REALISM IN MIMIC WARFARE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXII, Issue 13575, 22 October 1904, Page 4

REALISM IN MIMIC WARFARE.

A WILD STAMPEDE OF CAVALRY HORSES. [Fhou Ova Correspondent.] LONDON, September 9. Grim realism finds itself linked* with purest farce in the mimic warfare which is raging within the Old Country’s borders at this moment. The other day we read of a squadron of Lancers routed by a toll-gate virago, and side by side with this amusing tale was, the terribly realistic story of a thousand masterless troop horses raging through the camp of a sleeping army. The first incident occurred in Essex, where the “Blue” Army, which is to defend London from the onslaught of General French's Reds, is lying in wait for the foe. A'squadron of Lancers reconnoitring some miles out from Colchester, forded .the River Colne, only to find their passage barred by a toll-gate, guarded l by an elderlywoman, who, in a strident voice, called upon the officer to pay toll at the rate of a penny per man before she would open the gate. The officer remonstrated, but the woman was obdurate, and as he had not the wherewithal on him to pay the 6s 8d required to pass his troops, and dare not use any force to‘gain a passage, the gallant leader had perforce to beat as dignified a retreat as was possible under the circumstances. These included a ring of mirthshaken spectators, who cheered loudly at the soldiers’ discomfiture. There was no room for mirth in the other affair, which occurred in the cavalry camp of Sir John French, near Southampton, where the invaders were waiting to embark op the transports -which were to convey them to the Esses coast. The catastrophe arose out of a very trivial incident. A horse in the Hussar lines, in plunging about, broke its leg, and the matter being reported to a veterinary surgeon, he decided to put the animal out of misery at once with his revolver. It was then 2 a,m., and in the stillness of the early morning the flash and report so terrified the surrounding horses that with mad plunges many of them broke free, and rushing madly through the lines, communicated their terror to their companions. In the space of a few seconds no fewer than 600 horses, blind with terror, were speeding through the sleeping tamp. Tents were knocked over and trampled under foot, and an indescribable scene of confusion took the place of the calm which had. brooded over the scene a couple of minutes before. The maddened horses, with their iron-shod picket-pegs whirling in. the air at the end of their ropes, rushed onward, and presently came to the lines of the Artillery and another Hussar regiment, and soon nearly a thousand masterless horses were galloping madly across country' in droves of fifties and" hundreds. Some went this way, some that, but all, goaded by the blows of the whirling picket pegs,. continued at a mad gallop, till barbed wire, open ditches, fences and broken ground had claimed their toll in broken legs, necks and backs. Of the remnant a ©quadroa of 200 horses L galloped through the main streets of Winchester soon after 4 a.m., with a mad clatter loud enough to roure all the sleeping inhabitants. They had covered fourteen miles of country on their way home again to Aldershot. Another drove of a hundred made southwards, and, reaching the Southampton infantry, raced through the lines of sleeping soldiery, happily without doing serious injury to anyone. Dashing onwards they entered Southampton by various, route® at full gallop, the ring of their hoofs waking the entire city. Several of the animals were severely injured by rushing against the electric tramway standards, and lay where they fell maimed and exhausted,. Part of the Southampton tram-way route is under repair, and a few horses in their reckless rush came to grief in the trenches, scattering or smashing the guiding lantern*. Like the charge of a cavalry regiment, another squadron galloped down the High Street, and, reaching the ancient Bargate, smashed themselves against- the masonry in their frantic efforts to force a way through the narrow passage. Soon many of them reached the waters of Southampton Harbour, and plunged into the sea. Boats quickly put out, and by this means the swimming animals were rounded up and a number rescued, but many were drowned owing to exhaustion and injuries. All next day parties of soldiery scoured the country in search of the lost horses. Some were found forty miles from the scene of the catastrophe “dead beat,” bat uninjured, but the majority of those brought back to camp were suffering from wounds of some sort or other, and the net result of the stampede was that two Hussar regiment* were rendered practically horseless, and, therefore, useless for the Esses campaign. Strange to say, though the Hussars’ camp was literally galloped over by the horses, - . only one man was really seriously hurt, and ) even his injury is not likely to prove fatal, lumbers, of course, received minor injuries, necessitating a libera! use of arnica and sticking plaster, but- not more than a dozen men received such hurt as to render them hospital oases.