Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-11-16
e THIRD YEAR or THE BOER WAR. x

to reform the army and to carry out
the settlement in South Africa with
firmness.
Nor was this all The troops were
speedily to return home, and the neces-
sary sums for their transport had al
ready been voted. Indeed so sanguine
were ministers and generals. that the
return of the army actually began.
c. ]. v, the Household Cavalry. and A
Battery came home And then a strange
thing happened. The war blazed up
afresh, In the Orange colony Faure-
smith. Jagersfonten. and jacobsdal
were attacked towards the end OF OCto-
Der. At Bothavlle on November a
fierce action was fought With De Wet,
and six guns were taken from him.
Still generals, one OTTER another.
came home. At the end OF November
Lord Roberts handed over eis COM
mand TO Lord Kitchener and returned
to England, stating on his journey, at
Capetown on December 10, that "the
war was virtually closed"
DE WET THREATENS CAPE
COLONY.
But he reckoned without De Wet.
From Bothavile that bold guerrilla
passed rapidly south, and on Noyem-
Der g. captured a British detachment
az Dewetsdorp. From that point he
headed towards the Orange Ia invade
Cape Colony. In this ne was foled, but
he succeeded In innicting sharp
check on his pursuers at Lindley on
January 3, 1901
While attention ,rae ,.ptn,,l
him, on December 10th Boer com
mando under Krtzinger had entered
Cape Colony. This force was speedily
followed by others, and great alarm
was caused In the colony. Town guards
and local defense forces We're hastily
enrolled, In the Transvaal also there
was a recurrence Of Boer activity,
and General Clements was severely de-
feated by De la Rey at Nooltgedaeht on
December 18th.
The Idea that the war was over had,
however, so strongly possessed the war
Office that though II was now plain
that reinforcements were urgently
needed there were none TO send Mr..
Brodrick, who had succeeded Lord
Lansdowne as minister OF war, at the
end OF 1900 ordered out cavalry bril-
gade, q handful OF mounted infantry.
drafts and remounts, and then. as mat
ters went from bad to worse, finally de-.
cided In January. 1901 10 recruit fresh
force Of Yeomanry at tn high price Of
5s q day. But this force. raised in
haste and dispatched without drll or
training 70 South Africa. proved Quite
unable to take the field at once, and as
Lord Kitchener had 10 send home the
earlier batch OF Yeomen, his force was
actually weakened for the time being.
The enemy still continued active in
all directions. The posts on the rail-
ways were repeatedly attacked. and
In Cape Colony the invasion gained
| ground from dav TO day. British de-
| tachments were captured at Helyetia
and Modderfontein, In February De
| Wet made another attempt to
| invade Cape Colony, but was closely
pursued by Gen. Plumer and driven
over the Orange with considerable loss.
AS II was known that Botha intended
TO invade Natal a sweeping movement
In the southeastern Transvaal was
carried out In the early months Of the
year, yet the Beers managed to elude
capture.
EASY TERMS" AGAIN REJECTED.
At the same time an attempt was
made TO induce the enemy to submit
by the offer OF terms which seemed TO
the country TO be excessively generous.
Reports were again current that the
war might be considered at an end.
However, the enemy rejected the Brit
ish offer, and the struggle still went on.
Plumer advanced to Petersburg, and
Sir b. Blood swept the central Trans
vaal, yet resistance did not collapse, In
| Cape Colony, where the enemy were
spreading all over the country and cap
turing numerous small places, the Brit
| ish troops could do little. though Gen.