| Re: Uit "The Globe and Mail" 13 December, 1899 [boodskap #28495] |
Di, 14 Desember 1999 00:00 |
Johan van Zyl
Boodskappe: 14
Geregistreer: Desember 1999
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skryf in boodskap news:38550B5D.465AB0A8@home.com...
> On December 13, 1899, the Globe reported that the
> British Press admitted the seriousness of General
> Gatacre's recent defeat in South Africa, but accepted
> it calmly. However, for others, General Methuen could
> not advance quickly enough for those British eager to
> forget Gatacre's blundering misadventure. And in the
> United States, Henry Cabot Lodge dismissed a fellow
> senator's condemnation of Britain's policy in South
> Africa, offering that there was a wide gulf between
> private opinion and public official expressions.
>
>
> From "The Boer War" (The War Correspondents)
> Sutton Publishing (1993)
>
> "Worse was to come for the British forces. General Gatacre
> ("Backbreaker" to his troops) was ordered by Buller to launch
> an attack in the middle of the Cape line to support Methuen's
> to his (Gatacre's) left. Gatacre advanced on 9 December:
> his plan was to carry out a night march to Stormberg Junction,
> an important railway junction on the line from East London to
> Bloemfontein. When the troops arrived, Gatacre planned to
> carry out a surprise dawn attack. In theory the plan was sound,
> in practice it was a disaster.The men were exhausted before
> the night march began, and instead of reaching their objective
> a couple of hours before dawn (thus giving the men some rest),
> the guides took a wrong turn and the soldiers kept marching
> until daybreak revealed them to the waiting Boers. Too tired to
> put up any real resistance, the British were soon overwhelmed.
> Although Gatacre's force sustained only 100 casualties, a further
> 600 men were captured due to an oversight on the part of the
> commander."
>
An oversight? As far as I can recall they fell asleep from exhaustion.
The rifle fire did'nt wake them up, but the Boers did so after the battle.
Ciao
Johan
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