Arizona daily citizen., 1901-07-16
THE BOER AS A SOLDIER.


The report of Captain Rechmann, of the United
States Army, who sent by the Secretary OF War
to note the operations of the Boer war; has just been
published, and fully confirms the best estimates of
the Boers that have been made by Others That
their religion is their most striking feature is estab
lished from all sources There such SOL
diers elsewhere earth, in this respect, and there
never have been among the English speaking peoples
since the days of Cromwell's Roundheads Capt
Reichmann says of them:
During my stay of seven months with them |
never drunken Boer, and the greatest piece of
profanity ever heard was the Dutch equivalent for
Almighty. In camp at halt on the march he
read his Bible or hymn book, and at night, after
dark, groups of would sing psalms. The men
who led the Beers in prayer also led them in battle
Their religious sentiment predomlnated in every
thing and their individual trend OF sentiment was
such that they much appalled, by the slaughter
of the enemy as they grieved by their own de-
feats,
This is a peculiar quality, and doubtless has
much to do with the persistence Of the Beers in their
struggle They have faith that Providence does
not mean to let them be finally defeated, though He
allows them to be severely tried Their religion has
received many sneers. and attempts have been made
to break the force of it with other Christian nations
by charges of violations of the rules of civilized war
fare These have in most been totally disprov-
ed, and such cases as were genuine Capt Reich.
mann makes this comment
Such alleged unlawful occurrences were not con-
fined to the side of the Beers they occurred on the
British side also. When they occurred on the Brit
ish side the Boer had little to say about them When
they occurred on the Boer side horde of war cor
respondents stood ready to snap them up and to heap
libel on the Beers. The Boer bestowed the same
care on the British wounded his and treat
ed British prisoners with kindness and cnnsidera,
tion.
The foreign reinforcement of the Beers appears
to have been generally oyerestimated. Capt Reich
mann puts the maximum strength of the foreign
corps at 800. The Hollander corps numbered 800
men, the Italian corps numbered about seventy five
men, representing eleven different nationaties un-
der command of Capt. Riccardi who had been with
Aguinaldo in the Philippines. The Scandinavian
corps numbered forty men. The Irish Brigade was
commanded by Col Blake formerly an officer in the
Sixth United States cavalry, and numbered about
one hundred and fifty men, The German corps
numbered 200 men, and there was also French
corps of twenty men, Russian corps of twenty
five men and an American scout company of about
fifty Another was that of the Irish Americans
who had reached Pretoria under the guise of ambu-
lance personnel they being members of the ambu
lance organized at Chicago. But although these
foreign recruits were few in number they were of
very great Importance in the fighting, because they
had more discipline and would stay in a desperate
position under orders when the Beers would not
The fatal defect of the Beers as soldiers was lack
of discipline, and this the result of several caus-
es One was the lack of authority of officers under
the military organization, and the custom of holding
general councils to decide ON movements. Another
was the influence of politics in the organization In
huentia families furnished officers in proportion to
their political strength and there was peculiar in
dependence and lack of control not only among the
minor officers but also among the men. Says Capt
Reichmann: when proposed movement did not
suit him or his officer he simply did not move and
many well-planned affair was ruined in that way"
or course no excellency in Workmanship endurance
or mobility could compensate for such defects and
yet while admitting their full force Capt Reich
mann holds that the plain cause of British success
was overwhelming preponderence ''in men, money
and warlike material" The Beers are better fitted
for their present system of warfare than for pitched
battles OF great armies and their inferiority in men
and equipment is less to their disadvantage
The Massachusetts physician who is living on
water and exercise ought to have no trouble in get
ting job