COLONEL PLUMER.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 95, 23 April 1901, Page 5

COLONEL PLUMER.

A SHORT RECORD OF HIS WORK

The "Buluwayo Chronicle gives some interesting particulars of the I work accomplished by Colonel Plumer during , the win , —the man under whose leadership our Sixth Contingent is now in tlie Hold in the Northern Transvaal. Says the paper: Enormous is the field of operations during , the present war with the. i Boers, the trump of marching regiments and the rambles of transport echoing from the kopjes of Charterland to the southernmost portion of the Cape. Of those officers who have taken their share in the trials and victories of the war. there are few who can claim to have covered raovp country, and done hotter work with smaller loss, than Rrisr-idicr-Opneral Plumer, a favourite with all Rhodepipns. The month of September, ISO!), found him and his command, the Rhodesian forces, at Tuli, and in the intervening , months to January, 1000, he kept the drifts safe and Rhodesia secure in the faces of an enemy out-j numbering him by 3 to 1. and i with superior artillery. From thence to Moehudi, Gnber'ones. _ and Crocodile Pools, where the disastrous attempt to capture the Boer gun occurred. The enemy, being- subjected I to continual harassing, eventually I made a move on to their main body 'at Mafeldng, and Phnner, pushing tlie raibvay ahead, moved to Lobatsi, being compelled, however, to evaonnte I Ills position by the advance of a large force oP Eoer.s with heavy artillery. The column then moved across to TCanye, the headquarters of the Chief Bathoeu, and from there trekking to the Sefetili camp, whence the ultimate movements on Mafeking were I made. The night march to meet the 1 southern relief column, uttder Mahon, was one of the finest examples of untiring energy on the part of himself and his troops. Mai'eking relieved, the column almost immediately moved into the Transvaal, accompanied by the Protectorate Regiment and Major-General BadenPowell, occupying Zeerust. Leaving a body of his force to garrison this I town, a move was made on to Eland's i River and Rustenberg, which places i were occupied with slight opposiI tion. The column was being considerably decreased in strength, owing to tlie necessity of garrisoning the various towns and positions occupied, and Plumer, on resuming his march, found his command very small. WORK IN THE TRANSVAAL. The Protectorate Regiment and Baden-Powell remained in llustenberg, where they were cooped up for some considerable time. The siege of Eland's River followed Plumer's departure, and the gallant stand -made by the small garrison of colonials he had left, behind is now a matter of history. Then started the worst feature of the campaign, the interminable chasing after detached commandos, and an occasional stiff fight in the midst of innumerable skirmishes. Continually on the move, j Warm Baths was the scene of the next few weeks' fightmg, and eventually Nylstroom was occupied after some stiff skirmishes. This little place is the northernmost point yet reached by British troops in the Transvaal, and Plumer has the honour of being first in the field in that direction. He has, of course, since penetrated to Pietersburg. He was, however, compelled to evacuate the district, and fall back on Pretoria, where, after many months 'of hardship and trial together, he bade farewell to his old regiment, which was to be disbanded recompense for its long service in the field. The men were sorry to leave him, but the attractions of a peep at home faces proved too much, and the majority took their discharges. Many have, however, returned to battle for their country, and are a«-ain under their old commander in the Cape Colony. Brigadier-General Plumer, on losing- the Rhodesia Regiment and the B S.A.P., was placed in command of another' column of irregulars, composed of Australians, a portion of the Imperial Light Horse, and the newlyformed Prince of Wales' Light Horse a Welsh corps. With this force he moved into the colony on the trail of De Wet, and as the telegraphic communication with the columns of the daily papers show, has succeeded in placing that intrepid Boer in a very warm corner, in addition to captur-

ing practically the whole of his convoy.

It would give Rhodesians great pleasure to hear that Plumer had been the means of causing De Wet's capture, and it is certain that with the gallant general at his heels the latter will not get many opportunities thrown at him of slipping through and doubling back on his

trail. Good luck to Plumer!