THE TUGELA BATTLE.

New Zealand Mail, 8 February 1900, Page 53

THE TUGELA BATTLE.

A CRIMEAN VETERAN’S ACCOUNT. ; GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE 1 BATTLE. An old officer who served in the Crimea was present as a spectator of the Tugela battle, and in the course of a conversation with a representative of the “Natal Mercury” he described , the, events of the day as follows: We rose at 3 aim., had a little breakfast, attended to other matters, i and by 4 a.ni., just as it was begin- , ning to dawn, we were on the march with our cavalry brigade and staff, having to start ail hour earlier than, the rest of the troops, as they had five miles to march to take _ up- the position assigned to them' on the ex- ; treme right of our line of attack. As we marched along I noticed a little , fox-terrier also ranged alongside one of ( the corps as. if on. business bent. Whether the . poor little creature ever lived to return or not. I -do not know. CAVALRY RIDING INTO ACTION. It was. a thrilling sight to see that fine body of cavalry moving along quite j fearless, and a keen observer could see every now and again an eye glare round as if in search of the enemy ;■ a man would also hug and nestle his rifle a little closer at times, which quite put one in mind of the olden days. A pang went through me, as the thought occurred —how many of them will nevei* return, because there ; was serious work before them. They 1 soon disappeared in clouds of dust, and were Host to view. I jumped on to my pony and rode off at full for the five big naval guns, which baa just announced the commencement of ; ‘the battle, 5.30 a.ra. There I found several, staff and other officers, also some of the well-known newspaper correspondents, with whom we are oil ' Very friendly terms. I remained a. short time watching the wonderful accuracy of the naval guns’ : firing—namely, as far as my pony’s -j agitation would permit, for evidently he had never experienced such thunderclaps before. The infantry were now advancing on each flank of the five guns as far as the eye could reach. “MY OLD BATTALION,” , Then a thought struck me—the: next thing I should do was to find out my old battalion,: and the thought had hardly passed through my mind, when I came across _General Lyttelton, commanding the brigade of the Rifle Regiments, and he at once pointed out the old battalion to me. I was. soon alongside Colonel Norcott, who was quite pleased to see me, Though hardly‘surprised, as I had visited their camp at Frere., I rode alongside him for a few minutes, and whispered to him that if he could make , any use of me in taking a message to ' a distant flank I was at his service. The situation did seen* strange indeed ; more , than forty-five years ago I had served ,

as a subaltern under his father in the Crimea, 1855. Now, in December, 18911, I am on another battlefield, riding alongside his son, who is commanding the same battalion which his father led at Alma and Inkerman, raid of which fee was so long the beloved and popular commanding officer. The truth, indeed. is sometimes stranger than fiction*. While, riding alongside Colonel Norcott, I should explain, his battalion was not under rifle lire, for I don't wish you to suppose that I was sc rash as to expose myself to imminent danger, being out here only in a private canaeity as a looker-on.' though with intense interest, desiring to see all that I could. BULGER IN THE THICK OF IT. All this time there was terrible work going oil in. our front, about a mi'c ahead, m which the Dublins and Connaught Rangers, as you will have read, wc-re lire chief sufferers. One of the senior war correspondents was heard to remark. “I have never heard anything like that in my Kie.” meaning the continuous rattle of rifle fire, it sounded like the patter on a skylight- in a heavy hailstorm..and continued for more than two -hours* with hut short interludes. I rode again towards the naval guns to see what execution they were doing, and • on my way I saw* an officer approaching liic. whom I at once knew to be Sir Redvers Duller and his staff, and I quickly i shied my pony aside and let them pass. They were making direct for the “3 ing line” on the left, and I afterwards learned that Sir R: B. had been in the thick of it. _ How he <=.<?- .aped bring hit or killed is a marvel. A BRAVE YOUNG IRISHMAN. I then returned to where I parted from Colonel Norc-ott about half an hour before, and here my eyes weie met by a series of. sad and ghastly sights, for wounded men of the Dublins and others in their brigade were being assisted' back by their comrades on foot, while others, who were more severely wounded, were borne on stret•ufeovA Tho. first I met was a young Jrkhiuan, about nineteen or twenty, who had been shot through both arms while taking aim himself, and fie replied quite gaily, “You see, sorr, I’ve been a second too slow, but my_ turn will come.. For this ten Dutchmen must , answer.” The next man was too frightfully , disfigured to particularise. His-eyes were swollen up. but he said that, "as lie looked round, the whole place seemed to be alive with dead men! Many who were wounded in legs or arms were able to wa'k back . to cover. One of the N.Cr officers told me they had dashed across the liver to get at the Boer, entrenchments, but the withering fire that was poured v into them, by their unseen- foes made it impossible for them, -to proceed, and General Hart gave the order to retire. The Rifle Brigade were in the “supporting line,” and they lost several men. BOERS FIRE ON AN AMBULANCE waggon: I then turned my pony’s head towards the opposite flank of the Tine to see how things were. Then I came upon the ambulance waggon, that had got stuck in a donga. The mules bad taken fright at the artillery galloping up to cover the retreat of the Dublins, etc., and while talking with the N.C. officer in charge, no less than four shells

a were fired right over the ambulance , in rapid succession by tho Boers. 1 This ; was observed by several officers to y whom I mentioned the incident, and 1 the general opinion was that it. was e done on purpose, one man remarking r that they were at their old game again, - It certainly was most outrageous, for i. they must nave seen the large white ~ flag with the red cross on it. even t at the long' distance they were.off. I o afterwards remained watching the iiaval e guns’ practice, which was splendid, i trio shots from each gun dropping exa. actly in the same line—where there was ~ a Boer entrenchment called “Fort, Wy--1 lie,” which was completely demolished. THE RETREAT. ' . I need say nothing of the perfom&ance “ of the Cavalry Brigade, tor_ they.. : ‘wou*e ~ :idles away on the extreme right of our " position, hat, they did . irmgyificou t ” work, and were exposed .Dr a"deadly b fire. Of course, 'Ley could only act £ dismonriied. simply a® infantry, . aided ? by,«- baf.t.ery of artillery. The, Beer,3 I had oil the advantage in*, getting & fuil view y.f <»ur advancing troops. boon after t-wo o’clock a general retreat ~ was ordered, and fir mg sc- emod to. ifiomo l to- *&. end by mutual consent;, tho.'gafm q of our Naval Brigade" firing; the last _ sh->is. I got. back, to camp soon after' = three o’clock, having been out i’or’.r.ir.e i h ' r;>rK * ' . . .. t- _ . "