SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 



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that all the inhabitants within 12 miles of his 

 camps should be removed from their houses and 

 confined in laagers close to the military camps. 

 The young loyalists of the northern districts 

 joined Brabant's horse, a corps that performed 

 valuable scouting services. When re-enforce- 

 ments arrived Gen. Gatacre moved his camp to 

 Sterkstroom, and on Dec. 25 occupied Dordrecht, 

 which the enemy, mostly Cape Boers, made a 

 vain attempt to recapture. 



Gen. French's division was composed largely of 

 mounted men, including the Australian and New 

 Zealand volunteers. The district about Colesberg 

 was suitable for cavalry operations, and with 

 only, a small force of active skirmishers he kept 

 the" opposing Boers employed. On Dec. 13, when 

 1,800 of them advanced toward Naauwpoort, Col. 

 Porter, with dragoons, hussars, and horse artil- 

 lery, occupied Vaal Kop and checked them. The 

 division, after receiving accessions of infantry 

 and cavalry, and by flanking movements, com- 

 pelled the Boers to evacuate both Rensburg and 

 Arundel. Threatened on both flanks, they re- 

 tired still farther toward Orange river, until they 

 were re-enforced by troops drawn from Modder 

 river. On Dec. 30 the British occupied a position 

 flanking the Boers at Colesberg, and on Jan. 4 

 a rash night attack was made upon a hill over- 

 looking the town. The Boers shot down nearly 

 all the officers, destroyed half of one company, 

 gave the bugle signal for retreat to throw the 

 others into confusion, and captured one of the 

 companies, the total British loss amounting to 30 

 killed, 54 wounded, and 119 captured. When the 

 force at the front was increased to 7,000 of all 

 arms an enveloping movement was carried out, 

 and after the British had occupied Slingersfontein 

 and other positions northwest of Colesberg in the 

 middle of January, the Boers, seeing their line 

 of retreat threatened, began to fall back to Nor- 

 vals Pont. Re-enforcements arriving from Ma- 

 gersfontein, they pressed the British in turn, who 

 evacuated all their positions and fell back on 

 Rensburg. A 40-pounder on Bastard's Nek and 

 some Vickers-Maxim and other guns gave the 

 Boers a decided superiority. Later Gen. French 

 and his cavalry were called away to take part in 

 the strategic movement for the relief of Kimber- 

 ley, and then the Boers, who had on their side 

 all the inhabitants of the district, became aggres- 

 sive once more and forced the British to retire to 

 Rensburg. The British advance had, in fact, 

 covered the withdrawal of the cavalry for opera- 

 tions against Cronje. The 5,000 troops that were 

 ostensibly destined to re-enforce this division 

 were also diverted to the west, and Gen. French 

 soon followed. The retreat from Slingersfontein 

 on Feb. 12 was attended with considerable losses. 

 The Boers under Commandant Petter surrounded 

 two companies of the Wiltshire regiment and 

 captured 142 men. Gen. Clements retired his 

 whole force to Arundel, and was there invested by 

 the Boers, who were held at bay by the skillful 

 manoeuvring of the Australian mounted men. 



Activity was shown at this time by Sir Wil- 

 liam Gatacre's command to divert the attention of 

 the enemy from the real objective of Lord Rob- 

 erts. The British advanced on Dordrecht, and at- 

 tacked the Boers sharply, and on Feb. 16 Gen. 

 Brabant occupied the town. 



Kimberley Belief Force. The column with 

 which Lieut.-Gen. Lord Methuen intended to re- 

 lieve Kimberley was a picked force, composed of 

 the Highland brigade, the Royal Guards, a bri- 

 gade of the line, a naval brigade, a good force 

 of scouts and light cavalry under Col. Gough, 

 and 3 field batteries. Col. Gough reconnoitered 



on Nov. 10 and found the enemy in position near 

 Belmont, about 700 strong, with 1 gun.. In the 

 skirmish he lost 4 officers and 2 privates. The 

 relief column concentrated at Orange river on 

 Nov. 19. 



Methuen's division, consisting of 10,000 in- 

 fantry and 1,000 cavalry, was not ready to move 

 until Nov. 23, when it advanced on the Boer posi- 

 tion. In this time the Boers had concentrated on 

 Belmont in great force and had prepared the posi- 

 tion there and others in the rear to fall back 

 upon. The British with their guns broke the Boer 

 center in the end. The guards made the march at 

 night, attacked at dawn after a brief artillery 

 duel, climbed the kopjes under a heavy fire, and 

 cleared them with the bayonet only. Three ridges 

 were thus taken in succession, the last attack 

 having been prepared by shrapnel. The Boer 

 force was about 2,000, with 5 guns. Kaffir's Kop, 

 where they made the final stand, was defended 

 with great pertinacity, and the British had to 

 suffer from a cross fire delivered from behind 

 bowlders. The cavalry pursued the Boers from 

 both flanks, but they got away with their 

 guns, transport, and stores, except a few that 

 the British captured. In the assault the Brit- 

 ish lost 226 killed or wounded, and 83 cap- 

 tured. The Boer losses were much smaller, 

 but 36 were made prisoners, and some of their 

 horses were captured. Lord Methuen accused 

 the enemy of using soft-pointed bullets, of fly- 

 ing white handkerchiefs to deceive his men, and 

 of firing on his troops after being wounded. Such 

 charges were made against the Boers several 

 times later, and all acts in violation of the recog- 

 nized laws of war were repudiated and denied by 

 the Boer commanders. If such were committed, 

 it was against orders. If dum-dum bullets were 

 used, they must have been captured from the 

 English, as the Boers had none of that kind, 

 though a few of the farmers from remote dis- 

 tricts may have brought their elephant rifles and 

 used explosive bullets. The effects of Mauser 

 bullets were found to be sometimes like those of 

 explosive projectiles. They would go through 

 muscle, occasionally even bone, injuring only the 

 tissue in their path, but in striking sacs contain- 

 ing fluids would cause a destructive disturbance. 



At Belmont, as in all the actions, the British 

 officers suffered disproportionately, although care 

 had -been taken to remove all distinctive marks 

 from their uniforms. This was owing to the cus- 

 tom in the English army for regimental officers 

 to lead their men in every assault. The mounted 

 infantry in this engagement, in an attempted 

 flank movement, fell into an ambush and came off 

 with difficulty. On the day of the battle the gar- 

 rison at Kimberley, which was in heliographic 

 communication with Lord Methuen, attempted a 

 sortie, which failed. In trying to s,torm the Boer 

 redoubts Major Scott-Turner, the commander, 

 another officer, and 21 men were killed. 



On Nov. 25 Lord Methuen advanced on a posi- 

 tion occupied by a body of 2,500 Boers at Enslin, 

 near Graspan. ' They had 6 guns and 2 machine 

 guns. The position was strong, and was held 

 with great stubbornness. After firing shrapnel 

 the British infantry advanced to the attack, and 

 after several hours of hard fighting the Boers gave 

 way, and in retreating left many ammunition 

 wagons behind. Early in the action a detach- 

 ment of 500 was sent to attack the British rear 

 guard, but it was repelled. The Boers were driven 

 back at the point of the bayonet from one kopje 

 to another, and their last position was stormed 

 by the naval brigade, which lost heavily. They 

 made good their retreat, and when the lancers 



