
erts could stand, and General Knox was
sent in pursuit OF the freebooter Up
and down the northern bank Of the
Orange river the two forces chased. and
at last Knox got in front and headed De
West from Cape Colony. This time his
CAPTURE seemed certain. He was in
space between the flooded Caledon ana
the unfordabIe Orange. Knox had his
force drawn across the base Of the tri-
angle, and another strong party Of cav
airy awaited him at the apex But De
Wet laughed at c0rdons and on Deem
Der crossed the swollen Caledon at
Hareepont Drift and returned northward
10 Reddersburg on the 18th he snapped
lp 100 Of Brabant's Horse. and on the
18th found himself onee more cornered.
General Knox was within an hour Of
De Wet at a point among the hills some
ifteen miles east Of Tha5anchu The
Priush were In overwhelming numbers.
The only possible escape was past two .
fortified posts. and the guns covered the
suerHas Il was the finest chance the
British had had in the war and. theore- ,
Ideally. De Wet was hands up
But De Wet had six months experience 4
It his back and troop Of seasoned vet 6
.sans under his command Knox was 6
ust about 10 give the coup dc grace when
lcross The fat. fun tllt at the British {
ines the twenty-five hnudred Beers camz y
numbering In open order. straight fer g
he pass between the fortfed posts. ths q
.aeriIlas led ay President steya and q
-ommandaut Fourie, charged
Taking advantage Of a spur ~ the kop-
p the Bcers received the FIRE of only one