WITH FRENCH'S COLUMN

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10601, 10 March 1900, Page 9

WITH FRENCH'S COLUMN

THE FIRST CONTINGENT AT THE

FRONT,

(mOM OTTU srKCIAT. WAB CORKESPOXDEX.)

ORANGE RIVER, February 8.

For a few days after the departure of the last mail we had a welcome respite at Slingensfontein. There was no serious conflict with tho enemy since tho day following the engagement in which Trooper Booth, of Oamaru, w:,s killed. No. 1 Company, tinder Major Robin and Captain Davis, were located at Kleinfontein, while No. 2 Company, under Captain Madocks, were stationed at Slingersfontein. which formed the main tamp of the eastern flank of General French's column. At Kleiiifontein Major Rimington, being the senior officer, directed cperatiuiw, and he kept the New Zealanders fully cinployed. The men at Kleinfonteiu, which j« about a couple of hours' ride from Slingersfontfin. were under the Major and Captain and Lieutenant* Lindsay (Canterbury), BartJett iHawera), and Johnston (Manawatu). Regimental Sergtunt-Major Rogers (Inglewood), who, with Sergeant-Major Cardale (ChrisUrhtireh). has effected a wonderful improvement in tin* men, until they compare very favourably with the best of the Imperial troops, was in charge of the men at and associated with him were Sergeant-Major Burr (of Wairoa). .Sergeants Tuck (Wellington), Harrowell (Auckland), Watts (Wellington), Morgan (Hawera), Mahood (Auckland), and Bond (Auckland). Tlie »ufl sergeant* at Kleinfontein were Sergts. Pitt (Auckland) Hums (Wellington), Crotnie (Wellington), and Transport Sergeant Rockstrow (Manawatu). From Kleinsfontein pickets were sent out in & northerly direction towards the main Boer position, near Nerval's Font. The patrol* were frequently fired on, but escaped contact with the Boer shells or bullets. So far no Maxim-V.ckers guns have opened out on our men at Kleinfontein, but from the kopjes to the north and north-east of the position, the Boers frequently harassed our men and fired on tlwm from the kopje*. At three o'clock every morning the New Zealanders and Rimington scouts made every preparation to repel, attack or advance on tlie enemy, or retiie if the latter appeared in such numbers (is to necessitate a withdrawal.

AN ADVANCED POST,

It was risky work for one company of New Zealanders, Life Guards* and Bimington scouts to hold such an advanced position, but they did so, end the casualties were surprisingly small. Our patrols, as they returned to camp in the morning, always expected a volley from the Boers hidden on mmc. of the kopjes, and they were seldom disappointed. Indeed, since our,advance front AruntM, the enemy have ftlways- displayed considerable activity during the early part of th© day, and if any human targets were available, sniping was always indulged in. Tho Boers' Creusot and MaximYiekers guns usually played a merry tune, but when our outposts indulged in the same tactics „nd poured volley after volley into the enemy or on the kopjes which our guns commenced pounding away at dewn, the Boers adopted diflSerait measures. Taking up their positions dnring the night, they ky in wait for the returning patrols, and indulged! iff wniping until our men were close to camp, They aCways outnumbered the New Zealanders by about four to one, hut despite this fact, it 'has always been a difficult .natter for the non-commissioned officer in charge to prevent our men making ft stand, and, as they put it, "adding a few more Boer.* to the wore." Tlie fate of the aarty of New South Wales Lancers shows JbW necessary it is to, guard against §urjpm«, ojnd'an engagement on the veldt between the New Zeatanders and an unknown nwmbcr of Boers* the latter having all the advantage in position, would be purposeless, and possibly prove disastrous to. our men. Occasionally the latter, lose their tempera •nd become even more venturesome. Uihey Kittle away at the enemy with an abandon tfrat speaks volumes for their pluck; but it is risky work, and from every point of view this. gnirta ia not worth tbe candle, fi.UH, th© New Zealanders are anxious to revenge themselves on the Boers for the death* of their four comrades.

PATROL ENCOUNTERS.

On Worcester Kopje, Madccks's Hill and New Zealand Hill there have been aanosfc daily encounters with the Boer patrols, who of late (have become more daring. New Zeataid Hill was in occupation of the Royal Irish, a splendid body of men who are simply spoiling tor a fight. Since tho daring attack of the enemy on. New Zealand HiL, when Captain '_»6w&ocks distinguished l himself, the position has been strengthened,., sang*rs wrvitg been extended along the front and right and left fronts, while the flanks bave •lso been protected Occupied by three hundred men it would take fully a, thousand Boerst to dislodge us. Undoubtedly the poiitkm prove- one ot great import—nee, «_d enabled us to command the country for miles to ths north and east and west. On Worcester Kopje, whera Booth, of Oamaru, was _ciii«d, our patrols have done splendid work, and though they have frequently ridden into a dangerous position, their cleverness in the _sdd>!_ has enabled teeth to escape unscathed.

'A DANGEROUS EXPEDITION,

On January 29th a party of New ZeaJaxd- •», Sergeant Hasten (Dunedin) in command, proceeded to a farm about ten miles Xrom camp, lying in a. north-easterly direction. The tirst lew miles ol the journey were accomplished in safety, but wearing tha farm, which had prevtonsly been eeen to be in possession of th* enemy, every precaution was taken against irarprise. The Nsw Zealanders extended, and cautiously ascended the kopjes between the* veldt and tli? farm, watching for any sign, of the enemy. It was only a small patrolling party, and the fact that th® Boers had been seen in large numbers not|£wo rmiies distant, adcted to the danger ca the expedition. When th% New Zealanders ascended the •last kopje before reaching the farm, the Boers were on the veldt about three miles west, and from Signal Hill I could m a number moving about a farmhouse which had evidently been turned into a hospital. With the object of locating the Boer position for tin* day, Sergeant Hazlett and his men rod* down tha kopje, and dismounting, stealthily approached the house. '__• mc« were posted round the building, and carbines in hand the New Zealanders opened the door and walked in. The house was magnificently fnrnished, and many articles of value adorned th© walls, but to the credit'of our men the only article removed was a small mirror. Every room was carefully searched. m well as tbs 'u_tb_ildingx, but no sign of the- Boors could be detected. From papers in cabinets and drawers it was asceilained that tbe owner was with the Boers, whether as a combatant or as a prisoner was not plain. Afte* a thorough search of the kopjes the New Zealarnders returned, cleverly eluding a party of Boers who had sallied out front near their hospital, and who evidently intended to cut the colonials off from camp. Fortunately Hazlett d.'d not bring ais men back by the same route, and, making a detour "nearer to camp,. arrived safely at Slingerafontoin. -He was able to afford valuable information to his officers as to the positions occupied by the Boers

A NARROW ESCAPE. Next day anotlrer t»trol party working on 'hi veldt and kopje, near Worcester Hill had a narrow e«cap» from annihilation. Corporal Dick, Marlborough, was in and It* had with him Troopars Newdick, Thames, Cook. Chriatchurch, and Fordhaja. Wellington. Wbile passing a kopje north of Worcester Hill, between Worcester Hill and the Boer position, they were tired on by a party of the enemy who had evidently taken up tlieir positions during the night. The bullet* from the enemy** Mansers wbhwed ov*r their heads, and pinged into the rock* * few hundred yards away. With their u»iaJ _Rx>_nptitude, our men cou_ne_c*_ to work

outwards towards Worcester Hill in a zig-zag manntr, and though the Boers rattled it. tbe shots at a lively rate, the New ZealandeiT returned to* camp with neither men nor horses injured. Tlwv had a very narrow escape, as after one vicious volley from tbe. hidden Boers tbe bullets whistled a few feet over their heads, and had they not adopted the'r usual tactics to prevent the Boers getting the range, the probabilities are that more than one of the quartette would have been either killed or wounded. Tbe usual report was submitted—"We met a few Boers. They fire*! on v«, but we managed to duel: them.*' The men dismounted, and, laughing still, entered their tents and were soon wranoed in slumber.

AN AxSRM.

Tlie sains cay the camp at Kleinfontein was alarmed. Major Robin and his officer? and the men wire quickly in their saddles, .and as the 6th D.agocn Guards and three guns ot" the Royal Horse Artillery had moved up t Kleinfontein from their bivouac at IVitsfofltein. the eastern flank of the column considered themselves strong enough to meet the Boers and drive them back. The enemy, however, were sonxawliftt surprised at the eagerness with which our men accepted their challenge, and instead of advancing, retired to "heir kopjes and maintained a desultory but hunnlesa tire upon the New Zealanders and Diagoons. who promptly responded, though the range was somewhat long. Trooper Hedger (Manawatu) had a very narrow" escape, one of the Mauser; bullets, a spent one, fortunately, striding his nerve or the jaw and emerging about two inches lower down. The liorse was ridden into camp, and appeared to be little the worse for the wound. This was another skirmish without any casualties on our side. On the other hand, the Boers are reported to have had several men wounded, one, evidently a field cornet, dangerously. The Life Guards, who have been receiving their:fair share of work of late, and who wear a somewhat different appearance to the .tee I cuirawsed spick and span soldiers of the Queen's bodyguard, also had a sharp encounter with the Boers on the plain to the east of Worcester kopje, and in the direction of Kleinfontein Farm. Tlie enemy suddenly appeared on the brow of a krjjie about two milts from their laacer, and opened fire on the Life Guards, who mads a plucky stand, and made their magazine carbines speak to come effect. One of the Guards was wounded in the foot, while another had the top of his finger snipped with a Beer bullet. As the Guards rode towards'!?, ravine some of th? horses became entansrled in wire, and one falling heavily, dislodged its rider. The horse extricated himself and galloped t_? towards Kleinfontein. where he was caught by some of Major Robin's men.

DR. BURNS FIRED ON,

It was thougiit tlie guardsman was killed, and a search party was being spoken of when Surgeon-Captain Burns, of Dunedin, who had been a quiet but eager listener to the narrative, without any ostentatious display, quietly crossed tlie veldt, reached tbe line of kopjes near which the Giiardsman had fallen, and commenced a careful search cA the ravines and kopjes. When about a __$c from the Boer laager the doctor was Jired ,oa % but coolly disisegarding the sJwtsi tinued his until within.; half, a pxiie of tlie Boer lines.. Shots.fell thick-abont him, but lie never flinched from his duty, and rode on as though he were safe wuthin the New Zealand lines. Kopje after kopje Ke searched, tlie Boers sniping at him every time he appeared in view. His. quest was resultless, no trace of the missing man could be seen, but only when he had thoroughly satisfied himself that the body of the Guardsman was not near the enemy's lines did the gallant doctor return to campi The Life Guardsman spoke in terms of praise, of the New Zealander's conduct, and though Dr. Burns ia not a member of our fighting brigade, as the Carabineers pleasantly speak of the New Zealanders, ha has proved himself to be possessed of coolness and courage. Dr. Burns was highly complimented on his bravery when the headquarter* staff were informed of the incident The missing Guardsman returned to camp the following day, January 31st, and stated that when, be was thrown he was rendered unconscious, but Ming in a donga, or dried slnit,. b« fortunately escaped the notice of the Boers, and when the enemy had retired he made has way to camp, but. mistook the route, and •walked behind the range of kopjes protecting our camp from the enemy, coming out somewhere near New Zealand Hill, about two miles -west of our camp. He personally thanked the doctor for having braved so much for the sake of a comparative stranger and a. member of another regiment, and said that ho would,long remember the New Zealander's action. The doctor made light of the whole affair, and said he had only done as any .other man simiilarly placed would have acted.

A BOER RUSE,

On February Ist two Boer vehicles, with wbite canvas covers, moved slowly from the farm where the Boer hospital was situated. They were either ambulances conveying the wounded further back or covers placed over tlie Boer guns while the position of the laager was changed} This is a. common ruse of the Boers, and while 1 :"!" cannot say from rwjramnl observation red'crossed ambulance "canvases weire lised for this particular purpose, I know that on several occasions our respect for'tha ambulance has caused guns to cease action until the veHclee havo been closely examined throngh. telescopes and glasses. By the time we have ascertained tha. it is but; anotlier of the clever, though questionable, ruses adoptedby the Boers to shield t&eir artillery from our fire, tbe vehicles have trekked out of range. The ambulances or guns moved slowly across the veldt, and disappeared behind a Sttgarloaf shaped kopje to the northwest of the farm in the direction of Colesberg, and towards the railway Kite. Cloud* of dust could be Seen rising'froni the parched karoo for over two hours, and it seemed as though the Boers had decided to vacate their positions immediately .north, of us, and retire towards the Orange River, or preferably Nerval's Pont. From Remington scouts I gathered that the latter place, being well fortified, and the Boer positions rendered doubly seenre, will be a difficult position to take.

GENERAL CRONJE'S LAAGER.

I visited New Zealand Hill, and from a rocky summit I saw the four Boer laagers between us and Colesberg, the first close to the Coleskop side, had grown much smaller, the lyddite thrown.from Coleskop having driven the Boers further down the hill. The" I second was also small, and the third, about two miles east of the* first, had grown much larger, and for the time must have been the headquarters of General Cronje, tha Transvaal leader, who visited Cblesbterg when matters had reached a critical stage, and when General French's forces had almost \ surrounded the enemy. Indeed, it is stated ] by prisoners who have fallen into <$ar hands I but whom statements are seidom to be relied i upon, that General Cronje nfcrrsonally directed the operations of tbe Boer commandos on the 15th, w_en the darSig. attack on the British position waa made. The fourth laager was situated on the veldt at the foot of the range of kopjes, and about two mile? north of the position for wKcb a determined" fight took place when the New Zealanders rode from Arundel to Ren_burg. Then four miles north of onr camp another Boer laager was situated, while between us and Kleinfontein the en«my were strongly entrenched. Altogether tbe indications were that the Boer reinforcements that were known to Save arrived were much more numerous than was generally anticipated, still our positions were very strongly held, and with the assistance of additional puns of tbe Royal Horse Artil- j lery. principally fifteen pounders, tlie hfllf could be held against an at tacking force ->f over 15.000 Boers. Tbe on the hills t;» the left, on the west, and close to where the Boers had previously appeared to be working, a party was _nga«ed in excavating operations, and it was supposed that another 3-inch Crensot gun was to be olaced »n position. However, to the west of us. onr men were engaged in » similar occupation and a* howitzers and Ivddite were to be used the activity of the Boers made no one apprehensive of serious attack.

THE BOERS AND THE BRITISH RE-

VERSES,

In tlie afternoon I accompanied SergeantMajor Car-ale to the farm of a rebel Dutchman who bad joined the Boers. Two Kaffirs were discovered and questioned, but no im-

portant information was obtained. We visited another house owned by a Dutch loyalist, where we found that a Kaffir boy who had escaped from the Boer lines had made his.way to Siirtgersfootein and given himself up. In reply to questions he informed, mc that he had left Johannesburg on .January 20th,. being jsent by*, the regular train to near: • Ootesberg. was crowded with people, while in Pretoria there were about 3500 British prisoners. At every British reverse the people expressed delight and derided the English Generals; but the opinion was becoming general that Great Britain possessed a larger army than was expected, and many of the burghers said that the Boers cou.d not continue the fight much longer. The boy, who was a most intelligent lad, also stated that the German and French officers of the Beers were very strict, and exercised wonderful control over the men. The women were never told it' their husbands or sonwere dead, but were inform.d that they had joined a new cemmando operating in another district. Even when lying the Boer made a pretence to get as near to the truth as possible, and thus satisfied his conscience.

NEW ZEAIxANDERS ON THE FREE STATE BORDERS.

Major Robin and No. 1 Company journeyed on to Rensburg, and thougn Generals French and Clements and their subordinate officers were very reticent on the subject, it became known that the New Zealanders and other tried colonial mounted corps were to be included in General French's flying column, to be concentrated on the western border'of the Orange Free State, tbe object of the column being to take tlie Boers in the rear, and after severing connection between Colesberg and the Boer column opposing General Gatoere, and also with Bloemfontein, to advance towards the capital of the Orange Free State immediately. After the departure of No. 1 Company of the New Zealanders, orders came that No. 2 Company were to strike camp and journey to Naauwpoort, via Rensburg and Arundel. On the morning of February 4th (Sunday) it was generally known that instead jof tlie contingent being divided, both companies were to work together, and this was the subject of general congratulations. On tlia afternoon of February sth tents were struck, and that night the New Zealanders slept on the karoo, with their great' coats to protect them from the chilly night. At three 'o'clock saddles were on horses, and as the rest of those in camp slumbered, the New Zealanders left Slingersfontein behind. Rensburg was reached about seven o'clock on the morning of Tuesday. 6th January, and on that day the No. 1 Company assembled at Naauwpoort and proceeded in the direction, of the Orange River. No. 2 Company lost no time, but hastened on to Naauwpoort, and expect to join No. 1 in a few days. Exciting times are anticipated, but the New Zeahndrrs hare proved that w'tb tlie capable officers they have at their head they conduct themselves with credit under the most trying circumstances.