St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1901-01-30
THE WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Tn an article on the Boer war in Col
lier's Weekly, Col. Arthur Lynch, late OF
the Boer army, gives an interesting char
acter study OF Gen. De Wet, the man of
the hour in South Africa.
"The British army, like all armies has
one great advantage over the Boer
forces as over all militia, and that is in
the sense of discipline. Gradually, and
especially since the rise to chief command
of Botha and De Wet, this defect has been
remedied among the Beers. De Wet is
now practically dictator in his own
country. He does not call war council.
He hears all the reports from scouts and
dispatch riders, and he thinks out his
plans, and often, without communicating
to bis officers even his destination, he
will give the order to saddle up and fol-
low him. They never fail to obey. The
Beers like stern, decided man of strong
will. provided that his intelligence be on
a par with these moral qualities. De Wet
is essentially such chiettain. He is now
a little over forty, tall, strongly made,
bony man. His countenance, with it's
somewhat ordinary features, is redeemed
by the deep eye, and the general express
sion of patient thought and indomitable
resistance. The attitude, the bearing,
the wholelook and manner ofthe man sug-
gest the obstinate and logged resolution
OF one who will die fighting, if necessary,
but who will never strike his flag. Great
as is his power over his men, he is never
VIOLENT or impatient Good-nature is one
of the most prevalent characteristics of
the Beers, and nearly all their officers
possess that quality. De Wet did not
gain his present great ascendency all at
once. Many time his men have slipped
through his fingers under the influence of
one OF those waves OF panic so apt to
seize undisciplined troops, and he has
been detected and bitterly disappointed.
But he has not exploded his wrath on his
followers; he has shown the example OF
tortitude and he has brought them round
again; often the very troops which have
given way TOO easily on one occasion
have fought like lions when next they
have been called upon to face the foe.
| De Wet, previous to the war, was a but
cher, noted simply for his regular, bust
ness.like habits and his honesty. He has
| plONSu d NCllhpD'N Ia lin
leading of irregular troops. DeWet does
not think much of the English generals
with the exception of French, who has
plenty of dash. Kitchener is certainly a
fine soldier, and he is in many respects
also clever commander, but hitherto he
has had no success against the Beers
De Wet has no great appreciation OF the
English soldier, and it may be said OF him
that during the rush of the English from
Bloemfonttin to Johannesburg they
never pushed De Wet in front of them
He held his ground, and as they swept
along he slipped through their various
forces. Since then he has been continual
ly barassing their rear guard, their ad
vanced guards, their outposts and theil
communications; and his action in thi'
respect has been the salvation of thu
Beers. He has great penchant for sur
prises, and at Sanna's Post drove thu
crack regiments of Household Cavalry
and Tenth Hussars in sudden panic, kill
ing, wounding and taking prisoner
nearly 900, and losing four of his owl
men,"