The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-28
HELD 1T Bay BY ONE NAN
ARMED FORCES OF AN EMPIRE
SUCCESSFULLY, CHECKED
cY GEN. DE WET
SOMETHING OF THE WARRIOR
Beers Themselves Think He Is n
Greater Strategist Than Gen.
Kitchener-Hfs Hand
full of Men.

genus, has luIReu the tlUG OF the South
African war, is holding che armed
forces of the greatest empire on earth at
bay, and is carving out for himself 4
reputation as caVa1ry leader second
perhaps, to no other man IN history
says the New York Press
The soldier is Christian Dewet. He
stands out as one Of the greatest charac-
tiers Of modern times. From the embers
of the South African war hres ne has
rekindled blaze that stirs the world. All
South Africa is again af1ama with the
war spirit Brgades and b2ttaliOns pre-
viously ordered home by the English for
eisn office have been sent back for duty
in the field; Lord Roberts, who departed
from the seat of war in the ba;ief that
the Beers had been ''pacifted." is in par
tial eclipse; Lord Kitchener, previously
the idol of the army, seems honeIessly
unable to cope with the willy general
whose maneuvers are astonishing he
world, and the war office in London and
the government itself are in disgrace.
And all this is due to the genius of one
man-to n man with no military train
ing.
Dewet is perhaps the greate~t cavalry
leader and guerilla fighter the world
has ever known. He is as resourcefuI
as Forest, as dashing as Sheridan or
Stuart as elusive as Marion. With the
death of Joubert and the capture of
CrOnje, this plain burgher, who knew
nothing of the science or war, took upon
himself the task of carrying on tine une-
quail struggle for liberty in the South
African republic. The war spirit was
apparently stamped out, the republics
were ruined. Steyn and Kruger were
fleeing for their lives, and it appesred
that all that remained for England to do
was to arrange for the proper policing Of
the TranSyaal 1t was then that Chris
tian Dewet came prominently into play.
While Joubert and Cronje were fighting.
Dewet held inferior rank, being in ccn1-
mand of only small force. With the
removal Of the two generals upon whom
the Beers staked their existence the OPP
portunity developed for Dewet
The war seemed to be in its last stag
es. Beers were laying down their arms
and accepting British sovereignty. Only
a few bands of guerillas, such as the
forces under Dewet, were in the field.
Lord Kitchener and Col. Badan-Powell
prepared to round up these rebels III
short order. The Transvaal. as far as
England could do so, was wiped off the
map and had been incorporated into the
British empire. The schemes of Cham
berlain and Cecil Rhodes were approach
ing fruitiOn.
PLEDGED TO FIGHT TO THE DEATH
But somehow the plans OF Kitchener
and Baden-Powell, as far as they were
applied to Dewet, miscarried. The wan
ing fortunes of the Beers did not seem
to affect the spirit of the dashing officer
or his men. He pledged the burghers to
fight to the death, and then, with a
spirit and dash unrivaled in history, he
raided the lines of communication of
Kitchener and harassed the British I'M
til they were well. nigh. desperate. In
the British army were 10000 men. De-
vet, at the outset, had less than 15G0.
Despite the disparity in numbers, he kept
the whole cavalry force OF the British
army in South Africa engaged. His aar-
ing raids So stimulated the war feeling
that Beers who had laid down their arms
were fired to take the field again. Cap
ture after capture of large bodies of
British troops and of supplies command
ed not only the admiration Of the Boers,
but of the British.
1t took the British forces a long time
to realize that Dewet's raids were
more than the despairing efforts of the
gallant spirit OF a dying nation, but as
the rebel chief grew stronger, as the
war spirit spread, not alone through the
Transvaal, but Natal and Cape Colony,
as Dewet, by some Of the most brilliant
m1neuVers, escaped from the most des-
perate of situations and laughed at the
British for their efforts to capture him.
1t at last dawned upon Downing street
that the Boer war was not over and
never would be over while Christian De-
wet was in the field.
Ability to keep his men together, to in
spire the most supreme confidence and
to cover immense distances are qualities
that go to make up the generalshin Of
this BOer leader. He has fCiled Roberts
Kitchener, Rumble, Hunter and BADEN
Powell in turn, and has boldly shifted
the scene until he is now in many IN
stances the aggressor, and has the Brit
ish troops in constant alarm over his ap-
proach.
In the TransvaaI they point with pride
to the fact that this common burgher
who has outgeneraled the greatest of
the English generals, has had no mil
tary experience. He has always been
antl-EDgiish and in the Orange Free
State ana in the Transvaal he has al
ways been iii favor of measures designed
to limit the influence of the British NJ
MaJuba he was one of the small band
that stormed the hill OF physical fear
he knew nothing. He was one of the
first TO dash among the English troops
and force them to surrender He was
then only 1t youth.
HIS CONTEMPT FOR THE ENGLISH.
Today he is not much over forty. of
medlum height, slight build, dark and
heavily bearded. He hates the English
with a most abiding hate. So strong is
TINS feeling that he would not allow his
children to learn the language and he
does not wish to hear it spoken Rich,
as tar as the goods of the worl1 go, he
had abandoned home and all to fight
the hated enemy. He had a fne farm
between BloemfOntein and Wepener. near
Dewetsdorp, town named in honor of
his father, but this was desolayed by
the British and his fortune wiped out.
The career and the achievements of
this man within the last six months will
make one of the most stirring pages
E h TgffAF A
tactics as B@nnet Burleigh, of the London
Telegraph declares that Dewet's cam
paigns VIII form the theme of every
military academy for years to come, and
that his methods will be studied and
his Pratice followed by cavalry leaders
of tie future.
How he organized out of the ragged
disheartencd. battered and beaten rem
nartS Of the BOer army the superb fight
ing force he has hurled against the
British is one OF the marveIs of this most
remarkable war. A genius for organiza-
ton, as he IS q genius In tactics, Dewet
has managed. without other resources
than provided by the enemy 20 feed and
clothe and arm his forces, sweep the
country and keep the whole British army
IN South Africa in trouble. A dozen
times it has been announced that he was
surrounded, but each and every time he
has slipped away and has signalized his
escape by some raid or dash more dar-
Ing, more brilliant and more startling
than the preceding. The English xiii
never forgive him fer his raid upon San
mas Post. With the guns he captured
there lie held Up the Royal Irish Rifles
and the Northumberland Fusileers al
Riddersberg. All through Jane and July
he was the terror of Lord Kitchener
When Gems Rumble aud Hunter closed
In on him in the latter part Of July he
broke through the Gordon. AMI. doubling