NEW ZEALANDERS IN ACTION.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 384, 8 April 1902, Page 2

NEW ZEALANDERS IN ACTION.

By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, last night. A Reuter message in the Cape papers, dated Harrismith, March 2nd, gives the following details of the fighting on the night of the 23rd February, when DeWet broke through the line of columns : Colonels Rimington and Byng having arrived in this neighborhood, it is now possiole to obtain details of the fighting on the night of February 23, when DeWet broke through the line of columns. It appears that that night Colonel Byng’s column, consisting of the New Zealanders, occupied a position on Colonel Rimington’s left, which consisted of the 3rd New South Wales Regiment, under Colonel Cox, and a detachment of the Blaclt Watch.

The Boers soon after midnight swarmed Reentrant, being covered by a firing party on both flanks, while a great mass of cattle and horses overwhelmed the pickets by sheer weight. The pickets only dared to fire on the direct front, the Boers having secured the picket line. The New Zealanders made a splendid defence. Caught on the flank, they fought gallantly, although it was impossible for them to make full use of their strength, owing to the nature of the attack. All the other pickets, believing it to he the usual attempt to ride direct through, were firing furiously in front. The plucky New Zealanders, realising their position, slipped away, risking being shot by their own people, and reached Colonel Cox and warned him of the position of affairs, whereupon Colonel Cox immediately withdrew the left pioket, prolonging them to the rear, at right angles to the line. Meanwhile the enemy, having forced the picket line, were enabled to remove their wounded, and a portion continued north, leaving the main body behind, and the whole of the cattle. Our .men kept up a vigorous fire, using seventeen boxes of ammunition. In an hour and a half all was over. Although our loss was heavy, the Boer loss was not less so. Main Botha, one of the best Free State commandants, was killed. DeWet himself only escaped under cover of some oxen. Seventy dead horses lay in front of Colonel Cox’s force.