The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1901-02-02

Town to Pretoria, bridge destruction
and railroad wrecking is Il more cffec-
tive military operation than ever it
was in the American civil war
In haste upon him came Lord Hitch
ener from Pretoria and Lord Methuen
from Heilbron. But De Wet moved
off to the eastward, returned week
later, and on June II narrowly es-
capped capturing Lord Kitchener HIM
self ut Rhenoster. On June p he re-
appeared at Honing Spruit station,
, midway between Kroonstad and
lioodeval ripped up the rails to the
north and the south Of IL waiting train.
and set to work with his guns on the
oUO former Pretoria prisoners who
guarded it. For seven houls the med
| " company OF tattered, alarmed pris-
oners fought Off DE Wet, and in the
evening relief came with the G. l. VS.
| and yeomanry. -Four men killed and
nineteen wounded was the whole re-
suit OF that raid of DE Wet.
His three weeks of raiding had,
however, Weakened the British to the
necessity OF stopping him, and great
preparations were made for the cap
turc OF De Wet. On July ,, General
Hunter had 10000 men under his COM
nllnd for the purpose. Slowly, pur-
posefully, the net was drawn round
De Wet, and Oh July II it began to
close in on the guerilla chief. -Four
days later De Wet dashed down on
the railroad at IIoninS s'pr'l:;. r.,'.
cured Il train and Il hundred Welsh
Fusliers, wriggled his way through
the British lines, and with five guns
and 1910 men got clear away to the
northwest. He was forced to aban-
don his wagons and IL few badly
llorscu men to Broudwood's tender
mercics, but on July % was in com
paratiyc safety on the Naal river.
In the early part of August, Lord
Kitchener and Lord Methuen began
the third attempt to corral Dc Wet.
On Aug. De Wet dashed through De
Vets Drift, to tic north side of the
V;lal, with Kitchener and Mcthucn
Swapping up his guns, his wagons and
his provisions at his heels. Every
available man Joined in the chase, and
extraordinary records were made by
the infantry in pursuit. The Shrop-
shires covered forty three miles in thir
ty-two hours and the G. L. VS., am
other infantry regiment, thirty miles
in seventeen hourS, in the enticavur To
head him off. on Aug. IL Ae crossed
the railway ut Wclvcrlicnd. OH tile
10Th he was ten miles west of Ncntcrs-
,lorp. and Oh the 18th he W:ls we'll out
in The western TrHnsyaa at Eustell-
bur-.
Uu the 18th he PASSED through iIIr
ring Of his purSuers and appeared Oh
the Crocodile river. Well to the north
Of PRETORIA. On the 18Th he tried to
rrnsS over To the eastward. north OF
Pretoria. but could not. On the 22,l
il" ltal taci.rd bHci. tn the Free State,
and his 10000 purSucrS were left de-
serted in the Trnnsvaal, hundreds ut
miles to the north Of where the chase
commenced ten days before.
| Then there came Il shadow over the
career of De Wet. He was reported
captured and dead, and Lord Roberts
office that there was no organized
force against him in the field. The
correspondents wrote graphic stories
about the close of the war and the
end Of De Vets career. But on Oct
) he suddenly appeared ut Nredcfort
with LOCO men, but we encountered Il
superior force of Australians and was
forced across the Naal river. On Oct.
II he captured II detachment of the
Cheshire regiment.
For the rcst of the month De Wet
made daily desccnts ON the railway
line and the telegraph posts. rendering
communication between north aud
south almost impossible. General
Knox started off in determined pur.
suit. and on Oct. ~ corncrru his quar-
| ~ Dc Wet, as usual broke through
but not without paying toll to the tune
of three wagons and two of his pre-
cious guns. No sooner was he free
than he dashed down on the railway
line ut Geneva, captured the Cape
mail and took ninety men prisoners.
| For the next few weeks he ranged
I UP and down the railway line, leaving
his mark nightly on broken culvert:
and uprOoted rails. On Nov % Dc
Wet dashed Through the British lines
between Alexandria and Warning,
| h;um's Store attacked a strong British
post was beaten Off and headed fol-
his favorite hunting ground around Dc
Wetsdorp. On the Odd he attacked
the town, and after Il stiff fight cap
tulr1i it, along with two guns of the
SiXty-eighth field battery and 40O men
of the Inflated Gloucestcrs and Irisl,
Rifles.
This insult was more than Lord
Roberts could stand, and General
KNOX was sent In pursuit Of the free
bootcr. UP ind down the northern