FIGHTING IN SOUTH AFRICA.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 385, 9 April 1902, Page 2

FIGHTING IN SOUTH AFRICA.

DETAILS OF THE METHUEN AFFAIR. ■’Per R.M.S. Ventura at Auckland). SAN FRANCISCO, Marti: 10. A despatch from London dated March Hi, says that the War Office has received the following communication from Lord Kitchener at Pretoria : ‘ Lord Methuen sent me a dictated despatch by the staff officer, bv which it appears that the particulars previously given are inaccurate. The rear screen of the mounted troops was rushed and overwhelmed at dawn. There was a gap of a mile between the ox and mule convoys. The mounted support to the rear of the screen, which Methuen immediately reinforced by all the available mounted troops, and a section of the 3Sill Battery, maintained themselves an hour, during which the convoys were closing up without disorder. In the meantime two hundred infantry were being disposed to meet the attack which was outflanking the left of the rearguard. The Boers pressed the attack hard, ■and the mounted troops were attempting to fall back, when the infantry got completely out of hand, carrying away with them in the rout the hulk of the mounted troops. Two guns of the 38th were thus left unprotected, but continued in action until every man, except Lieutenant Nesham, was wounded. Nesham ivas called upon to surrender, and upon refusing, was shot. Methuen, 'with two hundred Northumberland Fusiliers, then found himself isolated, but held on for three hours. During this period the remaining infantry, namely, one hundred Lancashires, with some forty mounted men, mostly Cape Police, who had occupied a kraal near the waggons, also continued to hold out against the repeated attacks of the Boers. By this time Methuen was wounded, and the casualties were exceedingly heavy among his men. The ammunition was mostly expended, and a surrender was made. The party in the kraal still held out —and did not surrender until two guns and a pompom were brought to bearon them, making their position untenable. It is confirmed that most of the Boers wore our Khaki uniforms, many also our badges. Even at close quarters they could not be distinguished from our men. It is clear that the infantry fought well, and the artillery kept up the 1 traditions of their regiment. In addition to the members of the ' Cape Police already mentioned, a lew i parties of Imperial Yeomanry and of . Cape Police continued to hold their ground after the panic had swept the bulk of the mounted troops oil the ■ field.

It" appears that Methuen was shot while attempting to bring up the mounted corps, and that his horse was killed. After the surrender General De la Rev rode up, and treated- Lord Methuen with the greatest courtesy and consideration. He ordered nis return to Klerksdorp under the care of his own nephew and a medical officer. A correspondent of the Daily Mail pays tribute to General De la Rey’s humanity, and describes him as “ a brilliant lighter and a born leader, who brings no bitterness nor racialfeeling to his task, and who sternly represses any excesses on the part of the burghers.” Further evidence of the abili-.y of tin Boers to penetrate the blockhouse lines is contained in a despatch from Orange River Colony, which describes Commandant Mentz's attack on the night of March 10. He crossed the E-tilbron.Wolverhock line at Gotten!ri g. One Boer advanced firing. Two pickets returned the lire, killing the Boer and his horse. The Boers then cut the wire fence and drove in a mob oi loose horses, which broke dow.i two hundred yards of fence. Mentz then dashed' through with three hundred 'Boer's, and the pickets were powerless.