A GREAT MOVEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXII, Issue 148, 24 June 1901, Page 5

A GREAT MOVEMENT.

BINDON BLOOD'S OPERATIONS

ONE THOUSAND PRISONERS.

MARTIZBURG, May 17.—Details of General Blood's movements in the Northern Transvaal show that they were most thorough and successful. General Blood directed the movement of eight columns, which swept a very large area, and were throughout most successful, resulting in the capture of a thousand prisoners, great quantities of supplies and stock, and the scattering of various small commandos, which held the north, besides obliging the peripatetic Government to again shift its quarters from Totosberg to Steynsdorp, the -only corner of the Transvaal wThich has not be?n visited by our troops.

General Blood conducted the operations from the centre, taking- Middelburg as his base, while General Plumer swept the left flank and General Kitchener the right flank. The general idea of the movement was as follows- Two columns, one under Colonel Benson and the other under Colonel Beaston. moved from Middelburg. Beaston struck the

drifts on the Olifant's Jliver, twenty miles from Middolburg, while Benson went, up Bothasberg. Colonel Poulteney came up from Belfast with hi.s column, and Kitchener moved at the same time. Plumer, having cleared the Pietersburg line, moved from Pietersburg- on to Olifaut's Kiver. Beaston got first on to the river. Then Benson went forward, and made. towards Roos-Scnekal and Boihasberg. Poulteney moved on Bcnsou's left, while a smaller column, under Colonel Douglas, went on to Dullstroom. This town, as well as the whole country, was cleared. As the columns moved north sniping was of hourly occurrence, and skirmishes were frequent, but in no instance did the enemy make a stand. After accounting for Dullstroom Douglas also moved on to Koos-Sene-kal. On the extreme left of the movement General Kitchener's? three columns swept a wide area. Colonel I'irk, with his brigade, went on to Steelpoort River, while Kitchener himself, operating in the centre, moved wes!. Practically a third of his columns moved west along Sfeenkaiupsb'Tg. Having reached the various points indicated, the whole of the right columns converged, leaving little or nothing behind, capturing1, besides the thousand prisoners and herd.-; of cattle, all the waggons in the district.

Ben Viljoen. who abandoned everything in his st.'onghold on Tolosbcrg, unfortunately escaped with a few mounted men.