The age-herald., 1902-02-14
Kitchener's Plan Mas MaSterIy
 Planned But Partly Failed
HAD THE BOERS ENTRAPPED
DeWet Held a Council of War, How ever, and by Dividing Forces and Charging Through Whitening
 Fire Finally Escaped.

London. February 13.-The detailed ac- counts which have just reached here of Lord Kitcheners combined movement to drive out the Boers from the enclosure of block house lines, show that the conflict was very picturesque and the most eX- citing incident of the whole campaign.
 Although apparently surrounded by an impenetrable ring of fire and steel the Boers' charge ultimately resulted in the majority escaping.
 The British commanders scheme was the most extensive ever carried out dur ing the present war. It consisted of 2 continuous line over fifty miles in length. Lord Kitchener, who personally directed the operations, was in close touch day and and night with every detail of the movements. The Boers though hard pressed, shrank from attempting to cross the railroad, which was patrolled throughout the night by armored trains equipped with searchlights. The train lights were supplemented by stationary searchlights and the spectacular effect as witnessed from the train was most striking.
 Men Lay in the Trenches.
 By the side of the railroad were the dark forms of men lying in trenches or standing doing sentry duty. The gloom of the moonless night was intermittingly relieved by the sweep of the search lights. The battle at Hilbrom ragged from 9 o'clock Friday night until o'clock Sun day morning. During the many hours a fearful fire from rifle, cannons and pom poms swept along the British lines in holding DeWets Boers. who made repeat ed attempts to break out of the circle of troops.
 From various positions, behind rocks and dongas, the Boers kept up a vigorous fussilade. hoping to find a weak spot in the line. Simultaneously others charged, but again and again were the Boers re- pulsed, leaving dead. wounded and pris- oners in the hands of the British.
 At the outset of the preparations the Boers realized that the operations were not merely an ordinary drive" but a movement threatening them with total annihiation, and General DeWet' assem- bled his whole force and discussed the situation with the officers with the result the Boers were split up into three forces. On Thursday night 300 Boers got through. but the remainder encountering a tre- mendous fire were turned back
 Friday nights conflict ebbed and swelled over an area of forty to fifty miles, in which the long-hunted. harassed and desperate men endeavored to find outlets. The Boers at one spot got within thirty yards of the British firing line, but the barbed wires baked the burghers and forced them to retreat.
 Firing Never Ceased.
 The firing never ceased. Aided by the electric searchlights the British narrowed the surrounding country with shrapneI shells and Maxim bullets. In the northern section the Boers made a desperate ef- fort to break through. Collecting num- Der of cattle the Boers drove them down on the British line. Bending low in. their saddles the Boers rode among the cattle, making it impossible to distinguish them in the darkness.
 The British pickets opened a terrible fire and the Boers were everywhere met with relentless hail of bullets. A long line of flame ran up and down the firing line, nearly 30 miles in length, as the trains used their searchlights over miles of country. The report of the quick-fire guns along the entrenched line and the booming of the field guns and pom-poms sounded very deep amid the sharp cracking of the musketry while Heilbron fort contributed to the universal din with the deep roar of it's naval guns This lasted some 20 minutes, when .gradu- ally the rattle died down until only the crack of single shots was heard. Then all was again quiet. The Boers attempt to break the Brit ish circle had failed A few of them sue ceeded in crossing the <ne, and among them was General DeWst.