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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Advocate, 1900-2-8, Page 6• River Io Work "' Fierceofr the Artillery erand Its On the Enemy. feet INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE. Flow the Guards Crossed the River Only to Sink Mud—As Told By Julian Ralph. The more one sees, of Modder River battlefield, and the' more one consid- ers the battle, the more terrific it is seen to have been. someh s p a es of the battle and some of the tales we hear of the part the Boers played in it make it certain that there never was a battle like it. At first we were /repressed by the sagacity shown by the Boer loaders in entrenching their iron where they did at the top and back of a vast smooth inclined plane, every inch of which was visible to these hidden men. Bat by remaining here long enough to go thoroughly over the field we have learned that an even stronger and in all ways better position could have been shade for most of them just behind the one they chose and on the island in the river. It must be understood that their horde lay entrenched on the edge of the river at a point where the Modder and Reit join one another. The land between the two is called an island, and this land continues the upward slope of the veldt, so that it is higher and more commanding and better yet for Boer purposes it is LUXURIANT WITH TREES AND BUSHES. Here, in fact, the Boers did put their sharp shooters, and here they manipulated their deadly "Putt -putt" nun, as our army has nick -named the Vickers -Maxim quick -firer, which commanded such respect as to make every man who heard it bow his head or prostrate his body. Men so shrewd and instinctively soldierly as the Boers must have known that this more elevated pos- ition. with the river in front of it as se moat, was superior to the one they .selected. A story which many Boer prisoners have told ns tends to explan why the lower ground was chosen -though it is a tale which can be credited only by those of us who are accustomed to the extraordinary phases and condi- tions of this strangest of modern wars. The story is that a large proportion of the Free State Boers were so averse to fighting in the first place, and so shaken by our incessant and accurate artillery fire, that they were only kept in the trenches at the point of revolvers held over them by their leaders, who swore to shoot any man who tried to desert. This story was told us by many pris- oners taken at different times and places. If it is true, it may well be that there was a serious purpose in choos- ing the lower ground for the Boer position, because thus the river, .where it is the deepest and impossible' to ford, was I.VEMEDIATELY AT THEIR BACKS. .After I had seen no more of the field than their three-mile line of trenches, I could not understand how we had been able to dislodge them or why they had at last left the field to els. Their position seemed superb impreguable. But a search for the plane from which the putt -putt gun was fired led me to the island over- looking the river and the trenches. Then I saw plainly why and how we had gained the victory. Beyond the British infantry lines, where our Guards' Brigade was so cruelly forc- ed to Be for more than eight hours under a driving rain of lead from an enemy they could never see, we work- ed. three Royal Artillery batteries. These were the 18th and 75th. which • fired all day long, and the 62nd, which came twenty miles to our aid and got into action at Half -past four in the afternoon with horses so -fagged: that the znenliad been obliged to walk the last few miles. These batteries played on the trenohs and on the island, which two points are so, close that both were dam- aged alike. The shells which scatter- ed their shrapnel upon the men in the trenches carried their :heavy metal cases OVER ON THE ISLAND. Meech of the shrannel was also carried there. The result,` as it is to be 'seen to-dav, is a scene of surface devasta- tionalmost baffling description. In' n se„n,cn of a mile inlength and a: quar- r of a, utile iu width, there is scarce- ly e. square yard that is not torn up. ptrrforated, riddled, ploughed, end raked. Shrapnel bullets. shell cases, fuses, and bits of metal lie all over the place. Incredible as it sounds, there now, lie on that ground two crusty old tins—one a small "bullb beef” tin and the other a biscuit tin. Both of these are riddled with shrap- nel and shot. In that scene lies the explanation of the flight of the Boers. Li, that scene •ne find some confirmation of the story that the Boors had to be kept to their work at the point of the revel - Ver. A ;oommon reliant® of the Boer Wes sj ,n gin Emmty gin tbottles, bottles in the still containing gin, and one full bottle of that liquor were to be seen stuck in the' loose dirt of the treuchos. In every treuoh was a surprising de- bris of shell cartridges of many sorts -Mansons, -Martin-Henrys, and two or, three sorts of EXPANDING AND EXPLOSIVE BULLETS. The islaucl seems to have been where the Sharp -shooters were el/laced—On the.geouud, behind treuchos, and in the trees' We understand from the Modder Livor such a. ravine or glitter exists. It is 30 feet wide and 16 foot deep.- Wo found its bottom covered with hay and other foddor, and we know that in it, out of harm's way and yet close at hand, they had kept their horses in readiness for their re- treat.' After every battle the veldt has been dotted with ' Boer horses in cense guence of the eustom of bringing two 'horses for each well-to-dQ Tuan, and in consequence of the lossof riders by death and wounding. But both previ- ous battle -fields combined showed. no suo1i number of riderless horses `. as Hodder River. There was literally hundreds of them. I had lost mine in the fight, but in the first half hour of the next morning;I took my choice of four, and might have made my pick from a hundred. saddled and bridled, before I had gone half over the field. We know now that it was our artil- lery fire that thinned the ,ranks and broke the nerve of the enemy. It was a fearful assault produced by an extraordinary discharge of ammu- nition. • • e awe -e 64- eee d: ,4, SECOND CAMERONIANS STORIVMING SP ION KOP. prisoners that these were always sta- tioued in couples, and that the orders were that whenever one was killed or wounded his companion was to bury or carry him off the field. I' have told in a previous letter and in my des- patches how continually we have found the bodies of the Boer dead in the river, buried in the sand with fingers or boots protruding, heaped in a trench, and elsewhere. When I searched the island I found profuse proofs of other burials beside these --of new dead not included in any estimate. Here I found grave - shaped mounds of such fresh appear- ance and suggestive shape that I ex- amined them. They were covered with short brush growths, and to when we touched these they came out of the earth and were seen to be tree- twigs and branches cut from trees and stuck in the mounds. At some distance back in the island we found a very large trench, of a size to hold twenty bodies. It emitted indutable proof of its contents. As we under- stand the tactics of our enemy, these graves are apt to be those of their humbler soldiers. We know that they carry off on carts and across their sad- dles the bodies of THE MORE IMPORTANT DEAD. This was done at this battle. A woman, whose cottage is in the rear of the ;field, north of the river, de clares that all day long the wounded came to her cottage upon each other's heels to have their wounds dressed, and,. she says, the dead in large num- bers were carried upon:planks -placed upon the backs of ponies northward to the Boer lines. First in the minds of the Boors is the desire to hide his dead and to lie about their number. It is from their own that they most desire to hide the truth. The 'prison- ers we took all., said that only eighteen had been killed, but the deserters said the loss of life was very great and that'in the river alone 100 were sunk with weights. For my part I shall not be surprised if we learn some day that in killed alone the Boers lost quite 300. It is wonderful how the formation of the country adds and perhaps inspires the Boor methods of warfare. You have heard how the burgher comes to battle with two horses, a poor one to carry him to the fight, and the best steed he has to be kept fresh until it is needed to carry hint swiftly away. Usually we have seen the Boars run down the far sides of the kopjes they have been defending, to find best horses knee -haltered on the veldt, and to mount and ride them away. At Belmont, when a thousand or more were in full flight, they all sud- denly disappeared in a mysterious Way. We found that all had ridden into what they call a; "skit." t. which is broad and deep enough to hide a cav- alry regiment. In this gutter or ravine they shade their way to their next place of rendezvous. On the island at sa The four naval guns fired, I be- lieve, 514 rounds, the 18th Battery fired 1,100 rounds, the 76th "'fired 900 rounds, the 62nd 500, or 3,000 rounds in all. The reports of the rifle fire are not yet made out, but most of our men took into the fight 150 to 160 rounds, and I °believe the average fire per rifle by nineteen battalions must have been 100 rounds. The CLIMAX OF TI -IE BOERS' DESIRE to vacate the field was reached when a stalwart British cheer; broke upon their ears by their side and in their rear. There should not be any confusion as to what men raised this cheer and were the first to ford the river; but there is. It is due to the fact that men of several ambitious commands composed the first body of feeders. To put history right, the credit of first crossing the river belong to a small party of Coldstream Guardsmen who early in the day waded in to their waists and then swam, laden withall their gear and 160 rounds of ammunition.' There were between twenty-four and forty men in this body, and though many got across, two were nearly drowned, and all saw it to be wise to return. The ^river was too deep, and when they reached the further shore they sank in mud to their knees. This happened on the extreme right of the line, where Lord Methuen made his first gallant attempt to cross. Ho tried again on the far loft, and it was there that, ;beyond any doubt or dispute, Colonel Barter, of the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infan- try, „ of across by a farly good fording place with a score or two dozen men, some of whom were his • own, while others were men of the Argyll and Sutlierlandshire and the North Emma - shire Regiments. They crossed against some trenches and an angle of stone wall which were held by some 300 Boers. Just as they were crossing a battery of Royal Artillery rolled up in the rear of our men, and, before its men had time to unlimber, all the Boers fled, jostling and even KNOCKING EACH OTHER down to get upon their horses. In time our forces across' the river num- bered 400, and Brigadier -General Pole -Carew took command. Our own shells and our own rifle fire beat upon this little band, and it halted and cheered to disclose its natonality, That is the truth of a heroic move- ment, of which there are already too. many untrue versions in print. It is said that the Boors fight in, deadly terror of our bayonets, which we have not yet had achance to ttse: upon them, and this increased their fever for fight. They have also had a wholesome dread of our lyddite shells —of which, likewise, we have not yet made any use but at this battle Gen- eral Cronje, who watched the fight all ay, supposed onr naval gond were firing lyddite, and said to his staff: "I've beezi watGhiin that at itilall " r hr I OAI day,mid I don't' hink innch of it. i o i One word as to that phase oX their var'ar9 w is must bo t;ouohod upon, \ f which iu 'us i o in e r tc o ac t \ y conn we cor- respondents write of it. With my. own eyes, being upon the scene, I saw the putt -putt gun and, the fire of ' the sharp -shooters trained upon our am- bulance three times, and upon our stretcher -beaters on innumerable occasions -in fact, whenever they rose to their feet (on the right of the line) and attempted to perform 'their work. TELEGRAPHERS UNDER FIRE, Volunteer Workers on the "Tickers" ar Doln a Their Duty at the .T'ront. The British Government Post -Tele graph departments have already con- tributed to the army in South Africa nearly 500 men, of whom more than 200 were skilled telegraph 'operators, who could 'hardly be spared from the already undermanned service. Re- ports to the War Office state that the telegraphers are rendering splendid. service. It is said that the use of the Wheatstone automatic system on the field of battle is the first in the his- tory of warfare. Moreover, it was worked duplexed, which at the outset was prophesied to bo impossible un- der the rough conditons of campaign- ing. At the Alodder River fight the 'telo- araphers were under fire for a whole day. Then they worked through the night on official and press messages. Later, despite the rules limiting the number of correspondents and the length of a message each man can send, tho operators sent t 100, 000 words. The total after the Magorsfonteiu battle was much greater, but the op- erators got it through without a hitch at the high average speed of about 200 words a minute. Delays invariably occurred after the des- patches reached the coast. A major- ity of the telegraphersar - y l f y e o uu .eers members of the Twenty-fourth Middlesex "Post Office Rifles.'' The officer in charge of the helio- graph signals with General Buller's. column has flashed 14,000 words to add from Ladysmith in the past three weeks. Indian Troops' Generosity. The whole of the 3rd Bengal Cav- alry have voluntarily subscribed one day's pay towards the Transvaal fiend. The regiment is composed of Sikhs, Jets, Rajputs, and Mohammedans. Their example is, likely to be follow- ed by other regiments. A movement is 'on foot among Europeans to raise a special fund for the relief of the royal colonists in Natal whose farms have been raided by the Boers. Has Become an Expert. "Are you never uneasy when your husband. comes home late at night?" "Bless you, no! I can always tell what lodge he has been attending by the quality of the cigar odor he brings home with him." nese. t'in;; itiplfng, The vicinity of Mr. Kipling's home at Bottingdean seems to be permeat- ed by the "Pay, pay, pay" refrain of the "Absent -Minded -Beggar." Dur- ing the holidays the conductor of the Brighton and Rottingdean omnibus has sent his hat round for contributions from the passenuers ere they alighted at Rottingdean, reward- ing their generosity with information regarding the distinguished novelist.' The motor car which 1V1r. Kipling has lately started in place of his familiar pony chaise is a general topic of in- terest. LongerNot Huber. A Caper relates an amusing story of an incident that took place at one of the formal 'gatherings of the leading members of the Volksraad at;Presi- dent Kruger's house. The President desired to consult some papers :, relat- ing to the subject under discussion, and, as they were placed on a shelf some distance from the ground, made one or two futile attempts to reach them. Joubert, who is tall, came to his assistance, saying, "Let me bring them; I am higher than you." "You are longer, Piet ; not higher," correct- ed Kruger with a frown. Kruger and the Americans. The Melbourne Argus tells a Story of President Kruger which is worth reproducing. Some months ago he received au American deputation, and asked, "If a crisis should occur, on which side shall I find the Ameri- cans? The reply was that" they would be on the sidle of liberty and good government. To this the Presi- dent > rejoined, "You are all alike; tarred with the same brush. You ars British in your hearts." "Vow is it you need money so' soon again to pay your tailor?" It was only. feu. weeks ago that I gave you 50 lnari:si" "Yes, uncle, but the fellow didn't come around then with his bill."=l+lie• gende 13latter, That is the Name the London Press Has itiye» Canada's Third Contingent. North-West Mounted Rifle%Given a Heatty Reception at Winnipeg, and !11.tde a Fine Impression, It is hoped the inclusion of North- West horses in "Lord Strathcona's Own, as the papers call Lord Strath- cona's North-West corps, will lead the War Office to revise its decision against Canada as a source of supply for -army horses. It is understood that the Canadian Government have made special repre- sentations to Lord Lansdowne since the war beean, with a view to induce the War Office to make purchases of Canadian ranche horses, but without effect. So far nine thousand tons of Can- adian hay and two thousand Canadian saddles have been 'purchased,, how- ever, as well as large consignments of tinned meats, dried fruit, and vege- tables. A WESTERN OPINION. Speaking of Lord'. Strathcona's project to raise a troop of 400 strong., Premier Haultain, of the Territories, who is visiting in Winnipeg, says that there were more than enough 'efficient; mon turned away from service in the Mounted Rifle corps to make up the required 400 desired by His Worship. Regarding the officers for the force, he said: "I think it would be a mis tale to put these. Western men under Eastern militia officers, who would not likely understand either them or their work. There aro still sufficient experienced officers left in the West for the purpose." COLONIALS IN HIGH FAVOR Lord Roberts' Body Guard Will be Select- ed From Them. Recognizing the importance of col- onial troops, Lord Roberts has author- ized the'formaton of a complete di- vision of colonials under General Bra- bant. It is intended to raise in Crape Colony additional mounted regulars. As a (further mark of favor Lord Roberts, it is said, intends to select his own bodyguard from the colonials. Lord Roberts, purposing not to alienate the Cape Dutch and to see that the military respect the rights of non-combatants,' regardless of race or sympathes, has issued, through Lord Kitchener, his chef of staff, the fol- lowing order: DITCH SHOVELING* New Wri,tle1e That iilay elake .11H Style 1G'ern ae.y, Here is a new wrinkle about se!," simple a natter as shovelling dirk into a ditch. You 'thought you knew all about that job before, but you didn't know this idea. The schenie is to turn the shovel over, having a man on one side of the ditch to push the shovel and on the other wide of NICW ME7nOD of DITCH sIIOVELIXG. the ditch to pull the shovel by means. of a pole fastened by a wire to the base of the shovel handle. The pic- ture, makes it very plain. The old ditcher who got up this idea finds it a great help, especially where the soil is heavy. I -le is a man who does ditching by contract, and who therefore knows what he is talking about. He says thattwo men work- ingin this way will accomplish as much as three men working' with shovels in the ordinary manner. Neees,ty of Gravel, A farmer having a large flock of chickens about his bards and feed lot wished to improve the stock so sent to a reliable breeder and purchased two pure-bred males. They were fine f birds and the gentlemen did not re- JI + gret the price he paid • in securing 'then. I3e turned them out with his other, chickens and gave them no fur- ther attention. In a few days he no- ticed that they did not seem to be doing well, that hey were less ac- tive than his other chickens • in seek- ing food. I -le then made a point of feeding thein regularly, but still they, drooped and at last one of Lhem died. He thought he would try to find out ' the cause of its death and did so. Upon opening it he found the gizzard and tho: passage leading to it filled with undigested matter: It was, hard and baked, and the organs were much distended. Upon examining the material closely he found that there ;was a total lack of all grind- ing matter. There was no sand,: , gravel or stones in the mass. He.; felt that he had found the cause.- The ause.-The other cock was so far gone that he had little hope of saving him, but went immediately and got a box of pounded clam shells and gravel and set it before iho bird. It commenc- ed picking at it immediately and in a week's time was as healthy as ever. The birds had been always penned up and fed, with a box of grit fur nished them to run to whenever they needed it, and when they were turn - TIE COUNTRY ROUND MAFEKING. "The commander-in-chief wishes to impress -upon all officers who may at any time be in charge of columns or detached commands, the grave import - mice of doing all in their Power by good and conciliatory treatment, and by securing compensation for the people of the country in allmatters affecting either their own interests or those of the troops. "In all cases where su olies,of any y kind are required, these must be paid for on delivery, and a receipt for the amount taken.,Officers will.be held responsible for the observance of the rule that soldiers are never allowed to enter private houses or tomolest the inhabitants on any pretext what- ever; and every precaution must be taken to suppress looting or petty rob. bery by persons connected with the army.' '`When supplies are absolutely necessary for the subsistence of the army and the inhabitants are unwil- ling to meet such demands command- ing officers/ may, after having satisfied themselves by' careful, personal in- vestigation, that such supplies are necessary, and available, order 'these in such case to be taken by force, and sfuli receipt being given." ed out to, rough it with the other, .. fowls ' they did not know where to • find the grinding matter. Had a box been furnished them both would have' ';lived.. It is well to have a pile of sand or a box where a supply of grit iskept for the fowls to :run to, e' oven where left to run at large. Old broken dishes and crockery pounded fine Is the best kind of stuff for Chickens. Caro and Feed of Borges. The stomach of horses and mules should ^ not bo overloaded. They should not be fed immediately before starting on a long journey, and moldy corn should always bo avoid.* ed. Feed three times a day each from a separate manger. The am- ount needed by each animal can only., bo dt^hcnmineelby observation. Cern. and o::',ts .nixed will' plenty of good bay arid fodder with an occasional.: branmash will keep the 'animals „ in A'ood condition. Dry, Humor. "He Blade meeat my wor'dsI'". The villain strode stiffly to the center of the stage, his gait making it easy for the calcium light man to keep bine "covered." "Ile made me eat my words! °Tis true, but no matter. They were writ- ten on a soda cracker, with my usual foresight." foresight" AI1td he laughed a cruel,crafty la h Sty ug e .--Baltimore American.