The times., 1901-06-22
THE BRITISH ARMY IN ACTION.
Captain SIocum Reports the other
Side of the TransvaaI War.

of the United States with the British
army in South Africa, has rendered his
report TO the War Department. 1t is in
| four parts. the first closing December p.
1899. in which. among other things, he
says:
Il consider the present situation to be
the most critical for the English forces
! since hostilities began. They have been
defeated all along the line and should
the Beers assume offensive operations,
f, which is not probable. judging from the
past. the English armies with their long
and thlnly guarded lines of communica-
ton would be placed in great jeopardy
Captain SIocum relates the crcum-
stances of the surrender of Cronje and
describes in detail the operations leading
to the capture Of the Beers under Cronje
by Lord Roberts. The report says:
.'.The prisoners numbered iol0 mon.
There were no doctors or medicines and
| the Boer wounded had been withou, any
skilled attention whatever The women,
wounded and prisoners had been kept
out OF danger in chambers dug into the
| bank of the river. The food WAS almost
gone I do not know what history will
| say Of these people, but personally, words
| tail me TO express adequately my admira-
tion for their tenacious and brave defence
under the conditions I'm which they were
placed"
! Captain Slocum remarks that the Beers
are splendid on the defensive, but do
not seem to consider offensive movements
rs part of their proper tactics.
| In praising the British he says: IL
| ever a people or nation eNemplified the
phrase brave to a fault it Is the British.
| II they were less brave there would have
| in this war"
He says that the balloon with the Brit
| ish Army has been OF inestimable value
| to ii. 1t usually ascended $500 yards
from the enemys line and secured valua-
bic Information. especially for the artil-
lery. The Beers fired on it constantly,
but never injured it sufficiently to compel
| its descent
In his report dated June 4 $780, Captain
SIocum relates the details of the advance
from Bloemfontein to Pretoria. The ad-
vance began, he says, on the 1st of May
and on the llth they entered Kroonstad
where the army remained for nearly two
weeks. on the 18th of May Captain Slo-
cum entered in his report the following:
The army remained at Kroonstad.
General Butler occupies New Castle in
Natal. The slowness of General Butler >
advance in Natal since the relief of Lady
smith over two and one-half months pre-
vious IS ineXplieable.'
At this point the published report has
several stars showing the elimination by
the War Department of some part of the
document The following comment by
| Captain SIocum is given. however:
Had General Butler advanced and
struck north into the Transvaal until he
, reached Delagoa Bay Railroad, he would
have cut the BOe- line of retreat and
supply and 1 believe compelled, in con-
junction with Lord Roberts advance,
President Kruger and the Boer forces to
surrender"
The army advanced from Kroonstad on
the 22d of May. with four days rations
and on the 29th negotiations were opened
with the commandant Of johannesburg
for its surrender Captain SlOcum says:
The Rand mines were learned to be un-
injured. though President Kruger had or
! dered them to be destroyed. General
Botha. Commander-in-Chief of the Boer
forces. refused to obey the order. and
then President Kruger sent it direct to
the commandant of Johannesburg, DR..
Krause. who likewise refused to comply
and increased the guard on these gold
mines to prevent their destruction
of the entrance of the British into Pre-
toria. the report says: Mrs. Kruger and
Mrs Botha, wife Of the COMMANDMENT
Chief of the Boer forces. were found in
the city, and though put under surveil-
lance were treated with the utmost cour
teSy and consideration. President Kruger,
with some OF the Government officials.
had gone by rail TO Middleburg. Before
leaving the President Communicated
from the banks about G2,500 in gold. and
took il away with him. leaving number
Of the Government officials unpaid for the
past two months
Pretoria. with its surrounding heights,
offered magnificent opportunities for de-
fence, and force of even 5000 determined
men could have held the British army at
/ BAY for a considerable time and inflicted
heavy losses before being driven back
Referring TO the British army hospitals
| Captain Slocum says: The hospitals are
most admirably conducted and each has
/ a number Of trained female nurses besides
the male attendants.
| About the treatment of the Beers by
! the British, Captain Slocum says: The
/ British have been too uerciful and / be-
lieve, had a more rigorous course been
/ adopted when the army first entered this
! capital G3loemfontein), and the enemy
! thoroughly stampeded, the war would
/ have been materially shortened. Lord
| Roberts was undoubtedly deceived by the
/ general profession of submission
Speaking of the alleged violations of
| the sacredness Of the white flag Captain
| by Lord Roberts which makes IL appear
| that the Beers were the offenders in this
| respect The order says:
| The sacredness of the white flag haV-
! ing been so frequently infringed by the
| enemy during the present war, the troops
| are reminded that they are not in any
way bound to receive the bearer Of a flag
| OF truce during an engagement The
! bearer of a nag of truce should be un-
| armed, and the side from which he pro-
/ ceeds should have halted and ceased fir
! ing and unless ii is clear that the flag
! Cf truce is being used legitimately for the
! purpose Of entering on an amicable ar
| rangement. the bearer should be Signaled
| to retire, and if he does not obey the sig
nal ne should be fired on
I OF ordnance and ammunition the report
| says: The lyddite shell has proven one
| CT the distinct disappointments OF the
| war II has no effect whatever against
! entertainments The NickeTs-N Nordenfelt
! automatic gun used by the Beers has a
/ strangely demOralizing effect upon an en-
envy IT is an effective little weapon and
the British soldier breads 1t more than
any other gun the Beers have. 1t is very
accurate
DAMAGED BY LIGHTNING.
Results of n Heavy Thunderstorm nj