The times., 1901-06-20
VIEWED BY AMERICAN EYES.
Captain Reichmann's Opinion of the
south Africnn StrurrIe

! erations in the conflict between the Brit
| lsh and the Beers, was made public at the
| War Department yesterday. He reviews
| the war in the Transvaai and the Orange
/ Free State at considerable length. and his
statement forms a very Interesting treat
ment of the case. lie praises the Boer
| character and his fighting abilities and
| daring, but criticises the absence of SOL
! dierly department He declares emphatf-
| cally that the defeat of the Beers is due
| to the excess of British in men, money,
! and warlike material.
Captain Reichmann begins the report by
| telling of his arrival at Lourenco Marquee
and later at Pretoria. He describes in de-
tail the political and military institutions
of the South African Republic, and says:
Politics plays a great role in the selec-
| tion of officers and the families prominent
| in political way furnished a number of
officers corresponding to their political
Importance. To the military mind the de-
gree to which inferior officers carried their
self-will is inconceivable."
Referring to the Beers themselves. he
continues; Although still fine shots, the
Beers are no longer the excellent marks
men they used to be. Among troops where
no discipline was enforced, it is natural
that the expenditure and waste of ammu-
milton were great; the burghers travelling
on train would shoot out of the windows
at the ant heaps in the prairie.
Our official guide, a grandson of Presi
dent Kruger, tried to stop the shooting,
but came back disheartened. There was
no importation of munitions of war after
hostilities had broken out and the Gov
ernment eventually went to work to es-
tablish ammunition factories. Volunteers,
generally, have played a considerable part
in this war; they were mostly foreigners,
adyenturers. amateurs, active, retired, and
ex-officers of foreign armies. The Beers
are hunters rather than soldiers, they are
not much given to holding a position to
the last. The foreigners, on the con-
trary, once posted would hold their
ground. Whenever offensive operations
were undertaken the foreigners had to
bear the brunt of the fighting
In the assault on Spion Kop, January
.. 1890. the leading detachment consisted
mostly of foreigners; in the abortive at
tack on Mafeking, a detachment of for
eigners led, which was sent for that pur-
pose from Pretoria, and General Suyman,
the worst of all the Boer generals. failed
to send the re-enforcements agreed upon.
A careful investigation of the strength of
these foreign corps shows that their num-
DER ulu not exceed bJO or Sut- Inc 11Ol-
lander corps numbered 800 men, the Ital-
ian corps numbered about 70 men,
representing eleven different nation
alties under command of Captain
Riccardi, who had been with
AguinaIdo in the Philippines. The
scandinavian corps numbered 40 men. The
Irish Brigade was commanded by Colonel
Blake, formerly an officer of the Sixth
United States Cavalry and numbered
about $50 men. The German corps num-
bered 200 men, and there was also a French
corps of % men. a Russian corps of %
men, and an American scout company of
about 80 men. Another was that of the
lrish-Americans, who had reached Preto-
ria under the guise of ambulance person.
mel, they being members of the ambulance
corps organized at Chicago"
Captain Reichmanu explains his meet
ing with General De Wet and General
Cronje, and describes a number of en-
gaGements which he witnessed from the
battle at Abrahams Kraal, in March,
which resulted in the retreat to Driefon-
tein, to the defence of Lydeuburg district
in September.
He tells of the life of the Boer in camp,
saying: During my stay OF seven months
with them l never saw a drunken Boer
heard was the Dutch equivalent for al
mighty. In camp or at a halt, on the
march, he read his Bible or hymn book
and at night, after dark. groups of men
would sing psalms and hymns. The men
who led the Beers in prayer also led them
in battle. Their religious sentiment pre-
dominated in everything. and their indi-
vidual trend of sentiment was such that
they We're as much appalled, by the
slaughter Of the enemy as they were
grleved by their own defeats"
Referring to charges that the Beers
violated the rules of war, Captain Reich
mann says: Such alleged unlawful oc-
currences were not confined to the side of
the Beers; they occurred on the British
side also. When they occurred on the
British side. the Beers had little to say
about them. When they occurred on the
Boer side. horde of war correspondents
stood ready to snap them up and to heap
libel on the Beers. The Boer bestowed
the same care on the British wounded as
on his own, and treated British prisoners
with kindness and consideration. His most
serious defect was the lack of military
discipline. When a proposed movement
did not suit him or his officer, he simply
did not move and many well-planned
affair was ruined in that way. Under fire
the BOerS were remarkably cool ana de-
Hberate. once started on The attack the
British infantry had no cover against the
Boer artillery, but as rule the Beers
lack OF offensive capacity prevented him
from reaping the fruits of tactical vic
tory. He was contented when he had
repulsed the enemy.
The Beers were always fairly well in
formed of the enemy's whereabouts and
doings. In the transmission of intelli-
gence the bicycle played a prominent part
The cyclists did not confine themselves to
the roads, on which they had the right
of way; they made short cuts by follow
ing cat paths and even rode across the I
prairie They could be found at every
generals headquarters. The heliograph
also found executive employment"
Captain Reichmann criticises the British
organization by saying: The British cav
airy was neither sufficient In number nor
role and mounted infantry had TO be re-
sorted to a stop gap. Nor will the
the Beers until they can ride not like
British mounted troops be a match for
mounted infantry. but Ike cavalry and
until they can fight, not like cavalry but
like infantry.
The only cavalry lesson we draw for
ourselves from this war is that we can
not have enough of our kind Of cavalry
One feature of this war is the superior
guns of the Beers over the Armstrong
gun of the British. The lyddite shell can
hardly be said to be a success in field op-
erations.
him that the British artillery killed many !
of their own troops by keeping up too |
long the fire TO cover the infantry attack. |
the shells falling among the advancing !
soldiers.
A NATIVE HAWAIIAN'S TRIP. |
sarIueI Parker Stops Here on His !