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Show f i j the transvaal War ! (London, Jan. IS. The Timc-s publishes pub-lishes the following- dispatches from Spearman's Farm, dated Jan. 17, 9:20 p. m.: "The force marched westward I on Jan. 0. Lord Dundonald, by a ! dashing- movement, occupied the hill j above Petprieter's Drift, fifteen miles west of Coienao. taking the Boers per- I fectly by surprise. I. "The same evening the infantry fol- I lowed. General Lyttleton's brigade j crossed the river yesterday and today ! iFhelled the Boers beyond with how- j itzers. "Goneral Warren's force is now ! ; crossing- Trichardte Drift, five miles above. He is not opposed, although the -tx-rs are holding a position five miles from the river." J The other morning papers are out ; "with extra editions confirming the dis-; dis-; patch from Spearman's Fane, to the Times. The Daily Telegraph's corre. enondent nnrinr flio -f ,.a if eays: I "I am permitted to wire from Spear- I man's Farm that General Lyttleton yesterday ferried and forded Petgieter's Drift and seized with little opposition a line of nw ridges a mile from there. During the night a howitzer battery was carried across. Today from Mount Alice, near Swartzkop,' nayal guns and howitzers effectively shelled the Boer position, which i strong. "General 'Warren also today crossed the Tugcla. six miles farther to thf west, near Wagon Drift, with all -arms, in the fare of a hot and heavy lire from Boer cannon and rifles. He has effected ef-fected a most satisfactory lodgement two miles further on toward Sproen Kop." A special dispatch from Spearman's Farm, dated Jan. 17, says: "The Brit-' Brit-' 5sh column moved to Spearman's Farm, Iwyond. Springfield, on Jan. 11. The difficulties in crossing the swollen river I were great, the wagons being quite covered." I A dispatch to the Daily News from Spearman's Farm describes Lord Dun-donald'e Dun-donald'e advance to Swartzkop hill, commanding Petgieter's Drift, and Fays: "General Lyttleton's brigade was pent to hold a position in Swartzkop hill. Leaving a strong body to hold J Colenso, and General Hildeyard's bri- i . pade at Springfield, our whole force ad- 1 vanccd without delay. The ferry pont I at Peiigeiter's was on the further bank oL the Tugcla, and in order to bring it to our side. Lieutenant Carlisle and five men of the South African light horse swam across the river and 1 brought it over. .4 "After four days' halt on the south Fide of the Tugeia. our advance north's north-'s - ward began on Tuesday. Jan. 16. Gen-li Gen-li eral Lyttleton's brigade crossed the , j-i drift that evening and held the kopjes j i on our right. H "sir Charles Warren's division has j made an attack upon the enemy's left !; flank. The column is now crossing" the 1 river." i , The Pietermaritzburg corresoondent ! i rf the. Daily Mail, telegraphing late ' Wednesday evening, Jan. 17, says: !" "Arrivals from Estcourt report that i i, there was fighting on the Tugela to- ,E day. The result is not-know here," i London. Jan. IS. The Standard pub- lishes the following dispatch from La- . dysmith, dated Jan. 6. by way of Frera, 'an- 1: "The enomy today made a de- f i ten-lined effort to capture two posi-; posi-; I tiors. Caesars camp and Wagon hill. i . The latter is a lofty eminence to the j : !;juthwest, iossession of which would have brought them within rifle range of the town. Caesar's camp was held by the first battalion of the Manchester Manches-ter reeriment. "The position was separated from that of the Boers by a ravine. In the early hours of the morning, under cover of darkness, the Heidelberg commando com-mando suceeded in evading our pick ets, making their way through the ! thorn bush and reaching the foot of the - : slope at 2:r.O. The alarm was rais?d by our sentries, but before the full extent of the danger could be realized the outlying out-lying s.a.ngars had been rushed and their defenders slain. "On hearing the firing two companies .of the Gordon Highlanders went to the assistance of the Manchester?. At first it was thought that the Boers were i concentrating on the southern slope, where they had already secured a footing foot-ing on the plateau. Here, however, their advance was checked by the Fteady volleys of our infantry and the deadly lire of an automatic gun. "It was not quite evident that the camp was bein? assailed on the left Hank and on the front. By daybreak reinforcements of Gordon Highlanders and of the rifle brigade had been hurried hur-ried up to the fighting line. Lieutenant Colonel Dick Omyngham, who was , leading the Gordons out of camp, fell mortally wounded, being hit by a stray bullet while still close to the town. The ; Fifty-tMrd battery of field artillery, under Major Abdy, crossed the Klip t river and shelled the ridge and reverse ; rlope of the front position, where the ( - enemy were lying- among the thorn I !uhes- "The shrapnel which flew over our heads, did terrible execution. It effectually ef-fectually held the Boers in check and rendered it impossible for them to send reinforcements to their men through the ravine. "The enemy fought . throughout with the most stubborn courage, being evidently evi-dently determined to :ake the camp or die in the attempt, 'r-ieir six-inch gun on Umbulwaria mot' -ain and its smal-4 smal-4 lor satellites threw Aore than 100 shells Iat Abdy s battery and at the troops on the hill. Our tr-'.'ps, however, were not lens gallant n resolved, and the enemy ene-my was pre1 jc back step by step until at length 'iiose who were left broke and fled utter disorder. "A tr inc. storm of rain and hail. F.ccom nied by peals of thunder, had burst ver the camp during the fight-i fight-i 5ng. ; "This served to swell the streams Into raging torrents. In their efforts to cape numbers of the enemy flung Chemselves into the current and were swept away. The struggle in this part of the field was now ended, and the finale was a terrific fusillade all along the line, the crash of which almost drowned the incessant thunder above. "Meanwhile a more ex-citing contest was in 'progress in the direction of "Wagon hill. At 2 o'clock a. storming . party "furnished by the Harrismith -ommando crept slowly and cautiously along a donga in the valley which divides di-vides mir posts from their camp. A few well aimed rifle shots killed our pickets. "Taking advantage of every inch of cover the Boers then gradually reached the crest of the height. Here a body of light horse was posted, but they w enforced en-forced to retire before the advance of the Free Staters, there being no breast- ' works for defense on the western shoul- ' der of the hill. With little to impede their passage the enemy soon came to an emplacement, where they surprised working parties of the Gordon Highlanders High-landers and the Sixtieth rifles. "Lieutenant Digby Jones of the royal engineers collected a handful of men and made a gallant effort to hold the position, but the numbers were against him, and after a -stubborn resistance he was driven back and the enemy got . possession of the summit. Even then, however, the Free Staters were afraid to venture far or to face the heavy fire from the Sangar. Here it was that Lieutenant McNaughton and thirty of the Gordons were captured, although not until every man among them was wounded. "At 5 o'clock Colonel Edwards, with two squadrons of .light horse, arrived I upon the scene, and the Twenty-first i battery of the royal field artillery, un-! un-! der Major Blewitt, came into action, ! preventing the storming party being re-j re-j inforced from the Boer camp. "At the same time the Eighteenth ' hussars and the Fifth lancers checked i the movement from the spruit on our : right flank. Nevertheless, our position ; at this point had become critical. Our men had retired for cover behind the northern slope, while the enemy had made their way into the pass dividing them from the hill. ' "Major Bowen rallied a few of the 1 rifles, but fell while leading them to the charge. His example was at once ' followed by Lieutenant Tod, but the j latter met the same fate. j "A pause ensued for a time, but the ' Boers were not yet finally beaten. Taking Tak-ing advantage of the storm now ra.ging, they essayed to capture the position by another rush. Three of their leaders re-ached the parapet, but were shot down by Lieutenant Digby Jones and j Lieutenant Walnutt, the latter of whom also fell. The renewed check effectual-j effectual-j ly discouraged the assailants,, and the I deadly duel was now practically at an end. Nevertheless, small parties of I the braver spirits kept up a murderous i fire on our men from behind the rocks, j "The moment had evidently arrived to strike the final blow, and Colonel I Park quickly issued the necessary or-j or-j der. Three companies of Devonshires, ! led by Captain Dafone, Lieutenant I Fiebl and Lieutenant Masterson, made ! a brilliant charge across the open under un-der a terrific fire and fairly hurled the enemy down the hill at the point of the bayonet. In the course of the struggle Captain Lafone and Lieutenant Field wore killed and Lieutenant Masteraon j received no fewer than ten wounds. "The Boers lost heavily. They admit the engagement was the most severe blow their arms had sustained fince the opening of the campaign. They were confident of their ability to capture cap-ture the town, and had called upon reinforcements re-inforcements from Colenso to assist at the expected victory. Our losses also were considerable. "Early in the morning the Earl of Ava was mortally wounded while accompanying ac-companying Colonel Ian Hamilton to the scene of action. "The garrison can now await the coming of relief with "renewed confidence." confi-dence." I |