LORD ROBERTS' FIRST DESPATCHES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 63, 15 March 1900, Page 2

LORD ROBERTS' FIRST DESPATCHES.

LONDON, February 15—4.20 a.m.— The British army, for the- first time . since the war began, is inside the Boer frontier. Lord Roberts, with at least i 40,000 infantry, 7000 cavalry and 150 | guns, has turned the Magersfont.ein ! lines, before which the British forces have been encamped for ten weeks, and with half of its corps he is already operating on Free State territory. | A battle has not yet been fought, ibut large tactical advantages have .been gained. The relief of KfmberI ley is within measurable reach and. : the way to Bloemfontein is apprecii ably easier. j l*he despatches of Lord Roberts sketch three days' work. The forward began on Sunday, when Colonel .TTannay set out with a brigade lof mounted infantry for Ramah on | the Riet, eight, miles from Jaoobsdal, i one of the Boer supply bases. On ; Monday General French, with the cavalry division, seized the crossing of the !Riet river, at Dekil's drift, south of 1 Jacobsdal, and eighteen miles east of

Honey Nest Kloof. He skirmished with the Boers and cleared the way for 20,000 infantry, who followed across. On Tuesday, with three cavalry brigades and the horse artillery, General French rode to the Modder river, a distance of twenty-five miles, and took three fords with high ground beyond the river, and five"Boer camps. He had a few casualties in brushes with the Boer horse. General French has now fixed himself on General Cronje's main line of communication with Bloemfontein, and 20.000 infantry, with seventy-two guns, are being pushed up to support him there. Lord Roberts' despatches, wired from inside the Free State and on the Riet river, left him Wednesday morning. His advance had not been opposed by the Boers in force. Their patrols melted away as the British moved forward. The Boer army is likely to be felt in a day or two, and a battle is consequently imminent. As to what forces General Cronje has now at his disposal and as to where he proposes making- a stand against the invaders no one here connected with the War. Office knows anything. The data for conceptions are wholly wanting.

The forces immediately at the disposal of Lord Roberts are placed at ,10,000 in a general way. These figures are revealed by the commands mentioned in the despatches as having been added to the divisions known to be with Lord Metheun. Quite possibly Lord Roberts has 10,000 or 20,000 more.