WOLVEFONTEIN FIGHT.

Lake County Press, Issue 976, 22 August 1901, Page 7

WOLVEFONTEIN FIGHT.

HOW COLONEL LUKIN WON THE D.S.O. FLAW IN A COMBINED MOVEMENT. A COLUMN FOUND WANTING. Colonel Scobell marched from Dordrecht (twenty-five miles) to Loskloof on June 4. He had with him his usual force, the 9th ,*micers and the Cape Mounted Rifles, , representatives of two great forces British regular and the colonial. The Lancers, under Major Follett—their colonel was killed at Zeerust—were, of course, armed with rifles, the lance being laid to rest along with other archaic weapons of the Early Iron Age. They landed in the country two days after the first shot was fired, have been marching and fighting ever since, and are at the present moment the healthiest and fittest looking men I have seen. Still, as they nightly pitch their moving tents, they fondly hope they are a day’s march nearer home. The Cape Mounted Rifles, an old corps with traditions to bear in mind, are, under present recruiting methods, probably the crack South African corps, and along with their gallant leader. Colonel Lukin, were to do deeds this night worthy of the days of Richard Yea-or-Nay. Of Colonel Scobell it may be said that at Jansenville, three months ago, he gave the Boers the biggest knock that a single column ever gave to a commando south of the Orange River, and that the affair of June 4 is by no means the first time he has surprised the enemy by a night attack, driving them panic-stricken and disorganised before him. THE NIGHT MARCH. On reaching Loskloof news came that the main body of the Boers had gone into Trick Kloof, but there definite information gave place to vague rumors ; no one seemed to know which way the Boers had left the kloof, whether east or west. The march was continued at nine in the evening “ on spec.” The column climbed into Rooihoek, transport and all, by the light of a half-moon, groping along blindly, but hopefully. After about ten or twelve miles the Kraal River was crossed, when the guide Clark, an excellent man,’who knew the country well, informed Colonel Scobell that there was a farm some distance off which might be the site of the looked-for laager, and that he thought he could find a bridle-path leading to it. Clark was accordingly despatched with four of the C.M.R. to investigate. This was unfortunate, as was afterwards proved. There came a stirring critical time when the man who knew the country would have been more valuable than a dozen extra generals. When the hour came the man had not arrived. The column meantime moved forward, and laboriously struggled up into a plateau, where it was impossible to bring waggons, and looked equally impossible to get guns up. Another mile along the plateau was negotiated, when the advance guard was suddenly fired into. Four shots, one after another, with about a minute’s interval between each, had angrily broken the stillness. Luckily no British rifle replied, and the patrol was still invisible, and the commando remained lulled in slumber and seeming security. The Boer picket gave no further alarm after firing their rifles. The four men just abandoned their horses, saddles, and blankets, and sneaked into a donga about 100 yards off, whence they watched the Britis'h go past, slipping away hours afterwards when all was quiet. This little “ aside ” was, of course, only known of after the fight. The commandant, it transpires, hearing no shots in reply, concluded that it was a false alarm, and went to sleep again. Meantime Colonel Scobell, who had been riding in front, turned the advance guard in the direction of the shots, and the four horse i were discovered. A halt was at once made. The laager was evidently near; but where? Almost instinctively, it seemed, they had followed the right'track, but in the pale, misleading light of the half-moon nothing could be seen. The guide away, they knew nothing of the configuration of the country. All was vague, uncertain, but full of possibilities. THE COMMANDO DISCOVERED. Colonel Scobell and Colonel Lukin rode down an incline in front, and peering into the valley saw what looked like a kraal a few hundred yards off. Listening intently, they heard horses champing, and then saw a match struck, as if a man were lighting his pipe. Their goal was reached! The seemingly eternal “ twenty-four hours too late ” was not to be put on record this time. Hunters and hunted were at last within striking distance. In spite of modern inventions, war has still plenty of terribly picturesque dramas, acts, and scenes. Probably no more thrilling scene could be imagined than when, in one dramatic pause, a moment only, the grim veterans of the Empire, home-born and colonial, in the strange pale struggle between moonlight and dawn, looked down on their unconscious foes. An instant only! The C.M.R.s are in front! They are the men to | be used. There is no time for others to come up. Quickly Colonel Scobell makes his dispositions “ A squadron will debouch to the right!” Lukin,*with nineteen men, dashes down headlong into the commando, while Scobell rapidly brings up his squadron (Lancers and Rifles), and sends them off to right and left, keeping, however, a strong reserve, for warring with Boers is, at the best, an uncertain game. That charge of Lukin’s is no ordinary one. The uncertainty is frightful. A handful of men charging what, for aught they know, may be 800 perhaps, ready, waiting, with one of their many ingenious traps laid. But it is otherwise.* Dash, decision, daring, have their reward. The bulldog rush at the decisive moment, which history tells us no men can give so well as those of British race, was driven home. Shouts, yells, screeches were there, but hardly a shot, for the Boers were too paralysed to fire any, and the C.M.R., to their eternal credit or blame, as fair men or fanatics will decide, found themselves incapable of shooting de-. fenceless, half-naked men. They galloped about, yelling "Hands up!” and the Boers threw their rifles down and then - hands up in scores—two, three, sometimes six, surrendering to one C.M.R. ; but when their captor had passed on to make new conquests thev picked up their rifles again, and made off’in the darkness. Over 100 Boers, half the commando, surrendered in this way, but only one-fifth were finally secured. GUIDE’S ABSENCE KEENLY FELT. Meanwhile other troops had joined in the melee, and Colonel Scobell was striving hard to surround and cut off the enemy. Some of- the Boers began to line a. razorbacked ridge opposite, from which they opened a hot fire, evidently to cover a retreat. A squadron of the Lancers, sent to outflank them, were stopped by a seemingly endless precipice. The absence of the guide was now bitterly felt. Had he been present, with his knowledge of the landscape, it would have been comparatively eas£ to prevent the flight of the commando. Without him, it seemed impossible to find a way in the darkness, amid the dongas, precipices, and ridges. Finally, it was ascertained that a gun, after gallant effort on the part of the gunnel's, had been dragged up on to the plateau, and was nowcoming on to help. .The fire of the enemy from the ridge had wounded a C.M.R.— our only casualty—besides killing some of the captured horses; but the gun soon

silenced them, and as dawn had broken the tired soldiers saw that the great majority of the enemy had escaped through a hitherto unseen nek, leaving, however, ample spoils in the hands of the victors. These, when gathered together, amounted to 174 horses, 96' saddles and bridles. 13,000 nr 14,000 rounds of ammunition. 37 rifles, and over 200 blankets, besides 20 prisoners (including 18 rebels) and 4 dead Boers. THE BOERS’ LUCKY FLIGHT. Barring the darkness and their knowledge of tho country, together with a certain flaw in a certain column combination, the Boers owed their escape from annihilation to an order given by Krnitzinger that the horses should remain saddled all night. With the strange, instinctive cunning common to all hunted creatures, whether wild animals, savages, or Boers on commando (and often mistaken in the latter for military genius), he had scented danger in a vague, unreasoning way, and prepared for it.—Reuter.