STORY OF THE SIEGE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 6701, 19 May 1900, Page 2

STORY OF THE SIEGE.

At last, after weeks of weary waiting, the handful of Britishers who have bravely maintained the honour of the flag in this hamlet in the veldt have been relieved. Mafeking was the first place to be invested by the Boers, and the first snot of the campaign was fired near the town. On the 12th October, two days alter the Boer ultimatum, the railway was cut south of Mafeking, Next day the first conflict of the war occurred in the derailing of an armoured train and the gallant fight made by Captain Nesmtt, V.0., and the fifteen men with him who were captured after a desperate resistance, many being wounded. On the following day the Boers made their first attack upon the town. They fired on the pickets, and when an armoured train supported by a squadron moved out tney made an attempt to cut both off but reinforcements arriving the attack was repulsed.

The town was garrisoned by the Cape Police under Captains Brown and Marsh. These and the EaUway Volunteers were under Colonel Vivian, while Cannon ivopje was entrusted to Colonel Walford and the British South African Police Colonel Baden-Powell, who had the general command, retained one squadron of the Protectorate Regiment as reserve under his own immediate control. « Sr^ c *fiwtattaok' and since then, a series of defences as novel as they have proved effective have been constructed Recreation Ground Fort. To the left of the Convent lies the Hospital Fort. These so-called forts are each garrisoned by S3? £3 men> ?l a were all *****& with head-cover and bomb-proof shelters against field artillery. Bomb-proofs were constructed everywhere, traverses erected at the ends of streets, trenches giving cover led from every portion of the towJ and defences, and it was possible to walk round the town without beine ex posed to aim fire. Telephones were established in all the headquarter bomb proofs of outlying forts, \ n d were eon nected with the headquarter bomb p ?oof in town, thus securing instant communication. These defences were all improvised on the spot, every Ion! ceivablesorfcof material being Jilised Early m the siege the Boers brought to bear on the town no less than five?pounders, one 10-pounder, two Krupp 12-pounders and one Krupp 94-poS ht ' 3 dlSF^\ Of artillery'that might haye daunted better men less gallantly led than were the defenders of Mafeking. Two 7-pounders and six machine SZJTS f %° artUle^ »vaUable°o Colonel Baden-Powell for the defencet"! solute + defiance, which has all along been the attitude of Mafeking d°efifno S '^r^ br°Ught a §ainst ». » defiance all the more provoking because it was exceedingly good-humom-ed. tiusted toCCro c, who sent a messenger to Mafeking to offer terms of capitulation. BadenPowell gave the messenger a good lunch, and returned a polite reply that he would let the Boer General know when he was ready to yield the I town. Cronje got tired of waiting, and 'has since sailed for St. Helena, a | prisoner.

One of the first messages received from Mafeking was characteristic of Baden-Powell, who possesses many other accomplishments besides being able to scout and fight. The message was dated 21st October, and ran as follows:—" All well. Four hours' bombardment. One dog killed." That canine victim of a Boer shelhwill live in history, for no account of the siege of Mafeking would be complete without that brief and satirical message. On the 27th October Baden-Powell determined.upon treating the Boers to cold steel, and ordered a sortie. The affair was a complete success. The Boers were completely surprised, and afterwards admitted having suffered a loss of 100 killed. 40 of whom were prodded to death by British bayonets. On the 31st October the Boers made a determined attack, but were repulsed, when they resumed the bombardment in a half-hearted way, but with the deliberate determination to destroy the women's laager and the convent, where shells were dropped.

One of the most dramatic and most important engagements during the seige was the heroic sortie by the garrison on Boxing Day, when they attacked the Boer position at Game Tree, the object being to open communication with Rhodesia to the north. The sortie failed, not through any bungling or want of courage, but.through treachery. The enemy had been informed of th& intended movement, and _ t^t^^mM parations accordingly. 6y^^^^^| men who formed the stortj^^^^^^H tottato-one ware killed andj^^^^H

Wounded—a heavy batcher's bill, for it represented 62.50 per cent, of ihoae enengaged. The bombardment was Ifept going more or less continuously, md the inhumanity of the besiegers necessitates some notice. On 3rd January they d liberately fired on the women's laagefiand killed three children; on the 10th 1' woman was killed, and when Badeß'* Powell sent out a remonstrance againTt their shelling the hospital, they inamo - diately fired at it again twioe. On the 17th the Convalescent Home was fired into and smashed, and on the 25th the convent was shelled by the 94-pounder. To put a stop to this Baden Powell quartered his prisoners near the women's laager, and notified tire Boer General of the fact.

Towards the end of January Lord Koberts sent a congratulatory message to the beleaguered garrison, and the reply of Baden-Powell was eminently characteristic. He begged the Com-mander-in-Chief to relieve the other besieged places whose cases seemed more urgent, and assured Lord Roberts that Mafeking could defend itself for a long time.

Early in February Colonel Plutner, with a force of Rhodesian Horse, set out to relieve Mafeking, but owing to the lack of artillery and the smallness of his force he was not able to get very near the place.

On 23rd March the Boers attempted to draw the garrison into an ambush, but the ruse failed. The advanced trenches to the east of the town were abandoned, and the Boers trekked outwards across the veldt. Five hundred of the enemy were, however, concealed in a hollow to trap the garrison, but Baden. Powell, who noticed the trek, declined to fall into the ambush.

On the sth April Lieutenant Smitheman, of the Rhodesian Eegiment, successfully penetrated the Boer lines of investment and joined Colonel Plumer, reporting that on the day he left all was well with the garrison, whose gallantry in the defence of the town extorted the admiration of the enemy. Lord Roberts sent a message on the 10th April asking the garrison to hold out until the middle of May, and BadenPowell replied that it would be possible to do so with rigid economy.

At one time it was thought that the honour of relieving the beleaguered town would fall to the Australian Bushmen operating through Rbciesia tinder MajorGenerel Carrington, but the task was assigned to Sir Archibald Hunter, who has pushed forward remarkably well under the circumstances. During the whole of this morning there was a good deal of speculation as to when the news of the relief of Mafeking would be received, and it is needless to say that when the official wire reached here about 1.20 the pent up enthusiasm soon found vent in bell ringing, bag pipe playing and other methods of demonstration. The official demonstration will, however, take place in the Square this evening at 6.30 when a procession will be held. The officers in charge of the Volunteers and Fire Brigade are requested to assemble in the Square at 6.30. After the streets have been paraded, the National Anthem played by the Band, a feu de ioie fired by the volunteers, and fireworks display made by the Fire Brigade an adjournment will be made to the Theatre Royal (the use of which has been kindly given by Messrs Mowlem and Mowlem), where patriotic speeches will be made by the Mayor, ; Mr Pirani, M.H.E., and other prominent citizens. The following will be the order of the procession to-night :— Veterans Borough Councillors , Palmerston Band Mounted Bines Palmerston Rifles Pipe Band Fire Brigade " ~ Salvage Corps Maoris i School Children \ Salvation Army '\% »~ ; Cyclists >\.i Friendly Societies Citizens During an interval between the i patriotic airs played by the Band on the i Rotunda the Mayor, Mr Haydon, addressed a few words to the assembled crowd, and called for three cheers for the Queen, and for Baden-Powell and his gallant garrison, which were heartily given.