The Sunday globe., 1901-07-07
THE GALLANT RIDE
OF the Dutch Burgher General
De Wet
THROUGH THE BRITISH GORDON
His FamOas Dash with President STEM VI The
Orange Free State 10 Krugers Camp 10 the
TranYaa with -Four Thousand Fearless
ROrssmen-One Of ths Most Daring and
Famous Rides In History

De Vets dash through the British
lines to escort President Steyn Of the
Orange Free State to Kruger's camp,
in the TransYaal, was one Of his most
brilliant strokes Of military genius.
The enemy nad him cooped up in the
mountains; they were at all important
points on the route to be traversedi
they held the line Of the Vaal River
which lay between the starting point
at Fouriersburg, in the southeastern
part of the state, and De Vets destina-
ton at Rustenburg west Of Pretoria,
where the British were in full force
ready to intercept him. Every nek
was picketed every kopje held its out
look guard. But DE Wet pulled
through He carried Steyn to safety
thhen rode back
The following is substantially the
story of one who rode with De Wet on
that trip,
1t was dusk Of a bitterly cold day
that the column Of 1000 horsemen
moved forward from their mountain
hiding to Retiefs mex. A lot of cap
tured Armstrong guns ana a train Of
wagons strung out 10 the length OF
four miles formed the centre of the
cayalcade Striking out at a fair pace
the horses hoofs threw up a dust as
thick as the London log, 1t was so
cold that the winter uniforms taken
from the enemy at ROodeyel were most
welcome. and those who hadn't them
put on their blankets, Indian fashion.
For some miles out not a BritOn was
to be seen, and the Beers feared an
ambush, but a little later the scouts
located the enemys camp, all asleep
or hugging the fires too close to see
their game slipping away. De Wet
was tempted to swoOp down on the
camp ana take it in, but on second
thought decided to 60 on his way as a
safeguard for Steyn. In a short time
the moon arose, and to head of the
alarm should it spread he cut the wires
leading to the British post at Bethe-
hem, and by daylight was wel. out Of
the first net.
On the second day a small British
march. 1t was fought off by hand
full, with De Wet and Steyn at the
head, while the main body Of troopers
rode away with the wagons and cap
tured Armstrong;. This was a daily
experience, and sometimes the whole
strength Of the fighters was needed.
Therons famous scouts always went
on ahead and secured the tianks of the
r4tar, tool fHAfr liVaG N
their hands hourly, for they passed
themselves off as Englis. whenever
the attitude Of the people whom they
met was in doubt One dark night
they stopped at a farm of a hand up
per''-that is, a Boer who had surren-
dered his arms to the British. Here
they claimed TO be English, and, there
being some real Beers in the house,
voley was fired into the band, killing
two. Further slaughter Of friends was
stopped by the cry, Don't shoot We
are Boers,'
One day the whole outlt narrowly
ESCAPED disaster a small British con-
voy was seen off at a distance, and a
full commando from De Vets column
rode out to capture it. This led to a
desperate fight, and while the raiders
were uOllg tukdEtA q ltAA Ef hDAg VI
English swooped down upon the Boer
camp. As usual, De Wet sen his wag-
ons and Armstrong; ahead under a
strong guardand posted the rest Of his
men for a fight. The raiding Comman-
do was then recalled, with its work half
done, but the British were held OFF till
dark, and the wagons were well out OF
reach.
To fight even against odds in such a
race is one thing but TO guard wagons
fighting for right Of way and taking
their slow pace with the enemy at
hand, is quite another thing. Often a
gun or brace of wagons was saved
by the personal daring of handful or
even of one man. At length the col.
umn neared the railway. AT 4 in the
afternoon De Wet halted In sight Of
the track A train came into view,
steaming slowly along. The Beers
were in plain sight and Of course the
alarm would be wired ahead 10 cut
them off. De Wet divided his wagons
and guns into eight columns, with a
strong guard to eacu, telling them TO
cross the track and fight through on
their own hook All started at dusk.
De Wet and Steyn crossed the track
without incident beyond having 20
wait for a long train to get out Of
the way, after stopping to clear an Oh.
struction the Beers had placed on the
track. One column had better luck in
stopping trains, for it ueraiIed several
trucks filled with loot, and when the
engineer attempted % push on one of
Theron's scouts sprang upon the en-
CINE and smashed valve Meanwhile
the armed guard began 10 shoot They
we're equickly oyerpowered, and The
Beers got a uch haul of -polls
De Wet crossed the raj IWay. which
was the one between Pretoria and
Bloemfontein, near BoodeyaI and the
hills of Reitzburg lay day march
I'm front. Barely was the column
among the hills when the scouts rush
ed i'm breathless with the news that
the British were coming Beers love
the hills. especially when there is a
fight on. so there was "a grand race for
the kopjes lying on the British side of
the lager The British formed line
under cover of guns. uuf were soon out
of range and trottiug slowly In good
order for the Boer center Ont from
the sheltering hills az the cry of Gen.
cral Philip .jotha 10 charge 'Ho Beers
rushed. or rather sWarmDa. n the face
of the enemy. The British halted and
opened a stead fire The Ba0r kept
on. individuals striving u race 30
be first up with the ruineks Then the
British turned and rode back toward
their guns,
In someparts Of the field the Beers
overlook the fleeing British, who ood
for "a fight Another party wul.. fly
with Beers at their heels. and DOW and
then a group got a Nordcnteldt m posi-
tion. and swept the Boer lines with
IrlIatg Tho fight ended with the Brit