Letter from Trooper Perreau.

Manawatu Herald, 26 June 1900, Page 2

Letter from Trooper Perreau.

Wepener, April 26th, 1900. Dear Mr Wocllaaa,— We arrived here tb : s morning after two 4ajM hard fighting, and the soouta brought , news that the Boers were holding* strong position on Bushman's kopje, seven thousand strong with ttoee guns. We attacked this position at < daybreak next morning, with twelve ■- big guns and a maxim, the gunt doing splendid work and silenced the guns of the Boers in three hours; the shells of the Boers killed only a few men and hdrses, as numbers of them did not burst. Six hundred of us were ordered to move round their right flank and stop their retreat. We galloped for two miles under heavy fire and mounted a kopje two thousand yards from the main posi- . tion of the Boers ; we put our horses in a place of safety and then lined the kopje, keeping under shelter -of the loose stones and rocks until 5 p.m. When we returned; to our horses and rode around the kopje, two hundred of us galloping right around the kopje in full view of the enemy, and as soon as we came in 3ight they trained big guns upon us but only succeeded in maiming one horse. We were soon behind the hill again and the Boers advanced under cover of the fire of their big guns, little expecting that we were on the kopje ready and waiting for them. They came forward at a gallop and v we lay low until they were within two hundred yards of us and then we let them have it, hot and strong; they were completely *t«|»n abaok and saw at once that t$J9 Mi beeii had, so quickly turned and Ifed .for dear life in all directions. W^ followed them with a heavy fire lihtil • they were over a mile away, an<Hhejr lost very heavily both in men and . horses. We then pushed on and captured their main position, the . Boers retreating five miles further back. We were glad to get a rest after the battle, but the deathly silence of the battlefield and the horror of the dead lying around us cast a gloom over the camp. We followed up next morning and were soon fighting again, they made a good stand and fought stubbornly for nine hours, but they had to yield and fly again Fourteen of us were sent to reconnoitre down a valley in the neighbourhood, we got wiftuor* " hundred yards of their trenches when I saw. a stone move and reported to our officer, who at' ono» CH&piNt ' retreat, as soon a» w tonttitbey opened ft» and shot three of our horses and wounded one man before we could get under cover. No Ne» Zealander has been kiltatt jpfc but the Border rifle* have suffered he»?ily, three of them being killed by my aide through a bursting shell, ft is very, hard to tell how many men we lose altogether. I have very tittle time to write now, so must draw to a close. — Yours truly, B. Pbbbbau.