THE FIGHTING AT MAGERSFONTEIN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11643, 29 January 1900, Page 2

THE FIGHTING AT MAGERSFONTEIN

THE ENTRAPPED HIGHLANDERS. (From the London Standard Correspondent). Moddor River, December 12. Ihe order of march of the Highland Bri- „ gate, during the advance on the Boer trenches 0 i f", he early h.°Wf of Monday morning, was as 9 ; anc era., Ist Battalion Argyll and Suther- _ ; lands, and Ist Battalion Highland Light In--9 \ P'- t vF' le Ut Batt«lio» Gordon Highlanders followed in reserve. J c The formation was quarter-column.'' for _ convenience of keeping touch in the rain and darkness. Six,miles had to be covered before the bri- • pclo could reach the enemy's stronghold—a ( ; line of kopjes which had been heavily shelled ■ tlie previous afternoon by the Howitzm- Bit- . : tery and the Naval Brigade. " " ,'_ ' It. is not yet cloai- through what mischance 3 ; tlie force, who were led by guides, came upon the enemy s trenchos with such unexpected g eucldenness. . ' T> That the Boers were aware of their approach, and fully prepared to receive them, ! is, however, beyond question. , Several explanations of the fact are forthu coming. According to one version, two of " our men, through nervousness, or sheer clum- » siness of handling, allowed their rifles to go off prematurely. But it is quite as probable that - intelligence of the brigade's advance was con- , veyed to the Boer camp by their advance ; scouts. t ! Tlie leading company of the Black Watch a had bep;un to extend, while tlie remainder of y the column was still marching in quarter- ; column, when a terrific firo was poured into ! them from their loft front. 0 ! The.men were totally unprepared; they had 0 not even fixed bayonets. There was nothing 6 for it but to fall back, and tlie order to retire 0 was given without delay. D I A HEAVY CROSS-FIRE. 0 'In the course cf the retreat, however, a heavy cross-fire was encountered .from a strong 3 body of Boers concealed among the bushes on , some rising ground to the east. I Subjected to such an ordeal in the midst 3 of darkness, it is not to bo wondered at that (the men were thrown into temporary confusion. But they rallied gradually to their re--3 spec-five battalions as the daylight began to appear. * Major-general "Wnuehope and a great many ? of the officers foil, killed or wounded, to the last volley fired by the Boers. J The disaster was the more exasperating for ' the consciousness that, had the brigade been extended in order .of attack, with bayonets ready fixed, the trenches might have been successfully rushed, with far loss sacrifice of life than actually attended the failure of the ' movement. As the daylight'became brighter the artillery and tlie howitzers got into position, and ' the naval gun opened fire with its heavy lyddite shells. It: was now half-past 4-, and for the re.: mainder of the day our guns kept up a tremendous bombardment with both lyddite and shrapnel, searching the trenches and kopjes •in every direction. The Boer artillery made Ino attempt to reply to the cannonade until a 1 late hour in the afternoon. i j Tlie Gordon Highlanders, accompanied by ; some mixed parties of survivors of the Highland Brigade, mostly without officers, made, ■ from time to time, plucky and determined attempts to advance on the enemy's centre. They succeeded, in getting close to the i trenches, despito the incessant fusillade to which they were subjected; but they'-were stopped by the barbed wire entanglements which, the Boers had put up as a protection against a possible bayonet charge. ' RUSHING THE. TRENCHES. The lst Battalion Highland Light Infantry (tlie old 71st) actually managed to force their way into one of the trenches, but were compelled to retire. They were accompanied, i however, by six prisoners. I Early in the forenoon the Earl of Airlio, commanding the 12th Lancers, dismounted a number of his men, and cleared a party of .} Boers out of tlie bush on our right, close to I where the artillery were posted. | The firing begun to slacken about 10 o'clock, and the enemy then made an attempt to out- ■' flank us on the right. The Guards Brigade, however, a~dvnncing in an unbroken line, speedily drove theji back. No material change occurred in the position on either side for tlid remahidor of the afternoon. At 5 o'clock our artillery were still pouring a hail of lyddite and shrapnel shells into the enemy's trenches. Half, an hour later, however, orders wero given for the troops to fall , back on the Army Supply Column, which was ' posted 'a couple'of miles'to the rear. "While , the movement was in progress the field guns and howitzers kept up their fire, which was nt< length'replied to by a few shells from the Boer pieces. The duel continued in.more or less desultory fashion until darkness set in. 1 Large numbers of our wounded have boon brought in during-to-day. ■On this occasion the enemy depended, for tho defence of their position, solely on the ! efficiency of their rifle fire, and the extent of ■ our losses is convincing evidence of how terribly effective it was. THE BOERS SKILFULLY HIDDEN. Their" trenches were dug at tlie base of the J kopjes in their occupation, instead of, ns on previous occasions, along tho summits. In these they wore completely hidden. All our men agree that it. was impossible to see with whom they wore engaged. But though the Boers wore so skilfully enj trenched, ■ they must, have suffered terrible I losses from the searching and-destructive fire lof our lyddite and other batteries.. The fact 1 that they maintained their ground in such circumstances reflects the highest credit. on i thoir - courage- and determination, j Tho Boers behaved with the utmost con- ; siderrtion to tlioir- wounded euomieSj in many; pases bringing thorn water- • :,

While the injured, were being succoured by both sides, one of the Boer commandants told Mr Robertson that. 36 of his 500 men: had. been killed, and.that 40 Scandinavians,:who formed the advance guard, had . had seven skilled and 20 wounded early in the engagement. From these, data it is permissible to infer that the enemy's losses were' extremely heavy. The. total of the Boer forces'is estimated at 10.000, formed into three divisions, under the command, respectively, of Generals .Cronje, De'la Ray, and Prinsloo. We ourselves had 8000 men in the fighting line: ' - DISLOYALTY AT WESTPORT. Disloyalty appears to be rife in Westport as well as other places, and at a meeting of the Harbour Board held recently they decided to dismiss all those who were guilty of such conduct. The chairman said that when men were receiving the taxpayers' money the least they could do was to be loyal to the country. Ho moved that if anything more is heard of the mutter, the engineer bo instructed to dismiss such men from the board's employ, without notice. . , . . GENERAL'ITEMS. A Borderer now. living in Durban has written Home describing a visit to Ladysmith and ' (he battle fought there on Oetober"3o. After narrating the opening of the contest, he pro- • ceeds: "One could not help being surprised at the cool way the people of Ladysmith. behaved. Some of the more' courageous of the ladies had ventured on. the hill beside us to see the battle, and were standing conspicuously dressed in white. On their being asked by a soldier to sit down, and keep out of sight, as they made a splendid target for theenemy's guns (and there was quite a large crowd by this time), one lady calmly replied that she was not going to soil her'dress by sitting on the dirty ground. I saw him give a grin and a look of despair, as much as to say the ladies must have their own way as usual." Describing the bringing in of the wounded atior the battle the Borderer writes: "I saw four Gordons carrying one of their comrades from the field on a stretcher. As they walked' slowly down the street I noticed a lady hurry after them and give her umbrella to keep the scorching sun off his face. At different parts of the town women were standing with huge cans of tea and coffee, which they served to the weary and tired-out men as they passed along. c SPORTING. ' D.J.C. AUTUMN MEETING. The following' entries have been received bj] the Dnnedin Jockey Club for tffe Autumn meeting to be held on March 21, 23, and 24: DUNEDIN CUP, Of 500sovs. One mile and a-half. Boreas ■ Advance Tortulla Pulmen Djin-Djin Jupiter St. Ouida Sant Ilario Skobeloff Malatua Paladin Red Banner Huku , Strathnairn. ' Dundas PUBLICANS' HANDICAP, Of 150sovs. Seven furlongs. Nihilist _ Tortulla Advance ' Ostiak Dead Beat Suzannah, Brisa Jupiter St. Ouida Decoy Peerage Gold Paladin Keel Banner Vandyke Cherrystone Dundas Benzoin Roncemont Arline. Blazer JOCKEY CLUB HANDICAP, Of 17asovs. One mile and a-tjuartej Boreas Advance Tortulla Fulmen Djin-Djin. Suzannah. Brisa Jupiter St. Ouida Skobeloff Malatua Peerage Paladin Red Banner Huku Strathnairn, Dundas Nihilist. Arline ANNIVERSARY HANDICAP, Of ISOsovs. One mile. Blazer .. Nihilist ' Boreas Advance . Tortulla . Fulmon Djin-Djin Dead Beat The Spinner Brisa Jupiter St. Ouida Skobeloff Malatua Gold Paladin . Red Banner Proposal # ! Strathnairn . Dundas ' . Benzion Arline. . , WINGATUI STAKES, ' Of 125sovs. Six furlongs. Blazer Pampero Advance Decoy . St. Ouida . Peerage : Field Rose . Benzoin. Boreas . SYDNEY TURF CLUB RACES. SYDNEY, January 28. . The Turf Club's Anniversary Handicap resulted: —Inquirer 1, Royal Purple 2, Prize 3. Thirteen started. Betting: 5 to 1 agst Royal Purple, 12 to 1 Inquirer. Won by two lengths. Time, 2min 37sec. CYCLING IN AUSTRALIA. MELBOURNE, January 23. The A.N.A. Wheel Race, of two miles, resulted as follows:—Roberts 1, Robertson 2, Schneider 3. Won by a wheel. Time, faun 20.5ec. The Grand National Motor Paced Tournament, of three miles, was won by Sutherland, of New Zealand. Time, smin 39 3-sseo. A Wellington telegram says:—There ara ovor 250 entries for the league's Champion Cycle meeting next week. The competitors (who are nearly 50 in number) include Reynolds, Chalmers, Lewis, Barker, Bennet, Tierney, Plunkett, Ralston, Humphreys, Wall, and Derrett. As well as the strictly champion events, there will be somo handicap races on the programme.