THE LINDLEY MYSTERY

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4301, 9 March 1901, Page 8 (Supplement)

THE LINDLEY MYSTERY

I STORY OF TWO BOERS AND A DEs COY TELEGRAM. L , • Another contribution to the elucicla- * tion of the great Lindley mystery is 1 mad© by Mr Alexander Graham, one of i the special correspondents of the "Central News” during the war in South Mr Graham was captured by [ th© Boers whilst making his way from Kroonstad to Lindley. He writes as fol- > lows respecting the circumstances which ’ attended the surrender of the 13th Battalion of Imperial Yeomanry; ' 'When I was a prisoner- at Nooitge- . dacht, among the many others who shared my captivity were Colon el Spragge and other surviving officers of the 13th I Battalion Imperial Yeomanry. NeedJJess to say their capture and the events Jvhioh led up to the now famous dis- ' aster at Lindley formed a topic of 'never-ending discussion among us, and I had the advantage of hearing the opinion of almost every officer from the highest to the lowest, and even to the troops themselves. ‘The course of events which led up to the disaster was as follows: —Colonel Spragge, with the 13th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, arrived at Kroon- j stad on Friday, May 2-5, from Bloem- I fontein. They had expected to receive orders to march as quickly as possible and loin Lord Roberts, who was then | crossing the Vaal, as it was supposed j that they would form part of the main J army. Their surprise was therefore . great when it became known that Col- [ onel Spragge _ had received orders to march as rapidly as possible tc Lind- i ley. These orders were embodied in a telegram couched in the strongest terms ,! that Colonel Spragge should make all ■

haste, so as to arrive at Lind lay on May. 26. The telegram clearly camo from Lindley, that town being marked as the office of origin, and it was signed by Sir Henry Colville.

“Colonel Spraggo found himself unable to move at once owing to insufficient supplies of fodder, and it was not until tho evening of tho following day that hr. found himself sufficiently provisioned- to move out of Kroonstad. Meantime he had sent a telegram to Lindley addressed to Sir. Henry Colville explaining that ho would bo unable to join him on tho 2Gt-h, but would do so in tho course of the 27th. This telegram did not succeed in getting through, and Colonel Spraggewas aware of that fact. It was then suspected that jho Boers were regularly tapping the wires between Kroonstad and Lindley. A SINISTER INCIDENT.

“On the Friday night the 13th Battalion moved out of Kroonstad, and after marching for a short distance encamped for the night. Tho march was resumed at dawn and was continued steadily, with only the usual halts. Boors were reported to he moving about in small parties, but no opposition of any kind was encountered. One incident occurred, however, which I am inclined to think had a, direct connection with what was to follow. Our men sighted during tho afternoon and quickly captured a Cape oart, in which were seated two Boers, both provided with rifles and ammunition. On being questioned they explained that they were driving to Kroonstad to give up their arms and take the oath of allegiance. As they were evidently making their way to Kroonstad their explanation was accepted, unwisely in my opinion, and after being disarmed, they were provided with passes to the town. They immediately set off in tho direction of Lindley, probablyto prepare the reception which Colonel Spragge subsequently mot with there. “It was not till late in the afternoon of Sunday, May 27, that Colonel Spraggo’s advance guard rode into Lindley, and began to search for food and fodder in the stores and likely looking houses, but they met with little success. They learned that Colville Jmd entered the town, and had left again on the previous day. Whilst the troopers were considering this unexpected information they wore suddenly aroused by the spluttering of musketry fire from tho hills around the town, and presently they found themselves under a heavy fire. Thev quickly returned with the news to Colonel Spragge, who laagered his convoy on a stream, about four miles out of Lindley, and seized such kopjes as it was thought would be necessary to defend it, though to do that he had to extend his position a good deal more than he would have liked. ANOTHER PUZZLE. “What puzzled Colonel Spragge was the news respecting Colville’s movements. If Colville had really arrived at Lindley only the day before, how could he possibly have sent orders from Lindley in a telegram handed in on the 23rd at that town.

“It was clear that the telegram came not from General Colville, but from the Boers, with the object of enticing the Yeomanry to Lindley, and there to overwhelm them. That- was exactly what did happen. But why did the Boers give Spragge the same date to arrive at Lindley as Colville actually did arrive, viz., the 26th? There can only be one of two explanations. Either the enemy were so well posted that they knew the date of Colonel Spragge’s arrival at Kroonstad, and that insufficiency of forage would prevent him from marching at once, or else, which seems more probable, they did not expect Colville to move as rapidly as he did, and counted on Spragge’s arrival on Saturday, and Colville’s on Sunday night or Monday. It is more than doubtful if this part of the mystery will ever be properly cleared up. “It is no part of my object to deal with thy defence which Colonel Spragge made. It has been urged that he should have retired immediately on Kroonstad, in which ease he would probably Have succeeded in getting to that place, but it must be remembered that he had every reason to believe that Colville would be back shortly, if only to save the valuable convoy which Spragge had brought from Kroonstad.”