Show BOER WAR three british defeats and boers take two hundred prisoners london jan 7 the war office publishes the following dispatch from gen forestier walker commanding at cape town gen french reports udder date of january ath the situation ia lmh the same as yesterday but I 1 regret to report that a serious accident has happened to the first bat of the suffolk regiment from news just come to hand tram them I 1 gather that with the authority and with the of gen french four companies of the first battalion advanced by night against a low hill one mile from their camp nicy attacked at dawn aleut co watson commanding aavo orders to charge he was at once woun doil orders for retirement were given three quarters of the force re treated to camp the remainder held their ground until they were c now acied by greater numbers chui they surrendered seventy were taken prisoners including seven officer gen french reports eliat fe commando which made th adrai k january ath lost fifty killed besl dis wounded and prisoners the commando was dispersed gen buller has wired tho ot ace the following dated Jin ath fiam frera camp the following message received from gen white at 1 p m today january ath 11 a m attach continues and enemy has been reinforced from the south the following was received aliis forenoon from gen white Jani fath 1245 p m have beaten enemy oil at present but chev are still around me in great number e lc the south and I 1 attack very probable the sun has failed and I 1 cannot pet further information aroa ladysmith Lady smith until tomorrow gen buller send the from camp dated today this from valte dated saturday 31 V 1 attack renewed very hard pressed pr essid 1 l have absolutely no boic news end there is no sun thre is r camp limmor that white defeater atel the enemy it 5 this morning and took prisoners I 1 sent all aval laje troops yos berday to make demonstrate i at co the trenches there were all r aupied b the enemy A dispatch from the bo heuling tars near dordrecht Dord recht vii lourenco dated ath says he british have been compelled to retreat from dordrecht Dord recht fighting continues around Co lesburg where the british occupy some of the kopjes bullets are dropping ins the town A dispatch from pretoria thursday january ath via lourenco marques field cornet under date Rs tuesday january zad reports as falows from kurcman Ku ruman british bechu anarand 1 I commenced a bombardment of I 1 yesterday monday aiming ait the police banacka ban acks the el until 6 in the evening when the garrison surrendered issuing from alic forts and yielding up arms we took prisoners including capt bates and capt dannison mr hillvard the magistrate and eight other oscars oS cers we also captured seventy na aves together with a number of rifles and s and a quantity of ammunition fifteen british were wounded they are being attended by us with the help of dr bearne an english physician the horses oxen and flour taken from the prisoners have been ant to pretoria by way of Vry burp london jan S the british public is at last face to face with a critical moment in the campaign it may safely be said that at no previous time have there been such anxious hours of suspense as will be passed through until the arrival of further news regarding the fate of ladysmith Lady smith the week opens with only fresh additions to the disasters that have befallen british arms and there Is no longer any sustaining confidence to buoy up public opinion the editorials this morning fully reflect the extreme gravity of the situation with a painful under current of ominous foreboding mainly caused by the fact that while the boers have now changed their tactics and assumed the offensive gen buller is apparently unable to do more to assist gen white than in making a demonstration the morning post says he might as well have ordered a display of fireworks As the lithograph licHo graph ceased working yesterday sunday it is presumed that gen whiles last message was sent by a pigeon or runner its purport is serious enough little doubt remains as to the meaning of the boer attack A dispatch from the boer camp at colenso dated thursday last and sent by way of lourenco marques mentions that a thunderstorm had turned the dry ravines into torrents and flooded the tugela doubtless gen joubert felt suie be had secured a couple of days in which he could attack ladysmith Lady smith without fear of interference from gen buller who even it he decided to attempt to relieve the town would probably occupy three days in reaching it by even a victorious advance apparently on saturday gen buller was not ready to attack possibly gen joubert anticipated that gen buller would shortly deliver an attack and in that case gen buller may have actually opened battle yesterday great britain has to face the terrible possibility that the next news will be the fall of ladysmith Lady smith the disquieting feature Is that the boers seem to have sufficient forces to deter gen buller from attacking solves are making strenuous efforts to reduce tho town in the presence 0 this ominous situation even gen franchs frenchs Frenc hs disaster of which apparently the worst has not yet been heard assumes quite minor importance in the eyes of the public the daily telegraph has the following from frere camp dated saturday january 6 1033 a m A very heavy bombardment went on at lady smith from daybreak until 8 this morning it is believed that an engagement was in progress for musketry fire was also heard it is possible the garrison was making a sortie for the boers at colenso hurriedly left their trenches and rode toward lady smith our big naval gun at fired several rounds at the enemy as they were leaving their colenso lines gen duller has ridden on to chieveley Chie veley with his staff london jan S A special dispatch from frere camp dated saturday january 6 7 p m says at 2 this afternoon the whole of gen cle rys division marched out of camp to attack colenso gen brigade was on the left and gen bartons on the right with cavalry on the extreme right the attack was slowly developed and at the british field guns advanced on the center and commenced shelling the boer position on the flat land between ileane bill and fort wylle about this time a heavy thunderstorm raged over the positions at our troops were still advancing and had reached a point very near colenso the naval 47 and field guns were busy dropping shells into the trenches along tho river and the forts of the enemy had made no reply |