The Irish standard., 1901-01-26

who wish to break through Gordon
They can be held back only by rifle
men, stationed in such way>as di.
rectly to oppose their passage; and this
picture of the great war game has also
again and again, been brilliantly ex.
emplified by the Beers in the course
of this dramatic campaign.
The principle of misleading the enc.
my by demonstration" at some po-
sition which is not the real point of
attack has been applied with great fire.
quency, even a hundred times, by De
Wet, not only in his tactics on the
actual battlefield, but in the broad
strategic lines; and as his mobility is
so much greater than that of the Eng
lish, his knowledge of the country bet
ter, and his chances of obtaining cor
rect information from the inhabitants
of the district superior, it would seem
that he would continue to fool the enc
my to the top of his bent forever.
About the middle of December, when
De Wet was affording to the English
generals what they called "magnifi-
cent spectacle" in galloping through
their posts without the loss of a man,
Delarey suddenly fell on the force of
General Clements at Magaliesberg, in
flicting great loss, subjecting six hun
dred Of the famous Northumberland
fusiliers to a humiliating surrender,
and nearly succeeding in taking the
whole English force. Lord Kitchener
reports that Delarey had $500 men at
first, but that later on in the day he
was Joined by Commandant Beyers
with 5000 men, who, in some mysteri-
GUS fashion, had suddenly sprung up
from Warmbad. Perhaps these num-
bers are exaggerated, for whereas late
ly the Beers were described as maraud-
ing bands, "criminally" prolonging the
war, yet when 600 crack troops surren-
der and 5000 more are chased away it
| 10 NECESSARY " SltC liz CuCluy SOluI
numerical Importance.
! Now, if we add up the total of the
troops, according to English estimates,
we find De Vets actual force, together
| with that portion which crossed into
Cape Colony, at least 5000 strong. The
force menacing Kimberley and Boshof
may be set down at a minimum of
1000. Delarey and Beyers account for
$500, and in this estimate no mention
is made Of Grobler, Lemmer, Theron,
and other capable commandants. The
Free State Beers, according to the lat
est British estimates, therefore, cannot
be much less than $4,000. But then
come the Transvaal Beers. General
Louis Botha, the chief,
has no force under his direct personal
command, but he directs the operations
and has at his immediate disposal the
troops of Erasmus, Ben Viljoen, Chris
tian Botha, and other officers Of less
note. Christian Botha has been ope-
rating at Vryheid, where it was report
ed on December 16, he captured 127
British troops. Ben Viljoen is in the
Standerton district, where he has fire.
quently cut off the communications be-
tween Pretoria and Natal. There are
commanders of Beers in Natal itself.
Erasmus covers the line between Bar
berton and Pretoria. At the very low
est estimate, there cannot be less than
5000 burghers on the Transvaal side.
Should, therefore, the Cape Colonists
join in any considerable numbers, it
is possible that the total Boer force
may rise to 10000 men, and l do not
think that it was ever much more in
the palmiest days of the war. These
figures may be excessive, but they cor
respond at least to the reports of the
English authorities in their pessimistic
mood. From the same source, also, we
gather that in one week no less than
1000 British troops were put hors de
combat.
have been amazed, both during my
campaign and in my reading since my
return, to observe how steadfastly the
English authorities follow stereotyped
rules which We're obsolete fifty years
ago, and how little they learn from
experience, even when that experience
has cost them the lives of thousands of
their men, their own regulations, and
the honor and profit of their country.
They seemed unable to go out of a
groove, and so it happened that the
Boer officer, untutored in the science of
war, but on that very account forced
to analyze the whole conditions as they
present themselves and to arrive at a
conclusion on basis of common sense,
always seized the essentials better and
became superior leader of troops to
the badly trained officer. The British
officer, as rule, has shown himself
very brave, but personal courage is one
of the least Of the qualities demanded.
And many Of the other elements of a
good leader have been conspicuous by
their absence.
The British soldier is armed with
| ridiculous weapons. The famous bayo-
net charges so often reported were a
myth. Fifty expert riflemen could hold
&10i