Night Marches.

Manawatu Herald, 5 April 1902, Page 3

Night Marches.

Describing seme recent successful night marches, the war correspondent of the London Times says: —The credit for these captures undoubtedly rests with Colenel Wools-Sampson, whose system of intelligence is both ns accurate and comprehensive as the colonel himself is indefatigable. But it must be remembered that it is not enough merely te locate the Boers. The columns must bo prepared to act upon the information at once and with an possible energy. And it is in this respect that Colonel Wools-Sampson is fortunate in being associated with General Bruce Hamilton. Other intelligence officers report the whereabouts of the Boers, but, unhappily, not every column leader is prepared to place implicit trust in his intelligence officer aad to aot upon hi* formation. Toe often one hears the excuse made that '<the information is foe vague,’’ “It is too far off to taka men for what is not a certainty,” and the like. This is not the spirit in which to bring the war to an end. The time has come for us to put forth all our energy without any hesitation. The man are by bo means averse to these long night inarches; as a matter of fact, they find the monotonous trekking day after day without catching sight of a Boer far more irksome. As one man m these columns put it, “ It’s the best sport we’ve had during the war.’ That final galloping down of the Boers in the early merning soon throws the tediouaness of the march, the rain, and the mist into oblivion. Nor is it enough in these night marches to tramp along listlessly, leaving everything to the guide or intelligence officer. Officers and men alike must be on the qui vive, and the column has to be kept together the whole time, so that when the Boers are sighted the order to gallop may be given at once. On these occasions there can be no question of scouting, save what is done without any delay by natives; it is known roughly how many Boers are ia front, and if the column charged down at ence in full force there will be no resistance. It is partly the mutual confidence between himself and his intelligence officer that has enabled General Bruce Hamilton to score his BJCCesses.