THE WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 89, 10 April 1900, Page 3

THE WAR.

REDDERSBURG AFFAIR. .JOBBS STILL IN FORCE. [Br KtßcTßio tblegraph.-Copyright] [PES PBESS ASSOCIATION.] (Received 9, 8.50 a.m) London, April 8. The Boots are still at Reddersburg. THB CAPTURED COLUMN HAD NO GUNS. BUT FOUGHT TO THE LAST CARTRIDGE. Received 10,1.57 a.m. London, April 9. The captured column at Reddersburg belonged to Lieut.-General Gatacre's Division, and was returning from a reconnaissance atr Dewetsdorp to the headquarters. They bad no guns, and Were foodless and waterless, and exposed for twenty-four hours to tropical storms. They occupied a hilleck which was indefensible, and fought to their last cartridge. FURTHER PARTICULARS. gl (Received 10,2 a.m.) London, April 9. De Wet commanded five thousand Boers when the British column was captured at Reddersburg. He was further reinforced on Thursday from the Free Staters, who had surrendered. district is infested with spies. •The Loyalists had previously quitted, fearing reprisals. BRUTALITY OF THE BOERS. LORD ROBERTS GIVES A WARNING. Received 10,2 a.m. London, April 9, A strong commando is located south of Bloemfontein, with no baggage, and is rapidly raiding and ill-treating those who have surrendered, some being murdered in cold blood. Lerd Roberts has issued a warning that he will exact from the Presidents full reparation for any acts of inhumanity. LIEUT.-GENERAL METHUEN'S COLUMN. , DASTARDLY TACTICS OF BOERS. Received 9,8.60 am. Capetown, April 8, Soft-nosed and split-tipped bullets were used by the enemy at Bosbof. The prisoners taken a< e mostly frenchmen, Germans, and Hollanders. ■ BOERS' PROVOCATIVE POLICY. REGRET WILL COME. (Received 10, 2 a.m.)J London, April 9. The Times says the Boers will soon bitterly regret their policy of provocation. [ THE CAUSE OF LORD ROBERTS' DELAY. THE COLD WEATHER. Received 10,1.57 a.m. London, April 9. Owing to the cold weather, Lord Roberts awaits the arrival of thicker uniforms before sweeping the northward and eastward, the railways in the rear being strongly guarded. The remounts which have reached Jjord Roberts are splendid animals. Lord Roberts affords shelter to Free Staters who surrender. In the military camps, owing to the cold weather, many British troops have been attacked by pneumonia. It is estimated that forty thousand of Lord Roberts' force will shortly be able to advance. BOERS THREATEN TO INVADE BASUTOLAND. A STRONG RESISTANCE WILL BE OFFERED. (Received 10, 1.57 a.m) London, April 9. The Boers have threatened to invade Basutoland and invest Wepener East. Sir Godfrey Y. Lagden, British Commissioner, counselled the Basutos to make a demonstration on the border. The Basutos are eager and deter- j mined to strongly resist invasion. I GENERAL BRABANT'S FORCE. (Deceive(WO, 2 am.) London, April 9. Major-General Brabant, with three thousand men, two fifteen-pounders, six seven-pounders, and four maxims, will be able to hold their own if the Basutoland is not invaded. !N CAPEJOLONY. THREATENING COMMANDOES. (Received JO, 2 am.) London, April 9. Two commandoes are threatening Rouxville and Allen's. Four companies of the Irish Rifles and two Volunteer Companies have retreated to Aliwal North. The retreat was effected without bloodshed. The rearguard were in action, however, and fought with the surrenderors in the south-east, who re-armed and opposed in strength. • At Walsekop, fourteen miles westward of Rouxville, Colonel lan Hamilton commands Sutton's Brigade and Bidley's Cape Brigade, each comprising 2000 colonials and 3000 regulars. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. (Received X.50 a.m.) London, April 8. General Clements, during his recent march through the Free State, received 4000 surrenders and five guns. Ten thousand horses are expected al the Cape during this week. Twc thousind have just arrived. Ten thousand horses were lost during the advance to Bloemfontein. Capetown, April 8. fifteen huedred Epers bays been re

1 landed at Simonstown owing to an outbreak of fever among them aboard ship. | Thirty prisoners effected their escape, apparently through the help of Afrikanders. A contingent of bluejackets from H.M.S, Monarch has been sent to Bloemfontein. The Winkfield which rammed the ] Mexican during a fog near Capetown, had remounts aboard. The impact between the two vessels was terrific. Fine discipline prevailed, and most of the mails were saved from the sinking steamer. Received 10, 2 a.m. London, April 9. A quantity of bayonets have been manufactured in Pretoria for the use of mercenaries. Another brother of President Steyn was captured at Karee. I NEW SOUTH WALES BUSHMEN. ! 3 (Received 9, 11.30 p.m.) j Sydney, April 9. The Armenian, the transport to conI vey the Imperial Bushmen, has arrived. ' OUR FIRST CONTINGENT. Wellington, April 9. The Premier has received advice from the Agent-Geneial, under Saturday's date, as follows:—" New Zealand No. 1 Company of the First Contingent, when escorting the waggons following : the guns, fell into an ambush through | imperfect scouting. Our men apparently were not responsible, and extricated themselves with coolness and courage." Major Robin also telegraphed to the Commander of the Forces:—" Seventeen of our men were in the baggage escort captured in Saturday's fight. All are well. The rest are now in ramp. The men are unhurt, but ten horses were killed." Half of the men mentioned as missing were enrolled as members of the No. 2 Company when the Contingent left the colony. A cablegram has been received by the Premier from Major Cradock, Commander of the No. 2 Contingent, dated Kenbardt, 7th April, as follows: —" All well. The New Zealand patrol was the first to arrive here. Am forwarding a rebel flag. We had much marching and no fighting, but expect to join Lord Roberts shortly. The Hotchkiss battery is still incomplete at Capetown." SUNDAYS PREFERRED FOR BATTLES. There is a proposition which has been set forth with much energy by some correspondents whose views have reached us. That is that the one cause for which we both ought to humiliate ourselves, and the one that is in fact the secret of all our failures, has been that our generals fought on Sunday. It is therefore rather interesting to note how very many battles have taken place on Sunday. Certainly their result has not always corresponds d with the views of the extreme Sabbatarians. To begin with, since these comments were made, General French has carried out a most successful operation, which was due to a movement on Sunday. The great battle of the Nile, by which Nelson destroyed the fleet of Napoleon and made the scheme on which the future master of the Continent had set his heart—the conquest of Egypt, with a view to the conquest of India—impossible, took place on Sunday; Vimiera, the first great European success of the Duke of Wellington, was fought on Sunday; , Fuentes d'Onor, perhaps the most fiercely contested and risky of all Wellington's battles in the Peninsula, was fought on a Sunday; Orthes salo was , a Sunday battle. Ciudad Rodrjgo was captured on a Sunday. It is almost , needless to say that Waterloo and Ini kerman were Sunday battles. The outbreak of the Mutiny—which was, it [ must be admitted, not successful ulti- , mately for those who took part in it, but which shook out dominion in India and exposed us to almost as great anxiety as the present campaign—occurred on Sunday. The great stroke which dealt the Srst deadly blow against the centre of the Mutiny—the capture of Delhi—was delivered on a Sunday. The fight at Rorke's Drift was on Sunday. Both Firkeh and Omdurman were Sunday battles. I have limited myself in this statement to our English fighting during the present century. The list might be indefinitely extended if one went back over the great battles of the past. If one were to select » day of the week on which the most important incidents of war have occurred, my own impression, without absolutely making a statistical calculation, is, from my knowledge of past history, that Sunday ia the day one must name, and that it 3 has been quite as frequently the as- , sailants on that day who have won , the victory as the defenders. —London 3 Nevis.