Show BRITONS WIN I I I Gen French Completely Defeats De-feats Boers aod Occn 3 ie Coles IJ erg i I i fOE flED IN D SORDER i British T IOOPSS Surprise the I l Wily Burghers HOTCHKISS GUN CAPTURED J 1t4 i1 g Battlo was Begun at Daybreak Three Miles from Colesberg1 and an Artillery Ar-tillery Duel was Maintained for I Two Hours Then a Boer Hotcli rj kIss Collapsed and the Britons 1 Captured It Another Big Boer I tg Gun was Silenced but the Boers 1 Managed to Withdraw ItThey Retreated to tho Northward but 4 were Harassed by a Shell Fire 1ii The British Captured Many Wagons I i Wa-gons and a Largo Amount of Stores I British Loss was Slight that of j the Boers Believed to beBea o I f I London JauCjk This dispatch from Keinaberg Cop Colony dated January p 1st has been reeled 4 Gen French has completely defeated ij defeat-ed tho Boer and occupied Colesberg The General continued to keep the Uf Boers on the move and pressed them i closely Saturday and Sunday giving them no time to malce a prolonged 1 aland and when day broke he was within striking distance of the enemy Last night all the cavalryartillery r and Infantry the latter riding In wagons r wag-ons to Increase tho general mobility 3J started upon n night march with the i object of turning the Boers right The mo flank operations were successful The Infantry and field batteries Immediately v Im-mediately made n feint attack upon the Boer front and while this was proceeding pro-ceeding the cavalry and light artillery got completely around the enemys right flank as arranged m The programme worked without a hitch The Boers were utterly surprised f sur-prised and finding their retreat threatened threat-ened fled In disorder to the eastward leaving Colcsberg In Gen Frenchs Jiands BATTLE NEAR COLESBURY I j The Daily Mall has the following dispatch S dis-patch dated January 1st from Reins burg hurgYesterda O1 Yesterday afternoon a big force of i2 cavalry and Infantry with ten guns r under the personal command of Gen 1 French moving by detour occupied some hills three miles from Colesberg TO where the Boers were in strength confident con-fident In the natural aid afforded them m fdent tle by the hills around AN ARTILLERY DUEL f The enemys position extended six I miles around the entire village At daybreak S day-break our artillery opened the battle ctS The Boers were taken by surprise replied ir plied vigorously An artillery duel was 5Th maintained for two hour Then a BOIL Jlotehklss collapsed and was abandoned n aban-doned We captured It A Boer big tc t gun was silenced but this and the other cir oth-er Boer guns were withdrawn to tier tie-r iz northward whither we are harassing clK the Boer retreat by 0 damaging shell 1iieOLESBEItG COLESBERG IN BRITISH HANDS Colesberg Is in our hands and the few remaining loyalists are Jubilant We hitve captured many wagons and a F considerable quantity of stores Our E loss AMIS quite slight but the Boers must have suffered heavily They may stop at Achtertang cross the river altogether at Norvalspont where the bridge Is still Intact WELCOME RAY OF LIGHT The success of Gen French In driving luAE driv-ing tho nor from Colesberg has shot S GL1m a welcome ray of light through the gloom nf the campnlgn In South Africa Kvcrywlure It Is commented upon as an exunplc of sound tactics and us an ilii8li iiun nf what may be done when V12 f UjSj ti right j mithods ure employed with ta1o C imj Ufifr The Government Is urged t1 to V tat the IcHSOn to heart and seP ihqCmt that no stone Is 1 left unturned In the 1sriC ftiduuvnr to get the largest pnnslblii n foue of cuvulry and mounted infantry to the front T WHAT BRITONS HOP LOn inr Now that Gen French has lw Boer 1 tlni run the hope Is oxpm6od thnt fy LO ho will give < them l no rest but will c5 rl harns them until they have found > thlr May ucrosn the Orange river 1 which If twelve miles distant Tho old < > Wagon rout to the Free SUite traverse I or tra-verse Colcsberg and crosses the river by l a line bridge 1310 = feet long I Is rj tHUd that the Boera retreated toward 2IE to-ward Norvalapont further east and itinOS th quiftlon Is 1 whether Con French t at mJ WI be ublf to tweiire those two bridges rrd bi > for < the Bourn datroy them FKENTJI HAS SMALL FORCE Ono Imjrortant result of the success of itcslv Gen French In that it will have a deterrent de-terrent effect on Dutch disaffection f11 Th re Is sonic disposition here to exag LJ md ffmn the Importance of small skirmishes iif skir-mishes and engagements It should bo iP borne In mind that Gen French has l pl only 2000 men and s far as the Important Impor-tant points of campaign ure concerned grl th < situation IH I virtually unchanged NEW BOER LAAGER o4 LAAGER pc At Mit r river the Boer appear to icr lit 1 IrIU Ink naincwlmi their line of UiZci c n BullirH scouts hivr dK 1 vlfnl 0 Boir camp inUibliHhcd In tho gTt vicinity ot Springfield southwest of Colenso by a Free State commando A similar movement has been made at Modder river A largo force of Boers it is reported has formed a new laager about fifteen miles down the stream at i Kameelhoek ALL WELL AT LADYSM1TH Heliograph reports from Ladysmlth show that all was well on December 31st The bombardment was being continued con-tinued but its Intensity had relaxed An official dispatch from Ladysmlth confirms the report cabled yesterday that several officers of the Devonshire regiment were severely wounded by the explosion of a Boer shell in the mess tent |